USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Dayton > History of the city of Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio, Volume II > Part 20
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Robert Newton King is now the only survivor of a family of three children. In his infancy his parents removed to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he was reared and acquired a public school education. He also attended the Connecticut Literary Institute, at Suffield, Connecticut, and when he left school at the age of nineteen years he entered his father's woolen mills in Springfield, remaining in that line of business for several years. Subsequently he engaged in railroad contracting, which he carried on for many years. In 1875 he took a contract for building one hundred and seventeen miles of the Dayton & Southeastern Rail- road, now a part of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton system. In that year he removed to Dayton to make his headquarters here. Many important con- tracts for railroad building have been awarded him throughout the middle west. He was president of the King Furnace Company of Tennessee, oper- ating ore mines and a blast furnace for the manufacture of pig iron. In 1892 he organized and was president of the Stilwell-Bierce & Smith-Vaile Manufac- turing Company. He retired from the active management of the company in
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IgCI and opened an office at 49 Wall street, New York, and from there con- ducted the development of a number of large water power and long distance electric transmission plants. He retired from active business in 1905. The ex- tent and volume of his business have placed him among the capitalists of this city. In the control of his interests he has displayed splendid managerial ability, has seemed to know when, where and how to put forth his efforts to the best ad- vantage and through the unification of his forces at hand has reached the best possible results.
It was subsequent to his removal to Dayton that Mr. King was married in 1879 in this city to Miss Harriet A. Snyder, and they now have a daughter and son : Margaret E., the wife of Herbert A. Simonds ; and Robert S., who was graduated from Yale College in June, 1909.
Robert N. King is an advocate of republican principles but not an active par- tisan. He belongs to the Dayton City Club, the New York Athletic Club and other clubs of New York city. His large business undertakings have brought him into prominence, gaining him a wide acquaintance in various parts of the country and from the outset of his career his name has been an honored one on commercial paper. With ability to plan and perform he has reached a position today among the moneyed men of Dayton that is most enviable and commendable.
JUDGE O. W. IRVIN.
Judge O. W. Irvin is preeminently a man of affairs and one who has wielded a wide influence. He is connected with various corporate interests of Dayton, chief among which are the First Savings & Banking Company, of which he is president, the Irvin, Jewell, Vinson Company and the Western Ohio Creamery Company. At the same time he continues in the active practice of law, in which his ability has won him well earned distinction.
A native son of Dayton, he was born in 1866 and reared in this city, and ac- quired his preliminary education in the public schools, passing through consecu- tive grades to his graduation from the Central high school in 1883. His more classical course was pursued in Yale of which he is an alumnus of 1887. With his Bachelor of Arts degree he returned to Dayton and for four years was closely identified with the educational interests of the city as a teacher in the Central high school. Regarding this, however, merely as an initial step to further professional labor, he entered the Cincinnati Law School and was graduated with the class of 1892.
Opening an office in Dayton, Mr. Irvin still remains in active practice here and his comprehensive knowledge of the law is not only of value to his clients, but also constitutes an element in the successful control of the various business interests with which he has become identified. In 1903, upon the organization of the First Savings & Banking Company, he was elected to the presidency and has so continued to this time. He is likewise interested in the Irvin, Jewell, Vinson Company, dealers in paints and kindred commodities, and is the presi- dent of the Western Ohio Creamery Company of Greenville. His title of judge,
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by which he is usually known, came as the result of his election in 1893 to the bench of probate court of Montgomery county, where he served in most ac- ceptable manner for two terms. Clear in his decision, sound in his judgment and practical in all he undertakes, these qualities have been salient and forceful elements in his practice of law, in his probate service and in his management of various business concerns.
Judge Irvin is well known as one of the republican leaders of Dayton, taking a deep interest in the vital political questions and issues of the day and in all matters of governmental policy his wide information concerning political prob- lems enables him to defend his position in intelligent argument. He is a Scot- tish Rite Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine, being in hearty sympathy with the beneficent principles of the craft and, appreciative also of the social amenities of life, he has extended his membership relations to the Dayton Bi- cycle Club.
CHARLES W. MACK.
Among the men of business enterprise, whose activity has been the source of their success, is numbered Charles W. Mack, a wholesale and retail butcher of Van Buren township. He is numbered among Dayton's native sons, his birth having there occurred on the 23d of November, 1866. His parents were Alex- ander and Elizabeth (Englauf) Mack. The father, who for many years engaged in the butchering business, is now living retired and is one of the best known of Dayton's citizens. He was born there and has become prominent. not only in its business circles but also as one of the local leaders of the democracy. Unto him and his wife were born : Charles W. ; Dorothy, the widow of Harvey Weifen- baugh ; Arizona ; and Alexander.
Charles W. Mack is indebted to the public schools of Dayton for the early educational privileges he enjoyed and later he attended the Brothers Institute for two years. During his periods of vacation he worked with his father and had some experience and training in mechanical lines in the car shops. He is truly a self-made man for whatever success he has achieved is attributable entirely to his persistent and well directed efforts. He worked for a number of years for the National Cash Register Company and by carefully saving his earnings was at length able to embark in business on his own account as a wholesale and retail butcher. He organized his present enterprise in 1904 and has been very suc- cessful in its conduct since that time. He is one of the younger generation of butchers who closely study the conditions of the animals and all secondary in- terests and in his chosen field of labor he has built up an extensive field of trade.
On the 13th of June, 1891, Mr. Mack was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Goehring, of Dayton, a daughter of George and Catherine ( Karg) Goehring. The father came from Germany when a young man and was educated in the old country. Making his way at once to Dayton, he secured employment in the car shops, being a patternmaker by trade. He continued to reside in this city until called to his final rest and his remains were at length interred in Woodland
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cemetery. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Mack have been born two children: Edward G., who is now attending the Cincinnati Art School; and Catharine, who is also a student. Mr. Mack has erected an attractive home and his business and resi- dence are visible evidences of his life of well directed thrift and enterprise. He belongs to the German Lutheran church and is a man who in all relations is upright and honorable, reliable and straightforward. He has always remained in Montgomery county and his many good qualities have won for him a high regard.
WILLIAM LIGGETT BATES.
William Liggett Bates, a merchandise broker of Dayton, the extent of whose commercial interests makes him worthy to be classed with the representative business men of this city, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 27, 1844, and in the paternal line comes of English ancestry. His father, Richard Bates, was born in Lincolnshire, England. on the 2d of August, 1808, and arrived in America in early manhood, locating in Cincinnati, Ohio, where for many years he successfully conducted business interests as a wholesale grocer. On the 9th of February, 1835, in that city, he was united in marriage to Miss Nancy Trotter, who was born near Glencoe, Ohio, March 4, 1814. She became one of the most promi- nent women not only of Dayton and Montgomery county but also of the entire state. She was the first president of the Woman's Christian Association of Day- ton and was largely instrumental in raising the funds for the Orphan's Home, originally located on the present site of the Miami Valley Hospital, remaining president of that institution up to the time of her death. It was also largely due to her efforts that the Widow's Home was organized and she was also its presi- dent when called from this life. She devoted not only her time but also her means to charitable work. She was president of the Soldier's Aid Society and during the Civil war many soldiers were indebted to her for clothing, food, fruits and delicacies. She passed away on the 22d of October, 1870, at the age of fifty- six years, loved and respected by all who knew her. The father of our subject died March 21, 1855. In the family were seven children, namely : John, who died at the age of five years ; Susan L., the wife of John H. Winters of Dayton ; Rich- ard J., who died at the age of sixty-eight years ; Adolphus S., a resident of White Salmon, Washington ; William L., the subject of this sketch; Joseph S., who died at the age of five years; and Ella M., the widow of Charles T. Huffman of Dayton.
After spending the first fourteen years of his life in the city of his nativity, William L. Bates came to Dayton with his widowed mother and here continued his education until, during his third year in high school, he offered his services to the government in defense of the Union, enlisting on the 4th of May, 1864, at the age of eighteen years, as a private of Company A, One Hundred and Thirty- first Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was then made corporal and with that rank served for one hundred days at Fort Federal Hill and vicinity. He had pre- viously been with the Fiftieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, the sutler of which was a relative of his, spending the winter of 1863-1864 with that regiment. He was
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mustered out at Camp Chase, Ohio, in September, 1864, and at once returned to Dayton. Of the eighty-seven men mustered into his company May 4, 1864, only thirty-two are known to be living and on the forty-fifth anniversary celebra- tion held May 4, 1909, there were only twenty-three of these present.
After the war, in connection with his two brothers, Mr. Bates entered the re- tail grocery business in Dayton under the firm name of Bates Brothers, which relation was maintained for four years, when he joined his brother in law, Charles T. Huffman, in the grocery business in 1870. He was thus associated with the commercial interests of this city for four years and in 1874 withdrew and went upon the road for a New York grocery firm which he represented for several years. In November, 1877, he turned his attention to the merchandise brokerage business and has continued in that department of commercial activity to the pres- ent time. His long association therefore, covering thirty-two years, indicates something of the success which he has achieved. Thoroughly familiar with the trade and market conditions, he has handled important and profitable lines, his capable management and keen business discernment being a strong element in the considerable success which he has won.
On the 22d of October, 1868, Mr. Bates was married in Tiffin, Ohio, to Miss Belle Noble, a daughter of Hon. Warren P. Noble, a well known statesman of Ohio, who served for several terms in congress. Their only child, Laura M., died August 17, 1885, at the age of sixteen years.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise, Mr. Bates has been a stalwart republican, in sympathy with the policy of the party in controlling fed- eral and international relations. In 1898 he was appointed a member of the board of city affairs of Dayton and rendered capable and businesslike service in that capacity for three years. He is well known in various fraternal relations, being a comrade of Old Guard Post, G. A. R., while in Masonry he has attained high rank. He was captain general of Reed Commandery No. 6, K. T., of Dayton for twelve years, is past grand commander of the Knights Templars of Ohio, has been presiding officer at various important Masonic meetings and has been honored with the thirty-third degree. He also belongs to Christ Episcopal church and the guiding principles of his life are those which work for reliabilty and progressiveness in material affairs, for loyalty and advancement in citizenship and for a recognition of the obligations of the individual to his fellowman.
JOHN H. POHLKOTTE.
The life record of John H. Pohlkotte is an exemplification of the fact that a humble beginning in business life need not hamper the individual in his efforts to attain success, for through well directed energy he has gradually extended his interests until now he is well known in commercial circles as the president of the Gem Shirt Company. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1848 and the fol- lowing year was brought to Dayton by his parents so that he was reared and educated in this city. He attended the public schools to the age of thirteen years, when he started out to earn his own living and has since been dependent entirely
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upon his labors for whatever success he has enjoyed. He was employed in vari- cus ways for a few years and in 1865 secured a clerkship with Coffman, Osborn & Company, wholesale dealers in notions. That he proved competent and reli- able is plainly indicated by the fact that he remained with the house until 1879, was promoted from time to time and for a brief period represented the com- pany upon the road. Ambitious to engage in business on his own account, this step was finally made possible through his careful expenditure and untiring industry. In 1879 he entered into partnership with C. J. Coffman in the estab- lisliment of a wholesale notion business in Dayton under the style of C. J. Coffman & Company, the firm name being thus continued until 1889, when they purchased a shirt factory in this city. With the extension of the business to in- clude the latter line papers of incorporation were taken out under the name of the Gem Shirt Company with Mr. Pohlkotte as president. This was in 1892 and he has since continued at the head of the enterprise which, under his careful direction, has become one of the important business concerns of the city in both manufacturing and sales lines.
In 1888 Mr. Pohlkotte was married to Miss Louise B. Coffman and unto them have been born three sons and four daughters, who are yet living. In poli- tics he is an independent republican, frequently supporting the candidates of the republican party but maintaining also an independent position which permits of his support of any candidate whom he thinks best qualified for the office. He is a citizen of substantial worth, interested in the welfare and progress of Dayton, where for sixty years he has made his home, his cooperation being freely given to many movements for the general good.
SAMUEL E. KUMLER.
Samuel E. Kumler, whose life record has been governed by an intelligent ap- preciation for and utilization of opportunities, has, without special advantages at the outset of his career, made steady progress in the business world until he now occupies a leading position in his relations with the mercantile interests of Dayton, being the secretary and treasurer of the Rike-Kumler Company.
A native of Preble county, Ohio, Mr. Kumler was born in Lewisburg, No- vember 29, 1839, and is a son of Bishop Henry and Christina (Zeller) Kumler. The former was born in Pennsylvania in 1801 and came to Ohio with his parents at an early age. Here he married Miss Christina Zeller, who was born in the Keystone state in 1798 and was a daughter of Rev. Andrew Zeller, a bishop of the United Brethren church. There were nine children born of that marriage but only three are now living: Jesse B., a resident of Dayton ; Salome K., who was the wife of David L. Rike; and Samuel E. Those who have passed away are: David, who died July 5, 1895, at Lewisburg, Ohio, when seventy-three years of age; Andrew, who died in 1870 at the age of forty-seven years ; Henry P., who died February 5, 1893, at the age of sixty-three years; Susan, the wife of Abraham Dye, who passed away in March, 1865, at the age of thirty-six ;
SAMUEL E. KUMLER
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Noah W., who departed this life February 4, 1902, at the age of seventy-four years; and Daniel R., who died in 1858 at the age of twenty-five years.
In taking up the personal history of Samuel E. Kumler we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in Dayton, having for more than a half century resided in this city. He remained at the place of his nativity to the age of fifteen years and there attended the public schools. In 1857 he came to Dayton and during the succeeding three years learned the bookbinder's trade. Desiring, however, higher educational advan- tages, owing to his realization of the fact that broad mental discipline is a valu- able asset in the business world, he entered Otterbein University at Westerville, Ohio, in 1860 and continued his studies through the year. On the 29th of August, 1861, constrained by a spirit of patriotism, he offered his services to the government and was assigned to duty with Company H, Fifteenth United States Infantry, for three years, or during the war. He served for eighteen months in the ranks and was then commissioned commissary sergeant, filling that position through the succeeding year and a half. On the 28th of August, 1864, by rea- son of the expiration of his term of enlistment, he was honorably discharged in front of Atlanta. He had participated in the battles of Shiloh and Stone River, had witnessed the engagement at Lookout Mountain, took part in the battle of Missionary Ridge and had marched from Shiloh to Louisville, Kentucky, with his command. During the Atlanta campaign he was in several skirmishes as a volunteer. During his three years service he was never wounded nor captured, never lost a day through illness or received a furlough, but was always at his post of duty, whether on the picket line or the firing line or on the long, hard marches.
After receiving his discharge Mr. Kumler returned to Dayton and when he had pursued a course of bookkeeping he entered the store of Prugh & Rike as bookkeeper and salesman. That he manifested ability, fidelity and thorough- ness in the discharge of his duties is indicated by the fact that he was admitted as a partner in 1866, at which time Robert I. Cummin was also taken into the firm, under the style of D. L. Rike & Company. The business was conducted under that name for twenty-six years or until the fall of 1892, when it was re- organized as the Rike Dry Goods Company and on the death of Mr. Cummin became the Rike-Kumler Company. For forty-three years Mr. Kumler has had a voice in the management of this enterprise which is today one of the largest and most important commercial concerns in this city, and the substantial and continuous growth of the business speaks in unmistakable terms of the safe policy and progressive spirit of Mr. Kumler and his associates, who are con- tinually seeking out new lines for the expansion of their trade and yet at all times temper their activity with a safe conservatism. In addition to his mer- cantile interests Mr. Kumler is a director and treasurer of the Equitable Build- ing & Loan Association and president of the board of trustees of the United Brethren Publishing Company, and chairman of the local committee.
In 1866 Mr. Kumler was married in Dayton to Miss Mary L. Chambers, a daughter of Jacob and Amelia Chambers. They are now the parents of five children, as follows : Irvin G .; Bessie C., the wife of Charles H. Bosler ; Richard C .; Barrett L .; and Ada B., the wife of Charles D. Bronson, of the firm of
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Thomas & Bronson, attorneys of Dayton. The sons are all connected with the Rike-Kumler Company as managers of various departments.
Mr. and Mrs. Kumler are faithful members and active workers of the First United Brethren church, his deep interest in the cause being manifest in the fact that he is now serving for the thirty-fifth consecutive year as superintendent of the Sunday-school. For an equal number of years he has also been a trustee of the church and the treasurer and was secretary of the official board for a term of thirty years. His own zeal and interest in the work is an inspiration to others and constitutes a strong factor in the substantial growth of the organ- ization. His political endorsement is given to the republican party because of his firm belief in its principles, yet without desire for office as a reward for party fealty. He stands today as a prominent and honored representative of com- mercial interests-strong in his honor and good name, strong in his ability to plan and to perform.
GEORGE .B. HOLT.
Almost six decades ago the following words were penned: "The future his- torian must give the name of George B. Holt a place among the patriotic and the farseeing statesmen of the commonwealth who a quarter of a century ago planted the seed which has made Ohio the third if not the second in rank among the states of the Union." Now when sixty years have passed the historian takes the right in paying tribute to the memory of one whose life was of great value and usefulness to his fellow citizens and the commonwealth at large, who ranked with the leading lawyers of Dayton, was one of the promoters of the public-school system and of the Miami canal, who made an untarnished record as a jurist and was also connected with the agricultural, political, social and moral progress of his community.
Mr. Holt was born in Norfolk, Litchfield county, Connecticut, in the year 1790. His parents early planned that he should become a member of the bar and, this course proving agreeable to him, he entered the law school of Judges Reeve and Gould in Litchfield, Connecticut, and in 1812 passed the required exami- nation that secured him admission to the bar. About that time the east was aroused by the tales concerning the vast fertility and the rich lumber resources of the state of Ohio-tales that were told by the hardy emigrants, who had already established their homes in the western wilderness. Mr. Holt became im- bued with the desire to cast in his lot with the early settlers who were making history in the then far west and desired to bear his part with those who were molding the destiny and shaping the policy of the newly created state of Ohio. Accordingly be became a resident of Dayton in 1819 when it was still a small village and in 1820 he entered upon the practice of law here. The conditions that confronted the members of the bar were extremely different at that time from those which the present lawyer faces. He had to "ride the circuit" which meant that he traveled on horseback over roads that were little more than bridle
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paths and in the springtime when the streams were swollen into angry floods he often had to trust himself to a frail canoe or ride his horse through the troubled waters and then emerging on the opposite bank perhaps continue his way for miles through the forest before he would come to a hospitable cabin in which he might dry his clothes and obtain food, rest and shelter. Mr. Holt was, how- ever, well grounded in the principles of law and proved an able minister in the temple of justice at a time when it was the ambition and purpose of the lawyer to secure equitable rulings without using the subterfuges of technicalities to secure verdicts favorable to their clients regardless of the salient points of the case.
Mr. Holt was, moreover, an active factor in the life of the little, but grow- ing, town of Dayton and in 1822 established the Miami Republican which he conducted for three years and which was characterized in a little serial, The Convention and Its Men, as a "newspaper devoted to news, agriculture and the dissemination of democratic doctrines." In the fall of 1824 Mr. Holt was called to represent his district in the state legislature and was an active participant in securing the passage of many acts which made that an important session in the history of the Ohio assembly. The lands of the state were then divided into first, second and third classes and taxed accordingly, and it frequently occurred that the wild lands and the improved farms were equally taxed-a condition that called loudly for amendment. The remedy was forthcoming in an enactment of the session of 1824-25 in a policy that has since been followed by the state. Another important question which came up for consideration was the building of canals. Ohio, under the direction of DeWitt Clinton, had begun its canal system and Judge Holt and many others of his colleagues recognized the fact that there should be a waterway between the Ohio river and Lake Erie to afford the needed shipping facilities for the state. Judge Holt advocated this course through the columns of his paper and after elected to the legislature was instru- mental in securing the passage of the first canal law, under which the Ohio and Miami canals were commenced, constituting the initial step in the work of in- ternal improvement in Ohio. Judge Holt was also active in promoting the public- school system. At that time the state had little income for its products were not shipped out and there was little ready money in circulation. There was a growing feeling that the state should give equal educational opportunities to the rich and poor, the high and low, and the legislature of 1824-25 took up this question, Judge Holt being appointed a member of the committtee to whom the subject was referred and which in time reported a bill that became a law and es- tablished the common-school system of Ohio. As we review the history of the past it seems almost increditable that a feeling existed such as was prevalent at that day. The rich felt that they should not be called upon to contribute money to educate other people's children and the poor were told by those who opposed the law that their children would be educated at pauper schools and their pride was thus aroused to resistance and the clamor became so great that many of the advocates of the school system were not reelected to the legislature at the ensuing election but Judge Holt, because of his advocacy of the Miami canal, was one of the successful candidates. He was also chosen a member of the state senate in 1828 and served during that and the succeeding term, during
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