USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Dayton > History of the city of Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio, Volume II > Part 24
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OLIVER C. BLACK.
Oliver C. Black has for the past three years been acting as general manager of the Riverview Stock Farm, owned by B. F. McCann. He was born on a farm in Montgomery county, Ohio, May 19, 1856, his parents being James and Susan (Boyer) Black. The father, an agriculturist by occupation, owned a tract of eighty acres on the old Troy pike, about seven miles north of Dayton, but sold the property sometime ago. He was three times married and had eight children, Oliver C. being born by his third wife.
In his youthful years Oliver C. Black attended school in Wayne township, this county, and also assisted his father in the cultivation and development of the home farm. He early manifested special aptitude in the care and management of horses and his work has always been along this line. For the past three years
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he has had charge of the Riverview Stock Farm and in addition to looking after the stock also gives supervision of the work of the fields, proving a most capable and efficient manager.
On the 20th of February, 1879, occurred the marriage of Mr. Black and Miss Sallie Roof, a daughter of Andrew and Mary Roof. By this union have been born three children, namely: Mabel, at home; Clarence, who is assisting his father ; and Quincy C., likewise under the parental roof.
Fraternally Mr. Black is identified with Little York Lodge, No. 696, I. O. O. F., while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the United Brethren church, to which the members of his family also belong. He is well known and highly esteemed throughout the county in which his entire life has been spent, his genuine worth and high principles having commended him to the good will, trust and respect of all with whom he has been associated.
ELIJAH J. COLER.
When one sees Elijah J. Coler quietly, diligently and carefully managing his mercantile interests as the senior partner of the firm of Coler & Kunes, proprie- tors of a general farmers' supply store, it seems hardly possible to realize that he has been the center of several adventures as thrilling as any that appear on the pages of fiction. His life, however, has been varied in its interests and its ex- periences, and throughout his entire record he has held to high standards and has thus merited the esteem and regard which are so uniformly accorded him. Five years ago he established the store which he is now conducting and which is one of the few of the kind in Montgomery county. He is the proprietor and is carrying a line of goods that includes everything demanded by the farmers.
Mr. Coler was born in Jefferson township near Liberty on the old Coler home- stead, July 16, 1853, and is a son of Noah and Eliza (Gregg) Coler. The father was a farmer who came to Ohio from Maryland in company with his parents when three years of age. The journey westward was made by wagon through the wilderness unaccompanied by any other travelers. Here Noah Coler was reared amid the wild scenes and environments of pioneer life and eventually be- came a prominent farmer, owning and controlling an extensive tract of land which he transformed into rich and arable fields, successfully gathering therefrom abundant harvests. He died about five years ago and his remains were interred in the Woodland cemetery in Dayton. He was a son of John and Elizabeth Coler the former a native of Germany, who, on coming to the new world, settled on a tract of land in Maryland. He lived there for some years before his removal to Ohio, and then casting in his lot with the early settlers of Montgomery county, when this was a frontier district, he continued in active association with its farming interests until his demise. His grave was made in Twin Creek ceme- tery in Preble county.
Elijah J. Coler, whose name introduces this review, pursued his education in the common schools and through the periods of vacation worked with his father on the home farm. He also attended the Normal School in Lebanon, Ohio, in
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1873. Subsequently he returned to Dayton, where he pursued a course in the Miami Commercial College, and in due time he was graduated. After putting aside his text-books he returned to the farm where he remained for three years. Many interesting and eventful experiences have been his portion in life. During the war he was made the means of communication between Liberty and Dayton, for he was a little lad at the time and no one would suspect that he was upon any errand of importance. He would mount a horse and ride bareback into Dayton to the Winters Bank, which was then the oldest bank in the county, and there would leave a message and perhaps receive one to be taken to Liberty. It was a time of much danger in this section of the country for the spirit df unrest was here manifest and there was always the threatened danger of inva- sion.
When a young man Mr. Coler engaged in teaming and had various exciting adventures during that period. At one time, while carrying a large amount of money, he was followed by a highway robber who jumped into his wagon on an old covered bridge in Dayton, but Mr. Coler knocked him out with the butt end of his black snake whip, which made a very dangerous weapon. On an- other occasion he was held up near the Soldiers Home when two men tried to grab his horse, but he hit the horse with his whip and it started at a gallop. At the same time Mr. Coler pulled out his gun and several shots were exchanged.
During his early manhood Mr. Coler learned the patternmaking trade but never worked at it as a business. He made a trip to the west for educational purposes and spent about six months in that part of the country, making a close study of conditions that there existed. At one time Mr. Coler was engaged in the general repair business in Liberty. He also patented a gate and self-unload- ing wagon which he manufactured at that town. He is still working on the wagon, for which he has a good sale in this part of the country. About five years ago he established his present business, conducting a general farmers supply store. The firm carrying everything needed on the farm, the business being conducted under the firm style of Coler & Kunes. Mr. Coler, however, is the owner of the establishment and displays marked enterprise in its manage- ment and control.
On the 3d of February, 1881, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Coler and Miss Laura E. Gifford, a daughter of William and Ermina (Fudge) Gifford. Her parents were Preble county farming people of English descent who re- moved from New Jersey to this state. They became very prominent and influen- tial in the community, enjoying in large measure the high regard of those who knew them. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Coler have been born seven children: Grace, the wife of Guy Kunes, employed in Mr. Coler's store, by whom she has two children, Ruth and Etina; four who have passed away ; Katherine, a high school student in the sophomore year ; and Naomi, also a school student.
Mr. Coler belongs to Oak Lodge, No. 265, I. O. O. F., in New Lebanon, and has passed through all of the chairs of the order. He is also a member of the Lutheran church and is prominent in its work, taking an active interest in everything pertaining to its growth and the extension of its influence. He and his wife have traveled quite extensively and they visited many expositions, thus gaining knowledge not only of the work of America but also of the world. On
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one trip to Detroit they were caught in a very severe storm on Lake Erie but at length landed in safety. They occupy one of the fine modern homes of Trotwood, their house containing ten rooms which are attractively and com- fortably furnished. It is situated on Main street and is justly celebrated for its hospitality, which is freely accorded to all.
EDWARD BURR SOLOMON.
Edward Burr Solomon, retired from active life, has invested interests which are bringing to him substantial returns, and he is well known as one who has figured actively, prominently and honorably in the commercial circles of Day- ton, his native city. He was born August 8, 1842, a son of Charles A. and Jeannette W. (Burr) Solomon, and a grandson of Levi Solomon, who was born in New Jersey. The father's birth occurred at Freehold, New Jersey, and in 1839 he came to Dayton, traveling westward by wagon from his native state. He was married in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1833 to Jeannette Weatherspoon Burr, whose father was a relative of Aaron Burr. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Solomon were born four children, of whom a daughter died in infancy, while three reached adult age: Eliza Jane, who was married in Dayton to J. G. Stutsman and died in 1863; George F., living in Dayton; and Edward B. Following his removal to the west the father engagedin farming in Montgomery county, Ohio, but died at the early age of twenty-nine years.
Edward Burr Solomon was reared in the city of his nativity and is indebted to. the public-school system for the educational privileges which he enjoyed. He continued his studies to the age of fifteen years and then entered the employ of James Perrine, a dry-goods merchant, as general utility man. He remained with that house for seven or eight years and then entered the service of Coffman, Osborn & Company, wholesale dealers in notions and hats, with which business he was connected for twenty-four years. He was soon admitted to the firm, which was reorganized under the name of Osborn, Solomon & Company. and so continued until 1892, when it was merged with the Gem Shirt Company. The house of Osborn, Solomon & Company had been engaged in manufacturing overalls and after the merger extended the scope of the business to include an- other line of men's furnishings. Mr. Solomon remained with the company for only a year after the two interests were merged, however, and at the end of that time became one of the incorporators of the Beaver Soap Company, of which he has since been a stockholder. He is now retired from active business.
On the 12th of June, 1872, in Willimantic, Connecticut, Mr. Solomon was united in marriage to Miss Sarah H. Hinckley. Their only child, Charles Hinck- ley Solomon, born on the 14th of May, 1873, died on the 31st of May, 1890, his loss proving an almost unbearable blow to his parents. He was a most lovable boy, of marked intellectual force, and extended mention of him is made on an- other page of this volume. As a memorial to his son the father has furnished a suite of three rooms in the Young Men's Christian Association building and has also erected a memorial library. The rooms are furnished with Mission furni-
E. B. SOLOMON
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ture, including a large book-case filled with books, while elegant rugs are on the door and costly paintings adorn the walls, including a life-like, large oil paint- ing of their son Charles, which hangs in the middle room. They hold member- ship in the First Baptist church and Mr. Solomon belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the Knights Templar degree. His political belief is manifest in his support of the republican party where national issues are involved. At local elections, however, he is identified with that independent move- ment which is one of the hopeful signs of the times, showing that men of public spirit have been aroused to the abuses that have made their way into politics and will stand for good government, for local progress and national advancement even at the sacrifice of party interests. He belongs to that public-spirited, useful and helpful type of men whose ambitions and desires are centered and directed in those channels through which flow the greatest and most permanent good to the greatest number. He started out in life for himself at the early age of fifteen years and has achieved most creditable success as he has worked his way upward. His life work has been that of a merchant and manufacturer. He belongs to that class of men who wield a power which is all the more potent from the fact that it is moral rather than physical and is exercised for the public weal rather than for personal ends.
CHARLES HINCKLEY SOLOMON.
The familiar and affectionate term of Charley had not been replaced among his associates by the more dignified term of Charles as expressive of manhood's years when the young life was ended, around which was centered so much of parental hope and which was expressive of so great promise. He had hardly passed beyond the seventeenth milestone on the journey of life when he passed to the home beyond. His memory remains as a guiding star to those to whom he was very near and dear-the memory of a young life that was full of all that is beautiful and lovable in the child as he passes from early youth to the years of responsibility and developed powers.
It was on the 14th of May, 1873, that Charles Hinckley Solomon came into the home of Edward B. and Sarah H. Solomon-the only child, the remembrance of whom is both a pleasure and a pain-a pain because of the fact that he is no more with them and pleasure in the recollection of all that a loving and lovable boy can be to his parents. He had come to the age when parental love and care were knowing much of that hallowed companionship which can and does exist at times between an only child and his parents. The comfortable financial cir- cumstances of the father enabled him to give to the son such advantages as were best for his physical, mental and moral development. He had hardly uttered his first few words when it was seen that he was a precocious child and throughout his entire life in many lines of intellectual investigation he was far ahead of those of his years and in fact his knowledge upon many subjects equaled that of men whose years four or five times outnumbered his own.
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He had no sooner emerged from the kindergarten than he became interested in the subject of geology. One who knew him well, writing the story of his life, said: "The gravel on the streets, the lumps of coal in his father's grate, the chalk with which he ciphered on the black-board, possessed an unusual interest for him. The whys and wherefores of things swayed his young mind. When but eight years of age he began making a collection of minerals and fossils, and with a single book as his incentive, he not only classified his specimens and labeled them scientifically but could talk so intelligently on the subject that he astonished those of riper years whose information on things geological was con- siderable. In his collection of specimens he was an enthusiast, and not satis- fied merely with what the Miami valley afforded, made excursions to other parts of the state, and visited a number of professional geologists and noted collectors. He was also in correspondence with collectors in other states and by exchange of specimens and purchase of others he secured a large and valuable collection. But the feature which gave especial value to his collection was the successful effort of a descriptive catalogue of every specimen in his cabinet, so systematized that at a moment's notice he could lay his hand upon any one and read in it, as it were, a chapter in geological history not so readily obtainable from books. The catalogue bespeaks for him an order of mind especially adapted to scientific investigation."
It was found early in his life that his tastes were in a direction that would cause him to remain much indoors with little outdoor life or exercise, and his parents realized that this would be detrimental to the health of a growing boy. It became a matter of considerable moment, therefore, and of no little solicitude, to provide an expedient wherewith to provoke outdoor activity and thereby lessen the demand upon his mental energy while developing his physical powers. Even his geological researches were carried on more through correspondence than through actual research for specimens. The question, therefore, of the best method of continuing his education was debated at the home fireside and it was at last decided to send him to Cooper Institute, where consideration for his state of health, his disinclination to outdoor exercises and the peculiar bent of his mind would be had and where also a choice of studies would be allowed. For two years he continued in that school, Professor and Mrs. Robert mani- festing their sympathy with the boy's unusual bent of mind and leading him gently, without burdening him, in the direction which furnished the strongest and best incentive to intellectual endeavor. It was while he was in that school that his taste for geological research somewhat abated and his interest in litera- ture and history was awakened. He read with increasing interest the works of George Eliot, Walter Scott, Plutarch's Lives and Gibbon's Rome. To such works he devoted all of the time not actually required by his studies, and it was char- acteristic of him that at all times he had a book stored away in a corner of each room that he might take it up if by any chance he had a few moments' leisure while in that room. When the Cooper Academy was discontinued, after he had remained there for two years, he entered the grammar schools of Dayton and eventually passed on to the high school.
In the meantime other forces were entering into the life and development of the boy. His parents were continually studying out methods to increase his
CHARLES H. SOLOMON
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outdoor activity and at length his father suggested the raising of fine breeds of poultry. The project was received with favor by the son and soon all arrange- ments were made for the care of the fowls. He entered upon this, however, not merely as the average person "raises chickens," but took up the subject from the scientific standpoint and regarded it as a chapter in natural history, enabling him to make valuable contributions to agricultural literature. By skill, thought, ap- plication and his characteristic thoroughness he soon became a leader and teacher and brought to his task also common sense in the adoption of eminently prac- tical means. He at once subscribed for ten or twelve poultry magazines, from which he learned the names of different breeds and their characteristics and also the names and place of abode of the principal poultry raisers all over the Union. He used every available source to study the history of the domestic fowl, especially those of the finest breed, and his labors resulted in raising a large flock of the rarest and costliest fowls known to the breeders of fine chickens. Poultry raising proved not only a source of amusement and healthful outdoor recreation but also a source of profit as well, and his flock soon became so large that his father's premises were no longer adequate and he formed a partnership with a farmer where more spacious accommodations could be secured. Boy though he was, he wrote various valuable articles for the agricultural press and the Miami Valley Poultry Association, in convention at Middletown, Ohio, elected him its secretary .. The writer of his memoir says: "It was not a little amusing to see the astonishment depicted on the faces of those who for the first time were introduced to their secretary and found that his brceches had not grown below his knees." Such, however, was the con- fidence reposed in him by the association that they entrusted to him the entire management of the Montgomery county poultry exhibit held in Dayton in June, 1888, and for which he prepared an elaborate catalogue, premium lists, also had the supervision of the printing, rented the building and with geometric precision divided it off into compartments for the exhibitors. As he became known in connection with his poultry-raising interests his correspondence be- came so great that it encroached upon his hours of rest, so that after two years his parents prevailed upon him to resign his secretaryship and go east for a visit.
Throughout almost his entire life he had spent the summer months in the home of his aunt and uncle, Dr. and Mrs. E. G. Sumner, near Willimantic, Con- necticut. There he spent much time out of doors and was interested in every- thing relating to the locality. Referring to those visits Dr. Sumner wrote: "He always had some prominent subject upon which he seemed intenscly interested. In his early boyhood when he visited me he was greatly interested in learning all about fish and fishing (as there is a fine lake abounding in fish near my home) and when I would go about with him his joy amounted sometimes to enthusiasm. I recall one summer when poultry engaged his interest and was his theme and I listencd with interest and astonishment when he rehearsed what he knew about poultry. At the age of thirteen he left my house alonc. visited prominent poultrymen in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and having visited Providence and Boston and other New England towns and cities, after an absence of about a week, he came back, reported a pleasant trip and related
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his interviews with the most prominent poultrymen of New England, which both interested and astonished me."
Photography at one time claimed the attention of Charley Solomon. In early boyhood he had given some manifestation of an artistic taste and had done con- siderable sketching. On being presented with a photographic outfit by his uncle during one of his summer visits in Willimantic, he brought the same thoroughness and research and investigation to the new interest, took up the study of books on photographic chemistry, on the nature and properties of light, on the laws of spherical and chromatic aberration in lenses, on practical manipulation and minor treatises, and in fact on every phase of the art. He put his knowledge to the test in the use of his camera with the result that his pictures were not only photographically excellent but the composition was equally true, displaying artistic taste in an eminent degree. He was heard to say that the development of a negative had for him a wonderful fascination ; he looked upon it as a kind of creation, calling into existence something which had no existence before or at least a latent image which could not be seen by any intensification of lens power. However, he regarded photography merely as an adjunct to art and it led him to resume sketching in which he manifested ability in his early boyhood. His portfolio became rapidly filled with curious designs, drawings, mechanical, archi- tectual and ornamental, and so great was the skill that he manifested that his father employed for him a teacher of architecture, under whose direction he made rapid progress. Mr. Farini, his teacher, said of him: "Charley's perceptive faculties were wonderfully quick and he had a faculty which very few artists have-of finishing what he began. Had he lived, architecture and engineering would have been Charley's life vocation. To learn, to labor and to acquire were the dominant features of his character." He especially excelled in drawing maps, not only in copying, reducing or enlarging, but also in making original drawings from descriptions such as are given by missionaries in foreign lands of their travels, preaching stations, schools, dispensaries and other institutions in which locality forms an important part. In connection with his art studies he became much interested in the various processes of newspaper illustrations and gathered much information on the subject by correspondence with practical engravers, stereotypers and electrotypers. He investigated the subject of photo- engraving and photo-lithographing, and it was a source of interest to him to make a sketch upon a block of wood and then engrave it. Procuring a set of engraver's tools he began work in earnest and soon succeeded in making a presentable cut for a newspaper illustration. Ere long he made the cuts from which to illustrate the articles which he wrote for the poultry journals. In this, as in all other pursuits, his hungry mind reached out for still broader information which he gained from such books as Ruskin's Modern Painters and others of a similar character. His last and perhaps best effort in drawing and designing was an elaborate decorative frieze for the parlor and dining room of his father's residence. His contributions to the press and letters which he wrote to different journals also displayed a use of English that fell little short of marked literary ability and the letters especially were filled with references that indicate that he was familiar with the history as well as the topography of the country and showed, moreover, his artistic appreciation of all of the beauties of nature.
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"It is a fact," says the author of his memoir, "that even among those who knew Charley best-his own parents, his relatives, his schoolmates and his school teachers-there is not one of them that can recall a period in the boy's life when in his thoughts, his activities or his aspirations he betrayed the mere boy. In all these he was in advance of his age; the man seems to have crowded his childish body and the body in return proceeded slowly to accommodate the expanding brain-the man. Everything in nature, in art, in science, in social life, in religion that had for its end the cultivating, the ennobling and the refining of human nature found in him an ardent patron. Even in the political arena he was not merely an interested spectator but an enthusiastic participant. To many it would appear incredible that a boy, two presidential terms this side of his first vote, should have caught so accurately and so discriminatingly the issue between the two great political parties, and, moreover, to have the assur- ance and the courage to discuss these issues with men whose first vote dates back to the Lincoln campaign." However, he took up the study of the tariff and other vital questions before the people and carefully culled from the press the best thoughts of the best writers and best speakers on the issues of the campaign of 1888. He studied the questions from both the republican and democratic standpoint, nor was he unmindful of those side lights thrown upon the problems by the labor party and the prohibition party. His scrapbook was filled with the carefully thought out utterances of the leaders of the various move- ments which were shaping the political history of the country at that time and he was a fervent believer in the correctness and righteousness of the policy of the republican party. His mind was filled with statistics and facts which would have been an enrichment to the speeches of many a so-called statesman in pub- lie addresses during the campaign.
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