USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Dayton > History of the city of Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio, Volume II > Part 31
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In his political views Mr. Wolf is a republican and has capably served as a member of the school board. He and his family are valued members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which they are deeply and helpfully interested. He is a worthy representative of an honored pioneer family of this section of the state and, having remained in Montgomery county throughout his entire life, his record has been closely interwoven with its history for more than two-thirds of a century. In all of his dealings he has been thoroughly re- liable and straightforward and his influence is at all times in favor of those movements, measures and beliefs which uplift and benefit humanity.
DANIEL W. ALLAMAN.
The attractiveness of Montgomery county as a place of residence is indi- cated in the fact that many of his native sons have remained within her borders, believing her opportunities equal to if not superior to those found in other sec- tions of the country. Born in Butler township, this county, on the 5th of August, 1861, Mr. Allaman since attaining his majority has become a represen- tative of the legal fraternity in Dayton, in which connection he has done good work as an advocate and exponent of a high standard of professional ethics. His youthful days were passed in the home of his parents, David and Catharine (Zim- merman) Allaman, who removed from Franklin county, Pennsylvania, to Mont- gomery county, Ohio, in the early '40s, establishing their home in the neighbor- hood in which their son Daniel was born. There the mother passed away in January, 1863, when the son was but eighteen months old. The father, how- ever, continued to reside on the old homestead until his death, which occurred in December, 1889, when he was seventy-five years of age. He was recognized as a progressive and enterprising farmer and also as a citizen of sterling worth, who filled a number of minor township offices, to which he was elected on the republican ticket. He was also one of the oldest Masons in Montgomery county.
Following his mother's death Daniel W. Allaman was reared in the home of an uncle, who lived on a farm near Brookville, Montgomery county. He supple- mented his early education by a course in the National Normal School at Leb- anon, Ohio, and afterward entered the Oberlin Business College, but in the meantime taught school for a number of terms, acting as principal of the schools at Johnsville and at Trotwood, Ohio. He regarded this, however, merely as an initial step to other professional labor, for it was his ambition to become a member of the bar and in 1886 he entered upon a course of reading in the law office of S. H. Carr. When he had mastered many of the principles of jurispru- dence, enabling him to successfully pass the required examination, he was ad- mitted to the bar in March, 1888, and has since been actively connected with litigated interests tried in the courts of Dayton. For a short time he practiced in partnership with F. M. Compton under the firm name of Compton & Allaman but during much of his professional career has been associated with his former preceptor, the firm of Carr, Allaman & Kennedy existing for some time. The zeal with which he has devoted his energies to his profession, the careful regard
D. W. ALLAMAN
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evinced for the interests of his clients and an assiduous and unrelaxing attention to all the details of his cases have brought him a large business and made him very successful in its conduct. His arguments have elicited warm commendation not only from his associates at the bar but also from the bench. He is a very able writer : his briefs always show wide research, careful thought and the best and strongest reasons which can be urged for his contention presented in cogent and logical form and illustrated by a style unusually lucid and clear.
In the year 1885 Mr. Allaman was married to Miss Iva Cupp, a daughter of Louis and Kate H. Cupp, both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Allaman have two children, Mary Katherine and Mildred Louise. Mr. Allaman belongs to Garfield Club and is prominent in Masonry, holding membership with the lodge, the chapter and commandery, the Scottish Rite and the Mystic Shrine. Aside from professional relations he is perhaps best known as one of the republican leaders of Montgomery county. Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise he has given to the party his stalwart support and was one of the incorporators of the Garfield Club, in which he served as a director for a number of years. In 1891 he was elected to represent his district in the general assembly, being the first republican member from Montgomery county in fifteen years, with one exception. During his connection with the house he was secretary of the com- mittee on finance and also served on the committee on public works. He has frequently been a delegate to state conventions, including that held in Columbus, March 3 and 4, 1908, and was a delegate to the republican national convention in Chicago. which nominated W. H. Taft for the presidency. He has also been a member of the republican state central committee since 1906. His interest in politics is that of a public-spirited citizen who is alive to the issues of the day and the trend of the times and who keeps abreast with the best thinking men of the age.
COLONEL ROBERT COWDEN.
Colonel Robert Cowden, known throughout the length and breadth of the land as a prominent Sunday school worker, representing the United Brethren in Christ, his position being that of general secretary of the Sunday school board, makes his home in Dayton. He was born May 24, 1833, in what is now Crawford but was then Richland county. He was twenty-eight years of age when, in response to the country's call for troops to subdue the rebellion in the south, he offered his services to the government, enlisting on the 9th of Sep- tember, 1861, at Bucyrus, Ohio, as a member of Company B of the First United States Mechanic Fusileers under command of Captain James E. Marsh. This organization was rendezvoused in Camps Webb and Douglas at Chicago and Mr. Cowden was appointed corporal. Before his second detail for guard duty, however, he was made sergeant and went to Girard, Pennsylvania, to recruit men for his regiment. Successful in this undertaking, within two weeks he took fifty-six men to camp in Chicago and they were placed in Company H, com- manded by Captain James Armstrong. Mr. Cowden being appointed first lieu-
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tenant of the company in October, 1861. For a period of four months the regiment remained in camp at Chicago, engaged in daily drills but without be- ing furnished arms. Then as the secretary of war refused to recognize the authority for raising a regiment of this character, and in order that the regiment might be regularly mustered out of service, its designation was changed to the Fifty-sixth Illinois Infantry and it was duly mustered out as such January 28, 1862.
Lieutenant Cowden's return to civil life covered but a brief period for on the following day he enlisted as a private in Battery I, First Regiment Light Artillery, under Captain Edward Bouton. For eighteen months he was with that command, during which time he was promoted through the ranks of corporal, sergeant and first sergeant to that of second lieutenant. He was then mustered out July 28, 1863, that he might accept promotion in another command. His former captain, Edward Bouton, who was afterward breveted brigadier general of volunteers, had been given power to raise a regiment of colored troops and in this regiment Lieutenant Cowden was commissioned major. The organiza- tion was first known as the First West Tennessee Infantry of African Descent, but later was known as the Fifty-ninth United States Colored Infantry. Major Cowden remained with that organization until May 18, 1864, when he was com- missioned lieutenant colonel of the regiment to succeed R. E. Phillips, resigned, thus serving until January 31, 1866, his military service being then terminated by his being mustered out at Memphis, Tennessee. He had been in actual com- mand of the regiment much of the time, the colonel had been assigned to the command of the brigade. While at the front Colonel Cowden participated in a number of hotly contested battles, taking part in the engagements at Shiloh and Russell House, Tennessee ; Corinth and Guntown, Mississippi. At the last named he was wounded in the right hip by a sharp-shooter and his injuries for some time precluded his active participation in the movement of his regiment. Because of his wounds he was sent home in July, 1864, and in the following September rejoined his command, although he was still using crutches when he again went south. He was also an active participant in the siege of Vicksburg and in the campaign resulting in the capture of Jackson, Mississippi. He was a valiant officer, inspiring his men with much of his own zeal and courage, and at the same time was an excellent disciplinarian.
General Edward Bouton said of him: "Colonel Robert Cowden, of Dayton, Ohio, enlisted as a private soldier in my battery at Chicago at the beginning of the war of the Rebellion, and served over four years continuously under my command, the last two years and over commanding a regiment of infantry. Soon after his enlistment, observing his superior ability and worth, I appointed him orderly sergeant of the battery, which position he held at the battle of Shiloh, where he especially distinguished himself and gained further promotion. On Sunday, the 6th of April, 1862, our battery had done hard fighting and par- ticularly distinguished itself, especially in what was described in the Chicago papers as the great artillery duel in front of Pittsburg Landing at the close of the day, in which we suffered severe losses, including Sergeant Tibbetts, who was so severely wounded as to cripple him for life, so that the next day I had to put Orderly Sergeant Cowden in charge of Tibbetts' gun. Towards noon
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of that day, by direction of Major Taylor, General Sherman's chief of artillery, we took a very advanced position where we were subjected to a very severe cross-fire from the infantry constituting the enemy's reserve under General Breckenridge. When Major Taylor observed the error he had made in plac- ing us in that position he ordered, nis to withdraw, but our losses in men and horses had been so severe that we were compelled to leave one gun behind, but not the one that Cowden had charge of. Having reached a more secure position I called for volunteers to go and bring off the abandoned gun. Sergeant Cowden was the first to respond to the call, and by a heroic effort succeeded in recovering the gun and bringing it off by hand over newly cultivated stumpy ground, made almost impassable by recent heavy rain. One of his men, Stephen Rexer, lifted so hard at the wheel of the gun that he ruptured himself severely and had to be discharged. In commending Sergeant Cowden to Governor Yates of Illinois for promotion to a lieutenancy in the battery I mentioned the Shiloh incident, and when his commission came there was boldly written across its face, 'For Merit at Pittsburg Landing.' At the desperate and bloody battle of Guntown, Mississippi, on June 10, 1864, where for a time we contended against nearly ten times our own numbers and lost half our men, Colonel Cow- den handled his regiment with great skill, bravery and good judgment. Al- though engaged in hard, rough service, and separated from all restraining social and home influences, Colonel Cowden was a man of so gentle and refined a nature that in all the years that we were associated together I never heard him utter a single vulgar or profane word."
Almost continuously since his return from the war Colonel Cowden has been actively associated with Sunday school work, with which he has been con- tinuously connected in an official capacity for a longer period than any other man now living. On the 16th of December, 1866, he was chosen president of the Sunday School Association of Jefferson township, Crawford county, Ohio, and six months later was elected secretary of the county association, in which capacity he served continuously for fifteen years. From June, 1871, until June, 1877, he was general secretary of the Ohio Sunday School Association, and in the latter year was made a member of the executive committee of the state associa- tion, with which he has ever since been associated in the same capacity. In 1894 he was chosen secretary of the teachers' training department of the Ohio asso- ciation, remaining in that position for eleven years, or until 1905. No practical movement or plan for the benefit of the Sunday school or the extension and promotion of its work has failed to receive his attention and endorsement. From 1875 until 1890 he was the representative from the Ohio association on the in- ternational executive committee and for thirty-two years has been the general secretary of the Sunday school board of the United Brethren in Christ. He was a member of the international Sunday school convention of 1872, which adopted the plan of international lessons, and he has since attended all of the interna- tional conventions and all of the world's conventions with two exceptions.
One well acquainted with him says: "Among the many great men whom the state of Ohio has produced, none stand higher as a Sunday school worker than Colonel Robert Cowden, of the church of the United Brethren in Christ. In fact it is a question if any stand so high in this regard. As a conductor of
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institutes, a lecturer on his favorite themes before great conventions, as an apt expounder of the Scriptures and as an instructor of Sunday-school officers, teachers and classes, he has few equals and perhaps no superiors. Colonel Cowden has devoted his entire time to this work for many years, being all that time the general Sunday-school secretary of his church, and for forty-two years a prominent member of the Ohio state Sunday School Association; and to his tireless efforts and enthusiasm, traveling, lecturing, conducting institutes and addressing conferences of his church, from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the gulf away up into Canada, is chiefly due the vigorous life of the Sunday school work of today in the United Brethren denomination, its thorough organi- zation and the effective work that it is doing. By his rare ability, intelligent generalship and tireless effort, he has made a record that is imperishable and set at work forces that will bless coming generations for untold years."
While the Sunday school work has largely occupied the time and efforts of Colonel Cowden, in his earlier years he largely depended upon his labors in other directions for his support. At the age of sixteen years he was apprenticed to a carpenter and from that time until he reached the age of forty years he was connected with building operations through the summer months and in the winter seasons engaged in teaching school. His life has always been charac- terized by unfaltering industry, unwearied energy and unswerving purpose, but as these have been directed in the line of attainment of great good for the young people of the land, his life work has been of inestimable value, not only to the church but also in a broader sense to the country, in promoting such characteristics of manhood as constitute good citizenship.
Colonel Cowden has been married twice. He first wedded Miss Lydia Tabitha Miller and unto them were born five children: Daniel Webster, John C. Milton, Aretas P. Eugene, Jacob K. and Zoe Estelle May. The third son died in infancy. The eldest married Miss Rosa E. Ruhl and is now vice presi- dent and general manager of the H. D. Lee Mercantile Company in Salina, Kansas, with which business enterprise his sons, George Robert and Jay Rule, are also connected. J. C. Milton Cowden married Miss Alice B. Wood, of Cleveland, Ohio, and is a resident of Dayton. Jacob is connected with ranch interests near Newcastle, Colorado, and the only daughter of the family became the wife of Frank L. Chipperfield, of Nebraska, and died February 27, 1905. Having lost by death his first wife Colonel Cowden afterward married Mrs. Joanna McGinnis.
In his political views Colonel Cowden has always been a republican and from 1878 until 1882 was postmaster at Galion, Ohio. He has, however, never par- ticipated to any great extent in political affairs, yet regards it his duty as well as the privilege of citizenship to support the men and measures whereby the best good to the community, state and nation will be advanced. On the Ist of June, 1892, he was elected a member of Ohio Commandery of the Loyal Legion and is also a member of Old Guard Post, No. 23, G. A. R., of Dayton. Centuries ago a Psalmist said: "Train a child up in the way he should go and even when he is old he will not depart from it." The wisdom thus uttered has been rec- ognized to some extent through all the intervening ages but there has been no period in the world's history when the people are so thoroughly aroused to
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the need and value of religious instruction through the medium of the Sunday school as at the present time; no era in which the work has been so completely organized and the teachers so thoroughly trained. Colonel Cowden has been most active in this movement toward the development of a Christian citizenship, wherein lies the hope of the stability of the nation. He entered simultaneously on the seventy-seventh year of his life and the thirty-third year of ministry as general secretary of the Sunday school board of his denomination on the 24th of May, 1909.
THOMAS BENTON MINNICH.
Thomas Benton Minnich is now living retired in Dayton after active con- nection with official and business interests wherein his well directed efforts brought him substantial success. His birth occurred on a farm in Clark county, Ohio, near Springfield, in 1843, and there he was reared to the age of fifteen years. He represents an old American family. His paternal grandfather, Peter Minnich, was born in Virginia in 1793 and came to Ohio in early manhood, set- tling in Clark county, where he resided up to the time of his death, which oc- curred in December, 1842. He was a farmer by occupation, following that pur- suit at a time when tilling the soil in Ohio was a most arduous task. The only in- terruption to his business activity came at the time of the war of 1812, when he enlisted in defense of American interests. His son, Arthur Minnich, the father of Thomas B. Minnich, was born in Clark county in 1819 and was there reared amid the wild scenes of frontier life. He, too, followed the occupation of farm- ing and was married in Clark county, Ohio, in 1841, to Miss Sarah Flick. Two children were born unto them: Mary, who died at the age of fifteen years; and Thomas B.
The latter was in his infancy when his father died in 1843 and he was reared by his maternal grandfather, William Flick, spending his youth on a farm in Clark county, Ohio, where he early became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. His early education was acquired in the old Black Horse school in Pike township, Clark county, and later he had the benefit of a year's instruction in Linden Hill Academy at New Carlisle, Ohio. Sub- sequently he engaged in teaching for a year or two and then continued his own education in the Southwestern Normal at Lebanon, Ohio. Later he again took up the profession of teaching, which he followed in Montgomery, Clark and Miami counties, being thus connected with educational work until 1884, his last term being in the Shearer school in Wayne township, Montgomery county. In that year he came to Dayton and entered the office of the treasurer of Montgom- ery county in the capacity of cashier, serving under two treasurers, or from 1884 until 1892. In the latter year he succeeded Frank T. Huffman in the capacity of county treasurer and filled this office until September, 1894. In that year he took up his abode at his country home at Sulphur Grove, Montgomery county, where he resided until 1898, when he again entered the county treasurer's office as cashier, serving as such for four years or until 1902. He then returned to his
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home at Sulphur Grove, where he was identified with farming pursuits until 1907, since which time he has lived retired in Dayton, deriving from his property and investments a substantial income.
Mr. Minnich was married in Clark county, Ohio, in 1876, to Miss Clara S. Croft, who died in 1897. He belongs to the Masonic lodge, with which he has been identified since 1868, and gives his political allegiance to the democracy. He has had considerable influence in local political circles and has ever been known as a reliable citizen and trustworthy official, while in every relation of life his substantial qualities are such as have won for him the confidence and regard of those with whom he has been associated.
HENRY KLEY.
Henry Kley, of Mad River township, is known as one of the largest gardeners in the vicinity of Dayton, Ohio, for his twenty-six acre farm of fine land is used exclusively for growing truck produce. All the fruit of his labors is sold in this city and much of it at No. 4 Central Market, where Mr. Kley has his stand. His father, also named Henry Kley, was the oldest gardener in this part of the county and one of the best known. He and his father, Antonio Kley, ' came to this country together from Saxony, and located in this county when it was still in the early stages of its development, for they had to clear all their own land. The elder Henry Kley had learned the mechanic's trade, but after his arrival in this part of the state he forsook it to go into gardening. To this latter pursuit he devoted all his time, and with admirable success, for the pro- duce from his fields was widely known for its excellence. He was married twice-the first time to Miss Mary Swartz, the second to Miss Rebecca Gilbert, who was the mother of the Henry Kley of this sketch. There were seven chil- dren born of these marriages: Mary, George, John, William, Elizabeth, Henry and Katie.
Henry Kley, Jr., was born on the farm on the 21st of March, 1869, and has always lived in this county. From the public schools here he received all that they had to give him in the way of education, but during all his period of training he helped his father on the farm, as do many boys who are reared close to the soil. After a time he assumed full charge of his father's work, for he has ever been the head of the Kley family The guidance of the older man was a valuable thing and assisted him in reaching that position he holds among the gardeners of this locality.
On the 3d of May, 1894, Mr. Kley was united in marriage to Miss Mary Bradmeyer, daughter of August and Minnie (Zimmerneicht) Bradmeyer. Au- gust Bradmeyer was a farmer and like his wife was a native of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Kley's union has been blessed by three children: Ermy, Harry and Florence, who are all of school age. The family belongs to the Third Street Lutheran church and is known among the congregation as one that takes an ac- tive interest in all church work.
HENRY KLEY
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That same ability and power that made Henry Kley the head of his family- his industry, his perseverance and his good management and grasp of the impor- tance of details has made it possible not only to win such excellent returns from the soil but also to conduct his business so that he is amply repaid for his labor. His good fortune has been obtained through his own efforts and so brings with it no bitterness that another has suffered for his prosperity. Mr. Kley is a highly respected citizen and has the good will of all his neighbors.
JEROME J. STOUT, M. D.
Dr. Jerome J. Stout, with broad understanding of the scientific principles that underlic the practice of medicine, has in his professional career made steady progress and although one of the younger representatives of the medical fra- ternity in Dayton, is accorded a practice which many an older physician might well envy. A native of Ohio, he was born on a farm in Athens county, Jan- uary 13, 1877, and represents one of the old families of the state, established here in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. His grandfather, George Stout, was a native of Pennsylvania, while the father, Cyrenus Stout, was born in Athens county, Ohio, in the year 1821. He was reared to agricultural pursuits and made the occupation of farming his life work, owning and cultivating a good tract of land in the county of his nativity. His life record covered seventy-seven years, his death occurring in 1898.
As a farm boy Dr. Stout was reared, attending the country schools in his early youth, while the work of plowing, planting and harvesting largely engaged his attention through the spring and summer months. Ambitious to enjoy more advanced educational opportunities, he entered the Ohio Normal at Ada, Ohio, where he pursued his more specifically literary education, and then with broad general knowledge to serve as the foundation for the superstructure of profes- sional learning, he entered the Ohio Medical University at Columbus, now known as the Starling Ohio Medical College. There he pursued his full course until 1902, when he was graduated and immediately afterward located for prac- tice in Athens county, Ohio, where he remained for three years. He then sought the broader opportunities of the city and in 1905 came to Dayton, where he has practiced continuously since. His ability has won recognition not only from the public but also from the profession and in addition to a gratifying private prac- tice he is now acting as medical inspector of the Patterson and Rubicon public schools. His office and residence are at 921 South Brown street.
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