USA > Ohio > Memoirs of the lower Ohio valley, personal and genealogical : with portraits, Volume I > Part 5
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ber of Willia Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and Trinity Commandery, Knights Templars. For a number of years he has been a Knight of Pythias. In political matters he is a Republican, keeps well informed on public questions, but is not an active politician, and in religion he is a Presbyterian. Mr. Bonser was married on March 5, 1884, to Miss Ella, daughter of Philip and Mary Metzger, of Cincinnati, and to this union there have been born two children: Horace and Isabella.
HON. ALBERT S. BERRY, an attorney and prominent citizen of Newport, Ky., is a descendant of one of the oldest and most highly connected families of Campbell county. His grandfather, Washing- ton Berry, was a native of Virginia, but came to Kentucky at an early date, where he was one of the trustees that laid out the city of New- port and was the first judge of Campbell county. He married Miss Alice Taylor, daughter of Gen. James Taylor, a soldier of the war of 1812 and one of the largest land owners of Kentucky. James T. Berry, a son of this marriage, was born in 1806. He was one of the largest farmers and land owners in Campbell county and was one of the leading citizens. His wife was Miss Virginia Wise, a daughter of Nathaniel Wise, a prominent attorney of Washington, D. C., where he died in 1826. Her mother was a Miss McKeney. James T. and Vir- ginia Berry were the parents of the following children: Washington N., who died in the Confederate service during the Civil war; Albert S., the subject of this sketch; Virginia, wife of Philip B. Spence, of Nashville, Tenn .; Jane, who died as the wife of Taylor Williams; Mildred W. and Betty, both of whom died unmarried ; and James T. and Edmund F., also deceased. Albert S. Berry was born on his father's farm in Campbell county, in 1837, and has always claimed that county as his home. He was educated at the Miami university, Oxford, O., after which he attended the Cincinnati law school and in due course of time was admitted to the bar. He began the practice of his profession at Newport, where he has had a successful career ever since, being in continuous practice except what time he served in the army during the war, and by his elections to various official positions. In 1851 he was chosen superintendent of public instruction ; city attor- ney in 1858; served as president of the school board for some time; mayor of the city for four terms; two terms in the state senate ; was nominated by his party for governor in 1887, but was defeated by a chain of circumstances over which he had no control; was elected to Congress from the Sixth Kentucky district in 1892 and was three times re-elected, serving four consecutive terms, and in January, 1904,
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he was appointed by Governor Beckham to the position of circuit judge of Campbell county, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Newman. At the outbreak of the Civil war Mr. Berry enlisted in Company A, Fifth Kentucky Confederate cavalry, and served four years. Some time after his enlistment he was made adjutant in the signal service and served as such for about a year. He was then promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the marine service and ordered to Charleston Harbor. After the march of Sherman to the sea the marine force with which he was stationed was sent to Richmond to join Lee's army. Three days before the final surrender at Appomat- tox he was captured and held a prisoner at Johnston's Island for two months when he was released and returned to Newport with the rank of captain. Mr. Berry was married in 1867 to Miss Annie Shaler, daughter of Nathaniel B. and Ann (Southgate) Shaler, the former a native of New York and the latter of Newport. To this union there have been born five children, viz .: Alice, wife of William H. Nunn, Portland, Ore .; Shaler, a practicing physician at Newport; Anna, at home; Albert S., Jr., a graduate of the Cincinnati law school and in practice at Newport; and Robert L., who served as a cadet from the third class at Annapolis on the San Francisco during the Spanish- American war. The vessel was shot through by a Spanish gun near Morro Castle at Havana. After the war he returned to Annapolis, completed his course, graduated with the class of 1899, and is now an ensign on the United States torpedo boat destroyer, "Hull."
HUBBARD SCHWARTZ, of Newport, Ky., circuit court clerk of Campbell county and a well-known newspaper man, was born in Newport, April 15, 1868. His grandfather, John Frederick Schwartz, was a native of Hamburg, Germany. During the political agitation there in 1831 he expressed his sympathy for the opponents of the existing state of affairs, incurred by this course the displeasure of the authorities, and fled with his family to America. After a voyage of thirty-one days they landed at Baltimore, but fearing that he would be captured and sent back, Mr. Schwartz made his way with his family overland to Wheeling. On this journey they suffered much discomfort from the melting of the heavy snows, which caused the great flood of the early spring of 1832, the second greatest in the history of the Ohio river. The grandfather died at Wheeling and in 1838 his widow with her children floated down the river on a barge to Cincinnati, where she lived for several years, and finally died in Grant's Lick, Campbell county. Her three sons were John,
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Henry and Herman. The first two are deceased and Herman left Cincinnati for Texas, since which time all trace of him has been lost. John Schwartz, the eldest son, was born in Hamburg in 1825. Upon the death of his father he became the main assistance to his widowed mother. Soon after coming to Cincinnati, in 1838, he was appren- ticed to a rope maker for a year, his wages going to his mother to help toward the support of the family. He continued to work at the business until he was eighteen years old, when the family removed to Jamestown, now a part of Dayton, Ky. For several years he oper- ated a rope-walk in what is now Isabella street, one of the principal thoroughfares of Newport. John Schwartz was the first mayor of Jamestown and also the last one before it was consolidated with Brooklyn to form the city of Dayton. He was also president of the board of education for some time. In 1864 he was elected sheriff of the county on the Democratic ticket and at the close of his term was re-elected. Upon retiring from the sheriff's office he farmed for five years in Grant's Lick precinct, where he had bought a farm, and at the end of that time returned to Newport, residing there while oper- ating rope factories at Paris and Nicholasville, Ky. In 1875, he was elected city jailer and held the office for six years, when he retired from both business and politics. He died in 1889. Owing to the death of his father, already mentioned, his opportunities to secure an education were such that he never attended school a day in his life. However, by self study he learned to read and write, and ultimately became a well-informed man. He married Wilhelmina Bandermann, a native of Salzburg, Germany, who, when she came to America, made the trip from Baltimore to Cincinnati on the first regular pas- senger train between those two cities. She died in 1891. The chil- dren of John and Wilhelmina Schwartz are: John, now living on the old homestead at Grant's Lick; Cornelia, widow of Jeremiah Lane, of Ashmore, Ill .; Henry, with the Filley Stave Company, of St. Louis; Anna, wife of John Ludewig, of Newport; Lettie, wife of Fred Wahle, of Newport; William, with the Langdon Grocery Con- pany, of Cincinnati, and Hubbard, the subject of this sketch. Hub- bard Schwartz obtained his primary education in the public schools of Newport, afterward taking the complete course in the Nelson Busi- ness college, of Cincinnati, in half the allotted time; from 1885 to 1890 he was a professional baseball player in various league clubs ; then became connected with the daily and weekly Commonwealth, of Covington, as a reporter ; remained with that paper about three years ; started a paper in Dayton and Bellevue, called the Day Bell; sold his
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interest to his partner in a few months to become a staff correspond- ent of the Toledo Bee; later went to the Cincinnati Enquirer as the Campbell county reporter; in that capacity reported all the details of the famous Jackson and Walling case, for the murder of Pearl Bryan; became connected with the Times-Star in April, 1897, as re- porter and later as assistant managing editor, and still later as tele- graph editor, remaining with that paper until January, 1904. In 1903 he received the Democratic nomination for clerk of the circuit court and although the county is normally Republican by about 600 ma- jority he was elected by 560, which tells the story of his personal popularity better than words. In his canvass he received the warmest endorsements from the Democratic press of the States of Ohio and Kentucky, while the Republican papers had little or nothing to say in opposition. Mr. Schwartz is well known in fraternal circles, being an Odd Fellow, an Elk, a Knight of Pythias, a Modern Woodman, and a member of the Royal Circle and the Tribe of Ben Hur. He was married on Nov. 21, 1893, to Miss Belle Taft McArthur, daugh- ter of Peter McArthur, a member of one of the old pioneer families of Campbell county. Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz have one daughter, Vivian Leanor, aged eight years. Both parents are members of the Baptist church.
WILLIAM F. LOHSTROH, assessor of Campbell county, Ky., was born in the city of Newport, where he now lives and has his office, April 7, 1861. His father, Henry Lohstroh, was a native of Han- over, Germany, where he was born, June 21, 1827. When Henry was about fifteen years of age, his father having died, leav- ing himself and one brother, he came to America and soon after his arrival in this country located in Newport, where he passed the remainder of his life. What schooling he had was obtained in his native land. His first position in Newport was that of hostler for Gen. James Taylor and later he had charge of the livery stable of Horatio T. Harris, a son-in-law of General Taylor. After some time in this place he went into business for himself, running a number of drays and express wagons, and doing a general transfer business, which he continued to follow as long as he lived. During the Civil war he
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was a member of the home guards and took part in the movement to resist General Morgan in his great raid. In 1853 he was married to Miss Louise Wuelner, a native of Germany. He died on Jan. 21, 1869, and his widow survived him unt:1 1896, when she too entered her final rest. They had nine children, viz .: J. Henry, in the commission business in Cincinnati, but lives in Newport; Louis, died in infancy ; Mary, wife of Charles Heiler of Price Hill, Cincinnati; John F., in the grocery business in Mt. Auburn, Cincinnati; William F., the subject of this sketch; Anna and Charles, both died in infancy; Edward, who runs a grocery in Newport, and Emma, who died in childhood. Wil- liam F. Lohstroh received his education in the Newport public schools. While still in his teens he entered the employ of W. M. Spencer & Son, preserve makers, of Cincinnati, and remained with the firm for twenty-five years, filling every position from office boy to general fore- man. During this time he served three terms as councilman from the Sixth ward in the city council of Newport, and in 1901 he was nominated by the Republicans for the office of county assessor. At the ensuing election he was victorious by a handsome majority and is now holding the office for a term of four years. Mr. Lohstroh is a prominent figure in fraternal circles, being a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Knights of Pythias; the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; the Junior Order of Ameri- can Mechanics ; the Sons of Young Pioneers ; the Knights of the Mac- cabees ; and belongs to the Eastern Star and Rebekah degrees of Masonry and Odd Fellowship. He is also a member of the Brother- hood of Stationary Engineers, No. 18, of Cincinnati, and is affiliated with the Federation of Labor. He is president of the Newport Build- ยท ing and Loan Association, No. I, and is a director in the Kentucky Building and Loan Association, the largest in Newport. On Jan. 24, 1884, Mr. Lohstroh was married to Miss Mary Jaeger, a native of Germany, and they have had five children. William Henry, Leslie John and Elsie Marie are deceased; Stanley Otto and Pearl are at home with their parents, the son now being a student in the Newport high school. He was born Sept. 11, 1886, and Pearl was born July 8, I888.
PETER McARTHUR, a retired citizen of Dayton, Ky., is a mem- ber of a family that has been long and prominently identified with the history of Campbell county, Ky. His grandfather, whose name was also Peter, was born in Argyleshire, Scotland, in 1764. When he was about twenty years of age he came to America, having for his
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traveling companion on the voyage his cousin, Duncan McArthur, who rose to the rank of general in the war of 1812 and was the eighth governor of the State of Ohio. Peter McArthur came to Kentucky, located near Georgetown, and soon afterward found employment as a surveyor, following that occupation for several years in Central Ken- tucky and Southern Ohio, locating land warrants for the soldiers who served in the Revolutionary war. In 1815 he settled in Newport, where he engaged in the hotel business, and lived there until his death in July, 1828. On Dec. 26, 1800, he married Mrs. Mary Tompkins, nee Michie, a native of Louisa county, Va., but of Irish extraction. She died Sept. 1, 1853, and was buried by the side of her husband in Evergreen Cemetery at Newport. Their children were Augustus E., Thomas Jefferson, Gilbert, Nancy, and James Madison, all now de- ceased. James Madison, the youngest of the family, was born near Georgtown, Jan. 31, 1810, and was five years old when his parents re- moved to Newport. There he attended private schools until he was fifteen years of age, when he entered Center college, at Danville, and studied for one year, which completed his schooling. Upon reaching manhood he became an extensive dealer in real estate, at one time own- ing over one-third of the land in Campbell county. He then turned his attention to the improvement of Newport ; opened the first street in the city ; invested large sums of capital in the building of houses for resi- dence and business purposes ; sold much of his property on long time to assist others in getting homes; established the Newport Safety Fund bank, and was its president from 1852 to 1856; in company with James T. Berry and Henry Walker he laid out the town of Dayton ; spent both time and money in building up the new town; built the street railway between Dayton and Newport; owned it for nine years, after which he sold it and turned his attention to other lines of business. Mr. McArthur was also active in politics. For ten years he was president of the Newport city council; was twice elected to the legislature, in 1846 and in 1873; introduced and secured the passage of the "Cemetery Act ;" the act levying tax on real estate to aid in the establishment of common schools; the mechanics' lien law; and various other important acts of legislation. In 1837 he was married to Miss Mary J., daughter of Charles Stricker, of Philadelphia. She died on April 6, 1893, and he on Feb. 11, 1900. They had seven children, viz .: Peter, born May 28, 1838, the subject of this sketch; Mary, born April 10, 1840, and died June 1, 1865; Alice, born March 4, 1842, now the widow of Henry M. Rand; Annie, born Sept. 30, 1844, now Mrs. T. J. Haggard, of Dayton, Ky .; Charles, born Jan. 8, 1847, connected with the Savannah,
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Florida & Western railway, at Jacksonville, Fla .; Ida, born June I, 1850, and died March 17, 1894; William W., born Oct. 23, 1858, and died Jan. 3, 1903. Peter McArthur, the eldest child of the family, has always claimed Campbell county as his home. He was educated in the public schools of Dayton and finished his education with a course at College Hill, O. After leaving school he engaged in mercantile pur- suits at Carthage and continued in that business until the war broke out. During the war he did all he could do to advance the cause of the Confederacy. After the war he went to Missouri, where he followed merchandizing for about two years, when he returned to Newport and was superintendent of the Newport and Dayton street railroad until 1875. For some time succeeding this he was the proprietor of a line of steamboats running between Memphis, Tenn., and points on the Black and White rivers in Arkansas. In 1902 he sold out his inter- ests in this business and since then has lived retired at Dayton. Mr. McArthur has always taken an active interest in politics; served as deputy sheriff for a number of years; was once nominated for sheriff but was defeated by a combination of circumstances; and is always ready to do his part to advance the interests of his party. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On May 18, 1865, he was married to Miss Calista E., daugh- ter of Dr. Willard F. Taft, a distant relative of the family from which comes W. H. Taft, the present secretary of war. Mr. and Mrs. Mc- Arthur have five children: Mame is the wife of Charles Auspaugh, of Dayton ; Ida Lee is deceased; Jesse is in the laundry business at Day- ton ; Belle is now Mrs. Hubbard Schwartz (see sketch) ; and Calista is at home with her parents. Mrs. McArthur and the children belong to the Baptist church.
SAMUEL F. WRIGHT, a well-known farmer of Campbell county, Ky., residing near Alexandria, was born on the old homestead, where he now lives, Aug. 15, 1851. He is the next to the youngest of ten children born to Samuel and Elizabeth (Baker) Wright, and a grandson of that Joseph Wright who came from Bracken county in 1818 and settled near Alexandria. (For a complete account of the ancestry see the sketch of Joseph F. Wright.) Samuel F. Wright has lived all his life in Campbell county. He received a good, practical education in the common schools and upon attaining his majority he adopted the life of a tiller of the soil, which has been his vocation ever since. He does a general farming business and is regarded as one of the successful men of his neighborhood. In 1871 Mr. Wright was married to Miss
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Anna Riggall, a daughter of Richard Riggall, who came from England and settled in Campbell county several years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have the following children: Alice, now the wife of John Hully, of Avondale, O .; Fannie, at home with her parents ; Walter, who lives at Hamilton, O .; and Albert, Edna and Eva at home. Mr. Wright is a man of domestic tastes and spends most of his time with his family. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and an occa- sional evening at the lodge-room is one of the causes for his being away from home after nightfall. As a citizen he has the confidence and respect of his neighbors and acquaintances, and as a farmer he is looked upon as one of the most progressive in his locality.
DANIEL RIEDEL, of Newport, Ky., sheriff of Campbell county, was born in the city of Cincinnati, July 2, 1849, and is the oldest child of Christian and Mar- garet Riedel, both natives of Bavaria, Germany. In 1858 his parents moved to Zanesville, Ohio, and started in the ba- kery business, and in 1863 his father lost his life by the falling of the market house, caused by the weight of a heavy snow on the roof. His mother is living, now re- siding in Newport. Daniel was not quite sixteen years of age when he left home and began life for himself. Going to Cincinnati he found employment as a deck-sweeper on one of the river steamers and for the next nine years he was on the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and their tributaries, filling various positions of trust and responsibility in the river trade. Upon leaving the river he located in Newport and since 1875 he has been engaged in the business of moving household goods, etc., having one of the best equipped lines of furniture vans about the three cities. Mr. Riedel has always taken an interest in political affairs. He served five years as a member of the Newport city council with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. In the campaign of 1901 he was nominated by the Republicans for the office of sheriff and although the county is comparatively close, the Democrats electing part of the ticket, Mr. Riedel's majority was 1, 195, the largest ever given to a candidate for sheriff in the political his- tory of the county. His term expires Jan. 1, 1906. Mr. Riedel is a member of the Junior Order United American Mechanics, the Knights
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of the Ancient Essenic Order, and the St. Paul Lutheran church. He was married in April, 1875, and has two sons, John C., a draughtsman and designer, now in San Francisco, Cal., and Daniel, Jr., an electrical engineer in charge of the construction department of the Cincinnati and Columbus Traction Company.
JAMES TAYLOR THORNTON, city attorney of Newport, Ky., was born in that city, Jan. 3, 1879, and is the eldest son of Reuben Taylor and Maggie L. (Sinclair) Thornton. The family came originally from England. In 1849 Thomas Griffin Thornton, a native of Caroline county, Va., crossed the mountains with his family and half a dozen slaves and settled in Campbell county, Ky., where he was engaged in the ice business the re- mainder of his life. His wife was Sarah J. Thornton, a first cousin, her father being Henry Thornton and her mother, a sister of Gen. James Taylor. She is still living in Newport, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. Their children were Louis B., Mary Moss, James B., Edmund Taylor, Reuben Taylor, John H., Horatio Harris, Thomas Griffin, and Bettie. Those living are John H., who is in the ice business in Newport: Horatio H., a railroad man, also lives in Newport; and Bettie, wife of Col. J. Taylor Williams, of Highlands, near that city. Thomas Grif- fin died in Washington, D. C., in 1898, where he was chief clerk of the geological survey. Reuben Taylor, the fifth of the family, was born in Caroline county, Va., in 1847. He received his education in the New- port public schools and in a private institution conducted by Rev. Father Guilfoil. After arriving at manhood's estate he continued in the ice business for some years, at the same time serving as agent of the Gen. James Taylor estate. In June, 1885, he was appointed gauger for the United States government and continued to act in that capacity until his death, Feb. 26, 1890. In 1870 he was married to Maggie L. Sinclair, a daughter of John L. Sinclair, of Prince William county, Va., and a cousin. The following are the children born to this mar- riage: Lucy Taylor, Mrs. C. H. Murdock, of Cincinnati ; Mary Moss, wife of Albert Collins, also of Cincinnati; James Taylor, the subject of this sketch; John Sinclair, bookkeeper for the Big Four railroad company; Sarah Virginia, at home, and Walter Crail, employed in a
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broker's office at Cincinnati. James T. Thornton graduated from the Newport high school with the class of 1897; read law with Aubrey Barbour, his cousin, of Newport; entered the law department of the McDonald Institute of Cincinnati in September, 1898; graduated in June, 1901, having been elected orator of his class; and was admitted to the bar in Campbell county in September, 1900, before his graduation. Upon leaving school he entered upon the practice of his chosen pro- fession in Newport and is regarded as one of the rising young barristers of that city. In August, 1903, he was nominated by the Democracy for the office of city attorney and in November following was elected by a majority of 110 votes, though the city usually goes about 500 Republican. Mr. Thornton is the youngest man ever elected to the position, but his youth and ambition are rather in his favor, and is a guarantee that the city's interests will be zealously guarded during his term of office. During his first year in office he has been sustained by the court of appeals in his advice to the general council, and he has never been beaten in a jury case of any kind. In June, 1902, he formed a partner- ship with A. T. Root, which was dissolved when he entered upon the duties of his office, on his twenty-fifth birthday, Jan. 3, 1904.
WILLIAM HARTMAN, postmaster at Alexandria, Ky., was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1842. When he was about three years of age he came with his par- ents, Henry and Diena Hartman, in 1845, to America. Henry Hartman was a wagonmaker by trade, having learned that occupation in his native land, but after coming to America he purchased a farm about three miles east of Alexandria, Campbell county, Ky., and followed farm- ing until his death in 1858. His wife sur- vived him until 1884, when she, too, passed away. They had three children. One died in infancy, the other two being William, the subject of this sketch, and Elizabeth, wife of Christopher Pfender, of Campbell county. William Hartman grew to manhood in Campbell county, received his education in the public schools there, and at the age of fifteen started to learn the carpenters' trade. He continued to work at this until he was about twenty years old, when he went to Cincinnati, where he entered an undertaking estab- ment and served an apprenticeship. In 1863 he located at Alexandria,
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