USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 9
USA > Ohio > Morrow County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 9
USA > Ohio > Union County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
57
DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.
husbandry throughout his entire life and in this field he has attained success and honor. Some years ago he purchased the Hiram Stokes farm of 333 acres, and this remains his home, having been, under his effective management, developed into one of the most productive and most thoroughly im- proved places in the county. A thorough system of drainage has been perfected and there are miles of tile drains ramifying throughout the farm; the many fields being fenced in approved style, and communica- tion to all parts of the place being afforded by a series of gates, more than fifty in num- ber. The family residence is a fine modern structure of spacious order and the acces- sories and substantial improvements about the farm also include commodious barns and out-buildings, a model windmill, which furnishes water for stock and culinary pur- poses; and numerous other appurtenances which serve to facilitate the work of the model farm, which everywhere gives evi- dence of the substantial prosperity of the proprietor.
The marriage of our subject was cele- brated December 9, 1857, when he wedded Miss Susan E. Bennett, a woman of edu- cation and gentle refinement. She was born in Vermont, February 12, 1837, the daughter of William and Experience Ben- nett, both of whom are deceased. . Mrs. Hill was reared by her aunt, Mrs. John Smith, of Union township, and received her education at Granville and Antioch, this State, having been for several years an efficient and popular teacher.
Mr. and Mrs. Hill are the parents of four children: Anna L., who is a success- ful teacher in the public schools of Milford Center; Ollie, who is the wife of J. Leny Boerger, who conducts the leading clothing
establishment at Marysville, this county; Mattie C., a graduate of the Milford high school, class of 1887; and Blanche M., who is a student in the same school and a mem- ber of the class of 1895.
In politics our subject is a stanch Re- publican and has taken consistent interest in local affairs of public nature, but has never consented to accept political office, finding his chiefest pleasure and satisfaction in the management of his farm and in the enjoy- ment of his cultured and happy home.
ARY B. PAUL, president of the First National Bank of Delaware, Ohio, and one of the representative business men of the county, must be accorded specific recognition in a work of this sort, not alone by reason of the prominent position which he maintains, but also with ulterior view to the incentive which the record of a success attained by personal effort may prove to those who in time to come may peruse these pages.
Nathan and Henrietta (Bell) Paul, both of whom were natives of Washington coun- ty, Pennsylvania, early identified themselves with the pastoral life and enterprise of the Buckeye State, and on a farm in Knox coun- ty, Ohio, their son, Cary B. Paul, was born, the date of his nativity being April 21, 1832. The lineage of our subject traces to Scotch and Irish sources, and certain of his mater- nal ancestors are recorded, in the annals of the period, as having been active partici- pants in the war of the Revolution. Nathan Paul was a man of quiet and domestic tastes, a Democrat in his political views, a man of strong convictions and unswerving integrity. He had been reared on a farm, and to agri- cultural pursuits he devoted his attention
58
MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
until the time of his death, which occurred in Delaware county, in July, 1846, while he was still a young man and while his son, our subject, was but a boy. His widow sur- vived him for a number of years, passing away in the year 1879, at the home of her elder son. These worthy and honored par- ents bequeathed to their three children not a rich heritage of pecuniary sort, but the nobler one of sterling character, correct principles and honest industry, -the best of equipment for the competitive struggle of life.
The subject of this review was the oldest of the three children, and upon him devolved much of the responsibility of maintaining his widowed mother and his brother and sister. His boyhood days were passed in the free and untrammelled life of the farm and his education was secured in the common schools. He had pursued his studies with avidity and was preparing himself to enter college when the death of his father ren- dered it practically necessary for him to subordinate his personal ambitions and wishes for the sake of those near and dear to him. He assumed the burden cheerfully and without reservation, at once turning his attention to the work of the farm and there- after continuing to manage the old home place until he had attained the age of thirty years. His labors in this regard were not directed in a blind or careless manner, but natural characteristics and an aptitude for affairs of greater breadth soon made them- selves manifest to the extent of yielding consistent results. He turned his attention specially to stock raising and dealing and to the wool business. It is interesting to note, in this connection, that in the latter line of enterprise he has ever since continued, having for many years handled the greater part of the wool product of Delaware coun-
ty, and operated quite extensively in other wool-growing counties of the State. Thus it may be seen how Mr. Paul's efforts were early directed toward the goal of eminent success.
When but twenty-three years of age and while residing on his farm, Mr. Paul was elected County Commissioner, serving in this capacity for two terms. The confidence in which he was held in the county was placed in still further evidence in 1861, when he was elected Treasurer of Delaware county. In the fall of 1862 he removed to the city of Delaware for the purpose of entering upon the discharge of his official duties. He held the responsible office for two terms, after which he retired from the political field and once more turned his attention to his private business, which had grown to be one of quite extended scope,-in the way of conducting his farm and dealing in wool and live stock.
The First National Bank of Delaware was organized in February, 1863, and was duly incorporated with a capital stock of $100,000. In the organization of this well known and important monetary institution Mr. Paul took an conspicuous part, being one of the original stockholders, and being soon thereafter chosen as one of the Board of Directors. He held the position of vice- president of the bank for several years, and, in 1878, he was elected president of tlie in- stitution, having ever since continued as chief executive of the same.
The old home farmstead, in Harman township, comprised 250 acres, and this tract is still owned by Mr. Paul, who has added to the same by successive purchases until he now has a magnificent place of some 800 acres. As prosperity attended his efforts Mr. Paul continued progressive in his attitude and methods, seeking to widen his
59
DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.
field of operations as rapidly as consistent with conditions. He has handled valuable real estate in the county and also in the cap- ital city of the State, Columbus, where he has erected certain buildings which are num- bered among the finest of the modern structures in the city. To all enterprises which have conduced to the public welfare he has ever been ready to extend in- fluence and substantial aid. He was one of the promoters of the Electric Light Company of Delaware, and is president of the organization.
A man of notable capacity for affairs of breadth, with a most discriminating judg- ment in regard to the conduct of business, it comes in natural sequence that our sub- ject has attained a representative position in the community, being one of the county's most substantial and public-spirited capital- ists. In politics he is identified with the Republican party and maintains a consist- ent interest in local and general affairs touching public polity.
The much abused phrase, "self-made man, " applies with peculiar distinction to Mr. Paul, who has been the architect of his own fortunes, who has builded upon sure founda- tions, and who has not been narrowed into selfish confines by his application. To his brother and sister he appeared in the dual capacity of father and brother, showing a constant solicitude in affording them advan- tages which he himself had been denied. He has been alive to progress and to human sympathy and thus his character has rounded itself into symmetrical proportions, -a life well worthy of study and emulation. His brother, Benjamin, is a resident of Sun- bury, Delaware county, and his sister Han- nah, is the wife of Simon Thompkins, of Columbus, Ohio,
Turning in detail to the domestic life of our subject we find that in the year 1856 he was united in marriage to Miss Jerusha Rob- erts. They became the parents of three children: Frank C., who is a farmer in Delaware county; Edwin N., who resides on the old homestead; and Daisy L., who is the wife of J. M. Jones, of Cincinnati. Mrs. Paul. died in 1864, and in 1880 our subject was united in marriage to Miss Stanza M. Hunt, of Columbus, two chil- dren being the issue of this union, namely: Henrietta B. and Florence G. Mr. Paul suffered a second bereavement in the loss of his wife in 1889, and in 1891 he was mar- ied to his present companion, Sarah C., néc Brown, of this county. The family home is a pleasant and attractive place, located on West William street.
It will be apropos in this connection to briefly revert to the history of that institu- tion at the head of which our subject pre- sides. The First National Bank of Dela- ware, Ohio, was organized, as already stated, in 1863, with a capital stock of $100,000 and a charter to lapse in twenty years. The first president of the institution was Benjamin Powers, the others of the original executive corps being Cary B. Paul, vice-president, and William E. Moore, cashier. In 1883 the charter of the bank was renewed, the capital stock being re- tained at the same figures as before. Dur- ing its existence the bank has had only two presidents, our subject succeeding Mr. Powers in 1878, and having held the posi- tion since that time. There have been three incumbents in the office of cashier: Mr. Moore, John E. Gould, and George W. Powers, the last named being the present cashier and a son of the first president of the institution. The banking office was
60
MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
first opened in the Hotel Delaware building, and shortly afterward the building at pres- ent occupied was erected by the bank, the quarters being commodious and convenient.
Mr .. Paul is a thorough business man and his position in the community is one in which the highest respect and popularity are marked. It is particularly consonant that in connection with a review of the life history of the leading citizens of Delaware county this attention be accorded him.
J OHN M. BRODRICK .- Generic history in every instance must trace back to its essence in the specific, and this specific essence in the his- tory of human life and human achievement is ever sprung, root and branch, from some objective prototype, some individual or class of individuals, whose actions and efforts have formed the background of the general history, which can be but the reflex of the individual, with incidental reference to en- vironment with its modifying or broadening influences. It is in this sense that biogra- phy becomes the nucleus of all history, making clear beyond peradventure the pro- gress, the opulent achievement which stand as composite entities whose basic elements must ever remain obscure unless cognizance be taken of the individual accomplishment and the individual life. In rendering then the history of any people or nation there is a scientific historical necessity for biogra- phy, and in tracing the growth and develop- ment of any institution the impression must be deepened and the salient points empha- sized by tracing simultaneously the life his- tory of those whose efforts have conserved this advancement.
In the case at hand we find one whose name has been most intimately and con- spicuously identified with the history of Odd Fellowship in Ohio; one who has gained the highest State preferment in the order and one, who, as an honored resident of Union county and a man of excellent pro- fessional attainments, can by no manner of means be passed with mere cursory mention in a work of this nature.
John Morral Brodrick may well claim a distinct identification with Union county, Ohio, for in this county was he born and in it has his life been passed. The place of his nativity is the present farmstead of his father, Isaac Brodrick, in Allen township, and the date thereof May 19, 1854. From infancy until that proud moment when he looked forth upon the world from the proud eminence of a legal majority of years our subject remained upon the old home farm, attending the district schools during his boy- hood years and incidentally gleaning valua- ble instruction from his environment, for "nature of course hath schools; men all may read from alphabets around them." During the years of his minority, then, he remained with his father, but he industri- ously improved every moment afforded him for the acquisition of that broader education which he had firmly determined should be his. That his studies represented to him something more than mere theoretical knowledge was early brought into practical evidence, for in 1873 he appeared in the capacity of teacher of the school in his home district, continuing such incumbency for three terms. By natural temperament the young man was not vascillating but was peculiarly reliant and decisive. It is then to be taken as granted that he early formu- lated plans for his future, and while teach-
61
DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.
ing he had reached an ultimatum and had decided to prepare himself for the legal pro- fession. Accordingly, when the new year of 1874 was ushered in, he celebrated the event by entering the office of the then prominent law firm of Porter & Sterling, of Marysville, and under their effective pre- ceptorage taking up the study of Kent and Blackstone. That he was a close student and an avidious and determined one is made most clearly manifest in the fact that within but little more than eighteen months after he began his course of reading in law he was admitted to the bar.
Since November 14 of the Centennial year Mr. Brodrick has been in the consecutive practice of his profession in this city, and December 7, 1886, he was admitted to prac- tice in the United States courts. He has retained a large and distinctively represen- tative clientele and at the present time he stands forth as one of the most able, popular and successful attorneys in the county.
Though devoted to the work of his pro- fession, our subject has not escaped public preferment, having taken a consistently ac- tive interest in the political affairs of the county and city and having been staunchly arrayed with the Republican party. In 1881 he was elected, without opposition, to the office of Prosecuting Attorney of the county, and his incumbency in this position covered a period of six years, his dispensations meet- ing with general approval and support from all classes. In 1878 he was elected City Clerk and served in this capacity four years. He was chosen as a member of the Common Council in 1889, and filled the office for one term, declining a re-election in consequence of having been selected as attorney for the Marysville Light and Water Company.
It is with particular gratification that we revert to that phase of our subject's career which has to do with his connection with that noble fraternal organization, the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, for, by rea- son of his connection therewith and the high preferments which have come to him in the gift of the fraternity, his name has become familiar to residents of all sections of our favored commonwealth. On the night of June 12, 1875, Mr. Brodrick received his initiation into the mysteries of the order, be- coming a member of Marysville Lodge, No. 87. He had at the time but passed his twenty-first birthday anniversary, and yet within three years he had passed all the chairs in his lodge. Within the winter of 1875 he was admitted to membership in Marysville Encampment, No. 114, and has since passed the chairs in that branch of Odd Fellowship. His executive ability and his unswerving fidelity to trusts already re- posed in his keeping resulted in his appoint- ment as District Deputy Grand Master, and he has also served several times as District Deputy Grand Patriarch. In 1886 he was representative of Union county in the Grand Lodge of Ohio, continuing in that capacity for a period of four years and being appoint- ed to a membership in the committee on appeals, whose functions are the most im- portant in connection with the work and jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge.
In the matter of effecting the codification of the laws of the Grand Lodge Mr. Brod- rick was most conspicuously identified, his work in the connection standing in lasting evidence of his ability to bring to a thorough system matters involving great breadth and multitudinous details. He was a member of the special committee appointed for the performance of this arduous task, his asso-
62
MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
ciates being Judge J. W. O'Neall, of Leb- anon, now Past Department Commander of the Ohio G. A. R., and B. S. Dryfus, Past Deputy Grand Master, of Zanesville. By these official confreres to our subject was delegated the work in hand, and the by-laws drafted by him have gained recognition as model documents in their province, having been adopted by many of the Grand Lodges throughout the Union.
This excellent service naturally brought Mr. Brodrick into a position of no slight prominence before the fraternity and his subsequent progress in official preferments in the Grand Lodge of the State was brilliant and rapid, eventuating in his be- ing called to fill the office which repre- sents the ultimate honor which that body has in its gift to confer. In 1891 he was elected Grand Warden and his installation occurred at Cleveland in May of the fol- lowing year. Within the time of his service in this capacity he was elected Deputy Grand Master, being installed at the annual session of the Grand Lodge, held at Put- In-Bay, in May, 1893. In November, 1894, he became a candidate for Grand Master, the highest office of the order in Ohio, and was elected unanimously and without opposition, receiving five more votes than did the next candidate who had no oppo- sition. The celebration of installation to this honorable and distinguished office oc- curred at the meeting of the Grand Lodge, held at Cincinnati, in May, 1894.
Mr. Brodrick is also prominently identi- fied with other secret fraternal orders: In the Masonic lodge he is Past Master in high standing, being also a member of Marysville Chapter, No. 99, R. A. M. He is Past Chancellor of Marysville Lodge, No. 100, Knights of Pythias, and is also
a Past District Deputy Grand Chancellor of the same order. He is a charter mem- ber of the Magnetic Lodge, Daughters of Rebekah, and also of Mary Chapter, No. 9, Order of the Eastern Star, in which con- nection he has had high honors conferred upon him by the Grand Lodge, having served for one term as Associate Grand Patron and being at the present time in- cumbent as Grand Patron, which repre- sents the highest preferment any man can hold in the order.
In conclusion we turn briefly to the domestic life of our honored subject, find- ing that on April 16, 1878, were cele- brated the nuptials of himself and Miss Narcissa M., daughter of Benjamin T. and Mary K., (Newhouse) Benton, prominent residents of Delaware county. Mr. and Mrs. Brodrick are the parents of three children: William Floyd, who was born May 7, 1879, and who is now a member of the junior class in the Marysville high school; Ferne, who was born August 31, 1882; and Adda, born March 23, 1887. The family residence is pleasantly and eligibly located on Ash street, Marysville.
No more fitting close to this brief re- view can be offered than in the reiteration of the following sentences which appeared in a recent edition of the Marysville Tri- bune: "Our people are justly proud of Mr. Brodrick's record, both in civil life and in the orders in which he is interested. It is by a faithful performance of the duties which his various offices have imposed that he has gained the confidence of his breth- ren and fellow citizens. He has earned the prominence he thus gains and deserves the support of all who are in any way interested in the town or the secret orders to which he belongs."
63
DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.
ENRIE E. BUCK, who is inti- mately concerned in a line of in- dustry which has important bear- ing upon the progress and stable prosperity of any section or community,- that agency which implies operations in the way of real-estate transactions and the ne- gotiating of financial loans, -occupies a dis- tinctively representative position among the business men of Delaware, Ohio, and for this reason, as well as that of the wide range of his operations, it is eminently befit- ting that he be accorded due recognition within the pages of a volume whose prov- ince is the consideration of the lives of the representative citizens of the section with whose interests he is closely identified.
Reverting in brief to the more salient points in the early life of Mr. Buck, we find that he is a native of Delaware county, Ohio, where he was born March 1, 1849, the son of Israel E., who died August 30, 1854, and Sarah W. (Van Deman) Buck, who is now living. The father, Israel F. Buck, was a prominent member of the bar of Delaware county. Our subject was educated in the common schools of the city of Delaware, and was enabled to supplement this preliminary training by a course of study in the Ohio Wesleyan University, located in the same city.
Attaining maturity, and being of active and alert nature, he was not long in iden- tifying himself with local business interests, engaging in the enterprise of coal dealing, and thus continuing for a period of three years. At the expiration of this time he became intimately concerned in railroading operations, serving in various capacities about fourteen years. In this line we may note that he was in turn conductor on the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis
Railway (the Big Four route), the Colum- bus, Hocking Valley & Toledo, and the Cin- cinnati, Jackson & Mackinaw; later he was superintendent of construction on the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railway, and also the New Orleans & Northeastern (now the Cincinnati Southern, or Queen & Cres- cent), and finally became trainmaster on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe.
Returning to Delaware in 1887, Mr. Buck identified himself with that line of enterprise in which he is now engaged, soon developing a fine business, with a representative client- age. By his progressive methods, his dis- criminating knowledge of real-estate values, and his marked fidelity to the interests of those represented upon the books of his agency, he has brought the enterprise to a point where it stands in position scarcely subordinate to any of like order in this sec- tion of the State. The agency gives special attention to the reliable and facile discharge of all its functions, -in the way of negoti- ating loans, collecting rents, exchanging of property, buying and selling of mortgages, placing of insurance, conveyancing and making abstracts of title, and the manage- ment and administration of estates. Real estate and business property in divers sec- tions of the Union are represented, and the agency affords a wide range for transfers in all lines. Mr. Buck platted an addition to the city of Delaware in 1891, and at succes- sive intervals has platted three additions to the city of Toledo, one each in the years 1889, 1892 and 1893.
The confidence in which our subject is held in the community has been clearly shown on several occasions, though he has been in no sense an office-seeker. He served one term (1887-1888) as Mayor of the city of Delaware, and in 1892 was Presidential
64
MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
Elector on the Democratic ticket, represent- ing the eighth Congressional district of Ohio, maintaining at all times a consistent interest in the political affairs of the city, State and nation.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Buck is identified with the Masonic order, Knights Templar degree; with the I. O. O. F., being a Past Grand; is also a member of the Encampment; of the Knights of Pythias, in which he is Past Chancellor; and of the Elks. He at present holds the preferment as secretary of the Delaware County Agri- cultural Society.
Mr. Buck was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Glenn, of Urbana, Ohio, September 20, 1876, and they are the parents of three children: Anna D., aged fifteen years (1894); Clara G., aged thirteen; and Joseph Henry V., aged eight.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.