USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Memorial record of the county of Cuyahoga and city of Cleveland, Ohio, Pt.1 > Part 52
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At the close of the war Mr. Adams returned to New York and there resmed the practice of his profession. In 1865 he was elected the District Attorney of Lewis county, but before the expiration of his term of office he resigned, having received a letter from Judge Bishop of this city, inviting him to come to Cleveland and become his partner in the practice of law. The invitation was accepted and at once Mr. Adams came to Cleveland. He and Judge Bishop were associated together in the profession from 1867 till 1881, in which latter year the death of Judge Bishop ocenrred. In 1877 Judge Bishop's son became associated with this lirm, and after the death of his father, young Bishop remaining in the firm, the style of the same was changed to
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Adams & Bishop, rather than Bishop & Adams, and at present the law firm of Adams & Bishop has an extensive general practice.
In 1871 Mr. Adams married Miss Eliza, the daughter of Sylvester Spooner, of Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. Adams have two children. The older is a danghter, Sarah, who is now in Smith College as a student. The younger, Walter S., is attending the Cleveland high school.
RANK NELSON WILCOX, attorney and counselor at law, was born in Brecks- ville, this county, June 17, 1855, a son oľ the late Stephen Miller and Margaret (Coates) Wilcox. He received his early education in the district schools, which he left in 1571 to enter Oberlin College, and the following live years were spent in attending the higher schools and teaching country schools. At Oberlin College he took a special course in Greek, Latin and mathematics, and finished his course there in 1875, at which date he came to Cleveland and worked in an abstract office until 1876, when he began the study of law in the ollice of Prentiss, Baldwin & Ford, later in that of S. M. Eddy, with whom he remained until 1878, at which time he was admitted to the bar, having studied law after coming to Cleveland. Upon being admitted to the bar Mr. Wilcox opened an office with S. S. Wheeler, with whom he remained about one year.
About this time Mr. Wilcox entered the Sheriff's office as a secretary, and remained there for two years, after which he resumed the prac- tice of law alone, and so continned until the summer of 1883. At this date he and F. M. Chandler became partners in the practice of law, and remained as such nutil 1885, when Mr. Chandler accepted the position of deputy county recorder. Thereafter until 1887 Mr. Wilcox practiced law withont a partner, at. this date en. tering into partnership with Mr. T. L. Strom- ple. This partnership lasted about three years.
Thereafter the law firm of Wilcox & Collister was formed, and this firm still exists, and has a remunerative and successful general practice. For the last two years Mr. Wilcox has been largely absorbed in that practice and that busi- ness relating to street railways, in Cleveland and other cities. He is interested as attorney and stockholder in several companies of indus- trial importance.
Ile was married December 25, 1878, to Miss Jessie F., daughter of II. II. Snow, of Brecks- ville, Ohio, and they have three children, Owen N., Frank N. and Rnth.
Mr. Wilcox's father, Stephen Miller Wilcox, was born in 1817, at Brecksville, Ohio, while his mother, Margaret Coates, was born in 1813, near the present site of Rochester, New York. IFer ancestors were of English origin, coming from England about the year 1800 and settling first in New York, but removing to Royalton, Ohio, abont 1516. The paternal great-grand- father of Mr. Wilcox was a graduate of Oxford U'niversity, and brought with him to America a library of many hundred volumes of standard works. From the Connecticut Land Company he purchased 3,000 acres of land at Royalton, where he lived many years and reared a large l'amily, and his descendants are living yet in that locality.
In the year 1842 our subject's parents were married at Brecksville, where the parents of both had settled abont 1816. It is said that the Wilcox family is also of English origin and came to New York about 1700, and Josiah Wil- cox, the great-grandfather of our subject, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
W ILL G. GUENTHER, lawyer, is a son of Philip and Frederika Guenther, born August 2, 1868, in Cleveland, and while an infant his parents removed to In- dianapolis, where he was educated in the public schools and under private tutors, receiving pri- vate instruction in German, French and Latin.
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He then came to Cleveland and became cash- ier in a mercantile establishment of his maternal grandfather, J. C. Weber, one of the oldest shoe dealers in the city. In the year 1886 he entered the office of Henderson, Kline & Tolles, where he studied law until 1889, when he was admitted to the bar, at the age of twenty-one years. With this law firm he remained until 1891, when he opened an office and entered upon the practice of his profession alone. He has been successful in his practice and has rapidly gained a remunerative clientage. He has a general practice, and is largely interested in matters re- lating to insurance. Ho is connected with several Cleveland banks, for some of which he acts as attorney, and is also connected with mer- cantile and manufacturing interests in this city.
He was married Anne 30, 1891, to Miss Alice V. Morgan, daughter of Herman L. and Sarah Morgan, of Cleveland. Their only child is a son, Philip Morgan, born October 23, 1893. Mr. Guenther is a member of the Disciple Church.
AMES THOMPSON is one of the early settlers of Solon township, Cnyahoga conuty, Ohio, and is one of its most re- spected citizens. Mr. Thompson has been a resident of this place since November, 1848. Of his life we make record as follows:
James Thompson was born in county Derry, Ireland, March 22, 1822, son of John and Mar- garet (Gray) Thompson, both natives of that county. His mother died when James was eighteen months old, leaving him and one other child, William, who became a prominent and snecessful physician of Solon, Ohio, and who is now deceased. For his second wife John Thompson married Catharine Linton, also a na- tive of county Derry, and by her he had four children, namely: Thomas, of Madison, Ohio; John, of Solon, Ohio; Eliza Cray, of Tuscola, Michigan; and May, who died in Michigan. Mr. Thompson was a soldier in the British army
for three years, and for twenty-one years he was employed as a linen bleacher in his native isle. It was in 1831 that he came with his family to America. He spent two years in Clinton coun- ty, New York, three months in Buffalo, that State, one year in Portage county, Ohio, a mim- ber of years in Bainbridge, Ohio, and finally came From there to Solon. Here he died at the age of eighty-six years. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and his life was an exemplary one.
The subject of our sketch was about eleven years old when his father settled in Bainbridge. Hle attended the district school for some time, bnt the chief portion of his education was that received in the practical school of experience. On the ninth of November, 1848, he settled on the land on which he now lives. At that time two acres of the land near the road had been cleared and a little log house, 18 x 26 feet, had been built. Here Mr. Thompson made his start. As a result of his earnest and persistent efforts, his farm, 130 acres, is now ranked with the best and most desirable in the neighborhood. The primitive log house was long ago replaced by a modern commodious two-story residence, located on a natural building site, and a large barn, 36 x 50 feet, was built. Summit Avenne Station is within thirty rods of his home. In connection with his farming, Mr. Thompson has also given considerable attention to the stock business. Ile now keeps a dairy of twenty-five cows.
Mr. Thompson was married, October 1, 1848, at Bainbridge, Ohio, to Arvilla M. Kingsley, danghter of Enos D. and Mary (Mann) Kings- ley, natives of Becket, Massachusetts. ller father was the fifth settler of Bainbridge, and her parents had a family of five children: Faber E., Sally, Arvilla, Jane and Nathan. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson became the parents of two children, one of whom, Katie M., is the wife of William Arthur, and has three children: Jesse, Gracie and Harlan. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur re- side at the home place with her father. Mrs. Thompson departed this life June 29, 1588, after
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forty years of happy married life. She was a devoted Christian woman, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and her life was such that it won many friends. Mr. Thompson's career has been characterized by industry, honesty and sobriety, and all who know him esteem him for his many estimable traits of character.
D AVID G. NESBIT, Deputy Collector and Inspector of Customs of Cleveland, was born in Summit county, Ohio, De- cember 28, 1846. He is a son of William Nesbit, an early settler of Summit county and a farmer, born in Westmoreland county, Pemi- sylvania, in 1794. He was a private soldier in the war of 1812. In 1832 he settled in Smin- mit. county and passed the remaining years of his life on the old homestead, dying in 1873. Hle married Lucinda Hungerford, born in Her- kimer county, New York, in 1806, who died in 1891. Their children are as follows: Alex- ander, a farmer of Northfield, Summit county; David G .; Emily, who married Samuel Gallie; and Caroline, wife of William HI. Deisman, - all of same county: two others are deceased.
David G. Nesbit's life until the age of fif- teen was spent on the farm and was nnevent- ful. On August 4, 1862, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company G, Captain D. N. Lowry, Colonel J. A. Lucy, and later Colonel T. C. Boone. The regiment was stationed at Camp Dennison, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky. A part of it, stationed at Maysville, Kentucky, then at Murfreesborough and Chattanooga, Tennessee, participated in the engagements at Chattanooga and Murfreesborough. Mr. Nes- bit was later put on detached duty in a block- house, and later on, December 4, 1861, was captured and taken first to Meridian, Missis- sippi, thence to Selma, Alabama, and finally to Andersonville, Georgia. . Upon entering this rebel hades Mr. Nesbit weighed 165 pounds. After five months' confinement and dieting by
Mr. Wirz, weighed on his release, he tipped the beam at eighty-nine pounds! Mr. Nesbit reached the Union lines at Jacksonville, Florida. Ile went by boat to Annapolis, Maryland, and by rail to Columbus, Ohio, where he was dis- charged as a paroled prisoner June 10, 1865, having served two years and ten months.
On taking up civil affairs Mr. Nesbit was engaged in putting down oil wells and at car- penter work for a few years. He then became a student at the Spencerian Business College in Cleveland, studying the subject of penmanship, which he taught for three successive winters. In 1871 he came to reside permanently in Cleveland and worked as a carpenter, and later entered the employ of I. J. Lewis, a large con- tractor of Cleveland, and afterward for Mr. Richardson, a cabinet worker. In 1881 he en- gaged for himself in contracting and building, and followed it up until his appointment to his present office, March 19, 1890.
Mr. Nesbit is a Republican, of course, and for eight years was a member of the county central committee, representing the Eighteenth ward. Hle is an active member of the G. A. R .; served two years each as Junior and Senior Vice Commander, and three years as Com- mander of Memorial Post, No. 141, of Cleve- land.
Ile was married March 17, 1871, to Mrs. Harriet Gardner, a daughter of Lyman Humph- rey, a lawyer of Portage county, Ohio, and a sister of Lyman U. Humphrey, ex-Governor of Kansas.
W ILLIAM F. CARR, a Cleveland attor- ney, was born at Canal Fulton, Ohio, March 13, 18IS. Ilis parents, Jacob and Jane M. Carr, removed to Illinois when their son was a small child, and thereafter until the fall of 1872 their home was in that State, where young Carr was brought up on a farmi and given a liberal education in the public school. Leaving Illinois he returned to Ohio,
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and at Bneyrus began the reading of law under the guidance of General E. B. Finley, his unele. He was admitted to the bar in 1875, and shortly afterward removed to Cleveland and entered upon what has been a successful career in his profession. In 1876 he formed a partnership with Thomas Emery, which continned till 1879, when his partner left. Cleveland and located in Bryan, Ohio. Thereafter Mr. Carr remained alone in practice until the fall of 1883, when he associated himself with F. Il. Goff. Jannary 1, 1890, Mr. Carr and his partner, Mr. Goff, and E. J. Estep and Judge M. R. Diekey, as- sociated themselves together in the practice of their profession, under the firm name of Estep, Dickey, Carr & Goff, which is now one of the strongest law firms of Cleveland.
Mr. Carr's father was born in Stark county, Ohio, and his mother was born in Hohnes county, this State. The father is a farmer and lives a retired life at Wadsworth, Ohio. Mr. Carr's paternal grandfather was a native of New Jersey and at a very early date migrated to Stark county. On the maternal side Mr. Carr traces his ancestral history baek to England, the early ancestors in this country coming before the Revolutionary war, and among them his great-grandfather, who was a participant in the Revolutionary war.
November 8, 1883, Mr. Carr married Alice T. Codding, of Bueyrus, Ohio, and their chil- dren are Marion Codding and Marjoria Leigh.
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G EORGE A. MCKAY. Deputy Collector and Marine Clerk, Customhouse, Cleve- land, was born in Oswego, New York, June 16, 1841. His father, Alexander MeKay, was born at Strathuavar, Scotland, in 1805, and his mother, Rozetta Louisa Mckay, at Little York, Canada, in 1819. His paternal grandfather was forester for the Duke of Suth- erland in Scotland; and his mother's father was Colonel Hamilton of the British army.
The life of Mr. George A. MeKay as a youth was similar to that of the average boy of the
United States, receiving the usual common- school education through all the grades, and completing a collegiate conrse at Columbus, this State. Ile was brought by his parents to Cleveland in 1847. In early life he entered the employ of the Lake Shore & Michigan Sonthern and the Cleveland, Columbus, Cin- einnati & Indianapolis Railway Companies. In the old depot he was employed as clerk in the office of Addison Ilills, agent and general freight agent of both roads. Ilis business en- braced shipments by both rail and lake, and he settled both classes of accounts for the railroad company.
At the breaking out of the war, in 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company A, Seventhi Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for three months, and went into eamp at Camp Taylor on Woodland avenue April 17, that year. Ile had been connected with the Cleveland Zonaves, an independent company, previons to his enlist- ment, and on account of his knowledge of mili- tary tactics was promoted to the highly honor- able position of Second Sergeant in the com- pany. The regiment was ordered to Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati, in May, after they had been thoroughly drilled in tacties at the previous camp; and on arrival here they had to build barracks, etc., and had the pleasure of experiencing what they might expect in the dim and misty future in what would constitute a soldier's life. The experience proved to be rough, to say the least; but as his father had been a soldier before him, and had inculcated in his mind in the days of his youth what he might expeet, providing he ever was made to undergo a soldier's life, he tried to take things as easily as he possibly could, knowing that there was no use in erying over spilt milk.
June 19, 1861, he re-enlisted for three years or during the war. In the latter part of that month the regiment was ordered to Wost Vir- ginia, then under command of Major-General George B. MeClellan. It was transported by rail from their eamp to Clarksburg, that State, and was reviewed there previous to a forced
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march over the mountains to Weston, where it captured $15,000 in gold, which was in the way of taking flight for Richmond, Virginia, then the capital, so called, of the Confederate States.
During the war onr subject was severely wounded several times; and the records in Washington show that he participated in every battle in which his regiment was engaged, as the first battle of Winchester, Port Republic, Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, storming of Lookont Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold, etc. He was pro- moted through the various grades in his regi- ment to the position of Captain, and was selected as Assistant Inspector General on the staff of the brigade, division and corps in which he served. On the expiration of his second enlistment he was mustered out, and he re- sumed civil life.
This he did by becoming road and lake re- ceiver for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern and the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway Companies, -the position being one of the most important in the gift of the companies. Thence he was promoted chief of the Merwin street depot and flats, serving there till promoted chief clerk for the Erie Transportation Company fast-freight line; from that to chief voucher and tariff clerk of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway on the consolidation of the various roads in that system.
Several years afterward he accepted a position on the Toledo, Wabash & Western Railway as bookkeeper and voucher clerk in their general office, being afterward made ticket and freight agent for the same road at Logansport, Indiana. Subsequently he was again transferred, this time to the Ohio Central Railway system as ticket, freight and express agent at Corning, this State, where he had some twenty-three stations in his charge.
Afterward, when his old schoolnate and comrade, William Brew, was elected anditor for the county of Cuyahoga, he was selected by
him for his general knowledge to serve in his oflice as one of his deputies and clerks, doing duty also in the office of the county treasurer'as one of the deputies under D. A. Kimberly, at that time county treasurer. Mr. MeKay was elected Inspector of Weights and Measures for the city of Cleveland, and served as such for more than four years, when he declined to serve longer on account of too great exposure to in- clement weather.
After the appointment of Captain M. B. Gary as collector of customs for the district of Cuyahoga he was elected by the Captain, on account of his knowledge of records and marine law and business, as one of his deputies and marine clerk. Ile has a thorough knowledge of that branch of business, and is considered an expert therein. He is still employed at the customhouse.
In social relations Mr. Mckay was the National Adjutant General for the Union Vet- erans' Union for two consecutive terms; has been a Commander in the Grand Army of the Republic; has been a Worthy Patriarch in the Encampment of Odd Fellows, and is a member of the Royal Arcanmm, Knights of Honor, Royal Adelphia, National Union, Chosen Friends and several other secret societies.
D R. J. B. FOX, a successful physician with an office at 1226 Euclid avenue in the city of Cleveland, is a man of rare ability and talent. lle is the owner and also financier of Dr. J. B. Fox's Sanitarium, at 979 Willson avenne, which was established in 1888, and here Dr. Fox treats all forms of ulcerated diseases, including bone ulcers, fever sores, cancers, milk leg, ete. He is a successful treater of diseases of the skin, of which he makes a specialty. Ho has devoted years to the study of his specialty, and for the past thirty-two years hes studiously and constantly applied himself, having thus full well mastered those subjects in which he makes any pretension. He is not a medical college
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graduate, but is a man who has devoted his time and attention to certain lines of diseases, and in the treatment of those certain lines he has met with phenomenal snecess, and has gained con- siderable reputation as a surgeon.
Ile located in the city of Cleveland in 1880. Ile was born in Maine, in 1837, a son of Will- iam A. and Zilla (Hilton) Fox, both of which parents descended from Scotch and English ancestry. Dr. Fox was reared in his native State, where he also received a liberal English education. He was reared on a farm, attending the country schools. He was brought up, mainly, in the home of his paternal grandfather, who was an able and prominent physician, and under the guidance and influence of this grand- l'ather Dr. Fox took up the study of medicine, and when he was twenty-one years of age he began the practice of his profession. He located in Boston, Massachusetts, and there remained for eighteen years, excepting four years and five months, which he spent in the civil war. Hle enlisted and served in the construction com- pany of the army, and was placed in charge of the transportation of certain divisions, being placed in responsible positions, requiring tact, energy and pluek. At the battle of Bull Run he was wounded in the thigh and upper arm, also in the left side, and in fact was rather seriously injured, but by virtue of taking excel- lent care of himself, as best he could under the circumstances, he recovered, and was soon ready l'or duty. After the close of the war he trav- eled over the country a very great deal. He owned and operated a sanitarium in Boston be- Tore the war, and since coming to Cleveland he has pushed forward in the prosecution of his work and his practice, and it is worthy of note to mention that he has succeeded quite well, even in the face of the strongest opposition; being a man of merit, respectability and intelligence, he has judicionsly conducted himself, and has not. only achieved success in his profession, but gained for himself an estimable character and reputation. His sanitariam is well equipped and the patients are well provided for. He
bears many testimonials from people who have been snecessfully treated by him, and he has been successful in relieving some of the most distressed by reason of sneh diseases as he has made a specialty.
Ile is a member of the A. F. & A. M. and is otherwise prominently connected among citizens of Cleveland.
EREMIAH W. FAY, a native and a well known pioneer of Parma township, was the son of the late Benajah and Ruth (Wilcox) Fay. His father was born in Massa- chusetts, 1777, and his mother was a native of Lewis county, New York, where she was born 1781. In 1816 they came to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and settled in Parma township, where they lived till their death, he dying in March, 1862, and she September 16, 1831. Benajah Fay and his wife were the parents of three ehil- dren, viz: Mabel, the first white child born in Parma township, and is the widow of Dudley Humphrey; Jeremiah W .; and Ruth, who be- came the wife of Edward Baldwick.
Jeremiah W. Fay was born Mareh 8, 1822, in Parma township, where he was reared to man- hood and where he has always resided. Farm- ing has been his principal occupation in life, and he owns a farm of seventy-eight acres, which is well improved.
IIe was married in Cleveland, Ohio, Septem- ber 5, 1854, to Miss Mary A. Bradley, a dangh- ter of Alfred and Clarissa (Briscoe) Bradley. They were natives of Connectient and came to Cuyahoga county in an early day, settling in Rockport township, where he died in 1850. She died in Wisconsin in October, 1884. They had ten children, five sons and five daughters. Mrs. kay was the fourth child. She was born in Rockport township, July 5, 1836. Mr. and Mrs. Fay are the parents of five children, four of whom are living, viz .: William N .: Edgar B., who married Dora Hoffman; Alfred W., who married Jennie E. Peck ; and Clarence E. The deceased child, Albert W., died in infancy.
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Mr. Fay has held the office of Township Treasurer six years, and that of township Trus- tee for one term, and has served as Justice of the Peace for three terms. He has taken a very active part in all local affairs. In politics he is a Republican, taking a good degree of interest in these matters. Mr. Fay has been a member of the I. O. O. F. since 1855.
G D. KNIGIIT, an employe of the Valley Railroad, was born at Port Jervis, Orange county, New York, February 11, 1863, a son of James R. Knight, who was born in that county in 1838, was engaged as engineer for the City Water Works many years, and for seven years served as chief engineer of the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company. His brother, Samuel Knight, was an extensive farmer and lumber dealer in the Delaware valley. The tracing of the genealogy of the Knight family by Hon. Charles II. Winfield, a prominent Jersey City attorney and a relative of the fam- ily, and by ex-Governor Bross, of Illinois, re- veals the fact that they are of Scotch, Welsh and Ilolland Dutch descent. The date of ar- rival of the founder of the family in America was during the Colonial period. James R. Knight married Jennie, a daughter of Phillip Decker, a native of Orange county, New York, and of Welsh extraction. They had the follow- ing children: G. D., our subject; Julia, wife of W. A. Gordon; James T .; W. B., bookkeeper for the Standard Oil Company; Jennie; and Jessie.
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