USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Ohio, the future great state, her manufacturers, and a history of her commercial cities, Cincinnati and Cleveland > Part 14
USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Ohio, the future great state, her manufacturers, and a history of her commercial cities, Cincinnati and Cleveland > Part 14
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In 1874 he was nominated by the Republican Convention to fill the vacancy in the Supreme Court occasioned by the resignation of the late Judge Stone. The nomination was by acclamation, and a marked testimonial to his standing as a judge. He is now in the fiftieth year of his age, and since his resignation has had charge of the Second National Bank of Ironton. He has been a stirring, practical man, both in his public and his private life. He has done much, and all honorably, and now, after years of arduous labor on the bench in his Judicial District to the general satisfaction of the public, he has sought, and enjoys in retirement from public life, the results of his industry; and he can look upon the past unsullied career of his useful life with conscious pride and satis- faction. In the community in which he lives he enjoys the entire confidence of all who know him, regardless of party or condition, as one of the purest of men, reliable in every respect, though modest and retiring, passing for less than his real worth; a man of great attainments, which are sound, substantial.
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WM. D. KELLY.
MR. WM. D. KELLY was born in Lawrence County, Ohio, January 15, 1815. His father, Joseph Kelly, emigrated from Shenandoah County, Virginia, to this county, at the age of twelve years, being among the early pioneers. Mr. W. D. Kelly's boyhood was spent upon the farm, and among the hills of what is now so extensively known as the Hanging Rock Iron Region. As the country was thinly-settled-families living from two to three miles apart-education was confined to the "log cabin " school-house, and "school kept" only occasionally during Winter. Such being the case, Mr. Kelly's edu- cation was limited, as he did not attend school altogether more than one year. From the time he was large enough to plow until his majority he was kept at work upon his father's farm. At the age of twenty-one years he commenced work, farming, without capital, for himself. Being industrious and saving, the profits of the farm were encour- aging for those times, and the money thus earned was invested in land.
He left his homestead, near the old AEtna Furnace, and removed to the Ohio River, just above the present city of Ironton, purchasing a farm of 200 acres, most of which he at present owns. Mr. Kelly first became interested in iron in 1844, being a partner for three years in the firm of Dempsey, Rodgers & Co., doing business at ÆEtna Furnace.
In 1849 he became one of the incorporators of the Ohio Iron and Coal Company and the Iron Railroad; also one of the original incorporators of the present city of Ironton, which flourishing little city to-day owes much of its prosperity to his enterprise.
In 1851 he associated himself with Messrs. Chestnutwood & Hartzell, and leased Lagrange Furnace, but was soon afterward compelled to carry out the terms of the lease himself, assisted by his two younger brothers. This lease expired in three years, he being quite successful in the business.
In 1855 he started the Exchange Bank in Ironton, Ohio, with Mr. I. C. Dovel as cashier, which position Mr. Dovel still faithfully holds. During the various branches of business Mr. Kelly has been engaged in, he always took great pride in his farm, giving much of his personal attention to agriculture, horticulture, and floriculture; and so suc- cessful were his efforts in this direction that in 1857 he was awarded the first premium by the Ohio State Board of Agriculture, his farm being considered the best improved farm in the State.
In 1862 he again entered into the iron business, leasing Center Furnace property for five years; and in 1865, in company with Messrs. M'Cullough and Douvel, also leased Hecla Furnace, which he operated successfully for four years. At the expiration of Center Furnace lease he purchased the entire property, and in 1869 built the Grant Furnace, in Ironton.
In 1868 and 1869 the leases of Center and Hecla Furnaces having expired by limitation, he then associated in the business at Center and Grant Furnaces his two sons, Lindsay and Ironton Kelly, since which time he has had no other partners, and the furnaces have been, and are now being, successfully operated under the firm name of Wm. D. Kelly & Sons.
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John Gould.
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JOHN GOULD.
JOHN GOULD, the subject of this sketch, was born in New York, September so, . IS24, of John and Sarah Gould. He enjoyed good educational advantages in his early youth, and, when fifteen years old, came to Cincinnati, and attended Woodward High- school, where he finished his education two years later. Hc then entered the establish- ment of Cohoon & Perrin as clerk; and his fidelity to his employers, together with his private business worth, earned for him an interest in the firm. On September 27, 1848, he was married to Miss Eurice A., daughter of Wincott and Annie Stone, of Cincinnati, the issue of which marriage has been five children. only one of whom survives-his son, John Clifford Gould. In 1866 Mr. and Mrs. Gould lost a loved daughter, then sixteen years old; and, to console them in their grief, adopted Miss Laura S. Gould one year later, and she now takes the place of their lost one.
Mr. Gould is now among the foremost business men of our city, and a member of the well-known firm of Perrin & Gould. He possesses all the frankness of manner, cor- diality of feeling, and hospitable disposition, expressed so unmistakably in his counte- nance. He necessarily has become popular in Cincinnati, and numbered among his friends are many of the most influential of her citizens. He has passed through many phases of life, public and private, without reproach; and a retrospect of the past must be associated with the most pleasing reminiscences.
SAMUEL WYLLYS POMEROY.
SAMUEL WYLLYS POMEROY, Senior, was born A. D. 1764, at Wyllys Hill, Hartford, Conn., the seat of his maternal grandfather. This cstate was possessed by the Wyllys family for about two hundred years. On it grew the historic "Charter Oak," which fell in 1856. Mr. Pomeroy's father died in early life while on a visit to the French West India Islands. His grandfather, Rev. Dr. Pomeroy, of Hebron, served as chap- lain of a Connecticut regiment in its expedition to Canada in 1760.
The subject of this sketch married in 1793 a daughter of Richard Alsop of Middle- town, Conn., and resided on his estate near Boston, Mass., until his removal in 1833 to Cincinnati. He had purchased, in 1804, a full share in the "Ohio Company," on a portion of which purchase the village, now city, of Pomeroy was located. In conjunc- tion with his sons-in-law, Charles W. Dabney, of Fayal, Azores, and Valentine B. Hor- ton, and his son, Charles R. Pomeroy, the Pomeroy coal mines were opened in 1833. which have been worked by members of his family since that time. Mr. Pomeroy died in 1841. The inscription on his monument records that "he finished a useful and hon- orable life in this town, to which his name was given by its inhabitants as a testimony of respect for his character."
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D. KINSEY.
D. KINSEY was born October 18, 1819, in Wales, and was brought to this country by his parents when only six months old. Arriving at an age old enough, he had to labor at carting. This was while he lived in New Jersey. At the age of fourteen he came to Cincinnati on a boat, and joined his brother, a silversmith. When the subject of this sketch commenced learning the trade from him, his frugal habits and vaulting ambition to be some one caused him to store by all that was possible out of his earn- ings; and, with one thousand dollars thus saved, he bought an interest in his brother's business; after which, he became sole proprietor and owner.
In 1843 he commenced business on the corner of Sixth and Walnut Streets, Cincin- nati; after which, he moved to his long and well-known stand on Fifth Street. He was also married the same year.
In 1849 he crossed the plains to California in search of one of the most valuable metals used in his own business; during which time he traveled over three thousand miles overland, through a country where the Indian roamed, and where the ax of the pioneer had not been heard. The open prairies were his bed and resting-place. The fruits of these labors and hardships were but poorly rewarded, and, in 1850, he returned via the Isthmus; and during this return-trip, in sleeping out on the beach, he contracted the disease which finally caused his death. He left behind him a loving wife and three grown sons-Charles S., Edward W., and Louis A. Kinsey-all of whom are married, and the latter being successor to his father's business, which is still carried on at 28 West Fourth Street, where he moved in January, 1872. The life of D. Kinsey was an eventful one. He always directed his conduct by principles based on the sound- est morality. There is not a word of reproach against his character, nothing to sully his fair name, nothing to dim the luster of his life, still left shining as a bright example to be followed. And now that his spirit has calmly glided from this earth, his honored name will not be forgotten.
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John Van.
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JOHN VAN.
JOHN VAN was born April 15, 1812, in La Asumption, Canada, fifteen miles from Montreal; and though he spent his early years in the latter named city, he received no education whatever, there being no schools there, in those days, to which poor children could be sent. Arriving at the proper age, he was apprenticed to one Lapier, and of whom he learned the trade of tinsmith. In 1829 . he was married to Miss Margaret, daughter of Antony De Rouche, of Montreal, the issue of which was twelve children, seven of whom are living. His wife dying in 1868, Mr. Van was again married, in 1869, to Mrs. Louise Bullett, of Cincinnati.
During the rebellion of 1837-38 in Canada, between the people and the Govern- ment, in regard to education and oppressive taxation, Mr. Van figured conspicuously. He was arrested as a traitor and condemned to death, but luckily escaped into the United States, where he arrived in Troy in 1838, and was engaged by one John Lock- wood, in the stove and tinware business, as foreman, In 1842 Mr. Lockwood moved to Cincinnati, bringing with him his trusty foreman. In 1846 Mr. Van bought out the entire interest of his former employer, and in three years moved to St. Louis, and started business under the firm style of Van & Morgan. This was on the Ist of May, 1849. Seventeen days later occurred the great St. Louis holocaust, destroying, amongst hundreds of others, the store and stock of Van & Morgan, their loss reaching $110,000. In 1855, while in St. Louis, Mr. Van invented and patented the first wrought-iron range. In 1856 he returned to Cincinnati, and engaged in the manufacture of wrought-iron portable ranges, associating Henry Barringer for a period of two years, during which time Mr. Van lost every dollar he possessed. In 1859 he became the silent partner of Redway & Burton, in the manufacture of Van's patent wrought-iron portable ranges, and they moved to his present location, No. 10 East Fourth Street. During the war they did a very large business with the United States Government, Mr. Van's cooking-range for the army and navy having preference over all others. In 1866 the firm changed to J. Van & Sons, and subsequently to J. Van. Branches were established in St. Louis, Chicago, and New Orleans, and agencies in all the principal cities in the United States and Canada ; they making and selling more than all other wrought-iron range manufacturers in the United States combined. Mr. Van has obtained twenty letters patent of the United States, since 1855, for various and valuable improvements in cooking apparatus, etc. One of the most important is his celebrated coffee-urn, used in all hotels all over the country. He has also invented a revolving sign, which is quite a novelty in its way, and which he is using in front of his store.
The position which Jolin Van has achieved he owes to his own efforts. By an industry that has never wavered, by an integrity which is unimpeached, he has gained esteem, position, and wealth; and if the youth of the rising generation would go and do likewise, they would in time achieve what he has done. Away from his business, no one more appreciates the quiet enjoyment of domestic happiness.
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P. KINNEY.
COLONEL P. KINNEY, President of the Kinney National Bank of Portsmouth, Ohio, was born in Scioto County, Ohio, near Portsmouth, on the 16th day of December, 1805, to which locality his father had removed from Sunbury, Pennsylvania, in October of the same year, crossing "the mountains" in a four-horse wagon. Colonel Kinney is the oldest born resident of the county now living in it, and his handsome suburban residence and grounds are situated but a few rods distant from where, the surrounding country then being a wilderness for miles around. he was born and passed the years of his infancy and early boyhood. His opportunities for education were limited to the meagre chances afforded by the frontier school of that period; and his occupation as a farmer, which he commenced when quite young, was but little interrupted on that score. In 1820 bis father loaded a flat-boat with the products of the farm, and, placing his young son in charge as supercargo, sent him to the New Orleans market, two thousand miles distant by the waters of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Similar annual voyages were made by him for seven consecutive years, his time at home in the intervals being spent in assisting on the farm. In 1829 he engaged in business as a merchant, in the copartner- ship of Gates & Kinney. In 1832, commenced private banking, and was so engaged for a number of years, in the banking-house of E. Kinney & Co. In 1857, with other enterprising citizens, conceived and carried out the idea of building the Scioto and Hocking Valley Railroad, with its southern terminus at Portsmouth, and was made treasurer of the company, and sold its bonds and purchased the iron for the road, which rapidly developed town and country, and is yetethe only real connection the county has. In 1855, having purchased the controlling stock in the Bank of Portsmouth, a branch of the State Bank of Ohio, he was made cashier, and conducted its affairs with eminent ability an 1 success up to 1861. Early in the Fall of that year he received authority to raise a three-years' regiment, which he rapidly accomplished, and, as colonel of the Fifty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, U. S. A., took the field in season to take part in the important campaign which began with the reduction of Forts Henry and Don- aldson, and included in its successes Pittsburg Landing, siege of Corinth, Fall of Memphis, and from thence took his command to Helena, Ark. After two years' service a cancer compelled him to return. Having been treated, he returned to his former position of cashier, and in 1863 merged his bank into the Portsmouth National. He was chosen president. In 1867 he sold his stock, and made a voyage to the Holy Land as an excursionist of the Quaker City. On his return home he organized the Bank of Portsmouth, he presiding till 1872, when he organized the Kinney National Bank. He was chosen president, and his son, John W. Kinney, cashier, in which positions they still remain. He was in the City Council twenty-one years, and its president a greater portion of the time. He is still vigorous in his mind and body, attends closely to his business daily, and is widely known as a sagacious and honorable financier and man.
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GEORGE BARBER.
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GEORGE BARBER, like scores of other successful men in Ohio, is a conqueror of adverse circumstances. In taking a cursory glance at the early history of representative Ohioans noticed in this volume, it will be readily seen that our business enterprises are and have been largely composed of men who, in early life, were compelled to divide their time between work on the farm and attendance at the district school. Much of the debilitating dissipation common in cities has been escaped by them, and hence they have both sound minds to project and vigorous bodies to execute.
The subject of this sketch was born at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1804, his parents, Ezariah and Anna Barber, moving to Onondaga County, New York, when George was one year old, and where he remained till he was 21 years of age. During the Winter months he received a little education at the district school, though most of the time he helped his father on the farm, which was about seven miles from where Syracuse now stands. When eighteen years old he worked at coopering, and this he continued for three years. In 1826, having faith in the future of the great West, he moved to Ohio, and traveled about for some time, selecting no definite spot for his future home. At last he settled down in Middlebury, Summit County, and started in business for himself, as cooper. At the end of one year he moved to Akron, though he returned at the expiration of twelve months, and continued his same business till 1845, when he com- menced the manufacture of matches on a very small scale and in a crude way, having no machinery, making them entirely by hand. Soon after this he introduced the manu- facture of buttons, which, however, he soon stopped, it being unsuccessful, and after this paid his attention solely to matches, and here we see the' start, even so humble, which has grown to the present proportions of the Barber Match Company, treated on in another part of this book. In Mr. Barber's early day a stock of 200 or 300 gross of matches was considered something very large, and the method of disposing of them was to peddle them from wagons, there being no railroads then. Thus the business gradually grew-beginning in an old barn, then moving into a storeroom, then to the building now occupied as a woolen mill, and commenced manufacturing by water power. This was in 1860. The next move was to buy a large building, which was turned into a match factory, and so kept on enlarging as the business required it. Mr. Barber retired from the business July. 9, 1872, and now lives in quietness on his farm, in the Sixth Ward, Akron, Ohio.
He was married in the year 1835 to Miss Eliza Smith, of Canton. Four children of this marriage are now living and five dead. His only surviving son-O. C. Barber- is President of the now extensive works at Akron, started by his father, and which bid fair to become one of the largest manufacturing institutions in Ohio.
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ALVAH BUCKINGHAM.
ALVAH BUCKINGHAM, son of Ebenezer and Esther Bradley Buckingham, was born at. Ballston Springs, New York, March 20, 1791. In 1794 his parents removed to Cooperstown, New York, and in 1799 they left for the western wilderness, being thus induced from the glowing reports of their two oldest sons regarding that then new country. They located about two miles above the present town of Coshocton. In 1802, finding this location unhealthy, the family removed to Carthage Township, Athens County. Here the subject of this article for the first time had the inestimable privilege of attend- ing school. Out of school he assisted on the farm or indulged in hunting. This latter was his favorite pastime, and at that early date the woods were infested with bear, deer, panther, raccoon, opossum, and wild turkey. In 1812 he moved to Putnam, opposite Zanesville, Ohio, where he assisted his brother Ebenezer in business.
In 1819 Alvah Buckingham married Anna Hale, of Glastonbury, Connecticut, when they purchased, on the banks of the Muskingum River, a very modest homestead of one room. In 1832 the firm of E. Buckingham, Jr., & Co. was dissolved by the sudden and painful death of Ebenezer Buckingham, Jr., Alvah's brother, and the business was continued under the new firm name of A. Buckingham & Co., Solomon Sturges being Alvah's partner. In 1845 the firm name of A. Buckingham & Co. was dissolved, and a new firm name-Buckingham & Sturges -- established. In 1851 Alvah Buckingham, in company with R. P. Burlingame, built the first grain elevator in the city of Chicago, and Alvah Buckingham established branch houses in New York City and Toledo, Ohio, for his two oldest sons-Benjamin and Philo. In 1854 Alvah Buckingham sold a third interest in his Chicago Fulton Elevator to his old partner, Solomon Sturges, and shortly after they concluded a contract with the Illinois Central Railroad to do all their grain warehousing business for ten years. The business in Chicago increased so rapidly that Mr. Buckingham moved his family there in 1858. In April, 1865, he removed to New York City, where, with his daughters, he resided at No. 132 Twelfth Street, until his death, which took place October 4, 1867. His wife was stricken down eleven days prior to this, and died of pneumonia, September 24, 1367. Their remains were taken to their first home, Putnam, Ohio, where they repose side by side.
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The life of Alvah Buckingham was an eventful one, and most of the large fortune he left was gathered amid toil, fatigue, and danger. He was successful in all of his business pursuits, from a rare combination of industry and judgment, and at all times exhibiting a rectitude of character which never wavered from the proper direction.
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FREELAND T. BARNEY.
MR. BARNEY was born in Washington County, New York, July 27, 1805, where, when old enough, he received a common-school education. His first business experi- ence was in 1833, when he held the position of clerk in a dry-goods store. This he continued till 1828. After this, he was at Plattsburg, engaged with Platt, Brinkerhoff & Platt, until 1829 or '30; then with Peter Comstock as general agent until the Spring of 1831, when he engaged in the transportation and forwarding business-the firm being Comstock, Barney & Martin, who became somewhat celebrated as doing a large busi- ness for that day-they being the first to introduce a line of packets on the Champlain Canal, their connections generally reaching all points between Montreal and New York. The commercial crash of 1837 crippled their resources, and so deranged their affairs that Mr. Barney became dissatisfied with its management, and sold out his interest in the company to his partners, coming to what was then called the West in IS38, settling in Sandusky, and associating in business with R. J. and Lucius Gibbs, under the firm name of Barney, Gibbs & Co.
In 1836 Mr. Barney was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary, daughter of Wm. A. and Mary Moore, of Port' Ann, Washington County, New York, and who still survives to mourn his loss,
Few men possessed the elements of success in business affairs as did Mr. Barney. Promptness in attending to details, rigid economy, patient industry, and strict integrity, were the strong features in his character. Having means beyond the requirements of his mercantile pursuits, he engaged in banking, and at one time was President of the Union Bank; afterward at the head of the banking house of Barney, Hubbard & Durbin, until it was merged into the present Second National Bank. Being the ardent friend of all manufacturing industries, he became the originator of the "Sandusky Wheel Com- pany ;" and his object in this undertaking was not to profit more by the labor of opera- tives than to benefit them in furnishing honest employment. No stain of dishonor ever attached itself to his name or the name of any firm of which he was a member.
Mr. Barney liberally dispensed his charities, and saw and enjoyed the fruits of them while living. His good works live after him; and now the sands of life are all spent, and he has been gathered into his "narrow house," he will be mourned as a public benefactor, and his name will not be forgotten.
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JAMES WARD.
JAMES WARD was born November 25, 1813, near Dudley, in the County of Stafford- shire, England. When four years old, his parents emigrated to Pittsburg, bringing their son James with them; when old enough he attended school, and received an ordinary school education, which concluded when he was thirteen years old, at which time he commenced to work in earnest; and his first vocation was aiding his father in the manufacture of wrought iron nails. This he continued till nineteen years of age, when he commenced to learn engineering, and remained at said business till 1841, when in his twenty-ninth year. In 1842 he moved to Niles, Ohio, and was con- nected with the rolling-mill business known as James Ward & Co., continuing the same till his death, July 24, 1864. James Ward was looked upon, even when a boy, by the business men who knew him as possessing all the elements suitable for the avocation he pursued ; and many predicted that he would, in time, attain the first rank in his business, and stand at its head. That prophecy has already been fulfilled.
James Ward was married in 1835, at Pittsburg, to Miss Eliza Ditridge, daughter of Elizabeth and William Ditridge, of same place. The issue of this marriage was seven children, all of whom are dead excepting James Ward, Jr.
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