USA > Ohio > Ohio's progressive sons; a history of the state; sketches of those who have helped to build up the commonwealth > Part 36
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through the Sixty-first, Sixty-second and Sixty-third General Assemblies. His service as a legislator was distinguished for faithful and industrious labor. By reason of his forensic powers, which were developed here, Dr. Norton has since been called into service in every campaign to advocate from the stump the principles of his party, making in one campaign as many as seventy speeches. Having acquired a taste for the legal profession while in the legislative service, he pursued the study of law, and in 1874 was admitted to the bar. Having made the law of corporations a specialty, Dr. Norton was well equipped to take up the new work, for which he was engaged at the close of his legislative career-that of superintending the contracts of the S. L. Wiley Construction Company, of Massachusetts. This concern were builders of water works, and Dr. Norton had charge of all their work west of the Alleghenies. This fully engaged his attention until the company's failure, brought about by the famous wreck of the firm of Grant & Ward, in 1884. In the mean- time, Dr. Norton and his family had established themselves in a fine home in the city of Tiffin. In 1885, in the midst of the construction of a new Courthouse, the County Auditor died, and at the earnest solicitation of the Prosecuting Attorney, Dr. Norton accepted the appointment to the office of Auditor. This office he continued to hold, by appointment and election, up to September, 1892. His service as Auditor was especially proficient, bringing forth strong words of commendation from State Auditor Poe. Dr. Norton's skill as a political organizer and director found recognition in his selection by his party as Chairman of the Democratic State Committee, in 1887, a position he held until 1892. He was, perhaps, the most active person in bringing about the election of Hon. Calvin S. Brice to the United States Senate. He was also a strong advocate for the nomination of James E. Campbell for Governor of Ohio, in 1889, and upon the successful issue of the campaign was appointed by the Governor, State Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs. In this position, Dr. Norton actually brought order out of chaos, and converted the office from what Governor Foraker described "a political sinecure that ought to be abolished" to one of the most useful departments of the State government. Upon the inauguration of Governor Mckinley, in 1892, out of personal consideration and friendship for that gentleman, Dr. Norton at once tendered his resignation, but it was accepted only on condition that he remain in charge until the following May. Immediately upon his resignation being tendered, Dr. Norton was offered and accepted a position in the legal department of the general offices of the Bal- timore & Ohio Railroad Company, his duties being to take charge of legislative and tax matters in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and the District of Columbia. In the fall of 1896, Dr. Norton was elected member of Congress and re-elected in 1898 and 1900. In this capacity he served the people in a very proficient way. His work in Ohio politics is apparent, and will be preserved in the annals of our great State.
Milton Sayler,
Was born in Lewisburg, Preble County, Ohio, on the 4th of November, 1831. His parents were natives of Virginia, and came to Ohio in the early part of this century. His grandfather, Daniel Sayler, was a member of the Ohio Legislature in 1820 and 1821. Dur- ing the period of 1834-1835 his father, John Sayler, represented Preble County in the lower branch of the Legislature, and afterwards Preble and Butler Counties in the State Senate from 1838 to 1840. Milton Sayler, the eldest son, was graduated from the Miami University in 1852 with the highest honors of his class, and was chosen to fill a vacancy in the Board of Instruction of that university. During his life as a teacher he studied law, and was graduated from the Cincinnati Law School. Shortly after the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion he gave up all pursuits to enter the army, but his election to the Ohio
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State Legislature in 1862 prevented this. He remained in the Legislature one term and was elected a member of the Cincinnati Council in 1864 and 1865. During the war he formed a law partnership with T. C. Ware, which continued until the death of Mr. Ware. He then connected himself with Judge Okey, Wilson Kennan and his brother Nelson, under the firm name of Okey, Sayler, Kennan & Sayler, which lasted but one year. On the dissolution of the firm in 1866 he formed a partnership with his brother Nelson, as Sayler & Sayler, under which firm name two of his brothers still continue the parctice of law. During the war, and while the Democrats were in control in Cincinnati, he was the most prominent man of the party in public and political life. His remarkable faculty for remembering names and faces served to bring him very close to the people. In 1872 he was elected to Congress from the First Congres- sional District, and served three terms. During the long and continued illness of Speaker Kerr, of the Forty-fifth Congress, he was elected Speaker pro tempore. While in Congress he was prominent in committee work of ways and means, on revisions of laws, and private land claims. He dropped out of political life. in 1878, during one of the most remarkable and memorable campaigns in the history of Cin- cinnati, as it worked the change of control MILTON SAYLER from Democrats to Republicans. In this cam- paign he was defeated by Benjamin Butter- worth, and the political life of a brilliant and popular political leader was at an end. When Congress adjourned he went to Colorado and remained there several years, and then went to New York and took up the practice of law there. He was a thorough scholar and student, his proficiency in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and modern languages was sufficient to qualify him for a professorship in any of those languages. He was a brilliant lecturer, and at one time gave a great deal of attention to theological studies, his family even believing at one time that he would enter the ministry, and when he gave that up and entered law and politics, there were many regrets. He edited with Swan a supplement to the Revised Statutes of Ohio. Although always a Democrat, he never wavered in his allegiance to the Government. He never married. His death occurred in New York on the 17th of Novem- ber, 1892, and his body was followed to the grave at Spring Grove Cemetery, that beautiful city of the dead, near Cincinnati, by many of his old associates at the bar.
Thomas E. Scroggy,
Member of Congress from the Sixth Ohio Congressional District, and a veteran of the Civil War, is a native Ohioan, born in Warren County on the 18th of March, 1843. His parents were John and Lucy (Northrup) Scroggy, the former a native of New Jersey, and the latter of Connecticut. His father, who followed the vocation of a miller, was born in 1780, and came to Mount Holly, Ohio, when the State was in its infancy, operating a saw
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mill for many years. Later he moved to Harveysburg, Warren County, where Thomas E. Scroggy was born. The latter went to school until fourteen years of age, when he became apprenticed to a carriage maker. He was eighteen years old when the Civil War broke out and President Lincoln issued his first call for volunteers, and in response to that call Judge Scroggy immediately joined Company B of the Twelfth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in May, 1861. Sorely disappointed on account of his rejection by reason of his youth, there being forty-nine volunteers in excess of the quota, he, in July of the same year, again offered his services to his country, and this time his name became enrolled on the roster of Company H of the Thirty-ninth Ohio Infantry, and he was mustered in at Camp Dennison, Ohio. His war record is a brilliant one. He was assigned to duty first in Missouri and later took part in the siege of Corinth, where his regiment was the first to enter the fortifications. Under General Rosecranz he helped to defeat the Confederates at Inka. Later he participated in the battle of Corinth, facing the desperate charge of the Confederates under Colonel Rogers, of the Second Texas, on Fort Robin- ett. Taking part in every engagement of his regiment until the 4th of July, 1864, when, in an assault on the rebel fortifications at Nico- jack Creek, he was shot through the right lung and incapacitated. For three months he THOMAS E. SCROGGY wavered between life and death in the hospital at Marietta, Georgia, but gaining a little strength, was started northward. A relapse occurred, however, and he was placed in the hospital at Nashville, Tennessee. From there the physicians who attended him, thinking that his days were numbered, sent him home to close his eyes among the familiar scenes of his boyhood days. The spark of life remained dominant in his rugged frame, and a terrific battle ensued between life and death, which raged for a period of six months, when nature asserted its right for life, and he survived from his injuries. It now became necessary for him to earn a living, and he accepted a position as a clerk in a dry goods store in Harveysburg. In 1865 he removed to Xenia, working in the employ of a grocery firm. On the Ist of January, 1866, Mr. Scroggy formed a partnership with his father-in-law in the millinery business. During these days of laborious employ- ment he in leisure hours read law under the direction of Hugh Carey and Judge C. C. Shearer. While being a law student he was elected a Justice of the Peace of Xenia Township, in 1869. Two years later he was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio. As a tribute to his legal ability, and to the record he made in the Civil War, his name was placed before the people in 1898 as a candidate for Judge of the Common Pleas Court, and to that position he was elected in the fall of the same year. That he ably filled that position of trust was manifested when, in 1903, he was again elected to that distinguished office, this time without any opposition whatever. In the spring of 1904, Judge Scroggy was announced as a candidate for Congress in the Sixth Ohio District, his opponent in his own party being
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Congressman Hildebrand, backed by the solid support of the State Administration. A fac- tional fight ensued, and both candidates claimed the nomination. Their contentions were brought before the Republican State Convention, and later before the Supreme Court of Ohio for decision. Justice prevailed, and Thomas E. Scroggy was declared to be the legal can- didate of his party. His triumphant election followed. Notwithstanding bitter opposition and the Judas treachery of those who, in the interest of their own party, should have sup- ported him, Judge Scroggy secured a large majority of votes. In January, 1866, Congress- man Scroggy was united in marriage to Stella Ledbetter, who died on the 14th of December, 1887. One son was born to this union, but he died in his infancy. On the 4th of February, 1892, Judge Scroggy was married to his present wife, Mary Bloom, of Xenia, Ohio. The Judge is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the G. A. R., R. A. M., B. P. O. E. and an honorary member of the Junior Order of American Mcchanics.
J. H. Southard,
Member of Congress from the Ninth Dis- trict of Ohio, and prominent as a member of the legal profession in Toledo, was born on a farm in Washington Township, Lucas County, Ohio, on the 20th of January, 1851. He is a son of Samuel and Charlotte (Hitchcock) Southard, the former of whom, a native of Devonshire, England, came to America about the year 1833, and located in Lucas County, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred in March, 1896. He followed the vocation of a farmer, and was very suc- cessful. The mother of Congressman Southard was born in the State of New York. Mr. Southard is the oldest son in a family of nine children. He spent the years of his childhood on a farm and obtained his education in the country schools and those of the city of Toledo. He prepared for college at Adrian, Mich., and Oberlin, Ohio, after which he entered Cornell University, at Ithaca, N. Y., from which cele- J. H. SOUTHARD brated institution he graduated in 1874. In the spring of 1875, Mr. Southard began the study of law in Toledo, and such was his application, that he was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1877. He has continued to practice ever since, and enjoys the well-earned reputation of being one of the most brilliant lawyers in the State. Mr. Southard has always been a follower of the doctrines of the Republican party, and has served the party of his choice in many capacities. He is a man of commanding appearance, an able debater and a forceful and convincing public and political speaker. Among the members of the legal pro- fession of the northwestern part of Ohio he has no peer, and he stands high in the esteem of his fellow citizens. In 1882 Mr. Southard was appointed Assistant Prosecuting Attorney of Lucas County, and the year following Prosecuting Attorney. Three years later, in 1887, he was re-elected to the office, holding the same two terms. In 1894 he was nominated for Congress by the Republicans of the Ninth District, and was elected over candidates
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on the Democratic and the Populist tickets by a majority of 6,606. Since that time Mr. Southard has graced the halls of the National House of Representatives, and his counsel has been sought and his influence felt in many questions of national and international importance. The district he represents is one of the most populous in the State, and is composed of Lucas, Ottawa and Wood Counties. Mr. Southard was united in marriage to Miss Carrie T. Wales, of Toledo, and this union has been blessed with three children. Mr. Southard's law office is located in the Spitzer Building, Toledo, Ohio.
William Woodburn Skiles,
Deceased, during his active life one of the most representative lawyers of Central Ohio. was a man of national prominence, having represented the Fourteenth Congressional Dis- trict of the Buckeye State for nearly two terms in the lower House of the National Congress. with credit to himself and to his constituents. A most promising career was cut short by his untimely death, in January, 1904. Mr. Skiles was born on the IIth of December, 1849, at Stoughtstown, Cumberland County, Pennsyl- vania. His parents came to Richland County, Ohio, in 1854, and from this time on until his death Congressman Skiles always resided in Shelby and vicinity. He obtained his early education in the district schools of his home city, and afterwards took a full college course at Baldwin University, Berea, Ohio. In 1876 he and his brother, George M. Skiles, were graduated from the above named institution, and began the study of law with the firm of Matson, Dirlan & Lehman, of Mansfield. They WILLIAM WOODBURN SKILES were admitted to the bar on the 24th of July, 1878, and immediately opened an office at Shelby, where they were engaged in the general practice of law until Mr. William Woodburn Skiles closed his earthly career. Mr. Skiles had always been a staunch adherent of the Republican faith, and for many years had taken an active part in the affairs of the Republican party. His advice was often sought in the coun- cils of his party, and in many campaigns he was a forceful exponent of Republican principles. For one term he was a member of the State Central Committee. In the summer of 1900 Mr. Skiles was nominated by the Republican Congressional Convention of the Fourteenth Ohio District as a candidate for Congress, and he was elected in the fall of the same year by a large majority. While being in Congress, Mr. Skiles served as a member of important committees, and he always was a true and faithful servant of the people. That his services were appre- ciated was proven by his re-election to the same office by an increased majority in the fall of 1902. Previous to his election to Congress, Mr. Skiles had never held any political office other than being President of the Shelby School Board for the last twenty years. He was prominently connected with manufacturing and financial institutions in Shelby, but devoted his time entirely to his law practice. On the 3d of October, 1878, Mr. Skiles was married to Miss E. Dora Matson, of Shelby, and a son, Aubrey, and a daughter, Zante, were born to them.
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Edward L. Taylor, Jr.,
Congressman from the Twelfth Ohio District, being one of the best-known members of the bar of the Capital City, is a native of Columbus, and was born on the 10th day of August, 1869. He is a son of Edward L. Taylor, one of the most prominent lawyers of the State.
EDWARD L. TAYLOR, JR.
Photo by Baker, Columbus, O.
Mr. Taylor received his education in the public schools of Columbus, from which he graduated in 1887. The following year be began preparation for admission to the bar, and was a student under his father, who was a member of the firm of Taylor & Taylor.
He was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Ohio on the 3d day of December, 1891, and has since that time been in the active practice of his profession in his native city. In November, 1899, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Franklin County for the term of three years, his opponent being Albert Lee Thurman, a grandson of the Honorable A. G. Thurman. At the close of his first term, having performed the duties with ability, he was reelected by a largely increased majority over that of his first election. Mr. Taylor served as Prosecuting Attorney until the 3d day of March, 1905.
At the November election, 1904, he was, after having been nominated for Congress without opposition, elected to represent the Twelfth District in that body by the unusual majority of 7,200.
Mr. Taylor was united in marriage on the 4th of January, 1894, to Miss Marie A. Fire- stone, of Columbus, a daughter of C. D. Firestone, of The Columbus Buggy Company.
Mr. Taylor is a prominent member of the Masonic bodies, the Elks and other well- known secret organizations.
William Aubrey Thomas,
Of Niles, Trumbull County, who succeeds General Charles Dick as Congressman from the famous Nineteenth District, was born on the 7th of June, 1866, and is a son of John R. and Margaret Thomas. The father, who died in 1898, was one of the pioneer iron manu- facturers of the Mahoning Valley, which is noted for its varied iron and steel industries.
W. Aubrey Thomas was reared at Niles, and secured his preliminary education in the public schools of that thriving city, graduating from the High School in 1883. In the fall of the same year he entered Mt. Union College at Alliance, Ohio, where he studied for two years. Anticipating a business life and to better prepare himself for the iron and steel business he entered the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N. Y., where he took a thorough course in chemistry and metallurgy.
Returning to Niles, he spent two years in the laboratory of The Thomas Furnace Com- pany as analytical chemist and was then advanced to the position of Superintendent of the
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furnace, in which responsible place he soon demonstrated unusual executive ability and a thoroughness in a practical way that rapidly placed him in the front rank among furnace men. He continued as Superintendent until the sale of the plant in 1898.
Mr. Thomas is now interested with his brothers, John M. and Thomas E., in the Thomas Furnace Company at Milwaukee, Wis., and the Niles Fire Brick Company at Niles. He is
the President and Treasurer of the Niles Boiler Company, a director in the First National Bank of Niles, and also associated in other enter- prises.
In politics Mr. Thomas has been active ever since he attained his majority, having been for years a familiar figure in district and State conventions, and always identified with county affairs. By natural gifts and education his fit- ness for political preferment was early recog- nized, but aside from the office of Councilman in his home town of Niles he refused to accept any place offered him until in the spring of 1904, when partial freedom from business duties led him to follow the unanimous wishes of his fellow townsmen and enter the contest for the nomination for Congressman. With his own county unitedly supporting him he, against big odds, invaded Summit County, and by his engaging manners, pleasing personality and known capability, succeeded in getting a majority of the delegates in that county, which, with the aid of Portage County, resulted in his nomination on the eighteenth ballot. The other counties of the district are Ashtabula and Geauga.
WILLIAM AUBREY THOMAS
Mr. Thomas is prominent in Masonry, and when serving as Master of the Blue Lodge No. 394 at Niles was known as the youngest man holding such a position in the State. He is a member of Lake Erie Consistory, thirty-second degree, and Al Koran Shrine of Cleveland ; Warren Commandery, Knights Templars, of Warren, and the founder of the B. P. O. E. lodge at Niles.
Mr. Thomas resides with his mother and sister, Miss Mary A. Thomas, on a beautiful farm of one hundred and fifteen acres within the corporate limits of the city. He has never married. Another sister, Margaretta, is the wife of Dr. T. O. Clingan of Niles. One brother, John M., resides in Milwaukee, Wis., and the other, Thomas E., near the old home at Niles.
Being of a progressive spirit, Mr. Thomas has been a hard worker for the upbuilding of his home city, and has always been found promoting only what he believed to be for the best of the town and the betterment of conditions among all classes. On one occasion, when, in carrying forward a local improvement, it was found that the work would necessitate the removal of the home of a woman dependent on her own resources, Mr. Thomas hunted up a contractor and had the building properly located on its new site at his own expense. This, with many other good deeds showing his noble character, was done without ostenta- tion or any outward show whatever.
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Mr. Thomas' thorough business training and general experience as a manufacturer make him well fitted to represent his district in Congress. In an industrial way he has the advan- tage of long practice and in the iron business he has had ample opportunity to note the needs and importance of the great lake ports located at Ashtabula and Conneaut within his district. Add to these the fact that he is in close touch with agricultural pursuits, and you find in Mr. Thomas a man ably equipped for a successful career in Congress and a worthy successor to the noted men who have preceded him from the "Oid Nineteenth."
Capell L. Weems,
Member of Congress from the Sixteenth Ohio District, was born on the 7th of July, 1860, at Whigville, Noble County, Ohio. He is the son of David L. and Hester A. Weems, who are still living at Summerfield, in that county. Mr. Weems got a common school and academic education and began teaching school at sixteen, and taught and superintended village schools until he went to practicing law in the spring of 1883. While teaching school Mr. Weems had studied law under the tutorship of Dalzell & McGinnis at Caldwell, Noble County, and was admitted to the bar in October, 1881, before the Supreme Court of Ohio. He formed a partnership at Caldwell with J. M. McGinnis, and practiced until his removal from that county. In 1884, Mr. Weems was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Noble County, and served three years. Before the expiration of his term he was nominated and elected Representative from Noble County in the lower House of the General Assembly of Ohio. He was a member of the Judiciary Committee and also a member of the special joint com- mittee of the two Houses which sat during the interval between the two sessions and pre- pared the constitutional amendments which were voted on by the people of Ohio in 1889. He removed to St. Clairsville, the county seat of Belmont County, on the Ist of May, 1890, and was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Belmont County in 1893 and re-elected in 1896, serving six years. In 1903 Mr. Weems was nominated and elected to Congress in the Six- teenth Ohio District, to fill out the unexpired term of one year and six months, caused by the resignation of Hon. J. J. Gill. On the 31st of March, 1904, Mr. Weems was nominated by the Republican convention of the district as its candidate for the Fifty-ninth District, and elected in the fall by an increased majority. He was married to Mary B. Nay, at Cald- well, in 1883. They have three children. Mr. Weems is a Mason, a member of the K. of P. and an Elk.
Warren G. Harding,
Publisher of the "Star," Marion, Ohio .- But few men in Ohio public life have made the rapid stride in general favor and esteem that has marked the career of Hon. Warren G. Hard- ing, of Marion, Lieutenant Governor of Ohio. One of the leading Republican editors of Ohio, and a member of the Seventy-fourth and Seventy-fifth General Assemblies, he is already at the front in party thought and leadership, and other honors await his beck and call. In his capacity as Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, Mr. Harding was presiding officer of the Senate of the Seventy-sixth General Assembly, and in all the sessions of the last three Legislatures he was among the men who dictated policies on questions of interest to the State, and he was always consulted on matters of party action, when his experience and good judgment brought about the best results. Lieutenant Governor Harding is a native of Mor- row County, born at Corsica on the 2d of November, 1865, and secured his education at the old Ohio Central College, at Iberia. In 1882 he taught school and afterwards began the study of the profession of law, but being enamored to the newspaper business, became a
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