USA > Ohio > Ohio's progressive sons; a history of the state; sketches of those who have helped to build up the commonwealth > Part 40
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William E. Miller,
One of the representative business men of Newark, Licking County, Ohio, is one of the best-known citizens of Central Ohio, where he possesses a multitude of friends. Mr. Miller was born on the 12th of March, 1856, at Newark, Ohio. He was educated in the public schools, after which he entered into public life in his home town, and was engaged in the
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drug business until 1882, when he became engaged in the manufacture of engines, boilers and saw mills, in association with his father- in-law, Mr. R. Scheidler, under the firm name The Scheidler Machine Works, which firm is one of the most important of its kind in that part of the State. Mr. Miller is an active working, faithful Democrat, who has rendered many signal services to the party of his choice. He was a member of the Board of Education of the city of Newark in the years of 1886- 1895, and a member of the Newark City Coun- cil in 1897-1898. In the fall of 1897 Mr. Miller was elected to the State Senate by a plurality of 1,256 votes. While serving in that body Senator Miller was Chairman of the Committee on Railroads and Telegraphs and a member of the standing committees on Finance, Public Works and Public Lands, Manufactures and WILLIAM E. MILLER Commerce, Labor, Mines nd Mining. Senator Miller was married on the 2d of October, 1879, to Miss Anna Scheidler, of Newark. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, K. T., Ohio Consistory, a Shriner, A. & A. S. R., R. A. M., K. of P., Royal Arcanum, and an Elk.
W. F. Roudebush,
Attorney - at - law at Batavia, Clermont County, Ohio, is undoubtedly one of the fore- most citizens of the southwestern part of the great State of Ohio, and among the Demo- cratic minority in the Senate of the Seventy- fourth and Seventy-fifth General Assemblies none stood higher among his colleagues than the subject of this sketch, the Senator from the Second-Fourth District. His experience, good sense and unfailing courtesy and kindness made him everybody's friend, and party lines cut no figure with those who esteemed his manly qualities. Hon. William F. Roudebush was the eldest son of Colonel Roudebush, born on a farm in Wayne Township, Clermont County, on the 3d of July, 1852. His boyhood days were spent on the farm, where he was thoroughly trained by his father to be indus- trious, honest and true. He received his educa- tion in a common school and graduated in 1874 at the National Normal University at
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Lebanon, Ohio. He then studied law and graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1876, and at once commenced the practice of his profession at Batavia. He is a persever- ing, painstaking, careful lawyer, with a good practice; a clear, logical thinker and an excellent public speaker, especially strong on economic and agricultural questions. Mr. Roudebush devotes a great deal of his time to agriculture, owning 1,200 acres or more of land in the county. He is a lover of stock and extensively engaged in raising cattle and sheep, being one of the most successful stock breeders in Clermont County. He is and has always been a reliable Democrat, commencing service for that party when only twenty years of age, by delivering speeches in the national campaign of 1872. Alert, active and earnest in all local political struggles, attending conventions, assisting in campaigns, he is one of the trusted and valuable men, ever ready with purse, pen and voice to defend the right or wage war to exterminate wrongs of the people. His financial ability, honesty and integrity were equally recognized when in time of trouble in the Clermont County Treasury, he was appointed Treasurer, and received the praise of all, and especially the gratitude of his party associates, in straightening out the tangled accounts and administering the office. And this at a time when he was the youngest County Treasurer in the State, and his youth, which was thought to be a bar, was only a signal proof of matured mind. He served by appointment one term, 1877-1878. In the summer and fall of 1899 he was nominated and elected State Senator from his district, and in 1901 renominated for a second term and elected in the Senate he took a leading part in all debate and legislation. He served on several important committees and was diligent in behalf of his immediate constituents and the people of the State at large. Senator Roudebush has two sons-William Anderson and Allen Cowen Roudebush.
John C. Royer,
Attorney-at-law at Tiffin, Ohio, ranks among the leaders of the Democratic party in his part of the State. He was born in Thompson Township, Seneca County, on the 6th of May, 1856, and was reared on the farm of his parents. He afterwards entered Heidelberg University, graduating therefrom with the class of 1879. He then began the study of law, and was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Ohio in October, 1881. Senator Royer then entered actively into the practice of his profession, but it was interrupted by his election as Probate Judge of Seneca County in 1887, and his re-election for a second term in 1890. In 1883 the Senator was elected Mayor of Tiffin, defeating the late General William H. Gibson by a large majority. He was re-elected in 1885. Senator Royer was married in April, 1883 to Miss Clara Baltzell, who died on the 22d of June, 1889, leaving three daughters. In 1899 Senator Royer was elected to represent the Thirty-first District in the Senate of the Seventy-fourth Gen- eral Assembly, and in 1901 he was re-elected to the Senate of the Seventy-fifth General
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Assembly. In his first term he was Chairman of the Committee on Sanitary Laws and Regulations, as well as a member of the Committees on Judiciary, Finance, Corporations other than Municipal, Public Lands, Insurance, Universities and Col- leges, Library, Revision and Enrollment, Manufactures and Commerce, State Building, Fees and Salaries. In the Seventy-fifth General Assembly, Senator Royer was a member of the Committees on Federal Relations, Fees and Salaries, Judiciary, Insurance, Library, Pub- lic Printing, Railroads and Telegraphs, Revision and Sanitary Laws and Regulations. He was the author of the law in that Assembly authorizing the expenditure of $21,000 for the erection of monuments dedicated to Ohio troops on the battle-field of Antietam, and to mark the spot where commissary Sergeant William McKinley served the men of his regiment, the Twenty-third Ohio, during that bloody engagement ; also of a law regulating appeals to the Supreme Court. Senator Royer always held a conspicuous place among the members of the Democratic minority of the Senate, and was a representative party man on all occa sions. When the Senate and House held memorial services for the late President McKin- ley, in the hall of the House, Senator Royer spoke in behalf of the minority and paid an elo- quent tribute to the memory and worth of the martyred President. On the 6th of February, 1902, Senator Royer introduced a joint resolution in the Senate, providing for an amendment to the Ohio Constitution, doing away with the double liability of stockholders in private corporations. This resolution passed both branches of the Legislature, and in 1903 both the Republican and the Democratic State Conventions in their platforms endorsed the proposed amendment, and at the November election, 1903, the people of Ohio adopted the amendment, which is now a part of the Constitution. In the year 1901 corporations with a capitalization of over two hundred million dollars were doing business in Ohio, but under incorporation acts of other States. This was due to the double liability clause of the Ohio Constitution. By the amendment capital that formerly went out of the State for incorpora- tions now remains in the State. Senator Royer is a lawyer of extraordinary ability, and an able and forceful speaker. He was a painstaking legislator, thoughtful of the interests of the people, and always awake to their needs. His record as a member of the body of law-makers and while serving the people of his own county is one to be commended, for in them all he was faithful and true to all concerned. As a partisan he was fair, as a public servant he gave back untarnished the commission with which he was entrusted by the people.
Oscar Sheppard,
Was born on a farm near the village of Irville in Muskingum County, on the 15th of July, 1845. His father, Lenox Sheppard, came to Ohio when a child, with his parents, from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and his mother, Ellen McLain Sheppard, was a native of the county in which he was born. In 1857 his father removed with his family to Licking County and located on a farm one mile north of the city of Newark, and here the subject of our sketch continued the life of the ordinary country boy-attending district school in the winter and working on the farm in the summer-until the summer of 1861. On the 8th of July of that year he enlisted in the army and on the organization of the Twenty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, became a member of Company C of that regiment, and served in its ranks until the close of the war, and was discharged as Sergeant-Major of his regiment on the 20th of July, 1865. During his more than four years' service in the Union army Mr. Sheppard campaigned in eleven different States, and participated in all the battles of the old Army of the Tennessee, of which his regiment was a part from its organization. At the
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battle of Atlanta, on the 22d of July, 1864, Mr. Sheppard was severely wounded, but after a few weeks in the hospital he rejoined his regiment, and participated in the great March to the Sea and in the grand review in Washington at the close of the war.
On his return from the army he took up his studies where he had left them to enlist, and from 1865 to 1868 he attended the Newark City High School in the winter, and worked with a firm of contractors and bridge builders in the summer. In 1868 he entered the Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, and from that date to 1872 he was engaged in teaching and attending the university. In 1872 he was elected Principal of the West Alexandria (Ohio) public schools, and continued in that position until 1879, when he opened an office and began the practice of law, he having been admitted to the bar in May, 1877.
In 1887 he was elected to the Legislature of Ohio from Preble County, and was re-elected in 1883. During the years 1884 to 1887 he was interested in the building of the Cincinnati, Jackson & Mackinaw Railway, and for several years thereafter was a member of the Board of Directors. From 1872 to 1882 he was a member of the Board of County School Exam- iners, and from 1891 to 1897 he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Dayton State Hospital. In that year he was unanimously nominated by the Republicans of the Third Senatorial District as their candidate for State Senator, and at the ensuing election was OSCAR SHEPPARD chosen by a large majority to fill that office, and at the close of his first term was re-elected. In the organization of the Senate of the Seventy-fourth General Assembly he was made President pro tem of that body by the unanimous choice of his Republican colleagues, and as to the manner in which he discharged the duties of that position, we quote from the Senate Manual of 1901 : "Both as presiding officer in the chair, and as Senator upon the floor, Mr. Sheppard fills well the part assigned him, and bears his honors with courtly dignity, and with great consideration for all with whom he comes in contact." In the organization of the Senate, in addition to being elected President pro tem of that body, Mr. Sheppard was made Chairman of the Committee on Rules, and under his direction the rules of the two branches of the General Assembly were revised and consolidated. He was also Chairman of the Committee on Taxation, and a member of the Committees on Judiciary, Finance, Municipal Corporations No. 1, Municipal Corporations No. 2, Railroads and Telegraphs, Benevolent Institutions, Penitentiary, Soi- diers' and Sailors' Home, Fees and Salaries, and Military Affairs.
Mr. Sheppard has always been a Republican and has aided, from the stump and other- wise, the election of every Republican County, District and State ticket since his major- ity. He studied law in the office of Campbell & Gilmore, of Eaton, Ohio, and since his admission to the bar, in 1877, except while serving as a member of the General Assembly, he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession at the Preble County bar.
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In 1878 Mr. Sheppard was married to Miss Alice Cary Gale at West Alexandria, Ohio, where they have since resided. He has a family of three children, one son and two daughters.
George W. Sieber,
Attorney-at-law at Akron, Ohio, belongs to the foremost members of the bar of Northeastern Ohio. He sprang from sturdy German stock. His father, Joseph Sieber, and his mother, Sarah (Moyer) Sieber, were born and raised in Pennsylvania, and the Senator was born on the 22d of February (Washington's Birthday), 1858, in Snyder County, Pennsylvania. In 1868 the family removed to Akron, Ohio, and young Sieber at once entered the public schools of that city, in which, and in Buchtel College, he received his education. Later he entered the Cincin- nati Law School, from which he graduated with the class of June, 1882, with the highest honors of his class. He at once began the practice of his profession in Akron, where he has ever since been engaged, having been a member of the well-known firm of attorneys, Green, Grant & Sieber, and afterward of Grant & Sieber, upon the death of Judge Green. He was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States on the 25th of March, 1897. Senator Sieber entered politics in Summit County in 1886, and in the fall of that year was chosen Prosecuting Attorney, filling the important place with signal ability for two terms and retiring in 1893. In 1899 GEORGE W. SIEBER he was nominated and elected Senator from the Twenty-fourth - Twenty-sixth District, and served the people honorably and faith- fully. He was one of the potent forces in the Seventy-fourth General Assembly, and a leader among his colleagues. His position was such that he was constantly consulted, and he left his impress upon the legislation enacted by that body. Senator Sieber has always been an uncompromising Republican, and he found time in his professional career to take an active interest in politics. He is a thirty-second-degree Mason, a Knight of Pythias, an Elk and a member of the I. O. O. F.
Charlie D. Wightman,
Attorney-at-law at Medina, Ohio, is one of the best-known young lawyers in that part of the historic Western Reserve. He was born on a farm in Lafayette Township, Medina County, on the 25th of November, 1866. He passed the first eighteen years of his life in his native township, attending the local district schools and afterwards graduating from the High School in Medina. He subsequently entered the Adrian (Michigan) College, graduated from this institution in 1889, and took up the study of law in the office of Judge Hayden at Medina. Mr. Wightman was admitted to the bar in 1893, and immediately
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embarked in the practice of his chosen profession, which he has since followed with grati- fying success. While serving as Prosecuting Attorney of Medina County, an office to which he was twice elected, he was chosen President of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys of Ohio, and was in active practice when elected to the Senate in 1897. In 1895 and 1896 he was Chairman of the Medina County Republican Executive Committee, and in 1897 he was a delegate to the National Con- vention of Republican League Clubs, held in Detroit. In 1897 Mr. Wightman was elected to the Senate of the Seventy-third General Assembly from the Twenty-seventh-Twenty - ninth District, composed of the counties of Medina, Lorain, Ashland and Richland. He served with distinction and was a faithful representative of the people. At the expiration of his first term, Senator Wightman was re-elected to a second term. In the organiza- tion of the Senate of the Seventv-fourth Gen- eral Assembly, Mr. Wightman was made Chairman on Judiciary, a committee whose membership comprised a majority of the whole Senate. In 1905 he was appointed Postmaster at Medina. Senator Wightman has always been a loyal Republican, ever ready to serve his party in any capacity when called upon. He is a conscientious, able lawyer, a talented CHARLIE D. WIGHTMAN orator and good debater. Since his majority he has taken an active part in every campaign, and has stumped the counties in the northern part of the State in the interest of his party. His office is located at Medina.
B. F. Wirt.
Among the dominant spirits in the Seventy-fourth and Seventy-fifth General Assem- blies, Hon. B. F. Wirt, who represented the Twenty-third Senatorial District, may easily be counted. He is a sturdy Republican, a gentleman of fine instincts, and one whose friendship is to be highly valued. The Wirt family is of German descent, their ancestors coming to the United States before the Revolutionary War, and serving in that conflict. A portion of the family settled in and about Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Peter Wirt, the grandfather of Senator Wirt, was one of the early settlers of the Connecticut Western Reserve. He came to that part of Ohio from Carlisle while it was a forest, and cleared up the farm on which he resided. The land is now part of the city of Youngstown.
Senator Wirt was born on the 26th of March, 1852, of William and Eliza Jane Wirt, nee Sankey, in West Middlesex, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, during the temporary sojourn of his parents, who had gone there from Ohio a short time previous to his birth. His father still survives, at the age of seventy-seven years. The Sankey family were among the early settlers of Western Pennsylvania, having located in Lawrence County. They have been prominent in business circles, and number some of the old-time leaders of the Republican party in that State, several of them having held positions at the hands of the
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organization. The Senator was educated in the public schools and at the Rayen School in Youngstown, graduating from the latter in June, 1869. He began the study of law, and after being admitted to the bar, began the practice of his profession in Youngstown in 1873. For some time he was a partner of the late Congressman L. D. Woodworth, and later was associated in business with Myron A. Norris. He is now practicing law alone.
In the fall of 1899 Senator Wirt was elected to represent the people of the district composed of the counties of Mahoning and Trumbull, and two years later was re-elected by an increased majority. Senator Wirt was married on the 23d of June, 1881, to Miss Mary McGeehen. He is a consistent member of the Christian Church. He is a member of the Youngstown Lodge, Benevolent and Protect- ive Order of Elks.
B. F. WIRT
Senator Wirt belongs to the class of legis- lators whose influence is always for good, and Photo by Baker, Columbus, O. his record shows that he was never found wanting on any occasion. His opinions and views were always sought and heeded, and no man in the Legislatures of which he was a member stood higher in the good opinion of his colleagues. He was a safe man at all times, and stood like a bulwark for the best interests of the people.
Since the close of his term of service in the Ohio Senate, he has been engaged in the active practice of the law at his home in Youngstown. His name was among those prominently mentioned in connection with the nomination by the Republican State Conven- tion for 1904 for the office of Secretary of State. He received many offers of support from all parts of the State. He declined to enter the contest.
Cortez L. Williams,
Attorney-at-law at Steubenville, Ohio, is still a young man, but nevertheless he is well known in all parts of the State through his connections with the Seventy-fifth and Sev- enty-sixth General Assemblies. Mr. Williams is a product of the Buckeye State, born and reared in Steubenville, Jefferson County, where for a number of years he has been engaged in the practice of his profession. After a thorough school education Mr. Williams took up the
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study of law, was admitted to the bar, after which he opened an office in Steubenville. He has always been a faithful adherent of Republican principles, and is recognized as one of the principal factors among the young Republican element of Jefferson County. When the House of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly was organized, Mr. Williams was appointed one of the clerks of that body, and he was such an efficient officer that he was reappointed at the organization of the House of the Seventy-sixth General Assembly. Mr. Williams is a bright and conscientious young lawyer, who enjoys the confidence of his clients. His name will be heard of in future years in positions of trust.
R. A. Pollock,
Member of the Senate of the Seventy-sixth General Assembly from the Twenty-first Dis- trict, is a prominent factor in the ranks of the young Republicans of Stark County. He is of Scotch-Irish descent, and was born at North Lawrence, Ohio, on the 24th of August, 1870. After attending the public schools until thirteen years of age, he entered actively into business life and went to the coal mine to work, at which labor he continued for several years, but as he had paid close attention to literary work during his employment in the mines he followed the advice of his friends and abandoned the mine in order to get a more thorough education. With this point in view Senator Pollock returned to school, attended same for a couple of years more and also for a short time Mt. Union College at Alliance, Ohio. Later on he took a commercial course at Valparaiso Normal School and then engaged in business with his father, who con- ducts a general store in his native town. Sub- R. A. POLLOCK sequently he took up the study of law, but did not complete the course, owing to business engagements. Senator Pollock is a Repub- lican who has always taken a very active part in the affairs of his party, and early in life he was recognized as a Republican leader in the west end of the county. Twice he has been elected Justice of the Peace and a member of the School Board. In the summer of 1899 Senator Pollock was nominated to represent Stark County in the lower House of the Seventy-fourth General Assembly and elected in the fall of the same year after a hard fight by a large majority. On the floor of the House he soon took a leading part in all debates and became an able representative of the laboring interests. He was re-elected to the Seventy-fifth General Assembly and here again he rendered important and valuable services as Chairman and member of different standing committees. In the summer of 1903 he received the nomination to represent the Twenty-first Senatorial District in the Senate of the Seventy-sixth General Assembly, and was elected after a very strenuous campaign. While being a member of the previous Legislature, Senator Pollock had aroused the ire of Mr. Tom L. Johnson, who made it a personal business to try to prevent Senator Pollock's election. His efforts met with disastrous results. The people did not hesitate to support
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their faithful servant, and elected him by a large majority. While being a member of the Senate, Mr. Pollock was a staunch advocate of all laboring measures. He is a man of con- servative temperament, considerate judgment and unassuming manners. He has a bright political future before him. On the 18th of December he led to the marriage altar Miss Gloria C. Blakely, of Doylestown, Ohio, who joined heartily in the work of her husband, spending much of the time in Columbus during the sessions of the Legislatures, and when he took his seat as Senator she accompanied him to Columbus, where she contracted typhoid fever and died at his home at North Lawrence, Ohio, on the 6th of February, 1904, leaving her husband and a bright little son, Robert A., Jr., six months of age, to share his sad loss.
George T. Thomas,
Attorney-at-law at Norwalk, Ohio, is one of the best-known men in the northern part of the State, and occupies a high rank among the members of the bar of Ohio. He descended from his father's side from English or Welsh stock, and on his mother's from Scotch-Irish. Judge Thomas was born on his father's farm near Greenwich, Huron County, on the 11th of September, 1856. He was reared on the farm and had to work, as many other country boys. At the age of fourteen he entered Oberlin College, and in turn attended school at Buchtel College, Greenwich and Berea. During 1875-1880 Judge Thomas taught in the district schools of Huron County, and in 1882 began the study of law with Skiles & Skiles, of Shelby, Ohio, conducting the branch office of the firm at Greenwich. He was admitted to the bar in 1886, when he entered into partner- ship with Joseph R. McKnight. The firm GEORGE T. THOMAS opened a law office at Norwalk, the partnership continuing until Mr. Thomas was elected Photo by Baker, Columbus, O. Probate Judge of Huron County, in 1890. After he had served two terms, the partnership was resumed and continues to this time. Judge Thomas has always been a Republican. He was Mayor of Greenwich one term, two terms Clerk of the Township; member of the Greenwich Board of Education, and Probate Judge of Huron County from 1891 to 1897. In the fall of 1899 Judge Thomas was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the Seventy-fourth General Assembly. He was re-elected in 1901 and was prominently mentioned as the candidate for Speaker of the House of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly, but withdrew in favor of Hon. W. S. Mckinnon. In 1903 Judge Thomas was re-elected for a third term in the Legislature, and when the Repub- lican caucus of the House met in January, 1904, Judge Thomas was the unanimous choice for Speaker of the House. As presiding officer of the House of Representatives, Speaker Thomas showed a rare ability and high executive and administrative talent. Fortified with an experience secured in two former General Assemblies, Speaker Thomas brought to the important post that high ability and honesty without which no man could succeed. Speaker Thomas has always been a staunch adherent of the Republican faith, and has served his
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