USA > Ohio > Ohio's progressive sons; a history of the state; sketches of those who have helped to build up the commonwealth > Part 42
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Collin. Mr. Ford resides in an attractive home in a beautiful part of Toledo, Ohio, in which city he has gained a multitude of friends.
William Eugene Guerin, Jr.,
Formerly a well-known lawyer of Sandusky, Ohio, and a member of the House of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly, now at Bend, Crook County, Oregon, is a native of Kan- sas, born at Fort Scott on the 24th of November, 1870. His father, Hon. W. E. Guerin, was for many years President of the Columbus, Sandusky and Hocking Railway. Mr. Guerin was carefully educated in the public schools of Columbus, and at the Ohio State University. He received his legal education at Cornell University. Soon after his graduation he was admitted to the bar and took up the practice of his chosen profession at Sandusky, where he became a member of the law firm of King & Guerin. In the spring of the year 1904 Mr. Guerin removed to Bend, Oregon, where he represents large corporation interests. In political belief he has always been a Repub- lican, having inherited his party predilection from his father, who, until a few years ago, was one of the leading Republicans of Central Ohio. In the fall of 1901 Mr. Guerin was elected on the Republican ticket to the lower House of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly, to represent Erie County in that body. While being one of the youngest members of the Legislature, Mr. Guerin made a record of which his constituents and himself ought to be proud. Although serving his first term in any legis- WILLIAM EUGENE GUERIN, JR. lative body, he took to his work naturally, and was constant in his attention to public duty. On the floor and in the committee rooms his influence was felt, and always on the side of the people. He was among the best orators in the House, and when Senator Foraker was chosen for a second term in the United States Senate, Mr. Guerin delivered one of the nominating speeches in behalf of the Republican majority of the House. He was Chairman of the House Committee on Revision, and under his management that committee became one of the most important in the House. He was also a member of the standing committees on Enrollment, Fish Culture and Game, Judiciary, and of the House Code Committee of Twenty-three, during the special session of 1902. He also belonged to the Joint Conference Committee of the Municipal Code. Mr. Guerin served one full term of enlistment and part of another in Company A of the Old Fourteenth Regiment, Ohio National Guards. Socially, he is a member of all the Masonic bodies, to and including the thirty-second-degree Scottish Rite Masons, an Elk and a member of the Chi Psi college fraternity.
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Robert Calvin Huey,
Among the young men who attained creditable rank in the Seventy-sixth General Assembly is Hon. Robert Calvin Huey, Representative in the House from Mahoning County. He was born on a farm in Little Beaver Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, on the 15th of August, 1872. Mr. Huey's parents were of English descent. His maternal ancestors came across the Allegheny Mountains and early settled in Western Pennsylvania. The Hueys were among the pioneers of Westmoreland County in the same State. The subject of this sketch was the youngest of a family of four children. He and a sister alone survive.
Mr. Huey's early years did not differ widely from those of the average farmer lad. These have been sung for all time by the Quaker Poet in his familiar "Barefoot Boy." His were the free air and vigorous exercise of the coun- try. His early educational advantages were limited to a few months each year in the little red school house. The struggle for an honest living kept the family busy throughout the year on the little farm. The youth was not satisfied with the limited education that it was possible for him to gain in the rural school. In 1892 he went to the Normal College at Volant, Pennsylvania, where he remained three terms. It was here that he took a very active interest in literary society work. He was soon recognized as a good debater and a ready public speaker. When chosen to deliver an address, he invariably applied himself dili- gently to the study of his theme, and came to the rostrum so thoroughly prepared that he spoke effectively and with ease and confidence.
From the Normal School he went to Unity Township, Columbiana County, Ohio, where he taught school for five years. As a teacher he was uniformly successful. In local institutes and debating societies he found opportunity for further forensic practice. His taste turned ROBERT CALVIN HUEY to the law, and he gave his leisure moments to the study of Blackstone. By rigid economy he saved sufficient means to enable him to take a course in the law department of the Ohio Normal University at Ada. Here he entered upon his studies in 1898, and was graduated in 1900 with the degree of LL.B. In the follow- ing December he was admitted to practice law by the Supreme Court of Ohio. Soon after- ward he opened an office in Youngstown, Ohio, and entered upon his chosen profession. Although a young man and a comparative stranger in the city, by applying himself assidu- ously to interests committed to his care he soon won the confidence of the Court and the respect of his fellow attorneys.
He entered the arena of politics, served on local committees and became identified with the Foraker Club of Youngstown, the largest Republican organization in Eastern Ohio. A stirring address on the occasion of an annual meeting of the club was the subject of much favorable comment, and marked him for further honors at the hands of the party. At the
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urgent request of friends he became a candidate for Representative in May, 1903, and was nominated by a majority of 1,500 in a total vote of 2,000. He conducted a successful cam- paign and defeated a popular Democratic incumbent by a plurality of 1,532.
In the Seventy-sixth General Assembly he served on the following committees: Cities, Corporations, Library, Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home. The same industrious habits and straightforward methods that won success in other fields made him a useful and influ- ential member of the House. To his efforts, more than to those of any other member of that body, was due the passage of the act providing additional and much-needed room for the Ohio State Library. He opposed the "public service franchise bill" and other corpora- tion measures drawn without due regard to the interests of the people. He favored all important measures designed to better the condition of the laboring classes and to provide additional facilities for popular education. Mr. Huey was soon recognized as one of the able debaters of the House, but he did not permit his ability to make a good speech to lead him into the mistake of imposing on the patience of his fellow legislators. His record was highly satisfactory to his constituents, and his re-election is practically assured. His leading characteristic is fidelity-fidelity to principle, to party and to friends. Those who have watched his career confidently expect him to take rank as one of the leaders on the Repub- lican side in the Seventy-seventh General Assembly.
Isaac E. Huffman,
Attorney-at-law at Oxford and Hamilton, Ohio, and Representative from Butler County in the lower House of the Seventy-fifth and Seventy-sixth General Assemblies, has the proud distinction of being one of the few Democrats who more than held their own in the Repub- lican landslide of 1903. In fact, he was re-elected to the Legislature by a larger majority than he had obtained two years previous. This result was due to the personality of Mr. Huff- man, who has a multitude of friends, not only among the Democrats of Butler County, but also among the Republicans. Mr. Huffman, who comes from German stock, his ancestors having emigrated from the Fatherland to the land of liberty, was born on the 3Ist of Decem- ber, 1868, at Springdale, Ohio, where he spent his earlier years on the farm. He received the first rudiments of his education in the district schools. After graduating from the High ISAAC E. HUFFMAN School he entered the State Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, from which place he gradu- Photo by Baker, Columbus, O. ated in June, 1890. The following September he began teaching in the Butler County Schools, and was employed in the Oxford Township schools for eight years, continuously spending his summers at work on the farm. His work as a teacher was unusually satisfactory, and earned him a reputation throughout the county, because of his advanced methods. In 1898, Mr. Huffman began the study of law, which pro- fession he has adopted for his future field of labor. Being essentially a man of the people,
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he is well equipped to serve his constituency. Mr. Huffman is a loyal supporter of the Democratic party ticket, and of its principles. In the Seventy-fifth General Assembly, Mr. Huffman was a member of the standing committees on Blind Asylum, Fees and Salaries, and Labor, while in the Seventy-sixth General Assembly, Mr. Huffman served on the stand- ing committees on Finance, Railroads and Telegraphs, and Library. Mr. Huffman is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Oxford, and Chapter 41 of Hamilton, K. of P., and I. O. O. F. He is Vice President of the Butler County Pythian Association and State Representa- tive of the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows. His office is located in Hamilton. He is still unmarried, and lives in the pretty village of Oxford, Butler County.
Hollis C. Johnston,
Attorney-at-law at Gallipolis, Ohio, was born on the 2d of October, 1861, and received a careful education, after which he attended the Cincinnati Law School, from which institution he graduated in May, 1886, and was admitted to the bar. He immediately became engaged in the practice of his profession. Mr. Hollis C. Johnston has always been an enthusiastic, faithful Republican, and always ready to serve his party when called upon. In April, 1895, he was appointed trustee of the Athens State Hospital by Governor Mckinley, and was re-appointed to the same position by Governor Nash in April, 1900. On the 5th of November, 1901, Mr. Johnston was elected to the House of Representatives of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly by a majority of 1,659. He was re-elected to the Seventy-sixth General Assem- bly by an increased majority. When the Republican caucus met in the early part of January, 1904, Mr. Johnston was the unani- HOLLIS C. JOHNSTON mous choice of his colleagues for Speaker pro tem of the House. He also was Chairman of the standing committee on Fees and Salaries, and a member of the committees on Epileptic Hospital, Rules, and Banks and Banking. He was married on the 15th of February, 1892, to Nell F. Dages, and has three children, Mabel C., Esther A. and Fred D.
Arthur H. Jones,
Republican member of the Seventy-fifth and Seventy-sixth General Assemblies from tlie Delaware-Morrow joint districts, was born in Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio, on the 22d of September, 1854, being a son of the late Judge T. C. Jones. In 1855, with his father's family, he moved to a farm in Troy Township, Delaware County, where he has lived ever since. His education was received in the common schools with some help from private teachers and a short course in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. He is a farmer both by education and inclination, and is pre-eminently successful as a cattleman. He is particularly interested in thoroughbred short horns, and is at the present time the owner of the oldest and largest herd of pure-bred cattle in Ohio, and a herd which ranks among the
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largest in the world. He is a member of the Polled Durham and American Short Horn Associations, was director in the latter for a period of twelve years, and is a life member of the Short Horn Association of Great Britain. He is a director in the Delaware County National Bank, which was originally estab- lished by his grandfather on his mother's side as a branch of the old State Bank of Ohio. He takes the liveliest interest in the schools of the country, and has served as a member of various School Boards from the time of his first vote. When eighteen years old he was appointed by President Grant as a member of a commission to settle with the Chippeway Indians for lands in Northern Minnesota. This temporary appointment is the only salaried office he has ever held. Mr. Jones has always been active in politics, and a Republican from the ground up. In 1878 he was married to Miss Clara J. Phelps, of Franklin County. His ARTHUR H. JONES record in both sessions of the General Assem- blies is an enviable one. He is Chairman and a member of a number of important committees, and it can truthfully be said that he always was a faithful servant of the people.
Photo by Baker, Columbus, O.
John C. Jones,
Attorney-at-law at Sylvania and Toledo, Ohio, and one of the Representatives from Lucas County in the House of Representatives of the Seventy-fifth and Seventy-sixth General Assemblies, was born in Mildford Township, Knox County, Ohio, on the 9th of April, 1857. Though born in Knox County, his boyhood days and early manhood were spent on a farm in Licking County, where he obtained his early education in the country schools. At the age of seventeen years he began to teach school in the winter, and attended school in the spring and fall until the 3d of June, 1881, when he graduated from the Normal School at Utica, Ohio. He continued to teach in Licking County until the fall of 1886, when he took charge of the public school of Sylvania, Ohio, his present home, where he remained for five years. Mr. Jones, while teaching, applied him- self to the study of law, registering with Hon. J. K. Hamilton and the late J. D. Ford, at
JOHN C. JONES
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Toledo, Ohio. On the 5th of October, 1892, he passed a successful examination before the Supreme Court of Ohio, discontinued his school work and entered into the practice of law. He opened an office in Sylvania, and also associated himself with L. W. Morris, of Toledo, until the latter went upon the Common Pleas bench, when Mr. Jones took offices in the Spitzer Building in Toledo. Mr. Jones has always taken an active interest in educational affairs. He served ten years as a member of the County Board of School Examiners, resign- ing said office to take his seat as a member of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly. He has been President of the Board of Education of Sylvania for six years. Mr. Jones was re-elected to the House of the Seventy-sixth General Assembly on the 3d of November, 1903. He received the highest vote cast for any candidate on the victorious Republican ticket in Lucas County. In politics Mr. Jones has always been a faithful and unswerving Republican. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America ; Commander of Enterprise Tent, No. 138, K. O. T. M .; Secretary of Sylvania Lodge, No. 289, F. & A. M., and an Elk.
Alfred H. Judy,
Of Greenville, Ohio, member of the House of Representatives of the Seventy-sixth Gen- eral Assembly, was born on the 8th of June, 1861, at Enon, Clarke County, Ohio. He is the son of Samuel H. Judy and Lyda Wilson Judy, both natives of Ohio, his father being of Swiss-German descent, while the mother comes from English-Irish stock. The name Judy, formerly spelled Tschudi, occupied a prominent place in the early Swiss history. Members of the family being prominent in State, Art and Literature. Mr. Judy's father, Samuel H. Judy was a stock dealer and farmer, as well as a successful business man, adhering to the strict- est principles of honor, and rearing his family on the same plane. Mr. Alfred H. Judy passed his early life as a farmer boy, and learned many lessons in his early years which afterwards became of great advantage in maturity. He received his education at the district school near Greenville, Ohio, until the age of twelve years, when he entered the High School of that ALFRED H. JUDY place, graduating from there four years later with the exceptional average grade of 97. He started in public life at the age of eighteen, teaching in the district and graded schools with marked success, later engaging in farming and stock dealing, which occupation he still follows. In 1897 he entered an active mercantile career, doing an annual business of $30,000, in selling farming implements, buggies, etc., which business he originated at Castine, Ohio, selling the same in October. 1903. He was appointed a member of the commission to locate and secure options on lands for a State Hospital for Insane by Governor Herrick in June, 1904, an important position, and one requiring good judgment and business ability. During all his active life he has been a staunch Democrat. He was a magistrate of Butler Township, Darke County, for eighteen years, during which time he never had a decision reversed by the higher courts. He resigned
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from this office in October, 1903. In the fall of that year he was elected a member of the Seventy-sixth General Assembly, defeating the candidate on the Republican ticket, Harvey Dursham, one of the strongest men in the opposite party in that district. While a member of the Legislature he belonged to the following standing committees : Turnpikes, Claims and Hospitals for the Insane. He was also appointed a member of the committee to draft the State Highway Bills, introduced by Mr. Wertz and Mr. Fisher. He drafted that part of the bill which pertained to counties having pikes already built and introduced House Bill No. 149 to limit telephone rates in the State of Ohio. This bill was fought by the Bell Telephone Company and killed in the Committee on Railroads and Telegraphs. He also introduced House Bill No. 168, to provide heaters and radiators for the vestibules of street cars. This bill passed the House with 81 votes, was reported favorably in the Senate, but was tabled for the benefit of the Cincinnati Traction Company. Mr. Judy's ability as a legislator was recognized by his opponents, as well as by his friends. In taking part in the fight on the famous Harrison School Code, Mr. Judy bitterly opposed the measure as it was offered, and he offered many of the twenty amendments to the code, all of which were voted. down. Finally he made a brilliant speech against the adoption of the code. This splendid effort won him the admiration of his political opponents, and stamped him as one of the strong men of that legislative body, and a leader of the Democratic minority. He was elected Treasurer of the Farmers' National Congress at St. Louis on the 27th of September, 1904. On the 16th of February, 1884, Mr. Judy was united in marriage to Miss Jeanette Coblentz, daughter of Harrison and Caroline Coblentz. Mrs. Judy is a talented, well-educated lady, a splendid entertainer and a good business woman. Three children are the fruit of this union, Edith, Kate and Harrison Judy. Mr. Judy is a member of the United Brethren Church. He resides in the summer on his farm, located two and one-half miles northwest of Castine, Ohio, while in the winter he is to be found at No. 415 Wayne Avenue, Greenville, Ohio.
HOMER NASH KIMBALL
Photo by Baker, Columbus, O.
Homer Nash Kimball,
Deceased, late Superintendent of the public schools of Madison, Lake County, Ohio, and member of the House of Representatives of the Seventy-fifth and Seventy-sixth General Assem- blies from the joint Geauga-Lake Districts, was born on the IIth of October, 1867, on the farm near Madison where his parents and grand- parents had lived since 1812. The Kimball family is one of the oldest in the Western Reserve, coming West when the country was only sparely settled and living on the same farm continuously. They came from New Hampshire, and the whole family, fathers and mothers, are of New England birth and train- ing, and those of every branch have descended from Revolutionary stock. Young Kimball was educated in the public school and High School of Madison, and graduated from Ober- lin College in 1890. In 1892 he was chosen Superintendent of the village schools at Madi- son, where his excellent management and
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scholastic attainments have contributed much to make them the best in that part of the State. Mr. Kimball served since 1891 continuously as Clerk, Councilman and Mayor of Madison, and also for a term of eight years on the County Board of School Examiners for Lake County. He was a Republican in politics. His father and grandfather were among the staunch adherents of that faith in a section that has always been known as the Gibraltar of Republicanism in Ohio. Being busily engaged in his duties as teacher and Superintendent, Mr. Kimball had but little time to work in politics, but at the urgent request of his home people, he accepted the nomination for Representative in 1901. He was elected in the fall of that year by a very large majority, and re-elected in 1903. While a member of the Seventy- fifth and Seventy-sixth General Assemblies, Mr. Kimball had an active part in the codifica- tion of the municipal and school laws of the State. He was one of the owners of the Madison "Review," a weekly paper of quality published in Madison. Mr. Kimball had been engaged in several business enterprises, and also served on the Board of Directors of two banks. He died on the 3Ist of August, 1904.
Errett LeFever, M. D.
Of Marietta, Ohio, was born on the 13th of February, 1867, on a farm in Homer Township, Morgan County, Ohio. He is the son of Isaac and Basha Shepard LeFever, both of whom were native Americans, the father having his birthplace in Pennsylvania, and the mother being a native of Ohio. Isaac LeFever, the father, followed the occupation of house car- penter during his active life. The mother before her marriage was well known in educa- tional circles for many years, and was a suc- cessful school teacher in the public schools of Ohio. The son, Errett, received his early edu- cation in the county schools, supplemented by careful instructions from his mother, proof of whose careful guidance is found in the fact that at the age of seventeen he was able to start in public life as a school teacher in the county schools where but a few years previous he was a scholar. Entering the Ohio University at ERRETT LEFEVER, M. D. Athens, he received a special course of study, and then, deciding to take up the study of Medicine, he entered the Medical College of Ohio, from which institution he graduated in 1890. Since that time he has been very suc- cessful in his chosen profession. Dr. LeFever has always been a staunch Republican, and has served his party in many capacities. In 1900 he was elected a Representative from Morgan County to the lower House of the Seventy-fourth General Assembly. Again he received the nomination for the Seventy-sixth General Assembly, and was re-elected by an increased majority. During both sessions, Dr. LeFever was one of the most prominent members of that body. He naturally became interested in legislation pertaining to his pro- fession, and was made a member of the Committees on Hospital for the Insane, and Medical Jurisprudence. He was also a member of the Committee on Railroads and Telegraph, and
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after the adjournment of the Legislature, Governor Herrick appointed him a member of a commission to select a site for a new Insane Hospital. The Doctor was made Chairman of this committee. Socially, Dr. LeFever belongs to the Masonic fraternity, I. O. O. F., K. of P., and the Medical Society of Morgan County. For many years Dr. LeFever was located at Mountville, but since 1904 he resides and practices at Marietta, Ohio. The doctor has been married twice. His first wife was Miss Julia Howard. After her death he married Miss Lola Howard, and by this union he is the father of two children, Harry Everett and Ruth Ernestine LeFever. The family are members of the Protestant faith.
John J. Lehmann,
Attorney at law at Fremont, Ohio, and member of the House of Representatives of the Seventy-sixth General Assembly from San- dusky County, was born on the farm in Scott Township of his native county on the 4th of October, 1863. His father, Leodegar Lehmann, at the age of ten had emigrated from Baden, Germany, in 1833, while his mother, Barbara (Staub) Lehmann, was born in the same year on the ocean near the American side. Mr. Lehmann worked for his parents on the farm until he was twenty-one years old. During his boyhood days his parents were in moderate circumstances and had experienced many of the hardships incident to early farm life in this country. He attended the public schools in the winter time and received a good common school education. As soon as he became twenty-one years old he began to attend school at Ada, Ohio, the next year he began farming for himself in summer and teaching school JOHN J. LEHMANN during the winter months. In the year of 1887 he was nominated without any opposition for Township Clerk of Scott Township, and was elected by the largest majority of any one on the ticket. He was re-elected to a second term, again receiving a large majority. He fulfilled the duties of this office with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the people of his township. As a school teacher, he soon became one of the most popular in the west end of the county, and in the year 1892 he was tendered the Principalship of the Rising Sun schools, which position he accepted and held for two years. As soon as he began teaching in Rising Sun, he disposed of his farming implements, and during the sum- mer months began reading law in the office of O'Farrell & McSheeny, of Fremont. Imme- diately after he severed his connections with the Rising Sun schools he took up the study of law at Ada, Ohio, where he completed his course and was admitted to the bar on the 4th of October, 1894. He began the practice of law and removed to Fremont in Sep- tember, 1895, and is now engaged in practicing law and prosecuting pension and patent claims, and has become one of the most successful pension and patent attorneys in North- ern Ohio. Mr. Lehmann has always been a staunch Democrat, a hard worker for his party, and is an able speaker. Ever since he has been a voter he has always taken an active interest
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