USA > Ohio > Ohio's progressive sons; a history of the state; sketches of those who have helped to build up the commonwealth > Part 50
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received from the late lamented William McKinley, who wrote as follows: "Mr. Calvin Whitney, President The A. B. Chase Company, Norwalk, Ohio. My dear Sir-It affords me pleasure to say that Mrs. McKinley and myself are delighted with the piano which we recently purchased form you. It is also much admired by our musical friends, and gives entire satisfaction to us in every particular. Yours sincerely, William McKinley."
Floyd Locke Smith.
There is no better known and more popu- lar man in Scioto County, and, in fact, in the southern part of the State, than Colonel Floyd Locke Smith, Secretary of the Board of Trade of Portsmouth, Ohio. Mr. Smith was born on the 30th of June, 1845, in Portsmouth. His parents were Mr. Charles Stratten Smith and Mary G. (Locke) Smith. He obtained his edu- cation in the public schools of his native city until he was 15 years of age, when he for one year attended Prof. White' Classical School. At the age of 16, in 1861, he entered into busi- ness life and engaged, in company with his father, in the milling business. On the IIth of August, 1862, Mr. Smith enlisted for three years in Company E, of the Eleventh O. V. I., and served until the 20th of January, 1863, at Chattanooga, Tenn., when he was discharged on a surgeon's certificate for disability. He was with his regiment much of the time, part FLOYD LOCKE SMITH of it he was a clerk on General Crook's staff. After his discharge from the service he went into the Quartermaster Department at Cincin- nati, where he remained until June, 1866, when he became Chief Clerk of the clothing, camp, garrison and equipage department. He afterward returned to Portsmouth, and, with his father, engaged in the manufacture of vinegar until 1870, when he engaged in the manu- facturing of brown paper until February, 1872. At this time he began his career as an insurance agent in Portsmouth, which has proved to be a very successful one. Colonel Smith has organized many building associations and many companies. In 1879 he organized the present Central Union Telephone Company and built the exchange between Ports- mouth and Ironton. He has been Secretary of many building associations, was director of the Farmers' National Bank for a number of years and for five years he was President of the Portsmouth Street Railroad and Light Company, prior to its present organization. Mr. Smith has always been an active working Republican. During the administration of Gov- ernor Foraker he was aid-de-camp, with the rank of Colonel, on the Governor's staff. For two years Colonel Smith served as a member of the Portsmouth School Board, and in 1899 he was Clerk of the Board of City Water Works. He was District Passenger Agent of the Cincinnati & Eastern Railroad Company and its successor for fifteen years, and was Man- ager of the Portsmouth Telephone Company for twenty years. He also served as clerk on steamboats for four years. Colonel Smith, who is a very busy man, has been, for a number of years, Secretary of the Portsmouth Board of Trade, of the Board of Underwriters and of
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the Commercial Club. He also is Secretary of the Portsmouth Lodge, B. P. O. E., a thirty- second degree Mason, a Shriner and an Odd Fellow.
John Henry Sellers,
General Manager of the Indian Run Min- ing Company of Glouster, Ohio, one of the best known business men in the Perry, Hock- ing, Adams and Jackson Counties coal fields, was born on the Ist of June, 1856, on a farm one mile north of Greenfield, Ohio. His par- ents, John Henry Sellers, Sr., and Julia Ann Wells-Sellers, were both natives of the State of Ohio. He received a very careful educa- tion, attending the public schools of his home district and Denison University, which seat of learning he entered at the age of 17, grad- uating in 1879 with the degree of A. B. The following year he started into business life in the capacity of messenger and assistant book- keeper of the Citizens' Bank, at Greenfield, and here he applied himself to the banking busi- ness with such marked success that he was rapidly promoted, until, in 1884, he occupied the important and highly responsible position of cashier. Two years later he resigned his position, went to Wellston, Jackson County, Ohio, and started the first bank in that place, JOHN HENRY SELLERS taking charge of the position of cashier. This bank was closed in October of the same year, and in its place was organized the First National Bank, with Mr. Sellers in the office of cashier. This bank has since then become an important factor in the business life of the rapid growing city of Wellston and Jackson County in general, and is, at the present writ- ing, recognized as one of the strongest banking institutions in the southern part of Centra! Ohio. About two years ago Mr. Sellers withdrew from his position to accept the general management of the Indian Run Mining Company, Glouster, Ohio, one of the largest mining companies in Ohio. He still has his residence in Wellston. On the 4th of March, 1881, Mr. Sellers was united in marriage to Miss A. A. Wood, an accomplished young lady of Lees- burg, Ohio. Two children, one son and one daughter, are the issue of this union. Mr. Sellers has various business interests in Wellston. He was Water Works Trustee of a period of three years, City School Examiner of his home city for ten years, and President of the Wellston Foundry Company.
William V. McMaken,
Brigadier General, O. N. G., was born in New York City on the IIth of February, 1857. His grandfather, McMaken, was a pioneer Kentuckian, being born in a log cabin, and an early resident of Butler County, Ohio, besides being a soldier in the War of 1812. His father was born in Ohio, his mother in Connecticut, her maiden name being Munson. Grandfather Munson was a soldier in the War of the Revolution. William Vance
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McMaken came to Toledo, Ohio, with his parents in 1864. He was educated in the public schools and graduated from the Toledo High School in the class of 1874. He inherited the martial spirit, and when but a lad drilled some of his playmates with nothing more danger- ous than broomsticks to serve as guns. After leaving school he was engaged as a clerk in mercantile business for a number of years, and is now a member of the firm of Fox & McMaken, real estate and insurance, 9 Spitzer Arcade, Toledo. The first military experience of General McMaken was in the organization of the famous Toledo Cadets in 1870, a com- pany that held the high position of being one of the best drilled body of men in the country. It was prominent as such, and created a sensa- tion upon the occasion of its appearance in Columbus, when the late William Allen was inaugurated Governor in January, 1874. It was also a feature at many other military dem- * OHIO OHIE onstrations in the State and elsewhere. As soon as the members were of proper age they were mustered into the service of the Ohio National Guard. General McMaken remained in command of this company nineteen years, when he was elected Colonel of the Sixteenth Regiment, O. N. G., and commissioned on the 27th of June, 1897, by Governor Bushnell. He was Colonel of that regiment when the Span- ish-American War broke out, and the regi- WILLIAM V. MCMAKEN mental number was changed to the Sixth, being mustered into the service of the United States as such May 12, 1898. General McMaken's regiment served throughout the war, or thirteen months in all, four months of that time in Cuba, stationed a part of the time at Cienfuegos under Major General John C. Bates. During the latter portion of his term of service in Cuba, General McMaken served as Military Governor of the District of Trinidad by appointment of General Bates. The Sixth Regiment was mustered out of service at Augusta, Georgia, May 24, 1899, and General McMaken returned to his home in Toledo, and his command was immediately assigned to duty by Governor Bushnell as the Sixth Regi- ment. On the 5th of December, 1899, General McMaken was elected by the members of the First Brigade, O. N. G., and commissioned Brigadier General. General McMaken has had a wide and varied experience in the military service of the State. He was with his regiment at the Cincinnati Riots, and performed notable work in the Wheeling coal strike. When Governor Nash contemplated calling out the State troops to suppress the proposed prize fight at Cincinnati, General McMaken had been selected to command. He was with his brigade at the Mckinley obsequies at Canton, in September, 1901, and commanded the provisional brigade that formed the special military escort on that occasion. General McMaken is recognized among the ardent Republicans of Toledo and Lucas County, and has been honored on several occasions by the voters of his party. He served two terms as Recorder of Lucas County and the same length of time as Treasurer, being in his second term when war was declared on Spain. In the spring of 1903, General McMaken was the Republican nominee
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for Mayor of Toledo. In 1883 he was married to Miss Georgie Dorr, whose father was a prominent resident of Toledo, being an early settler, and Mayor of the city several years. They have two daughters, Myra and Carrie. General McMaken is a thirty-second-degree Mason ; Past Exalted Ruler, Toledo No. 53, Elks; a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and of Egbert Command, Spanish War Veterans. He is a representative citizen and soldier ; in both capacities he has served his State and country well.
Frank L. Baird,
Inspector of Oils for the First Ohio District, is one of the best known among the citizens of Toledo and Northwestern Ohio. He was born in Perrysburg, Wood County, Ohio, on the 5th day of December, 1861, his parents removing to Toledo in 1867. Young Baird secured his education in the public schools of this city, and in 1877 started out to make his own way in the world. For the next ten years he was in the employ of various railroads, or until after the 20th of April, 1887. For several years thereafter he managed a strictly union office, when he was appointed Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue under President Harrison, also serving two and a half years as Deputy County Clerk. On the 6th of June, 1898, lie was appointed Cashier in the Internal Revenue Department of the Fourth Ohio District by Collector George P. Waldorf. On the 12th of April, 1900, he was appointed Inspector of Oils for the First Ohio District by Governor Nash, and reappointed for terms of two years each, FRANK L. BAIRD on the 30th of April, 1902, and the 30th of April, 1904, by Governors Nash and Herrick, respectively. Mr. Baird has always been a strong adherent to the Republican faith, working unceasingly for the success of the party of his choice. Two years he was a member of the Lucas County Central Committee, and the Sec- retary of the organization for several campaigns. He was one of the first to suggest the organization of the famous Lincoln Club of Toledo, and was very active in securing the original membership of two hundred. Mr. Baird is a faithful, progressive citizen, and his friends are legion wherever he is known. His popularity is only measured by the wide circle of his acquaintances. On the IIth of May, 1886, Mr. Baird married Miss Mary A., daughter of George L. Johnson, and they have three sons.
Clinton B. Wilcox,
Of Sandusky, President and Manager of The R. M. & C. B. Wilcox Co., of that city, is a native of Sandusky, born on the IIth of April, 1866. His father was a native Ohioan, and his mother a native of the State of New York. In early days his father resided in Cleve- land, but removed to Sandusky in the '40's, where he established, with his brother, R. M. Wilcox, the mercantile business which still bears his name. This concern has been a family enterprise ever since its inception, steadily growing and broadening its field of operations,
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until to-day it is one of the largest similar institutions in the State of Ohio. Mr. Clinton B. Wilcox received his early education in the public schools of Sandusky, at the Western Reserve Academy at Hudson, Ohio, and the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. Immediately upon leaving college he started into active business life, and he is now closely identified with many mercantile, financial and manufac- turing institutions. He is Vice President and Director of the Sandusky Gas and Electric Company ; director of the Cedar Point Improvement Company, director of the Com- mercial National Bank, director of the G. R. Butler Co., President and director of the Providence Hospital, and vestryman and Treasurer of Grace Episcopal Church, of Sandusky. He was Vice President and Treasurer of the Moss National Bank until its consolidation with the Second National Bank, the coalition forming the Commercial National Bank, and was an incorporator and one of the first directors of the People's Elec- tric Railroad. Major Wilcox is a former director of the Erie County Abstract Com- pany and a former director and Treasurer of the Erie County Agricultural Society. In politics, Mr. Wilcox has taken such interest as is possible by a man whose time is nearly all taken up by the many interests mentioned above; nevertheless, he occupies the position CLINTON B. WILCOX of trustee of the Toledo State Hospital, Gov- ernor Herrick appointing him to the same to succeed the late Governor Foster; and he is State Central Committeeman of the Thirteentil Congressional District of Ohio. For several terms he was elected a member of the Board of Health of Sandusky, and also of the Board of Education of that city. It is hardly neces- sary to add, that his political belief is attached to the Republican party, and that there are undoubtedly great political honors in store for him. Major Wilcox has been connected with the National Guard of Ohio since the 17th of August, 1885, when he entered the ranks of the militia as a private. Step by step he has been advanced in that body, until to-day he holds the position of Major, and is on the staff of General W. V. McMaken, First Brigade, O. N. G. Socially, he belongs to the Masonic fraternity, Knights Templar, Royal Arcanum and Knights of the Maccabees. In 1887 he was married to Mary Bella Fuller, of Norwalk, Ohio. One daughter, Helen D. Wilcox, is the fruit of their union.
Conrad Born,
One of the representative business men of Columbus, Ohio, and the head of the well- known brewing firm of Born & Co. in the capital city of the Buckeye State, was born in Columbus on the 21st of September, 1844, and is the son of Conrad and Mary A. (Rickly) Born. His father was a native of Bavaria and his mother was born in Switzerland. They came to this country in 1839. In 1841 they came to Columbus after having spent two years in New York. At the time of his death, Mr. Born was the oldest butcher in Columbus. He also deait largely in real estate. In 1859 he built the brewery known as the firm of Born
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& Co. Conrad Born, Jr., was educated in the public schools of Columbus, and has been connected with the brewery from its estab- lishment to the present time, and it is due to his business qualifications and energy that his brewery has become one of the largest of its kind in Ohio. In 1860 the subject of this sketch left Columbus and worked for four years in the large breweries of Cincinnati, St. Louis and Chicago, in order to gain a thorough, practical knowledge of the business. In June, 1869, Mr. Born was married to Miss Lena Moerlein, daughter of Mr. Christian Moerlein, a prominent brewer of Cincinnati. They have one son, Conrad Christian, who is now associated with his father in business. Mr. Born is also interested in a number of industrial and banking institutions, and is well known in business circles all over the State. In the esteem of his fellow citizens he stands high. Mr. Born is a thirty-second- CONRAD BORN degree Mason, a member of the Mystic Shrine, the I. O. O. F., the B. P. O. E., the Columbus Maennerchor and of many other benevolent and fraternal organizations. He is also a stock- holder and director in the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company, of Cincinnati.
F. W. SCHUMACHER
F. W. Schumacher,
Of Columbus, Ohio, President of the Board of Trade of the capital city of the Buckeye State, and Vice President and Director of advertising of The Peruna Drug Manufactur- ing Company, is a German by birth, being born on the Island of Fehmarn, Holstein, Ger- many. He came to the United States with his parents and located in Waco, Texas, where his education was begun in the public schools of that city and finished at a government insti- tution of note in Lubeck, Germany. Here he passed his examination of maturity, and two years later graduated from the St. Louis Col- lege of Pharmacy, where he was awarded first honors and a gold medal for highest grades in all branches. Returning to Waco in 1884, he entered upon his career as manager of a large retail drug store. Five years later he was made Secretary-Treasurer of a large wholesale drug company in Waco, and in 1897 he came to Columbus to associate himself with The
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Peruna Company. The marvelous development of The Peruna Company pictures the success of Mr. Schumacher as chief of its most essential department since he has made Columbus his home. In the early spring of 1904 Mr. Schumacher was elected President of the Colum- bus Board of Trade. Mr. Schumacher is married to Miss Maribel Hartman, a daughter of Dr. Hartman, President of The Peruna Company. They have two children, Maribel and Kathleen. Mr. Schumacher lives with his family at 750 East Broad street, Columbus, Ohio.
Robert Hutchins Jeffrey,
One of the most prominent manufacturers of Columbus, Ohio, was born on the 21st of December, 1873, in the capital city of the Buckeye State. He is the son of James A Jeffrey, banker and manufacturer, who was also a native Ohioan. His mother, Celia Clark Jeffrey, was born in New York and a descend- ant of a family which came from England and settled in Massachusetts in 1634. Members of this family have served with distinction in all the wars from the Revolution to the present time, and were prominently identified with the political life of that period. Mr. Jeffrey received his education both at home and abroad. He graduated from Williams College, Massachusetts, in 1895, studied for two years in Dresden, Germany, and also in the Ohio State University at Columbus, Ohio. He is now the Vice President of the Jeffrey Manu- facturing Company, of his home city, which ROBERT HUTCHINS JEFFREY institution he has been identified with for many years, working up from the factory, where he was employed in a laborious position, to the place he now holds. He has always taken an active interest in the affairs of his city, and at one time was director and President of the Columbus Board of Trade, it having at that time a membership of one thousand. In April, 1903, he was elected Mayor of Columbus, Ohio, on the Republican ticket, and received the largest vote ever cast in that city for any candidate. He is a member of the following societies and orders: Chi Psi College Fraternity, Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity, Masons, I. O. O. F., Modern Wood- men of America, Arlington County Club, Columbus Country Club, President of Ohio Club of Columbus, Board of Trade, and Y. M. C. A. Mr. Jeffrey is a married man. His wife's maiden name was Alice Kilbourne, who was a daughter of Colonel James Kilbourne. Two sons have resulted from this union. Mr. Jeffrey is a member of the First Congregational Church. His residence is located at No. 71 Winner Avenue, Columbus.
Colonel James Kilbourne,
One of the best-known Democrats of Ohio, comes of lineage distinguished in the early history of the State. His grandfather, Colonel James Kilbourne, was one of Ohio's earliest pioneers and among the first to represent his district in Congress. Colonel James Kilbourne
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was born on the 9th of October, 1841, in the city of Columbus, Ohio. His father, Lincoln Kilbourne, was a leading merchant of his native city and well known for his popularity and good citizenship. Young Kilbourne attended Kenyon College, graduating therefrom in 1862, and two years later received the degree of Master of Arts. He was but fairly out of his school work when the War of the Rebellion broke out, and he enlisted as a private in the Eighty-fourth Ohio Volunteers, from which he was discharged, to accept a commission in the Ninety-fifth Ohio Volunteers. He served with honor through the war, being promoted through the various grades to that of Captain and being breveted Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel of United States Volunteers. For some time he was a member of the staffs of
Generals Tuttle and McArthur. His war record is one of great gallantry and without a blot. At the close of the war Colonel Kilbourne resumed his studies, and in 1868 graduated from the law school of Harvard University. He was admitted to the bar, but his health being undermined by army service, he, on the advice of his physician, left the practice of his chosen profession and entered business with his father. A few years later he founded the Kilbourne & Jacobs Manufacturing Company, now the largest establishment of its kind in the world, and of which he has always been President and General Manager. Colonel Kilbourne has always taken a great deal of interest in the various organizations having for their purpose the upbuilding of his native city. He was a director and, in 1895, President
COLONEL JAMES KILBOURNE
Photo by Baker, Columbus, O.
of the Columbus Board of Trade, and he has been a director and President of the Columbus Club and of the Arlington Country Club. He is a director of the First National Bank and the Clinton-Hayden National Bank; of the Columus, Hocking Valley and Toledo and of the Columbus, Cincinnati and Midland Railways, and of many business and social organi- zations. For ten years he was President of the Board of Trustees of the Columbus City Library, and has been President of the Kenyon College Association of Central Ohio, and President of. the Central Ohio Harvard Club. He is a life member of the Ohio Archaeo- logical Society, and President of the Old Northwest Geneological Society. He instituted the Columbus Children's Hospital, of which he was President for five years, when he declined to serve longer in that capacity. He is Vice President of the Columbus Neighborhood Guild Association and a member of the Board of Managers of the Associated Charities of Columbus. In political life he has always been a stalwart Democrat, prominent in the coun- cils of his party, and often urged to accept a nomination. He acceded to the wishes of his friends once, when, in 1901, he was made by acclamation the Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio. His popularity at home was such that he carried Franklin County by a majority of 2,300 in round numbers, being a gain of over 4,000 from the vote of the previous two years and he ran 17,000 ahead of the ticket in the State. He was a delegate from the Twelfth Ohio Congressional District to the Democratic National Convention, in 1892 and
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1896, and at the Democratic State Convention, in 1899, received 237 votes for nomination for Governor. In 1900 he was a delegate-at-large from Ohio to the National Democratic Convention at Kansas City, and Chairman of the Ohio delegation. He was appointed by Governor Campbell one of the Commissioners from Ohio to the Columbian Exposition at Chicago, but declined the honor on account of pressure of business affairs. Colonel Kil- bourne is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Union Veteran Legion and the Loyal Legion. He has also thrice served as Vice President of the Society of the Army of Tennessee. He organized the Columbus Cuban League, and was President thereof. When the Spanish-American War broke out, he tendered his services and the services of three of his sons to the Govern- ment. Colonel Kilbourne is one of the largest employers of labor in Ohio, and his relations with his workmen have always been most friendly. He has never had a strike in his great establishment or a suit at law against him or itis company, and never has the wage of a work- man been reduced in his plants. His record in this regard is one of which any man might be proud. In 1898 he was appointed a member of the Ohio Centennial Commission and made its President. Colonel Kilbourne has for many years been a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and closely identified with church work. On the 5th of October, 1869, he married Anna B. Wright, the eldest daughter of General George B. Wright, and four children have been born to this union, three sons and one daughter. The Kilbourne home is located on East Town Street, Columbus, Ohio.
David E. Hill,
Deceased, of Akron, Ohio, whose name is perpetuated as the consolidator of the great sewer pipe industries of this country, was born on the 25th of May, 1825, at Gowanda, Cat- taraugus County, New York. He was of English-Scotch ancestry. At the age of eighteen he left his native State and settled in Middle- bury, which is now a part of Akron, Ohio. There he worked for several years in a machine shop, and with others became engaged in the manufacturing of the old-fashioned fire en- gines. From 1847 to 1849 Mr. Hill traveled for McMillan & Irish, manufacturers of woolen machinery, and in the spring of the latter year became interested in the manufacture of sewer pipe. His company, the Akron Sewer Pipe Company, was the pioneer of the large sewer pipe industry of the United States. This industry, as above mentioned, was founded in 1849, when the late Colonel Reuben McMillan, in connection with David E. Hill and Robert Foster, opened a pottery works under the firm name of Hill, Foster & Co. The inception of this enterprise was entirely owing to the experiments made by Mr. Hill, who, after careful tests, discovered that the clay of that part of the State was particularly adapted to the manufacture of sewer pipes. The concern flourished, and in 1851 Mr. Foster retired, and
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