USA > Ohio > Knox County > Past and present of Knox County, Ohio, Vol. II > Part 13
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Mr. Loney was born in Pike township, this county, on January 29, 1835. He is the son of John and Eliza ( Kirkpatrick) Loney. The pater- nal grandparents, John Loney and wife, were natives of Harrison county, Ohio, their parents having been early settlers there from Virginia. They came to Knox county in a very early day and the grandmother was killed here by being thrown from a horse. Both are buried in this county. The grandfather of the subject was a shoemaker by trade, and he had saved six hundred dollars with which he established himself here, having spent the first winter near Mt. Vernon and entered land from the government for himself, his father-in-law and children.
The maternal grandparents of the subject, Hugh and Ann (Morrow) Kirkpatrick, were natives of Harper county, Maryland, his birth having oc- curred on June 1, 1772, and her birth occurred on December 19, 1793. They came to Ohio in the early pioneer days and located first in Harrison county, then in Knox county, where they entered government land, which they de- veloped into a farm on which they spent the balance of their lives.
John Loney, father of the subject, was born March 12, 1805, in Harrison county, Ohio, and his wife, Eliza Kirkpatrick, was born in the same county on November 1, 1804, and there they grew to maturity and were married on October 1, 1829. The father devoted his life to agricultural pursuits. Po- litically, he was a Democrat, and he and his wife belonged to the Presbyter- ian church. Their family consisted of six children, two of whom are living at this writing, namely: John Calvin, of this review, and Mrs. Margaret Ann
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Ridenour. John Loney, the father of the subject, came to Knox county prior to his marriage, entered land in Pike township, then returned to Harrison county and there married, after which he came back to Knox county and es- tablished his home, becoming one of the large landowners here, owning five or six hundred acres, and he was one of the substantial and influential men of his day. His death occurred on October 5, 1891, at an advanced age, his wife having preceded him to the grave on November 3, 1868. He was twice married, his last wife being Arvilla Hibbitts.
John C. Loney, of this review, was reared on the home farm where, when of proper age, he assisted with the general work, and he received his education in the common schools of his community. Early in life he took up farming for a livelihood and this has been his life work. He began by renting a farm in order to get a start, then purchased land, and prospering through close application and good management, he added to his holdings until he became owner of over six hundred acres, which he farmed on a large scale. He raised various grades of live stock, and, laying by a competency, he gave away his large landed interests to his children, now owning only thirty acres on the outskirts of the town of North Liberty, and is now living practically retired from all activities, enjoying a well-earned respite.
Politically, Mr. Loney is a Democrat, but he has always preferred to devote his attention to his family and business interests, leaving the cares of office to others. His wife is a member of the Lutheran church.
Mr. Loney was married on December 13, 1855, to Mary Ridenour, daugh- ter of Daniel and Sarah (Bean) Ridenour, a highly respected old family of this county, having come here about 1852 from Hagerstown, Maryland. Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Loney, named as follows: William Clarence, John Alva, Daniel W., Anna Alberta, Alice Belle, Bernice and Lizzie; two infants died unnamed.
Personally, Mr. Loney is a man whom to know is to respect and admire for his many estimable characteristics.
DESAULT B. KIRK.
The following is a brief sketch of the life of one who, by close applica- tion to business, has achieved marked success in the world's affairs and risen to an honorable position among the enterprising men of the city with which his interests are identified. It is a plain record, rendered remarkable by no
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strange or mysterious adventure, no wonderful and lucky accident and no tragic situation. Mr. Kirk is one of those estimable characters whose in- tegrity and strong personality must force them into an admirable notoriety which their modesty never seeks, who command the respect of their contem- poraries and their posterity and leave the impress of their individuality upon the age in which they live. He is the scion of one of the worthiest and most prominent old families of this section of the Buckeye state, and his course has ever been such as to keep untarnished the bright escutcheon of the hon- ored family name.
Desault B. Kirk, president of the New Knox National Bank and one of Mt. Vernon's prominent business men and loyal citizens, was born September 21, 1846, in this city, the son of Robert C. and Eleanor (Hogg) Kirk, a com- plete sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume.
The subject of this review attended the public schools of Mt. Vernon, and was later graduated from Kenyon College at Gambier, Ohio, with the class of 1869. He then entered Howard Law School where he made a splendid record and from which he graduated with the class of 1872. Soon after- wards he located at Toledo, Ohio, for the practice of his profession, re- maining there two years, being a member of the firm of Scribner, Hurd & Kirk. Returning to Mt. Vernon in 1875, he formed a partnership with Alfred R. McIntire under the firm name of McIntire & Kirk, which continued until 1882, in which year he practically gave up the practice of law and entered the firm of C. & G. Cooper & Company, one of the pioneer engine manufac- turing concerns of the state. In 1905 the company incorporated under the name of the C. & G. Cooper Company, of which Mr. Kirk became treas- urer, which position he still holds, and the large and rapidly growing busi- ness of this firm has been due in no small degree to his able management of his department and his judicious counsel.
In addition to his connection with this company, Mr. Kirk has various other interests of considerable magnitude. For years he has been connected with the Mt. Vernon Gas Company and is now its president and is manag- ing its affairs in a manner that reflects much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of the stockholders. In 1877 he became connected with the Knox County National Bank as a director, this bank being the successor to the first bank established in Mt. Vernon. Before becoming a national bank under the congressional act authorizing national banks it was the Knox County State Bank, and at the expiration of its first charter as the Knox County National Bank under its new charter it became the New Knox National Bank, still bearing this title. Mr. Kirk later became vice-president of
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the bank, and in 1907 became its president, which position he still holds and the duties of which he is discharging in an able and praiseworthy manner. It is perhaps as a banker that Mr. Kirk's talents are the most pronounced and in which he has performed a very extensive service to the people of this community, being able to foresee with remarkable accuracy the outcome of present situations and transactions, and at all times conservative and painstaking, keeping fully abreast of the modern methods of banking. He has long wielded a potent influence in the financial circles in this locality. Mr. Kirk also has valuable city properties and other real estate holdings. He has been very successful in whatever he has turned his attention to, and as a lawyer he was rapidly winning his laurels and becoming recognized as one of the painstaking, energetic and able advocates of the local bar, and no doubt had he continued in the legal profession he would have become one of the eminent attorneys of this section of the state.
Mr. Kirk was married on May 20, 1873, to Mae C. Cooper, a lady of talent and culture, and the daughter of Charles and Isabella (Weaver) Cooper, a very prominent Mt. Vernon family and very actively connected with its industrial development and growth for many years. Four children have blessed this union, namely : Isabella married Benjamin Ames, of Mt. Vernon : Eleanor H. married John G. Ames, who is a professor in the Illi- nois College at Jacksonville, Illinois ; Robert C. married and is in business in Los Angeles, California ; Charles C. is married and is in business in Chicago.
Mr. Kirk proved his patriotism by enlisting in defense of the National Union during the Civil war for the one-hundred-day service in Company K, One Hundred and Forty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and he very faithfully served his term of enlistment during the closing months of the struggle. He has always been a Republican of the "stand pat" order, and while he has never found time to take as active a part as he would like to or cared to seek the honors of public office, he has kept well informed on cur- rent issues and has always readily supported such measures as had for their object the general advancement of his city, county and state as well as the nation. He is a member of the Masonic order, a Knight Templar and a Shriner. He belongs to the Joe Hooker Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. He and his family are members of the Episcopal church, of which he has been vestryman for a period of thirty-five years and senior warden for many years. He has long been active and prominent in church and benevolent work.
"Elmwood," the beautiful. commodious home of the Kirks, is a most delightful spot and has long been the center of much of the social life of the community.
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Personally, Mr. Kirk is a very pleasant, genteel gentleman, kind, affable and straightforward in all his business transactions, honest and unassum- ing, consequently he is popular with a wide circle of acquaintances and friends.
L. C. STILLWELL.
L. C. Stillwell, of Mt. Vernon, occupies a conspicuous place among the leading professional men of Knox county and enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who know him. His record demonstrates that where there is. a will there is a way and that obstacles to success may be overcome by courage and self-reliance. His career has been a very active and strenuous one and has been fraught with much good to his fellow men and his ex- ample is cordially commended to the youth of the land whose life work is yet a matter for future years to determine, for his record forcibly illustrates what a life of energy can accomplish when one's plans are wisely laid and one's actions governed by right principles, noble aims and high ideals.
L. C. Stillwell was born at Waterford, this county, February 4, 1868, and he is the son of Francis Marion and Catherine (Schell) Stillwell. The mother was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, and when a small child came to this section of Ohio; her father was of French and her mother of German blood. Francis M. Stillwell was born in Perry township, Morrow county, Ohio, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His mother was well educated in German. She and her husband now live a retired life on a small farm near Marengo, Morrow county, Ohio, having devoted their lives to agricultural pursuits. The father is of a very long lived family. He is the son of Joseph and the grandson of Obediah and Sarah Stillwell, who came from Bedford, Penn- sylvania, to Knox county, Ohio, in a very early day, when a few cabins con- stituted the present city of Mt. Vernon. At that time Joseph Stillwell was about ten years old. They made the long trip in old-fashioned wagons and the woods was so dense and roads so few that they were compelled to cut their way through the forests a greater part of the way. They began life in typical pioneer fashion, entering one hundred and sixty acres from the gov- ernment, which they cleared and developed into a good farm, near Water- ford, now called Leverings, and there the old folks spent the balance of their lives. . Sarah Stillwell- reached the remarkable age of one hundred three years, six months and nineteen days. She was very hale and active in her old age and possessed all her faculties until she reached her one hundred and
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second birthday. A\ brother of Obediah was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and captain of a Virginia company.
L. C. Stillwell, of this review, lived on a farm until he was about eigh- teen years of age, assisting with the general work about the place and at- tending the common schools during the winter months at Waterford and later at Mt. Vernon, after which he read law with W. M. Koons, of the lat- ter place. He then entered a law school at Cleveland, where he made a splendid record and from which institution he was graduated and he was admitted to the bar in June, 1891, to practice in the Ohio state courts. He was admitted to practice in the United States courts in October, 1894. Thus well equipped for his chosen vocation, he began practice at Fredericktown, Ohio, in 1891, and there he was not only successful in the practice of law, but he also soon became prominent in public affairs. He served two terms as mayor of Fredericktown, and after that he was city solicitor of Fredericktown for some time. In the fall of 1903 he was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney of Knox county and held the office three years. In the spring of 1904 he moved to Mt. Vernon and took up his residence in East High street, and has since been engaged in the general practice of law ; his popularity having preceded him, he has been successful from the first and now enjoys a large and ever growing clientele. He keeps fully abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to his profession and is painstaking, accurate, ever vigilant of his client's interests and in the trial of cases he has no superiors at the local bar.
Mr. Stillwell has been identified with a number of corporations of Mt. Vernon. He is local counsel for the Pittsburg Plate Glass Company. gen- eral counsel for the Upham Gas Company in the states of Ohio, Indiana and Virginia. He is also general counsel for the Knox County Glass Company of Mt. Vernon, the Zeig Manufacturing Company. the Levering Brothers Mill & Elevating Company, also a number of other companies and institu- tions, making corporation practice a specialty and as a corporation lawyer he has no superiors and few equals in this part of the United States, his able work in this connection having attracted wide attention from time to time and bringing his name conspicuously before the general public.
Politically, Mr. Stillwell is a Republican and he is an Episcopalian in religious belief. He has always been loyal to his party and as a public ser- vant acquitted himself in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the eminent satisfaction of his constituents and the general public.
On November 21. 1891, Mr. Stillwell was united in marriage with Ger -- trude Blair, a lady of talent and culture, who was born and reared at Lexing-
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ton, Ohio, but her ancestors were old residents of Mt. Vernon. Her great- grandfather, James Martin, donated the grounds of the original tract of land for the present cemetery of Mt. Vernon. He married Mary Warden, a member of one of the earliest pioneer families of Mt. Vernon. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and he is buried in the cemetery for which he gave the land. James Blair, father of Mrs. Stillwell, was a soldier in the Civil war in an Ohio regiment. He now resides at Lexington, this state. He mar- ried Amanda King, brother of D. L. King, who served two years in the Civil war.
To Mr. and Mrs. Stillwell have been born one son and two daughters : Wendell, born November 20, 1893: Mandeline, born January 1, 1895; Ruth R., born June 28, 1896.
Fraternally, Mr. Stillwell is a member of the Modern Woodmen and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He and his family attend the Episcopal church of Mt. Vernon.
Personally, Mr. Stillwell is a gentleman of pleasing address, genial, obliging and a good mixer. By virtue of the offices and positions with the public and large corporations we must conclude that he holds a high position of honor and trust among his fellow countrymen else he would not have been called upon to fill such places, which usually go to men of sound moral and business principles.
COL. WILLIAM C. COOPER.
William C. Cooper, among the eminent lawyers, brave soldiers and congressmen from Ohio, was one of Knox county's honored sons. He came of good old American-born ancestors on his father's side and of sturdy Scotch-Irish on the maternal side. He was the son of Thompson Cooper and the grandson of Daniel Cooper, both of whom were natives of Butler county, Pennsylvania, and who settled in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, in 1806. Daniel Cooper entered the army in the war of 1812, holding the rank of captain. Thompson Cooper, the subject's father, came here when a mere boy, hence was reared among the scenes of true pioneer life in the wilds of this county. He served during his useful life as a justice of the peace for thirty and more years and was mayor of Mt. Vernon eight years.
Col. William C. Cooper, of whom this more especially treats, received a public school education and attended the Mt. Vernon Academy. It was early
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in life that he had an ambition to become a lawyer and commenced the study of law with Joseph W. Vance and James Smith, Jr. He was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-two years and soon formed a law partnership with his preceptor, Mr. Vance, this relation continuing until the death of Mr. Vance, who was killed in battle during the Civil war. The law firm closed its office and both entered the Union army, Mr. Vance as colonel and in command of his regiment when killed. Mr. Cooper was among the first to enlist in defense of his country's flag, becoming a first lieutenant in Company B, Fourth Ohio Infantry. He re-enlisted in 1864 and returned as colonel of the One Hundred and Forty-second Regiment, with which he participated in the great Petersburg campaign.
At the conclusion of his second term Mr. Cooper returned home and re- sumed the practice of law. He became a member of the firm of Cooper, Porter & Mitchell. His diligence and faithfulness toward his clients was noted as exceptional. He was in every way a thorough lawyer-an honor to the bar of Ohio and Knox county.
Politically, Colonel Cooper was a Republican; he seldom asked for an office, but was ever ready to aid the party of his choice and his council was frequently sought by those high up in office. Prior to the Civil war he had held the office of prosecuting attorney for four years. In 1860 he was elected mayor of Mt. Vernon, serving two consecutive terms. In 1871 he was chosen to represent his district in the Legislature and at the close of his term declined the position again. He was six years president of the board of education at Mt. Vernon and five years advocate-general of the state of Ohio. These are the only civil offices held by him until he was elected to the forty- ninth Congress in 1884. He was elected again in 1886 and 1888. As a debater on the floor and as a wise counselor in the various committee rooms, he was exceptionally strong and popular, being not only able, but very useful, just at that time in the halls of Congress. During his first term the bill pro- viding for the order of succession in the office of President was passed and he was a member of the committee in charge of the bill. His argument along this line was masterly and logical. He was also influential on the committees on elections, on territories, on banking and on currency. He managed several campaigns as chairman of the Republican state central committee and was the representative of the Republican party in Ohio in the national committee from 1876 to 1884, during the period of the greatest contention in the party, and was a delegate to the national conventions in 1872 and 1880.
In January, 1864. Colonel Cooper was married to Eliza Russell, daugh- ter of pioneer Dr. John W. Russell, a physician of more than ordinary skill,
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who for sixty years practiced medicine in Mt. Vernon. Two daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cooper.
Colonel Cooper's army relations naturally brought him in close touch with the Grand Army of the Republic after the end of the civil strife and he twice represented his state in the national encampment of this soldier fraternity. His citizenship was ever characterized by unswerving loyalty to the best in- terests of city, county, state and nation, and by mastery of every subject upon which his actions could have direct or indirect bearing ; socially, he was most popular and he knew how to win and hold friendship. Professionally, he was most talented and prominent, his comprehensive understanding of the principles of jurisprudence, combined with his logic and power of argument, rendering him one of the most able members of the Ohio bar. Such is the record of one who for more than seventy years was an honored citizen of Mt. Vernon.
On August 29, 1902, as the autumn of that year was just being ushered in, his soul took its flight from earth and his remains are buried in Mound View cemetery, Mt. Vernon, which city had always been his home. His family monument marks the resting place of a man who had always per- formed every known duty to his fellow man, and been loyal to the country in which he lived and labored so many years.
FRANK CARTER LARIMORE, M. D.
There is no class to whom greater gratitude is due from the world at large than the self-sacrificing, sympathetic, noble-minded men whose life work is the alleviation of suffering and the ministering of comfort to the afflicted to the end that the span of human existence may be lengthened and a great degree of satisfaction enjoyed during the remainder of their earthly sojourn. There is no standard by which their beneficent influence can be measured; their helpfulness is limited only by the extent of their knowledge and skill, while their power goes hand in hand with the wonderful laws of nature that spring from the very source of life itself. Among the physicians and surgeons of Knox county who have risen to eminence in their chosen field of endeavor is Dr. Frank Carter Larimore, of Mt. Vernon, whose career has been that of a broad-minded, conscientious worker in the sphere to which his life and energies have been devoted and whose profound knowledge of his profession has won for him a leading place among the most distinguished medical men of his day and generation in this section of the Buckeye state.
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Doctor Larimore was born on April 12, 1846, on North High street, Columbus, Ohio. He is the son of Robert and Susan A. (Dodridge) Lari- more. The father, a native of Hampshire county, Virginia, emigrated to Ohio in the early days and he was a contractor engaged in the construction of the Ohio canal. Later he superintended the stone quarries from which the stone was taken for the construction of the present state house at Columbus. He was later superintendent of the Woodbridge estate, manufacturers of charcoal, pig iron and other industries in southern Ohio. His death occurred in Chillicothe, this state, in 1856. His wife was the daughter of Joseph Dod- ridge, of Wellsburg, West Virginia, who was an Episcopalian minister and who supplied the first Episcopalian church west of the Alleghany mountains. He was graduated from Rush Medical College at Philadelphia and his diploma bears the signature of Dr. Benjamin Rush, who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The mother of the subject died in Mt. Ver- non. These parents were each married three times. The subject was one of four children, two of whom are now living, the other being Mrs. Lucy Wells Campbell, of San Francisco.
Doctor Larimore was the son of poor parents and after his father's death he was entrusted to the care of an uncle, Thomas Larimore, and his son, Capt. Henry Larimore, of near Lock, Knox county, both of whom were very solicitous of the subject's welfare and gave him every opportunity. He attended the country schools and worked on the farm, receiving the best of training and discipline under the gentlemen mentioned above. In Septem- ber, 1861, he enlisted in Company G, Twentieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and he served very faithfully in the Western army, being wounded at Pittsburg Landing, April 7. 1862, in the knee and both hands by a cannon ball, which at the same time wounded William Barrible and William Philo, the former dying by the side of Mr. Larimore in a hospital bed at Mound City, Illinois. William Philo is still living, being a prominent business man at Akron, Ohio. As soon as he was able, the subject returned home and in time recovered from his wounds and again enlisted, becoming fifth sergeant of Company B, One Hundred and Forty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving four months under General Butler on the Appomattox river, fourteen miles from Rich- mond. He was, according to his comrades, a very gallant soldier and never shirked his duty, however hazardous.
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