USA > Ohio > Lucas County > Toledo > Portrait and biographical record of city of Toledo and Lucas and Wood Counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the locality, together with biographies and portraits of all the Presidents of the United States > Part 22
USA > Ohio > Wood County > Portrait and biographical record of city of Toledo and Lucas and Wood Counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the locality, together with biographies and portraits of all the Presidents of the United States > Part 22
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In his political faith Mr. Mallett is, like his father, a Republican and takes commendable inter- est in everything which tends to elevate the com-
MINOT I. WILCOX.
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munity or country at large. His wife, a lady of education and refinement, is a worker in and mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which both are liberal subscribers.
M INOT I. WILCOX, President of the Mer- chants' National Bank, one of the lead- ing financial institutions of the city, and of the M. I. Wilcox Cordage and Supply Company, of Toledo, was born in Jefferson County, N. Y., April 7, 1829. The family was for many genera- tions identified with the history of New England, and its members were honored as useful, upright and progressive citizens. The paternal grandfa- ther of our subject, Oliver Wilcox, was born in Rhode Island in 1747, and spent much of his life in Connecticut, being in earlier years a New Bed- ford whaler. His son, Oliver, Jr., was born in Con- necticut in 1780, and in 1809, accompanied by two brothers, sought a new home in the western part of New York. In 1810 he settled permanently in Jefferson County, where he began the task of evolving a farm from the primeval wilderness. When the War of 1812 broke out he enlisted in the American army and rendered faithful service in the interests of our country, participating in the battle of Sacket's Harbor, as well as numer- ous engagements. After a long and useful life, during which he accumulated a competence and gained an enviable reputation as a man of probity, he died in Jefferson County, in 1868, aged eighty- eight years. His wife, who passed from earth twenty-four years prior to his demise, bore the maiden name of Laura Pomeroy, and was a lineal descendant of Gen. Nathanael Greene, of Revolu- tionary fame.
The parental family included thirteen children, of whom Minot was the youngest. The latter spent the days of boyhood upon the home farm, and early became familiar with all the work inci- dent to the cultivation of the place. His educa-
tional advantages were exceedingly limited, but through self-culture he acquired a fund of infor- mation greater than is usually obtained by those having better opportunities. Starting out for himself at the age of sixteen, he served an appren- ticeship with a ship-joiner in the neighborhood of his home. For one year he received a salary of $9 per month, after which, having gained a practical knowledge of the trade, he began on his own ac- count.
Joining a brother-in-law, S. S. Read, at Black Rock, our subject assisted that gentleman in his mill for two years, after which he came to Toledo, in 1850, and for the two ensuing years was em- ployed by Read & Thompson in the old Premium Mill (now the Armada Mill). Later he hield a clerkship with Thomas Watkins, a grain dealer, and in 1853 leased and assumed the management of the Manhattan Mill, in connection with his brother-in-law, Mr. Read, the concern being made remunerative under his management.
In December, 1854, the firm of Read & Wilcox bought the vessel supply store of William O. Brown on Water Street, and conducted business there and on Summit Street until 1860, when the partnership was dissolved. During the same year Leonard and M. I. Wilcox founded the firm of Wilcox Bros., which was first located at the corner of Madison and Water Streets, but in 1868 was transferred to the location now occupied by the M. I. Wilcox Cordage and Supply Company on Water Street. Wilcox Bros. continued business until the death of Leonard, in May, 1882, after which our subject carried on the business alone until 1886, when he was chosen President of the newly incorporated business of the Wilcox Cordage and Supply Com- pany. From that time to the present the house has enjoyed a steady increase of business, and the sound financial basis upon which it rests proves the good judgment of its projectors.
While giving his attention largely to this busi- ness, Mr. Wilcox has also been interested in other enterprises. For a number of years he has been President of the Wilcox Stock Company, manu- facturers of steam dredges and steam shovels. Since the organization of the Merchants' National Bank he has been one of its Directors, was for
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some time its Vice-President, and is now filling the position of President. In other ways he has been identified with the prosperity and material development of Toledo, At the present time he is one of the Managing Directors of the great Mil- burn Wagon Company of Toledo, and of the Vul- can Iron Works Company. He is also President of the Toledo & Maumee River Steamboat Com- pany, and Director and Treasurer of the Toledo & Island Steamboat Company. His marriage, which occurred in 1855, united him with Miss Emma Finney, daughter of the late Harry Finney, of New York, and niece of the late President Fin- ney, of Oberlin College. She and her husband are attendants at Trinity Episcopal Church.
For ten years Mr. Wilcox was an active and effi- cient member of the Volunteer Fire Department of Toledo. IIe took an active part in the organi- zation of Relief Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 (composed principally of merchants and clerks), of which he was chosen foreman in 1860, and continued as such until the disbandment of the company, upon the introduction of the paid de- partment in January, 1866. During the late war he enlisted, in 1864, as a member of the Onc Hun- dred and Thirtieth Ohio Regiment, commanded by Col. C. B. Phillips. He served for four months, holding the position of Quartermaster, and was honorably discharged at the expiration of his term of service. In politics he has been a stanch Re- publican since the organization of the party.
D ANIEL C. SHAW. In Mr. Shaw we find an excellent example for young men just embarking in the field of active life of what may be accomplished by a man beginning poor, but honest, prudent and industrious. In early life he enjoyed but few advantages. His school days were limited, nor had he wealth and position to aid him in starting in life. He relied solely upon his own efforts and his own conduct to
win for him success. In his business affairs he has ever observed that important factor in the success- ful public or business life of anyone-honesty. He is a careful, conscientious business man, ever ad- hering to the dictates of his conscience in matters of a public and private nature.
As the President of the firm of Shaw, Kendall & Co., Mr. Shaw is at the head of one of the most im- portant industries of Toledo. The office and ware- rooms of the company are situated at Nos. 1-9 St. Clair Street, with ninety feet front on St. Clair Street and one hundred and fifty fect on Wash- . ington Street, and the building is three stories in height. Here they carry a full stock of brass founders', mill and oil-well supplies. The subject of this sketch was born in Newport, Mc., April 2, 1839, being the son of Caleb and Mary (Hill) Shaw, the former of whom was a carpenter and builder of Maine. Daniel C. was the youngest of a family of four children, there being one son and three daughters. At the age of five he accom- panied his parents to Chicago, Ill., where he ob- tained his primary education in the common schools. In that city hc learned the trade of a watchmaker and jeweler, after which he journeyed on an exploring tour to California and thence to Washington and Idaho. Returning East, he fol- lowed his trade for a short time in Chicago, Ill.
Shortly after reaching home in the latter place, at the close of his western expedition, Mr. Shaw enlisted as a member of Company I, Thirteenth Illinois Infantry, Col. John B. Wyman command- ing. Going to the front with his regiment, he took part in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Ar- kansas Post, and the engagements at Jackson (Miss.), Black River, Champion Hills, the siege of Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. At the expiration of his period of service he was discharged, in the fall of 1864, and returned to Chicago, where he soon afterward embarked in the steam-fitting business.
In 1867 Mr. Shaw came to Toledo, where for two years hc engaged in business in partnership with John Davis, and then assisted in the organi- zation of the present firm of Shaw, Kendall & Co., of which he is President; C. Kendall, Vice-Presi- dent; J. L. Wolcott, Treasurer; James Barr, Secre-
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tary; and William Hardee, Manager. During the busy season employment is given to two hundred and fifty men, and the industry is one of the most successful in Toledo. The buildings oceupied by the company eover nearly five aeres and are lo- eated at Auburndale, a suburb of the eity.
The marriage of Mr. Shaw took place in Chicago in 1865, his wife being Miss Cornelia Dean, of Chieago. They are highly regarded in the social eireles of Toledo, and oceupy a position to which their wealth and eulture justly entitle them.
LAYTON L. MURPHY. The legal pro- fession has many able representatives in Toledo, men who stand high as attorneys because of their deep study of the best authorities of legal lore, and men whose native ability is of a superior order; men who also combine the two (education and natural endowments), so that the latter are enhaneed by the former. Of this elass none stands higher than the subject of this sketch, the well known attorney of Toledo. He is fitted for the profession he has adopted, being quiek, alert and thoughtful, and devoted to the interests of his clients.
Mr. Murphy is a young man, having been born December 2, 1870, and the reputation he has al- ready gained is therefore the more gratifying. He is a native of Richland County, Ohio, and was born near the eity of Belleville, where his parents, James F. and Eliza (Binns) Murphy, then resided. At the present time, and for some years past, they have made their home in Knox County, Ohio, where the father is extensively engaged in general farming and stoek-raising. The family is of Eng- lish-Irish extraetion, and was first represented in this country in the seventeenth century.
The boyhood years of Clayton L. Murphy were uneventfully passed in Fulton and Knox Coun- ties, this state, where he gained sueh educational advantages as the distriet sehools afforded. Later
he entered the University of Michigan at Ann Ar- bor, where he eondueted the studies of the literary department until his graduation from the institu- tion in 1892. He had resolved to enter the legal profession, and, acting upon this decision, he be- gan to read law in the office of Hon. M. M. Booth- man, of Bryan, Ohio. Later he continued his studies under the preceptorship of Hon. W. C. Cooper, a prominent attorney of Mt. Vernon, Knox County, Ohio. Upon the conclusion of his studies, he was admitted to the Bar before the Su- preme Court at Columbus in 1892.
Soon after his admission to the Bar, in January, 1893, Mr. Murphy eame to Toledo, and has since that time conducted a general legal practice. He is a young man of polished manner and genial disposition, and is a welcome guest in the best society of the eity. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias, and also holds mem- bership in the Masonie lodge at Fayette, Fulton County. Possessing a keen insight into questions of importance to the city and nation, he keeps well posted on general topies eoneerning the wel- fare of the people, and in his political views ad- heres to the faith of the Republican party, of which he is one of the local leaders.
S OLOMON WILKINSON is one of the sturdy . pioneers of Lueas County, to which he was brought by his parents when he was seven days less than a year old, and in this vieinity the balanee of his life has been passed. Until 1882 he was engaged in farming and blacksmithing, but since that time has earried on a general store at West Toledo. In his boyhood days his nearest neighbor was three miles away from his parents' humble home, and his edueation was such as was afforded by the old-time subseription sehools, which were also about three miles distant.
A son of William and Martha (Hiteheock ) Wilk- inson, our subjeet was born in Linington, Canada,
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October 7, 1822. His father was a native of Penn- sylvania and of Irish descent, and his mother was born in Knox County, Ohio. They had a family of ten children, named as follows: Martha, John J., William, Solomon, Daniel, Samuel, Emanuel, Henry, Eliza and Elizabeth. After the death of bis first wife, William Wilkinson married a Miss Flint, and by her had three children, Martha, Charles and Francis. When about twenty-three years of age our subject's father moved to Chilli- cothe, Ohio, and engaged in farming there until 1817, when he went to Canada. After several years spent in farming in that country he returned to Olio, the trip being made in an open log canoe, and this time he located in Lucas County. Settling in Washington Township, he took up forty-eight acres of Government land, for which he paid $1.25 per acre. He erected a log cabin, which was a large one for that time, and there led the toilsome life of a frontiersman. His farm joined the Indian Reservation, and many a time he stood in his cabin doorway and shot deer and other wild game. He helped to lay out roads and organize schools, and was an active member of the Methodist Church. He died in 1848, in his sixty-fifth year, and was placed to rest in the Southard Cemetery.
Solomon Wilkinson remained with his father un- til reaching his majority, when he began learning the blacksmith's trade, and going to Monroe served an apprenticeship of three years. Besides his board, he received $3 per month the first year, $5 the second and $8 per month the third. He later started a shop on Summit Street, which he con- ducted for five years, and then moved to Monroe, Mich., and purchased a farm, which he operated until 1882. Both as an agriculturist and as a mer- chant he lias been quite successful, as he is perse- vering and energetic. The first Presidential ballot that he ever cast was in favor of the Whig party, but since the organization of the Republican party he has been one of its stanch defenders.
October 14, 1847, Mr. Wilkinson married Caro- line Colburn, who was born in Vermont, and who died February 6, 1880. They became the parents of eight children, seven sons and a daughter, namely: Lewis A., George, William, Joseph, Fran- cis, Nellie, Herbert and Walter. In 1882 Mr.
Wilkinson married the lady who now bears bis nanie, and who prior to that event was Miss Caro- line Rymill.
H ARVEY SCRIBNER, one of the leading attorneys-at-law in Toledo, has been en- gaged in practice here for the past twenty- three years. His father, Charles H. Scribner, now Judge of the Circuit Court, formed a partnership with Hon. Frank Hurd in 1869, the firm name be- ing Scribner & Hurd. On the admission of Harvey Scribner to the Bar in 1871, he became a member of the firm, under the style of Scribner, Hurd & Scribner, and this connection continued until the election of Judge Scribner to the Bench, when the old name of Scribner & Hurd was resnmed. The partnership was dissolved January 1, 1894, since which time our subject has conducted practice alone.
In the city of Mt. Vernon, Knox County, Obio, the subject of this sketch was born March 19, 1850, being the son of Hon. Charles H. and Mary E. (Morehouse) Scribner. His boyhood was passed in the place of his birth, where he received his ele- mentary education, and later entered the high school, from which he was graduated. He then took up the study of law, and was admitted to the Bar in Toledo in 1871. He has made a specialty of railroad cases, of which he has tried and gained some of the most important in the state. Among the other notable cases which he has tried was that in regard to the will of Charles B. Roff, in which a fund of $100,000 was released from a trust and secured to Mrs. Roff. In political matters he is a stanch member of the Democracy. He is recog- nized as one of the ablest lawyers in the state, and has gained a large and profitable clien tage.
On the 2d of November, 1880, Mr. Scribner mar- ried Mrs. Jennie (Hodge) Bullard, the widow of Ernest Bullard, and daughter of John L. Hodge,
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of Toledo. Mrs. Scribner was born in Scotland, but received her education principally in this coun- try. She is a lady of culture and social attain- ments, and is a truc helpmate and companion to her husband.
R EV. GEORGE B. BROWN has been pastor of the Alexis Congregational Church, six miles north of Toledo, for the past ten years, and for three years has also filled the pulpit of the Congregational Church at West Mill Grove, Ohio. From 1867 to 1871 he was County Exam- iner of Schools. In 1894 he was elected Secretary of the Board of Elections for a term of four years, prior to which time he had served on the board for two years. In June, 1890, he was employed by the City Natural Gas Trustees to secure the right of way for their pipe-land from Van Buren to Toledo, and a year later he was made Sccretary and Auditor of the concern. He was a prominent factor in the building up of the Young Men's Christian Association, was President of the same for some time, and was also a member of the State Executive Committee of the organization. Since April, 1889, he has been Registrar of the Toledo Congregational Conference, and has recently been appointed to write its history. In politics he is a stanch Republican.
Born at Grafton, Lorain County, Ohio, July 28, 1843, Rev. Mr. Brown is a son of Stephen and Mary B. (Chapin) Brown. The former was born in Waterbury, Conn., and died on his homestead in Lorain County, about 1882. His wife, a daugh- ter of Oliver Chapin, was born at Chicopee, Mass. They were the parents of two children, the young- er of whom, Helen J., is unmarried and a resident of Cleveland, Ohio.
The carly education of Rev. G. B. Brown was obtained in the common schools, and later he en- tered the preparatory academy at the Western Reserve College, but was compelled to relinquish
his studies at the end of the sophomore year, on account of ill health. After some time spent on the old farm, he engaged in teaching sehool for several years at Grafton and Elyria, Ohio. From 1864 to 1865 he taught school at Mansfield, Ohio, and in the ycar last named came to Toledo. For three years he taught in the intermediate depart- ment of the high school building, and many of the successful business men of this city were for- merly his pupils.
After Mr. Brown resigned his position in the public schools, he engaged in the life-insurance business for a year, and then, for three years fol- lowing, was Cashier of the Toledo Savings Institu- tion, of which Richard Mott was President. In company with Asa Faunce, in the year 1870, he bought out the book and stationery establishment of Henry S. Stebbins, No. 115 Summit Street, and conducted the same until 1880. He was then ap- pointed Chaplain and superintendent of the schools at the Lancaster (Ohio) Reform Farm, and after six- teen months there became salesman for Brown, Eager & Hull, in their wall-paper department, and continued to serve them for seven years.
A brick church building had been erccteti at Alexis, the crossing of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, a point six miles north of Toledo, though there was no church organization in the neighborhood. Mr. Brown, who commenced filling the pulpit about 1884, succeeded in effect- ing a church organization in the early part of the next year, and was then ordained pastor by a council of the neighboring Congregational church- es. He was Superintendent of the Sunday-school of Central Church for four years, and has been a useful worker in religious fields.
September 10, 1862, Mr. Brown married Sarah Ingersoll, of Grafton. Her death occurred less than two years later, and their infant daughter died in the spring of 1864. In 1865 Mr. Brown married Susan J., daughter of Dr. Roeliff Bevier, a physician of Plymouth, this state, whose death oc- curred there in 1882. He was formerly a resident of Cayuga County, N. Y. Mrs. Susan J. Brown is a graduate of Oberlin College, and is now State Treasurer of the Ohio Woman's Home Missionary Union. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are the parents of
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two daughters: Jennie Belle, who was cducated in the public schools, and is now a teacher in the Dolgeville (N. Y.) Academy; and Helen Ione, a member of the Class of '95 of the Toledo High School.
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S PENCER D. CARR, Vice-President of the Ketcham National Bank of Toledo, is one of the prominent citizens of this place. He is an enterprising business man, an able financier, and one amply qualificd in every respect for the responsible position he holds.
The father of the gentleman above mentioned, William P. Carr, was born in the state of Delaware, and was a farmer by occupation. His father, who bore the same Christian name, was a native of England. William P. Carr married a daughter of one of the early settlers of Ontario County, N. Y. This lady, who bore the maiden name of Mary J. Hazelton, was a native of Scotland.
Spencer D. Carr is the second in a family of three children, his birth having occurred in Ontario County, N. Y., January 24, 1847. He resided up- on his father's farm, and was educated in the pub- lic schools, up to his fourteenth year, when he started out to fight the battles of life for himself, being variously employed for some time. In 1863 be entered the army, serving in the commissary department, where he continued until 1865.
On leaving the Government service, Mr. Carr returned to his old home in New York, and for the next three years was a clerk in a general store of the metropolis. In September, 1868, he came to Toledo, and was for seven years financial man of the firm of Warner, Patrick & Co., wholesale deal- ers in saddlery and harness. He continued in that business until 1875, in October of which year he entered the First National Bank in Toledo in the capacity of bookkeeper, and this position he held for several years. Later he was made Cashier, then Vice-President, of the institution. In 1892 he accepted the Vice-Presidency of the Ketcham Na-
tional Bank, and is still acting in that responsible officc. This bank is one of the thoroughly reliable and well conducted corporations of this section, and transacts an extensive business.
October 12, 1871, Mr. Carr married Louise M. Richards, and to them has been born a son, Will- iam C., who is now a clerk in the Second National Bank of this city. Mrs. Carr is a daughter of W. P. Richards, one of Toledo's most honored citizens.
In his political affiliations Mr. Carr is a loyal adherent of the Republican party, and though he takes an interest in the success of his party has never been an office-seeker, as his business interests have occupied his entire time and attention. He enjoys the respect and esteem of all who have dealings with him in any way, for he is not only uniformly courteous and genial, but is honorable, just and upright.
M ELVIN LOOMIS, a well known agricult- urist of Webster Township, Wood Coun- ty, deserves great honor for the success which he has attained in life, as he commenced his eareer a poor boy, and unassisted has risen to in- fluence and prosperity. He is also mainly self- educated, his early schooling having been very limited. When a lad he walked a mile and a-half to a log schoolhouse, which was conducted on the subscription plan, and was equipped with slab benches and desks. Mr. Loomis is one of the pio- neers of Wood County, to which he came about 1835, and soon after he became the owner of the farm where he has since made his home. This place of one hundred and seventy-three acres is situated on section 18, and is kept up in a thrifty and able manner.
The birth of our subject occurred in Massachu- setts, March 1, 1824, he being onc of nine children, five sons and four daughters, whose parents were Robert and Ruth (Davis) Loomis. The family re-
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moved to Ohio in 1825, settling in Lorain County. Later they removed to Medina County, Ohio, and there much of the boyhood of our subject was passcd.
On arriving at his majority, Melvin Loomis left the parental roof and laid the foundation for his future success by working for neighboring farm- ers, and carefully laying aside as much as possible of his earnings. With this sum he purchased his farm and set up in business for himself. In his political faith he is a Prohibitionist, and, though not an office-seeker, has hield a few local township positions. Religiously he is a Presbyterian, and holds membership with the Scotch Church.
Mr. Loomis married Miss Eliza Meralds, who was born in June, 1834. A son and two daughters came to bless their home and hearth: Emma, who is now the wife of Andrew Bandeen; Robert, who is still living on the old homestead; and Bertha, who is the wife of Charles MeCleod.
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