USA > Ohio > Representative citizens of Ohio : memorial-genealogical > Part 3
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John L. Bushnell is a man of great energy and rare judg- ment, which he carries into all affairs in which he is interested. Although his life is a busy one, his every-day affairs making heavy demands upon his time, he never shrinks from his duties as a citi- zen, or his obligations to his church, his neighbors, and his friends. His actions are the result of careful and conscientious thought, and
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John Ludlow Bushnell
no influence can swerve him from what he believes to be the right course for him to follow. Close attention to business has brought to him marked success, and by an honorable and consis- tent course he has attained to a worthy position among the lead- ing citizens of the city with which his life has been identified.
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John Ludlow
Elmina Ludlow
John Ludlow
T is the dictate of our nature no less than that of en- lightened social policy to honor the illustrious dead; to bedew with affectionate tears the silent urn of departed genius and virtue, to unburden the fullness of the sur- charged heart in eulogium upon deceased benefactors, and to rehearse their noble deeds for the benefit of those who come after us. It has been the commendable custom of all ages and all nations; hence the following tribute to one of nature's noble- men. Of comparatively humble origin, he nevertheless belonged to the highest nobility of the race. No accident made his career; no opportunity offered itself to him. He made his opportunity; he achieved every step of his career, often in the face of obstacles that would have overwhelmed souls of less sterling mettle. The basic principle by which he strove and conquered was loyalty; when he recognized a duty, the service gave him joy, a joy that was second only to the consciousness of work well done. He was universally recognized as a splendid citizen, one of Springfield's leading men of affairs, progressive in all that the term implies; a man of lofty character, sturdy integrity and unswerving hon- esty. During the pioneer period he shared fully the trials and difficulties known to the early settlers of a new country. He was one of the sturdy figures upon which the burdens of the com- munity fell, and he bore his part in the general upbuilding of the same manfully and well, and the record of those days is one of tireless and unselfish devotion. Truly the good he did lives after him.
John Ludlow was born at a point just west of Springfield, Ohio, on December 10, 1810, and was the son of Cooper and Eliza- beth (Reeder) Ludlow. He was also a grand nephew of Israel Ludlow, one of the founders of Cincinnati, and a grandson of John Ludlow, who was the first sheriff of Hamilton County, Ohio. The subject was reared under the parental roof and secured his education in the log schoolhouse of that period. Upon attaining mature years he decided to pursue the vocation of a druggist, and to that end commenced a course of training with Moses M. Hinkle, completing it with Goodwin & Ashton, at Cincinnati. He then engaged with Dr. W. A. Needham, of Springfield, eventually becoming his successor, after being associated for a period, suc- cessively, with Cyrus A. Ward and Joseph Wheldon. Mr. Ludlow
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John Lublow
continued in the drug business at the same stand for the long period of thirty years, during which time he gained an enviable reputation as a man of high business principles and the strictest integrity.
Aside from his main business interest, Mr. Ludlow was also interested in other enterprises in his community. He was a stockholder in the Springfield Bank, and in 1854, he was elected president of that institution, a position which he continued to fill with ability and satisfaction until his death. He was one of the promoters of the movement which established beautiful Ferncliff Cemetery and was president of the association from the date of its organization, September 4, 1863, until the time of his death. At the time of his death, the Springfield Republic said of him: "Mr. Ludlow had his head and heart and hands in all movements, social, economical, or political, designed to promote the public good. He was the model citizen, broad, liberal, generous, true- hearted, self-sacrificing. The act which caused his death, indi- rectly, was characteristic; it was done by way of administering gratuitous relief. As he lived, so he died; thoughtful in the behalf of others; solicitous for the welfare and prosperity of his fellows. There are few like him; in all respects, none! A blow has fallen not alone upon relatives, but on a whole community."
Politically, Mr. Ludlow was first a Whig, but was stanchly aligned with the Republican party from the time of its birth. For over forty-two years he was a faithful, devoted, and zealous mem- ber of Christ Episcopal Church, to which he contributed liberally, and he was for fourteen years treasurer of the Clark County Bible Society.
On the 31st of August, 1835, Mr. Ludlow was married to Elmina Getman, in Herkimer County, New York, a union which resulted in the birth of three children, namely: Ellen, who be- came the wife of Governor Asa S. Bushnell; Frederick, who was engaged in business in Napa, California, and Charles, who suc- ceeded his father in the drug business in Springfield.
In the fall of 1882, Mr. Ludlow went into his cellar to get some potatoes for a colored man, and as he was bringing up the basket he fell, throwing his ankle out of joint. Calling a domes- tic, he directed her to pull it into place, which she did, and, al- though it caused him much pain, he was soon able to appear at his accustomed desk at the bank. During the following winter he suffered from a severe attack of pneumonia, from which he recovered, but dropsy set in, which eventually caused his death, which occurred suddenly on Sunday evening, June 10, 1883, in the seventy-third year of his age.
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John Ludlow
Stronger words could hardly be uttered than those which ap- peared editorially in the Springfield Republic, referring to Mr. Ludlow: "When we look back over the public and private life of John Ludlow, we cannot see where we could have suggested any modification or improvement. If we have ever had an ideal character among us, it was that of John Ludlow.
What a noble, grand citizen he was! How active and public spir- ited when working for the public good, and he was always doing this! What a sturdy, faithful friend he was! He was a godly man, clean, upright, wholesome, unselfish, going about doing good; with no pretense and no airs whatever; cheerful, hopeful; looking at the bright side of things; working for the best results; faithful, persevering, enduring."
The directors of the First National Bank, Springfield, at a called session of the board, passed the following memorial:
"Mr. Ludlow has been connected with this bank as a director since its organization in 1851, and has been its president since 1854. Some of the present directors and the cashier, Mr. Phelps, have been associated with him from the first, and all for many years have known him most intimately, and we desire to put upon record, as due to his memory and as a guide to his successors, that in all these years of intimate personal and business intercourse we have never heard him express a sentiment, or advocate any line of conduct inconsistent with the highest standard of Christian integrity. His judgment in all business questions was conserva- tive and sound, and time has proved that he made few mistakes. As a leading director and president of this bank, he has always stood as a trustee between its customers and its stockholders with due consideration and appreciation of his duties as both. The manufacturers of this city, in their early struggles with inade- quate capital, have always had in him a liberal friend. The widow, the orphan, the young and inexperienced business man, have almost daily, through many years, sought his advice and assistance, which was always freely rendered in such kindly man- ner as to scem to be to him a pleasant duty. His genial personal bearing won the kindly regard of all who met him, while the unselfish goodness of his heart and the broad charity of his spir- its cemented into warmest affections. His loss is most deeply felt and sincerely mourned by all classes and all ages."
William Mckinley
dalilliam Mckinley
ILLIAM MCKINLEY was born at Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio, on January 29, 1843. He came of that sturdy race, the Scotch-Irish, and was of an old Ameri- can family. His grandsires fought in the War of the Revolution. His father, also William Mckinley, was
a man of strong characteristics. He was an iron-master and engaged in that business when the subject of the sketch was born. Nancy Allison Mckinley, the wife of William Mckinley, Sr., and mother of the future President, was one of nature's noblewomen, and possessed in rare degree those qualities which gave character to her son. Under her guidance, he early united with the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, retaining his membership through his life.
In order that his children might receive better advantages for education, William Mckinley, Sr., removed with his family to Poland, Mahoning County. At the Poland Academy, William Mc- Kinley received most of his higher education. At the academy he is spoken of as being a good student and an earnest debater in one of the literary societies of the institution. He passed one year in the college at Meadville, Pennsylvania, taught school and for a time worked in the Poland postoffice. His education was not com- pleted when the Civil War of 1861 began. He was only seventeen years of age, but he did not hesitate to enter the ranks of the soldiers of the Union who went forth to battle for their country, and enlisted as a private in the Twenty-third Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. It is the testimony of his comrades that William McKinley made a good soldier. That he was brave and competent is shown in his rise, young as he was, to the rank of brevet major at the close of the war. He served on the staffs of Generals Hayes and Crooks.
The war ended, Major Mckinley returned to his home in Poland and began the study of law. He completed his law studies at the Albany Law School and in 1867, was admitted to the Ohio bar. He then located at Canton, the county seat of the populous and wealthy county of Stark. In a short time Major Mckinley became one of the leading lawyers of his county and in 1869, was elected prosecuting attorney. If his career had not been deflected a few years later from law to politics, he would have attained high
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William Mckinley
rank as a lawyer and jurist. During the ten years of his legal practice in Stark County, he was actively interested in political affairs, and in every campaign gave freely of his services as a public speaker in advocacy of the principles of the Republican party. He made a thorough study of political questions and paid to every audience before which he appeared the compliment of thorough preparation. 1876, the same year that saw his old regi- mental commander elected President of the United States, wit- nessed his election as a member of Congress. Mckinley's early life had brought him much in contact with the men who toil in shop and factory and he conceived a strong sympathy for them, and from his advent into Congress, became an ardent advocate of the policy of a protective tariff which he believed would lead to the betterment of the condition of the laboring men of the country and give to their wives and children a greater share in the com- forts of living. Weight and influence in Congress is gained only by men of exceptional ability and great industry. Major McKin- ley soon became one of its leaders. Upon the tariff question he became a recognized authority and the leader among the advocates of the protective tariff. The fourteen years of his congressional service were years of constant growth and the experience of that time was an invaluable preparation for the great work that the years had yet in store for him. In 1878, a turning point in his career, he had carried a gerrymandered district organized for his defeat. In 1890, the work was more effectually done, and Major Mckinley was located in a district Democratic beyond all per- adventure. After a campaign of unprecedented activity, Major McKinley was defeated, but the three thousand nominal Demo- cratic majority was reduced to a little more than three hundred. He retired from Congress as chairman of the ways and means com- mittee which framed the tariff act known as the Mckinley Bill. After this act was passed there came one of those temporary revulsions of public sentiment resulting in a change of the party in power in the administration of public affairs. The Mckinley tariff law was bitterly attacked and it is claimed much misrepre- sented by its opponents. The result of the election in favor of the Democrats was generally attributed to the onslaught on this measure. Many friends of the protective tariff were disposed to modify their views to meet the change in public sentiment. Not so with Mckinley. He declared that the principles of the Repub- lican party were no less sacred in defeat than in victory, and the battle must go on under the old banner and for the faith so often endorsed by the people. The Republicans of Ohio stood with him and without dissent nominated him for governor in 1891. He
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William Mckinley
threw himself into the fight with renewed energy and zeal and was triumphantly elected after one of the most arduous campaigns in a State celebrated for political warfare.
Governor McKinley made an excellent executive. Nor was he idle in political affairs beyond the borders of his own State. He had become a national figure and one of the most popular orators of the day. In 1894, he traveled far and wide, being every- where met by throngs of his countrymen and continually growing in popular esteem. As the year 1896 approached it became ap- parent that he was to be the choice of his party for the Presiden- tial nomination. He had been in the shadow of the nomination for this great office before. In the convention of 1888, it is gen- erally believed that his loyalty to John Sherman prevented his own selection.
The campaign of 1896 was unique in the history of politics, the candidate remaining in his home in Canton, where he was visited by thousands of his countrymen, making sometimes as many as twenty speeches in a single day. The result of that cam- paign was his triumphant election to the Presidency. Congress was at once called in extra session, and a tariff bill passed, framed on lines consistent with the protective policy of the Republican party.
Mr. Mckinley found our relations with Spain in a critical condition due to the situation in Cuba. He determined to do all that he could do in the range of his official duties to better the con- dition of the Cuban people, to relieve our own country from the strain of the situation so irritating and so near our doors. It was his purpose to accomplish these ends if possible without involving the country in war. These purposes are the key to his Cuban policy, developed in his instructions to our minister at Madrid, and in the measures in relief of the starving and suffering people in Cuba. Much had been accomplished and no backward steps taken, when the unlooked-for happened in the treacherous anchor- ing of the "Maine" where she became the easy prey of malicious persons bent upon her destruction. The President fully realized that a peaceable settlement was no longer possible which did not include the withdrawal of Spain from the American continent, and our minister at Madrid was promptly advised that no other settlement would be satisfactory, and that no assistance could be afforded to plans of so-called autonomy under Spanish rule. This meant possible war, and whilst working for a peaceable solution, war preparations were rapidly pushed. The passage of a resolu- tion demanding Spanish withdrawal from Cuba was met by Spain sending our minister his passports and the war had begun. For-
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William Mckinley
tunately, the conflict was short and decisive, and the triumph of the American arms complete. On August 12, 1898, the protocol was signed in Washington, practically ending the war between the two countries. Then came important questions as to the terms of the treaty of peace. In directing the terms of the treaty, the President had no hesitation in demanding the termination of Spanish sovereignty in western waters by the cession of Porto Rico and the relinquishment of sovereignty in Cuba. He came more slowly to the conclusion that our duty required us to assume governmental responsibility over the Philippine Islands. After the most anxious consideration, he reached the conclusion that the situation did not permit our withdrawal and the interdepend- ence of the islands did not permit a division of the archipelago.
In 1900, he was nominated by acclamation for another term of the Presidency and elected by an increased majority. The most important event in the few months of his second term grew out of the outbreak in China. Our troops in the Philippines were utilized in the rescue of our legation in China imperiled by the Boxer uprising. The safety of foreigners being secure, President Mckinley led the way in an example of moderation in victory towards a weak power which made possible a peace without spoli- ation, while safeguarding the personal and commercial rights of other people.
It was one of the cherished purposes of President Mckinley in entering upon his duties to build up cordial relations between the sections of his country which had been in deadly strife in the greatest of civil wars. He believed that his country should be a union in fact as well as in name. The most important consular office within his gift was held by an ex-Confederate officer, the gallant Fitzhugh Lee. To the partisan request for his removal he made answer as he did to the later demand of Spain when she asked his removal from office, that he would be retained so long as he did his duty with the ability and patriotism which character- ized his acts. When the war with Spain came, the South, no less than the North, rallied to the support of the government. Lee and Wheeler and the sons of those who had worn the gray making common cause with those whose blood was of the men who had defended the flag in '61. He had the pleasure of seeing the sec- tional line disappear in the zeal with which a united country faced a foreign foe. When he was stricken down, no words of sympa- thy could exceed in feeling and kindness those which came from the South. Truly he was the "well beloved of the people."
William McKinley was married, January 25, 1871, to Ida Saxton, daughter of James A. Saxton, of Canton. Two children,
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William Mckinley
Katie and Ida, were born to this union, one dying in infancy and the other living only a few years. This bereavement and the ill- ness which followed the birth of her second child broke the once vigorous health of the wife. It did not prevent her loving interest and sympathy in all that went to make up the illustrious career of her beloved husband. His tender devotion to her never failed. Through all the years and until the hand-clasp loosened in the long sleep, he led the stricken companion with a strong and gentle love which altered not and knew no shadow of turning.
William Mckinley loved his home and cherished his friends. No matter to what heights of success he arose, to his friends and neighbors he was ever the same. To others he may have been the executive head of the nation, entrusted with powers which might make or mar its destiny; at home, he was ever the familiar guide, counselor, and friend of those who, knowing him best, loved him most. He was devotedly attached to his Canton home, and en- joyed beyond measure the summer months which he passed there in comparative freedom from official cares, with his wife, and the association of the friends and companions who had known him from young manhood.
Those who seek in William Mckinley the leader and Presi- dent who undertook to set up his own policies and views in defi- ance of public opinion and without regard to the sentiments of coordinate branches of the government will be disappointed. He believed in his country and its institutions. He believed that the sober sense of the people of a republic was the ultimate appeal to the statesman. To questions of public policy he gave the most earnest and careful consideration, and sought to guide public sentiment in the channels he believed best for the people. He delighted to take his countrymen into his confidence by frequent visits among them and frank utterances in their presence.
In early September, 1901, he responded to an invitation to deliver an address at the Buffalo Exposition. On the fourth day of that month he made his last speech to his countrymen. William Mckinley's career had been a steady growth from his entrance into public life. His last public utterance was not only marked by strength and beauty of diction, but contained a declaration in favor of liberal trade relations with other countries which was everywhere read with interest and viewed as a forerunner of the policy which the President would advocate. He was recognized as the first of protectionists; he had lived to see the industrial de- velopment of his country until it led the manufacturing nations of the world.
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William Mckinley
On September 6, while holding a public reception, he was stricken by the assassin, lingering until September 14, when he died.
Nothing in his career gave more evidence of the great char- acter about to be removed from earth than the fortitude and pa- tience with which he met his doom. His first word was to restrain the people from taking sudden and unlawful vengeance upon the wretch who had fired upon him; then of the invalid wife, that the news might be broken gently to her. Having every reason to hold life dear, no complaint of the harshness of his fate escaped him. "It is God's way; his will, not ours, be done," said this strong and gentle man as he sank to his final rest.
Who shall speak adequately of his gentleness and kindness ? Cardinal Newman has said: "It is almost a definition of a gentle- man to say that he is one who never inflicts pain." If that be the test, he was indeed one "who wore without reproach the grand old name of Gentleman."
William McKinley never consciously wronged a fellow-being. It was his rule not only to refrain from inflicting pain, but to scat- ter joy wherever he could. Resentments he had none. He be- lieved life was too short to give any of his time to cherishing animosity. Sensitive to criticism, no one ever heard him utter an unkind word of another. He met calumny with silence and unjust criticism with charity. His was the gospel of cheerfulness.
With so much to make life dear, this strong man did not falter when the summons came. Looking forward to retirement in the home he loved, sure of the affection of his countrymen and the respect of the world, holding the hand of his loved companion whose welfare had ever been the first purpose of his life, and whose returning strength had made his last summer one of the brightest, he entered the valley of the shadow of death with no murmur at his fate, leaning on the rod and staff which had com- forted his fathers, died as he had lived, in humble submission to the will of God.
Mrs. Ida McKinley survived her husband several years, pass- ing away at her home at Canton on May 26, 1907, and her remains were laid beside those of her husband in the beautiful mausoleum at Canton.
Eng by E G Wilhams & Bro MY.
Mr Filter
Major Wlilliam Mckendree Felton
HE prosperity and substantial welfare of a city are in a large measure, due to the enterprise and wise foresight of its business men. It is progressive, wide- awake men of affairs that make the real history of a community, and their influence in shaping and directing its varied interests is difficult to estimate. It was to such enterprising men as the late Major William McKendree Felton that the city of Columbus, Ohio, is indebted for its substantial growth of recent years to one of the leading cities of the great Middle West and for the high position it occupies as a center of industrial activity and progress. To Major Felton also belongs the credit of having served his country most faithfully during one of the greatest wars of which history has made record and as a member of the gallant army that crushed the hosts of treason and made impossible any further recurrence of rebellion, his mem- ory is entitled to the respect and honor of every citizen living un- der the folds of the American flag. He was phenomenally re- sourceful, possessed boundless and tireless energy during the years of his prime, and once finding the field of endeavor which challenged his mind forces, he displayed that tenacity of purpose and unconquerable will power which led on to large success. In the prosecution of his business interests he was daring, never hesi- tating to move forward, though frequently confronted by obstacles that would have discouraged many of a less determined nature. He had a genius for large undertakings, and what others might have deemed rashness was to him, who was a man of keen discern- ment, the safe and sure way of reaching conclusions and achiev- ing the results which made his name familiar in both business and civic circles and gained for him the honorable reputation for which he was long distinguished among the leaders of industry and pub- lic and military affairs in the State of Ohio, of which he was a worthy native son and which remained the arena of his strenuous and useful activities the greater portion of his life. His name is therefore eminently entitled to a permanent place in the history of the great Buckeye commonwealth, along with other illustrious citizens who have upheld the dignity of her name in generations that are passed in various lines of endeavor.
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