USA > Ohio > Representative citizens of Ohio : memorial-genealogical > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
Major Felton was born near Zanesville, Ohio, September 29, 1836, the scion of a sterling old family, being the son of Erastus
29
30
Major William MeRendree Felton
and Fannie (Birdsley) Felton, the father having been an early Methodist minister and prominent man in the church of that day. He named the subject after Bishop McKendree, a famous Methodist Bishop, who lived about a century ago. The major received his early education in the common schools in the com- munity where his boyhood was spent, later attending school at Lancaster, this State, and subsequently taking a course in Dela- ware College, where he made a brilliant record for scholarship and from which institution he would have graduated with highest honors had he not been compelled to leave the institution six months before the ending of his last school year on account of fail- ing health. Turning his attention to the law, he entered the office of Governor Mandill, where he read law and made rapid progress under that able preceptor and was about to be admitted to the bar when the war between the States commenced which interrupted his plans for the future. He tried to enlist on three different occasions, but was rejected each time on account of poor health; however, being determined to go to the front and do what he could to uphold the national honor, he told the examining phy- sician that unless he was permitted to enlist in Ohio, he would ยท go to another State. So, at the town of Lancaster, he enlisted in 1861 in Company D, Ninetieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, but he was not permitted to go to the front as a private, being retained as a clerk owing to his splendid educational attainments, and for meritorious conduct he was gradually promoted as follows: From private, Company D, Ninetieth Regiment, to commissary sergeant, August 29, 1862; to second lieutenant, Company A, same regi- ment, October 1, 1862; to first lieutenant, same company and regi- ment, December 21, 1863; to adjutant, same regiment, January 30, 1864; to captain, same company and regiment, February 15, 1865; brevetted major United States Volunteers, March 13, 1865. He was assigned a brigade in the Fourth Division of the Twenty-first Army Corps. He took part in many important campaigns with the Army of the Cumberland, and participated in all its battles; namely, Nelson's Cross Roads, Kentucky, October 18, 1862; Pil- man's Forks, Kentucky, October 20, 1862; he was then on duty at Nashville, Tennessee, until December 26, 1862, in the First Bri- gade, Second Division, Fourteenth Corps, Army of the Cumber- land; he was in the great battle of Stone's River, Tennessee, De- cember 31, 1862, to January 3, 1863; he remained on duty at Mur- freesboro, Tennessee, until June 23, 1863; thence on the Tulla- homa campaign in Alabama, until June 30, 1863; then fought at Ringgold, Georgia, September 11, 1863; Leet's Tanyard, Geor- gia, September 12 and 13, 1863; then the great battle of Chicka-
31
Major William MeRendree Felton
maugua, Georgia, September 19 and 20, 1863; he was on duty at Oldtown, Tennessee, until May 3, 1864, in the First Brigade, First Division, Fourth Corps, Army of the Cumberland; Calusa Springs, Georgia, May 5, 1864; Rocky Face Ridge, Georgia, May 8 to 11, 1864; Resaca, Georgia, May 13 to 16, 1864; Adairsville, Georgia, May 17, 1864; Dallas, Georgia, May 25 to June 4, 1864; he was detailed as aid-de-camp at brigade headquarters, June 25, 1864; Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia, June 9 to 30, 1864, including the assault on that stronghold on June 27; Marietta, Georgia, June 2, 1864, and Nickajack, Georgia, June 2 to 5, 1864; Chattahoochee River, Georgia, June 5 to 10, 1864; Peach Tree Creek, Georgia, July 19 and 20, 1864; Atlanta, Georgia, July 28 to August 2, 1864; Utoy Creek, August 5 and 6, 1864; Jonesborough, Georgia, Au- gust 9 to 31, 1864; he was on duty at Atlanta until October 3, 1864; he was detailed as acting adjutant-general of the First Bri- gade, First Division, Fourth Corps, Army of the Cumberland, from November 15 to November 29, 1864; he was then sent into Tennessee and was in the battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864; the battle of Nashville, December 15 and 16, 1864, he having been the first man over the Confederate works, for which he was com- plimented in general orders by Generals Wood and Thomas; he was on duty at Huntsville, Alabama, until March 1, 1865, being sent on special duty to Knoxville, Tennessee; Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, and Asheville, North Carolina; thence returned to Nashville, Tennessee, where he remained until May, 1865. Thus, after serving through the war with gallantry and distinction, he was mustered out on June 13, 1865, with his regiment, and was discharged at Camp Harkins, Tennessee. Although he served in many hotly contested engagements and was in many tight places, he went all through the sanguinary conflict unscathed, not so much as a scratch, his fellow comrades maintaining that he was of too slender build for a bullet to hit him, he having been very tall and slender, but he was always in the thickest of the fight, never shirking his duty no matter how arduous or dangerous. He was a fine type of the aggressive, brave, courteous Union officer, and he won the admiration and confidence of his fellow comrades and his superior officers. His brother, Josiah Felton, who also was a soldier in the Federal army, was taken prisoner and died at Libby Prison.
After his career in the army, Major Felton returned to Columbus, where his brother, Rev. Cyrus E. Felton, a minister in the Methodist Church, was residing. He had intended taking up the law again, realizing that his living would have to be made by mental work rather than physical; but he was advised by his
32
Major William McRendree Felton
physicians to take up some outdoor work. He was much op- posed to this course, since he had hoped to become an active at- torney. However, he gave up the idea, and with some acquaint- ances, formed a company and bought a sawmill, making a spec- ialty of handling walnut timber. Later he bought out a queens- ware store, but did not follow this line of endeavor long, since it required his being indoors. Disposing of his store, he, with two other men, formed a company and manufactured coffins and caskets. Not long afterwards he turned his attention from this to street contracting; but his health continued to fail and he was advised to get out into the pure air, so he went to Minnesota, locating in Breckenridge, two hundred and sixteen miles north of St. Paul, and he lived in that small frontier town about four years, being out on the wide, wild plains. He operated a general store there, and he became a leader in public affairs, becoming postmas- ter of his town, county coroner, county treasurer of several coun- ties, as there were not enough inhabitants in all the counties in that portion of the State to make one good county. The town of Breckenridge at that time numbered only eighty-seven people, including babies, and while living there he was elected as a mem- ber from the forty-first district to the general assembly at St. Paul, for one term, serving with much satisfaction to all con- cerned in 1873 and 1874. He then returned to Columbus and followed street contracting for awhile, but he devoted much of the latter part of his life to settling up the estates of different members of his and his wife's families. He handled much real estate. It is worthy of note, in this connection, that the town of Felton, in Clay County, Minnesota, was named in honor of the major, an unusual distinction, for, though towns are frequently named after senators, the honor is seldom paid to a representative.
The only member of the Felton family now living is a sister of the subject, Mrs. Dr. W. H. Scott, wife of a former president of the Ohio State University.
On November 20, 1867, Major Felton was united in marriage with Julia A. Jones, at the residence of her parents, Richard and Nancy Anne Jones, of Columbus, one of the highly esteemed fami- lies of this city during the past half century or more. Mrs. Felton was born in Columbus, where she grew to womanhood, received an excellent education, and has always resided, with the excep- tion of the time she and her husband lived in Minnesota. Re- turning from that State about 1876, they took up their residence in a house located near the corner of Mt. Vernon and St. Clair avenues, in what is now the Jones addition. They lived there for about twelve years, when they located with Mrs. Felton's par-
33
Major William Mckendree Felton
ents in a flat at the corner of Gay and High streets, in the Jones Building. They lived there about twelve years, moving into the present family home in 1900. One child was born to the major and wife, Rufus B. Felton, who died at the age of two and one- half years. Mrs. Felton is a lady of refinement and many esti- mable characteristics and has a host of friends who delight to visit her in her beautiful cozy home, at No. 131 Fifteenth Avenue, Columbus, which Major Felton purchased and remodeled in 1904. She owns much valuable real estate, including the Jones addi- tion and the Felton addition in the northeastern portion of the city, the principal street of the addition being Felton Street, named by Mrs. Felton in honor of her husband. She is a worthy mem- ber of the Christian Scientist Church. The major attended the Methodist church and was a liberal supporter of the same.
Richard Jones, father of Mrs. Felton, was one of the early painting contractors of Columbus. Her grandfather, David Jones, came from Wales and was a pioneer of Columbus. He was a large land owner and in the early days he freighted goods from Cincinnati. He died young, but he had given such evidence of superior business qualifications that it was predicted of him that he would have become the wealthiest man in Ohio, had he lived.
Major Felton served four years in the city council of Colum- bus, one year as its president. He subsequently served a term as president of the Columbus Board of Trade and was afterwards elected and served as a member of the seventy-first general as- sembly of Ohio. He was a loyal Republican and a leader in local party affairs, his counsel being frequently sought by party leaders and candidates, which was always followed with gratifying re- sults. He was an active member of the J. M. Wells Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and was at one time commander of the local organization. He was also a member of the Loyal Legion, an organization composed of officers of the national troops during the Civil War. He was an adjutant on the staff of Colonel Kirby and Colonel Kruft. He always had a military bearing and at- tracted attention wherever he went, being a tall, distinguished looking man, with a very fine eye, intelligent features and a pleas- ing manner, a born leader of men, and he was highly respected and greatly admired by all classes. He remained very active in military circles, in fact was active in supporting all laudable movements having as their object the betterment of the city in any way. He was very much loved by all who knew him, espe- cially his neighbors, and more especially the younger people of Columbus.
34
Major William MeRendree Felton
For a number of years, Major Felton was manager of the James Ohlen & Sons Saw Manufacturing Company, building up that firm and erecting its present new building. Previous to that time, he was extensively engaged in the paving contracting busi- ness, as before related, the firm name being Felton & Crowe. He was also a member of the firm of Gregg, Felton & Ragan, who con- ducted a coffin business. This firm is now extinct. Major Felton retired from the active duties of life some six or eight years ago, and since 1905, had devoted most of his time to the management of the estate of Richard Jones, who died in 1899, of which he was executor.
Although ill health prevented Major Felton from becoming an active member of the bar, at which no doubt he would have become a leader and quite distinguished, he was always extending a help- ing hand to young lawyers, and several now prominent in law circles of Ohio, especially her capital city, owe their prominence to his assistance and encouragement. He was a great home man and was best contented when by his own fireside and among his splendid collection of books, for he remained a profound student all his life and was familiar with the world's classics, a broad- minded, scholarly, progressive man who was an original and fear- less thinker and who always had the courage of his convictions. His home life was ideal, ever genial and harmonious, and when he was summoned to take up his work on a higher plane of action on May 16, 1911, there passed from earth a model husband, kind and obliging neighbor, honorable and public-spirited citizen, a man among men, whose loss will long be deeply deplored in the circles in which he moved and by the community in general. He was popular with all classes, and his many young friends, among the college students especially, sent beautiful floral tributes at his funeral, which was very largely attended and when he was left in Green Lawn Cemetery to "sleep the sleep of the just," all felt that a friend of the race had gone whose place in Columbus could not be filled, and whose influence will continue to pervade the lives of thousands with whom he came in contact, making them better and happier for having known him. Thus, with Shake- speare, we can say, "The good that men do lives after them."
1473595
Riones
Richard Jones
N the history of pioneer business development of Colum- bus, Ohio, the name of the late Richard Jones figures prominently, for he came here in the days of early de- velopment and took an active part in the subsequent industrial history of the same, being a most interested, but not by any means and idle spectator to the wonderful growth of the capital of the Buckeye State. For many decades he was known as a progressive man of affairs, standing as a high type of that class of citizens who were the real promoters and up- builders of the city's greatness, his influence having ever been potent in furthering all laudable measures for the material, civic, and moral welfare of the same; for he believed that not so much upon the form of government, nor even upon the men who fill the offices of public trust, the growth of a city depended, but rather upon those that are in control of its commercial and industrial interests, who stand for law and order and always uphold the legal and political statutes. Mr. Jones was always recognized as a dependable man, one in whom public confidences could be placed with absolute assurance that any obligation would be fully met. He was a man of exemplary character, broad-minded and opti- mistic, and he scattered sunshine all along his life path, benefiting and encouraging hundreds who came in contact with him.
Richard Jones was born December 4, 1810, in Montgomery- shire, northern Wales, and was a son of Thomas and Elizabeth Jones, being descended maternally from the Brees family. His ancestors on his father's side were farmers. His progenitors on his mother's side were land proprietors and also carried on ex- tensive dye works.
It can be said of the subject of this memoir that he was a self-made man in every sense of the term. At the age of nine years he began to lay the foundation of a comfortable fortune which was subsequently his, as the result of long years of close application, indomitable energy and straightforward dealings with his fellow men. His first employment was in his uncle's fulling mills, in North Wales. As he grew older the desire of a change of opportunity and environment grew on him, though he con- tinued in the service of his uncle until he reached the age of twen- ty-one years. Then, having heard of the wonderful advantages
35
36
Richard Jones
of the free Republic of the West, he decided to cast his lot in America, and accordingly crossed the Atlantic on a slow sailing vessel, the voyage requiring many weeks, selecting the State of Ohio as his destination. After reaching this State, Mr. Jones decided to attend school and for six weeks he was a daily attend- ant at a little log schoolhouse at Radnor, after which he was ap- prenticed to a painter, in which capacity he remained until he had mastered the trade. He then engaged in business for himself and was successful in the undertaking from the first, soon enjoying a constantly growing business.
It was in the year 1832, that Mr. Jones arrived in Columbus, after a long land and canal trip from New York, and with a capital of about fifteen dollars. His destination was Cincinnati, but while walking the streets of Columbus he met a man whom he had known in Wales and who advised him to locate here. This and the fact that cholera was then raging in Cincinnati, decided the young man to do so. Mr. Jones, always shrewd and active, made a success in his business of painting and after a time began to invest his savings in land in the neighborhood. This was the real foundation of his material prosperity at the time of his death. He continued his investments in Columbus real estate and held them until, with the growth of the city, their value greatly in- creased. In October, 1837, at the age of twenty-seven, he was married to Nancy Matilda Jones, daughter of David Jones, a pioneer resident of the State and who first came to Columbus in 1810. Mr. Jones' first wife died in 1845, and several years later he married Mary Jones, of Utica, New York. By his first wife he had four children, namely: Mrs. Mary Hirst, Mrs. Eliza- beth Ohlen, David Jones, and Mrs. Julia A. Felton. By his second wife he had one child, Emma Jones.
Richard Jones was fifty-one years old when the Civil War began, and, although he would have liked to have done what he could for his adopted country, he did not take an active part on the field of conflict on account of his age. Originally, he was a Whig in politics, and when the Republican party was formed some six years prior to the war, he allied himself with that party and continued to vote its ticket, taking a deep interest in its welfare, and during campaigns he was active and influential, being a liberal contributor to its candidates. He served very ably and acceptably several times as a member of the city council, during which period he did much for the permanent good of the municipality, and was known as a careful guardian of the rights of the taxpayers and at the same time had the welfare of the city at heart, favoring all movements for its commercial, civic, and moral advancement. Al-
37
Richard Jones
though always deeply interested in the affairs of his party, Mr. Jones was in no sense a politician or a public leader, as his large business interests took too much of his time, even had he so desired. He was one of the oldest members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Columbus, and had been connected with that organization for more than fifty years at the time of his death. He exercised good business judgment in the conduct of private affairs and had large interests in stocks, buildings, and lands. Several years prior to his death, Mr. Jones retired from active pursuits of a business life, and spent his last days in quiet retire- ment in his pleasant home in Columbus, where his death occurred on Friday, July 14, 1899, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years, after a long, useful, and honorable career. He was a man who never lacked appreciation of the world's beauty, nor failed to express it. He always looked for the best in others and gave the best he had, so that his life was an inspiration, while his memory remains as a benediction to those who knew him.
William G. Taylor
Colonel Calilliam A. Taylor
UMAN life is like the waves of the sea. They flash a few brief moments in the sunlight, marvels of power and beauty, and then are dashed on the remorseless shores of death, and disappear forever. As the mighty deep has rolled for ages past and chanted its sublime requiem and will continue to roll during the coming ages until time shall be no more, so will the waves of human life follow each other in countless succession until they mingle at last with the billows of eternity's boundless sea. The passing of any human life, however humble and unknown, is sure to give rise to a pang of anguish to some heart, but when the fell destroyer knocks audi- bly at the door of the useful and great, and removes from earthly scenes the man of honor and influence and the benefactor of his kind, it not only means bereavement to kindred and friends, but a public calamity as well. In the largest and best sense of the term, the late Colonel William A. Taylor, of Columbus, Ohio, was distinctively one of the notable men of his day and generation, and as such his name is entitled to a conspicuous place in the an- nals of his city and State. As editor, political writer, author, poet, historian, orator, and soldier, he was widely and favorably known. No man was more conversant of political history of the Buckeye State than he. His writings on that subject are an invaluable contribution to the contemporaneous history of Ohio. He was a journalist of the old school and wrote in a vigorous and trenchant style. As a Democratic editor he wielded great power in the rank and file and councils of his party for more than a generation. He was not only a national, but an international character, being honored in Europe as a great man of letters.
William A. Taylor was born in Perry County, Ohio, on April 25, 1837, and was the last survivor of a prominent old family of twelve children, and he was of Revolutionary stock. His parents were Thomas and Mary (Owens) Taylor, natives respectively of Loudoun County and Fauquier County, Virginia. They came to the State of Ohio in 1817, and located on a farm in Perry County, where they spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying at the age of eighty years and the mother at the age of ninety-one years. Thomas Taylor and Joshua Owens, the grand- fathers of Colonel Taylor, were soldiers and officers of the Vir-
39
40
Colonel William A. Taplor
ginia line in the war of the Revolution, both being present at the surrender of Yorktown. The paternal ancestry is traced back to John Taylor, a dissenting preacher of Gloucestershire, Eng- land, in 1616, while the maternal branch is traced to the Owens of Wales, 1642. An aunt of Mary (Owens) Taylor was a sister of General Simon Kenton. The seven sons and five daughters of Thomas Taylor, Jr., all reached years of maturity, William A., of this review, being the eleventh in order of birth and the last survivor. This family has had a most unusual and highly honor- able military record. Thomas Taylor, Jr., and four brothers served in the War of 1812, while five of his sons, including the subject of this sketch, enlisted for service in the Civil War, two being killed in action and a third dying from injuries received. The husband of one of his daughters (Catherine Babbitt, of Indi- anapolis, Indiana), five sons of the older daughters, and three husbands of granddaughters were likewise soldiers, two being killed in action and three severely wounded. In all, there were fourteen representatives of the family in war, with as many more from the families of the brothers of Thomas Taylor, Jr.
Between the subject of this sketch and his mother there existed an unusual bond of sympathy, his devotion to her during her life being a marked characteristic, and after her death he sacredly cherished her memory. In this connection we quote the following lines which appeared in the Zanesville Courier shortly after the colonel passed away: "The death of Colonel W. A. Taylor at Columbus, yesterday, recalls a pretty story of a moth- er's love and a son's devotion. More than fifty years ago, when Colonel Taylor as a lad was leaving his home in Perry County to seek his fortune in the West, his mother called him to her side. Bidding the son an affectionate goodbye, she pinned a little red flower on his coat and said, 'William, whenever you look at this flower, think of your mother.' The son went away, but he did not forget, and each day a message of love from mother was borne to him in the fragrance of the little red flower he wore. In time that patient, loving mother joined the saints on the other shore, but to the day of his death she was in spirit ever with her son in the flower he wore for her. It was from Colonel Taylor that the late President Mckinley got the idea of wearing a carna- tion in honor and in remembrance of his mother."
William A. Taylor received a good common school education, which was later supplemented by profound learning, he having remained a student and close observer all his life, being convers- ant with the world's best literature, and much of his time in later life was spent in his fine library. He began life as a farmer boy, but studied law during his spare time and when only twenty-one
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.