USA > Ohio > Representative citizens of Ohio : memorial-genealogical > Part 45
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Charles F. Donze
Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, followed by the advance on Atlanta; he was then with Sherman on his famous march to the sea, thence on up through the Carolinas, and on to Washington, D. C., where he participated in the Grand Review, the greatest military pageant of modern years. Mr. Donze was slightly wounded several times, though never seriously enough to in- capacitate him for service for any great length of time. His record as a defender of the Stars and Stripes was an honorable one in every respect.
After his return to the pursuits of peace, in 1866, Mr. Donze engaged in the hardware business, under the firm name of Gar- ver, Donze & Company, in which he was successful. Subsequent- ly, in 1878, he came to Lima, Ohio, and engaged in the same line of business. He was a man of good business judgment, his ef- forts meeting with splendid results, so that he was enabled to extend his operations. He became a dealer in furniture, pro- prietor of a mill, and dealer in flour and feed, and in all of these lines his ability was apparent, so that he was generally acknowl- edged to be one of the leading business men of his adopted city. Hard work and good management were the keynotes to his suc- cess, for he knew no such word as idleness. In addition to his business enterprises, he owned, built, and remained the owner of the large Donze building, one of the best blocks in the city, and also a good block on East Spring Street, as well as a splendid farm of sixty-five acres near the city. Though hampered by impaired health for a number of years, Mr. Donze would not permit that fact to deter or discourage him, and he was ever actively interested and engaged in his various enterprises up to the time of his retirement from active business life in 1903.
Mr. Donze was a remarkable man in several respects. Mostly self-educated and self-made as far as material advance- ment was concerned, he knew what discouragement meant, and trying situations had tested his mettle more than once, but through all these situations he came forth conqueror and de- served distinctively the proud American title of self-made man. He ever retained a deep and appreciative interest in the public welfare and cheerfully gave his support to all enterprises for the good of the community. He was not only respected by the people generally, but was well-liked by those who knew him per- sonally, because of his many excellent personal qualities of character.
Politically, Mr. Donze was an earnest supporter of the Re- publican party and had taken an active part in the campaigns.
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For four or five years he rendered efficient service as a number of the county board of review. He was a charter member of the Progressive Association, in the workings of which he was an active and influential member. His social memberships were with the Lima Club and the Country Club, in both of which he was deservedly popular. His old military associations were kept alive through his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. He was also a member of the Masonic Hall Company, of which he belonged to the executive committee. Fraternally, he was an honored and appreciative member of the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he was identified with the blue lodge and the chapter of Royal Arch Masons at Lima, and the council of Royal and Select Masters and the commandery of Knights Templars, as well as Antioch Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Dayton. His religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal Church, by which society and from whose church he was buried, his remains being interred in the cemetery at Bryan, Ohio. Mr. Donze was characterized by those elements which make a person welcome in any social circle in which they may choose to enter. Genial and unassuming, he was a splendid conversationalist, speaking both English and French fluently, and he was agreeable and entertaining com- panion, his friends being in number as were his acquaintances.
Charles F. Donze was married three times. His first wife, whom he married soon after his return from the army, in Wil- liams County, Ohio, died at the birth of her first child, the death of the latter occurring a few months later. Later, at Bryan, Ohio, Mr. Donze married Mrs. Adelia Woods, whose death occurred suddenly, in the prime of life, leaving no surviving children. In Lima, Ohio, on February 2, 1903, Mr. Donze married Mrs. Alice M. Garver, (nee Faurot). Mrs. Donze was born and reared in Lima and is the adopted child of Benjamin C. and Helen A. (Wells) Faurot, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, though Mr. Faurot was of French antecedents, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.
Mrs. Donze's first husband was Warren F. Garver, who was born in Bryan, Williams County, Ohio, and whose parents were of Pennsylvania nativity and German ancestry. Mr. Garver was for some years in the hardware business, having formerly been associated with Mr. Donze. His death occurred at the age of forty years and six months. There was born to this union one child, Helen, whose birth occurred at Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb- ruary 23, 1885, and who died at her home in Chicago on Feb-
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ruary 11, 1912. She was the wife of Robert N. Golden, who is now connected with the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. To Mr. and Mrs. Golden was born a daughter, Jane Garver Golden, whose birth occurred on March 19, 1908, while they were living at East Orange, New Jersey.
Mrs. Donze is a lady of culture and possesses those womanly graces which have attracted to her a large circle of warm and loyal friends. She has been a witness of much of the splendid progress which has characterized this section of the State in re- cent years, and she is numbered among the members of the best social circles of the city in which she lives.
Benjamin C. Faurot
UT of the depths of his mature wisdom Carlyle wrote, "History is the essence of innumerable biographies." In this fact there is a sound reason for the compila- tion of books of the character of this one. The an- nals of Ohio teem with the records of the strong and noble man- hood, and, as Sumner said, "The true grandeur of nations is in those qualities which constitute the true greatness of the in- dividual." The final causes which shape the fortunes of indi- vidual men and the destinies of states are often the same. They are usually remote and obscure, their influence wholly un- expected until declared by results. That nation is greatest which produces the greatest and most manly men, and the pub- lic safety depends not so much upon methods and measures as upon that true manhood from whose deep sources all that is precious and permanent in life must at last proceed. One of the most distinguished citizens of the section of the State honored by his citizenship during a past generation was he whose name appears at the head of this memoir. A man of great native ability, invincible courage, high personal character and keen busi- ness instincts, he earned for himself a high place in the esteem of his fellow citizens. He gave generously of his powers in further- ing the industrial and civic upbuilding of his locality, and his name merits a conspicuous place on the roll of those who worthily conserved such progress. His integrity was of the most insis- tent and unswering type and no shadow rests on any portion of his career as a business man and sterling citizen. He had his limitations, as do all, but he gave of the best of his talents to the world and to aiding his fellow men. Mr. Faurot was a man of impressive personality, was broad of mental ken and had the characteristics which ever beget esteem, confidence and friend- ship. Viewing his life in its perspective, none can fail to have an appreciation of his great accomplishments at a time when such powers as his were at a premium, and he should ever be re- membered as one of the noble, kindly, and public-spirited men of affairs who played a conspicuous role in the development and upbuilding of Lima and Allen County.
Benjamin C. Faurot was a native of the state of New York, where he first saw the light of day on October 13, 1829, and his
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death occurred at his home in Lima, Ohio, on September 7, 1904, when almost seventy-five years of age. His father was a farmer and to that life the subject was reared, his elementary education being secured in the common schools. In his boyhood, the family left the old Empire State and located in Marion County, Ohio, where he remained on his father's farm until he had attained his majority, imbibing there the spirit of independence, industry, and courage which characterized him in later life. When twenty-four years of age he was employed as a teamster at Ken- ton, Hardin County, that being the period during which the great Pennsylvania railroad was constructed through this section of the State, to the latter's great advantage. The road passed through Lima, which at that time had not been especially noted as a city of much commercial importance, but thus early in life, Mr. Faurot gave evidence of that remarkable prescience and sagacity which marked his later actions, and, foreseeing a splen- did future for Lima, he at once located there, with the purpose of making it his future home. His first business venture here was in the livery business, his barns being located in the rear of the Hume property, on South Elizabeth Street, between Market and Spring Streets. During the following ten years he continued this business, prosperity attending his efforts. During the Civil War he recognized his opportunity and turned it to great finan- cial profit. He had a thorough knowledge of horses and the horse markets, and was enabled to supply large consignments of horses and mules to the national government for military use. In these efforts, he not only laid the foundation for a fortune, but he gave material assistance to the government in the prosecution of the war.
In 1865, Mr. Faurot became one of the promoters and in- corporators of the National Deposit Bank, at Lima, which after- wards was called the Allen County Bank. This institution be- came one of the solid and prosperous monetary concerns of Lima, but in 1873, upon the failure of the great banking house of Jay Cooke & Company, financial conditions became very uncertain and the very air seemed surcharged with foreboding of disaster. At that time, Mr. Faurot was on his way to California, but, realizing at once that the Cooke failure would probably precipi- tate a financial panic, the extent of which could not be calculated, he telegraphed home for intelligence regarding his Lima bank. He was summoned home and upon his arrival there found the patrons of the bank crowding the doors, anxious to withdraw their deposits. Mr. Faurot at once took decisive steps to reassure
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his patrons, who, when they realized that he was determined to carry the bank through the storm even though he had to mort- gage all he possessed to do so, were satisfied and the bank had no further trouble with its creditors.
Mr. Faurot was successful in everything he undertook and . wisely invested a large part of his resources in real estate, at one time owning and cultivating over seven hundred acres of land in and about Lima. Much of this land was later platted and laid out into city lots, becoming very valuable. In 1882, Mr. Faurot erected at Lima the opera house which bears his name and which at that time was one of the finest theaters west of the Alleghany Mountains. About the same time he was a leading spirit in the establishment of the Lima National Bank, which suc- ceeded the old Allen County Bank. He also, about this time, acquired the ownership of the first street railway in Lima, the motive power of which was horses or mules, and which he im- proved, putting the property on a better financial basis. He secured the control of the Lima Strawboard Company, which at that time was- a big money-maker, and in the operation of this plant he gained considerable prominence, having been elected president of the Strawboard Manufacturers' Association of the United States. This valuable property he subsequently sold for six hundred thousand dollars.
In 1885, after the wonderful gas development at Findlay, Mr. Faurot determined to make a test of the Allen County terri- tory and brought drillers to Lima, sinking a hole on the paper- mill property with the hope of discovering gas. Instead of gas, oil was found, which, though not big in its own production, en- couraged further efforts and resulted in the development of the great Lima oil field, which has been of such incalculable value to Allen County and northwestern Ohio, the wealth thus pro- duced running high into the millions.
Up to this time Mr. Faurot had been uniformly successful in all his operations, and he now conceived the plan of construc- ting what is now known as the Columbus & Lake Michigan Railroad, which was actively operated between Lima and De- fiance before his death. However, through this venture, Mr. Faurot became involved in much expensive litigation, and from this time on his business career was marked by a succession of financial reverses, though through no fault of his. Mr. Faurot acquired valuable land concessions from the republic of Mexico, which placed in his hand the fertile Polomas tract of 2,700,000 acres, with a liberal contract from the Mexican government for
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its colonization. In connection with the carrying out of this scheme, he projected the Deming, Sierra Madre & Pacific Rail- way, which starting in New Mexico, was designed to traverse the Polomas region, tap the wonderful mineral riches of the Chihua- hua country, and then reach tide-water to the west at Guamas. However, before the consummation of any of these plans, litiga- tion so involved Mr. Faurot as to prevent his carrying out his cherished projects. In the midst of these financial troubles, against which he was making a gallant and honorable fight, he suffered the loss of his wife and daughter Carrie, a succession of blows which well-nigh crushed him. During the following ten years he struggled manfully to stem the tide against him, but to no avail and he was compelled to relinquish, one by one, the valuable properties which he had formerly controlled. In the face of these reverses of fate, Mr. Faurot maintained the same dignity of carriage and equipoise of manner which ever charac- terized him, and he never in the slighest degree forfeited the re- spect and esteem of those who knew him well, for his career had been marked by the most inflexible integrity of word and action. No suggestion of personal profit or selfish interests could ever swerve him from what he felt to be the right course from the standpoint of honor. He did his full duty in all the relations of life as far as he was able to control his actions, and he died be- loved by those near to him, and respected by his fellow citizens. He left surviving him three brothers, George Faurot, of Lima; Arthur Faurot, of Michigan, and Gideon Faurot; a daughter, Mrs. Lillie Moore-Laufenwiler, of Columbus, Ohio, and an adopted daughter, Mrs. Charles F. Donze, of Lima.
In many respects Mr. Faurot is entitled to the everlasting gratitude of the people of Lima, for to him as much as to any other one man is due the wonderful growth which Lima enjoved during the years in which he was a leading figure in her public affairs. Not only was he conspicuous in the promotion of many successful and influential commercial enterprises, but in the ad- vancement of the civic interests of the community he was a prominent figure. Comprehending as did few others the needs of the growing city, he endeavored to meet the demands of the future and to-day the community enjoys the results of his labors in these directions. To him is given credit for the establishment and beautifying of Woodlawn cemetery, one of the most beauti- ful resting places for the dead in northwestern Ohio, and Lima's magnificent and extensive park system is the direct outgrowth of Mr. Faurot's public-spirited and unselfish efforts in the direction
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of meeting the public need for pleasure and recreation, these two public utilities standing as permanent monuments to his public spirit and devotion to the highest and best interests of the com- munity. Many churches of Lima were recipents of his gener- osity, as were all worthy charitable and benevolent movements of the community, his charities being well-known, though not dispensed with any spirit of ostentation or any desire for public applause or recognition. In the largest and truest sense of the word, Mr. Faurot was a benefactor of his city, and county, and he deserves permanent recognition as such in any work which pur- ports to record the real history of this locality.
Thomas Knox Turnbull
T IS a pleasure to set forth the salient facts in the emi- nently successful and honorable career of the well-re- membered and highly esteemed citizen of Canton, Ohio, whose name appears above, the last chapter in whose life record has been closed by the hand of death and the seal set thereon forever, but whose influence still pervades the lives of those with whom he came in contact. For many years he was closely identified with the development of the city of his choice. Time and prolific enterprise wrought wonderful changes since he took up his residence here, through which he kept well abreast the time and his activities benefited alike himself and the public, his well-directed efforts gaining for him a position of prominence in the community. His chief characteristics seemed to be keenness of perception, a tireless energy, honesty of pur- pose and motive, and every-day common sense. He was success- ful in business, respected in social life and as a neighbor he dis- charged his duties in a manner becoming a liberal-minded, in- telligent citizen of the State where the essential qualities of man- hood have ever been duly recognized and prized at their true value. To write in detail a full account of his long and useful life would require a much more elaborate article than the nature of the work requires or will admit. Sufficient will be said, however, to form a correct conception of the man and his career, a career affording many valuable lessons to the young of the rising gen- eration.
Thomas Knox Turnbull was born in Sunderland, County Durham, England, on April 5, 1838, and he died at his home in Canton, Ohio, Sunday morning, June 15, 1912, while preparing to go to Sunday school, as was his invariable custom. He was a son of Robert and Mary (Knox) Turnbull, and through his mother he was a direct descendant of John Knox, of Scotland, one of the greatest preachers and religious leaders the world has ever known. On the paternal side, Mr. Turnbull was a scion of the Turnbull family of Ireland, whose first ancestor of the name headed off and turned aside a mad bull and saved the life of a nobleman, from which incident the family name was established. The original Irish stock became mixed with Scotch blood, and eventually the branch of the family from which the subject was descended became established in England. The subject's father,
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Robert Turnbull, spent his entire life in Sunderland, dying at an advanced age. He there followed the business of contracting and attained to considerable prominence in that locality. He was an earnest member of the Methodist Church. His wife was a Pres- byterian in her religious belief.
Thomas K. Turnbull was reared to manhood in his native city and there received a good practical education. He was reared in the Methodist faith and while managing a Sunday- school picnic he met her whom he afterwards married, Jane Arthur. She was born in the north of England, being descended from the old McArthurs, but her grandfather had dropped the prefix to the name when he moved to England. Jane Arthur was born of English parents, her father, Joseph Arthur, having spent his entire life in that country. For many years he was employed at clerical work in a large iron manufacturing estab- lishment and was a man of ability and clean character. After his death his widow came to the United States and died here at the age of seventy-nine years. She was a strict Presbyterian in her religious faith, while her husband had been a communicant of the Episcopal Church.
In 1869, Thomas K. Turnbull, with his wife and four children, came to the United States, making the voyage in a sailing vessel and landing at Castle Garden, New York. They came at once to Canton, Ohio, and during the following ten years Mr. Turn- bull engaged in farming. Later he came to Canton City proper and here engaged in sand contracting, in which he met with eminent success. He was a hard-working and conscientious man in the fulfillment of his contracts and many of the best street- paving contracts in this city were performed by him, and always in a manner that was entirely satisfactory to those interested. At the time of his death he was the oldest contractor in that line in the city and was at that time in business with two of his sons, un- der the firm name of T. K. Turnbull & Sons. He was a splendid example of the virile, progressive, self-made man who believed in doing well whatever was worth doing at all, a man of keen discernment and sound judgment, broad-minded and at the same time a follower of the principles embodied in the Golden Rule in all his relations with his fellow men, and therefore he enjoyed their confidence and good will to a notable degree. Genial and unassuming in his relations with his friends, he was a welcome member of any company in which he chose to enter, and he radi- ated a healthful and uplifting influence on all with whom he came in contact.
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Politically, Mr. Turnbull was first a Republican, but eventu- ally aligned himself with the Democratic party, standing firmly at all times by his honest convictions as to matters of public policy. He took a keen and intelligent interest in the current questions of the day, but was himself never an aspirant for pub- lic office, though at one time he permitted himself to be placed in nomination for the office of street commissioner. Fraternally, he was a member of and a prominent worker in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he had attained to the degrees of the encampment and Uniform Rank, and he was buried ac- cording to the beautiful ritual of that order. At one time he was a member and active worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church, holding the office of lay preacher, but subsequently he joined the English Lutheran Church, to which his wife was at- tached. Mrs. Turnbull died on January 16, 1913. She was a woman of noble character, and because of her many splendid qualities of head and heart she was beloved by all who knew her. She had been to her honored husband a helpmate in the truest sense of the word, aiding him by her advice and encouragement, and their domestic life was an example of unalloyed love and true devotion.
To Mr. and Mrs. Turnbull were born the following children: Mary Arthur, who remains unmarried, received a splendid edu- cation and for sometime she was engaged in educational work. Arthur Robinson Turnbull, a well-known contractor and manu- facturer of Canton, is the present mayor of the city, having been elected on the Democratic ticket, and is giving a splendid admin- istration of the office. He has for a number of years been a prominent worker in his party and a leader in its councils. He is married and the father of a daughter, Fern, who is the wife of Orion C. Fielding, of Canton. Lillian, who received a thorough education, is now principal in the Woodland School at Canton. George is married and has a son, Harold C. Calvin is a member of the contracting firm of Turnbull Brothers of Canton. Margaret is the wife of Perry J. Lotz, of Cleveland, and they have two children, Ruth and Esther. Emily is the wife of Ed- ward Klick, of Richville, Ohio, and they have two children, John E. and Alice. William B. is a member of the firm of Turnbull Brothers and is unmarried. Lewis F. is working in the rolling mills, at Canal Dover, this State, is married and has two children, Alma and Irene. Edith is the wife of T. J. Cromer, of near Can- ton.
George A. Heffner
HAT period of the nineteenth century embracing the decade between 1830 and 1840 was characterized by the immigration of the pioneer element which made the great state of Ohio largely what it is to-day. These immigrants were sturdy, heroic, sincere, and, in the main, upright people, such as constitute the strength of the common- wealth. It is scarcely probable that in the future of the world another such period can occur, or, indeed, any period when such a solid phalanx of strong-minded men and noble, self-sacrificing women will take possession of a new country. The period to which reference is made, therefore, cannot be too much or too well written up, and the only way to do justice to such a subject is to record the lives of those who led the van of civilization and founded the institutions which to-day are the pride and boast of a great State and a strong and virile people. Among those who came to Ohio when the country was still largely in its primi- tive wildness was the Heffner family, one of which was George A. Heffner, who became not only a leading actor in the great drama which witnessed the passing of the old and the introduc- tion of the new conditions in this locality, but who enjoyed a repu- tation that extended to all parts of his sections of the State, whose interests he ever had at heart and which he sought to promote whenever occasion offered. He devoted his life to industrial and business pursuits and by close application he established those habits of industry and frugality which insured his success in later years. With the able assistance of his estimable life com- panion, he was enabled to make substantial headway in material things and became one of the solid and substantial men of his community, with all the comforts and conveniences of life sur- rounding him. He was regarded as an enterprising and progres- sive man in business affairs and an upright and courageous citi- zen, while his private life was one to be emulated. His death removed from Lima one of her most highly esteemed citizens and the many beautiful tributes to his high standing in the world of affairs and as a man and citizen attested to the abiding place he had in the hearts and affections of those who knew him and of his work and accomplishments.
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