USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 26
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 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75
ALE, BENJAMIN T., Farmer, of Mill creek township, near Bondhill, Hamilton county, was born near Lewistown, Delaware, April 21st, 1805. He was the fourth child in a family of seven children, whose parents were Jacob Dale and Charlotte (Truitt) Dale. His father, who followed through life mercantile, mechanical and agricul- tural pursuits, died in Worcester county, Maryland, January 20th, 1816, where he had settled at an early day. His
116
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
mother's decease occurred also in Maryland, January 25th, | business, in August, 1846, and in the following year became 1823. Ilis boyhood was passed alternately in labor and in study, the former occupying, however, the greater portion of the time. At the age of seventeen he was placed to learn the trade of plastering, in Worcester comy, Muyland, where, and also in adjoining counties and in Virgina, he worked at his trade until 1829. He subsequently moved to Ohio, and settled in Cincinnati, having journeyed over the mountains on foot, his wife in a six-horse wagon. At Wheeling they took deck passage on a boat running down the Ohio river. On his arrival he found himself the pos- sessor of $190. Ile then went at once to work at his trade, at $1. 25 per day, as journeyman. In the ensuing year he established himself in business on his own account, carrying it on for three years in connection with Julius V. Thomason. At the expiration of this time the partnership was dissolved, and he sustained the business alone until the year 1852. His eldest son, James, then became his partner in business. Their last important job was the plastering of the fine, large State House at Columbus, Ohio. He was a citizen of Cin- cinnati until 1857, when he retired from his regular business and his home in the city and settled on his farm, in Mill Creek township, where he has since permanently resided, principally engaged in agricultural pursuits, Ile was Com- missioner of one of the Special Road districts of Mill Creek township, and for five years was a member of the City Council of Cincinnati. In 1851 he was elected to the State legislature, and served for two years. Since the expiration of his termt he has declined a renomination for the same office. Politically, he is attached to the Democratic party, and east his first vote in favor of General Jackson. In the educational, political and religious movements he has al- ways manifested a zealous and generous interest, and has been a valued co-worker in many enterprises which have had for ultimate issue the welfare of the community in which he has resided and the more speedy development of the interests of his State. He was married, December 25th, IS28, to Deborah N. Millburn, a native of Accomae county, Virginia. They were blessed with ten children ; three of them are now living, and reside in Cincinnati.
ONES, GEORGE W., is the eldest son of John Davies and Elizabeth Jones, and was born in the city of Cincinnati on the 26th of October, 1826. lle graduated among the " honor-men " in his class at Kenyon College, at Gambier, Ohio, in 1846, having while a student received the ben- efits of the tuition of such esteemed men of learning as Bishop Mellvaine, President Bronson, Professor Ross and other reputable scholars connected with that institution, at which some of our ablest jurists and distinguished doctors of divinity have received their diplomas. After the com- pletion of his collegiate course he entered the dry-goods
the " buyer " for the firm of J. D. & C. Jones & Co., of which he was in ISAS made a partner, and continued as a prominent member of this active mercantile fam and that of Jones Brothers & Co. until the dissolution of the latter house, in July, 1865, at which date the firm of George W. Jones & Co. was created, of which he was the principal, for the prosecution of the same business so well established by the former copartners. In July, 1869, he retired from business and devoted his attention to the management and control of his large farm, located at Jones's Station, in Butler county, Ohio. He was Chairman of the Executive Committee and Treasurer of the first Exposition, held in Cincinnati in 1869, which was styled the " Exposition of Textile Fabrics." The success then achieved in this com- paratively small way-in making the public acquainted with the products of home manufactories-laid the foundation for more enlarged plans for effecting far more satisfactory results, and now our industrial expositions have become the well-recognized annual occasions for the exhibition of articles of American skill and workmanship, as well as for the influx of a large population to our metropolis, curious and desirous of seeing and examining the products wrought by our skilled artisans, or beholding the progress made in matters of science. The whole nation have been made familiar with the realizations of our expositions, and it is not an unreasonable deduction to suggest that our govern- ment obtained from Cincinnati the idea which will develop into the far-famed " Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876." In 1870 Mr. Jones was elected President of the Young Men's Mercantile Library Association of Cincin- nati, as the candidate of the Independent party, and in this official position was instrumental in making the change in the constitution making any man eligible to membership; and in recognition of his merits as a man of energy and influence he was elected President of the Miami Valley Insurance Company, in July, 1871, under whose manage- ment this corporation has become one of the most success- ful companies of the kind in Ohio, if not in the country : its present favorable condition being in no small degree attributable to the labors and judgment of its President. In 1872 he was Treasurer of the Cincinnati Board of Trade, and was delegated by the Chamber of Commerce to act as Commissioner of the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition for 1873; and being reappointed he was subsequently unani- mously chosen as President of the Board of Commissioners for the Exposition of 1874, and also acted as a member of the Executive Committee of the Musical Festival Asso- ciation, held in Cincinnati in May, 1873 and 1875. In 1849 Mr. Jones married Jane O. N. Tibbatts, daughter of Hon. John Tibbatts, ex-Member of Congress frem Ken- tucky, and granddaughter of General James Taylor (now deceased) of the same State. From the above brief outline of the positions held by the subject of this sketch, and of his active participation in the affairs of men, we discover
117
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
the character and qualifications which have commended service only less valuable than the excellent service he had him to the favorable consideration of the community in which he still lives.
ROWN, BENJAMIN, Revolutionary Captain, was born on the 17th of October, 1745, at Lei- cester, Massachusetts. Ile was of English de- scent, his grandfather, the first settler in the town of llatfield, on the Connecticut river, having come to this country from England when -
a youth. It was a fighting stock from the earliest days, and this founder of the family was many times engaged in the Indian wars that formed so large a part of the history of the country in those days. Ilis son, Captain John Brown, the father of Benjamin, served with credit in the Colonial army during the French war, and was present at the taking of Louisburg and Cape Breton. Ile rendered peaceful service also, and during the Revolutionary war and for many years afterwards he represented the town of Lei- cester in the Legislature of Massachusetts. Until he was thirty years of age he shared the usual life of the New England citizen, a life full of toil and hardship, but full also of rugged enjoyment and rigid integrity. In February, 1775, when he had reached his thirtieth year, had married and had a little family about him, he enlisted in a regiment of Minute-men, and, without fully knowing what he had done, had helped form the basis of the Revolutionary army. In the May following he received the commission of Lieu- tchat and Commissary, and in the next month-the historic month of June, 1775-he participated in the battle of Bun- ker Ilill. In the year 1777 he was commissioned a Captain in Colonel Michael Jackson's regiment, Massachusetts line, of which Dr. John Brooks, afterwards Governor of Massa- chusetts, was Lieutenant Colonel, and William Hull, after- wards of bad fame, was Major, and took part in nearly all of the battles preceding the surrender of General Burgoyne. In some of these engagements he specially distinguished himself by his gallantry and daring. So highly were these qualities in him appreciated that he was tendered the po- sition of Aide-de-Camp on the staff of Baron De Kalb, who soon after fell at Camden. Ilis self-confidence, however, was not equal to his gallantry. Ile distrusted his educa- tional qualifications and knowledge of the details of military science, and therefore declined the offered honor. Two years after receiving his commission as Captain, in 1779, he resigned his commission, left the army and returned home, impelled to this step by reasons of a personal character. Patriotism made him reluctant to yield his share in the great struggle, and a just appreciation of his high qualities made his superior officers reluctant to lose his services; but his necessities could not be disregarded, and he went home to provide for the support of his family. Although no longer a fighter in the field for the national cause, he by no means ceased to work in its behalf, and at home rendered
rendered in the camp and on the battle field. About the year 1789 he removed with his family to Hartford, Wash- ington county, New York. He remained there only a few years, however, and in the fall of 1796 he again emigrated, seeking a home this time in the Northwest Territory. Ile reached Marietta in the spring of 1797, and settled there temporarily. In 1799 he removed to Ames township, in company with Judge Cutler, and continued to reside there until the year 1817, when, his health having failed, he went to Athens to reside with his son, General John Brown. Ilere he continued to reside until October, 1821, when he died, full of years and of honors. During his residence in Ames he was one of its prominent citizens, holding various offices and contributing largely to the advancement of the settlement. Ilis wife, whom he had married in Massachu- setts, and who had shared with him the struggles of his early years and the successes of his later life, survived him, and died at Athens in the year 1840, at the ripe age of eighty-six years.
ONES, JOIIN D., was born near Morgantown, in Beiks county, Pennsylvania, on the 9th of De- cember, 1797, and was the son of John and Elizabeth Jones, being paternally of Welsh an- cestry, as his name would indicate, with a mixture of Scotch-Irish blood, derived by maternal de-
scent. Ilis great-grandfather, David Jones, came to this country from Wales in about 1720, and settled in Berks county, whither a large number of his native people emi- grated, becoming inhabitants for the most part of what is now the beautiful Conestoga valley, and built the pretty little villages of Morgantown and Churchtown, in the vicinity of that imposing range of hills known as the Welsh mountains. Being Episcopalians by faith and education- coming to this country as zealous members of the " Church of England "-they gave the religious character to the lo- cality, which even to this day has not been removed or impaired. Ilis father was a native and resident of the Keystone State, and died at the age of fifty-two years, on the 14th of January, 1816, at Reading Forge, Chester county, Pennsylvania, being at that time a farmer and a recently elected member of the House of the Assembly of Pennsylvania, but died before taking his seat in that legis- lative body. His wife having departed this life previously, on the 13th of January, 1814, ten orphan children were left to mourn the loss of parents held in high esteem in the community of which they had been members. The subject of these remarks was one of the eldest of this family, and while quite young, prompted by ambition as well as neces- sity, with self-reliance and a determination to engage in the battle of life on his own account, he left the scenes of his boyhood and went to Philadelphia to learn the mercantile business, and was employed by his maternal uncles, Thomas
118
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
and John K. Graham, East India merchants. In September, Jones has ever pursued a methodical and systematic course, 1819, with his older brother, George W. Jones, he came to managing his business with close attention and upon strict principles of integrity; and as a citizen has been associated in spird and action with the party of progress, being identi- fied with many enterprises and public movements which have facilitated the development of the commercial, bank- ing and railroad interests of his city of adoption. In 1834 he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Lafayette Bank, and with Josiah Lawrence, Judge David K. Este, Hon. S.dmon P. Chase and others, continued in the man- agement of that corporation for many years. Ile was also a member of the original Board of Directors of the Cincin- nati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad, and took an active part in the construction of that important public benefit; and also for many years was associated with Henry Probasco, Robert Buchanan and William Crossman in the Board of Trustees of the Cincinnati Orphan Asylum, an institution in which he has always been most earnestly interested, and with which his wife still continues to be identified as one of its managers. Of his once large family but four sons now are living; and of those deceased Colonel William G. Jones, 36th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, a graduate of the United States Military Academy, fell mortally wounded in the battle of Chickamauga, on September 19th, 1863; and Charles D. Jones, Lieutenant United States navy, a gradu- ate of the United States Naval Academy, died, December, 1865, while in the service, having served during the rebel- lion on the frigate " Hartford," while floating the pennant of our gallant Farragut. Mr. Jones is still alive and living in quietness, relieved from his accustomed business respon- sibilities, in the beautiful village of Glendale, one of the suburban settlements of Cincinnati. Cincinnati, crossing the Allegheny mountains in the well- known Conestoga wagons, of whose size and usefulness perhaps only the oldest inhabitants have a just appreciation, and came down the Ohio river in a flat-boat, bringing a stock of dry goods and other necessary parts of an outfit to establish a western store. Thus these young merchants made their first essay in a field of labor at that time of cir- cumscribed dimensions, but which now, by the expansion of trade, the increased facilities of transacting business with those at a distance and the improved condition of affairs in the country generally, has been enlarged commensurate with the skill, science and capacity of those engaged in mercantile pursuits. On the ist of December, 1820, at the early age of twenty-four years, his brother and partner died, leaving the care and responsibility of a new business, in an undeveloped and almost unsettled country, upon one as yet untried and inexperienced. Notwithstanding this disap- pointment and bereavement, happening when his plans of promise and life had scarcely been formed, he with his uncle, Thomas Graham, continued his business under the firm-name of John D. Jones & Co. till its dissolution, in 1827, at which date his brother Caleb Jones became his partner, and the business was conducted under the firm- name of J. D. & C. Jones, which was pursued with a steady and constant development and attended with uniform pros- perity. On the 220 of September, 1823, at Piqua, Miami county, Ohio, the subject of this biographical sketch was married to Elizabeth Johnston, daughter of the late Colonel John Johnston. She was born, September 22d, 1807, at the military post from which the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, derived its name, while hier father, familiarly known as one of our western pioneers, was United States Factor and Indian Agent. But, to return from this diver- sion to our historical connections, the firm of J. D. & C. IBSON, CALVIN C., Mayor of Zanesville, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, May 6th, 1830. llis parents were natives of the same State. His early education was often interrupted, and limited in its scope to such rudiments as were usually taught in the early country schools. His labor was required during the greater portion of the year on his father's farm. When sixteen he left school entirely and entered upon farming as his future occupation, working in the fields in the daytime and in his father's blacksmith shop at night. This double labor in a dual capacity he carried on until he was twenty-two years of age, and then entered upon a clerkship in a country store at Putnam, now the Ninth Ward of Zanesville, at a salary of $250 a year and board. By strict economy he managed to lay by annually from one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars as capi- tal for future business enterprises, which were eventually happily realized. After remaining in this store for some years Mr. Gibson went to Cincinnati and there took charge of a large stove warehouse, which he retained for a twelve- Jones was engaged in business for the period of twenty-one years, and succeeded by the firms of J. D. & C. Jones & Co, and Jones Brothers & Co. successively, of which John D. Jones was the senior partner: these mercantile establish- ments being heirs, so to speak, of the parent house, created years before, and but the substantial changes in name inci- dent to the demands of an increasing and successful busi- ness of a mercantile firm well and favorably known through- out the East and West. Mr. Jones retired from all active participation in business in July, 1865, having been engaged in the dry-goods trade uninterruptedly for almost fifty years, during which time, in addition to the close attention de- manded in looking after his own interests, he was not un- mindful of his obligations and duties to others; and there are not a few men now numbered among the prosperous and prominent merchants of Cincinnati and the West who have received encouragement or substantial assistance as well as good counsel from him, which have been of benefit to them in their mercantile curver. As a merchant Mr.
119
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
month, and then returned to Zanesville. In 1863 he was appointed Deputy Sheriff under Sheriff Wolf, and upon the expiration of his term in this office he was selected as cleik of the Zane House, and after serving a year in this capacity remained in charge of the house for the same length of time. Upon leaving this position he opened a general merchandise store upon his own account, which he con- tinued with prosperity until April ist, 1875, when he was elected to the office of Mayor of Zanesville. Mr. Gibson had all the qualities necessary for a successful mercantile career. He was enterprising and honorable in all his transactions, and gained the confidence of his fellow- citizens. Ile has taken every proper measure, since his elevation to the mayoralty, to increase the material welfare of the city of which he is chief magistrate, and has proposed and carried into effect many improvements. His entire career is an illustration of what a poor boy, with ambition and integrity of character, may accomplish by energy. In October, 1862, he was married to Alice Green.
period of over eight years, one of its directors. In Decem- ber, 1872, this institution settled its affairs and was closed, and Mr. Huston, in company with other gentlemen, estab- lished a private banking house, nider the name of The Union Bank, with a capital of $100,000, whose business and management were controlled by a Board of Directors, of whom Mr. Iluston was President. He has occupied this responsible station, without interruption, until the pres- ent time, and the bank, now second in size in Zanesville, has a continually and a rapidly increasing business, the evidence of the growing confidence in its solidity and the wisdom of its management. Mr. Huston was married, June 13th, 1848, to Rachel A. Ream, a resident of Somerset, Ohio, who died, June 25th, 1850, leaving one daughter, who subsequently became the wife of J. B. Ilam- ilton, of Newark, Ohio. On October 17th, 1854, he was married to Maggie E. Stump, of Muskingum county, who died June 12th, 1863. On February 7th, 1865, he was married to Amanda Holmes, of Fairfield county, Ohio, who has had four children to him. Mr. Huston's varied ex- perience has eminently qualified him for the position he at present holds in the business community. Ile is a man of liberal ideas, enterprising yet prudent as an executive, and possessed of a thorough apprehension of all the essential
USTON, ARCHIBALD M., Banker, was born in Perry county, Ohio, at Rehoboth, on April 10th, 1824. Ilis parents were both natives of Ireland, 'details in the successful management of the financial affairs who emigrated to this country in 1814 and of an important monetary institution. Ile is quite largely interested in coal lands in Jackson and Perry counties, and in enterprises for the development of the mineral resources of the State. During the late war he rendered material assistance in the work of organizing, equipping and sending troops to the field. His ability as a business man and the integrity of his character has given him a high place in the respect of his fellow-citizens, and his labors have rewarded him with a handsome fortune. settled permanently in that State. Ile attended the Rehoboth common schools dming the winter seasons and assisted his father in the labor of cultivating a farm during the remaining portions of the year. His father was a man of moderate circumstances, an industrious and persevering agriculturalist, who had earned the esteem of his neighbors by the integrity of his character. When twenty Archibald taught school for a short time, and then for about four months filled a clerkship in a country store. In November, 1844, associated with J. C. Whittaker, he opened a general merchandise store at New Lexington, which was prosperously conducted for eight years. Mr. OUTHARD, MILTON I., Lawyer and Member of Congress, was born on the zoth of October, 1836, at Perryton, Licking county, Ohio. Ile comes of ancestry identified with the early history of the country. His grandfather was born near Trenton, New Jersey, and was related to Sen- ator Samuel L. Southard of that State. He removed from New Jersey to Washington county, Pennsylvania, where was born the father of Milton, and eventually removed again with his family to Ohio, settling in Licking county in 1805. On the mother's side Milton I. Southard is descended from the Parnells of Baltimore. Ile obtained the elements of his education at the common schools of Licking county, and when he had reached a proper age he entered the more advanced institutions of learning, and finally passed through the course of study at Dennison University, at Granville, Ohio. Ile graduated from this institution in the year 1861. Immediately after leaving college he commenced the study Iluston then gave up a mercantile career and purchased a farm in the vicinity, and for seven years engaged success- fully in raising, buying and selling stock, his transactions being on a very extensive scale. In 1859 he sold his farm and returned to mercantile life, and was exceedingly fortu- nate in all his ventures, his management being characterized by enterprise and prudence. He was elected in the fall of 1860 Auditor of Perry County, and most acceptably dis- charged the duties of this office during his term, which expired in 1863. Purchasing then a fine farm near Zanes- ville he recommenced stock-raising, in connection with farming. From 1867 to 1869 he served as Assistant Treasurer of Muskingum County, and supervised the col- lection of taxes. For five years he acted as superintendent of extensive coal mines at Lick Run, near Zanesville. Ile was one of the originators of the Second National Bank of Zanesville, and during the greater part of its existence, a
120
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
of law, which profession he had decided to adopt. Ile con- cluded his reading in the office of Follett & Follett, at New. ank, Ohio. In the year 1863 he finished his course of legal study with the Jum mentioned and was admitted a member of the bar. He at once prepared to enter upon the practice of his profession, and formed a professional partnership with Mr. Win. 11. Ingraham. The new firm established them- selves in practice in Toledo, under the firm-name of South- ard & Ingraham. They continued to practise there together until 1866, when the leading member of the firm removed to Zinesville, where he has ever since resided. Shortly after locating in Zanesville he formed a law partnership with his brother, Frank II. Southard, under the firm-name of Southard & Southard. The firm still continues, and he has practised without interruption, except so far as inter- ruption came in the shape of the duties of public office. He has been active in political affairs, and has always been identified with the Democratic party. In the year 1867 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Muskingum County. In 1869 he was re-elected to the same position, and was re- elected a second time in 1871. While serving his third term in this position he was nominated by his party to represent the Thirteenth District of Ohio in Congress. He was elected at the October election of 1872, and in March, 1873, he resigned the office of Prosecuting Attorney to take his seat in the national legislature. lle served with ability and distinction in the Forty-third Congress, lle was ap- pointed a member of the Committee on Mines and Mining, and also of the Committee on Expenditures of the Treasury Department. He took an active part in the House debates on the currency question, and in a speech made on that issue he reviewed the President's veto of the Senate Cur- rency bill. Ile was also active in opposition to the Civil Rights bill, and to the measure that was popularly known as the Force bill. The course taken by him during his Congressional term was so satisfactory to his constituents that he was renominated for the Forty-fourth Congress, and at the election of 1874 he was triumphantly re-elected. In the Forty-fourth Congress he has been appointed Chairman of the Committee on Territories, and also a member of the Committee on Revision of Laws of the United States. A man of integrity as well as of ability, of strong will and of honorable purposes, he is fitted not only to adorn but to honor public life, and in these days such men are worth seeking far to find.
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.