USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 29
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Chase and Giddings and Wade, and other contemporaries, of | quired to return home, in order to undergo an examination Ohio, in the vanguard. The great triumph came at last, but this is not the place for its history. Judge Sutliff continued in the fight until victory crowned the gallant host, but the press of a large professional business, aud an indisposition towards a political life, made his name less conspicuous than others towards the close of the struggle. He was elected to the Ohio Legislature in 1849, and the Free Soil party, which party held the balance of power in the Assembly, secured the election of Salmon P. Chase to the United States Senate. In 1850 he was elected to the upper house of the Legislature, and the same potent balance of power compassed the election of Wade to the United States senatorship. In 1857 he was elected to the Supreme Bench, taking his seat in February, 1858. He served five years, during the last of which he was Chief Justice. In 1863 he resumed the practice of his profession, and in 1872 was nominated for Congress by the Liberal Republican party, but with the Greeley tieket he was alike defeated. Ile is now in his sixty-ninth year, in the enjoyment of good health, and still continues the practice of his profession. IIc has acquired a competency, but has never married.
ECK, WILLIAM, Merchant and Manufacturer, was born November 21st, 1821, in the Electorate of Hesse Cassel, Germany, and is a son of Freid- rich Carl and Mary Magdelene (Hooffman ) Beck. Ilis ancestry belonged to the higher class of Germans. His father was a printer, and died at the age of thirty four years, when William was but three years of age. Ilis widow survived him forty-two years, and died January 30, 1866, at the advanced age of eighty-two years, retaining her mental faculties unimpaired to the end of life. When five years of age, William was sent to school, and was most constant in his attendance until he reached the age of thirteen and a half years, during which period he acquired an excellent German education, At the expiration of his school studies, his mother placed him, 1835, in a car- penter shop, to learn that trade, but on account of ill treat- ment he remained there but two months, and thence re- turned home. He was then apprenticed to a tailor, with which employment he was well pleased, and he succeeded in acquiring a thorough knowledge of the business during the stipulated three years, 1838, which formed his term of service. He was now not quite eighteen years of age, but a master of his trade, though he could not, as yet, enter into business for himself. According to the German laws and immemorial custom, he was required to travel as a journey- man tailor for a certain length of time. He accordingly set out on foot, with his knapsack on his back, and travelled through northern and eastern Germany from August 15th, 1838, to January, 1841, working diligently in various cities and towns. Ile was, at the expiration of this period, re-
by the War Department with a view to entering the army. This, however, he evaded by purchasing a substitute, re- ceiving his exemption papers, and being released from military duties. He then resumed his pedestrian travel, which he followed for eight years more, travelling through Bavaria, Switzerland, France, Italy and Austria, working in all the principal cities. Having more than fulfilled the travelling requirements of the country, he returned home to undergo his final examination preparatory to his engaging in business on his own account. This examination was a rigid one, and was conducted by a committee of five master- workmen, all practical tailors, duly appointed for that pur- pose, to ascertain his proficiency in his calling. He was required to take the full measure of a man for a complete suit of clothes, coat, vest, and pantaloons. This process having been ascertained to be correct, he was required to cut the cloth, and subsequently to make the garments with his own hands, being at all times under the care and guar- dianship of one of the committee who never lost sight of him during the entire period of his ordeal. The suit was completed to the entire satisfaction of the committee, and he thereupon received his certificate in due form, which au- thorized him to commence business. In 1849 he was regu- larly established as a merchant tailor, and he succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectation, being recommended and patronized by the gentry and nobility, among these the celebrated Von Brombach and Baron Von Schwartzenburg, beside other high State dignitaries. After conducting the busi- ness very successfully for three years, he manifested a desire to try his fortunes in America ; so he disposed of his stock, gave his mother the house he owned, and with a little over $500 in gold, together with a small stock of goods, bade adieu to the fatherland, September 15th, 1852, and fifteen days thereafter arrived in Philadelphia, reaching Cincinnati in one week, October 9th, 1852. Ile did not find his line of business very brisk, the Israelites seeming to have a monopoly of the clothing trade, and withal he was totally unacquainted with the English language. Ile, however, commenced making cloaks for Mr. White and Mr. Lee, on Fourth street, but as his pay was meagre, he concluded to try something else. Ilaving purchased a lot of shoes, he commenced the peddling business, but only succeeded in disposing of one pair. Hle next undertook to work on over- gaiters for one Koehler and others, but trade being in a stag- nant condition, he answered an advertisement for a gardener at Mount Washington, and undertook to fill that position. The work, however, proved too laborious, so he returned to the city, where he became a cutter in Mr. Stadler & Brothers' establishments until 1857, when he started in busi- ness, on Central avenue, in the line of hoys' clothing and masquerade costumes. In 1858 he removed to No. 266 Fifth street, where he continued the same business, and the following year leased the adjoining lot, and erected the house No. 264, where he carried on a very lucrative trade.
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In 1865 he made a trip to Europe, in company with his { and millwrights of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia, eldest son, August, and on his return to Cincinnati, disposed of his establishment with a view of returning to Germany. About that time, however, the Viennan was broke out, and he abandoned the idea. In 1866 he opened a store at the corner of Plum and Fifth streets, remaining there one year, when he purchased a house on Vine street between Sixth and Seventh, where he opened a restaurant. In 1869 he sold out this establishment, and removed to No. 74 Fifth street, and two years later, on account of the houses being torn down, to Longworth and Central avenue. At this latter stand, however, his business did not prove so snecess- ful; so he removed the same year to No. 264 Vine street, opposite the Public Library, and commenced the business of manufacturing regalia, masonie goods and masquerade costumes, which he has conducted very extensively and successfully. Four years after, finding these premises too circumseribed for his rapidly extended business, he leased a three-story house on the corner of Vine and Seventh streets, to which he built for his business an addition ; and he now possesses one of the finest stores in the city, where he ex- pects to remain during the continuance of his business life. By perseverance and close attention to business, he has amassed a competency, and he appreciates and enjoys the reward of his labors. He is prominently identified with many of the leading benevolent organizations of the city, among which may be named the Red Men, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, the Masonic Order up to Knights Tem- plar, the Seven Wise Men, Good Fellows, and the United Working Men. When on his way to the United States, in 1852, he met in Liverpool a gentleman by the name of Fuchs, whose sister Elizabeth was on her way to America. Ile was asked to take charge of her, and see that she was properly cared for during her long and hazardous journey. So faithful was he in attentions to her comfort, that they have been continued ever since. They were united in mar- ringe February 14th, 1853, and five children have blessed this union, all of whom are now living, The oldest son, August, now twenty-two years old, has been in business with him since he left the school.
ALDWELL, JOHN DAY, so well known through- out Ohio as the " Universal Secretary," was born in Zanesville, Ohio, December 28th, 1816. In 6.1 the year 1814, his mother, Harriet Wesley Day, of Harford county, Maryland, while on a wed- ding party in the Bay of Baltimore, was captured by the British, and placed a prisoner on board of the com- modore's vessel, at the time Thomas Scott Key wrote the famous "Star-Spangled Banner." Key gave her a copy in his own handwriting. His father, James Caldwell, was of Scotch Irish lineage. The Caldwells were of the stock of Scotch- Irish who became the pioneer preachers, educators
John Day, whose name be bears, was the pioneer printer and book publisher of London in the fifteenth century. On his tombstone it is stated that he was the original publisher of Fox's " Book of Martyrs." Mr. Caldwell was for nearly three years a student at Kenyon College. While yet a boy he was employed in the establishment of Mr. Peabody- brother of the great banker and philanthropist-who was visiting Zanesville with auction goods; he was also clerk with Professor Thompson, chemist, at the same place, and aided him in experiments that resulted in the discovery of the composition of Blackwell's matches, and in the mann- facture, about the year 1832, of the first friction matches made in this country. In 1835 he came to Cincinnati, and until 1843 engaged as clerk on board of steamboats running on the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers. After this he was transportation agent of the Little Miami Railroad Company, the first chosen Secretary of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad Company, again entered the service of the Little Miami Railroad Company, and was then clerk in Greene's Express, the pioneer organization at Cincinnati. Later he became the sole proprietor of the Atlas and Chron- idle newspaper. This was in the Scott campaign, and Murat Halstead, now of the Cincinnati Commercial, then received his first engagement as a writer for a daily paper with Mr. Caldwell. He subsequently sold out to the Cin- cinnati Gazette, and became a stockholder and local editor in that paper in connection with Judge John C. Wright, Crafts J. Wright, William Schouler, and Luther B. Bruen. On disposing of his interest in the Gazette he served for two years as Clerk of the School Board of Cincinnati, when he resigned on being chosen by the Ohio State Teachers' As- sociation to edit their Journal of Education, which he conducted for one year. Subsequently he was Clerk of the Board of City Improvements of Cincinnati, and during two years of the war Reporting Clerk of the Ohio House of Representatives. In 1850 he acted as Assistant Secretary to the Grand Lodge of Masons of Ohio, and has continued, by successive elections each year since, Grand Secretary also of three other Grand Masonic bodies. For nine years he was Grand Recorder and Grand Secretary of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States, and also of the General Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons of the United States. Since 1856 he has been devoted to the interes's of the Pioneer Association of Cincinnati, of which he remains the secretary. He is an assiduous student and collector of the local history of the city, but lins published a few tracts only of his accumulated manuscript. Ile was at one period Secretary and Librarian of the Ohio Histori- cal Society, and first Librarian of the Free Public Library of Cincinnati, which was organized in his office when he was clerk of the public schools. On the outbreak of the rebellion, on the first day of news of need for a popular rally, he headed the movement in Cincinnati, and was the organizer of the " Home Guard," and became Chairman of
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the Committee of Safety until a more perfect organization was effected for the defence of the city. For three months he was Volunteer Adjutant General on staff of General Binbank in charge of the military of the city. He organ- ized the Sanitary Fair, and was its secretary. By its ac- tivity over a quarter of a million of dollars was placed in the treasury of the Sinitary Commission. He organized the Soldiers' Family Fund, the Refugee Relief Association, and was the active Secretary of the National Union Asso- ciation, which was so effective in public meetings and by loyal publications. All these services were freely volun- teered for the public good without charge. Hli, Labors were unremitting, his zeal unquenchable, and his services most efficient. Mr. Caldwell was married in 1845 to Margaret, daughter of Captain William Templeton, of Cincinnati. Their only child died in infancy. Mr. Caldwell is at present proprietor of the Masonic Supply establishment, No. 233 Fourth street, Cincinnati.
WYER, HON. DENNIS, Lawyer, Judge of the Probate Court of Montgomery county, Ohio, and Founder of the Order of the Irish Catholic Benevolent Union, was born in the parish of Fethard county, Tipperary, Ireland, February 2d, IS30. His parents were Cornelius Dwyer and Bridget (Barns) Dwyer, people in moderate circumstances, who followed the vocation of farming. While in his tenth year he lost his father, and from his seventh until his this- teenth year of age, he attended an excellent national school located in the vicinity of his home, and there acquired a substantial English and mathematical education, with some knowledge of Latin and German. He subsequently went to Clonmell to live with an uncle, a man of notable mechan- ical genius and unusual scientific attaimnents. With him he learned the trade of clock and watch making, and at the same time improved his education by attending school and also through his acquaint ince with a circle of scientific and scholastic disputants who were often guests at the house of his relative. Having witnessed the destitution and horrible suffering attendant on the famine, his spirit naturally re- volted against that tyrannous system of repression of Irish commerce and Irish manufactures, which was, in a measure, responsible for the calamitous visitation. His uncle was a member of the O'Connell Petitioning Law and Order Party, and looked to a calm and steady policy for a final redress of grievances. Ile, however, was less circumspect. Fired with an enthusiastic patriotism more creditable to his heart than his judgment, he broke away from the restraining in- fluence of his uncle, and fled to Slievenamon Mountain, to join O'Brien, Meagher, Dahoney, and the army of " Young Irelanders " gathered on the mountain, and armed with pikes and clubs. Opposed by the strong power of the government, the bubble of rebellion shone for a few days,
then burst, and the insurgent forces were scattered like chaff before the winds. To avoid arrest he then fled to America, and in December, 1848, landed in New Orleans, Louisiana. In the ensuing spring, he found himself m Ohio, in very straitened circumstances, and, during that year, worked as a farm laborer in Miami county. Ilis misery was then increased by an attack of ague, and he de- cided to remove to Dayton, where he served a regular apprenticeship at the trade of cabinet making, and afterwards worked at pattern making, and made the patterns for the first steam-engine used in United Brethren printing establish- ment in Dayton, while engaging at the same time in the study of law. Pursuing his legal studies under the direction of an attorney, while working assiduously at his mechanical occupation, he was admitted to the bar in 1857. He con- tinucd, however, to work at his trade until 1860, from which time until 1863 he acted as Recording Clerk in the County Clerk's office. Ile was afterwards engaged as a bookkeeper in Dayton until his election in 1866 to the office of Probate Judge of the county. Ile was re-elected to the same position in 1869, and again in 1872, and, be- sides, served for four years as a member of the Board of Education in Dayton, introducing many improvements into the public schools. He possesses many qualities which fit him peculiarly for public life-a genial temper, an ardent nature balanced by the wisdom of varied experience, ex- tensive general reading, and an easy and graceful address. On all subjects his opinions are his convictions, and while he firmly upholds them, he has the utmost respect for the opinions of those with whom he may differ. He is endowed also with the executive ability to control and harmonize large numbers, a natural gift which brought him prominently be- fore the public in 1869, when he organized at Dayton the Irish Catholic Benevolent Union, an association whose ramifications now extend over nearly every State in the Union, and into Canada, embracing among its members many thousands of the most active and intelligent Irish Catholics in America. He enjoyed the friendship and con- fidence of the late Hon. C. 1 .. Vallandigham, and was asso- viated with him in the management of the Darten Herald and Empire, from 1868 to 1870. In polities he has always been attached to the Democratic party, and frequently has acted as Chairman of the Democratic Committees, and been also the representative of his party at the various con. ventions. At the present time he officiates as President of the National Board of Immigration of the Irish Catholic Benevolent Union. He was married May 9th, 1855, to Annie A. Childs, daughter of John Childs and Mary (Bingham) Childs, formerly of Richmond, Virginia. She died October 18th, 1870, leaving issue of five children- three sons and two daughters; two other children having died in infancy. Judge Dwyer is now in the meridian of his manhood, and with his acknowledged energy, ability and popularity, we bespeak for him a distinguished future.
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STE, DAVID K., Judge of the First Ohio Judicial | regarded as a public loss, His career is closely identified with Dieniet, and the oldest representative of the Cin- the growth and prosperity of Cincinnati. He was zealous in his effort , to seeme public improvements, and to make the city attractive, not alone as a place of residence, but as a good field for capitalists, in the way of i.creasing mercan- cinmati bin, is the son of Moses and Ann Este, of Morristown, New Jersey, and was born Octo- ber 2151, 1785. Captain Este, his father, was severely wounded at the battle of Monmouth, and file and commercial traffic. The first building erected by him was his own residence on Main street. Subsequently he erected fourteen structures on the same thoroughfare and Ninth street, three on Sycamore street, and one on Fourth street. In IS58 he reared the handsome stone residence on West Fourth street, which he now occupies. In the fall of IS19 he was married to Luey Ann, daughter of General William Henry Harrison. She died in April, 1826, having been the mother of four children, three of whom died when quite young. The surviving daughter became the wife of Joseph Reynolds, of Baltimore, and died in 1869 at the age of forty seven years, leaving seven children. In May,
would have died from exposure but for the personal atten- tions of Colonel Hamilton, aide to General Washington, who found him among the dead and dying, and provided him with food and medical assistance. Ile was subsequently Collector of Revenue under President Adams, and died at the age of eighty-four. David K., his son, received his elementary education in his native town, and entered Princeton College, where he pursued the full course of studies, and graduated with distinction in 18og. In April, 1804, he commenced to read law in the office of Gabriel Ford, Esq., at Morristown, and after thorough preparation, was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court at Trenton, in May, 1868. He commenced practice in Morristown at once, and after continuing there one year as a lawyer, he removed to Cincinnati, Ohio; but with the intention of miking his practice a very general one, covering all the courts in that judicial district, including the United States District and Circuit Courts at Chillicothe, and subsequently at Columbus, he opened an office in Hamilton in order to be centrally located. In the spring of 1814 he located in Cincinnati, and established himself at the corner of Main and Fifth streets, and by careful attention to his business and the exercise of rare legal talent, he soon secured a very large and influential clientage. In IS17 he formed a partnership with Bellamy Stoven, and this business relation- ship continued until 1821. In 1830 he admitted Ezekiel Haines to an interest in his large and increasing business, and this partnership existed until Mr. Este was made Presi- dent Judge of Hamilton county, and after the organization of the Superior Court, in 1837, he was appointed its judge. Upon the expiration of his term in the spring of 1845, he retired from public and professional life. His career at the bar and on the bench was a distinguished one. He was profoundly read in civil and criminal law, his knowledge of the science being constantly improved by continuous re- search. Ile was as indefatigable a worker as a student, and gave to all the business intrusted to his care his close attention. He was especially forcible as a pleader, and had rare power for the analyzation of evidence in order to pre- scut it clearly to the jury and the court, forming from it a plain and easily understood exposition of the continuity of circumstances involved in the case. He was skilful in the interpretation of the law, and logical in his arguments, which were models of rhetorical expression. His decisions from the bench were accepted as authority, and were char- acterized by an entire absence of personal bias. He was at all times firm in his support of the integrity of the law. These qualities won for him the sincere respect of the entire community, and his retirement from professional duties was
1829, Mr. Este married Lonisa Miller, daughter of Judge William Miller, by whom he had seven children, four living at the present time. Judge Este is now ninety years of age, and still takes a great interest in the course of public affairs. For many years he has been Senior Warden of Christ Church, of which he is a leading member.
AWRENCE, DANIEL, Retired Manufacturer, was born in Cumberland county, New Jersey, April 7th, 18og, and was the eldest child in a family of seven children, whose parents were Jonathan Lawrence and Tamzon (Massey) Law- rence, both natives of New Jersey, and descended from the early settlers of that Commonwealth, His father, who was engaged chiefly in farming, moved to Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1817, and setiled primarily in the place now known as Glendale. He died in this county, October 22d, 1832, Ilis mother's decease occurred in May, 1845. Ilis early education was obtained in the log school-houses of the frontier settlements, which he attended when not busied in fum and incidental labor. At the age of twenty- three, he took the place of his deceased father as the head of his home, and for several years managed by incessant industry to maintain the family in comfortable circumstances, lle was then engaged continuously in farming until the spring of 1836, when he moved to Reading and established himself in the tanning business, which he followed in the same place until 1871. In this year he disposed of his in- terest in the business and invested his money in real estate. Since then he has not been actively employed in any enter- prise of a mercantile character. Politically, he has been successively a Whig and a Republican, and cast his first vote in favor of John Quincy Adams. Religionsly, his feel- ings incline him toward the Swedenborgian Church, al- though his views are not circumscribed by the doctrines of any particular denomination. He was married, November
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3d, 1840, to Laura 1. Fosler, a native of Hamilton county, [ vising work secured him the reputation of a master builder, whose parents were among the earliest settlers of this sec- tion of the State, her father being one of the first Judges of the Territorial Court; she died in April, 1865. He was again married in March, 1865, to Mary F. (Cortelyon) Woodruff, a native of Hamilton county, whose parents were also among the first settlers of that county. By this mar- nage he has two children : Mary Elizabeth, born October IIth, 1868, and Daniel Lawrence, born January 18th, 1873.
ITTER, ARTHUR CARR, Mechanic, Farmer and Lawyer, was born, February 24th, 1810, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, being the sixth of thirteen children, whose parents were Abraham and Mary Ann ( Nicholas) Ritter. The former was a native of Hagerstown, Maryland, who successively settled in Somerset and Westmoreland counties, and until he reached the age of forty-five he fol- lowed the avocation of a joiner and carpenter. During the remainder of his life he was engaged in farming. In 1816 he went to Cincinnati, making the journey on the Ohio river on a flat-boat, which canied his family and his house. hold effects. He resided two years in Cincinnati, and then went on his farm in Sycamore township, Hamilton county, where he lived until his death, August 17th, 1828. Ile served as captain of a rifle company in the second war with Great Britain, and proved a true marksman and a gallant commander. Prior to his departure to Ohio he served as Justice of the Peace, filling that office for eight years. Ile was unusually well read in law, and performed the duties of this position with energy and intelligence. He left, at his death, thirteen children, who all inherited the marked characteristics of their parents, of which longevity was one. The members of both the Ritter and Nicholas families usually attained a ripe age, and were all substantial citizens of the communities in which they resided. Mrs. Ritter was a native of Kings county, Virginia, who emigrated with her parents to Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and was there married, when sixteen years of age, to Abraham. She died, May 20, 1872, at Sharonville, Ohio, The educational fa- cilities enjoyed by Arthur Carr Ritter in early life were very few, but this lacking was made up by his close application to substantial text-books at home. He was an industrious laborer when a youth, and when eighteen began the trade of a carpenter and joiner, which he assiduously followed for thirty-five years in Sycamore township, Hamilton county. In 1864 he turned his attention wholly to wagon-making and general mechanical efforts, and closely applied himself to this business until 1872, when he renounced the cares of active life and retired to enjoy the competency amassed by his enterprise, energy and economy. Ile had not long pursued the trade of carpentering before his enterprise and mathematical accuracy in making estimates and in super-
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