USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 34
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during which time he was mainly instrumental in securing the passage of the bill for the relief of the General Govern- ment. Religionsly he is a Presbyterian, a man whose life has been devoted to usefulness and whose influence has always been for good. In social life the doctor is a delight- ful compmion, genial in his disposition, and courteous in his minners, always an agreeable addition to the circle in which he moves. Over thirty years of unceasing labor and of constant application to the duties of his profession has somewhat impaired his physical ability, but his mental facul- ties are vigorous, and his spirits buoyant. Ile has been a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity for about thirty years, and is also intimately identified with the Society of Odd Fellows. He was twice married, his first wife being Charlotte Thompson, a native of Hamilton county, who died in 1844, leaving one child. On February 11th, 1846, he was married to Mary J. MeMeen, a native of Franklin, Warren county, Ohio, daughter of J. MeMeen, an early and prominent settler of that county.
REVITT, HENRY, Farmer, was born at Marble- head, Massachusetts, in October or November, 1755, and was the son of Richard Trevitt and Eliz- abeth ( Brown) Trevitt. flis father emigrated with two brothers from England before the out. break of the war of the Triple Alliance, and set- ted in the above mentioned locality. Ile, the father, was engaged in the military service of his country against the French and Indians, and while serving in the army lost his life in that service at Fort George, on the lake of the same name. The maternal grandmother of the subject of this notice was a sister of General Putnam, a name prominent in the revolutionary annals of America. His mother, about six years subsequent to her husband's death, was again married to mos Flint. The family then moved to Reading, Massachusetts, whence, after a lapse of five years, the various members removed to that part of AAmherst, New Hampshire, subsequently set apart as Mount Vernon, where Amos Flint purchased a farin, on which the entire family resided until the decease of both its heads. He served as a volunteer soldier, or " minute man," for nearly the entire period of time of the revolutionary conflict. He participated in many of those unequal engagements ol the revolutionary struggle, and concluded his active services in the field in the memorable " Bennington Fight," under the gallant Stark, which contributed so much to bring the great conflict to a successful close ; and for his services during that event- ful period was, up to the date of his demise, in the receipt of a pension from the government. In June, 1829, he left the farm at Mount Vernon, and settled in St. Albans town. ship, Licking county, Ohio, where he ever afterward perma- nently resided. He was one of the race of hardy pioneers and adventurous settlers to whose courage and calm endur-
ance must be attributed the after prosperity of the country. And at ninety-five years of age, he was able to walk unas- sisted, while his intellectual faculties were in an unusually excellent state of preservation. He was married when thirty years of age, at the residence of the officiating clergyman, Rev. Mr. Goodrich, Lyndeborough, New Hampshire, to Jane Thompson. At the date of their marriage, her parents were dead. Her grandmother, who had emigrated from Scotland, lived with the couple subsequently until her de- cease. The issue of that unien was seven sons and two danghters, of whom all but one son arrived at full manhood or womanhood. Ilis wife died in the fall of 1816, and April 27th, 1850, occurred his deccase. July 3d, 1850, his remains were removed to the Green Lawn Cemetery, Colum- bus, Ohio, where a suitable monument has been erected to mark the resting-place of one whose long, eventful life as soldier, citizen, parent and friend challenges the admiration of all who appreciate the highest order of perfect manhood and of human excellence.
IIITING, AUREN W., M. D., was born in Litch- field county, Connectient, in January, 1826. Ilis parents were Ira and Elizabeth (Conklin) Whiting, both natives of Connecticut. Auren W. was edu- cated mostly at the Ihigh School in Westfield, Massachusetts. Desiring to practise medicine, he commenced his studies for that profession with Dr. W. B. De Forest, in Colebrook, Connecticut, and in 1846 matricu- lated at the medical department of Yale College. After one course of lectures in this college he repaired to Canton, Ohio, where his brother was engaged in the practice of med- icine, and here he continued his studies, and also gradually took up practice. In the winter of 1849-50 he attended lectures in the medical department of the Western Reserve College, at Cleveland, and graduated from that institution in the spring of 1850. Locating himself at Massillon, Ohio, he followed with success his profession until the spring of 1857. Wishing to avail himself of the advantages to be secured in his profession abroad, he then spent about eighteen months in Europe, visiting the hospitals in Paris and other important European cities. Ile returned home in July, 1858, and, resuming his profession, entered the Northern Ohio Lunatic Asylum, located near Cleveland. llere he acted as physician for the next three years or there- abouts. Ile then repaired to Washington, District of Co- Inmbia, and entered the service of the United States, doing duty in the field hospital at Georgetown, where he was engaged for about four months. Ile then took up his abode in Canton, Ohio, and engaged in private practice, and for a while assisted his brother, who at that time was acting as examining surgeon for that district. From his previons residence in Massillon, the adjoining westward town to Canton, Dr. Whiting soon regained an extensive practice, in
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which he is still engaged. He has been a member of the Ohio State Medid Society for many years, and, during its existence, a member of the Stark County Medical Avocia. tion. During his connection with the Northern Ohio Lunatic Asylum he was recognized as a delegate and at- tended the meeting of the American Medical Association, which convened that year at Louisville, Kentucky. De- voted to his profession, he has confined himself exclusively to its pursuits, and stands among the leaders of that frater- nity in Canton,
EREDITHI, L. P., M. D., D. D. S., was born in Xenia, Greene county, Ohio, March ISth, IS41, descending from an old and titled English fam- ily. Ilis father, Philip Collins Meredith, when a child came to America with his widowed mother, upon whom misfortunes accumulated during her voyage to and settlement in the new western world. She lost nearly all her property through the dishonesty of busi- ness agents. Her only means were then supplied by an annuity which yielded her just a comfortable maintenance during her life. Philip, from Virginia, where he had first settled, removed to Ohio, where he became interested with Charles Lee in a jewelry establishment. Afterward he studied and practised medicine, Ile was married in 1835 to Julia, youngest daughter of Colonel Sexton of Virginia, who held an important position in the war of 1812, subse- quently representing his county for twelve years in the State Legislature, and well known as one of the committee ap- pointed by that body to escort Lafayette on the occasion of his visit to America, in 1824. Mrs. Meredith was a lady of many accomplishments, and in every way fitted to super- vise the education of a son in training for professional life. Dr. Meredith, about the year 1845, was compelled to aban- don the practice of medicine, which was too rigorous for his health, and turned his attention to dentistry and re- moved to Cincinnati, where he. continued as a dental surgeon for twenty years. His strength for professional hle now gave way, and he retired to a newly purchased residence at Yellow Springs, Ohio, Although a physician and dentist of accredited skill, and always favored with a lucrative patronage, his luxurious habits of life and impul- sive generosity prevented him from amassing even a com- petency. Towards the close of his active career he realized the necessity of making a suitable provision for his family, and to this end applied himself with great energy. Ilis anticipations, without question, would all have been realized Ind not failing health incapacitated him from further labor. He was compelled to surrender his practice to his son, L. P. Meredith. The education of the latter was obtained at Stephenson's and Herron's seminaries, in Cincinnati, and at the Walnut Hills High School, where he acquired a thorough knowledge of Latin in connection with a compre- hensive English course, He was one of the four pupils
who passed the examination for admittance to that institu- tion when for & organized. Subsequently, under private tutors, he studied and made good progress in the french, German and Spanish languages. From an early age he displayed an unusual degree of literary ability, and this ability was rapidly developed in the interim between his retirement from school and his entrance into the profession of dentistry as the successor of his father. He wrote con- siderably for the press, generally under a nom de plume, and his productions were characterized by originality of thought and grace of expression. Ilis papers on political subjects show him to have been familiar with the details of some of the most important events in our civil history. Ile became an expert chess-player, and before reaching his twentieth year had won a local championship match, had become President of the Cincinnati Chess Club and had conquered Mr. Turner, of Kentucky, who some time prier had played a match with Mr. Stanley, of New York, for the championship of the United States. Subsequently Mr. Turner won a small majority of the games, more serious matters requiring the attention of Mr. Meredith. Several years have usually intervened between his test games, but Mr. Meredith has never been beaten in set matches, except by Mr. Judd, in a trial of skill between leading Ohio players in 1872. Since then he has played but little, and that little has always been recreation, not labor, In 1859 he went to Xenia to read law with his uncle, Joseph Sexton, then Prosecuting Attorney, and afterwards Judge of the Superior Court. He there obtained a teacher's cer- tificate and taught school two terms. Upon the breaking out of the rebellion he entered the 74th Ohio Regiment, and remained with that command until 1862, when he returned home to Cincinnati, the exposure of camp life having unfitted him for further service in the field. While his parents were undecided as to his profession in life, and were arriving at a determination what it should be, he was acquiring a practical insight into the details of the profes- sion followed by his father. The latter, believing that he should be compelled to relinquish his calling in a short time, now look every opportunity to educate his son in the science of dental surgery, in order that, as his successor, he might retrieve the fortunes of the family. These efforts were successful. L. P. Meredith assumed his father's duties, and was installed in his Cincinnati office at an earlier age than that at which most men enter upon pro- fessional life. Success, in the vocation he accepted as a necessity, was now his ambition, and he took every step to merit it. Ile studied with tact and diligence, his father aiding him greatly with his counsel. lle attended the Dental College of Philadelphia, and from that institution, in 1867, took his degree of D. D. S., his father issuing from his retirement to discharge the labors of the son while finishing his course at college. The latter returned to Cincinnati and engaged in a practice both large and lucra tive, not alone securing to his now widowed mother a
L. Allfordich.
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comfortable maintenance, bat earning for himself a high to be read at the Reunion of the Seventh and Eighth Dis- bict Dental Societies of New York, in October, 1574, a paper on " Thoughts about the 'Arthur Method,'" which was published in the Missouri Dental Journal. It is claimed by many to be the strongest attack yet made against that plan of practice, and it is one to which no answer has ever been made by its advocates. His success- ful practice and his position in the leading ranks of the profession are the result of diligence in study and diligence and care in practice. His recreation is chiefly literature. Ile is a keen observer, with the faculty of observing and of describing the salient peculiarities of appearance and of character in short, expressive sentences. He is excellent at etching, not like Rembrandt, but like Sterne, his pen- pictures being remarkably true to life. Ile is a gentleman of scholarly tastes and of liberal views. Ile is a member of the Presbyterian Church. There is every reason to believe that his name, a. Dr. Meredith is still a young man, will become more intimately and more prominently associated with the advancement of dental science in this country. In ISGS he was married to Kate Kellogg Keck- eler, a young lady whose culture and attainments render her an invaluable adviser and associate. reputation as a careful and skilful dentist. He studied medicine as an auxiliary to his profession, graduating in the spring of 1871 with the degree of M. D. from the Ohio Medical College. In June of the same year he produced a popular work on " The Teeth, and How to Save Them," which was most favorably received by the press and public throughout the country. The Clinic says of it : " The little volume before us is designed to supply a much needed want. The finished education of its anthor in literary as well as medical and dental science has enabled him to do this in a most pleasing and graceful style. A half hour of real enjoyment is offered to the reader in the perusd of the chapter on the . History of Dentistry.' 'The little book is rich not only in its history; it is full of practical hints of easy comprehension, and is destined, we predict, for wide circulation." In 1972 Dr. Meredith issued " Everyday Errors of Speech," which afforded wider scope for the ver- satility and leaming of its author. The character of the volume may be understood from a prefatory remark : " It is not intended to instruct those whose education has been so neglected that they are guilty of the grossest violations of syntax, orthoepy and taste in the use of words. It is de- signed chiefly to correct the many crrors of pronunciation amongst people of fair or excellent education, which are persisted in simply because they have not had their atten- tion called to them." This is the work of a scholar who ATTISON, HION. JOIIN M., Lawyer and Repre- semtative in the Sixty-first General Assembly of Ohio from the city of Cincinnati, was born in Clermont county, Ohio, June 13th, 1847. He is the son of William Panison and Mary (Duck- wale) Pattison. llis father was a country mer- chant, in only moderate circumstances, and after reaching the age of sixteen years he was thrown on his own re- sources and compelled to battle his way unaided to fame and fortune. At the close of the rebellion he entered the Union army, in the four months' service, and at the expira- tion of his term, ardently desiring to acquire a thorough education, attended the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio. While pursuing his studies he maintained himself by teaching, and laboring in the harvest fields in summer. He finally graduated in the class of 1869, taking the degree of A. B., the degree of A. M. being conferred in course. Soon after leaving college he registered for the bar, but his health becoming enfeebled he travelled, on business accounts, through the West for a couple of years. On his return he completed his studies in the office of Judge Alfred Yople, of Cincinnati, and in 1872 graduated from the law school in that city. Directly after his admission to the bar he entered on the practice of his profession, and received the appointment of Assistant Attorney for the Cincinnati & Marietta Railway, which position he held until his election to the Legislatme, when, hom a sense of duty to his constituency- fearing lest the office should limit has had unrivalled opportunities of noting the constant breaches upon syntactical propriety by people of more than ordinary intelligence. During the spring of 1872 Dr. Meredith accepted an invitation from the faculty of the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery to deliver a course of lectures on the " Teeth " to the students of that institution. He delivered four courses of lectures, and was honored with the presence of a large and attentive auditory, composed not alone of students, upon the occasion of each lecture. In the fall of 1874 he was invited to occupy the same position in the Ohio Medical College. At the pre- liminary course of popular lectures he delivered a lecture, " Our Teeth and their Preservation," which has since been published, and although only a pamphlet it has, on account of the new theories advanced, caused many comments from the press in this country and abroad. He is an interesting speaker, capable of analyzing scientific problems so clearly that their solution becomes easy to the dullest compre- hension. There are few men who have achieved higher distinction for their mastery of dental surgery than Dr. Meredith. He is an indefatigable worker, and contributes in every possible way for the advancement of his profes- sion. In 1873 he issued a " Pocket Dental Register," and in 1874 the " Pocket Dental Journal" and " Pocket Dental Lodger," which became very popular with practitioners. In February, 1874, he delivered a lecture on " Examina- tion, Appreciation and Fees," which was widely published in the journal of the profession. By request, be submitted | his sphere of usefulness - he decided to send to the company
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his resignation. At the bar he has won a very creditable reputation. He is the Attorney for the Committee of Safety for the City of Cincinnati, an association of prominent busi- ness men who make it their duty to preserve the general interests of the city by prosecuting official corruption and fraud. In 1873 he was elected, on the Democratic ticket, to represent his city in the Sixty-first General Assembly, and still acts with that body. He serves on the Committee on Judiciary and is Chairman of the Committee on Enrolment. By that law of intellectual gravitation which regulates im- material things so unerringly he has won for himself a leading position in the honorable Assembly, and possesses much influence among his colleagues, who esteem him as an able and enterprising citizen and official.
MITH, CAPTAIN JAMES, Assistant Treasurer of Hamilton County, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, April 14th, 1831. Ile was the fifth child in a family of eleven children whose parents were James Smith, of the county of Cork, Ireland, and Mary (O'Brien) Smith, a native of the county of Clare, in the same country. Ilis carlier education was received in the common schools of Cincinnati. While in his twentieth year he went to California, where he remained until the winter of 1861-62. Ile then returned to the At- lantic States as a soldier of the Union in the regular army. While in Washington, District of Columbia, Hon. George 11. Pendleton, who was at that time a member of Congress, in conjunction with Hon. Milton S. Latham, of California, assisted by almost the whole of the members of Congress from both States, with several officers of the regular army, asked that he might be placed in the line of promotion. But owing to his situation as a private soldier the desired end was not attained. Ile was then informed by Ilon. George II. Pendleton, on the evening preceding General MeClellan's advance on Manassas, that the project in view had met with failure. His reply was that " if he lived, he would earn promotion on the battle-field." Ultimately, after several recommendations, won by his coolness and gallant conduct while an active participant in various en- gagements, he received the coveted promotion, and subse- quently commanded the company which he had joined as a „private. During the war of the rebellion he was engaged in the following battles: Yorktown, Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Turkey Bend, Malvern Hill, South Mountain, An- tietam, Fredericksburg, Jackson, Vicksburg, Campbell's Station, Knoxville, Mine Run and Spotsylvania Court House. Ile took part also in several skirmishes and minor engagements, and with singular good fortune, his incessant and active service in the field being considered, passed through the ordeal of war with but one flesh wound. In October, 1865, he resigned bis commission in the service of the United States, and went to leland for the purpose
of assisting the oppressed there in securing a free and inde- pendent government. A few months after his anival he was arrested by the British authonties, and, under the sus- pension of the Habeas Corpus act, was thrown into prison, where he remained for a period of three months. Ilis release was then secured through the intervention of Andrew Johnson, President of the United States. Ile afterward crossed over to England and labored zealously to promote the Irish cause until the affair of Chester, which became a fiasco by means of the machinations of Corrydon, the informer. On his return to Ireland he took part in the rising of 1867, was again arrested on his entry into the city of Dublin and was indicted for high treason. At the ex- piration of three months' imprisonment he was tried for " White Boyism," but the Crown being unable to procure evidence to convict for high treason he was sentenced by Lord Chief-Justice Whiteside to one year's imprisonment at hard labor. A few months after his sentence had expired he returned to his native place in this country. Ile is a Democrat of the old school, is ardently opposed to all monopolies, and sustains those measures which, in his opinion, confer the greater good upon the greater number. Ilis religious views are broad and liberal, and he has al- ways manifested a warm interest in all movements concern- ing educational matters. At the present time he holds the position of School Trustee from a Republican ward. While in Dublin he married an estimable lady of that place.
URTON, HION. STEPHEN II., Senator from the First Ohio District, was born in Albany, New York, June 25th, 1816, being the son of Matthew and Esther (Van Wie) Burton. Ilis education was commenced in a private school in his native place, but when twelve years of age he was with- drawn from it and placed in business, and never afterwards had the benefit of school instruction. The substantial knowledge which he subsequently acquired was through his own efforts at self-teaching. He became an enthusiastic student and a great reader; reading, however, with excel- lent discrimination. At the age of fourteen he left home to make his fortune, and when nineteen went to Texas, where he engaged, under Houston, in the deliverance of that State from Mexican dominion. This was a career of great ex- citement and danger, of daring raids and of hair-breadth escapes. Upon his return from Texas he went to Troy, New York, where he lived seven years, and then moved, in 1844, to Cincinnati, where he engaged in manufacturing. Ile was very successful in business, earning prosperity by persevering energy and enterprise, and in 1869 retired from active life to enjoy the fortune he had amassed. In 1873 he was elected, on the Republiem ticket, as State Senator from the First District ( Hamilton county), and has been prominent in all important legislative proceedings. For
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his services in Texas he was, thirty-eight years after they were rendered, recompensed in the sum of $tooo, in Texas bonds, by a special giant of the Legislature. He was mar- ried in 1839, at Thoy, New York, to Martha Whipple, who bore him three children; the eldest is now an extensive manufacturer in Cincinnati. Mr. Burton is a very well known and a highly esteemed citizen of Cincinnati. Ile has largely interested himself in extending the industrial and commercial relations of that city, and has liberally supported all public improvements. He is still in the possession of vigorous health.
EBORN, FREDERICK A., Lawyer, was born on the 31st of May, 1813, in Ulster county, New York. Before he had reached the age of seven years his parents removed to Zanesville, Ohio, and that place has been his home for most of the time since. Ile remained with his parents until he had reached his fifteenth year, and in the meantime took advantage of such opportunities for obtaining an edu- cation as were offered by the private schools of that period and of that locality. At the age of fifteen he left home and went out to serve an apprenticeship at the potter's trade. Ilis school days were over at that early age, but with the ending of his school days the end of his purpose to achieve an education was not reached. All his spare moments he devoted to private study. Hle studied hard and to excel- bold forehead and dark over arching eyebrows, give the
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