USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 53
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was under General Pope in the capture of New Madrid and Island Number Ten. After this he was for a brief period on the staff of that officer. In October, 1862, Noyes was commissioned Colonel and took command of his regiment, his superiors having left the service. Ile took an active part in the battles of Iuka and Corinth under General Rose- crans, and under General G. M. Dodge in the operations against Forrest and other rebel generals in the Tuscumbia valley. The regimeut was under Sherman in the famous Atlanta campaign. On the 4th of July, 1864, while most gallantly leading an assault upon the enemy's works at Ruffs' Mills, Nicojack Creek, Georgia, he was severely wounded, and suffered the amputation of a limb upon the field. Five weeks later he endured a second amputation at Cincinnati, which would have ended his career but for a vigorous constitution and a frame hardened by healthy labor and temperate habits. In October, while still on crutches, he reported for duty and was assigned to the command of Camp Dennison. While there he was, without solicitation on his part, elected City Solicitor for Cincinnati, when he resigned his commission in the army. By the recommenda- tion of General Sherman and others he had been brevetted Brigadier General, to take date from July 4th. In 1868 he was elected Probate Judge of Hamilton county, then a highly lucrative office. In the fall of 1871 he resumed the practice of the law in Cincinnati, and the next year received the nomination for Governor by the Republican party. Ile canvassed the State, and made a most brilliant campaign, and was elected by over 20,000 majority. IIe is a natural orator of a poetical temperament, overflowing with humor, gifted with the power of pathos, and with a clear, ringing, musical voice. . These qualities told with great effect during the canvass. Fourteen years previously he had come into the State a stranger, a young man without means; but he soon made hosts of friends by his sunshiny, happy disposi- tion, his kindly, courteous manners, and generous, enthusi- astic ardor in all good things, and now he had attained.the highest honor within the gift of the people of the great Com- monwealth. Two years later he was again nominated for the office by acclamation, but was defeated by Governor Allen in a majority of but a few hundred in a vote of nearly half a million. The administration of Governor Noyes was marked by generous treatment of his opponents and his speeches by the spirit of conciliation. Ile was among the first to advocate a general amnesty, while he at the same time demanded civil and political rights for the colored race. Ile was again a candidate for Governor in 1873, but was de- feated. Ile, however, received the unanimous vote of the Republicans in the Legislature for the United States Senate. On February 15th, 1863, he was married to Margaret Wil- son Proctor, of Kingston, New Hampshire. He is now en- gaged in the practice of law in Cincinnati, and, enjoying a high reputation as a lawyer and a man, commands a large and influential clientelage.
M. R. Maile
CHIEF JUSTICE WAITE
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OIL.INS, CHARLES 11., Lawyer, was born in | considerable reputation as a writer for the press. His con- Maysville, Mason county, Kentucky, April 15th, tributions both in prose and poetry have been varied and numerons, and he is a standard among his fellow-citizens in matters of literary criticism. 1834. He was the sixth child in a family of eight children whose parents were Richard Col- 6 lins and Mary A. (Armstrong) Collins. His father, a native of New Jersey, followed through life the profession of law, and alo for a time was engaged in mercantile pursuits. In iSor Richard Collins moved to Clermont county, Ohio, with his father's family, whence, in AITE, HION. MORRISON RENNICK, LL. D., Lawyer, and the present Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, was born, November 29th, 1816, at Lyme, Connecticut, and is a son of the late Henry Matson and Maria Waite; the former was a Judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut from 1834 to 1854, and from the latter year until 1857 he was Chief-Justice; he died, December 14th, 1869, in his eighty-third year. Morrison completed his education at Vale College, graduating there- from in the class of 1837, among whose members were Hon. Edwards Pierrepont and William M. Evarts. Imme- diately after leaving college he entered upon the, study of the law with his father, and remained there until October, 1838, when he removed to Maumee county, Ohio, continu- ing his studies in the office of Samuel M. Young, a promi- nent attorney of that section. He was admitted to the bar of Ohio in October, 1839; prior to which date, however, he had formed a business connection with his preceptor, under the firm-name of Young & Waite, which partnership lasted until 1852. Ile represented the Maumee district in the lower branch of the Legislature during the years 1849 and IS50, and after the expiration of his term, in the latter year, he removed to Toledo, where he has ever since re- sided. In 1858 he associated Richard Waite with him, under the name and style of M. R. & R. Waite, which firm continued until 1874. In the year 1862 he ran as an inde- pendent conservative Republican, in the Tenth Congres- sional District of Ohio, against James M. Ashley, the regular Republican nominee, and also against a regular Democratie opponent. The election, however, resulted in Ashley's being chosen by a plurality of 1127 votes over Waite, although in an actual minority of 4105. On each subsequent election Ashley lost ground through the active and repeated oratorical assaults of Judge Waite, who threw the whole weight of his influence against him until he was finally defeated. In November, 1871, Judge Waite was selected by President Grant as one of the thice counsel to represent the United States before the Tribunal of Arbitra- tion, at Geneva, Switzerland, his associates being Ilons. William M. Evarts and Caleb Cushing. In this position he acquitted himself admirably. He returned from this duty in November, 1872. During this same year his Alma Mater conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. During the following year he was elected a member of the Convention to Revise the Constitution of the after life, he removed to Hillsborough, Highland county, in the same State; subsequently he settled in Maysville, Kentucky, where, and also in the former place, he became well known as a successful and brilliant legal practitioner; he became also a general of militia, served in the Ohio Legislature through three terms, was a member of the Ken- tucky Legislature also through three terms, and was the first President of the Maysville & Lexington Railroad; his decease occurred at his old homestead, in Clermont county, Ohio, in 1855. C. 11. Collins' mother, a native of Mays- ville, Kentucky, was a daughter of John Armstrong, a prominent merchant and one of the pioneer settlers of that county ; she died in 1838. Ilis paternal grandfather, John Collins, was an early and widely esteemed settler of Cler- mont county, Ohio; his maternal grandfather died in 1851. His preliminary education was liberal, and received at the Maysville Academy, where he graduated in isso, at the youthful age of sixteen. After his graduation he became bookkeeper in the house of John W. Ellis & Co., dry-goods merchants, of Cincinnati, Ohio. At the expiration of one year, spent in this establishment, he began the reading of law, under the supervision of Thomas J. Gallagher, a prominent attorney of the Queen City. During the follow- ing four years he devoted himself sedulously to the study of his text-books, and in 1855, after passing the required examination, was admitted to the bar at Batavia, Ohio. In the course of the ensuing year he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Clermont County, and served in that office for a period of two years. In i$58 he moved to Missouri, settling in Lexington, where he was engaged in, professional labors until iSog. In Jannary of this year he returned to Ohio and established his office at Hillsborough, Highland county, where he has since resided, the fortunate possessor of a highly remunerative legal business and the respect and esteem of the bar and the general community. In 1866 he was the Democratic candidate for the position of Common Pleas Judge for Ilighland, Ross and Fayette counties. Politically, he is a supporter of Democratic principles and measures, while his religions convictions are embodied in the formula of the Methodist Church. His integrity of character is unassailable ; his social demeanor is pleasant and affable, and his literary and professional attainments are of a high order of merit. He was married in 1857 to Mary E. Tice, of Bethel, Clermont county, Ohio, a daughter of C. C. Tice, an early pioneer of that section of the State. C. 11. Collins, in addition to his high standing at the bar, has acquired | State of Ohio, and on its organization was elected President
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of that body. On January 19th, 1873, on motion of Caleb | left his father's home, and with full confidence in his own Cushing, he was admitted to practise as a counsellor at law in the Supreme Comt of the United States; and precisely one year thereafter he was nominated by President Grant as Chief Justice of that august tribunal, and having been con- firmed by the Senate he took the oath of office, March 4th, I874. Outside of his profession he is regarded as a close student, and consequently of considerable attainments, being especially versed in constitutional law. Ile was married, September 21st, 1840, to Amelia C. Warner.
URTIS, IIENRY BARNES, Capitalist and Attor- ney-at-Law, Mount Vernon, Ohio, was born near the village of Champlain, New York, on Novem- ber 28th, 1799. Ilis father, Zarah Curtis, son of Jothan Curtis, a captain in the Revolutionary war, was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, in the year 1762, and at an early age entered the Conti- nental army, under the command of his father, and also served as a warrant officer in Captain Webb's company, of Colonel Sheldon's regiment of dragoons, and remained in the service until the close of the war. His mother, for- merly Phalley Vale, was a descendant of the Vales and Ilosmers, among the oldest families of Connecticut, and who traced their ancestry beyond the reign of Henry VIII. Ilis elder brother, the IIon. ITosmer Curtis, died at Keokuk, Iowa, in 1874, at the age of eighty-five. Ilis younger brother, General Samuel R. Curtis, who com- manded at the battle of Pea Ridge in the late war, died at Council Bluffs, December, 1866, at the age of sixty-one years. Ilis parents first moved from Connecticut to Charlotte, Vermont, and afterwards to Champlain, settling on a farm on the waters of that lake, near the village of the same name. In 180), when Henry was in his tenth year, the family removed to Newark, Licking county, Ohio, oc- cupying two and a half months in the removal, and some years later to a small farm on the waters of South Fork, in the same county, where the family resided when Henry left home. Ilis father afterward, moved to a farm in Washing- ton township, same county, where he died in 1849, in his eighty-eighth year, respected and beloved by all who knew him. Newark was but a small hamlet when the family first settled there, and the opportunities of receiving an education were very limited ; but with that energy and in- domitable perseverance which have since characterized his pursuits in the struggles of life he applied himself diligently to his studies, and was thereby enabled to gain an educa- tion superior to that generally obtained by the youth of that period, and this was finther perfected by private tuition during the first year of his subsequent residence at Mount Vernon. While pursuing his studies he rendered all pos sible assistance to his father in his farm work. This was continued until he arrived at the age of seventeen, when he
abilities, which time proved to have been well founded, started on foot for Mount Vernon, where his elder brother resided, determined to fight the battle of life. Here he arrived on April 28th, 1817, and entered the town with but twenty-five cents in his pockets. With his brother's as- sistance he soon gained a situation in the office of the County Clerk of the Court, and by close application to the duties of his position soon secured the appointment of Deputy Clerk, and had also the work of the clerk chiefly to devolve upon him. Ilis official duties brought him in contact with all the prominent lawyers of that day in this part of the State, and by his readiness to please, and prompt and strict attention to and accuracy in business, won for himself their friendly esteem and confidence; and his youthful mind being fired with the glory and honor of the profession, he entered his brother's office a few years later, as a student, and applied himself diligently to the study of the law. On December 9th, 1822, he was ex- amined by Judges Peas and Hitchcock, of the Supreme Court, and, having passed with credit to himself, was ad- mitted as a practising lawyer. While yet a law student he was appointed to the responsible position of County Re- corder, which he retained for over seven years. This was of material aid to him, as it at once gave to him position, and after admission to the bar he soon acquired a large and lucrative practice, the proceeds of which enabled him to procure a fine law. library, of which he well knew the ad- vantages and from which it was necessary for him to derive all possible benefit, to be able to successfully cope with the lawyers of that day, and the result shows how well he ac- quitted himself. Ilis reputation soon gained him a practice extending over many counties of the State, besides the Supreme and United States Courts at Columbus. Ile was admitted to the United States Supreme Court at Washing- ton on January 9th, 1863, and after having served for one- half a century in his profession he formally retired from the practice of law in December, 1872. July 2d, 1823, he was married to his present wife, then Elizabeth Hogg, for- merly of Durham county, England, but at that time residing at Mount Pleasant, Jefferson county, Ohio. In politics, lic is a Republican of the Whig school, and was an active worker in the convention that organized the Republican party in Ohio. While always identified with the party, he has ever preserved his independence and avoided the char- acter of a partisan; preferring the reputation of a good private citizen and solid business man rather than that of the politician and office-seeker, the arena for which, though often solicited to enter, he always declined. In the session of the winter of 1840-41 he represented his county in the State Poard of Equalization, and for over twelve years, lately past, was a trustee of the Central Ohio Lunatic Asylum, acting for a greater portion of the time as Presi- dent of the Board, and. for the last six years the reports of that institution have been written by him. To him the
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credit is due for the selection of the beautiful site whereon [ elevated ground and is noted for its elegance and hospi- stands Kenyon College, towards the construction of which tality. He has, residing in the city, one son, Mr. Ileury Lambton. I'mitis, of the law firm of Devin & Curtis, and two daughter,, Mrs. J. G. Pliunion, and Mrs. J. C. Devin, wife of his son's partner. he gave all the material aid his circumstances would per- mit, in addition to his personal work. While a member of the Board of Trustees of that learned institution he intro- duced and, after some opposition, carried through the reso- lution recommending a survey of the surplus lands, whereby they were brought into the market and were made produc- tive of a large income to the college. In 1848 hie organ- ized and was appointed President of the Knox County Bank, of Mount Vernon, with a capital of $100,000. This establishment was a branch of the State Bank of Ohio, and he continued to hold the presidency during the entire term of its existence, a period of nearly twenty years. During its organization he was an active and influential member of the State Board of Control, which was created under the organic law of the State Bank of Ohio-a body noted for its talent and financial learning, and for the abilities and elo- quence displayed at its meetings, which were legislative in form and conducted with the strictest observance of Parlia- mentary laws in the proceedings. In 1865 Mr. Curtis organized the Knox County National Bank, of Mount Ver-, mon, one of the foremost institutions of the city, with a capital of $150,000, and was unanimously chosen President, a position he has continued to fill to the present time. During the late war he gave great aid and assistance, both pecuniarily and by personal effort, in organizing and equip- ping companies for the Union army, and in maintaining public sentiment in support of the war. Holding the office of United States Commissioner for the Northern District of the United States Courts, his judicial functions were often called into requisition in support of the same canse. In the spring of 1873 he was appointed by the President a member of the Board of Visitors at West Point, and rendered valu- able assistance in its work. He has ever been one of the foremost citizens in giving encouragement and substantial aid to all projects having in view the material advancement of his adopted city ; not only in helping to build railroads, to increase the business of the city, but especially in the cause of education and in making permanent improvements in the shape of private residences, warehouses and public buildings, all of which are noticeable not only for their solidity, but also for their elegance of design and architec- tural beauty, he himself having made architecture one of his many studies. After having spent three-quarters of a cen- tury in active life, the marks of which bear lightly upon him; and having won the well-earned confidence, esteem and friendship of his fellow-citizens, both poor and rich, he still continues to devote a large proportion of his time to
ORD, JOSEPII DANIEL, Prosecuting Attorney of Toledo, Ohio, was born, June 25th, 1841, in Iluron county, near Bellevue, in that State, being the youngest son of Daniel B. and Betsy II. Ford. His father, who was a native of New Ilampshire, where for many generations his an- cestors resided, was a farmer by occupation, and an early emigrant to Ohio. Mr. Ford received his education in the common schools of his native State and of New Hampshire, at the Normal School of Minnesota, at Winona, and at the Michigan University at Ann Arbor. Ilis instruction was broad and liberal, and his culture in literature and the sciences, as well as in those branches which are called into practice in every-day life, was thorough and comprehensive. Upon leaving school he entered the office of Messrs. Baker & Collins, attorneys, Toledo, as a law student, in the spring of 1865. Ile remained with them until 1867, when he was admitted to the bar, and immediately commenced practice, which has been most profitable and most honor- ably conducted ever since, with the exception of one year, when he travelled in the Northwest for the benefit of his health, during 1869. In January, 1871, he became Pros- ecuting Attorney for Lucas County, Ohio, and has ever since filled that high and responsible station. In that capacity, single-handed, he has conducted examinations and arguments, in the most important criminal trials, against the various members of one of the ablest bars of the State, em- bracing some of the most talented attorneys who have ever appeared before any bench in this country. In a great majority of the cases he has tried, he has secured convic- tions, against the most ingenious defences and against the most powerful array of counsel. Mr. Ford, in addition to his forensic and argumentative ability, is remarkably skilful as an examiner and as an analyzer of testimony. Ilis political affiliations are with the Republican party, of which he is an active and influential member. In 1867 he was elected City Solicitor of South Toledo, and was re-elected in IS70. In 1871 he was chosen Prosecuting Attorney, and so ably had he administered his duties, and so impar- tially, without fear or favor, that the people honored him with a re-election in 1873, and another in IS75. Ile is generally esteemed for his eminent talent as a lawyer and business, which is rendered necessary by his large wealth. For his faithful services, and it is quite probable that his Personally, he is a genial, social gentleman ; kind of heart very large constituency destine him for still more respon- sible public trusts. He was first married to Sarah E., eldest daughter of Lorenzo I .. Morehouse, of Waterville, Ohio, on June 12th, 1865. This lady did not long survive, having been in very delicate health prior to her marriage. He was and easy of approach from all; and surrounded by his numerous friends he is enjoying that case and comfort due him, after his valuable services, at his beautiful home, " Round Hill," near Mount Vernon, which is situated on
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again married, October 12th, 1870, to Grace Greenwood Moore, daughter of John A. Moore, a leading dry-goods merchant of Toledo.
ISE, MAJOR JAMES SHARON, of the firm of Parker, Wise & Co., Manager of the Memphis line of steamers, was born in Mercersburg, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, February 8th, 1830. While in his boyhood he moved with his parents-who are now living at Westwood, near Cincinnati-to Columbus, Ohio. Shortly after settlement there, necessity compelling him to rely upon his own exer- tions and resources for a livelihood, he obtained the posi- tion of Messenger in the Ohio State Senate. That position, secured through the influence of Hon. David Barnett, he filled for two years. James J. Faran, of the Cincinnati Inquirer, was then Speaker of the House. At a subsequent period, when fifteen years of age, he resolved to seek his fortune in Cincinnati, and after travelling on foot to this city, halted at the Old Mansion, or Hummel House, on the canal. There he met a friend in the proprietor, Mr. Kelsey, who induced Henry Valett to secure for him a place in his brother's hat store, where he was soon installed as an employe at two dollars and fifty cents per week and his board. While thus employed he obtained, through the in- fluence of an old friend of his family-Colonel Latham, cx-United States Senator from California-the agency for the Great Western Stage Company, which, in those days of stages, was an important position. The little old frame building, formerly standing near the Gibson House, was used as the office. This position he held for a period of five years, until Colonel Latham again interested himself in his behalf, and secured for him a place under General P. W. Strader, as General Railroad Ticket Agent, the duties of which office he performed for ten years. At the expira- tion of that time, having been offered favorable terms in the river service, he accepted one of the many offers placed at his disposal, and afterward filled various offices in the steamboat busme>> until the breaking out of the civil war. Ile then received a Lieutenant's commission in the 10th Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, from Governor Dennison. Sixty days after the receipt of his commission he was appointed by the same official Major of the 48th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. On the day that marching orders were given he was offered one third of the entire ownership in a steamboat, the offer being based on his desired resignation of his position in the army. After rejecting those proposals, he accompanied his regiment to the field, and was connected with the Army of the Tennes- see until the occurrence of the battle of Arkansas Post. There, on account of sickness, he offered his resignation, desiring to return home. Colonel Cockerill, father of John A. Cockerill, one of the editors of the Cincinnati Inquirer, was then his brigade commander. But his resignation was , his loyalty in friendship and his genial manners and dis.
not accepted, while, as a substitute, he was granted leave of absence by General Sherman. Thereupon he started for his home on the steamer " Continental," whose captain, John McClay, who bad noticed with concern his serious illness, exerted himself to the utmost to aid in re-establish- ing his health, and through his humane efforts probably saved him from death. After passing through a sickness of two months, and being discharged from his office in the army, and also receiving highly honorable mention from General Sherman, he began to look around again for a new place in the business world. Five months after the battle of Arkansas Post he found himself commander of the steamer " Eclipse," a position obtained through the friendly offices of James W. Gaff, Thomas Gaff, and William E. Gibson. In this new river venture he was very successful. Under him the " Eclipse " entered the Government service ; but within a brief period took fire and was shattered by explosion, at Johnstonville, on the Tennessee river. While he was in Washington, District of Columbia, attending to the settlement of the claims of the " Eclipse" with the Government, an effort was made by a host of his army friends and others to induce the Government to appoint him Postmaster of Cincinnati, Ohio. In that step, how- cver, success was not achieved, as, owing to divers reasons, he could not accept the position. At the present time he is a member of the firm of Parker, Wise & Co., and is Man- ager of the Memphis line of steamers, For the past four years he has occupied a place in the City Council, and re- cently was renominated by the Republican party for the same position, and was flatteringly endorsed by the Demo- crats of his ward without opposition. He ran on the Republican ticket in the fall of 1875 for County Treasurer, against a Democratic majority of 7000, and was elected by a majority of 1483, which may be taken as a sufficient indi- cation of the high estimation in which he is generally held. Ile has filled, also, several corporation offices, and is now First Vice- President of the Cincinnati Chamber of Com- merce, and a valued member of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee. Ilis private and also his public career has been made notable by various remarkable exhibitions of friendship on the part of strangers and friends. All with whom he has been brought into contact have apparently sought, often with zealous perseverance, to advance his aims and to further his interests. Through the influence of C. D. Millar, of the Cincinnati Commercial, and William l'orter, foreman of the same journal, two of his brothers, who had moved to the city in hopes of bettering their for- tunes, obtained desirable places in the printing department of the Commercial. One of these brothers, Captain Robert Wise, is now commander of the steamer " James D. Parker," and is one of the most popular and successful captains on the river. Warm-hearted and generous to a fault, he takes an admirably liberal view of the opinions and failings of bis fellow-beings, and is widely and affectionately esteemed for
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