USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 58
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Edwin Mr. Stanton
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Ile then pursued a course of legal studies, and, upon its | parations for the active campaign of 1862 he pressed vigo- completion, became a member of the Ohio bar, and later a resident of Pennsylvania. Prior to the administration of Buchanan he seemed, by the able exercise of talents natural and acquired, a wide and honorable reputation as a scholarly, enterprising and energetic citizen and practitioner; in 1860, under the above-mentioned administration, he was appointed Attorney General of the United States. At the outbreak of the Rebellion be advised the Government to institute with- out delay prompt and decided measures; when consulted by Buchanan before the meeting of Congress, he advised him to incorporate into his message the doctrine that the Federal Government had the power, and that it was its duty to coerce seceding States. It was well for the country that, at this momentous period, he held the Attorney-Gene- ralship, for a true and fearless patriot was greatly needed in the Government at that time, After taking the oath of office, he said to a friend : " I have taken the oath to sup. port the Constitution of my country ; that oath I intend to keep both in letter and in spirit." Ably did he keep his pledge amid the ensuing treasons and perils that environed the Union ; unveiling treacherons officials, he blasted them with his stern rebukes; in the Cabinet he constantly and earnestly advocated swift and decisive action, denouncing the unwise temporising spirit manifested by several high officers fearing to commit themselves too openly ; was often closeted in council with General Scott; advised ably the members of the Peace Congress; and leaguing himself with the Republicans in Congress, kept them well informed concerning the councils of the administration, The mem- orable resolution introduced into the House by Mr. Dawes, regarding Toucey, Secretary of the Navy, was inspired by E. M. Stanton, who believed that he was guilty of treason in endeavoring to subvert the Government. During this time he was constantly surrounded by agents anxious to frustrate his loyal purposes, and, on one occasion, while conversing with Sumner, led him away from the office, not daring to speak candidly while watched by the vigilant emissaries of secession. When Floyd, enraged by the loyal conduct of Colonel Anderson at Forts Moultrie and Sum- ter, entered the Cabinet, and charged his associates with
. violating their pledges to the Southern people, it was E. M.
Stanton that rose and with fierce loyalty abashed him. In 1862, under the administration of Lincoln, he was, notwith- standing the opposition of Montgomery Blair, appointed Secretary of War. Immediately he occupied himself in a thorough examination of the Government forces ; met the Military Committee of the Senate in their room at the Capitol, and laid before them the result of his prompt and exhaustive labor and researches. More than one hundred and fifty regiments, many only partially complete, were dis- persed throughout the country ; these bodies he proposed to bring together and consolidate; and, after explaining to the committee his reasons for acting in this manner, was strengthened by their commendation and support. The pre-
rously, and, very often through the entire night, was occupied in attending to the military and civil exigencies of the State; sending important telegraph communication to all parts of the Union, and proffering needed and shrewd counsel to the varions officials with whom he was brought into contact. Throughout the entire war he devoted him- self to the cause of the Union with an earnestness and un- selfishness ouly equalled by his masterly ability, untiring energy, never-failing resource, undaunted courage and grand confidence in the triumph of right. When Lincoln ex- pressed to several members of the Cabinet his intention, should Grant secure a victory at Richmond, to permit that officer to negotiate terms of peace with the Confederate Generals, he steadfastly opposed such a measure, declaring bluntly that no one had the right to attend to such matters but the President ; from this resulted the order to Grant in- structing him to hold no conferences with Lee except on questions of a purely military nature, Subsequent to the surrender of Richmond, Lincoln was about to permit the assembling of the rebel Legislature of Virginia by General Weitzel; Stanton, however, apprehending peril, opposed it earnestly, and the permission was recalled. When the Legislature of Indiana was dissolved, in 1863, and no ap- propriations were made to assist the State Government or the Union forces, Governor Morton looked anxiously to the Secretary of War for sorely needed succor. Upon his own responsibility, the latter drew his warrant upon the Treasury for $250,000, to be paid from an unexpended appropriation made formerly for raising troops in States in insurrection. " If the canse fails," said Morton, "you and I will be covered with prosecutions, and probably imprisoned, or driven from the country." " If," replied Stanton, " the cause fails, I do not wish to live." Finally, the quarter million of dollars was accounted for by Indiana in its ulti- mate settlement with the general Government. When the news of Lee's surrender was received at Washington he tendered his resignation to Lincoln, saying that now that the great work was ended he would abandon his laborious position. The President, however, induced him to recall his determination, and he consented to remain in the War Office until the disbandment of the army. He was a cordial supporter of the Christian and Sanitary Commissions, and assisted materially the management of the Freedmen's Bureau in its commendable endeavors to ameliorate the condition of the newly-emancipated raee. December 20th, 1869, after his retirement from office, he was nominated by I'resident Grant, and confirmed by the Senate, an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States; but he was not to enjoy long the honor attached to that office, dying suddenly, December 24th, 1869. Prior to this event, a testimonial fund of $100,000, to repair the losses occasioned by his devotion to the interests of his country, was refused by him in the firmest manner, and with peremptory curt- ness. Subsequently, the same amount was contributed for
33
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the support of his family. His name appears to several pub- lientions, He prepared the Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio, in Bine, December Term, 1841, December Term, 18.4.1, Columbus, 1843-45, 3 vols. (vols. xi, xii, xiii, Ohio Ke- ports) ; also Reports as Secretary of War, 1862-68.
ARMON, JOHN B., M. D., was born, October 19th, 1780, at Rupert, Bennington county, Ver- mont, and was a son of the Hon. Reuben Harmon, who had been a member of the Vermont Legisla- ture, and one of a few responsible men of the State to whom was granted the privilege of issuing copper coins for currency on their individual security during the early days of independence, and before the general govern- ment assumed the regulation of such matters. In 1797 he went to Ohio and purchased five hundred acres of land in what was known as the " Salt Spring Tract," Wethersfield township, Trumbull county, on which he erected a cabin. In February, 1800, he returned to Vermont, and in early summer started with his family to the new location, al- though he was compelled to stop on the way for two months, in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on account of Indian disturbances. His son John, then in his twen. tieth year, had received the benefit of the carly New Eng- land schools, and had studied medicine with his brother-in- law, Dr. Blackmer, of Rupert, Vermont, with a view of practising as soon as his father found it expedient to take his family to the West. He assisted his father in the manufac- ture of salt, and in clearing the homestead ; and, after prac- tising a short time in Warren, returned to Vermont, in 1805 or 1806, to prepare himself for a broader field of usefulness by completing his studies with Dr. Blackmer, who was emi- nent in his profession. His father died in ISO6, and he soon returned to Warren, where he entered with energy upon a professional career, which extended over half a cen- tury, and which was marked by more than usual success in practice as well as by the confidence and respect of his pro- fessional brethren. His physical and mental temperaments bore a striking resemblance to the best Scotch types. He was tall, spare, nervous, and enduring, with great strength of muscle and suppleness of limb. Ilis mind was singularly acute, cool and reasonable ; his personal presence command- ing and dignified. An eminent public man said of him : " Ile always impressed me as being the equal of any man I ever met." Ile was decided in his convictions, and although not strongly controversial in his manner, he was fluent and convincing in speech. Though close in his business rela- tions, he was, nevertheless, a man of practical charity, and so serupulous to his convictions of professional duty, that he always responded to the call of the poor, where pay was not to be expected promptly, as to the rich. He had a pecu- liarly skilful hand in the use of the surgeon's knife, and at | his home was the frequent resort of clergymen of all denom.
an early day successfully performed the high and very criti- cal operation of removing a cancerous tumor from the liver of a female patient. He was Surgeon of the zd Ohio Regiment in the war of 1812, and was present at the battle of Fort Mackinac. In the early pioneer days, his ride ex- tended over a vast and sparsely settled tract of territory, where the roads were without bridges and for the most part consisted of nothing but blazed bridle paths through the primeval forest. He was a fine marksman and a great lover of horses. In those days it was the custom for hunters to snspend the carcasses of their heavy game from a sapling, and go forth and bring home the meat whenever it suited their convenience. The doctor was perfectly familiar with all the deer-licks, and in after years pointed out to his son a spot where, during one winter, he had had twenty deer strung up in the woods at one and the same time. In one of his hunts he climbed a tall tree, put a enb on his back and descended. Hle had left his gun at the foot, guarded by his dog, which kept the she-bear-roused by the cry of the cub-from ascending by snapping at her back. Reaching the ground he cocked his gun and backed off, the bear circling round him. Persistently teased by the sagacious dog, the bear at last bounded into the thicket and left her cnb to become the pet of the intrepid sportsman. His faith- ful servant and companion in those early days was a famous horse called " Buck," whose name deserves to be rescued from oblivion and embalmed with the history of his master. Hle was descended from a line of racers, while his spirit and intelligence almost reached the point of human reason. Hle knew all the roads and bridle-paths, and often traversed them while his master slept in the saddle, wearied ont with riding and watching. They often passed the night together in the woods, and on one occasion-a winter's night-the doctor was called in a case of great urgency at a distance of twenty miles from home, and the falling snow caused them to lose the path in the woods. The master took refuge for the night in the hollow of a fallen tree, and " Buck," who was hitched close by, being attacked by wolves, de- fended himself with his heels until the cowardly pack gave up the battle and seampered off. He was a good swimmer, as it became a horse to be in those days of no bridges, but on reaching the Mahoning one very cold night, after having been on a long journey, and the doctor was drowsing in the saddle, the animal, rather than enter the freezing stream, mounted a hewn log, fourteen inches wide, which had been placed across the stream for a foot-bridge, and went over in perfect safety, although he woke his master, and gave him a start, as he stepped down on the other side. It may be in- teresting to note the fact that the doctor was for many years the champion checker-player of the United States, and was frequently visited, when the game was more in vogue than at present, by gentlemen from all the cities of the Union. Hle acquired a considerable property, and enjoyed a happy old age. Although his religious views were not orthodox,
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inations, who always found his latch-string out, and a hos- | rare fidelity to his responsible and important trust, and by pitable welcome to his table. He was married, February his energetie and able administration of affairs has elicited encomiums from those even who were opposed to his ap- pointment. In the conduct of the onerous and perplexing duties devolving upon him, his executive talents mark him as a thoroughly capable instrument, while the lustre of his past record cannot but be heightened by his unvarying atti- tude as a reliable and an upright officer. 6th, 1822, to Sarah, daughter of Judge Daniel Dana, of Enfield, Connecticut, and was the Guther of six children, five sous and one daughter, the youngest son dying in in- fancy, and the third son, Captain Charles R. Hannon, was killed at the battle of Stone River, during the war of the rebellion. Dr. Harmon died February 7th, 1858. Ilis wife was a member of the Presbyterian 'Church, and a woman of intelligence and remarkable resolution of charac- ter. She died November 6th, 1868, and, like her husband, is still affectionately remembered by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.
MIILE, GUSTAV ROBERT, Postmaster of Cin- cinnati, was born at Rittergut, Niederburkan, Kingdom of Saxony, November 12th, 1836. ITis father, Gustav Adolph Wahle, was a wealthy landholder of Sixony. Ile was educated in his native country, and graduated at the Real Schule (High School) of Dresden in 1851. Ile was then appren. tieed to learn the farming business at the Rittergut Gruene- berg, where he remained until 1853, when he was trans- ferred to Rittergut Lindig. Ilis father's demise having oc- curred at Dresden in June, IS49, in 1854 he came with his mother and four sisters to the United States. They landed safely in New York city, and thence proceeded to the West, settling finally in Cincinnati, Ohio. Shortly after his arrival there he entered the office of Das Cincinnati Vollesblatt, then under the editorial management of the late Stephen Molitor, a man of notable ability. At the expiration of a few months he became clerk for Ferdinand Bodmann, a prominent tobicco dealer of the city, with whom he re- mained until 1856. Ile then filled a clerk ship, and after- wards was employed as Local Reporter in Der Cincinnati Republicaner office, under Hiller & Becht. In 1858 he en- tered the office of Joseph A. Hermann, proprietor of the Cin- cinnati Volksfreund, and there remained until 1860, when he returned to the Cincinnati Volksblatt. In February, 1864, he was appointed Clerk in the Hamilton County Probate Court under Hon. Edward Woodruff, and in July of the same year was appointed Collector of Water Rents for the city. That position was retained by him until he was de- posed by the accession to power of the Democratic party, July Ist, 1873. Ile was then nominated as the Republican candidate for Treasurer of Hamilton county, September 3d. In the ensuing struggle in which the adverse parties engaged, however, he, with the rest of his ticket, encountered defeat. After leaving the Collector's office, he was connected with the Fidelity Fire Insurance Company of Cincinnati. Janu- ary 9th, 1874, after a bitter and protracted contest, he was appointed by President Grant to his present position. On the following February Ist he entered upon the discharge of his duties. While acting as Postmaster he has shown a | for the practice of law, and afterward, until 1843, was as-
cDOWELL, GENERAL JOSEPHI J., Lawyer, ex- Member of Congress, Agriculturist, was born in Burke county, North Carolina, November 13th, ISoo. Ile was the youngest child in a family of eight children, whose parents were Joseph MeDowell and Margaret ( Moffett) McDowell. His father, a native of Virginia, moved with his father's family at an early day to North Carolina, and followed through life mainly agricultural pursuits; he was an active participant as Major in the patriot army in the stirring events of the revolutionary days, served as a member of Congress during the administration of Adams and part Jefferson, and was General of the olden time militia of the State of North Carolina. Ile was a member of the State Convention that adopted the Constitution of the United States. He died in Burke county, North Carolina, in 1801 or thereabout. Ilis mother, a native of Augusta county, Virginia, was a daughter of Colonel George Moffett, an officer also of the revolutionary army. She died in Woodford county, near Versailles, Kentucky, in 1815. Ilis days of boyhood were spent alternately in attendance at private schools during the winter months, and in laboring on a farm in the summer seasons. In 1805 he moved to Kentucky with his mother and her family, and there remained until 1817, the date of his return to Augusta county, Virginia. Ile subsequently turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, in which he was continuously occupied until 1824, when he moved to Ohio and settled in Highland county on a rented farm, situated about seven miles north of Hillsborough. At the expiration of one year he relinquished this farm, and took temporary possession of another rented one, situated about four miles east of Hillsborough, whence, after the passage of another year, he again removed to a neighboring pur- chased farm, where he resided until 1829. In this year he disposed of his farm property by sale, and settled in Hills- borough, there engaging in business as a dry-goods mer- chant until 1835. When a young man he had for a time applied his attention to the study of law, while residing in Virginia, and during the leisure hours of later years con- tinued to devote a portion of his attention to legal matters and text books; accordingly, in 1835, after passing the re- quired examination, he was admitted to the bar, In 1836 he connected himself in partnership with Colonel Collins
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siduously engaged in professional labors. In 1832 he had | river expedition was then in course of organization. At the been elected a member of the House of Representatives of Ohio, and in 1833 of the Ohio Senate, serving in all in the Assembly three years. In 1843 he was elected to Congress and was re-elected at the expiration of his initial term, serv- ing in all four years as a member of that honorable body. While a member of Congress he advocated strongly the an- nexation of Texas, favored a better settlement with Great Britain of the Oregon Boundary Question, and sustained the bold prosecution of the war with Mexico. In 1847 he re- turned to his home, and was there occupied constantly in superintending the conduct of his farm, and in attending to the calls of professional life until 1860. Since then he has restricted his legal practice to a very limited sphere, and given his. attention mainly to agricultural pursuits. His rank of Major-General of the Ohio militia was conferred mpon him in 1834, while he was serving as a member of the State Legislature. His political creed is composed of the cardinal principles which guide the policy of the Democratic party, and his first vote cast at a Presidential election was in favor of Andrew Jackson. His views on theological points and religion are very liberal, and are not circumscribed by the doctrines of any particular church, Energetic, patriotic and public-spirited in the best sense of the term, he has been for many years past one of the leading spirits of his section, and is to-day one of the influential and honored citizens in Highland county, and the environing country. He was married, April 23d, 1822, to Sarah A. McCue, daughter of Rev. John McCue, an estimable Presbyterian clergyman of Augusta county, Virginia.
ALCUTT, GENERAL CHIARLES C., Collector of Internal Revenue for the Seventh District of Ohio, was born in Columbus, Ohio, February 12th, 1838. Ile is the son of John M. Waleutt and Muriel ( Broderick ) Walcutt, who were among the pioneer settlers of Columbus, where the former
carried on the business of chair making. His carly educa- tion was acquired in the public schools of his native city, and at the Kentucky Military Institute, from which institu- tion he graduated in the class of 1858. Returning to Co- lumbus, he was elected Surveyor for Franklin county in 1859, and held that position until the breaking out of the rebellion, when he relinquished it in order to offer his ser- vices to the government. Hastily raising a military com. pany in the State capital, he entered the service of the United States, April 16th, 1861, with the commission of Captain. In June of the same year he was promoted to the rank of Major, and served on the staff of General Hill until Angust, when he was appointed Major of the 46th Regiment of Ohio Volunteers. In January, 1862, he was appointed to a Lieu- tenant.Colonelcy, and, with his regiment, joined the army of Sherman at Paducah, Kentucky, where the Tennessee
memorable battle of Shiloh, he received a severe wound in the shoulder from a musket ball which has never been ex- tracted. October roth, 1852, he was made Colonel of his regiment, and participated in the Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi, campaigns. At the battle of Missionary Ridge he was assigned to the command of the 2d Brigade of the Ist Division, 15th Corps, and behaved with such intrepid gallantry in holding the key-point of the field against ie- peated charges by superior numbers, that he was recom- mended for promotion in General Sherman's report. From Chattanooga he moved to the defence of Knoxville, still in command of the brigade, and led the assaulting party of the army of the Tennessee at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain. After the battle of July 22d, in which the brave MePherson fell, he was raised to the full rank of Brigadier-General. He participated in all the engagements of the Atlanta cam- paign, and after the destruction of the city, fought the only battle-that of Griswoldsville-which occurred during the famous march to the sea. In this engagement, isolated from the main body of the army, and with his command reduced to thirteen hundred men, he sustained an attack by a body of Confederate troops over seven thousand strong under General Coombs. Hle not only bore up against that over- whelming force but finally routed it with such complete suc- cess that the number of the enemy left dead and wounded on the field exceeded that of the whole force with which he had entered the engagement. For the notable gallantry dis- played on this field he was brevetted Major-General, and again distinguished by a very laudatory notice in the report of General Sherman. Ile had then received, however, a severe shell-wound in the leg, which disabled him for several months, and he was unable to resume his command until the army entered North Carolina, when he was assigned to the command of the Ist Division of the 14th Army Corps, and a few months later passed with the victorious troops in grand review before the President at Washington. Ile then took his command to Louisville, where it was mustered out in August, 1865. Hle personally, however, served in the Western Department until January, 1866, at which date he was mustered out, and accepted the Wardenship of the Ohio Penitentiary. While in this position he accepted also the appointment of a Lieutenant-Coloneley in the United States regular cavalry service, and reported to General Hancock, at St. Louis. But three months later, finding that no im- perative duty called him to the life of a soldier in time of peace, he handed in his resignation, and returned to the pursuits of civil life, resuming his position as Warden in the penitentiary. That office was held by him for three years, and he was the first man under whose management the institution returned a revenue to the State treasury. In ISGg he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the Seventh District of Ohio, and still holds that position. He has always taken a zealous interest in public affairs, and in the cause of education in Columbus. At the present
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time he officiates as President of the City School Board. In 1868 he was Presidential Elector for his district, and voted for General Grant. In 1872 he was Chairman of the State Republican Executive Committee, and conducted the attendant campaign in Ohio,
EFF, BENJAMIN, Physician and Member of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of Ohio, was born on March 16th, 1821, in Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania, his parents being David and Leah ( Kauffman) Neff. His education until he had reached the age of sixteen years was obtained in the common schools of his native place. When he was sixteen years old his parents removed to Clark county, Ohio, and he accompanied them thither. They settled in New Carlyle, and in the academy of that place he completed his education, so far as the schools were con- cerned. After leaving school he commenced teaching, and for the next two years he taught school steadily. At the end of his two years of teaching, he began the study of medicine, having some time previously decided upon enter- ing the medical profession. It was to enable him to do this that he had devoted himself temporarily to teaching. Ile studied assiduously until he had passed through the prepara- tory course of reading, when he entered Jefferson Medical College. Ilere he studied harder than ever, and with such effect that he took and maintained a high position in his class. Ile graduated from the institution in 1848, and im- mediately after receiving his diploma commenced practice as a physician in New Carlyle. IIe speedily attained suc- cess in his profession, and was soon in possession of a large practice. Several years ago he took measures to meet a very appreciably felt want in the community where he lived -the want of a first-class drug-store. He established such an one, and added the business of druggist to his thriving practice as a physician. As a citizen he was held in as high esteem in the community as in his professional capacity, and this esteem was practically manifested by choosing him Mayor of the place, a position which he filled with honor to himself and to the satisfaction of the citizens. For twelve years, also, he held the office of Treasurer for the village and the township. In the year 1871 he was elected, on the Republican ticket, to a sent in the House of Representatives of the Sixtieth General Assembly of Ohio, and was re-elected a member of the House in 1873. He was made Chairman of the Committee on Medical Colleges and a member of the Committee on Universities and Colleges. Ilis course in the Legislature has been an honorable and dignified one, marked by good ability, rigid integrity and fine capacity for the details of legislative business. Ile has been twice mar- ried. His first wife was Elizabeth L. Hay, of Clark county, whom he married in May, 1848. She died in 1819, leaving
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