USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 59
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one child, a daughter. In October, 1851, he married Har- riet J. Ilay, a sister of his first wife, who has borne him five children. Only three of his six children now survive,
ILL, CHARLES WESLEY, Lawyer and Brig- adier-General United States Volunteers, was born, July 7th, 1813, at Starksboro, Addison county, Vermont, of New England parentage and of Eng- lish descent. At the age of four years his parents removed to Ashtabula county, Ohio, and there he passed his youth, himself his own schoolmaster, for he is entirely self-educated. When fifteen years old he com- menced learning the saddler's trade, and when he had ac- quired a thorough knowledge of the craft, commenced on his own account the saddlery business in Erie, Pennsylvania. Subsequently he removed to Elyria, Ohio, where he taught school for one winter, and again changed his residence to Toledo, where, in 1836, he obtained a situation as clerk in a dry-goods house. Ilis leisure hours were devoted to reading law, every moment that he could spare, during the three years that he held this position, being employed in self-culture. Such perseverance was rewarded by his being admitted to practise at the bar in June, 1839, and since that date he has been constantly engaged in the courts, except during his military career. Ile is regarded as one of the leading counsellors and barristers in his section, and enjoys a large share of patronage. Shortly after the outbreak of the late civil war, he was commissioned, June, 1861, by Gov- ernor Dennison, Brigadier-General of the Ohio Volunteer Militia, and took command of a brigade in West Virginia, guarding the different lines of railroads in that State, and connecting General McClellan's command with his base of supplies. While engaged on this service he rendered most valuable aid to the Union cause. In August, 1861, he re- turned to Columbus, and was placed in command of Camp Chase, where he continued until the following December. While filling that position he drilled, manoeuvred and pre- pared for service some of the most effective and gallant regi- ments that were ever called to the field. Among these may be named the 20th, the 31st, the 40th, the 42d-General Garfield's-the 43d-General W. Swayne's regiment-and the 58th, a German regiment. All these different bodies of men were infantry. One cavalry regiment, the Ist Ohio, was also drilled by him and prepared for service. . In 1862 he was made Adjutant-General of Ohio, which position he resigned in December, 1863. Ile was subsequently ap- pointed Colonel of the 120th Infantry, which was shortly afterwards mustered into the United States service at John- son's Island, Sandusky Bay, where they guarded the pris- oners of war, over three thousand in number, this being the largest military prison in the North. In addition to this post he was placed in command of the frontier extending from Buffalo, New York, to Detroit in Michigan, a coast
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line of over three hundred miles, and regarded as one of the [ postmaster in the country. Ile was eminently a man of most important military departments. In political faith he peaceful habits, and during all his long life never spoke an angry word, nor had he an enemy. He was twice married ; his first wife was Charity Messenger, and his second was named Anna G. Moore. Ile died at his home in Amherst, March 26th, 1867, universally regretted. was an old-line Whig until the dissolution of that party, when he espoused the Republican cause. He has filled the offices of City Clerk and City Solicitor, has been for several years a member of the City Councils, and was at one time Mayor of Toledo to fill a vacancy. Ile has also been Col- lector of the Customs for the Port and District of Toledo. For twenty-seven years he has been a member of the Board of Education in Toledo, and for sixteen years President of that body. lle is also a trustee of the Toledo University of Arts and Trades. Ile was married, October Ist, 1843, to Elizabeth Charlotte Titus, of New York city.
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ARRIS, IION. JOSIAII, one of the pioneers of the Western Reserve, was born, November 30th, 1783, in Becket, Berkshire county, Massachusetts. His father was one of the captors of General Prescott, and Albert Harris, of Cleveland, has in his possession a silver enp taken from the table in the lower room of the house where the general and his friend, had been drinking wine. Josiah was educated in the district schools, and he likewise improved every oppor- tunity in the acquisition of knowledge. He thus became a most thorough and successful teacher himself, and for a number of winters was so employed while a resident of his native State. In 1814 he journeyed to Ohio, travelling en- tirely on foot, and passing through the burned village of Buffalo, New York, while it was yet smoklering from the British torch. Having reached his destination he located a farm, and returned to Massachusetts. The following year saw him again on his way to Ohio, journeying again on foot, his present trip being to select farms for his friends and neighbors. When the several tracts of land had been chosen and seenred, he again returned home, where he remained umil isis, when he removed with his family to Ohio, and located himself in the forest on the site of the present flour. ishing village of Amherst. Ile reached his journey's end on July 3d of that year, and on the following day was joined by two neighbors, who lived at four miles distance from his farm, who duly celebrated the birthday of the na- tion, although they were unprovided with any of the noisy paraphernalia which now seems to be concomitant to that day. Ile was elected Justice of the Peace in 1821, and served in that capacity for thirty-six years, when he resigned the office. lle was the first Sheriff of Lorain county, and served for two terms. In 1827 he was elected a member of the legislature from Cuyahoga county, and was subsequently nominated and elected Senator from the Lorain and Medina districts. He was appointed Judge in 1829. Ile was also Postmaster of the village for over forty years, being appointed thereto by Return J. Meigs, Postmaster-General of the United States, and at the time of his death was the eldest I in 1863.
OLLINS, WILLIAM ALFRED, Farmer, Soldier, Lawyer and Jurist, was born, June 16th, 1821, at Caledonia, Livingston county, New York. His father was a native of Connecticut, a descendant of some of the early settlers of Boston, and of those who were banished from the colony of Massachusetts on account of their religious belief, being Antinomians and adhering to the party of Anne Hutchinson. At that period these people retired to Providence, which had already been selected as the refuge of others, whose tenets were not in accordance with the stern and unbending creed of the Puritan fathers. His mother was a native of New York, of English and Huguenot ancestry. Ile grew up towards manhood on a farm in Livingston county, where he labored during the temperate months of the year, while the inclement winter months were devoted to school and the academy. Ile continued there until he attained the age of eighteen years, when he entered Yale College, from which institution he graduated in 1843. Soon after leaving his Alma Mater he commenced teaching, which he only pur- sued for a few months, and then entered the office of Orlando Hastings & Martin S. Newton, at Rochester, New York, with whom he studied law until his admission to the bar about the close of 1846. From that date until 1855 he practised his profession in Livingston county. In 1856 he removed to Toledo, Ohio, where he continued his legal practice. At the outbreak of the civil war he went to West Virginia with the Ohio three months volunteers as a staff- officer under General Charles W. Hill, and after these troops were mustered out of the service he was engaged for a few months, in a similar capacity, assisting in the organization of some of the Ohio volunteer regiments at Camp Chase. Ile then returned home, where he resumed his professional duties. In 1869 he was elected a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the Fourth District of Ohio, which posi- tion he filled until 1875, when he left the bench and again assumed the role of a counsellor at law, in which he con- tinues, and is also a member of the Board of Education of Toledo. During all these years, whenever the opportunity offered, he has been likewise engaged in agricultural pur- suits. In political faith he was in his carlier years a Whig, with which party he was affiliated until it ceased to exist. Since its dissolution he has steadily adhered to the doctrines and tenets of the Republicans. Ile was married at Toledo
I. A. Colline
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ary 21st, 1805. Ilis father, the Hon. George Tod, a native of Connecticut, had settled in the Western Reserve five years previously. The year of his arrival he was appointed by Governor St. Clair to act as Secretary of the the Territory. Two years later, when Ohio became a State, he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court. He held the office of Judge until the breaking out of the war of 1812, when he resigned the office and entered the army with the rank. Ile served with credit during the struggle, and was promoted to a colonelcy early in his military career. Shortly after its close he was elected a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, his circuit embracing the whole northern part of Ohio. lle remained upon the bench until 1329, after which he resumed the practice of the law, which he con- tinued until his death, in 1841, at the age of sixty-seven. Ilis public and private character were blameless. At this time his son, David, was practising law, having been ad- mitted to the bar in 1827. Ile had met with great success in his profession at Warren, where he had opened an office immediately after his admission, and where he resided for fifteen years. lle had tasted of all the rough experiences of the young country lawyer, being very poor when he began to practise, and having no other pecuniary aid than that which his profession brought him. He had now gained a wide reputation as a criminal lawyer, and was rapidly becoming one of the most popular members of the Ohio bar. In early life he had imbibed a strong love for politics, and Andrew Jackson was his model in all that constituted statesmanship. llis first vote was for the success of the Democratic party. In 1838 he became a member of the State Senate as a Democrat. In the mem- orable Presidential campaign of 1840 he went upon the stump for Van Buren and the Democratic ticket. Though his candidate was unsuccessful, he left the field with a fine record as a speaker, and became more popular than ever with his party. In 1844 he was unanimously nominated for Governor by the Democracy, and was defeated by only a thousand votes, while Henry Clay's ( Whig) majority over James K. Polk, in the following month, was about six thousand. Soon after his defeat he retired to his well. known farm at Brier Hill, where he followed agriculture for the next three years. In 1847 President Polk, un- solicited, appointed him United States Minister to Brazil, where he remained until the summer of 1852, rendering effective service to his country, especially in the matter of treaties and the settlement of claims. On his return he entered heartily into the Presidential campaign of that year, which ended in the success of his party candidate, Franklin Pierce. He was also prominent in the last suc- cessful campaign of his party, in 1856. In the exciting political events of 1860 he was conspicuous as a member of the Charleston Convention and a strong Douglas man,
OD, HON. DAVID, Governor of Ohio, was born ' and was chosen first Vice- President; and at Baltimore, upon at Youngstown, Mahoning county, Ohio, Febru- the withdrawal of nearly the entire Southern delegation, followed by the President of the convention, Hon. Caleb Cushing, of Massachusetts, he filled the vacated chair. Up to the tine of the firing on Fort Sumter he was warmly interested in the amicable adjustment of the dificulties that were distracting the country and promoting sectional hatred and strife with military arms. At once his patriotic indignation was aroused, and he cast aside all that per- tained to party politics and gave his voice and money to the work of raising troops to save the Union from disrup- tion. From his private purse he uniformed a company from his native town-Company B, 19th Regiment-and contributed one thousand dollars to the township fund for military expenses. In 1861 he again received the nomina- tion for Governor. The war-Democrats and the entire Republican party cast their suffrages for him, and he was triumphantly elected, his majority ranging between fifty and sixty thousand votes. He took his seat in January, 1862, and from that time until the close of his administra- tion was popular with all classes. The war fever was at its height when he entered upon his duties, but his predeces- sor, Ilon. William Dennison, had already done much to place the State on a war footing, and was ever ready to give him counsel and support. llis position as an iron manufacturer and President of the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad gave him status as a man of business ability, and the details of his office were carefully looked after. Ile prudently retained the staff of his predecessor, and those who were appointed to office were from the ranks of the patriots, without regard to party. No one questioned his honest and sturdy patriotism, and he brought to every de- partment of his office a wise discretion and sound judgment that secured the confidence of the people. Ohio troops, although they had been active in keeping armed invaders out of the loyal portions of the border States, and especially in saving West Virginia from the grip of the foe, had as yet suffered but little loss in battle. The battle of Pittsburgh Landing came with its terrible slaughter. Ohio, Indiana and Illinois suffered severely. Governor Tod at once took measures to have all wounded and sick Ohioans cared for. Steamboats were chartered to convey surgeons, nurses and supplies to their relief. A complete system of relief was afterwards organized, and put in force wherever occasion demanded it. Ile was particularly active in securing the State from armed invasion. It was during his administra- tion that Clement I .. Vallandigham achieved a certain notoriety by his persistent efforts to array the anti-war- Democrats in open hostility to the government, and who was afterwards arrested and sent into exile for treasonable utterances. It was at one time supposed that the Emanci- pation Proclamation would chill the ardor of Ohio's Execu- tive, as he had been an active Democrat all his life; but he made no allusion to it in his message of that year, but it Iwas full of suggestions for prosecuting the war, criticised
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the conduet of the rebellious States and recommended the passage of an act to enable the soldiers in the field to vote at State and Presidential elections. The absence of so many war- Democrats and Republicans had emboldened the leaders of the anti-war clement, and they had been almost snecessful in controlling the State. The authorities at Washington found an active supporter in Governor Tod during his entire term of office. Ile visited that city for advice and counsel, and to make suggestions, and was on a very friendly footing with the martyr President, who, on Chase's retirement, offered him the Secretaryship of the Treasury ; it was declined. During his administration many great battles were fought, and upon him devolved the task of keeping up the quota of the State in the field. Ile was faithful to every trust, prudent in management and a man of the people. Ile belonged to the noble band of war Democrats who may really be said to have held the balance of power in the dark days of the war; who stood by the President they had not helped to make, and who never wavercd in their allegiance to him and the government he was sworn to protect. In the peaceful pursuits of business he was a very active man, as a railroad promoter, iron manufacturer, etc. Ile was identified with the building of the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad, and he energetically pushed the development of the vast coal fields of the Mahoning valley. After the elose of his administration he devoted himself entirely to business. Ile died at his farm, known as Brier Hill, in Mahoning county, Ohio, November 13th, 1868.
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AVLESS, FRANKLIN D., Lawyer, was born in Adams county, Ohio, February 2d, 1839. Ilis preliminary education was acquired at West Union, in the same State. During 1858-59 he was engaged in teaching school, but in 1860-61 returned to his books and student life. In the winter of 1861-62 he reassumed for a brief period the role of educator, and also, in the course of the latter year, com- menced the study of law under the supervision of Major J. W. MeFerren (of the 7oth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry). In the following July he enlisted as a private in the gist Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. July 20th, 1864, at Stevenson's Depot, near Winchester, Virginia, he was severely wounded (gun-shot) in and through both thighs. Ile was subsequently unfitted for active service, through the effects of this casualty, until he was mustered out, in June, 1865. Ile had, however, in the preceding January returned to his company, at Martinsburg, Virginia. Ile never applied for pension, and deems it the reverse of creditable to all save the very poor to make application for recompense in such a form. Upon the completion of his studies in law with J. K. Billings, of Adams county, Ohio, he was admitted to the bar, April 234, 1866, at Portsmouth, Ohio. In this year he was the Democratic nominee and
candidate for the General Assembly, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the decease of Colonel Phillips. Owing to the strength of the Republican party, then in power in the county, he was defeated by twenty votes. In 1869 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Adams County, and was re-elected in 1871. In 1873 he was the Democratic can- didate for the Legislature, and owed his defeat to local strife connected with the removal of the county-seat. Since then he has been constantly and successfully engaged in professional labors, and is widely and favorably known for his able conduct particularly of criminal eases. Ile assisted in the prosecution of Frank Ilardy, for the murder of J. M. Rice, his stepfather. This criminal, found guilty of murder in the first degree, received from the governor a commuta- tion of his sentenee, and was eondemned to imprisonment for life. Ile assisted also in the prosecution of J. W. Ilar- per, for the murder of Luther Collier, when a verdict of murder in the second degree was awarded. Ilc assisted also in the defence of James II. Dangherty and John Warden, for the murder of Morris Edgington. He was married, November 22d, 1869, to Ilelen M. Young, daughter of James F. Young, of Youngsville, Ohio.
TEEL, REV. SAMUEL, D. D., was born near Londonderry, Ireland, May 29th, 1796. He re- ceived his classical education in that country, and came to America in 1816. Ile first entered his brother's wholesale store in Philadelphia, where he remained until he united with the church. Having determined to study for the ministry, he entered the Theological Seminary at l'rinceton, New Jer- sey, in June, 1822. After remaining there about two years he was offered the position of tutor in the family of James Caldwell, who was then proprietor of the White Sulphur Springs, in Virginia. This he aceepted, and while there preached to an adjacent church called Anthony's Creek. In April, 1824, he was licensed to preach by the Lexington Presbytery, at Mosy Creck. He taught for a year, and then acted as a missionary in Rockingham county. In the fall of 1824 he returned to Princeton, and completed his studies in the following year. In April, 1825, he received a call to preach at Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Ile visited the place, but concluded not to accept the eall. As he was returning he was invited to preach at Winchester. This led to his settlement in Kentucky. During the following year he preached to the congregations at Winchester and Richmond, and at the close of this period at Winchester and Hopewell. In the spring of 1828 he received an in- vitation to visit Hillsborough, Ohio. This, however, did not result in his immediate settlement in this place. Ile remained in Kentucky, giving up in the latter part of 1829 his charge at Winchester, and adding Horeb to Hopewell. In the spring of 1833, while at the General Assembly in
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Philadelphia, he was induced to accept an agency of the | without the vitality necessary to combat acute disease. IIe Presbyterian Board of Education, at the suggestion of Dr. died of yellow fever, at Santiago de Cuba, July 6th, 1869, whither he had been sent three months previous, as Consul, under appointment of President Grant. On a foreign shore, away from his kindred, without a familiar voice to soothe lus dying moments, one of Ohno's bravest soldiers and most honorable citizens passed to rest. John Breckinridge. In this position he remained until May, 1834, when he accepted a call to the Presbyterian Church of Hillsborough, Ohio. Here he remained until the time of his death, which occurred November 22d, 1869. Hle was twice married, his first wife being the adopted daughter of his brother, John Steel. Iler name was Ann Jane Russell. Ilis second wife was E. A., daughter of Rev. Robert Stuart, D. D., of Walnut Hill, near Lexington, Kentucky. Dr. Steel left three children, two sons and a daughter.
TEDMAN, GENERAL WILLIAM, was born in Granville, Ohio, November 26th, 1815. ITis father was one of Ohio's early settlers, and helped to found the town of Granville, which is the namesake of his birthplace, in Massachu- setts. When William had reached the age of twelve his father died. At the age of eighteen he entered the preparatory department of Hudson College, and thence went to Athens College for a regular course, but was com- pelled to relinquish his purpose on account of ill health. In the spring of 1837 he married Elizabeth Elmore, of Randolph, and began the life of a farmer. Ile was also interested, at the same time, in mercantile and manufac- turing pursuits. His political convictions were very de- cided, and as soon as he was old enough to shape his course he warmly embraced the anti-slavery sentiment of the times and espoused the cause of universal freedom. As soon as the Republican party was formed he became an active and influential member of that organization in the State of Ohio. In 1859 he was elected to the State Legislature. The opening of the rebellion found him in active sympathy with Lincoln's administration, and soon after a captain in the 7th Ohio Infantry (three months' ser- vice). Returning from that campaign with a creditable record, at the request of Governor Dennison, he began the recruiting of men for the 6th Ohio Cavalry. Having com- pleted his duties in this direction, he was commissioned Major of the regiment. Two years later, in August, 1863, he was promoted to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy, and early in 1864 was made Colonel. Ile was one of the best cavalry officers in the service, and possessed the full confidence of his superiors and subordinates. In his campaigns he was accompanied by his three sons as members of his regiment, all of whom returned in safety, though impaired health fell to the lot of two of them. Ile participated in many severe engagements, and in innumerable skirmishes and brushes with the enemy, incident to cavalry service. In October, 1864, his three years' term of service having expired, he re- turned home in not the best of health. He was returned to the Legislature in 1865, and to the State Senate in 1868. Ilis military service had debilitated his system, and left him
COTT, WILLIAM II., Real Estate Dealer, was born in Columbia, South Carolina, on September 3d, 1825. While he was yet a child he removed with his parents to Connecticut, and eventually to Toledo, Ohio. He enjoyed the advantages of a good common school education, and the higher and better advantage-beyond that afforded by any school- of careful home instruction and training, by a father whose knowledge was rich and varied, and whose ability to impart it to his sons was exceptional. Ilis general education, moreover, was supplemented by a two years' study of the general principles of law, without, however, any purpose of entering the legal profession. For a few years after reaching his majority he remained in Toledo, assisting his father in the management of an extensive real estate busi- ness, and contributing from time to time to the columns of the Toledo Blade, of which paper his father, Joseph W. Scott, was then the editor and part proprietor. In 1849 he removed to Adrian, Michigan, where he remained until 1865, engaged for the most part in agricultural and horti- cultural pursuits, of which he was exceedingly fond, but at the same time continuing the management of his real estate interests in Toledo. While there he, together with a few of the other leading citizens of Adrian, became interested in the institution of the college which the Wesleyans of the Northwest proposed to locate there, if the people of Adrian would co-operate sufficiently. The project was a success- ful one. The site was provided, three large college build- ings were erected and nearly all the cost of the enterprise, about $100,000, was borne by the citizens of Adrian. Mr. Scott continued to be one of the most active members of the Board of Trustees of Adrian College, as well as of the Board of Education and of the City Common Schools in Adrian until 1865, when his real estate interests in Toledo had grown to such proportions as to require his personal presence and attention. While in Adrian, besides his de- votion to the cause of education, he was active in promoting and fostering agricultural and horticultural interests, and was President of the Adrian Horticultural Society, which became a permanent institution, with a large and valuable library. On again becoming a citizen of Toledo he fully identified himself with the city which has been the source of all his material prosperity, and interested himself actively in its various public institutions. Ile is now Vice- President of the Board of Trustees of the Toledo University of Arts
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