USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 66
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due to the position and influence of Marvin Kent, Esq., the President of the road, who resides at that point. If any man ? ought to be gratified and benefited by the location of the shops, it is President Kent. He was not only the early friend of this road, but if we are correctly informed, he originated the idea of its construction. In carrying forward this great improvement to its completion he has toiled and - struggled for over twelve years, amidst doubt and discour- agement, amidst jeers and sneers and obloquy. others hesitated, he stood fast ; when the fainthearted turned aside, he persevered with unfaltering nerve and courage ; when timid friends forsook, he succeeded in raising up other friends and in attracting capital to this great work ; and thus with a patience, a courage, an assiduity, an unswerving fidelity to a single aim that reaches the point of real heroism, Ins he held on his way through twelve laborious years of fluctuations, vicissitudes, and uncertainties, neglecting or abandoning his private business, pledging or imperilling, or at least casting into the hazard of succes, his large private fortune for the benefit of his cherished enterprise. And yet he has labored all this time without general appreciation ; the select few, more intimately associated in official rela- tions with him, only knowing and appreciating his trials and his toils. But it is time the man to whom, more than to any other, the country is indebted for this great and lead- ing road should be understood and appreciated, for every man and every community benefited by the construction of this road owes to Marvin Kent a debt of gratitude. Ile is to be congratulued on the success which the intelligence, the ability, and the fixe I and resolute purpose which he has brought to bear on the enterprise, have accomplished. Who, under these circumstances, can grudge to Mr. Kent the location of the extensive machine shops in the place of his residence ? Who, more than he, and what community than the one favored by hi, residence among them, can be more entitled to the benefit ? " Upon the completion of this road, and the successful consummation of his project, Mr. Kent substantially retired from business to the enjoyment of private life. Upon the death of his father in 1865, he became his successor as President of the Kent National Bank, which ever since its organization has been in a pros- perous condition. At the election in October, 1875, he was chosen to represent the Twenty-sixth District of Ohio in the State Senate. Mr. Kent is a gentleman of varied experi- ence and of varied business qualifications, equally capable as an engineer or as financial manager to conduct a great public work. He has remarkable tenacity of purpose, and once resolved as to the value of an enterprise, no human obstacle can prevent him from carrying it out. It was this undaunted perseverance that carved success ont of most adverse circumstances, in the construction of the Atlantic & Great Western road. Ile is a man of liberal views and generous impulses, and has in a great variety of ways aided in advancing the material welfare of those among whom he lives.
AKNER, SIDNEY LARDERS, Banker and Mer- chant, was born April toth, 1829, in Suffield, Connecticut, and came with his parents to Ohio, locating at first in l'ortage county, whence they subsequently removed to Wellington, Lorain county. He received a common school education in different schools in northern Ohio, and also studied at an academy in Norwalk, and at Oberlin College. When While about twenty years of age he commenced operations as a farmer and stock-dealer; and by habits of economy and careful investments accumulated a large property. Ile is now engaged 'in banking and also cheese dealing. Ile is one of the firm of Hon, Warner & Co., of Wellington, cheese manufacturers and dealers, and is also a partner in the house of Braman, Hon & Warner, of Elyria, Ohio, cheese dealers. Ile is President of the First National Bank of Wellington, and a Director of the Savings Bank of Elyria. He was elected to the Legislature in 1861, and re-elected in 1863. In 1865 he was elected State Treasurer, and re-elected in both 1867 and 1869, being the only person in the State who ever held that office for three terms in succession under the present constitution. lle is connected with the Citizens' Mutual Relief Association of Wellington in the capacity of President. He is regarded by the entire community as a valued citizen, an eminent financier, and possessing qualities of a high order. He is pleasant and affable in his manners, and esteemed by every one. Ile was married in the autumn of IS51 to Margaret A. Bradner, of Huntingdon, Ohio,
IBSON, THOMAS, Plumber, was born in 1823, in Newland parish, Scotland, and came to the United States when but eight years of age. Ile first found employment in a bakery in New York city, where he worked a short time, and subsequently worked for two and a half years in a screw nail factory in the village of Ramapo, New York State. He then removed to the western country and passed five years on a farm in Missouri. When sixteen years old he arrived in Cincinnati, literally penniless. In that city he entered the plumbing establishment of his uncle, Peter Gibson, which the latter founded in 1832, and was the first industry of the kind at that period. Ile thoroughly mastered all the minutix of the trade, and has been ever since connected with the concern in some capacity, and extending over a period of thirty-seven years. In 1845 he was admitted as a partner, the firm being known as Peter & Thomas Gibson. Their house was then located on Walnut between Third and Fourth streets. In 1856 Peter Gibson retired from the firm, and was succeeded by his son, J. B. Gibson, now one of the proprietors of the Gibson House. The style of the house was changed to J. B. & T. Gibson, and the establishment was removed to the present site, Nos. 200 and 202 Vine Street, a building which they erected for their own purposes. In 1871 another
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change occurred by reason of the senior partner disposing of his interest in the business' to Calvin Zell and Robert Carlisle, when the firm name became Thomas Gibson & Co., and so remains. The house is also connected with a brass foundry, of which 1. Maxwell is the active partner. The establishment of Thomas Gibson & Co. is the oldest in Cin- cinnati of the kind, and when first founded, the proprietors were their own workmen. Now, a large number of hands is constantly employed to execute the many large order with which they are charged. The great increase in their business is largely owing to the high character of the pro- prietors and the mode of conducting their business. Not only do they attend to the higher class of work demanded in the city of Cincinnati, but their reputation has extended to other towns and cities and the surrounding country, from which they have secured an extensive patronage. They are thoroughly alive to all the improvements and inventions incident to their specied line of work, and many of the most celebrated foreign appliances are daily produced and used in their business. The present senior member of the firm, Thomas Gibson, has taken a great interest in all those public movements which tend to develop the welfare of the city, and he is one of the members of the Board of Managers for the Mechanics' Institute. He is also a constant laborer in his church, and is a gentleman who exemplifies his principles both in his business and daily life.
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NDREWS, ALANSON, JR., President of the Union Manufacturing Company of Toledo, was born June 4th, 1841, at Wales, Massachusetts, on which day also his mother died in giving him birth; his father died at Loudenville, Ohio, in IS50. When he was four years old he was placed with his grandparents, then residing at Ashland, Ohio, where he lived and where he attended school until his seventeenth year. He then evinced a strong desire for travel, trusting that he might find some opening whereby he could improve luis fortunes. Ile effected an engagement with a family westward bound as a teamster, and on their arrival in Mis- souri, which was their destination, he continued to act in that capacity in Howard county, for the space of one year. Hle afterwards removed to the southwestern part of the same State, in company with one Winonght, whose family con- sisted of his wife and a Root-Digger Indian, whom Winought had previously brought from California. Andrews took with him some cattle which he had received in lien of money, in return for his hard work. On arriving in Vernon county, he allowed his stock to be used in part payment for Winought's farm, and these two then labored diligently in fencing in the land, and in breaking ground for the crop, but it was the year when a terrible drought prevailed throughout Missouri, and all their labors proved a total failure, and Andrews became so discouraged that he left
that country. With but ten dollars in his pocket he com- inenced his journey. Ile succeeded in hiring himself to a man who was driving hogs to southern Illinois, in return for which service he and his pony were provided for. When he had reached their point of destination, he went to work husking cern, being paid therefor at fifty cents per day, but, not being as proficient as the older hands, was soon discharged. He then started for northern Illinois with his pony, but as his funds were exhausted, he was obliged to stop and try corn-husking again, being compen- sated therefor at the old rate. When again ready to resume his travels, his little friend, the pony, had died. With the money now due him, and which he received, he purchased a ticket on the Illinois river to take him to Geneseo, Illinois, where his brother and other relatives resided. After obtain- ing his ticket, he had but twenty-five cents remaining, and when at midnight he was to change cars, he was obliged to wait for the morning train to carry him to his destination, and this he did beside a heap of coals and hot ashes left there by the locomotive, and by means of which he gained a little warmth. Covered with cinders he arrived at Geneseo and presented himself to his relatives, who were among the first citizens of the place. He soon obtained work on a farm, where he continued until the breaking out of the civil war, when he enlisted as a private in Company HI, of the 59th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, the company then commanded by Captain John Simpson, who is now the General Super- intendent of the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad. After spending some time at Camp Morton, the troops were ordered to Pittsburgh Landing, in Tennessee. He was at Corinth, both at the capture of that place, and in the fight between Price and Vandorn, in their attempts to recapture that point. He also participated in the Yazoo Pass expedi- tion, down the Black river, and at the taking of Jackson, Mississippi. At the battle of Champion Hills, in the last- named State, he was wounded through both thighs, left on the field with the wounded, and so taken prisoner. In about six weeks thereafter, he was paroled and sent to Memphis. Ile was thence transferred to the Invalid Corps at St. Louis, where, at the Fourth street hospital, he was placed in charge of undertakers' orders and passes for the inmates and attend- ants. The first time he indulged in a walk outside, he happened to pass along the levee when he sighted a steamer which seemed familiar to him, as indeed it proved to be the one in which his company had previously been transported. He found on board an old companion in arms, one of the few of the command who still survived the vicissitudes of war. None but a soldier can understand or appreciate the feelings of both, as they clasped hands after so long an absence, and after parting on the battle-field. As the men were under guard at that time and not allowed the privileges of the city, he was not there long with his passes, before they succeeded in obtaining their liberty. On the following day, when the boat was leaving for Vicksburg, with his company to join their regiment (they having been detailed
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to proceed to St. Louis as guards over a large number of | drews," so named in honor of his wife. In January, 1875, prisoners) that day was the last of his services as a member he was elected President, and in the following April, Ticas- urer of the Union Mannfacuning Company of Toledo, Ohio, which positions be still occupies with honor to himself, to his business, and to his associates. Since his connection with the company, he has succeeded in materially advancing its already large business, and improving its trade in many ways. It is at the present time one of the largest establish- ments in America, and its products find a sale in every city of the Union. By his genial and affable manners he has won a host of friends, and those in his employ have a special regard for him: Brave as a soldier, inured to hardships of every deseription, he is one of the best representatives of the self-made men of America. Ile was married on Christmas day, 1868, to Abby L. Andrews, of Ashland, Ohio. of the Invalid Corps. On arriving at Vicksburg he was mide an instructor of a company of colored troop, destined for a regiment then forming. They succeeded in enlisting men, but where there was one recruit brought to camp by the men, they passed the remainder of the day in burying some of those already recruited. Owing to the various diseases, at that time prevailing in camp, it- was almost im- possible to keep up the numerical strength of the companies. When his regiment received marching orders, he accom- panied them. They embarked from Vicksburg for Mem. phis, and thence across the country to Chattanooga. Ile was in General Sherman's command, although not on ac- tive service, being still lame from his wound. Through carelessness on the first night of the attack on Mission Ridge, he was captured, taken to Belle Island, where he was detained during the entire winter. In the following spring he was removed to Andersonville, where he remained ULLER, JOIIN W., Merchant and Brevet Major- General United States Volunteers, was born July, 1827, in Cambridge, England, and came to the United States with his father's family in 1833 .. Ilis father, a Baptist clergyman, and a graduate of Bristol College, England, personally superin- tended the education of his son, and to him the latter is largely indebted for whatever success he has met with in life. Hle passed the years of his boyhood and earlier man- hood in Utica, New York, where he was widely known as one of the leading merchants of that place. In 1858 his establishment was destroyed by fire; and, in the autumn of the same year, he removed to Toledo. Previous to the out- break of the civil war he was engaged in the book pub- lishing business, and was extensively known as a leading man in that branch of trade. When the rebellion com- menced he left a prosperous business and a young family, to join the Union army. Having had a taste for military matters, he had for some years been studying tactics, and thus had prepared himself for the work he was about to undertake, and although he was comparatively a stranger in Ohio, he was, after a few weeks' service on the staff of General Hill, in West Virginia, appointed to the command of the 27th Ohio Infantry. He entered the field with his regiment in August, 1861, and served in the campaign of Missouri, joining General Fremont at Springfield about the first of November. In February, 1862, his regiment formed a part of the force under the command of Gen- eral Pope which drove the enemy out of New Madrid, and which, in April, crossed the Mississippi and captured Island Number Ten, together with several thousand pris- oners. He remained under General Pope until after the evacuation of Corinth by Beauregard. In July, 1862, he was placed in command of the Ohio Brigade, which soon became among the most famous in the Western army. This Inigade was composed of the 27th ( Fuller's), 39th { Governor Noyes), 43d (General Wager Swayne), and the 63d (Gen -. for six months, and subsequently taken to Charleston, South Carolina, where he was placed under the fire of the Union guns. His prison experience was by no means pleasant. As the shot passed over the heads of boys in blue they would greet it with a cheer; and, in fact, the only regret seemed to be that the shot did not come nearer. The Union prisoners were again removed to Florence, South Carolina, where they continued over fourteen months, and finally took passage on a government transport bound to Annapolis, Maryland, reaching there too late to take any further part in the suppression of the rebellion, which was nearly at an end. He was finally mustered out of the ser- vice at Indianapolis, Indiana; shortly after which he sue- ceeded in obtaining a situation on the railroad, first as fire- main, and then as brikesinan. After some time occupied in these duties, he relinquished the railway, and, having saved some money while a prisoner of war, he invested. the amount in a patent right ; but after a year's experience, he found all his me ins had been swallowed up, excepting the sum of sixty-five dollars, which he had previously sent home while in the field. He had been with his company paid off, somewhere to the south of Corinth, Mississippi, and being desirous of saving a hundred dollars, confided that amount to an express company, which charged him thirty- five dollars for this service! As an engagement was anticipated about that time, a large amount of money was sent North by different parties, and probably on the same extortion ite terms. After he had received the amount of sixty-five dollars, he started for Toledo, and after his arrival there engaged in the lumber forwarding business, assisted by P. M. Dinger of New York, and others, and by means of Philadelphia, Boston and Albany houses, established an extensive trade. He built at this city several vessels, one being the schooner " Benson," and sent her to sea ; she was the first vessel leaving the lakes, loaded with grain, bound direet to Europe. Ile also built the schooner "A. L. An-
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eral Sprague). At luka this brigade came to the fight | teaching school in the same county, and in that and Ross only to see its close, but at the battle of Corinth it played so conspicnous a part, that Colonel Fuller was specially mentioned by Generals Hanley and Rosecrans, and he was afterwards promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, for services at this battle. In December, 1862, his command fought Forrest at Parker's Cross Road, Tennessee, driving him across the Tennessee river, capturing seven pieces of artillery and three hundred and sixty prisoners. In March, 1564, he crossed the Tennessee river with his forces by night and captured Decatur, Alabama, at daylight, which place they strongly fortified. In the Atlanta campaign his brigade was conspicuous at Resaca, Dallas and at Kenesaw Mountain. Early in July he was assigned to the command of the 4th Division, 16th Army Corps. In the battle of Atlanta, on July 22d, his command bore an important part, and for his services in this battle he was subsequently made Major-General by brevet. He marched with Sherman to the sea, then from Savannah, Georgia, to Raleigh, North Carolina, where Johnston surrendered, and the war closed. After being honorably discharged from the service, he returned to Toledo, where he resumed the mercantile busi. ness, and is now one of the leading merchants of that city. Ile is the senior member of the firm of Fuller, Childs & Co., one of the largest boot and shoe houses in the Northwest. lle is also Collector of Customs for the Port and District of Toledo, having been appointed to that position by Presi- dent Grant. In politics he is a staunch Republican. Ile was married in 1853 to Anna B. Rathbun, of Utica, New York.
county found steady occupation as an educator, for a period of four years. In the final year of his experience as a teacher, he commenced the reading of law, under the super- vision of MeDowell and Collins, of Hillsborough, and in 1845 attended a course of lectures at the law school of Cincinnati, Ohio. On the 25th of December, 1845, he passed the required examination, and was admitted to the bar, lle then opened a law office in Hillsborough, and entered upon the practice of his profession, primarily, for one year, as a member of the law firm with which he had begun his studies, afterward alone until March, 1873, when he took imo partnership with him his present law panner, Henry M. Huggins, a promising young lawyer of Ilills- borough, under the firm-name of Matthews & Huggins. Since his entry into professional life he has resided perma- nently in Hillsborough, and there conducts the affairs of a very extensive clientage. For two years he officiated as Mayor of the town, and served three years as Probate Judge, his election dating from 1854. To the latter office he was re-elected in 1860, for a further period of three years. lle has always been more or less intimately identi- fed with the educational and public interests of his native county, and is, and has been, uniformly a valuable and zealous co-laborer in all measures and enterprises designed with a view toward developing fruitfully the more impor- tant resources of his State and county. His political views and sentiments harmonize with the formula of the Demo- cratie party, and he east his first Presidential vote in favor of Martin Van Buren, in 1840. For fifteen years he has been a Deacon in the Presbyterian Clurch, and in it is warmly esteemed for his moral and upright course of life. January Sth, 1846, he was married to Margaret J. McDowell, daughter of his old preceptor, Joseph J. McDowell.
6 ATTHEWS, HON. ALBERT G., Lawyer, ex- Judge, ex-Mayor, of Hillsborough, Highland county, Ohio, was born near the aforesaid town, March 31st, 1819. Hle was the sixth child in a family of twelve children, whose parents were John Matthews and Mary ( Hussey) Matthews, OHINSTON, G. W. C., Merchant and eleventh Mayor of Cincinnati, under the present constitution of Ohio, was born in that city, in 1829. Ilis an- cestry originally came from the north of Ireland, and settled in Cincinnati at an early date; in fact, they were among its pioneers. After having en- joyed the advantages afforded by the public schools of the day, he learned the trade of a house and sign painter, and then embarked in the business on his own account, con- timing to follow his trade until i850, when he became en- gaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1856 he changed the character of his business into a dealer of fire-wood, and subsequently added coal, and this avocation he has ever since followed, uninterrupted by official duties. He has always been attached to the principles of the Democratic party. At an early period he served it as a member of the Executive Committee, of which body he was several thues Ilis fither, a native of North Carolina, followed through life mainly agricultural pursuits; in June, 1505, he moved to Ohio, setiling in Highland county, where he resided mutil his demise, August 17th, 18.18. His name is prominent in the annals of the early growth and initial development of Highland county ; he was for fourteen years one of the Associate Judges of that county ; and for a number of years was also Justice of the Peace and County Commissioner. llis mother, a native of Tennessee, a daughter of Chris. Hus- sey, one of the adventurous pioneers of Greene county, Ohio, died April 224, 1866. Until he had attained his majority, his days were passed alternately in laboring on his father's farm during the summer season, and in attending school through the winter months. Ile also passed one term in literary study at Hillsborough Academy, in Highland county, Ohio. In December, 18.10, his store of scholarly attainments having assumed fair dimensions, he engaged in | Chairman. In 1859 he was elected a member of the City
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Council from what is now known as the Eighth Ward. In [ time. In 1833 he purchased the Ohio Eagle, at Lancaster, 1861 he was chosen member of the School Board, and served for four years, While in the Board he was nomi mitted as the Democratic candidate for City Auditor, but failed to be elected, the entire ticket being defeated. In IS71 he was elected, by a City Council which was politi- cally opposed to him, a member of the Board of Health. The following year he was chosen to the responsible position, by a vote of the people, of trustee of the Water- works for the term of three years; and while in that office, in April, 1873, was selected as the Democratic candidate for Mayor of Cincinnati. Ile was returned by a majority of upwards of sixteen hundred over an able and popular competitor, who had previously been mayor. No Democrat had filled that office for the period of ten years. In 1872 he was the chairman of the Hamilton county delegation to the Democratic State Convention at Cleveland, which selected the delegates to the National Presidential Conven- tion and the Presidential electors, In 1875, his term as mayor expiring, he was unanimously nominated by the Democracy for re-election. This was the first time in twenty year, that the party had nominated a candidate for re-election. It was rutified by the unusually large majority of 6397 votes over a most worthy competitor, this majority being nearly fourfold as great as he had previously re- ceived. While he has been thus active in political life, he has been a very industrious business man, taking much in- terest in everything of a commercial character that is de- signed to forward the interests of Cincinnati.
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