USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 71
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75
40
314
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
name of his late subordinate, and tried to discover the au- thorship of the slanders. He was out of command for some months, and devoted himself to looking after the Cincinnati and Dudley Observatories, which were still under his direc- torship. On the 12th of September, 1862, he was assigned to a new department. He was given command of the De- partment of South Carolina, and he went to work in his new field with all the vigor that had characterized him in the past. ITis coming inspired the troops, and his prelimi- nary movements were attended with success. He was ever on the offensive, feeling the enemy's strength by sudden raids into his territory. But in a little over a month after his arrival he was stricken down with yellow fever. IIe lingered four days, and died, October 30th, 1862. His death was the greatest loss the government had so far sustained in individual military ability. Without ever having taken active part in any of the great battles, he was one of the most successful generals of the war.
YTLE, GENERAL WILLIAM HAINES, was born in Cincinnati, November 20, 1826. Ile came of a military family, his great-grandfather having held a commission in the French war of 1779, and his grandfather, General William I.ytle, having served with bravery and ability in the Indian wars of his time. His father, General Robert Lytle, a prominent and influential politician in Ohio, at one time represented the Cincinnati district in Congress, and held the office of Surveyor-General under President Jackson. The son, William II., was graduated, at the age of sixteen, at the old Cincinnati College, and although, in keeping with the military spirit of his family, he would have preferred to go to West Point, he was induced to select the law as a profession. When war with Mexico was declared, he immediately entered the service, and was elected a Captain in the 2d Ohio Infantry. After the close of this conflict, in which he had gained distinction, he re- sumed the practice of the law, and was shortly after elected to the State Legislature. In 1857 he was commissioned Major-General of the Southern District of the Ohio Militia, a position previously held by his father and grandfather. With the opening of the rebellion he was among the first to offer his services, and with great promptness and efficiency organized Camp Harrison, the first properly organized drill- ground in the West. Having accepted the Colonelcy of the 10th Ohio Infantry, he left the above camp, June 24th, 1861, and joined the army under Rosecrans in West Vir- ginia. During this campaign, with his regiment he sur- prised the rebel advance at Carnifex Ferry, drove them from their position, and, though he suddenly came upon a well intrenched and much larger force than his own, he made a fierce charge, and would have carried the works, had he not been unsaddled by a shot that wounded him and
killed his horse, the latter galloping within the enemy's lines, where he fell dead. Before he had recovered from his wound he was placed in charge of a camp of instruction at Bardstown, Kentucky. Remaining here three months, he then joined General O. M. Mitchel, and commanded the 17th Brigade in his remarkable campaign in northern Ala- bama. At the battle of Perrysville he was again wounded, and fell so close to their lines that he was captured and carried off in their retreat of the next day. He was kindly cared for, and upon reaching Harrodsburg was paroled. Being promoted- for his gallantry, he was assigned to the command of the Ist Brigade, Sheridan's Division, Army of the Cumberland. This brigade had been formerly com- manded by General Sill, who fell at Murfreesboro'. Being urged about this time to become a candidate for Governor of Ohio, he declined, having entered the army from a sense of duty, and desiring to remain until the close of the war. The 10th Ohio, his old regiment, ever held him in loving regard, and a few weeks before the battle in which he met his death they presented him with a Maltese cross of gold, studded with precious stones. The presentation was made in a pleasant spot, where he was surrounded by his present and old command, and a large number of ladies and officers of rank. Hle accepted the tribute in a graceful speech of thanks. On the 2d of September, 1863, he was ordered to break camp and begin the march which led to the fatal field of Chickamauga. After three weeks of incessant marching, his command reached Lee and Gordon's Mills. Before his troops had time to rest, he was ordered to move on the double-quick to the relief of General Thomas, on the left of the line of battle. But before this could be accomplished, he was furiously attacked by the enemy, and subjected to a murderous fire which compelled him to place his command in the order of battle. The brave General prepared for the worst, and although wounded already, charged the enemy and fell, pierced by three bullets, at the head of his brigade. One of his aides caught him in his arms; and two orderlies were killed, and an officer wounded, while trying to remove the dying soldier. Mutely appealing to those about him to fall back and save themselves, be placed his sword in the hands of an orderly and waved him to the rear, thus ex- pressing a last wish that it should not be captured by the foe. Lying in a little knoll, at the foot of a tree, in the midst of carnage, death came to one of the bravest and most daring generals of the late war. As he had written years before :
"On some lone spot, where, far from home and friends, The way-worn pilgrim on the turf reclining, His life, and much of grief, together ends."
Though his body fell into the hands of the enemy, it was treated with the respect due his rank, and temporarily buried near Crawfish Springs. Friend and foe alike mourned his loss, for he was well known and kindly regarded by large numbers of rebels. When the remains were removed to his home, high honors were paid them along the entire route.
ยท
315
2
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
They were met at Chattanooga by his old command, who ja despatch came from the War Department announcing his keenly felt his loss, and whose ceremonies were very im- promotion to a Brigadier Generalship of Volunteers. The promotion was dearly earned, and his loss was deeply felt in the important stage of the conflict in which he fell. George D. Prentice was a warm friend of the gallant sol- dier, and his esteem met with a hearty reciprocation. In a graceful tribute to his memory, and in the face of a painful and peculiar circumstance, this paragraph occurs : posing. At Cincinnati the body lay in state for a day, and was visited by large crowds of sympathizing citizens, anx- ious to view the features of the dead hero. Houses were draped in mourning, bells tolled, and flags were at half- mast. The burial took place at Spring Grove Cemetery, where the remains were placed among those of his kindred, and in ground honored by the reception of many of the illustrious dead from other battle fields. Before the out- break of the war, poetry was to him a pleasant occupation and a source of much delight. The poem, "Antony and Cleopatra," beginning with " I am dying, Egypt, dying," was from his pen. There was much of the poet, at least the ideal poet, in his appearance. A well-proportioned head covered with long, silken brown hair, a complexion so fair as to be almost effeminate, a flowing beard, a high intellectual brow, lit up with expressive eyes, finely curved nostrils, and the whole effect toned down by an unaffected modesty-he was a man to be distinguished among men.
eCOOK, GENERAL DANIEL, was born in Carrollton, Carroll county, Ohio, July 22d, 1834. Ile was a younger brother of General Robert L. McCook, murdered by guerillas. Ile loved books, especially poetical works. Among his chief attri- butes was a warm affection for his mother. Un- like his brother Robert, he was delicate and nervous from childhood. He was graduated from a college in Florence, Alabama, in 1857. Studying law for a year, he was admitted to practice, and settled in Leavenworth, Kansas, becom- ing a member of the firm of Ewings, Sherman & McCook -the two former, sons of Hon. Thomas Ewing, and the third a name that was to become celebrated in the military annals of the war. Ilere he was married in December, ISGo, to Julia Tibbs, of Platte county, Missouri. At the time of the firing on Sumter he was Captain of a militi, company, the Shields Grays. With them he entered the service. "A general's star or a soldier's grave," said he ; and he was destined for both. In November, 1861, he was appointed Adjutant-General on the staff of his brother Alex- ander. In this capacity he served for nearly a year, taking part in the battle of Pittsburgh Landing, and in the campaign against Chattanooga. In the spring of 1862 he was re- quested to undertake the recruiting of an Ohio regiment by Governor Tod-the 52d. Ile accomplished this task in time to answer the call for troops to repel . the invasion of Kirby Smith. Ile was afterwards made commander of a brigade, and was engaged with it in the campaign from Perryville to Kenesaw Mountain, in the storming of which he met his death. " If Harker and Daniel MeCook had lived," said Sherman, " I believe I should have carried the position." While the dew of death was settling upon him,
In one of the battles or skirmishes south of Murfrees- boro' D.miel MeCook shot my son, Colonel Clarence J. Prentice, inflicting a very severe and even dangerous wound. A short time afterward, and while my son was still confined to his bed, I met my friend Dan at a hotel in Nashville. Ile knew that I knew it was he who had wounded my son. . Ile advanced to me, but not with his accustomed alacrity, apprehensive, as he afterward told me, that I might not wish to speak to him. But when I heartily grasped his hand he gave utterance to all the joyousness of his nature. Ile told me that he had always liked me and admired me, and that he should thenceforth like and admire me more than ever. And he was kind enough to say, I am sure in all sincerity, that if he had recognized my son in the fight, he should have fired his pistol in some other direction. My impression of Daniel MeCook is, that he was one of the noblest, bravest, and most generous spirits that I ever knew. I know not where he sleeps, but I should love to lay a flower upon his grave.
Ile was buried with the honors due a soldier, in Spring Grove Cemetery, near Cincinnati, beside his father and two brothers, who had already met death at the hands of the enemies of their country. The first member of this noted family who fell in battle was Charles Morris McCook, a private in the 2d Ohio Volunteers. Ile was killed in the first battle of Bull Run, July 21st, 1861.
5 ISHOP, LEONARD W., M. D., was born in Cheviot Green township, Hamilton county, Ohio, July 25th, 1823, and was the seventh child in a family of ten children, whose parents were Preston Bishop and Anna ( Whittaker) Bishop. His father, a native of Cumberland county, New Jersey, fol- lowed through life, before coming to the West, the vocation of sea-captain ; he moved to Ohio in 1820, or thereabout, and settled primarily at Cheviot, in a short time after moved to Cincinnati, from whence, about the year 1830, he removed to Goshen, Clermont county, Ohio, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1859, the date of his demise. Ilis mother, also a native of Cumberland county, New Jer- sey, died in 1859. Ilis ancestors were active and promi- nent participants in the revolutionary war. Until he had attained his nineteenth year, his days were passed mainly in hard labor on the paternal farm ; while his education, limited in both degree and kind, was acquired in an irregu- lar attendance during winter months at an ordinary country school. In 1843 he became a student in a select school, under the supervision of Rev. L. G. Gaines, with whom he
--
316
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
continued his studies for about two years. Ile then at- [ mutual consent. Ile had been a member of the City tended Miami University, and for four years was engaged Council before his retirement from business, and was sub- sequently elected Magistrate, which position he held until elected Mayor for two years, in 1853. During his ter occurred the memorable " Bedini riot," which developed the iron nerve and firm executive ability which he possessed in its suppression. The " Know Nothing movement " was also inaugurated during his occupancy of the office, but during these times of turmoil and political excitement he presided over the destinies of the Queen City with rare dignity and executive ability. After the expiration of his official term he engaged in the practice of the law, which he continued up to the time of his death. He died, April 19th, 1867, mourned by a large circle of relatives and friends. Ilis first wife having died in 1837, he was mar- ried in 1839 to Mary Hooper, of Cincinnati, Ohio. alternately in studying and in teaching. During his ex- perience as an educator he devoted a portion of his time also to the reading of medicine. In the winter of 1847-48 he attended a course of lectures at the Ohio Medical Col- lege, and in the spring of the latter year settled in Mount Carmel, Clermont county, Ohio, where he practised during the succeeding twenty months. At the outbreak of the cholera soourge in Anderson township, Hamilton county, Ohio, in July, 1849, he left Mount Carmel and located his office at Mount Washington, where he was constantly oc- cupied for four years in successful professional labors. Ile then attended a second course of lectures at the Ohio Medi- cal College, and in 1852 graduated with honor from that institution. Subsequently, until 1867, he practised medi- cine in Mount Washington, and in this year returned to Mount Carmel, where he remained until 1872. Ile then removed to Batavia, where he has since permanently re- sided, engaged in the practice of medicine. Politically, he is a liberal yet conservative voter, and has been twice a candidate for the Legislature in Hamilton county. During the war of the rebellion he was a member of Dr. Comegy's medical staff, and administered efficiently to the needs of the sick and wounded after the battle of Pittsburgh Land- ing. Ile was also, in 1873, Examining Surgeon for the government, in Batavia, Ohio. Religionsly, he is a Pres- byterian, and for many years has been an eller in his church. Through life he has been remarkable for integrity of character, and untiring energy and industry in the prac- tice of his profession. Ile was married in 1851 to Orrosina Ilawkins, of Hamilton county, Ohio, who died in August, 1814; and again, August 31st, 1865, to Louisa Williams, of Clermont county, Ohio.
NEI.BAKER, HION. DAVID T., late Mayor of Cincinnati, was born in Philadelphia, August 29th, 1804. His family were among the oldlest settlers of Pennsylvania, his grandfather having been born in Philadelphia in 1721, and his father, Philip Snelbaker, in the same city in 1764, and resided there until his death, in ISo7. The edu- cational advantages of our subject were extremely limited, but by dint of elose application and extensive reading he became a man of liberal culture and possessed of a large fund of practical knowledge. Ile learned the cooper's trade in his native city, and was there married in 1827 to Elizabeth Duey. In 1833 he removed to Cincinnati, where he formed a copartnership with Alexander Dalzell, under the firm-name of Snelbaker & Dalzell, and engaged in the coopering business. This firm continued in snecess- ful operation, being at that time the largest establishment
NELBAKER, THOMAS EDWARD, Superin- tendent of Police of Cincinnati, was born in that eity, September 26th, 1844. Ile is the son of Ilon. David T. Snelbaker, whose sketch pre- cedes. Ile was educated in the schools of his native city, including the Hughes and Woodward High Schools. Though only in his seventeenth year he left school in June, 1861, to enter the army, and served with the Army of Virginia for two years. At the expiration of that time he returned to Cincinnati, where he was appointed Cashier in the Internal Revenue Office of the First District of Ohio, in 1863. Ile held this position until 1867, having during that period received and accounted for some $20,000,000. Ile was then appointed Chief Deputy for the Third District of Ohio, where he served until 1869, when he resigned and went South. Ile returned to Cincinnati in 1870, and was appointed Assistant City Clerk, which position he held until he was appointed Assistant City Auditor, in April, 1872. In June, 1873, he was elected Seeretary of the Water Works Board, and continued to hold that office until Feb -- rmary 26th, 1875, when he was appointed Superintendent of Police, which position he still holds. He was married in November, 1867, to Elizabeth C. Rook, of Cincinnati. Such is the record of a man whose efficient discharge of his duty as an official has won for him the approbation of his associates and given him a continuous career of public trust.
EIS, JULIUS, Merchant and President of the Board of Allermen of Cincinnati, was born at Billigheim, on the Nacker, Dukedom of Baden, Germany, January 6th, 1841. Hle is a son of Manassas Reis and Sarah ( Westheimer) Reis, and was educated in the High School ( Real of its kind in the city, until 1846, when it was dissolved by | Schule) at Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany. Upon relin-
317
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
quishing school life he entered a large grocery house in field, Washington and Cambridge, Ohio; Sonora and Frankfort, and remained there until 1857. He then emi- grated to the United States, and took charge of the books for the firm of S. Rothschild & Brother, at Columbus, Ohio. At the expiration of his engagement with that house he removed to Cincinnati, where, in 1861, he formed a co- partnership with his brother, Samuel Reis, and engaged in the grocery business. In 1865 another brother, Abraham Reis, was admitted into the firm of Reis Brothers & Co., which is now conducting, on a very extensive seale, the business of importing the products of foreign countries, while the value and importance of its trade is probably not excelled in the country. Ile neither sought nor held any public office until 1874, when he was elected a member of the Board of Aldermen of Cincinnati. In 1873 he was chosen to fill the Presidential chair of this body, and since his election to that office has presided over its deliberations with dignity and acceptability. He was married in 1868 to Julia Seasongood, danghter of Jacob Seasongood, a lead- ing and influential merchant and capitalist of Cincinnati, Ohio.
WANEV, REV. JOSEPH ASBURY, D. D., Pas- tor and Missionary, was born near Freeport, Harrison county, Ohio, March Ist, 1824. Ile spent about two years in the common schools of Freeport and Barnesville and in Dr. Belknap's Academy, in the former place. In twenty-six days, while attending the academy, he learned the Latin grammar, and read " Ilistorice Sacra " and a part of " Viri Roma." Surveying, in its various branches, he studied without a master; and studied bookkeeping at the Iron City Commercial College, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he received a diploma. He learned to read Greek without the aid of a teacher, and also to read, write and speak Spanish ; while at all times he read with avidity and care all useful or entertaining works which came within his reach. " It was his habit to seize moments between working hours for reading, and he read many a page while working, walking or cating." For a time he was employed in a woollen factory in Barnesville, Ohio, but apparently did not find there an occupation harmonizing with his tastes and predi- lections. Ilis maiden speech before the public was de- fivered in Barnesville, during a debate on intemperance and slavery; the following curt description gives it with sufficient vividness : " He stood erect; bowed, looked at the floor, looked at the judges, and finally exclaimed, 'It won't come out ! ' " February 17th, 1842, he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in the following July was appointed class-leader in Freeport. April 10th, 1843, he preached his initial sermon in the same place. In 1846 he was received into the Pittsburgh Conference, and since that date has filled the following appointments: Browns- ville, Ohio; Newport, Ohio; Summerfield, Ohio; Woods-
.
Mormon island, California; Ninth Ward Mission (now Trinity ), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ; Handine Chapel, Steu. benville, Ohio; Canton, Ohio; Beaver Street, in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania ; Callao, Peru, South America; Free- dom, Pennsylvania; Salem, Ohio; Beaver Street, Allegheny City, Pennsylvania (a second time) ; District Secretaryship of the Western Seamen's Friend Society; Corresponding Secretaryship of the same; Talcahuano, Chili, South America (as missionary for the Union Missionary Society of Valparaiso) ; and Barnesville, Ohio. Ile was also ap- pointed missionary to Mexico, in January, 1874, but was prevented from going to this field of labor by circumstances beyond his control. His degree of D. D. he received in 1870 from the New Market College, Seio, Ohio. He has travelled over seventy thousand miles in different journeys, by land and sea, while his longest single trip was from Talcahuano to New York, doubling Cape Horn. " In Chili there are no laws forbidding a Protestant minister to perform the marriage ceremony; for the laws assume that he cannot marry. Nevertheless, for marrying a dying man, to satisfy his conscience, he was proscented by the Bishop of Concepcion, and, being committed to prison, was saved from a probable irksome confinement only through the timely action of the Prussian consul, who gave bonds in his behalf. He could not be found guilty; but the costs of proceedings, by the aid of a trick whose exposure and defeat would have required the possession of more power and money than was within his control, were saddled upon him ; those costs, amounting to five hundred dollars, were eventually paid by a circle of sympathizing friends." He remained in Chili for a period of five years, from 1868 to 1873. Ile has never disappointed a congregation; never begun a service as much as five minutes beyond the time set ; on one occasion, having, through being on time, a con- gregation consisting of but one man, he changed the text and preached partly from " Thou art the man." Ile has adopted three rules for mental culture, viz. : " Never write a word without examining its orthography, unless you know how to spell it. Never pass a word in reading with- out examining its pronunciation, unless you know how to pronounce it. As a discipline for public speaking, strive, in every conversation, to choose the fittest words, and to cultivate correctness, naturalness and force, guarding against imperfections in what may be called manner." The following analysis and generalization of his character is taken from the writings of one who knows him well, L. A. Fowler: Ile is favorably known for vigor of thought, clearness of mind, strength of will, independence of spirit, and desire to carry through his purposes in a masterly style. At the same time he is slightly deficient in restraining power, lacking the tact of softening the occasional asperity of reproof and condemnation. Hypocrisy he has ever held in utter horror. Armed with a large share of self-reliance, he is always disposed to maintain his own position and
-
1
318
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
individuality, and seklom abandons purposes once fully | years, at Black River, Ohio, being a member of the well- formed. He is very conscientious, and rather severe in his known firm of Day, Root & Jones. He resides at present on a farm at Sheffield Lake, in Lorain county. In pol- ities, he adhered to the Whig party until its dissolution, and thereafter cast in his lot with the Republicans. He was elected Auditor of Lorain County in 1854, and held that office until 1861. He has been twice married. Ilis first wife, to whom he was united in 1828, was Sarah Eliza Case, of Erie county, Ohio. She died in 1833, leaving three daughters. In 1834 he married Fanny Day, of Shef- field, Ohio, who is the mother of three sons. Notwith- standing he has passed the limit of three-score years and ten he is vigorous and abounding in health, of an eminently happy disposition, affable in his manners and a genial, sociable companion. judgments upon wrong-doers and unrighteous actions; and is skeptical in the consideration of new theorems; slow to adopt new measures, or to take anything for granted. Ilis intellectual faculties exhibit a full degree of power, with a predominance of the qualities that lead to analysis and observation. IIe is definite, direct and quite clear in the exercise of his mind on subjects admitting of comparison of qualities and conditions, and is quick to note the rela- tions of one subject to another. His favorite studies are geography, theology and astronomy, while he is also keenly interested in the study of human character and types. As a lecturer he is widely and favorably known, his " Three Years in Peru" being specially noteworthy. He was mar- ried in 1849 to Sarah A. Archbold, by whom he has had four children, one son and three daughters; the former died at school in Valparaiso, while preparing for the min- istry; his oldest daughter, Mary F. Swaney, is now teach- ing in the Mount Vernon Seminary, Washington, District of Columbia.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.