USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 73
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school, and long acted as a trustee of its ecclesiastical so- { his party for Governor of Ohio, and entered into a debate ciety. The truth of the Scriptural declaration, " There is that seattereth and yet increaseth," has been vindicated in his history ; for, while he has constantly practised the most munificent liberality, he has accumulated a large fortune. Ile married Mary Johnson, daughter of Orange Johnson, of Worthington, Ohio, August 1Sth, 1847.
ENNISON, HION. WILLIAM, ex-Governor of Ohio, was born in Cincinnati, December 23d, 1815. He was descended on his mother's side from a New England family. ITis father, a native of New Jersey, emigrated to Ohio and became a successful business man in the Miami valley. William was graduated from the Miami University in 1835. In political science, history and belles-lettres, his scholarship ranked high. After leaving college he became a student in the law office of Nathaniel G., father of George II. Pendle- ton, at Cincinnati. IIe was admitted to the bar in 1840, and soon thereafter married a daughter of William Neil, of Columbus, Ohio, and a well-known citizen of the State. Removing to Columbus, be applied himself with energy to the practice of his profession for several years, "when, in 1848, he was elected to the Senate on the Whig ticket, from the district composed of the counties of Franklin and Dela- ware. Politics in the State were at fever-heat at this time, and a desperate struggle was being made for the control of the Legislature. In the upper House the new Senator was nominated for the Speakership by his party, and came very near being elected. The contest, however, gave him con- siderable prominence in polities, and he at once became as- sociated with many reforms in the statutes. Among these may be mentioned the repeal of the law forbidding blacks and mulattoes the privilege of residence in the State, or of testifying in the courts. For nearly half. a century this law was a reproach upon the intelligence of the law-makers of Ohio. Ile warmly advocated the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia, and early took a decided stand in opposition to the extension of slavery. In the spring of 1850, his senatorial term having expired, he re- sumed his law practice and abandoned political life for a time. Ile was a Presidential Elector in 1852, and cast his vote for General Scott. About this time he accepted the Presidency of the Exchange Bank of Columbus, and also began to turn his attention to the railroad enterprises of the West. He was chosen President of the Columbus & Xenia Railroad, and from that time forth became actively engaged as director in all railway lines centring at Columbus. With the formation of the Republican party he became one of the most prominent members of that organization ; was a dele- gate to the Pittsburgh Convention, and in June, 1856, took an influential part in the convention that nominated John C. Fremont for the Presidency In 1859 he was nominated by
with his distinguished opponent, Judge Rufus P'. Ranney. Ile was elected by a considerable majority, although his views upon vital questions were far in advance of those of his party and the greater portion of the voters of the State. Ile succeeded Salmon I'. Chase as Governor in 1860. In his inaugural he dwelt upon the state of political affairs, said that Ohio was unmistakably opposed to the extension of slavery, and spoke of the machinations of politicians of the pro-slavery type. In his first message to the General As- sembly in January, 1861, he dwelt upon the progress Ohio was making in the arts of peace, reviewed the financial con- dition of the State, and recommended the continuance of the State banking system. Turning to the discussion of the all- absorbing topic of the hour-the menacing attitude of the South-he declared the position of Ohio was now the same as it was in 1832, when her Legislature resolved : " That the Federal Union exists in a solemn compact, entered into by the voluntary consent of the people of the United States, and of each and every State, and that, therefore, no State can claim the right to secede from or violate that compact ; and however grievous may be the supposed or real burdens of a State, the only legitimate remedy is the wise and faith- ful exercise of the elective franchise, and a solemn respon- sibility of the public agents." Ile concluded the message with an emphatic declaration that, loyal as Ohio had always been to the Constitution, she would maintain that loyalty, come what might. When war became a stern reality, the Governor threw all his energies into the contest for the preservation of the Union, and was a devoted friend and wise counsellor of the government until the last rebel had laid down his arms, Called upon to face an emergency wholly unprecedented in the history of the country, he never wavered nor hesitated. His pure and lofty patriotism sus- tained him under all trials, and, ever showing himself ready to spend and be spent in his country's service, he laid during his administration the foundations, broad and deep, upon which Ohio's magnificent war record rests. As in the case of all statesmen who have so borne themselves as to become a shining mark, he has not escaped criticism; but the voice of the critic has been lost in the general approba- tion and gratitude of his State and country. When the Gov- ernor of Kentucky responded to the President's eall for volun- leers, " I say emphatically that Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States,' the loyal Ohio Governor immediately telegraphed the War Department, " If Kentucky will not fill her quota, Ohio will fill it for her!" In less than a fortnight enough Ohioans had offered their services to have filled the quota of nearly three States! In sixteen days after the call, official an- nouncement was made that there were enough volunteers from Ohio to fill the entire call of the President. In a glow of enthusiasm the Governor once said, "Ohio must lead throughout the war," and whatever may be the opinion of ( her sister States, citirens of Ohio believe that her record was
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ever in keeping with the Governor's boast. In pursuance of this laudable ambition, Ohio troops drove the rebels out of western Virginia, thus securing to the loyalists there in time the benefits of a separate State government. This salvation of western Virginia must be placed to the credit of Governor Dennison, and it was accomplished by Ohio militia, not United States volunteers. It was the gift of Ohio to the nation at the outset of the war, and was never entirely wrested from it any time during the war. When the national bank system of Mr. Chase was first proposed it met with a protest from the Governor, but he afterward withdrew his opposition and declared in favor of the policy. After his term as Governor he became the adviser and trusted coun- sellor of his successor. He became a national favorite, and one of the strongest " Union " speakers in the land. Ile was President of the convention that renominated Abraham Lincoln, and when Montgomery Blair retired from the Postmaster-Generalship he was called to the Cabinet as his successor. Ile was retained by Andrew Johnson, but re- signed his portfolio when the new President defined his " policy," and returned to his home in Columbus, where he passed several years in the retirement of private life. Ile is a man of dignified presence, courtly and elegant in man- ner, and a master of the deportment of the first society, in which he moves. In 1875 he was appointed a member of the commission to examine into the financially entan- gled affairs of the District of Columbia, and he has succeeded in bringing something like order out of this chaos.
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'OLLINS, GENERAL RICHARD, was born in New Jersey, February 22d, 1796. He was lib- erally educated. Being determined to be inde- pendent, at an early age he got employment as a deputy clerk in the old stone Court House at Williamsburg, Clermont county, Ohio, before Batavia became the county-seat. He studied law with John MeLean (in 1814 and 1815), who was then a member of Congress from Ohio; was admitted to practise by the Su- preme Court of the State at Cincinnati in 1816, and imme- diately removed to Hillsborough, Highland county, Ohio. As an assistant to Judge Bell in the clerk's office, and as Prosecuting Attorney of the county, he came at once into notice, and thence from 1818 to 1832 practised his profession with great success throughout southern Ohio. The people of Ilighiland, Brown, Adams, Clermont and Ross counties still remember, either from personal knowledge or tradition, his sparkling wit, genius, talent and eloquence; nor does it seem to become dimmed or obscured by time. General Collins represented Highland county successively in both branches of the Legislature from 1820 to 1825, and was a member of that body when the canal and school systems were first inaugurated. He was a Whig in politics, and was defeated for Congress in 1826 owing to a division of the
| Adams vote among three candidates, but led that ticket. Ile persistently declined the race afterwards, although an election was assured. Indeed he seemed to have little taste for official honor or its emohmments, and at the time men- tioned, although he had few equals in the State as a lawyer and orator, refused all contests for political position. Ilad he devoted himself to politics and statesmanship, his pure character, noble bearing, polished and effective eloquence, and his remarkable sagacity and wisdom, would have raised him to a high place in the councils of the nation. General Collins was married in 1823 to Mary Ann Armstrong, eldest daughter of John Armstrong, one of the earliest as well as most enterprising merchants of Maysville, Kentucky. Ile removed to that city about 1830, and formed a business con- nection with his father-in-law in the wholesale dry-goods trade, and about the same time started a wholesale queens- ware house with George Collings and Levi Sparks, of West Union, who invested in Maysville. Ile thus relinquished, in consequence of his matrimonial connections in Kentucky, the exciting pursuits of law and statesmanship in Ohio for the calm and profitable operations of commerce, although for some years afterwards he continued to attend the Ohio courts in important cases. General Collins became at once a man of mark in his adopted State, and Kentuckians im- mediately recognized in the unassuming merchant a man of naturally superior intellect, cultivated and refined by educa- tion. They found his judgment clear, acute, practical and discriminating ; his taste exquisite and his manners fascinat- ing. In addition to this, he possessed that gift so highly prized everywhere, and especially in Kentucky, a brilliant and captivating style of elocution admirably adapted to con- ciliate, persuade and convince. Ile could not fail, then, to acquire distinction, as he did, in any line of life he chose to move. He represented Mason county, Kentucky, in the Kentucky Legislature three times-1834, 1844 and 1847. Ile was nominated and elected on each occasion without solicitation, and refused a re-election each time. Hle more than once refused to make the race for Congress in the old Tenth District of Kentucky, when his nomination was sought and tendered him, and when his popularity would have beaten down all opposition. General Collins achieved a handsome fortune, a large portion of which consisted of real estate in Maysville, Kentucky, and of lands in Cler- mont county, Ohio. Ile took great interest in his adopted city, and for fifteen years, from 1835 to 1850, was President of the City Council, in which position his rare abilities, his moderation and his self-command enabled him to render the most useful and efficient services. Ile was the first President of the Maysville & Lexington Railroad from IS50 to 1853, and at his resignation left that enterprise on a safe and assured footing. Ile removed to the old family homestead in Ohio, in Clermont county, in 1853, a fine patriarchal estate, purchased by him of his relatives. Here he passed the last years of his existence in the bosom of an affectionate family, consisting of his mother, brothers and
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children, to whom he was tenderly attached, and where he | old friendship, which he agreed to do, although then in very dispensed a liberal and elegant hospitality to hosts of culti- feeble health. This occurred but a few months before his death. The scene was thus described by J. K. S. Bond, then editor of the Clermont Courier : vated friends, General Collins died May 12th, 1855, re- maining to the last the same dignified and true-hearted gentleman. His death called out deep expressions of sorrow from the press and wherever he was known. Rarely in- deed has there been seen such exhibitions of genuine regret. It was said of him that, unswayed by party or prejudice, few could resist his logie, while he conciliated and persuaded ; if he indulged in sarcasm, that most dangerous of weapons, it was keener than a Damaseus blade, never rough nor jag- ged; his wit was exuberant and irresistible, and as a social companion none surpassed him. The example of his father upon such a son could not but produce the most gratifying fruits in the season of ripening, and General Collins died with all the firmness and triumphant joy of spirit which the Christian's hope can alone impart. Ilis last audible words, uttered in full view of immediate death, but in full assurance of a blissful immortality, were among the most characteristic and sublime that have signalized the dying moments of the heroic great-they were : " This, my daughter, is the greatest day of all my life." Ile was the personal and trusted inti- mate friend of Ilenry Clay, Thomas Ewing and Thomas Corwin, Among the contemporaries of General Collins at the bar were Thomas Morris, O. T. Fishback, Joshua Sill, Thomas L. Hamer, Moses Kirby, and other noted names in southern Ohio; and among the rising men who have since A distinguished gentleman of southern Ohio wrote of him shortly after his death : become distinguished were Nelson Barrere, General J. J. McDowell, J. 11. Thompson, George Collings, James Sloane and others who have reflected honor on the profession. Richard Collins, both from early education as well as an inherent sense of justness in his nature, was opposed to the institution of slavery. Ile was not an abolitionist in a party sense, but held to the doctrine of Mr. Clay and Governor Metcalf of Kentucky in favor of emancipation and coloniza- tion by State action, and such aid from the general govern- ment and private philanthropists as could be secured. He was an active member of what was known as the Coloniza- tion Society, and contributed largely of his time, means and influence to that cause. His own slaves (of which he held a large number in Kentucky ) he emancipated in 1853 with the full approbation of his family, and furnished all of them homes, means of support and employment, thus reducing the then value of his estate several thousand dollars, and fur- nishing a practical illustration of belief in his own doctrines. But with political abolitionism he had no affiliation on the one hand, nor with the radical Southern view on the other. Many of his okl slaves clung to the family after the death of General Collins, until his children became separated, and then wandered to various places, at least four of them achiev- ing success and becoming good citizens. The last appear- ance of General Collins in public life was in the Court House. at Batavia, Ohio, and was at the solicitation of an old farmer who had got involved in a slander trouble, and insisted upon the General helping him out on the score of
" We are aware that the General will not thank us for the allusion, but we cannot refrain from adverting to one of the most notable events incident upon the sitting of the late term of court. It is known to most of our readers that the General has for some years retired from the practice of his profession, but it being rumored that he was to appear for an old friend in a case in court, under circumstances to lend interest to the occasion, the court-room was at once crowded lo excess. Standing-room even was at a pren ium. The General, in his quiet but pertinent and forcible manner, addressed the jury, reviewing the particulars of the case with a minuteness which evinced that the old fire was yet left in the flint; and his closing speech was rarely, if ever, sur- passed for keen satire, salient wit and richness in classical quotation. So did it abound in all that constitutes eloquence, that many times did the crowd about him (even including court and jury ) sympathize in his sallies of humor and in the deep pathos of his manner, both by outbursts of laughter and lines of displeasure depicted upon their countenances. Gen- cral Collins, by his urbanity before a jury, and his courtesy toward opposing counsel, presented a striking contrast be- tween the absence of those amenities which too often obtain in the contests which arise in the practice of the law. The effect of such a performance as that of General Collins be- fore a jury we hope may not be lost upon the younger mem- bers of the bar."
" It was our privilege and our pleasure to see much of the 'old man eloquent' during his last illness. Although his body was but a shadow, his heart was as warm and his in- tellect flashed as brilliantly as ever in his palmiest hours. Ilis mind revelled with the poets, and Shakespeare was ever upon his tongue. Calm and serene in temper, death did not surprise, nor was he unwelcome. We called upon him a few days before his last, and seated our son, a boy of twelve years, on a sofa at the foot of his bed. The General's watch- ful eye soon lighted upon him; 'Whose boy ?' he said. We informed him. He rephed ; . Why not present him to me?' We spoke of his debility as our excuse. ' In- troduce him,' said the General. We did so. He took his hand, and, raising his voice, said, looking him in the eye : . My boy! look upon the cahn, serene rays of the setting sun ; then turn and look upon the bright, burning, gorgeous rays of some rising sun, and say which is most beautiful!' This was said in that slow, expressive, inimitable tone which he only of all living men whom we ever knew could best employ. General Collins has left no superior in all those qualities of mind and heart which adorn the gentleman and the man ; it is therefore not strange that his decease should have called out such sentiments of honor to his memory and sympathy for his family."
The house in which General Collins resided in Hillsbor- ough, corner of High and Beech streets, has been long since torn away, and its place supplied by a splendid Masonic temple, an ornament to southern Ohio. The old homestead has been divided and passed into strangers' hands, and the children have become widely separated, yet his memory
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mechanic in the Republic." In 1843 he entered into busi- ness on his own account as a cabinet-maker, and sustained it until 1845, when he emigrated to America, landing at New York after a tedious voyage of six weeks. During the fol- lowing year he worked as a journeyman cabinet-maker, and passed the succeeding six years in piano-forte making with the firm of Munce & Clark. Ile then moved to the West, and settled in Toledo, Ohio, where, after passing through a mony. llis success in procuring an act of the Kentucky .year of sickness, he commenced the grocery business, with Legislature removing the county-seat from Washington to Maysville is a remarkable tribute to the power of words well dirceted. It had been defeated in three successive Legisla- tures, and seemed hopeless. Again in 1848 it was beaten by the decisive vote in the House of 67 to 30. General Collins was appealed to. IIe made a single speech to the Committee on Propositions and Grievances of an hour's length. The tables were turned. A reconsideration was had, and the act passed the House with only four dissenting votes, and a few days later passed the Senate with hut two votes against. In November, 1844, John Quincy Adams visited Maysville. At the request of the citizens, an address of welcome was made to him by General Collins, who, among other things, said :
" You, sir, have placed Kentucky under deep and lasting obligations for your noble defence of her great statesman in your letter to the Whigs of New Jersey." .
To which Mr. Adams made this memorable reply, now part of the political history of the country :
" I thank you, Mr. Collins, for the opportunity you have given me of speaking of the great statesman who was asso- eiated with me in the administration of the general govern- ment, at my earnest solicitation-who belongs not to Ken- tucky alone, but to the whole Union, and is not only an honor to his State and this nation, but to mankind. The charges to which you refer I have-after my term of service hand expired and it was proper for me to speak-denied be- fore the whole country. And I here, General Collins, be. fore you and this large assemblage of living witnesses, reit- crate and reaffirm that denial; and as I expect shortly to appear before my God to answer for the conduct of my whole life, shouldl those charges have found their way to the throne of eternal justice, I will in the presence of Omnipotence pronounce them false."
OHNSON, FERDINAND, Merchant, was born in the interior of Norway, April 16th, 1822. Until his eighteenth year was attained he remained with his parents, finding occupation in the interim in working at the cabinet-making and building trade. The three ensuing years were spent in travelling as an itinerant journeyman; and while in his twenty-third year he became a master-mechanic in his vo- cation-an unusual honor for one so young, and one which
will linger in tradition long after all other memorials have | gave him the honorable title of the "youngest master- passed away. It is not possible here to trace in detail the many events of a busy life. In the "Aunals of Kentucky" will be found many allusions to the public life of General Collins in that State, alike creditable to his character. Among others, his canvass for Mr. Clay in 1844; his wel- coming address to John Quincy Adams at Maysville the same year ; and his refusal of the Whig eaueus nomination for United States Senator in 1847 for the sake of party har-
a starting capital of sixteen dollars-on the site of his present building, at the corner of Logan and St. Clair streets. Dur- ing the past twenty-two years he has devoted his time and attention mainly to his business, and seeured great pros- perity through integrity in all things, great and small, through well-directed enterprise and through skilful busi- ness tactics. Ilis name is to day a synonyme for success and probity, and as a merchant he takes high rank. He has built several large business houses and residenees, and his home and trade establishment are superh and costly edifices. His political convictions are expressed in general terms in the doetrines of the Demoeratie party. His initial vote was east in favor of Pierce in 1852. He was married, July 4th, 1847, to Clara L. Whittaker, in the old house in which Washington made his farewell address to his soldiers.
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OLBY, JONAS, M. D., was born, December 20th, 1806, in the town of IIenniker, New Hampshire. His parents, Levi and Betsey Colby, were of Eng- lish deseent, and farmers by occupation ; with them he remained until the age of eighteen, labor- ing on the farm and attending the distriet school during winters. Then he left the farm to devote his time to education, and graduated from the medical department of Dartmouth College, in his native State, in 1829. Imme- diately after he eommeneed the practice of medicine and surgery in the town of Bradford, New Hampshire, continu- ing it for three years. In 1832 he emigrated to Ohio, and located in October of that year at Defiance, where he has pursued the practice of his profession to the present time. In early years he encountered all manner of difficulties and hardships, being the only practising physician for several years within fifty miles of the place. In '1837 the doctor was married to Almira Hull, of Maumee City, who was the first white child born in the Maumee valley. The same year he was appointed Postmaster of Defiance, and served during the administration of Martin Van Buren. At the time the doctor located at Defiance the country was new and inhabited mainly by Indians, who contributed largely to the trade of the town until 1839, when they emigrated West to the Indian Territory, now Kansas, in charge of the Hon. R. A. Forsythe, Agent, Dr. Colby accompanying them as physician and surgeon, having the charge of about 500
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