USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 10
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CS OLLEY, JUDGE PERAS R., Judge of the Probate Court of Lawrence County, Ohio, was born in Otsego county, New York, May 5th, 1815. Ile was the third child in a family of ten children, whose parents were Daniel l'olley and Mary (Holcomb) Polley. His father, a native of Massachusetts, followed through life the trade of millwright, and also agricultural pursuits ; he moved to Ohio in March, 1816, settling in Gallia county, whence, after selling his farm, in March, IS58, he removed to Jackson county, Ohio, where he resided permanently until his demise in 1864 ; he had been an active participant in the war of 1812, and was the son of Daniel Polley, a revolutionary soldier. Ilis mother, a native of Chenango county, New York, was a daughter of Zephaniah Holcomb, one of the colonial patriots and an officer in the army of the confederated provinces. Until his fourteenth year was attained his days were passed alternately in attending school in the winter months and in working on a form during the summer seasons. In 1829 he was taken by his father to learn the trade of millwright, while continuing to labor a part of the time as farm-assistant. In this manner he was then assiduously employed until 1852. At the age of twenty-one he had conquered so thoroughly the mysteries and difficulties of his trade that he took the rank of master-wright, and his initial work as a master- wright was done in Scioto county, Ohio. Previous to 1845, the date of his settlement in Lawrence county, Ohio, he worked for varying periods in West Virginia and in Gallia and Scioto counties, and in other parts of Ohio; subsequently
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he settled in Elizabeth township, Lawrence county, and was there employed principally in working at his trade for about one year. Ile then moved to a place near Ironton, in Upper township, where, still engaged at his trade, he remained until 1855, when he settled in Ironton, where he has since resided. In 1852 he was elected Magistrate of Upper town- ship, and on his settlement in Ironton was elected to the same office, which through successive re-elections was re- tained by him until 1869. Ih that year he was elected Pro- bate Judge of Lawrence county; was re-elected in 1872, and has down to the present time held this office for about six years. In 1856 he was elected Township Clerk of Up- per township; has been re-elected several times, and still fills that position. Ilis views and sentiments concerning the polity of his country incline him toward the Republican party, and his first vote at a Presidential election was cast in favor of General Harrison. Religiously, he holds to the form and spirit of the Baptist Church, of which he has been a member since 1852. For a number of years he has been a member of the Masonie fraternity, and has taken a prom- inent part also as an earnest advocate in the movements of the temperance organizations. He was married, May 10th, 1849, to Elizabeth Mayhew, of Lawrence county, Ohio, who died December 25th, 1851, with issue of two children ; and again, February 28th, 1854, to Rebecca Staley, of Wayne county, West Virginia.
was the son of Matthew Ridgway and Mary ( De- puy) Ridgway. He was descended from a family of ancient Quaker people, the name of Ridgway being one of the most prominent among the sect in the two States of New York and Pennsylvania. Losing his father at an early age, he left his home to reside with his uncle, Hon. Joseph Ridgway, Jr., afterward member of Con- gress from Ohio, but who was then residing in Cayuga county, New York. Here he received his education at one of the excellent academies for which that State was then famous. After acquiring a fair knowledge of engineering, he moved to Ohio with his uncle when about twenty years of age. Settling in Columbus, he commenced his career by engaging in his chosen field of labor as an engineer on the canals then in course of construction under State supervision and management. Several years later he became a partner in a large foundry establishment, which, brought into ex- istence by his uncle, was at this time doing an extensive business in the manufacture of plows and other agricultural implements for the Ohio and Indiana trade. It was one of the pioneer manufacturing enterprises of Columbus, and still exists under the name of the Ridgway Foundry, although the business has passed into other hands. Upon the demon- strated success in Europe and the Eastern States of steam railways, he at once set about a course of investigation, and
threw the whole energy of his nature into the enterprise of securing the benefits of the system to the State of Ohio, whose surface he saw, with the quick discernment of the practical engineer, was more favorably adapted to the cheap construction of railways than any place where they had up to that day been built. He became, accordingly, one of the principal stockholders and Director of one of the first rail- roads laid in the State, the Columbus & Xenia, connecting with the Little Miami Railroad. At the time of his death he acted in the capacity of Secretary of the company. When it became necessary to furnish rolling stock for the road, he established a car-factory at Columbus, which became even- tually one of the most important and successful business cn- terprises of the State. In 1844 he was a member of the Ohio Senate ; was re-elected in 1846 a Representative of his county in the House. He was one of the Commissioners to decide upon the plan and to superintend the construction of the new State House at Columbus, and it is in no small degree to his cultivated taste and liberal ideas that the people of the State are indebted for a building that, for its purpose, ranks second to none in the country. After having established for himself one of the finest homes in Columbus, and iden- tifying himself in an important degree with every publie movement designed to further the improvement of the city, he died, August 23d, 1850, keenly regretted by his towns- men and friends, and by all throughout the State and West- ern country who were acquainted with his career of honor- able usefulness. He was married, November 28th, 1828, to Jeannette 'S. Tatem, daughter of Charles Tatem, of Cin-
IDGWAY, HON. JOSEPII, JR., was born on Staten Island, New York, April 23d, 1800. lle į cinnati. The fruits of that union were ten children, five of whom, two sons and three daughters, are now living. Joseph Ridgway, Jr., died some years before his uncle, Joseph Ridgway, hence he was always known as Joseph Ridgway, Jr.
LACKMAN, GEORGE CURTIS, M. D., was born at Newtown, Connecticut, April 21st, IS19. IIe was the second son of Hon. Thomas Black- man, of the bench and bar of Connecticut. IIe graduated in medicine at the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons, New York, March Ist, 1840. During the early years of his professional life he was em. ployed as Surgeon of an Atlantic packet ship, and while thus engaged crossed the ocean frequently. He spent con- siderable time in professional study in Great Britain and France-the greater part in London hospitals. While in the great metropolis he had to contend with the greatest poverty. Ile was, however, kindly treated by Mr. George Pollock, of St. George's Hospital, and Sir William Fergus- son. At a later date, he was one of the very few foreign surgeons elected a member of the Royal Medical and Chi- rurgical Society. He was also honored by the same society with a letter of thanks for a paper read before it. At an early period in his professional life he became quite debili-
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tated from cough and hemorrhage, and he was pronounced a victim of pulmonary phthisis beyond all hope. This pro .. tration was his chief motive for so frequently seeking the sea air, which always unproved his health, He crossed the Atlantic thirty six times, besides visiting South America. He was a frequent and valued contributor to the medical literature of the day, his first article appearing soon after his graduation. In this country there was not a surgeon of any eminence that he could not claim as his personal friend ; among these were Mout, Gross and Parker. Ile was re- quested by the first named to edit his translation of " Vel- peau's Surgery," and to this work he added an appendix of great value, as well as many notes and comments, illus- trating his remarkable acquirements in surgical literature. In 1854, upon the recommendation of eminent practitioners, he came to Cincinnati. Soon after his arrival he was chosen by the trustees of the Medical College of Ohio to fill the chair of Principles and Practice in that institution. In this position he continued until his death. In the lecture-room he was effective and instructive, but it was in the hospital as an operator that his great skill and power were. displayed. Ile would not only describe the ease before him to the full satisfaction of all, but give the history of the disease and all that had been written upon it. In this special field his en- thusiasm was sublime. During the late war he was a Surgeon of Volunteers, and was for some time Medical Director to General O. M. Mitchel's department of the Army of the Cumberland. He was also in the Army of the Potomac. At the time of his death he was collecting mate- rial for a work on surgery, and another on malpractice, His extensive travel aud wide knowledge outside his profession, added to good conversational powers, made him a welcome guest in society. In his last illness he was confined to his room about six weeks, dying July 19th, 1871, his death causing sincere regret among a large circle of professional and social acquaintances, Ilis remains were taken from his late residence in Avondale, a suburb of Cincinnati, and de- posited in Spring Grove Cemetery.
OX, GENERAL JACOB DOLSON, ex-Governor of Ohio, was born in Montreal, Canada, October 27th, 1828. Ilis parents were natives of the United States, and were temporarily residing there at the time of his birth, his father being engaged in building. His mother was a lineal descendant of Elder William Brewster of the " Mayflower." His childhood and youth were spent in New York city, and he removed to Ohio in 1846. He was graduated at Oberlin College in 1851, and began the practice of law at Warren in the following year. In 1859 he was elected by the Repub- licans to the State Senate from the Trumbull and Mahoning district, and held this position at the outbreak of the war. Ile had for some time been a general officer in the State
militia, and was active in putting the State in a position of defence, as he foresaw the coming difficulties to a certain extent. In the three months' service he was a Brigadier- General of Ohio Volunteers, and he assisted General MeChet. lan in various duties connected with the equipment of troops. For a few months he had charge of Camp Jackson at Co- lumbus, and was actively at work fitting volunteers for the field. Soon after recruiting for three years' service com- menced, he was made a Brigadier General by the President, his former commission being held under Governor Denni- son. Later he was placed in charge of the military district of Kanawha, and served with credit, if not distinction, in the campaign that followed and lasted until the winter opened. In the spring and summer of 1862 he served under Fremont in West Virginia. In the fall he did gallant service at South Mountain, taking command of General Reno's corps after the death of that officer. Ile commanded this (the 9th) corps at the battle of Antietam. For his services in this campaign he was, on the recommendation of Burnside and Mcclellan, made a Major-General, to date from October 7th, 1862. Shortly after he was ordered to take charge of the new State of West Virginia. In the spring of 1863 he was assigned to the command of the District of Ohio, with head-quarters at Cincinnati. In December, at his own request, he was relieved and ordered to East Tennessee, and commanded the 23d Corps during the winter. There being an excess of officers of that grade, his Major General's com- mission had been withdrawn some time previous. He saw very active service in 1864, and led a division in many hard- fought battles. After the fall of Atlanta he was again created a Major-General. In January, 1865, his corps was ordered to the East, and cuibaked from Alexandria for Fort Fisher early in the following month. In the advance upon Wilmington his troops fought well, and took an active part in all the operations which ended with Sherman's june- tion with Schofield. On the 27th of March, 1865, he was placed permanently in command of the 23d Corps, and upon the surrender of Johnston, was placed in command of the western half of North Carolina, where he superintended the parole of prisoners at Greensborough. In July he was or- dered to the command of the District of Ohio. Here he had charge of the mustering out of troops. Before he was mustered out of the service he was elected Governor of Ohio, and resigned to enter upon the duties of that office. Ile was elected by the Republicans, but his course as Governor did not meet the approval of his party. Ile drifted into conservatism with Andrew Johnson. But he did not fully indorse the President's views on matters of state, and never left the Republican party. Ile served but one term as Governor, declining a renomination in advance of its being offered, and resumed the practice of law. From March, 1869, to November, 1870, he was Secretary of the Interior. Hle was then engaged for some time in the practice of law at Cincinnati. For some time he has been President of the Toledo, Wabash & Western Railroad, and being appointed
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Receiver for the same, removed to Toledo in the spring of 1875, where he now resides. General Cox is an accom- plished scholar and refined gentleman. As a speaker he always acquits himself creditably. In the law he is well read, though not a leader at the bar. He was one of the best civilian generals the war produced, and stood higher in the estimation of the War Department at the close of his service than at any previous time.
CKLEY, HORACE A., Surgeon, was born in Genesce county, New York, in 1815, and died, April 24th, 1859, in Cleveland, Ohio. He was educated in the common schools of his native town and finished at a private academy. He commenced the study of medicine on leaving school, and, after some instruction at Elba and Batavia, at- tended a course of lectures at Fairfield, Herkimer county, where he graduated in 1833. In the following year he removed to Rochester, New York, where he practised in the office of Dr. Havill, and gave a course of lectures on anatomy for Dr. Delmater, at Palmyra, New York. In 1835 he removed to Ohio, settling at first in Akron, where he practised medi- cine. In 1836 he gave a course of lectures in Willoughby, being appointed Demonstrator of Anatomy at the Willoughby Medical College. In the same year he removed to Toledo, where he practised his profession three years, and then removed to Cleveland, where, with other prominent physi- cians and surgeons of that city, he founded the Cleveland Medical College, or the Medical Department of Western Reserve College, and was appointed to the Chair of Surgery. This position he retained until 1858, when he resigned it. During his occupation of the chair he acquired a high repu- tation in the practice of surgery, and his large acquaintance and extended reputation served to attract many students from all parts of Ohio and the neighboring States. Ile was gifted as a surgeon and anatomist, and had already laid the foundation for an extensive and brilliant reputation. As a lecturer he was very effective and practical. Ilis style was impressive, and he had the magnetic power necessary for attracting and securing the attention of his hearers. By nature he was endowed with the qualities most useful to the surgeon, being bold, dashing and fearless in his operations, and having a strong will that enabled him to master his sympathetic emotions and hold his feelings in check. When he came to northern Ohio the art of surgery was but little known or practised in the West, and he may justly be desig- nated the pioneer of his section of his adopted State. The reputation of his operations spread far and wide, whilst the boldness of many of them and the coolness with which they were carried through, made him fimons throughout the whole country. In the treatment of inflammations in their various stages following operations, he probably had no superior in the United States. He was a man of magnifi-
cent physique, extraordinary powers of endurance, and great personal courage, which were severely tested in the times of impassable roads, long distances, and rude accom. modations. In social life, as in professional, he was a man of strong convictions, lasting attachments, and deep-rooted prejudices. In every way he was a positive man, of striking appearance and marked character. ITis death was sudden. When going to Cleveland from Detroit by steamer on the night of the 21st of April, 1859, he was taken very sick, and on his arrival at home was in an exhausted condition. Ile lingered in great suffering until the evening of April 24th, when his decision of character again asserted itself, and he insisted on leaving his bed. Ile was assisted to a chair, when he sank rapidly. A restorative was given to him, but he motioned the glass from his lips, and expired immcdi- ately.
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VERS, JAMES, ex-Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, was born in Dutchess county, New York, in the month of June, 1795, of German ancestry. While he was still very young, his parents removed with him to Albany, and soon afterwards to Schenec- tady. In the latter city it was that he received his education. When the Erie Canal was completed and opened to the public, he became Canal Collector. The canal was one of the most important links in the chain of communication between distant parts of the country at that time, and the position in which he served was an important and responsible one. Ile held it until 1836, and by the man- ner in which he performed its duties gave amp'e evidence of his fitness for the position, and in fact for any position requiring ability, integrity and executive talent. During the interval in which he served as Collector, he became promi- nent as a successful contractor, and assisted in the construc- tion of several roads in the State of New York. After breaking his connection with the Erie Canal, he removed to Toledo, Ohio, and there became a contractor on the Miami & Erie Canal, including the weigh-lock above the city. It was not only by his business abilities, great as these were, that he won regard and rose into prominence. His personal characteristics soon placed him in the front rank of citizens of the State and of the town. Ilis practical talents, his integ- rity, and his interest in every measure of public importance, won practical recognition from his fellow-citizens, who availed themselves of these qualities, first by electing him to the Common Council and the Board of Education of the city. Subsequently he was elected as a member of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of Ohio. ITis term of service in this body was followed by an election to the State Senate. As a legislator in both branches of the General Assembly, he ranked among the foremost, laboring and with high and effective ability, not only for the interests of his special constituency, but for the interests of the State at large; and his insight as to what those interests really
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comprised, and his practical knowledge of what measures would best promote them, gave a special value to his ser- vices, which made them highly appreciated. In the year 1851 he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, and served so acceptably during the term that, on its expiration, he was triumphantly elected for another term in the same position. When this second term expired he retired finally from active public life, and devoted his time and attention wholly to the management of the large estate which his ability, perseverance, industry and judicious management had enabled him to accumulate. The last years of his life were marked by great and almost constant suffering, from which death released him on the 19th of June, 1864, when he had reached the ripe age of sixty-nine years. Ile died sincerely mourned by a large circle beyond those bound to him by the ties of kindred and personal intimacy, and left behind him a record which those who succeed him may well point to with pride. He married in 1821 Mary Sanford, who died, leaving him two sons, neither of whom now sur- vives. Ile married, for his second wife, L. Eliza Walker, of Schenectady, New York. This union resulted in two children, a son and a daughter, both of whom are now living.
ICHOLS, PERRY J., Lawyer, was born about three miles from New Richmond, Clermont county, Ohio, March 30th, 1839. Ile was the second child in a family consisting of six children, whose parents were Thomas L. Nichols and Evaline (Donham) Nichols, His father, a native of Cler- mont county, Ohio, followed through life the vocation of engineer, and is still living at New Richmond. His grand- father, Philip Nichols, was an early pioneer of Clermont county, Ohio. Ilis mother, also a native of the county last mentioned, was a daughter of Colonel J. S. Donham, an early settler of the southern portion of the State. His boy- hood days, until he had counted his thirteenth year, were employed alternately in working on a farm and in attending school during the winter months. In 1852 he engaged in the carrying of the mail between New Richmond, Blanches- ter, and Deerfield-this service consuming four days per week-for about four years. During the remaining days of the week he was employed in laboring on the farm. Through those years of incessant toil, his leisure hours were assiduously devoted to the improvement of his mind, and the works then read by him added not a little to his store of knowledge. In 1856 his attention was directed to engineer- ing as a means to acquire the desired end in life, and during the following two years he was engaged at this employment. He then attended various select schools for about three years, and also pursued a select course of higher studies in the Farmer's College, near Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1859 he assumed the role of educator, and for two years was engaged in teaching school, in the meantime occupying his leisure
moments by reading law, under the supervision of Perry J. Donham, a prominent attorney of the Cincinnati bar. In August, 1861, he passed the requisite examination, and was admitted to practise law. He then selected New Rich- mond as his field of professional labors, and has since resided there almost uninterruptedly, engaged in the control of an ex- tensive legal practice. He has never sought or accepted office of a partisan or political nature, and is inclined to favor the views and measures of the Democratic party. Religiously, his sympathies are with the Methodist Church. Ile was married in August, 1862, to Jeannette Gilmore, a native of Clermont county, Ohio.
ITCII, JUDGE JOIIN, Lawyer, was born in Schodac, Rensselaer county, New York, February 16th, 1806. Hle is the second son of William Fitch and Sarah ( Hanford ) Fitch, who emigrated from Norwalk, Connecticut, in the opening of the present century, and settled in New York State. IIe is a lineal descendant in the third generation from IIon. Thomas Fitch, Chief-Justice and Colonial Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, in the reign of George III. Ilis grandfather, Thomas Fitch, was a colonel in the revolu- tionary army, and rendered distinguished services to the American cause in the war with Great Britain. Ile was educated primarily at the local institutions existing at that period within the county of his birth. After relinquishing his school books he entered as a law student the office of Samuel B. Indlow, at Nassau, Rensselaer county, New York, where he remained about two years. lle then en- tered the law office of the late James Lynch, in the city of New York, and upon the completion of his studies was ad- mitted to the bar at the city of Albany, New York, in 1830. Ile commenced the practice of his profession at Hoosick, Rensselaer county, New York, and was occupied in its prose- cution there until the fall of 1836, when he removed to Toledo, Ohio, his present place of residence. Toledo was then in its infancy, and although from its location possessing many commercial advantages, was in fact a frontier town, rude, unimproved and uninviting, save to the adventurous and hardy pioneer, who foresaw in it at that early day the elements of future growth and prosperity. In this western spot he engaged hopefully in professional labors, and in due course of time became a leading member of a bar whose reputation was sustained eventually by no mean array of legal learning and ability. For a number of years he served efficiently as State Prosecutor, and while acting in that ca- pacity elicited merited encomiums from bench and bar, and also the general community, by the fidelity and energy which he uniformly displayed in the discharge of his respon- sible duties. In 1854 he was elected to the office of Judge for the First Subdivision of the Fourth Judicial District of Ohio, and entered upon the discharge of his duties Febru- ary 12th, 1855. Ile was subsequently twice re-elected to
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