The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2, Part 25

Author: Robson, Charles, ed; Galaxy Publishing Company, pub
Publication date: 1876
Publisher: Cincinnati, Galaxy publishing company
Number of Pages: 760


USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 25


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of the value of these heating appliances, In all of the Cin- cinnati Industrial Expositions his wares in this line have taken the first premium; and at the great Vienna Exhibi- tion of 1873, where bis laudable enterprise had led him to make a fine display at a great outlay, he was awarded the gold medal. From the smallest of beginnings twenty years ago, he has risen to be one of the most successful and sub- stantial tradesmen and manufacturers of the kind in the country. Ilis reputation and success are certainly the result of hard labor, careful study, long-continued experiment, and straightforward dealing. In this latter connection it may be remarked that throughout his entire career in busi- ness he has never given his note or purchased more mater- ial than he could pay for on demand; nor has he ever appeared in court as defendant in any suit. He is one of those men who take time during their business successes to devote themselves largely to the public and social affairs of the community. Ile is President of the Workhouse Board of Directors; is a member of the Board of Trade, and of a very large number of the social and business organizations of the city. Ile has been concerned in all the expositions held in the city, and has been prominent in most of the enterprises which have been instrumental in promoting the welfare and prosperity of Cincinnati. During the late civil war he served for a few months in the field, in the 6th Cin- cinnati Volunteer Militia, and in various ways displayed his attachment to his adopted country. Some while after his successful business life commenced his father joined him with the rest of the family, and was connected with him in business. During his absence at the Vienna Exposition of 1873, his father died. Personally Mr. Grossius is a man of fine appearance, in the very prime of life, and is certainly one of Cincinnati's most noteworthy and successful self- made men. He was married in 1856 to Paulina Keschner, formerly of Prussia.


OMLEY, JAMES M., Journalist and Postmaster of Columbus, son of Bezaleel and Margaret (Stewart) Comley, was born in Perry county, Ohio, March 6th, 1832. His parents were l'enn- sylvanians-his father of English, his mother of Scotch-Irish descent-and came to Ohio in 1804. He was educated in the public schools of Columbus, and studied law with Attorney-General Wolcutt. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1859, and practised law until the breaking out of the war. He entered the United States service in June, 1861, and on the 12th of August was ap- pointed Lieutenant. Colonel of the 43d Ohio Infantry. After some time spent at Camp Chase, he gave up the Lieutenant-Coloneley of the 43d for the appointment of Major of the 23d Ohio Infantry, then in the field, for the sake of getting more speedily into active service. He was


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mustered as Major on the 31st of October, 1861, and com- [ other house on Main and Pearl streets, where they carried manded the regiment in every action in which it was sub- sequently engaged, except for a short time in the morning at the battle of South Mountain. He was eventually made Colonel of the regiment and Brevet Brigadier General, to date from March 13th, 1865-the latter position having been earned by gallant and faithful service in the field. Ilis history in the field may best be read in the history of the regiment he commanded so long and led to so much honor. General Comley, after the war, became editor and part owner of the Ohio State Journal, in which position he has displayed marked ability as a writer and politician, making that paper one of the most able and popular journals in the State. During the war he married Elizabeth Marion Smith, daughter of Surgeon-General Smith, of Columbus. Ile was appointed Postmaster of Columbus by General Grant in 1870, and reappointed in 1874. He still holds the position


5 EIDELBACHI, PHILIP, Merchant and Banker of Cincinnati, was born at Pfarrweisach, Bavaria, June 25th, 1814. Ile is the son of David and Ileffe Heidelbach. His parents were unable to give him a school education, and he was early inured to a life of toil. At thirteen he was ap- prenticed to a butcher for two years, then worked as a journeyman until he came of age, in 1835. During this time he had, besides assisting in the support of his parents, saved enough to purchase a passage ticket to New York, where he landed in 1836. He was now without money or friends; but finding a person who was willing to vouch for his honesty, he bought eight dollars' worth of goods on credit, and commenced peddling on the street. Ile was, of course, totally ignorant of the English language and the customs of the country, but in three months he had dis- charged his indebtedness and had a capital of $150. One- third of this he sent to his parents, and invested the rest in a stock of goods, with which he started to what he thought a more profitable field in the West. He made this trip on foot, carrying his goods on his back, staying of nights at farm-houses, where his fare for supper, bed, and breakfast was pretty generally " a quarter," and finally, in the spring of 1837, arrived in Cincinnati, having had a very prosper- ous business season. Ile now engaged with great energy in his wandering business over parts of Ohio and Indiana adjacent to Cincinnati, and by the following autumn had accumulated a capital of nearly $2000. Ile then met Jacob Seasongood, who was engaged in the same business, and they united their capitals under the name of Heidel- bach & Seasongood, and pushed forward with great energy, until their accumulations became so large that in March, 1840, they abandoned peddling and established their cloth- ing house in Cincinnati. Their business grew beyond their expectation, and in 1842 they were compelled to open an-


on a jobbing and retail dry-goods trade. Max and Simon, his brothers, now arrived from Germany, and were admitted as partners in the house, under the firm-name of Ileidel- bach, Seasongood & Co. In 1849 Simon died of cholera. They soon removed their Main street honse to 18 Pearl street, and built a wholesale clothing establishment and warehouse on Front street. They afterwards united their two houses in one at Third and Main streets, where they remained with their usual success until in 1860, when they took possession of the elegant block of buildings which they had erected on Third and Vine streets. In 1862 he be- came associated in the banking house of Espy, Heidelbach & Co., in which he still continues, and which is known as one of the leading private banking firms of the West. After a rarely successful and harmonious partnership ex- tending over thirty years, the firm of Heidelbach, Season- good & Co. was dissolved by mutual consent, Mr. Heidel- bach retiring. His life presents one of the exceptional instances of thrift and money-getting. He is now one of the wealthiest men of Cincinnati. He has, moreover, acquired a good education, and a reputation for business shrewdness, integrity, and strong practical common sense of which he may well be proud. Ile is not behind other wealthy men in a liberal display of public spirit and benev- olence, and will always stand prominent as one of the noteworthy self-made men of the century. January ist, 1840, he was married to Hannah Sweser, whose acquain- tance he had enjoyed in Germany. They had six children. Two died in infancy ; Henrietta is now the wife of Louis Rindskopf, of New York; Louis is in the bank with his father ; Jennie was the wife of Isaac Ickleheimer, of New York; and Ida was recently married at their residence on Fourth street.


OOMIS, BENNET J., Lawyer and Journalist, son of Jonathan and Cynthia (Spencer) Loomis, was born on June 8th, 1831, in Jefferson, Ashtabula county, Ohio. He received a good public school education, and commenced preparatory studies for college in Kingsville Academy, and afterward in Grand River Institute, Austinburg. Ilis health failing here, his studies were discontinued and never resumed. So well had he improved his advantages that when but a boy of seventeen he took charge of a district school, filling the position with entire satisfaction to the people. Ile cast his first vote in 1852 for Franklin Pierce, and in 1853 he estab- lished a Democratic journal in his native town, but was in- duced by the liberality of the citizens of Geneva to remove his office to their village during the following fall. Ile came into public life during the political storm that swept over the country, occasioned by the passage of the Kansas- Nebraska bill by Congress in 1854. Having from strong convictions of duty opposed the act, and his course not


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meeting with the approbation of either of the parties of that | 1837 as Doctor of Philosophy. Having contributed several day, he sold his press, and in 1855 removed to Cleveland. Hle acted as City Editor of the Leader for nearly a year, and subsequently for a short time occupied a similar post- tion on the Plaindealer. He was elected Enrolling Clerk of the Ohio House of Representatives in 1858. . Having read law under the tutorship of Hons. D. K. Cartter and J. J. Elwell, of Cleveland, he was admitted to the bar in 1859, and followed the profession in Cleveland until 1863, during which time (January, 1862,) he was chosen Journal Cleik of the Senate. In 1864-65 he occupied the same position in the House. In 1866, and again in 1872, he was chosen to the Chief Clerkship of the House. He married, October 17th, 1854, Julia E. Slater, of Geneva, Ohio, and she dying in November, 1868, he married, in 1873, Ilallie C. Yoeman (Graham) of Chicago. The Wyandotte Demo- crat, edited by Hon. L. A. Brunner, thus spoke of his public services : " Mr. Loomis was an efficient public officer, as is indicated by the frequency with which he re- ceived the party's indorsement for the different clerkships in the Senate and Ilouse. The readiness and facility with which he despatched business, his extraordinary industry and fidelity, and the untiring vigilance with which he watched over the details of the department over which he had supervision, was without doubt the reason he was so often called to such responsible positions in the Legisla- ture." When the Chronicle was established in Cincinnati, in March, IS68, he was connected with it as one of its editors, and afterwards for some months, in the year 1869, held the position of Washington Correspondent for that paper and the Cleveland Herald and Chicago Post. With only an interval of about sixteen months, above indicated, he has been the Columbus Correspondent on the staff of the Cincinnati Commercial since 1865, and has served in like capacity for the Cleveland Herald since January, 1863. Mr. Loomis is an industrious, active, energetic man, and from long acquaintance with public men, and a knowledge of the political measures that have agitated the public for the last twenty years, is entirely competent to discharge the intricate and laborious duties of Correspondent for two of the leading journals in the State. In politics he is a Re- publican of the strictest sort. Ile is a resident of Colum- hus, a man of family, and a gentleman of standing and integrity. Also a prominent member of the First Baptist Church.


ILIENTIAL, REV. DR. MAX, Rabbi, was born in 1815 in Munich, the capital of Bavaria, and was from boyhood educated for the Jewish min- istry. After completing a course in the high schools, he entered the university of that city, passed with eminence the examinations of the philosophical and theological faculties, and graduated in


scientific articles to the Jewish periodicals of that time, he received in 1839 a call as Director of the Hebrew School to be opened in Riga, Russia. The Russian Embassy of Munich recommended him highly to the Secretaries of the Interior and o. Public Instruction in St. Petersburg, and he was received by them in the most encouraging manner. For his inaugural address at the opening of the new school he was rewarded by the Emperor Nicholas with a costly diamond ring. The school under his direction made such rapid progress that the imperial government ordered him to travel through the seventeen western provinces of the empire, to encourage his co-religionists in opening schools, and to prepare them for the plans inaugurated by the gov- ernment for their better secular instruction. Ile performed this arduous and important mission in 1842, to the entire satisfaction of the Minister of Public Instruction, and was summoned to St. Petersburg as Councillor in this depart- ment. There he stayed until 1845, preparing the plans for primary, intermediate, and IIebrew high schools, and would have remained in the Russian service if Nicholas had not issued some orders tending to the conversion of the Jews to the Greek- Russian Church. To such an undertaking he would not lend a helping hand, as he is an uncompromising advocate of civil and religious liberty. Ile at once resigned his office, left the empire, and sailed with his wife for America. Ile arrived in New York, and was immediately elected Rabbi of three congregations-an office which he resigned for the purpose of opening a Jewish boarding- school. Ile continued at this with great success until the health of his wife failed, and he accepted, in 1855, a unani- mons call as Rabbi of one of the flourishing congregations of Cincinnati, a position which he now occupies. Soon after his arrival in that city he was elected a member of the Public Board of Education. He held that office for four- teen years; introduced in the public schools instruction in object lessons, published a manual for that purpose, and in- troduced other important improvements both in the inter- mechate and high schools. In 1872 he was elected Director of the Board of the Cincinnati University, in whose future success he takes the liveliest interest. IIe has been Director of the City Relief Union since 1861. Ile is widely known as an orator and lecturer, and as such is highly appreciated. Sinee 1874 he assumed the editorship of the Hebrew Sabbath-School Visitor, the only organ of this kind in this country. Ile is at present engaged in prepar- ing for publication several volumes on Jewish theology, besides sermons, poems, and lessons on morals for the public schools. Though a classical scholar, Rabbi Lilien- thal sides with those who advocate the scientific courses of instruction, Progress, liberty, the common Fatherhood of God, and the common brotherhood of men are the leading principles of his life and his writings. Though advanced in years, he is of vigorous health and constitution, and much good may yet be expected of this liberal theologian.


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RAKE, DANIEL, Physician, Professor, and | business, and his affairs had to be wound up. In the sum- Anthor, was born at Plainfickl, Essex county, mer of 1823 he was appointed to a professorship in the Transylvania University, at Lexington. In the winter of 1823-24 he wrote a series of political articles for the Cin- cinnati Gazette, warmly advocating the nomination of Henry Clay for the Presidency. He was a very active pol- itician, but not of the office-seeking class. Ile was a great admirer of Clay and Adams. In 1825 he lad the misior- time to lose his wife, to whom he was devotedly attached. Hle soon after returned to the college at Lexington, but re- signed in the spring of 1826. In 1827 he established the Western Journal of Medical Sciences and the Cincinnati Eye Infirmary. In a very short time he was a well-known writer on medical subjects-a journalist and author of high reputation. After three years in this field he was elected a Professor in the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, and arrived there for the third time. When the cholera epidemic had broken out he had returned to the West, and he was an incessant laborer among its victims. Ile wrote a work about this time entitled "A Practical Treatise on the History, Prevention, and Treatment of Epidemic Cholera." In 1835 he became interested in the construction of the Cincinnati & Charleston Railway. Ile originated the scheme. Ile also took steps to reorganize the Medical College of Ohio. A few years later he removed to Louis- ville, and in 1849 was called again to a chair in the Medi- cal College of Ohio. Ile was cut off in the midst of his labors here, dying November 5th, 1852, after an illness of about a fortnight. ITis last appearance in public was at a mceting to honor the memory of Daniel Webster. His life had been one of varied labor and much hardship, but he ever maintained an attachment for the purest of principles, and his intimates say that he was never possessed of a single vice. Although he was long poor, he paid his debts to the uttermost farthing, and " pay what thou owest " was with him a golden maxim. New Jersey, October 20th, 1785. Three years later Ohio was settled, and his parents at this time emigrated to Kentucky, settling at Mayslick. Until the age of fifteen he underwent the rudest experiences of back woods life. At this period he moved to Cincinnati and became a medical student under Dr. Wil- liam Goforth, who was the first to introduce vaccination in the West. Here his good manners and easy address ad- mitted him into the best society, but he never allowed the conviviality of the times to interfere with the ambition of his life. Ile was the first student of medicine in Cincin- nati. In 1804 he became a partner in the business of his preceptor, which was that of apothecary as well as physi- cian. But the business was not successful from a pecuniary view, and after experiencing many hardships, in 1805 the pupil moved to Philadelphia to attend a course of lectures in the leading university there. He had just sufficient means to gain admission, being left with a single cent after paying his expenses. In the spring of 1806 he returned to Cincinnati, and a year Inter he succeeded to the business of his old preceptor, who had gone to Louisiana. IIe at once entered upon successful practice, and in the autumn of 1807 was married to Harriet Sisson, niece of Colonel Jared Mansfield, then Surveyor General of the United States for the Northwest Territory. This union lasted eighteen years, and was an eminently happy one. At this time he began those researches which made him a writer and a savant. With an ardent enthusiasm he entered into the investigation of the trace of an ancient civilization in the Ohio valley. Ilis researches into the botany of the Miami valley were also very valuable. In 1810 he published a pamphlet entitled " Notices of Cincinnati ; its Topography, Climate, and Diseases." The success of this work, though but a small edition was issued, led to his more elaborate and complete " Picture of Cincinnati and the Miami Country," in 1815. This work is now very rare and highly valued. In ist4 he associated his brother Benjamin with ITT, STILLMAN, Railroad President and Capital- ist, was born in Worcester county, Massachusetts, January 4th, 1SOS. Ilis father being poor, he received only a common school education. When thirteen years of age he was taken to Troy, New York, where he. was employed to run a skiff ferry at ten dollars per month. Canvoss White, of the United States Engineer Corps, crossed the ferry often, and, sur- prised by the interest he manifested in construction, ob- tained permission from the boy's father to educate him in his own profession. Ile was soon able to master the prin- ciples of engineering and to apply them. IIle was then sent by his friend and employer to take charge of the Cohoes Manufacturing Company. Ile surveyed and laid out the village and arranged the water power. This work accomplished, he was despatched to construct the bridge across the Susquehanna at the mouth of the Juniata river. him as a partner, and added the business of grocer to that of druggist. He was also much interested in the Lancaster Seminary, which was the original foundation of the Cincin- nati College. After his "Picture of Cincinnati" was published he again visited Philadelphia to attend a course of lectures, accompanied by his wife. In May, 1816, he returned to his home, being the first resident of Cincinnati to receive a diploma from the East. He now increased his business, his father becoming a member of the firm. In 1817 he accepted a professorship in the medical college at Lexington, Kentucky, and soon after entered upon his long and distinguished carcer as a public teacher of medi- cine. In 1818 he devised the plan of the Cincinnati Col- luge, the Medical College, and the Commercial Hospital. The Medical College of Ohio became an established fact in 1820. In the next two years he met with reverses in


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lle then went to Louisville, where he spent a year and a | he was elected President of the Bellefontaine & Indiana half in building the Louisville & Portland Canal. Still re- Railroad, and retained that position until the consolidation. Besides his position on the directory of the different mail. roads in which he was interested, he was Director of the Second National and Commercial National Banks of Cleve- land, and President of the Sun Insurance Company, Union Steel Screw Company, and Cleveland Box Machine Com- pany. Ile was justly ranked among benevolent, publie- spirited citizens of Cleveland, and deservedly enjoyed the esteem and gratitude of the community at large. Integrity and industry were leading traits in his character. Ile died at sea, April 29th, 1875, while on his way to Europe for the benefit of his health. lle was married in June, IS34, to Eliza A. Douglass, of Albany. Of his two surviving daugh ters, Mary was married to Daniel P. Eclls, of Cleveland, and Emma to Colonel W. Il. Harris, of the United States army. taining his connection with Mr. White, he removed to Albany, where he became Agent of the Hudson River Steamboat Association. Subsequently he was appointed Manager of the Albany & Boston R.alroad Company, and retained the position eight years. Ile then visited Cleve- land, where efforts were being put forth to construct a rail- road to Columbus. There were difficulties in the way of finding experienced builders who would contract to build the road and take the greater part of their pay in stock. Finally the firm of Harbach, Stone & Witt was formed for building the road. The road was completed and opened in 1851. A contract for the construction of the Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula was then made, and the road fin- ished by Stone & Witt after the death of Mr. Harbach. The same firm next constructed the Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad, and operated it some time after its completion. Hle was at different times chosen Director in the Michigan Southern ; Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis; OYT, FRANCIS SOUTHACK, A. M., D. D., Editor of the Western Christian Advocate, and one of the most scholarly, enthusiastic, and suc- cessful business ministers in the Methodist Epis- eopal Church, was born November 5th, 1822, in Lindon, Vermont. His father, Benjamin R. Hoyt, who died at the age of eighty-four, was one of the pioneer preachers of Methodism in the New England States, was at one time Presiding Elder over the greater part of those States, and one of the Trustees of Wesleyan University at the time his sons were students in that institu- tion. Dr. Hoyt is brother to Benjamin Thomas Hoyt, A. M., deceased, late Professor of Latin, Belles Lettres, and History in Asbury University, at Greencastle, Indiana ; also brother of Colonel Albert Harrison Hoyt, editor of the " New England Historical and Genealogieal Register." These brothers are graduates of the Wesleyan University, at Middletown, Connecticut, the subject of this sketch graduating in the class of 1844. In 1847 he received the degree of Master of Arts from that college. Dr. Hoyt's early years were spent on his father's farm. Here he worked and prepared for college. At the age of seventeen he commenced his college career. Two years after his graduation Dr. Hloyt entered the ministry, preaching and continuing to teach until 1850, when, under the auspices of the mission society of the church, he was sent to Oregon to. take charge of the school at Salem. After the Indians passed away the old mission school was converted into a select institution for the incoming civilized tide. This was soon known as the Oregon Institute, and during Dr. Hoyt's connection with it it developed into the Willamette Uni- versity. It now has a medical and law department, and is the most successful educational institution on the Pacific. Here Dr. Hoyt remained until 1860, being elected Presi- dent in 1854, and, filling this office until he was called to represent the Oregon Conference in the General Conference Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula ; Chicago & Milwaukee, and Bellefontaine & Indiana Railroad Companies. He had large investments in the last-named road, but for a long time it was unremunerative, and it was only by his great efforts that it did not go into bankruptey. The stock was unsalable at any price ; but he had faith in its final success, and his faith and works were finally rewarded, as the stock rose considerably above par. Subsequently it was consoli- dated with the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad. John Brough had been made President of the company, and was his trusted aid in carrying out his measures. In 1863 the political situation in Ohio was very grave, the sympa- thizers with the secession war having become numerous and defiant. He urged Mr. Brough-who had been a very prominent Democrat, but had abandoned politics in disgust-to accept the nomination for Governor of the Union party, and offered to perform his duties in the rail- road company and transfer the salary to Mr. Brough, who was too poor to sacrifice his position for the inadequately paid office of Governor. The promise to Mr. Brongh was kept, and in every way possible he manifested his regard for him. On the death of Governor Brough, in 1865, which occurred in Cleveland, he took charge of his de- ecased friend's affairs, and the $20,000 which he had orig- inally given to Governor Brough became, by careful man- agement for his family, upwards of $66,000. The affection of these two men for each other was strong and lasting. Not less so was the regard in which he held, and was held by, the late Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton. He was active in aiding Stanton and giving him moral and material encouragement when he greatly needed both in his onerons position. When Stanton retired from office, broken down in health and spirits, and poor in purse, he forced upon him a gift of $5000, that he might find much-needed rest and reenperation in travel. On the death of Governor Brough




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