USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 39
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" white seed " in addition to personal visits and counsel to growers in new districts. Ile is now engaged in a most interesting experiment, having for its object the extension of the territory in which cutting tobacco may be grown. This experiment is in connection with an enterprising ent- ting house in Dayton, and is an effort to introduce and grow the Mason county white tobacco in a district of Ohio on the Miami and Mlad rivers, adjacent to Dayton and Miamisburg, and hitherto devoted entirely to the growth of Ohio seed leaf. At the same time he desires to demon- strate the fact that by growing and curing this Ohio seed leaf in the same manner as the Mason county tobacco is grown and cured, that it will be just as good for cutting as the Mason county variety. This is a very important move- ment, and he, with his friends, have largely invested in this enterprise. Ile has received many evidences of the esteem in which he is held, and the value of his labors, by being chosen, as long as he desired to hold the position, Vice- President of the Tobacco Board of Trade. Hle is a mem- ber of the Council of Covington, and Chairman of the Finance Committee of that body; and is also a member of the School Board of that city. Ile holds at present the position of President of the Covington, Flemingsburg & Pound Gap Railroad Company-a very important line, penetrating the coal fields of Kentucky, and a road which will add mach to the wealth of that section and the region through which it passes. He is unceasing in his efforts in its behalf, and if it is a success it will be mainly due to his exertions. In personal appearance he is about five feet eleven inches high, of dark complexion, black hair, flat and rather loosely built, with a shambling, striding gait in his walk, and indifferent as to his apparel. He is of a modest and somewhat retiring disposition, of unceasing energy and tireless industry ; hopeful in his temper of mind; enthusias- tie in his advocacy of new measures; of the strictest integ. rity; prompt to adopt new ideas, and always ready and willing to back his views with his labor and capital. Of positive opinions, and tenacious in adhering to them, he is sometimes unfortunate in offending by speech, without the remotest intention of doing so. He is a good friend, liberal in his charities to the poor and his donations to the church; possesses a kind heart, and is a good husband, father, and citizen, and one of whom the leaf tobacco trade of Cincinnati may well feel proud.
his brother, Dr. Alfred Bergen. Ile attended two courses of lectures in the Berkshire Medical College, at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and also one course at the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons, in New York city. Having become a private pupil of Professor Alouzo Clark, he accompanied the latter to Woodstock, Vermont, in the spring of 1848, and in the month of June of the same year received a diploma and the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Vermont Medical College. In the course of the following autumn he also received a diploma from the Berkshire Medical College. Ile commenced the practice of his pro- fession at North Bay, Oneida county, New York State, July 15th, 1848, where he remained seven years, and then re- moved to Toledo, Ohio, where he has since resided. Ilis political sentiments were originally those of the old Whig party, and since its disintegration he has allied himself with the Republicans. In 1861 he was elected Coroner of Lucas county, and re-elected in 1863 and 1864, serving in that office for four years. At present he is a member of the Board of Health ; he is also a member of the Toledo Medi- cal Association, and President of the Toledo Mutual Life Insurance Company. He was married, November 28th, 1860, to Mary S. Lalor, of Trenton, New Jersey.
'ARRIS, JOSEPH ALBERT, Journalist, born in Becket, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, January 15th, 1808. Ile was early taught industrious, studions, truthful habits. In 1818 his parents removed to the Connecticut Western Reserve, and built a log cabin in the sparsely settled woods of the lake region, thirty nfiles from Cleveland. Until near twenty years of age he assisted in clearing and cultivating a farm, the site of the flourishing village of North Amherst. His educational advantages were the district winter school, the few books brought from the East, and the Weekly Cleveland Herald. The books and paper were studied by the evening fire, fed by hickory bark, or the primitive lamp of the settlers. When seventeen years of age he taught in the log school-house near his father's farm, at ten dollars per month and " boarded around," and for three winters continued to teach in other districts at but a slight advance in pay. At twenty he entered a law office in Elyria and began the study of law. In one year he gave up law for the position of Constable and Deputy Sheriff. On the death of the Sheriff he was appointed to fill the vacancy, and then elected and re-elected to that office. In 1832, in partnership with two printers, he purchased the defunct Lorain Gazette, and started the Ohio Atlas and Elyria Ad- vertiser, Mr. Harris being the editor. Before the close of his second official year as Sheriff he accepted an offer of $300 per year, without board, with a prospect of much travel in the Sonth, and sold the Atlas, resigned his office,
ERGEN, SYMMES HENRY, M. D., Physician, was born, July 15th, 1826, near Princeton, New Jersey, and is a son of Christopher Bergen, an officer in the war of 1812. Ilis paternal grand- father was an officer in the revolutionary army. Hle received a thorough classical education in a private collegiate school in Freehold, New Jersey, and sub- sequently, in 18444, commenced the study of medicine with and removed to Columbus. At one time he was tempted to
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purchase a plantation stocked with negroes; but after in- in 1847 was elected Mayor. Those were the only official vestigating the system he concluded it would be better to "positions he ever held in Cleveland. During the session of 1856-57 he was the Reporting Clerk of the Ohio House of Representatives. He was frequently a delegate to con- ventions. Ile was a member of the Presidential Conven- tions which nominated General Winfield Scott and John C. Fremont. Early in his term of office as Sheriff of Lorain county, he married Esther M. Race, who was a native of Berkshire county, Massachusetts. They began housekeep- ing in the log county jail. She has proved a true wife and helpineet-an active and devoted friend of the poor, the sick, the orphan-and was engaged in the woman's sanitary work for the soldiers of the Union during the war of the rebellion. To her Mr. Harris attributes much of the suc- cess and happiness of his life. Four sons and a daughter were born to them. saw wood in free Ohio than to accept the plantation, negroes and all, as a present. In 1837 be removed to Cleveland and became proprietor, with the late Judge Whittlesey, of the Herald-the Daily Herald and W'hig, rival papers, had been consolidated in one journal. At the end of the first year Judge Whittlesey became so discour- aged by the ill success that he withdrew and left Mr. Harris sole proprietor. He had a hard struggle during that finan- cial crisis, but with his new rule-pay as you go -- he soon paid off the old debts, and the Herald had money in bank. Ile allowed no husband to advertise his absent wife, warn- ing the public not to trust her; masters were not allowed to advertise their runaway slaves; and quack medical notices of a vicious tendeney were carefully excluded. In reading matter, only that which he would read aloud in the pres- ence of his daughter and ladies was admitted. Ile pub- G UDSON, IION. JOIIN II., Grain Dealer and Senator from the Thirtieth District of Ohio, was born, July 5th, 1824, in Auburn, New York, and is the son of Emmanuel D. and Margaret ( Boyd) Hudson, his father being a produce dealer and a contractor on the public works of the State. lle was educated in the common schools of his native city, completing his studies in the higher academy. When twenty years of age he began the study of law ; but becom- ing dissatisfied, withdrew after a short time, to accept the position of Conductor on the Auburn & Syracuse Railroad, where he was so occupied for about three years. Subse- quently, in 1852, he became the Assistant Superintendent of the Buffalo & Erie Railroad, and finally General Super- intendent of the same, continuing therein until 1856. In the autumn of the last-named year he accepted the position of Superintendent of the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad -now known as the Cincinnati & Sandusky Railroad- which he retained until the spring of 1861. In the same year he contracted with the United States government to ship Indian goods to all the Western reservations, and was engaged in that service for two years thereafter. In 1863 he was appointed a special agent of the United States Treasury Department, and held the same for one year. He was next commissioned, in 1864, Collector of the Customs for the port of Norfolk, Virginia, which had been reopened for business, and remained in that office until July, 1865, when he was appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue at Richmond, in the same State. Hle held that position until January, 1870, wlien he removed to his old home at San- dusky, Ohio, and engaged in the grain trade, in which he is still largely interested. He was elected, on the Demo- cratic ticket, in 1873, to the State Senate, and during his service in that body has been a member of many important committees, including those of Manufactures and Com- merce, Railroads and Turnpikes, Finance, Benevolent lished free all marriages, deaths, obituaries, religious, society, benevolent, temperance, Masonic, Odd Fellow, and in short, all notices of public interest, including political meetings, conventions, and nominations of all parties; and also sent a free copy to the clergy of every denomination. This original, liberal policy endeared the Herald to the public and made its success permanent. In 1850 Mr. A. W. Fairbanks, of the Toledo Blade, removed to Cleveland and became joint owner of the Herald by adding a job office, and took charge of the business and printing depart- ments in the firm of Harris & Fairbanks. In the spring of 1853 Mr. George A. Benedict became one of the proprie- tors and associate editor of the Herald. The paper was thus owned and edited until the senior partner withdrew from the concern. At the close of the war of the rebellion Mr. Harris dissolved his long connection with the press. HIis characteristics were industry, sound judgment, and in- flexible integrity. Early in life, when it was fashionable for every one to drink whiskey, wine, and beer, Mr. Harris resolved to never taste again anything which intoxicates. This pledge he always kept sacredly. Soon he abandoned tobacco in all its forms; and later, tea and coffee were dis. carded. As he looks back over his happy, healthful life, nothing gives him more satisfaction than the thought that he has been able to keep this pledge of his boyhood, and to set the example of total abstinence to all the young people of his acquaintance. After withdrawing from the Herald he secured a tract of land a few miles west of Cleveland, on Lake Cliff, and soon. had it under cultivation. Choice table grapes have been a specialty, and he has been hon- ored with many first premiums. In the Cincinnati Indus- trial Exposition of 1872 he took all the principal premiums on hardy grapes. Sixty-three varieties were exhibited, and were pronounced the finest and largest collection ever shown in Ohio. Of his crop of 1874, more than thirty-four tons of grapes, for table use, were sold by a commission house in Detroit. In 1846 he was an Alderman of Cleveland, and Institutions, State Buildings, and is the Chairman of the
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Committee on Corporations other than municipal. Al- though filling so large a number of positions, he has never been a secher of office; his well-known ability of ad- ministration and supervision being recognized, he was ap- pointed to the several public stations without solicitation on his part. He was married, October, 1852, to Elizabeth A., daughter of the Reverend Samuel G. Orton, D. D., of Chautauqua, New York, and is the parent of but one child, Henry F. Hudson. Mr. Hudson was re-elected to the State Senate of Ohio in 1875, on the Democratic ticket, for two years, although his party was in a minority. He was again appointed on the Finance Committee, and also on those of Currency, Library, Manufactures and Commerce, Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Ilome, Schools for Imbecile Youth, and Temperance.
ATHAWAY, WILLIAM E., Author and Leeturer, was born, August 23d, 1844, at Milan, Erie county, Ohio, his parents being Caleb and Rachel (Wood) Hathaway. His father was a native of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the son of a sea- captain, and received his education in Philadel- phin, residing there for several years before removing to Ohio, where he settled on the Western Reserve; his mother was a native of the State of New York. Caleb Hathaway was of English descent, and was a man of very considerable culture and of great refinement, added to sound judgment. He was deeply interested in everything pertaining to the cause of education and the social advancement of the com- munity. From him his son inherited his studious habits and literary tastes. William was the youngest of nine children. When he was seven years of age his father died, leaving to his family a comfortable estate. Three years thereafter Mrs. Hathaway married again, her second hus- band being, although a gentleman of respectability and ample means, widely different in character and habits from her first husband. William went to his step-father's home to reside, and remained there for three years. Ilis change of home and surroundings appears to have been disadvan- tageous to him, and at the end of three years, being then thirteen years old, he left his step father's home, and returned to Milan, where he lived with an elder brother. He worked with his brother on his farin, assisting in the work of clearing new and heavily timbered land, giving mean- while as much of his time as possible to reading, of which he was always passionately fond. Heretofore his winters had been devoted to attendance upon district school, but now he was enabled to avail himself of the advantages of an excellent normal school at Milan. The course of study here, together with one year at a high school, conducted by the Society of Friends, at Adrian, Michigan, comprised his opportunities in the way of school education. It had been his purpose to pursue a collegiate course, but this was ren- dered impossible by the death of his brother. In the spring
of 1863 he went to Chicago, and entered the grocery store of another brother there. He had little taste for this busi- ness, however, and before very long became employed in the insurance business. In 1866 he found an occupation con- genial to his tastes, and in some measure suited to his liter- ary talents, in the publication of the Herald of Peace. This was a semi-monthly paper, designest to be in some sense the organ of the Society of Friends, of which body he is still a member. The publication was continued for two years, but, although the paper was well received and was acknowl- edged by all as a valuable publication, it was pecuniarily unprofitable, and hence it was discontinued. In the mean- time he continued to prosceute his studies, particularly his literary studies, with much zeal, and employed private tutors to instruct him in the languages, both ancient and modern, a practice which he has continued for several years. After three years of such unecasing labor and study, his over- taxed strength gave way, and for another period of three years he was obliged to rest from all serious cxertion. Ile read much in the interval, however, and did a very consid- crable amount of writing, mostly relating to social science, prison reform, etc. He had prepared a great deal of manu- script with a view to the publication of a volume, when the great Chicago fire occurred, and all his manuscript and notes were swept away. After the fire he removed to Cincinnati, where he entered upon literature as a profession, connecting himself in the meantime with the Children's Home of that city, and conducting for the institution a small monthly pub- lication. Hlis literary work has been voluminous and com- prehensive, embracing fiction and poetry as well as a large variety of special articles contributed to the daily press, and no small amount of service as a reporter and correspondent. As a lecturer he is perhaps better known than as a writer, and his frequent addresses, particularly on temperance and in behalf of charitable enterprises, have been able and effec- tive. Ile regards himself as still merely a student, and studies as earnestly as ever to prepare himself for the work his ambition aims at. Ile has been twice married. In 1866 he married Hannah Roberts, of Lafayette, Indiana. She died about three years later, and in February, 1874, he married Martha T. Ashley, of Milan, Ohio.
IIEELER, LVMAN, was born in Winhall, Ver- mont, August 11th, 1804. He was the son of Beriah Wheeler, a native of England, who came to this country in early life and settled at Win- hall. Lyman was one of cleven children, six boys and five girls. Ilis boyhood was passed at home, working on his father's farm in summer and attend- ing the district school during the winter months. In this district school he laid the foundation of an education upon which he continued to build during the succeeding years of his life. Ile taught school for one winter, while yet a boy,
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and at the age of sixteen entered college at Litchfield, Con. | necticut. Ile maintained himself and defrayed the expenses of his collegiate course by teaching school during his vaca- tions. At the age of twenty he had completed his collegiate course. With a good education, energy, determination, and the strong impulse of necessity as his capital, he set out to battle with the world. Ile went to Buffalo, New York, where he was variously employed until 1832, when he de- termined to go into business on his own account. IIc opened a book and stationery store in Buffalo, and in this continued until 1835, when, having been impressed with the advantages which the West offered to industrious young men, he closed up a business which is supposed to have been remunerative, and removed to Toledo, Ohio. While in Buffalo Mr. Wheeler had earned an enviable reputation as a man of systematie business habits and an upright eiti- zen. Ile invested in Buffalo real estate to good advantage. When he settled in Toledo (then l'ort Lawrence) the town was small and of comparatively new birth. Ile felt, how. ever, that advantageous location, with the development of the tributary country, gave promise of a prosperous future, and he made haste to identify himself with its interests. ยท Soon after his arrival he bought real estate, including the lot at the corner of Monroe and St. Clair streets, where the Wheeler Opera House now stands. Ile also associated himself with a Mr. Law, and opened a small rectifying es- tablishment on the corner of Perry and Swan streets. At the end of one year the firm of Wheeler & Law was dissolved, Mr. Wheeler conducting the business alone for the next two years. In 1835 he purchased a lot on Monroe street, on which he built a store and two small dwellings, where, in partnership with Mr. Charles A. Crane, he carried on in the store a grocery and rectifying trade. In IS40 he again thought it well to do business exclusively on his own ac- count, and accordingly bought Mr. Crane's interest. In 1843 he formed a copartnership with Mr. Mathias Boos, of Toledo, which continued for about twenty-two years. The new firm opened a ship chandlery store on the dock near Jefferson street. This they sold out at the end of five years and tinned their attention to rectifying. They did a large business and prospered. In a few years they built the Brick Block, on Monroe street, Toledo, which they ocen- pied till 1865. Years of hard work were beginning to tell upon a frame on which disease had already fastened itself. Mr. Wheeler therefore thought it wise to dissolve the part- nership with Mr. Boos, and associate with himself his son, under the firm-name of L. Wheeler & Son. At the end of a year the business was sold to Mr. Boos, and Mr. Wheeler sought rest and relief after an active and busy life. The dis- ease which had slowly but surely been wearing his life away developed into cancer of the liver. Though at times suf. fering intensely, he bore hi- ills with patience and fortitude, until death came to bring a final release. He passed away September 27th, 1867. Hlis remains rest in Forest Ceme- tery, Toledo. He was married at Chicago, August 25th, I mission and grocery business in connection with A. Labrot.
1836, to Maria L. Aikin, who was one of his pupils while he taught school in Oswego, New Vork. Of this mion were born nine children, three of whom, together with their mother, still live. Ilelen, the elder daughter, is the wife of Mr. Louis Wachenheimer, of Toledo. Sarah Mande- ville, the younger daughter, resides with her mother in the family mansion, built by Mr. Wheeler in 1860. The son, Robert Jeffrey, born in Toledo, September 25th, 1843, has for several years been a member of the firm of Thomas & Wheeler, lumber dealers. Although actively engaged in business all his life, Mr. Wheeler found time to cultivate an innate literary taste, and those social graces which made him a courted companion. Ile was fond of the English poets, and gave much of his leisure time to Shakespeare. To commemorate his love for the dramatic bard of Avon, his heirs erected in 1870 the Wheeler Opera Ilouse, at a cost of $125,000. It is a handsome structure and elegantly fitted, and stands on the site of his old store. As a member for several successive years of the Toledo City Council, his fellow-citizens bear testimony to his faithful service. As a Director of the First National Bank of Toledo, from the time of its organization to the day of his death, he proved himself a careful and safe adviser. In social and in business circles Mr. Wheeler's upright character, kindly disposition, and suavity of manner, were conspicuous and attractive traits. Ilis friend and partner for twenty-two years told the story of his life in brief when he said, " No courts would be needed if all men were like Lyman Wheeler." It is worthy of note, as bearing additional testimony to the high confidence and esteem which Mr. Wheeler enjoyed, that, from the financial crash of 1837-38 until 1840, the checks of Wheeler & Crane were more readily accepted than the notes of any bank in Toledo Mr. Wheeler's memory is held in tender regard by the large circle of friends which he drew to him in life.
DAE, CARL, F., Banker, of Cincinnati, was born in Geislingen, Wurtemberg, March 12th, 1815. lle received a fair education at Goppingen, and at the age of fourteen was apprenticed to a mer- chant at Stuttgardt in a dry-goods business. After completing his apprenticeship according to the strict nsages of Germany, he determined to try his fortunes in America. Accordingly in 1836, at the age of twenty- one, he started for this country, and during the same year landed in Cincinnati, where he continued to reside until his death. After arriving in Cincinnati, he employed himself at first in teaching the German language. But his inclina- tions lay wholly in a mercantile direction, and hence on the first opportunity he entered a store as a clerk. For a few years he engaged in various businesses; among others was bookkeeper in the store of Joshua Yorke, and in the Com- mercial Bank. Finally, in 1846, he started a general com-
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This connection continued many years, and was marked by the greatest prosperity. In 1848 he was appointed Consul at Cincinnati tor Wurtemberg, and afterwards filled the con. sulate successively for Bavaria, Baden, Prussia, and finally for the remaining German powers. These consulships he filled without interruption from 1848 to 1868, probably a longer time than such office has ever been hekl by another in the history of these affairs. In 1857 he organized the "German Savings Institution," or bank; and remained President and Manager of this until his death, March 28th, ISOS. Under his management the institution became one of the most substantial, beneficial and successful banking establishments of its kind in the country. Under his sue- cessors it remains one of the most reliable and flourishing houses of the city. Mr. Adae was married to Ellen Woods, of Cincinnati. Ile left a large family, of whom his oldest son, Charles A. Adae, an energetic young business man, is partner in the banking house established by his father. Two other sons are also engaged in the same house. Mr. Adae was of the more scholarly and better class of business men, extremely methodical and economical, and with the great faculty of thrift characteristic of his nationality, he managed to amass a comfortable fortune. He ranked as one of the most thorough, active and successful business men of Cincinnati, and besides leaving to his family a compe- "tency, he left them a private and business reputation of which they may well be proud.
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