The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2, Part 45

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 45


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century of work in his profession brought him a fair compe- tency ; not so directly from his camings-which alone will make a conscientious and faithful physician rich-but much of what he gathered together resulted from a habit he stead- ily adhered to of buying real estate whenever his accumula- tions warranted an investment. His warmly sympathetic disposition made him generous not only in giving, but also in a charity practice, a large amount of attention having been given the poor without charge. He was married, 1828, to Amelia Roe, sister of the late Charles Roc and of Mrs. Josiah Lawrence, and there were born to him six sons and two daughters, all of whom survive him. Hle died in Cincinnati, August 16th, 1874.


ONES, WILLIAM FRANCIS, Boot and Shoe- maker, was born, August 12th, 1824, in Nash county, North Carolina, of American parentage. When but five years of age he was indentured to learn the trade of a shoemaker, and worked until he attained his majority. He then commeneed business for himself, his eash capital being fifty cents, and his tools consisting only of a hammer, a pair of pineers, a peg awl, a sewing awl, and a knife. From this small be. ginning he has prospered and gained a comfortable liveli. hood, beside having laid by a store for the "rainy day." In 1858 he removed to Cleveland, where he has ever since resided. During the war of the rebellion he served one year and was honorably discharged. Hle has always been Republican in political feeling, but has never held a public office of any kind. In religious belief he is a Methodist. He was converted at the age of twenty-four, and up to that time had never heard a sermon preached. Soon after his arrival in Cleveland he engaged earnestly in the cause of religion, and was a zealous laborer in the field before him, insomuch that the church asked for his promotion. Ile was accordingly ordained a Deacon by the Annual Conference, at Columbus, April 30th, 1868. He was married, May 22d, 1847, to Malindia Mayo, of North Carolina.


ILLER, SAMUEL A., Lawyer, Geologist, and Scientist, was born, August 28th, 1837, in Cool- ville, Athens county, Ohio. After a due course of preparatory education, and the requisite study of the law, he was admitted to the bar, at Cincin- nati, in April, 1860. Ile at once commenced the practice of his profession in that city, which has since be- come both extensive and lucrative. Few advocates stand so high in the estimation of their professional brethren and the community as to business integrity and private charac- ter as himself and his brother, 1. J. Miller, being often termed by their brethren of the bar par nobile fratrum lle has annotated and prepared for the press the entire


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statutes and laws of Ohio, a work covering 3600 pages. ] a cheerful disposition, and while practising at the bar and IIe is the author of the resolution to exclude the Bible and while sitting on the bench was often in the habit of telling little anecdotes which made judge, jury, and prisoners smile. He died while holding the position of President Judge of the Fourteenth Judicial District. His miany vir- tues in private and professional life, his dignity of character, and his unostentatious manner, endeared hint to a very large circle of professional and lay friends. religions instruction from the public schools of Cincinnati, so that these schools may be free and equal to all children alike. As a member of the Board of Education, he intro- duced the above named resolution in September, 1869, and it was adopted on November Ist in the same year. The Superior Court of Cincinnati enjoined the enforcement of the rule, but the Supreme Court of Ohio reversed the action of the lower court, since which time it has been enforced in the public schools, and is now universally regarded as a permanent regulation. In January, 1874, he commenced the publication of the "Cincinnati Quarterly Journal of Science." He has written several monographs on the sub- ject of the lower Silurian fossils in and about Cincinnati, described many new species, and formed some new genera. In April, 1875, he was elected President of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History. He is quite well known as an original discoverer in geological and paleontological mat- ters.


ILLEV, HON. JOHN WHEELOCK, Lawyer and Legislator, was born in New Hampshire in 1797, and died in Cleveland, Ohio, in June, 1841. Ile received a good preparation for col- lege, and then was sent to Dartmouth, where he was under the special care of President Wheel- ock, for whom he had been named. After graduating he went to New York to complete his studies of the legal pro- fession. In 1822, after being admitted to the bar to prac- tise, he started for the West and settled in Cleveland, then a small but thriving village. In the sharp struggle for reputation and fortune between the many able lawyers then at the bar of northern Ohio, he more than held his own, and soon gained an enviable position, In 1827 he was elected to represent Cuyahoga county in the House of Representa- tives of Ohio, where he served his constituents ably for three years. He was then chosen a Senator for Ohio, which office he held for three years, and closed his legisla- tive career in 1832. On leaving the Senate he resumed the practice of his profession nutil 1836, when he was elected the first Mayor of Cleveland. The term being for only one year, he was re-elected by a very large majority. The original laws and ordinances of the city government he drafted, and they proved, when reduced to practice, com- prehensive and effective. Before the financial distress of 1837 he was actively interested in the original schemes for the construction of railroads from Cleveland to Columbus and Pittsburgh. In 1840 he was appointed Judge, and on the bench exhibited strong memory, power of analysis, promptness of decision, and strict impartiality. His instruc- tions to juries were models of addresses, as he always made every point clear, and without wearying his listeners always placed them in possession of every fact. He was always of


ECK, HON. HIRAM DAVID, Lawyer, and City Solicitor of Cincinnati, was born in Harrison county, Kentucky, March 23d, 1841. ITis pater- nal ancestors are from an old Vermont family, while his mother springs from the early settlers of Virginia. Having received bis preparatory education at the High School of his native county, he en- tered the sophomore class at the Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, whence he graduated in 1862. In May of that year he, with his fellow-students, formed a company of volunteers, which was placed under the command of Pro- fessor MeFarland, and became Company A, 86th Ohio Volunteers. They served in West Virginia until Septem- ber following, when, their term of enlistment having expired, he returned to find his home in the possession of the rebels. They were shortly afterward driven from that portion of the State, and he returned home, where he was appointed by Hon. Salmon P. Chase, then Secretary of the Treasury, Assistant Assessor of Internal Revenue for his district. During his occupancy of this office he studied law under the direction of Hon. W. W. Trimble, of Cynthiana, Ken- tucky, and was admitted to the Dar at Lexington, Kentucky, in August, 1864. Ile resigned the Assistant Assessorship in September, 1864, and matriculated at the Ilarvard Law School, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, whence he graduated LL. B. in the summer of 1865. Ile remained at his home in Cynthiana until the spring of 1865, when he engaged in practice in Cincinnati. Ile was prominently named before the Republican Convention for the Legislative nomination in 1871, but he declined. Being a delegate to the Repub- lican State Convention in 1872, he moved to strike out the resolution indorsing Grant for the Presidency, and warmly discussed the matter. He joined the Liberal movement, and was a member of the National Liberal Republican Convention, at Cincinnati, which nominated Horace Greeley. Ile became one of the leading spirits in the exciting campaign which followed, and by a coalition with the Democrats for the campaign, they, by indefatigable efforts, carried Hamilton county for Greeley. In the spring of 1873 he was nominated by the Liberals and Democrats for City Solicitor, against J. W. Warrington, Republican. In the election which followed his competitor received a majority of 36 in a vote of 32,000; but to avoid a contest the matter was compromised by his appointment as First


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Assistant to Mr. Warrington. When the latter was suc-| ceeded, in April, 1875, by Hon. Robert O. Strong, Mr. Peck was retained in the position which he had filled so ably and acceptably. On January 8th, 1875, Mr. Strong died, and Mr. Peck was unanimously nominated by the Democrats to fill the vacancy. Shortly afterwards the Ke- publican committee met and refused to put any candidate in the field against him, and he was elected almost without any opposition at the special election held on the 22d of January following. He was married, November 18th, 1868, to Har- riet E., daughter of George M. Weld, of Boston, Massachu- setts, and has two children.


ARNETT, GENERAL JAMES, Merchant and Soldier, was born, June 21st, 1821, in Cherry Valley, Otsego county, New York, and is the son of Melancthon Barnett, who removed with his family to Cleveland when James was but four years of age. In his childhood he attended the common schools of the city, and subsequently entered a hard- ware store. In a few years he was admitted to partnership in the hardware firm of George Worthington & Co., where he remained many years. He always was interested in the military organizations of the city and State. Of an artillery company, organized in Cleveland in 1840, he was a member more than eighteen years, until a change in the law govern- ing military organizations, when this company became the Ist Regiment Light Artillery, Ohio Volunteer Militia, and he was chosen Colonel. In 1860 this regiment tendered its services to the Governor of Ohio and was accepted. Within five days after the fall of Fort Sumter this regiment was ordered to the river boundary fronting West Virginia. In two days it was in Marietta preparing to go into camp. After a month in that encampment it was ordered to cross the river into Virginia. A detachment with two guns crossed to Parkersburg, and Colonel Burnett took the remainder over at Benwood and proceeded to Grafton, where he awaited the arrival of the detachment, which passed up the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Philippi. This regiment took an active part in the fight there, it being noted as the first artillery fired in the field by the United States forces during the war of the rebellion. The regiment was reunited in season to take part in the attack on the rebels at Laurel 1 lill, and the enemy fled before it. A detachment with two guns pursued the rebels two days through a terrible rain and over almost impassable mountain roads, which the foe had obstructed with felled trees. The pursuit ended at Carrick's Ford, where the rebels made a stand, but were quickly driven from their position with the loss of one gun, which was taken to Cleveland as a trophy. At the close of this campaign Colonel Barnett was ordered to report to General MeClellan at Beverly, where a consultation was had on taking the artillery up the Kanawha to attack General Wise. I in an independent capacity. Later he was made Brigadier-


But the regiment had never been recognized by the United States, as it had thus far acted under the orders of the State of Ohio, and its services in Virginia were considered neces- sary for the safety of Ohio. Their position was now some- what doubtful, as there was no longer an excuse for their being in Virginia. While this discussion was being held the battle of Bull Run was fought, General MeClellan was summoned to Washington, and the regiment was recalled to Ohio and dismissed. Its campaign was brief and brilliant, and preserved West Virginia to the Union. Its reception as it entered Cleveland with Colonel Barnett at its head and all its guns, and in addition the one captured at Carrick's Ford, was most enthusiastic, and the City Council gave them a unanimous vote of thanks. In August, 1861, a month after his return, he was commissioned by Governor Dennison to raise a twelve-battery regiment of artillery, which the Gov- ernor had prevailed on the United States to authorize. As . fast as the batteries were organized and equipped they were sent into the field. Two reached General Thomas in season to join in the battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky. The other batteries were sent to different commands in West Virginia and Kentucky. When he had completed this work, in the spring of 1862, he took a portion of his command and re- ported to General Buell in Louisville. In March, when the army arrived in Nashville, he was placed in command of the artillery reserve of the Army of the Ohio, and partici- pated in the battles of Pittsburgh Landing, Corinth and other actions, until the occupation of Huntsville by Buell's army. In July, 1862, he was ordered to Ohio on recruiting service, and was very successful. In September he returned with his full quota of recruits and was assigned to duty on the staff of General C. C. Gilbert, then in command of the centre corps of the Army of the Ohio. After the battle of Perry- ville he was transferred to the staff of Major-General Mc- Cook as Chief of Artillery until November 24th, 1862, when General Rosecrans appointed him Chief of Artillery of the Army of the Cumberland. Ilis great services in the battles of Stone River, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge and the many other battles of the Cumberland, were so important as to be specially mentioned with strong commendation by General Rosecrans. Later, when General Thomas was in command, his valuable services were appreciated by that model of a General. When the operations around Chattanooga closed he was placed in command of the artillery requiring reor- ganization and remounting. Two divisions of six batteries each were formed-one composed of batteries in the regular United States service and the other of volunteer batteries, principally those of the Ist Ohio Artillery Regiment. These were camped near Nashville, drilled, reorganized and equipped, and held in readiness for the field. On the 20th of October, 1864, the need for his services having ceased, he was mustered out of the service. But before he had re- tired from Nashville the battle of that place was fought, and he rendered valuable aid in the engagement, though acting


John Collane


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General by brevet, in consideration of his distinguished ser- [ the Hamilton & Indianapolis Junction road, in which office he remained till death, on July 30th, 1855.


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vices. On his return home he resumed business in the firm of which he had continued a member throughout the war. In 1874 Governor Allen appointed him one of the three trustees for the management of the Northern Ohio Hospital for the Insane. He has been a member of the Republican party since its organization, and is highly esteemed by people of all parties and creeds for his honor in all matters of busi- ness, his patriotism and his courteous manners towards all with whom he has dealings.


HOLLAND, JOIIN, Gold-Pen Manufacturer, was born, August 25th, 1838, in the parish of Kil- crohane, in the county of Cork, Ireland, and is a son of the late Patrick Holland. His parents emigrated to America in 1848, and settled in Cin- cinnati, where his father followed the business of a stone-mason until his death, which occurred in 1854. John received his early education in St. Xavier's Parochial School; he also attended a night-school for about five years, during which time he studied the classics with a view of adopting a profession, but on the death of his father, finding the charge of his mother and the younger children devolved on him, he concluded to finish learning the trade to which his father had indentured him, that of gold-pen manufactur- ing in the establishment of George W. Sheppard, so favor- ably known to the trade. He served the specified four years' apprenticeship, and at the expiration of this term ie- ceived the position of foreman of the factory, which he held for two years. He then purchased a one-third interest in the business, which he retained until 1862, and then bought


OODS, HON. JOHN, Lawyer and Member of Congress, son of Alexander and Mary ( Robinson) Woods, was born in Dauphin county, Pennsyl- vania, October 18th, 1794. Ilis father was a native of county Tyrone, Ireland, and came to America in 1790, settling in Pennsylvania, where, in 1793, he married. A few years later he emigrated to Ken- tucky, and thence in 1797 to Warren county, Ohio, where he raised a family of eight children. John, the oldest, received such slender advantages of schooling as the country afforded, and since he seems to have been at least a good English scholar, it is probable he received much of his instructions from his father. He served in the last months of the war of 1812, after which he taught school for a couple of years, the other two-thirds, since which time he nas conducted the meanwhile pursuing the study of law under the direction of the Hon. John MeLean, then member of Congress, and afterwards one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the


establishment in his own name. When he first took charge of the factory the products were comparatively small, being but about $8000 per annum and giving employment to five United States. In 1819 he was admitted to the bar and be- hands. In 1866 he added to the business the manufacture of gold and silver pencils, fine ebony and ivory pen-holders and gold tooth-picks. The business now amounts to over $100,000 yearly, and lorty persons are constantly employed in the works. Ilis store and factory, which is six stories high, is entirely occupied by the business, with the exception of the second floor, which is rented for offices. His ma- chinery is all propelled by steam-power, the rolling-mill falone weighing over two tons. A thorough mechanic of an inventive genius, he has taken out ten patents for pen and pencil-cases, also one for alloying gold for pens. The ma- teriadl employed in the manufacture of the various articles are gold and silver bullion, and he imports his ebony direct from Africa, and the ivory from the same country, and also from the East Indies. His products find a ready market in the United States and Enrope, as also as far east as China and Japan. For the past five years he has received the contract for supplying the Treasury Department at Wash- ington, and has been awarded medals at several fairs and expositions, including that at Vienna, in 1873. The cs- tablishment is the largest in the country west of New York city, and there is but one even in that city which produces as large and varied a stock. Since he commenced business


gan practice in Butler county. Possessing energy and talent, he soon distinguished himself in his profession, and in 1824 was elected to Congress, and re-elected in 1826. While there be established a creditable reputation, and obtained appropriations of land from the general government to aid improvements in his section ; this brought him popularity at home, but taking strong grounds against the election of Jackson in 1828, he was defeated for another term, and for the following seventeen years gave his attention to the routine of private affairs. He established, and for seven years edited, the Hamilton Intelligencer, which afterwards passed into the management of L. D. Campbell. Besides the pursuit of his profession he engaged in numerous financial enterprises, and was President of the old Bank of Hamilton. He pro- jected and, in connection with a few other enterprising men, built the Hamilton Hydraulic, a thing that, utilizing the water power of the Miami river, has been of incalculable advantage to the town. In 1845 he was elected Auditor of State for Ohio, and served till 1851, revising the accounts of State and directing its financial policy. In this capacity he is said to have displayed abilities of the highest order, and to have resened the State from impending bankruptcy or repudiation. After retiring from office he became Presi- he has only been idle one mouth, during the time of Kirby dent of the Hamilton & Raton Railroad, and afterwards of Smith's raid through Kentucky and Ohio, he being at that


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time Captain of a company in the 11th Ohio Reserves, [ in the Recorder's office, but all of his leisure time was de- which was called into the service for thirty days. He is the owner not only of the valuable property No. 19 West Fourth street, where his factory is located, but also of the fine edifice where he resides, besides other properties in various parts of the city, amounting in value to over $ 100,000, being his accumulations during the fourteen years of his business career. Ilis unusual success in his avoca- tion may be attributed in part to the fact that his goods are ever found to be of the most superior quality, and always as represented. Ile was one of the incorporators of the Miami Valley Savings Bank, and of which he has been Vice- President since its organization. He was married, July 7th, IS70, to Kate, daughter of James Ohlen, the weil- known saw manufacturer, and is the father of three chil- dren, all living.


ASE, LEONARD, Landowner, was born in West- moreland county, Pennsylvania, July 29th, 1786, and died, December 7th, 1864, in Cleveland, Ohio. Ile was the son of Meschach Case, a farmer of the place of Leonard's nativity. This family in 1788 removed to Washington county, and in 1800 made another removal to Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio. While in Washington county he attended school in winter and worked on the farm in summer, but when they reached their Ohio farm his entire time was taken up with labors on the farm, as his father was in ill health and he was the eldest of the children. In 1801 his lower limbs became inflamed so as to confine him to the bed for one and a half years, and then he arose a cripple, without hope of recovery. During this illness he had for- gotten nearly all that he had learned at school, and his first object was to regain the lost treasure, and to add to it if possible. But his family were very poor, and he could only obtain an old arithmetic from Pittsburgh, and a fragment of a hook on surveying. Ile studied these diligently for three years, at the same time earning his living by bottom- ing chairs, making sieves, etc. In March, 1806, he obtained a place to write in the office of the Clerk of Common Pleas. He soon mastered the statutes of Ohio so as to be able to make prompt reference to any information required. The following spring he obtained some work in the land agency office of General Simon Perkins. August 21st, 1807, he was appointed Clerk of the Supreme Court in Trumbull county, and was teappointed to that position in 1814, and in 1816 he resigned the clerkship. Very soon after his first appoint- ment, in 1807, he was also appointed Deputy Collector of non-resident taxes for the Sixth District of Ohio. He per- formed the duties with promptness and accuracy. In that same winter he made a list of the owners and of lands drawn in the drafts of the Connectient Land Company, which proved subsequently to be of great value in tracing the records of property. He also found some employment | limits, and thus laid the foundation for great wealth. His


voted to reading law, so that he was admitted to practise in the State courts in 1814. In August, 1809, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and was re-elected in 1812, and again in 1815. From 1812 to 1816 he also held the position of Collector of the Sixth District, receiving his appointment annually from the Legislature. The responsibility and labors increased rapidly so that the last year he filled the office his collections were more than fifty-eight thousand dollars, and his compensation but four hundred and fifty dollars and travelling expenses. In 1816 he removed to Cleveland to take the position of Cashier of the new Com. mercial Bank of Lake Erie. In a few years the bank failed and he resmed the practice of law in Cuyahoga and other counties, and continued in his professional duties until 1833, when his physical infirmity compelled him to relinquish active practice, which for thirteen years had been in the United States as well as State courts. In 1820 he was ap- pointed Auditor of Cuyahoga county, and while in that position he made a new list of lands and also acted as Clerk of the County Commissioners. The following year he was reappointed, and two years thereafter was elected to the same position. When he entered the office the county was fifteen hundred dollars in debt ; four years later when he left it all the debts were paid and there were two thousand dollars in the treasury ; his compensation for the entire time was six hundred and fifty dollars, In 1824 he was elected to the Legislature, and while a member of that body aided in the location of the Ohio canal, and in devising a new system of taxation. Ilis constituents returned him to the Legislature for the next two years. March 20th, 1832, the Commercial Bank of Lake Erie was resuscitated. He settled the accounts of the old corporation and was made President of the new organization. Some time prior to this he had been appointed agent of the State of Connecticut to take charge of the lands and debts belonging to its school fund. It proved a long and most difficult task, requiring more than thirty years, Ile sold land in more than four hundred contracts, had long and tangled mortgage demands to settle with purchasers of the mortgaged lands, and col- lected and paid over about five hundred thousand dollars in money without having more than one lawsuit growing out of the contracts. The final settlement was made with the land company's commissioners in November, 1855, without the changing or questioning of a single figure. From 1821 to 1825 he was President of the village of Cleveland. Ile was ever interested in beautifying the city, and suggested and greatly aided in carrying forward the work of ornament- ing the streets with shade trees, so that it is now widely known as the Forest City. He headed the subscription list with five thousand dollars to build the first railroad to Cleveland, and was chosen one of the Directors of the com. pany. Ile invested all the money he could obtain beyond his immediate wants in land, within or near the city's




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