USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 50
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ILSON, GEORGE W., Lawyer, was born, Febru- ary 22d, 1840, at Brighton, Clarke county, Ohio, and is the third son of Washington and Mary A. Wilson ; his father is a successful farmer and live stock dealer, and a man of influence in his sec- tion. George received his preliminary education in the district school, and subsequently attended Antioch College for three years. In 1861 he commenced the study of law in the office of Hon. R. A. Harrison, af London, Ohio, which, however, he relinquished for a season to en. list in the army, the civil war having broken ont. Ile
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joined the 94th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry on | farm and attending school until he was eighteen years of August 8th, 1862, and was elected Second Lieutenant by his company. Ile received his commission and was mus- tered into the service on the zd of the same month, and served with that command until January 20th, 186], when he was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant of Com- pany G. Ile remained with that regiment until August 25th, 1864, when he was mustered out to accept a commis- sion from President Lincoln as First Lieutenant of the Ist Regiment United States Veteran Volunteer Engineers, in which command he served as such until, June ist, 1865, he was appointed to the command of Company L, a new company then added to the regiment. Ile was honorably discharged from the service on the 26th day of September, 1865, at Nashville, Tennessee, and returned to Ohio, where he at once resumed his law studies. Having completed his course of reading he was admitted to the bar, May 7th, 1866, and immediately thereafter commenced the practice of his profession in Madison county. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of that county in October, 1866, and prior to the expiration of his two years' term was re-elected, in 1868, to the same office. In IS70 he associated with him S. W. Durflinger, a young attorney who has since made his mark as a promising advocate, under the firm- name of Wilson & Durflinger, which partnership has pros- pered greatly and commands at present a large and Incrative practice. In October, 1871, the senior partner was elected a member of the lower House in the General Assembly of Ohio, as representative from Madison county on the Repub- lican ticket, with which party he has ever been affiliated. Since his legislative term expired he has been constantly engaged in professional duties, in which he has been emi- nently successful. He has at sunday times held several positions in corporations, both municipal and others than municipal. Ile is a zealous member of the Presbyterian Church. In all his daily walks in life he has always en- deavored to discharge every duty, whether publie or private, to the best of his ability and with fidelity to those inter- ested, without reference to persoual feelings or predilec- tions. He is a valuable citizen in the community where he resides, and enjoys the esteem and confidence of all who know him. Before his enlistment in the army he was married to Martha Lee Rice, an estimable lady, by whom he has three children, Bertha Josephine, William Rice and Frances.
ELLY, HION. MOSES, Lawyer and Legislator, was born, January 21st, 1809, in Groveland, Liv- ingston county (at that time Ontario county), New York, and died in Cleveland, Ohio, August 15th, 1870. Ilis father, Daniel Kelly, a Penn- sylvanian, of Scotch-Irish descent, removed to New York in 1797. Ilis mother was of German descent. IIe lived with his father at Groveland, working on the
age, when he commenced preparing for college at Geneseo, under Cornelius C. Felton (subsequently President of How. and University ), and entered the freshman class of Harvard College in 1829, and graduated with his class in 1833. Ile then read law for three years in the office of Orlando Hastings, of Rochester, New York. When he was ad- mitted to practise he removed at once to Cleveland, where, in 1836, he formed a law partnership with Hon. Thomas Bolton, who had been his college classmate. The firm was Bolton & Kelly, and was honored with a large practice. In 1839 he was chosen City Attorney, and in 1841 was elected to the City Council, where he did a noble work in enacting a law, to protect the city from the encroachments of the lake. IIe was elected by the Whigs of Cuyahoga and Geauga counties as State Senator for 1844 and 1845. Ilis service in the Senate was bold and fearless for what he deemed right, regardless of party politics. The bill to re- duce the salary of judges 'to an inadequate amount he resisted to the last; although it was carried through by both parties for political effect, it was repealed by the next Legis- lature. The Whig party, to which he belonged, favored the establishment of a State bank and branches, and a bill to that effect was introduced; but he opposed it strongly, and advocated a system of free banking, with currency based on State stocks. All efforts to quiet his opposition were unavailing, and, although the State bank was estab- lished, he secured the addition to the bill permitting the establishment of independent banks with circulation based on State stocks deposited with the State government; also the addition of checks and safeguards to the bank system. Ilis action was approved by his constituents, and a public meeting was called, without regard to party, which ap- proved his course. The Ohio independent bank system, which he advocated and which proved successful, was the model on which the national bank system of the United States was subsequently constructed. At the same session a bill was introduced to give the Ohio Life & Trust Com- pany authority to issne bills to the amount of $500,000. The arguments in favor of the bill were plausible, and the support promised so great that the success was considered certain. But on its third reading Mr. Kelly opposed it with a speech of so much force that it failed, although it had up to that time the support of both the Whigs and Democrats. At the close of the session he returned to his profession. In 1849 the Legislature appointed him one of the Commissioners of the city of Cleveland to subscribe to the capital stock, on behalf of the city, of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad Company. He accepted the trust, and represented the city's interest in the Board of Directors for several years, until the stock held by the city was disposed of. In 1856 Mr. Bolton, his partner, was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and the firm was changed to Kelly & Griswold, Mr. O. S. Griswold having been ad- mitted to the firm in 1851. In 1866 he was a member of
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the Philadelphia convention for the healing of the differ- plished in Cincinnati during the race for Congress between ences between the North and South. In September, 1866, General Robert T. Lytle and Judge Bellamy Storer. In 1844 he became connected with the Cincinnati Enquirer as one of its proprietors, which connection has continued ever since, with but a short intermission ; and during most of the time he has been its editor. Mr. Faran has not ap- peared as one of the editors of his paper for several years, and has long since lost his political aspirations; but in every field in which he has figured he has been exception- ally successful ; and, although he has acquired a consider- able fortune, he still holds his proprietary interest in the Enquirer, to which he daily gives his attention. Ilis per- sonal appearance is very fine, and his bearing dignified and courteons; and, although long a politician, he is left with- out a scar ; few men assuming so little to themselves and standing so deservedly high in the estimation of the public. President Jolmson appointed him United States Marshal for the Northern District of Ohio. The Senate of the United States refined to confirm the appointment on ac- count of the opposition to Mr. Johnson, and in March, 1867, he withdrew from that office. Ile was a stockholder, Director and Attorney of the City Bank of Cleveland, which was organized under the law of 1845, from its establishment to its reorganization as the National City Bank, and until his death. Ile assisted in organizing St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and continued one of its most active and liberal supporters, Ile stood at the head of his profession, and his character was spotless. Ile was married in 1839 to Mary Jane Ilave, daughter of General Hezekiah Ilave, of New Haven, Connecticut, and at his death left five children, of whom the oldest, Frank II. Kelly, was born in Cleveland, in 1840. This son, after a preparatory education in his native city, entered Kenyon College, at Gambier, Ohio, and upon leaving that institution returned to his home, read law in his father's office, graduated at the Ohio State and Union Law College, in Cleveland, and was admitted to practise law in 1861. Ile has taken an active interest in polities from that time, and in 1873 was elected to the Council as Trustee from the newly organized Sixteenth ward, and the following year was elected President of the Council. Ilis uniform fairness in decisions and his elose attention to business have rendered him very popular.
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ARAN, HION. JAMES J., Lawyer and Editor, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, December 29th, 1809. Ile graduated from Miami University in IS32. Immediately after leaving college he en- tered the office of Judge O. M. Spencer, with whom he studied law, and was admitted to the bir in 1834. In the following year he was elected by the Democratic party to the House of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio. Ile was re elected to the same branch of the General Assembly in 1837, and again in IS38. Dur- ing the session of 1838-39 he was Speaker of the House. Ile was now very popular with his party, as an indication of which he was elected to represent Cincinnati in the State Senate, in 1839, and re-elected to the same office in 1841, and during the two sessions of the last term he was Speaker of the Senate. In 1844 he was elected to Congress from Hamilton county district, and in 1846 was re-elected, serving four years. In 1855 he was elected Mayor of Cin- einnati, serving for two years. He was appointed Post- master at Cincinnati by President Buchanan, and after serving during a part of that President's administration was removed for political considerations, Mr. Faran appeared as a writer while in college, and in 1834 was one of the editors of the Democratic Reporter, a campaign paper pub-
ORTHIINGTON, HENRY, Senior member of the firm of Worthington, Power & Fee, Leaf Tobacco Merchants, Cincinnati, was born in Mason county, Kentucky, on September Ist, 1826, and for ten years past has been a large and successful dealer in leaf tobacco in all the American markets for that staple, with head-quarters in Cincinnati. Joseph Power, of the firm, is a native of Bracken county, Ken- tucky; a young man of great energy and activity, and for his age perhaps the largest operator in tobacco in America.
ITHIERSPOON, REV. ORLANDO, Presbyter of 50 the Protestant Episcopal Church, son of Samuel F. and Eliza Witherspoon, was born in Rochester, New York, February 4th, 1837. Ile graduated at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, in 1856. Ile studied theology at Berkley Divinity School, in Middletown, Connecticut, and was there or- dained Deacon by Bishop Williams, in May, 1859. From that time until May, 1860, he was Assistant Minister at Trinity Church, New Haven, Connecticut, when he became Rector of St. John's Church, Buffalo, New York. In July, 1868, St. John's Church was partially destroyed by fire, which led to a division of sentiment in the congregation as to the rebuilding of the edifice or its removal to another site. A portion of the congregation separated and formed a new parish, under the name of Christ Church, of which he became Rector in March, 1869. This position he re- signed on Easter day, 1875, and the following Sunday, April 4th, became Rector of St. Paul's Church, Cincinnati, Ohio. Ile was for many years Secretary of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Western New York. Ile is the author of a " Mannal on the Canons of the Protestant
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Episcopal Church ; " of "A Course of Sunday.School In- structions," in eight volumes; of several musical works; and of other minor publications. Mr. Witherspoon is a ready and able writer, an elegant conversationalist, and a fluent and eloquent speaker. Standing six feet in his shoes, and weighing two hundred pounds, with a fine face and head, he presents an admirable appearance, at once placing him on good terms with his audience. He is only in the prime of life, and may reasonably look forward to a long- extended and useful career. On December 12th, 1860, he was married to Cora V. Taylor, third daughter of Alexan- der Taylor, of Cardenas, Cuba.
OLLIER, THOMAS WILLIS, Editor and Pub- lisher, was born, April 22d, 1844, in Carrollton, Ohio, of American parentage and English lin- cage. In 1852 his parents removed to Cadiz, where he attended school for about a year, and when nine years old went into a printing office to learn the trade, his father having been a newspaper man. Ile remained so engaged, with the exception of a year, until the outbreak of the civil war. He enlisted as a private in the 16th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry-three months' service-and when honorably discharged re-enlisted as a private for the war, and rose from the ranks to the succes- sive grades of Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, and Adjutant, and finally as Captain. He served from Novem- ber, 1So1, until September, 1565, when he was honorably discharged. On his return home he removed to Coshocton, where, in September, 1866, he purchased the Coshocton Age, which he has conducted ever since. He has been a Republican in politics, and has been Postmaster of Coshoc- ton since 1869, being appointed to that office by President Grant. Ile has been a hard worker throughout his life, and has attained his present position by dint of industry, energy, and perseverance. Ile was married, April 14th, 1804, to Kate Rinehart, of New Philadelphia, Ohio.
URT, ANDREW GANO, Banker, was born at Natchez, Mississippi, May 21st, 1810, while his parents were temporarily residing there. IIis father came to Cincinnati from Massachusetts, and shortly afterwards was married to Sarah, the oldest daughter of the late General John S. Gano. He was a nephew of the late Major Daniel Gano, also of Cincinnati, to which city his parents returned from the South soon after his birth. He received a fair education in the schools of that city, and commenced business as a Clerk in the County Court. Afterwards he held a position in the office of the Miami Exporting Company. On the failure of this company he established the banking house of Buit &
Green, and on the dissolution of this firm, about 1856, he organized the banking house of A. G. Burt & Co., taking into partnership Mr. John T. Hooper. This new firm was prosperous for many years, his excellent judgment and sound sense guiding them through the trying times of 1857 and 1861. A year or two before his death the failure of a New York house, of which he was Cincinnati correspond- ent, seriously embarrassed him, and caused him to make an arrangement with his ereditors. On this occasion he dis- played many of his most admirable qualities. He was a thorough gentleman, keenly alive to the demands of a most exacting sense of honor, and he bore his troubles with a pride which was born not less of the knowledge that he had done everything which the severest justice could demand, than of a lofty hope and purpose of repairing his broken fortunes. Ilad he lived there is no reason to doubt that he would have realized his expectations. Ilis judgment of men was rarely at fault; his sense of honor was acute and delicate; his word was as good as his bond, and he was generous to a fault. He was extremely fond of books, and his reading covered a wide range. Ile was especially de- voted to art, and many Cincinnati art expositions were enriched by contributions from his collection, which was one of the finest about that city. In his domestic relations he was singularly tender and indulgent. He left a widow -who was Ann Green Thompson, to whom he was married in 1832-ind seven children, five of whom are married, and all but one of whom are residing in Cincinnati. One of his sons is still engaged in the banking house, yet bearing the firm name of A. G. Burt & Co. Mr. Burt's personal appearance was very fine ; bis bearing courtly. Ile seemed almost to belong to a former age, and might have stepped back into the customs of thelast century and found himself at home. IIe died January 28th, 1874.
INSLEY, WILLIAM, Architect, was born, Febru- ary 7th, 1804, at Clomuel, in the county of 'Tip- perry, Ireland, and is the son of Thomas Tinsley, a master builder by profession. He is of English extraction, the Tinsleys having left England about the time of Cromwell; and his father's maternal ancestry were Irish-the Mocklers of Moeklers- town-who left the country when James the Second fled. William was educated in the day schools of his native town until he was about sixteen, and he was then received into his elder brother John's establishment, where he was placed under the various foremen of the different divisions of house and church construction. Ile received instruction from his brother in architectural drawing, and also in mathematical and landscape drawing from the professors at the endowed school. When he was about twenty-one years old his brother John died, and he took his place and turned to account the knowledge and experience he had acquired.
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The first work he undertook was a design for a large linen children living, two only of whom were capable of helping themselves. Shortly prior to his return to Cincinnati he married a third time, as his young family of children needed care and aid in their education, especially as the nature of his business required him to be frequently absent from home. TInce other children have been born to him from this union. Ile has had the assistance of several of his sons in his office. Among these, Rev. Charles Tinsley aided him until he entered the ministry. His second son gave promise of taste and ability ; but while engaged on a model of the Probasco House, died after a few days' illness, on the day after he had attained his majority. Five other sons were for some time in his office under instructions, of whom four went into other occupations; one only, Thomas Richard, the sixth son (whose biographical sketch appears in this volume), persevered in the study of architecture, and is now Architect to the Commissioners of the Central Ohio Lunatic Asylum, and of other buildings in Columbus, Ohio. Of his daughters, one is the wife of the Vicar of Kilrouan, Ireland; a second is married to a lawyer in In- diana; while a third has been for three years past laboring as a missionary at Lucknow, in the East Indies. Three other daughters and one son are at their father's house on Mount Auburn, Cincinnati. Although he has entered upon his seventy-third year, he is yet capable of producing orig- inal designs, the offspring of his brain and the handiwork of his pencil. hall; then followed frame houses and offices, cottage resi- dences, and county churches. Some of the latter he built on the plans of the Diocesan architect. Soon, however, he was employed on more important works, e. g., mansions for the gentry in the old English castellated and Italian styles. Among these, Tulamane Castle, Lakefield House, etc. Ile occasionally submitted his design to the Diocesan architect, and had the benefit of his instruction. He also frequently visited and made sketches of the ecclesiastical and castel- lated remains so plentiful in every part of the country. When he was thirty-eight years old he was appointed by Right Rev. Robert Daly, Bishop of Cashel, etc., to the posi- tion of Diocesan Architect (which post he filled acceptably until his emigration to the United States) ; shortly after- wards Architect to the Marquis of Waterford; and about the same time a similar position was tendered him by the Earl of Glengale, to rebuild a large portion of the town of Cahir, a few miles from Clonmel. The general stagnation in business succeeding the failure of the crops in 1847, and the attempted rebellion in 1848, caused these noblemen, with others of his patrons, to cease improvements, and this led him to turn his attention to America. With his large family he left Ireland, and reached the United States in the autumn of 1851, settling in Cincinnati. He found, how- ever, the style and character of building so entirely different from that which obtains in the British isles, that he could not be prevailed upon to conform to the then American style of false and flimsy construction. When soon after he had an opportunity of submitting a design for the North- HITTLESEY, CHARLES, Soldier and Geologist, born in Southington, Connecticut, October 4th, ISOS, and is the son of Asaph Whittlesey, of that town. When he was but four years of age, dur- ing his father's absence in the West, he was sent to the country school " to be out of harm's way." In 1813 his family removed to Talmadge, Summit county, Ohio, where he again attended school and worked on the farm until he was appointed, in 1827, a cadet at West Point. In 1832 he graduated with honor, and was made Brevet Second Lieutenant in the 5th United States Infantry. While a cadet at West Point a cadet from the South was under sentence of death for striking a superior officer, and while waiting the approval of the sentence at Washington, was confined in the prison. Cadet Whittlesey was standing guard outside, and when his back was turned the prisoner sprang out, caught the sentry's musket, and placed a loaded pistol at his ear; but Whittlesey disregarded the pistol and the order to keep quiet, called for the corporal of the guard, and when the prisoner ran, pursued him, and was about to pierce him with the bayonet, when a relief caught the pris- oner. In 1833 he served in the Black Hawk war, and then resigned to devote himself to civil and mining engin- cering and geology. In 1838, during the Florida war, and again in 1846, during the Mexican war, he offered his ser- western Christian University, at Indianapolis, which was the successful one in the competition, he removed thither, and while a resident of that city was employed as architect and builder of several universities, colleges, churches, and residences, for the period of five years. He then returned to Cincinnati, where he has since resided. Among his hate professional works may be mentioned St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church, Cincinnati ; the Institution for the Blind, at Columbus; the Knox County Infirmary ; beside numbers of churches, residences, etc. While a resident of Ireland his political views were of the liberal conservative party, while in the United States very decidedly Union. Three of his sons aided in the restoration of the Union authorities during the late civil war, two of them as belligerents, and one-Rev. Charles Tinsley -- in the hospital service. Ilis religious belief is that taught by the Methodist Episcopal Church, although his children were all brought up in the United Church of England and Ireland. Ile has been thrice married. When abont twenty-three years of age he was united to a lady of his own age ; in two years he was a childless widower, her child and herself were imerred on the second anniversary of their union. The following year he married the cousin of his first wife, and during the twenty-seven years of this married life thirteen children were born to him. She died in Indianapolis, leaving ten | vices to the government as a soldier, but they were not
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deemed necessary. In 1837 he was appointed on the | of the battle of Shiloh he commanded the 3d Brigade of geological survey of Ohio, and for two years labored assid- nously in the work of ascertaining and locating the mineral resources of the State of Ohio. After two years the Legis- lature was so economical as to have the survey abandoned, but the results attained have been of vast benefit to north- eastern Ohio, by disclosing the rich coal and iron felds which have made that portion of the State prosperous and populous. During five years, commencing.in 1847, he was employed by the United States government to survey the country around Lake Superior and the upper Mississippi, in reference to mines and minerals. Later, he spent much time exploring the mineral districts of the Lake Superior basin. Still later, the State of Wisconsin employed him, from the year 1858 to the breaking out of the war in 1861, to make a geological survey of that State. In all, he spent fifteen years on the waters of Lake Superior and the upper Mississippi. All of his work was thorough, and the devel- opment of the mineral resources of the locations he exam- ined furnish the strongest proofs of his scientific ability. When President Lincoln was threatened with violence on his entry into Washington, in February, 1861, Mr. Whittle- sey enrolled himself a member of one of the military com- panies that tendered their services for the occasion. Ile urged the State authorities to put Ohio into a state of mili- tary preparation, and two days after the President's proc- lamation of April 15th, 1861, he joined the Governor's staff as Assistant Quartermaster-General. Ile served as State Military Engineer, in western Virginia, with the Ohio three months' troops, under the command of Generals McClellan, Cox, and Ilill. On July 17th, 1861, on the Kanawha, his horse was wounded under him; but on that occasion he showed the coolness and courage of his cadet days when guarding the prisoner at West Point. At the expiration of three months he was made Colonel of the 20th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was detailed by General O. M. Mitchel as Chief Engineer of the Depart- ment of the Ohio. Ilis regiment was composed of men of the highest intelligence, and was brought to an exceptional state of discipline without severe measures. They enlisted before there were bounties or drafts. As Chief Engineer he planned and constructed the defences of Cincinnati, and in September, 1862, he volunteered to defend it on the approach of a hostile army. In the winter of 1861 he was placed in command of Owen, Grant, Carroll, and Gallatin counties, Kentucky, which were in danger of rebel out- breaks. Ile preserved order and at the same time won the respect of both the Union and rebel citizens, as shown by the public expressions of regret when his departure took place. lle was present with his regiment at the capture of Fort Donelson, and on the morning of the surrender the prisoners were placed in his charge by General Grant, with orders to convey them to St. Louis. His attention to the unfortunate men evoked from them a letter of warm thanks for his chivahic courtesy and kindness. On the second day
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