The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2, Part 60

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


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efficient friend; and through his efforts in cireulating peti- tions over the State to influence public opinion, and thus secure favorable legislative action, the work was doubtless completed many years earlier than it would otherwise have been. Hle next became enlisted in the enterprise of con- structing the Toledo, Norwalk & Cleveland Railroad. The chances were that the northern and rival route-now known as the Northern Division-would be the one to be constructed first, and a long struggle ensued between the friends of each route. In conjunction with C. L. Boalt, of Norwalk, he was so strenuous in advancing the interests of the Southern route by every means in their power, even by pledging every dollar of their private fortunes for the pur- pose of raising funds to prosecute the enterprise, that the issue turned in their favor; and without such pledges and extraordinary personal efforts it is probable the construction of this line would have been postponed many years. He was an active and influential member of the Whig party while it existed, and did not abandon his interests in poli- tics after its demise, but was an earnest supporter of Presi- dent Lincoln and the war. He was a purchaser at the first sale of government bonds, to carry on the war for the Union, made in Ohio in 1862. He was hospitable, warm-hearted, and friendly. In addition to contributions to religious and benevolent objects, his private charities were large. A most important benefaction, affecting the public interests of Fremont, was made in 1871, in the donation of two tracts of ground, to be devoted to the use of the public as parks. In 1873 he set apart property amounting to $50,000 for the purpose of establishing a public library in Fremont. Ile appointed a board of trustees to take charge of the same, and provided for the continuance of this board. At that time it was estimated that, including his previous bequests, he had presented to the eity one-fifth of his entire estate. For nearly seventeen years he had been a communieant member of the Presbyterian Church, and a constant contrib- utor to its incidental and benevolent funds. Ile also gave $7000 to the new church edifiee now occupied by the con- gregation. Though a member of this church, he frequently aided other congregations without distinction of denomina- tion. Ile died January 21st, 1874, after an illness of but one hour in duration.


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viously built a comfortable home on a farm adjoining the town of Hillsborough, and concluded to devote himself exclusively to agricultural pursuits. On varions occasions he has given time, effort, and money to measures esteemed of public importance, Of these only his connection with the military affairs of the country are of sufficient general interest to justify notice in this brief sketch. When the war of the rebellion was inaugurated Colonel Trimble was fifty years of age, and of such precarious health as might well have excused his entering the service; but inherited mili- tary spirit and a deep sense of the importance of preserving the Union induced him first to yield to the suggestion of Governor Dennison to raise a regiment for the defence of the border, when it was uncertain what position Kentucky would take in the contest ; and afterwards, at the request of his officers, to procure an order from the War Depart- ment and raise a regiment for one year of general service. This latter regiment of 1000 men-the Goth Ohio-was assigned to General Fremont's Virginia command. Ile made of it and the 8th Virginia Regiment his advance corps brigade, and placed it under the command of Colonel Clusseret, an Algerine French officer. Its position brought it in contact with Jackson's rear-guard, commanded by Ashby, in several engagements in which the main army did not participate ; and in the battle at Cross Keys it constituted, with Millroy's and Schenck's brigades, the right wing of Fremont's army. On all these occasions the command gained credit for good conduct. In the frequent changes occurring in the movement of troops about this time-the summer and antumn of 1862-the Goth Ohio, with others, had the misfortune to be drifted to Harper's Ferry, and to the command of Colonel Miles. He appointed Colonel Trimble to the command of the 2d Brigade, consisting of the 9th Vermont, 125th and 126th New York, 60th Ohio, and Rigby's Indiana Battery, to which was added, during the engagement of this command with the enemy, the 3d Maryland, 320 Ohio, and Pott's Ohio Battery, with 87th Ohio on extreme left, guarding the Winchester Railroad track along the Shenandoah river. This force constituted the left flank of the command on the Virginia side of the Potomac, and barely covered with a single line-of-battle the ground assigned it by Colonel Miles, to wit, part of Bolivar Ileights and the space from the Charlestown pike to the Shenandoah river, with no reserve and no chance of rein- forcement, and was thoroughly commanded by the fifty guns skilfully placed under Jackson's direction to strike front, flank, and rear of the command. The entire force at Ilarper's Ferry, including that of General White, from Martinsburg, was about 10,000 men, fully one half of which were new regiments, undrilled and undisciplined; and the ground chosen by Miles for defence, by a singular perversity of the commander, left without defensive preparation. It is not within the limits prescribed to this sketch to notice, much less discuss the numerous points of interest connected with the Harper's Ferry surrender. It should be said, I lin and Summer's divisions had not even the shadow of


however, in justice to the patriotie citizen soldiers forced by the orders of the government into so false a position, and placed under command of the most notoriously incompetent officer developed during the war, that nothing but the rapid succession of disasters to the Union amis which had immediately preceding startled and alarmed the nation, and the utter misconception by the government and people of Harper's Ferry as a military position, could have prevented the chief blame of the disaster from attaching where it properly belonged-to the government and its military authorities. That misconception consisted in regarding Ilarper's Ferry as the key to the surrounding country, and as in and ,of itself a strong military position-an inland Gibraltar. Surrounded by an open country through which an army of 100,000 men could pass without difficulty, Harper's Ferry was the key to nothing. The only point to which the term " key " can be applied is Maryland Ileights. Rising 1200 feet above the water level of the Potomac, and at right angles to Loudon and Bolivar Heights-the former 900 and the latter 300 feet elevation-it commands both and the plateau between, including Harper's Ferry and Town Ilill. If dcemed necessary to maintain the position before an advancing and triumphant army of 90,000 men, the entire force should have been placed under an able and energetic commander, who, with a competent enginecr, might in two or three weeks' time have so fortified Mary- land lleights as to have held it against Jackson's force of not less than 30,000 men, till rescued by the advance of the Union army. Knowing that Jackson had been stationed at Harper's Ferry in the early part of the war, had carefully investigated and thoroughly understood the position, Gen- eral Lee ordered him to march with such force as would render success certain and capture the command at llar- per's Ferry. It is part of the history of the war, that often as the rebel drove the Union forces from Harper's Ferry, they never attempted to retain possession. Jackson, whose thorough knowledge and military genius enabled him to judge accurately, considered it an indefensible position, and was said to have pronounced it the greatest slaughter pen on the continent. The United States government, after a thorough topographic survey, abandoned the system of fortifications already begun, thereby confirming the esti- mate of the position previously formed by the enemy. The right thing for the government to have done on the first indication of danger was to have ordered the evacuation of Harper's Ferry and the march of the force at that point and Martinsburg through Maryland to a junction with some part of the main Union army. The failure to do this, or take possession of and fortify Maryland Heights, and the retaining in command an utterly incompetent officer, ren- ders the government and its military authorities responsible for a disaster that the overwhelming force of the enemy, the skill of its commander, and the false position of the Union force made inevitable. The pretence of rescue by Frank-


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probability to sustain it. After the feeble defence and hasty surrender of Maryland Heights by Miles and Ford, Saturday, September 13th, but one chance remained of saving the garrison-that was, if possible, on Saturday or Sunday night to have crossed the l'otomac and fought through the enemy's lines on the Maryland side. This was urged by the commander of the 2d Brigade and other officers. Officers of the enemy's force on the Maryland side have since admitted this could have been done. The battle at Antietam being in progress on Sunday, 14th, Jackson had a strong incentive to speedy and vigorous action for the completion of the capture of Harper's Ferry, that his force might join and strengthen Lee. Selecting the left flank as the weak point of the Union lines, he con- centrated a heavy force of infantry and artillery, consisting of A. P. Hill's division, supported by Ewell's; beginning the attack with artillery at noon of the 14th, and by half past two, with a heavy infantry force, attempting to force the Union line. The struggle lasted till night, and resulted in the enemy being driven back in some confusion. The conflict was renewed at daylight (five o'clock Monday morning), and continued till the surrender, at about nine o'clock. The testimony is abundant, and the fact was con- ceded at the time by the officers of the enemy, that Colonel Trimble's command made a most gallant and persistent defence under the most unfavorable and trying circum- stances, and against a force of more than three times their number. Though escaping on this and other fields, Colonel Trimble was afterwards so seriously injured by his horse being hurled violently upon him as to compel his quitting the service at the moment when promotion was tendered him.


AMMOND, JACOB, M. D., Physician, was born, August Sth, ISOS, in Jefferson county, Ohio, about fourteen miles from Steubenville, and is the seventh of twelve children, whose parents were James and Elizabeth (Latshaw) Hammond. Ilis father was a native of Adams county, Penn- sylvania, and a farmer by occupation. He removed to Ohio in 1806, and settled in Smithfield township, Jefferson county, where he resided until his death, in 1842. Ilis widow, who was a native of Baltimore, Maryland, survived her husband twenty-five years, and died in 1867. Jacob worked on a farm until he was fourteen years old, attending school in winter. In 1823 he went to Richmond, in his native county, for the purpose of obtaining a classical edu- cation. Ile then returned to Smithfield, and resumed his studies there until 1829. In that year he proceeded to Steubenville, where he commenced reading medicine under the supervision of Dr. Anderson Judkins, of that town, and also attended the lectures delivered in the medical depart- ment of the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia. In 1831 he commenced the practice of medicine at Steuben- ! Lincoln as such. He held this position one week only,


ville, remaining there until the summer of that year, when he proceeded to Springfield, in Clarke county, where he practised until the spring of 1832, when he went to Evans- burg, in Coshocton county, and continued his professional duties for two years in that place. He then for about a year took a vacation, and travelled through the country in order to recuperate his health, which had become somewhat impaired. In 1836 he settled at Annapolis, Jefferson county, where he practised his profession until 1862. During these years he attended partial courses of lectures at the Cleveland Medical College and the Berkshire Medi- cal College of western Massachusetts, graduating from the latter institution in 1859. In 1862 he went to Steubenville, where he has ever since resided, engaged in the control of an extensive and lucrative practice. IIe has been for many ycars a prominent and active member of the Ohio Medical Association. He has contributed to the literature of the profession on various occasions. Politically he is a Repub- lican, and in religious belief adheres to the principles and practices of the Society of Friends, Socially he is pleasant, affable, and courteous. Ile has ever led a temperate life, and has been noted for his untiring energy, perseverance, and inflexible integrity. Ile was married in 1862 to Mary Ann, daughter of William Sharon, and sister of Senator Sharon, of Nevada.


EARCE, ENOCH, M. D., Physician and Surgeon, was born, November 18th, 1832, at Westminster, near Baltimore, Maryland, and is a son of Enoch and Rachel (McKensie) Pearce. Both of his parents are Marylanders. His father has fol- lowed mechanical pursuits through life, and re- moved to Ohio in 1840, settling at Steubenville, where he has since resided. Dr. Pearce received a liberal education at the Grove Academy, in Steubenville. In 1848 he com- menced to study medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. Benjamin Tappan, of Steubenville, and for three years pursued his readings with earnestness. Ile attended the medical lectures delivered at the University of the City of New York in 1851-52, and also at Jefferson Medical Col- lege, Philadelphia, in 1853-54, graduating from the latter institution with honor. Ile began the practice of his pro- fession in Steubenville, in 1854, and has resided there ever since, having succeeded in establishing a successful and lucrative line of patronage. During the civil war he was Surgeon of the 61st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was with that command at the battles of Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, White Sulphur Springs, Freeman's Ford, Fred- ericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, besides numer- ous lesser engagements and skirmishes. After the battle of Gettysburg he was examined by the United States Medical Board, and was appointed Assistant Surgeon of United States Volunteers, and was commissioned by President


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when he was promoted to the grade of full Surgeon United States Volunteers, for deserved excellency in scholarship and in the duties of surgeonry and medicine. He continued in the service, and was assigned to duty in Tennessee, and also to the management of a United States army hospital in Louisville for wounded soldiers. His health having be- come impaired, he was discharged from the service by the War Department for physical disability. He immediately returned home, and sought rest as a means to recover his health, and after a year resumed the practice of his profes- sion in Steubenville. On July 24th, 1867, he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel by brevet in the United States medical service for faithful and meritorious services during the war of the rebellion. In 1869 he received the appointment of Examining Surgeon in the service of the government, which position he yet retains. He has been for a number of years a prominent member of the State Medical Society, and was Chairman of the Committee on the Incurable Insane of Ohio, making the report to the Legislature. Ile has also written more or less on medical topics. He has been from its organization a prominent officer and member of the Jeffer- son County Medical Association. He was appointed in 1875 Censor of the Columbus Medical College. Ile has never sought or held any public office involving political responsibility. He was married in 1860 to Cecilia J., daughter of the late Richard Savary, of Steubenville.


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GOOD, REV. JEREMIAII HAAK, D. D., Clergy- man and Professor of Dogmatic and Practical Theology in the Theological Seminary of Heidel- berg College, Tiffin, Ohio, was born, November 22d, 1822, in the village of Rchrersburg, Berks county, Pennsylvania, and is a son of the late Philip Augustus and Elizabeth (IIaak) Good. Ile is of Ger- man lineage, his grandfather having emigrated from Deux- ponts, in the Palatinate. In his ninth year his father re- moved to Reading, Pennsylvania, to enter upon the office of P'rothonotary of the county, but died shortly thereafter, in consequence of which he was adopted by his uncle, Joseph Good, who designed him for the bar. In his fourteenth year he resolved to acquire a regular collegiate education, and for this purpose proceeded to Marshall College, at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. In the succeeding year, by the death of his uncle, he was cast almost entirely upon his own resources. Nevertheless, he persevered, and graduated in the regular course in September, 1842, receiving from the faculty the appointment of valedictorian, which was at that time the highest honor. Immediately upon his graduation he was chosen to the position of Assistant Rector of the pre- paratory department in the same institution, which he filled for three years. In this time a change in his life-purposes occurred, so that he felt it his duty to prepare himself for the ministry; and he accordingly entered the Theological


Seminary at the same place, then under charge of Rev. Dr. J. W. Nevin, and completed his studies in September, 1845. Having received a call to the Reformed Church, in Lan- caster, Ohio, he resigned his academical appointment and entered upon his ministerial labos in Ohio in October, 1846. At this time the Reformed Church in Ohio was without a college, a theological seminary, or a religious paper. Urg- ing the establishment of the latter as a pressing necessity, and the best means to reach the founding of the former, he was by the Ohio Synod elected editor, and authorized to establish such a paper. This caused his removal to Colum- bus, Ohio, in October, 1848. On January Ist, 1849, he issued the first number of the paper entitled The Western Missionary of the Reformed Church (which has since largely increased in circulation, and is now edited and pub- lished in Cincinnati, Ohio, by Dr. S. Mease, under the title Christian World ). By means of this journal the matter of a college and seminary was urged so strongly that the Ohio Synod in 1850 resolved to establish the same at Tiffin, Ohio, and to this end elected Rev. Jeremiah II. Good as Professor of Mathematics, and his brother, Rev. R. Good, as Professor of Natural Sciences in the proposed institutions. Funds were gradually gathered and suitable buildings erected, and the college and seminary may now be regarded as firmly and permanently established, having an average attendance of about two hundred and fifty students, and property worth over $100,000. From October, 1850, until September, 1867, he devoted himself to this college professorship, in addition to which he edited the religious paper above mentioned for the first three years. In 1867 the Ohio Synod elected him as Professor of Dogmatic and Practical Theology in its Theological Seminary (connected with the college), of which position he is still the incumbent. In 1868 the de- gree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by his Alma Mater. lle is regarded by his colleagues as a man of marked ability and superior culture, and ranks among the first in the denomination for high attainments and spirit- uality. Heidelberg College owes much of its prosperity to his influence, he having been to a great extent instrumental in its founding and complete establishment, as above stated. Portly in physique, with a most genial face and winning ad- dress, he attracts all with whom he comes in contact. He was married in 1847 to Susan Hubbard Root, of Granville, Licking county, Ohio.


OTTER, HON. EMERY D., Lawyer and Jurist, was born, 1804, in Providence county, Rhode Island, and is a son of the late Abraham Potter, a farmer in limited circumstances, who removed to Otsego county, New York, when his son was two years old. The latter remained in that section until he completed his academical studies, and proposed to enter college, but circumstances prevented, and he com-


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menced the study of law with Hon. John A. Dix and Abner Cook, Jr., at Cooperstown. Having diligently pursued his studies, he was admitted to practise in the Supreme Court of the State. Deciding to go farther West, he removed to Toledo, Ohio, in the autumn of 1835, where he immediately commenced the practice of law, and soon rose to distinction, earning a high reputation as a forensic orator and for sound legal attainments. In 1839 he was elected to the office of Presiding Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of Ohio, at that time embracing ten counties in the northwestern portion of the State. In the discharge of his official duties he was for five years compelled to travel on horseback, through al- most a wilderness, swimming ereeks when the waters were high, and encountering many perils and privations which now would not be dreamed of. In the faithful discharge


* of his official duties he so won upon the regard of the people of his district that he was nominated in the fall of 1843 and elected to Congress by a handsome majority, although the district had been previously strongly Whig. While a mem- ber of Congress he took a prominent part in many of the discussions, and was placed upon the Select Committee to report upon the best mode of carrying out the Smithson will, acting with John Quincy Adams in recommending those measures which resulted in founding the Smithsonian Insti- tntc. In 1847 he was, without solicitation, elected to a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives, where, by common consent, he was recognized as the champion of the Demo- cratic side of that body. In August, 1848, he was a second time nominated for Congress, and elected. On taking his seat in the National House of Representatives, he received during the memorable contest for Speaker of the Thirty- first Congress seventy-cight votes, at different times during the sixty-two ballots that occurred. In forming the committees, he was honored with the Chairmanship of the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, and was the author of the bill providing in 1851 for cheap postage and the coinage of three cent pieces. Upon the close of his term in Congress, in that year, he returned to the practice of the law in Toledo. In 1857 he was appointed by President Buchanan Judge of the Federal Court in Utah, but declined the honor on ac. count of business requiring his attention in Ohio. Ile con- tinued in his professional duties until 1873, when he was elected to a seat in the Ohio Senate, which position he filled until 1875. While a member of that body, he was largely instrumental in having a bill passed by the General Assembly which appropriated the sum of $10,000 for the propagation of fishes in Ohio, and he is now Superintendent of Fish- hatching in the State, giving his personal attention and supervision to a hatchery which is now (1876) in successful operation in Toledo, as well as at other points on the lake. Ile was first married in 1843 to Mary A. Card, of Wil- loughby, Ohio, who died in March, 1847, leaving one son, Emery D. Potter, Jr., a lawyer, now residing in Toledo. Hle was a second time married, to Anna Billilliken, of Pennsylvania, who has had one daughter, now living.


RAYTON, ROBERT, Machinist, was born, July 27th, 1802, in Cranton, near Providence, Rhode Island, of American parentage. His father was devoted to agricultural pursuits, and he assisted him in the cultivation of the farm, chopping wood, etc., until he was twenty years old. Ilis education was obtained during the winter months in the dis- triet school. In 1822 he began to work in a machine-shop in Providence, where he remained for two years learning that trade ; and was afterwards employed as a journeyman in the same establishment, and engaged in the fabrication of cotton and woollen machinery. Having determined to go to the West, he removed to Ohio in 1835 and located at first in Cleveland, where he obtained a position as foreman in the Cuyahoga Iron Works, shortly after his arrival there, and where he continued between sixteen and seventeen years. In 1852 he was appointed Government Inspector of Steam-Boilers for the port of Buffalo, New York, when the law was first passed, and was there about five years. Dur- ing this period he invented and became the patentee of hot- pressed nuts, and disposed of his patent-right in England for a large sum of money. Ile went next to Salem, Ohio, where he passed some four years engaged in a business en- terprisc. In 1865, soon after the close of the war, he was offered an interest in the engine works of I). June & Co., at Fremont, Ohio, the senior partner of which firm had worked with him many years previously in Cleveland; he accepted the proposition, and has ever since been a member of the company. Ile has been constantly engaged in build- ing machinery of every description for over fifty years, and is probably the oldest machinist living. Ile excels as an engine-builder. Ile has had, during his long and active life, many narrow escapes from death by machinery, but was never once injured. Ile has always enjoyed the best of health, and has never experienced an hour's illness. Ile is a man of powerful frame, and is still in vigorous health; being possessed of a constitution well preserved by exem- plary habits, and though venerable in appearance, he is to be found daily at work in the shops of the company of which he is a partner. Cast-steel was an unknown article when he first began to work at the trade. He was married, April 20th, 1849, at Buffalo, to Luey Harris, and has one son only. Frank Brayton, who works in the same machine-shop.




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