The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2, Part 62

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


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organization for the city, and the basis of all the present sanitary regulations of the State. To Dr. Clendenin is therefore due the credit of the present sanitary system of Cincinnati. He is, too, the author of the health laws of the State, now in force by act of the Legislature. He was one of the originators of the American Health Association. After the war he was appointed one of the Cincinnati Ilos- pital Surgeons. This position he held three years, then re- signed for want of time to attend to such duties. Ile still occupies the chair in the Miami College, to which he was elected in 1865. Ile is a member of the Academy of Medicine, Cincinnati Medical Society, State Medical Society, American Medical Association, American Health Association, and Society of Natural History. Dr. Clen- denin is a Christian. Ile has devoted his spare moments, somewhat, to literary pursuits ; has written some poetry and contributed largely to various magazines. Ile is a success- ful and attractive medical lecturer, and, in short, a man who will leave society better by his living. On January Ist, 1866, he was married to Sabra Birchard, of Cambridge, l'ennsylvania.


cKENNY, IION. JOIIN C., Attorney-at- Law, Dayton, Ohio, and ex-Judge of the Probate and Common Pleas Courts, was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, May 5th, 1835. Ilis par- ents were William and Elizabeth ( Kirkpatrick) McKenny. Ile is, as the etymology of the name would indicate, of mixed Irish and Scotch descent, though both families have resided in Virginia for several genera- tions. The parents of Judge MeKenny followed the occu- pation of farming, and he enjoyed some meagre advantages of schooling at a private institution in his native county, but leaving home at the age of twenty to seek his own for- tune, he made his way to Darke county, Ohio, and there procured for himself a substantial education in the public schools of his adopted State. In 1857 he began the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in February, 1861. He at once began practice at Greenville, and having previously become well known to the people during the political cam- paigns, he soon acquired a large professional business. In 1866, in connection with George D). Kinder, he purchased and edited the Darke County Democrat, till 1868. The same year he was also elected Probate Judge for Darke county, and served till May, 1868, when he resigned to take his seat upon the Common Pleas bench, to which he had been elected. This position he occupied till October, 1872, when he resigned, and, removing to Dayton, associated himself with G. V. Nauerth in the practice of his profession. To say that Judge MeKenny is a self-made man is only to repeat a trite expression, which is very indiscriminately lavished on enterprising Americans, but with him it is more of a stern reality than a complimentary figure of speech. Arriving in Darke county with only two dollars and a half


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in his pocket, he supported himself by manual labor while ; for a period of six years. During this time he took a promi- getting his education and studying law, and has achieved his very honorable position at the bar of Ohio under no more fortuitous circumstances than the possession of native intelligence and energy of character. He has always taken a lively interest in politics, and even before he was admitted to the bar had acquired a reputation as a stump speaker. lle has repeatedly been Chairman of the Darke and Mont- gomery County Democratic Committees. . In 1861 he mar- ried Mary Ann Wylie, of Darke county.


OHINSON, WILLIAM PARKER, M. D., Director of the Philadelphia Branch of the National Surgi- cal Institute, was born in Athens county, Ohio, on September 2151, 1824. His parents were John and Sallie ( Wyatt ) Johnson, both natives of Penn- sylvania ; the former settled in Ohio in IS02. William Parker attended the common schools of Athens county, and in 1837 entered the Ohio University, from which he graduated in 1843. On leaving college he took up the study of medicine with Dr. William Blackstone, a native of Virginia, and a resident of Athens county. With him he read the text books and learned something of the practice of his chosen profession. Having thus qualified himself, he entered the medical department of the Univer- sity of Louisville, from which he graduated in the spring of 1847. Immediately after graduation, having married Julia M. Blackstone, his preceptor's daughter, he began the practice of medicine, settling in Nelsonville, in his native county. There he remained for three years, enjoying the confidence and esteem of a growing connection. He then removed to Athens, and became associated in practice with his preceptor and father-in-law, and that continued to be his home until 1869. When the war broke out in 1861, desirous of doing all in his power to sustain the cause of liberty and the Union, he entered the army as Surgeon, attached to the 18th Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until raustered out, a period of over three years. Ile was attached to the Army of the Cumberland, and was present at all the battles fought by that command, manifest- ing at all times and under the most trying circumstances bravery, coolness, and great surgical ability. Before leav- ing the army, in the fall of 1863, he was elected a member of the Ohio Legislature, as representative from Athens county. ITis election occurred while he was at Chatta -- nooga, both the nomination and election happening without his knowledge. During the first session of his term he served by leave of absence from the army. So well pleased were his constituents with his efforts on their behalf and for the general good of the Commonwealth, that at the expira- tion of lis term he was re-elected, and again returned when the second term was concluded, the nomination on each occasion being unopposed save by himself. He thus served


nent part in legislation and was especially identified, as Chairman of the Committee on Benevolent Institutions, with several important measures. Thus, he was the author of the bill for building the Lunatic Asylum at Athens, and also those for enlarging the Northern and Southern Asylums. Ile was very active in promoting the success of the measure for establishing the Idiotic Asylum at Columbus, and it is conceded by the trustees that its passage is due to him. At the close of his term in 1869, Dr. Jolinson moved to Indianapolis, and resumed the practice of his profession, entering into partnership with Dr. II. R. Allen, in the direction of-the National Surgical Institute. This institu- tion was originally founded in 1858, for the treatment of all diseases requiring the surgeon's care, but especially of de- formities, great attention being devoted to the treatment of paralysis. So admirable and successful has been its man- agement, that the directors have been encouraged to open branches in various cities. In February, 1864, the Atlanta establishment was opened; in the November following, that in San Francisco, and in February, 1876, that in Philadel- phia. Of the last Dr. Johnson has especial charge. The building devoted to the purposes of the institute in Phila- delphin is situate at the northeast corner of Broad and Arch streets, having a fine frontage to each thoroughfare. The first floor is occupied for reception rooms, consultation offices, and the secretary's office. On the second are the treatment and bathing-rooms. One of the former is one hundred feet long by twenty wide, and contains upwards of fifty mechanical contrivances of the most ingenious and efficient character, for the treatment of paralysis and de- formities. The bathing-rooms are admirably arranged, in- cluding a Turkish or hot-ait bath, so devised as to save feeble patients from inhaling the hot air while extending all its benefits to their bodies. The special. feature of the in- stitute is that the surgeons possess a practical knowledge of mechanics so far as they relate to surgery ; that they design the necessary apparatus in each case and apply it, saving the patient all risk at the hands of mechanics who are merely mechanics, as most surgical appliance manufacturers are. All the surgical appliances used in the institute are made therein; most are peculiar to it and upon these patents are held. An idea of the experience gained by Drs. Allen and Johnson may be inferred from the fact that in the four establishments an average of over four thousand enses are treated annually ; at present writing (April, 1876) more than that number are under treatment. And this notwith- standing the fair and honorable policy pursued of at once informing all applicants for relief whether anything can be done for them or not. A patient is not received unless there is a good prospect that an improvement ean be wrought. Dr. Johnson is assisted in the Philadelphia branch by two experienced surgeons, Drs. Miller and Mclean. Politi- cally Dr. Jolison was originally a Whig, but as that organization gave place to the Republican, he naturally


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found himself in the ranks of the new party, of which he has continued to be a consistent adherent. Ilis first presidential vote was cast for Zachary Taylor. Apart from lis legislative career he has not moved in public affairs, pre- ferring to devote himself to a profession in which mankind may be so largely benefited. In 1864 he was appointed Trustee of the Ohio University, a position he still holds, but this is the only office he has occupied. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church. His wife died four years ago, leaving him two children.


IRMIN, LORENZO, M. D., Physician, was born, March 31st, ISOS, in South Wilbraham, Massa- chusetts, and is the son of John Firmin. Ilis parents were both natives of Massachusetts, and lived and died in Wilbraham. Lorenzo resided with his parents on the farm until he was twenty years of age. Ile received only a common school educa- tion. Soon after he was twenty he went to Springfield, and commenced work at the shoemaker's trade. He remained there about a year, and proceeded thence to Munson, where he sojourned three years, and then removed to Ellington, Connecticut, where he engaged in the boot and shoe busi- ness, with Stephen Martin. After leaving this last-named place he passed some time at home. He next proceeded to Hartford, and worked at his trade for a year, and then travelled into New York State, stopping at Utica, Rochester and Whitesborough, being employed at journey-work while at each place. After an absence of over two years from home, he returned on a visit to Massachusetts. In the au- tumn of 1834 he went to Ohio, and stopped at Richfield, in Summit county, where he made the acquaintance of Dr. Secretary Rawson, who aided him in starting a tannery at that town, which he successfully followed for the succeeding seven years, and during that period acquired considerable property, including a farm. In 1841 he resolved to relin- quish the tanning business, and dispose of his interests in the tannery, which he did, and removed to Findley, Ohio, where he immediately commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Bass Rawson, his wife's uncle (and whose bio- graphical sketch appears elsewhere in this volume), con- tinuing with him some three years. In 1844 he attended a course of lectures in the Cleveland Medical College. Ile first commenced the practice of his profession in Benton, Hancock county, where he remained about one year. In 1847 he removed to Findley, and settled there perma- nently as a practising physician. During the first season after his location in that town, he entered upon a very active practice, as it was unusually sickly in the county during that ycar ; and he has ever since been engaged in an extensive line of professional duty. He has been very successful in his career, and has acquired a fine property. He occupies a handsome residence, which he erected in 1860. He has


taken but very few vacations; he, however, revisited his old home in Massachusetts in 1854. lle, with his excellent wife, are very highly esteemed in Findley. He was married in 1837 to Clara 11., daughter of Di. Secretary Rawson, formerly of Richfield, Ohio, but now of Des Moines, lowa, where he yet resides, at the advanced age of eighty years. lle is the sixth generation in direct descent from Edward Rawson, Secretary of Massachusetts colony, from 1650 to 1636.


APLES, ROBERT COLE, M. D., Physician, was born, July 31st, 1815, in New Philadelphia, Tus- carawas county, Ohio, and is a son of Robert Francis Caples, an early settler of Ohio, and one of the Associate Justices of Tuscarawas county. He was in the war of 1812, holding a Captain's commission, and was afterwards a merchant, for some years, in Jeromeville, Wayne county, Ohio, and finally removed to Seneca county, where he laid out the town of Risdon, and died in 1834. Dr. Caples was one of nine children, and lived at home at Jeromeville until hic was twenty years old. He had meanwhile received a common school educa- tion, and had also passed between two and three years in a store in Ashland, Ohio. In 1835 he left the last named place and went to Tiffin, where he obtained a position in the store of R. W. Shawhan, a leading merchant there (and whose biographical sketch will be found elsewhere in this volume). He continued in that store about two years, when he took a stock of goods to the town of Risdon, and opened a store there in connection with his employer. This store was carried on by him for two years, when they disposed of it in 1837. He then concluded to study medicine, and commenced his readings under the supervision of Dr. Dana, of Risdon, where he continued until he entered a medical college in New York, where he pursued his studies, and graduated in 1843. On his return to Ohio, he immediately commenced the practice of his profession in Risdon, which afterwards, 1852, became united with the village of Rome, and is now the well-known town of Fostoria. He soon established an extensive and lucrative practice, and con- tinued in it alone, until he associated with him his first student, Dr. R. W. HIale, who had commenced the reading of medicine with him in 1852, graduating in 1856 at the medical college in Washington city, and who is still his partner, and one of the foremost members of the profession in northern Ohio. Dr. Caples has confined himself strictly to the practice of medicine and surgery since he first opened his office, nearly the third of a century ago, and has been very successful and is widely known as an able practitioner. IIe has had several students under his preceptorship besides his associate, Dr. Hale. IIe is an carnest Republican in sentiment, but takes little part in politics. He has, how- ever, been much interested in all matters of local interest, especially in the public schools, and has been for the past


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fifteen years a member of the Board of Education, and for | bar, and commenced practice in 1853. In 1858 he was the greater part of this period President of the same, He was married at Kisdon, Ohio, in November, 1838, to Ann, daughter of the late Adam Wilson, of Geneva, New York ; she died in June, 1868, leaving a daughter, another child having died in infancy. Iler daughter, Emua, was mar- tied, October, 1871, to Dr. George L. Hoege, of Toledo, where they resided a few months, and then returned to Fostoria, where she died in June, 1873, aged twenty-one years. Dr. Caples was again married, April 3d, 1871, in Fostoria, to Mary E. Barber, and has one child by this union.


UNGER, COLONEL WILLIAM, Editor, Lawyer and Soldier, was born, May 12th, 1821, in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, and is of Irish lineage, his parents having left that country two years before his birth. In 1822 his father re- moved to Philadelphia, where he remained until William was nine years old, when he went to Ohio with his family and settled in Carroll county. William was taught the rudiments of learning by his mother, who was a woman of remarkable mental qualities and good education. Being a Presbyterian she required him to commit to memory the Westminster Catechism, and to read daily two chapters in the Bible. On his arrival in Ohio he was put to work on a farm, but continued to pass his leisure moments in study. From the time he was fourteen until he reached the age of nineteen years, he went to school but fifty-five days in all ; but by diligent night study at home, he made excellent at- tainments in English grammar, mathematics, and the physi- cal sciences ; and he acquired a good knowledge of Greek, besides mastering Latin, and also of the French and Spanish languages, before he attained his majority, by the aid of in- struction received from Professor John McCormick, a teacher in Carrollton. He taught school for one season in Carroll county, and also in Hancock county for some years during the winter season, working on a farm in the summer, near Findley, Ohio, whither he had removed with his father in 1842. In the autumn of 1844 he was appointed Deputy Treasurer of Hancock county, and in February, 1845, he commenced editing and publishing, in Findley, the Hancock Farmer, a weekly Democratic paper. Six months subsequently he purchased the rival newspaper in that place and united the two under the name of the Democratic Courier, which journal he continued to edit for ten years. In the autumn of 1846 he was elected Auditor of Hancock county, and was re-elected in 1848. In 1850 he took an active part, both on the stump and with his pen, in advocat- ing the adoption of the new Constitution, which was subse- quently carried by a popular vote. In 1851 he was elected to the State Senate from the district of which Hancock county formed a part, but declined a renomination in 1853. In the meantime he had studied law, was admitted to the


nominated by the Democracy of the Fitth District as a can- didate for Congress, but lus opponent, llon. J. M. Ashley, was elected, notwithstanding that he ran several hundred votes ahead of his party ticket. He continued in the prac- tice of his profession until 1861. When the civil war broke out he assisted in raising the 21st Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry in April, but on account of cases pending in court, was prevented from going when the first call for troops was made. Ile soon afterwards enlisted men to form a battery of light artillery, but for lack of arms the company was dis- banded. Ile then received authority from Governor Den- nison to raise a regiment of infantry. In about six weeks the regiment was full, and was organized as the 57th Ohio, of which he was placed in command as Colonel. This regiment was assigned to duty under General W. T. Sher- man in the West, and participated in all the important bat- tles of the Southwest, including Shiloh (or Pittsburgh Landing), Corinth, Chickasaw, Vicksburg, Raymond, Champion Hills, and Arkansas Post. At the latter place, Colonel Munger led the 4th Brigade, Ist Division, 15th Army Corps, in the charge against the enemy's works. Ilis health becoming impaired, he was compelled to resign from the service at Vicksburg, but his regiment went through with Sherman in his famous " march to the sea." After re- cruiting his health for a year, he resumed the practice of law in Findley. In 1866 he was the Democratic candidate for Congress, and was elected by a majority of 2778 votes. IIe served on the Committee on Indian Affairs, and on the Special Committee on the Niagara Ship Canal, and on the Treatment of Union Prisoners. He was re-elected to the Forty-first Congress by a majority of 4846, and was placed on the Committees on Indian Affairs and on Printing. Ile continues the practice of his profession in Findley, where he resides; and is a frequent contributor to the press, occa- sionally of poetical articles. He was married, March 10th, 1844, to Marietta Bowman, of Huntingdon county, Pennsyl- vania, and has had eight children, of whom six are now living-Theodore, his eldest son, is a lawyer in Washington city ; Ellen, wife of O. S. Langam, of Bluffton, Ohio; Mar- garet, wife of E. J. Totten, of Findley, Ohio; Clara, wife of J. De Wolf, publisher of the Review, Fostoria ; and two younger daughters, Jennie and Effie, who are still living at home.


UCHWALTER, M. L., Lawyer, was born on Sep- tember 8th, 1846, at Hallsville, Ross county, Olio. Ilis father was a Pennsylvania German, while his mother came of German, English and Welsh descent. Farming was followed by his father, who enjoyed good circumstances. Both his parents early manifested an interest in the anti-slavery movement. The subject of this sketch spent his early years


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as a farmer's boy. In his eighteenth year he entered college at Delaware, Ohio, which he afterwards left for Cornell University, Ilrica, New York, From the latter institution he graduated as Master of Arts in the spring of 1869. He studied law in Cincinnati with judge Bellamy Storer, and graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1870. There- upon he immediately began the practice of his profession in Cincinnati, and has continued it successfully up to the present under the firm-name of Buchwalter & Campbell. Ile has never been a candidate for any official position. At present he is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Cincinnati University, serving on the committees of law and finance. He was married, May 14th, 1873, to Louise, daughter of John Zimmerman, of Wooster, Ohio.


OATES, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Collector of Internal Revenue for the Eleventh District of Ohio, was born in Clinton county, Ohio, June 23d, 1827, of Quaker parents, his father, Aquila Coates, being a native of Chester county, Penn- sylvania, and descended from a family that settled in that State with William Penn. Ilis mother, Ra- chel Pidgeon Coates, was a native of Lynchburg, Virginia. Ile received his early education in the common schools of his native county, and at the age of twenty began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Aquilla Jones, in Wilming- ton, Ohio, and subsequently graduated in Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. Ile first located for the practice of his profession at Mowrystown, Highland county, Ohio, in IS50, where he remained until 1853, when he removed to West Union, the county-seat of Adams county, Ohio. Here he continued the practice of his profession industriously and successfully for nine years, being part of the time in part- nership with Dr. David Coleman, a prominent physician of that place. In 1857 he married Elizabeth J. Patterson, daughter of the late HIon. John Patterson, of Adams county, Ohio. In 1861 he was elected to the Ohio Senate, from the district composed of Adams, Scioto, Jackson and Pike counties, which office he held one term. In 1862, at the solicitation of Governor Tod, he assisted in recruiting and organizing the 91st Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry for the Union army, and being commissioned its Lieutenant- Colonel, accompanied the regiment to the field, and served with it to the close of the war, and was mustered out of the service with his regiment June 30th, 1865. In the battle of Lynchburg, Virginia, on June 17th, 1864, Colonel Jolin A. Turley being wounded, he took command of the regi- ment. On December 9th, 1864, he was commissioned Colonel, and on the 13th of March, 1865, was brevetted a Brigadier-General. In the battle of Winchester, Virginia, September 19th, 1864, he took command of the 2d Brigade of General R. B. Hayes' Division, Army of West Virginia, commanded by General George Crook, and continued in


command of this brigade under General Sheridan during his campaign in the Shenandoah valley, participating in all the brilliant and hard-fought battles of that ever memorable and victorious campaign, cuding with the battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia. On being munstered out of the service, General Coates located in Portsmouth, Ohio, and engaged in the wholesale drug business, in which he continued until aj .- pointed United States Collector of Internal Revenue for the Eleventh Collection District of Ohio, October Ist, 1866, which position he still continues to hold, now being in charge of the consolidated Eleventh and Twelfth Districts, by appointment of President Grant. Ile was one of the original projectors and organizers of the Ohio State Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' llome, at Xenia, Ohio, and was ap- pointed by Governor Ilayes one of its first Board of Trus- tees. Ile is one of the Directors of the Kinney National Bank of Portsmouth, and a Director and Treasurer of the Portsmouth Street Railroad Company. Ile is a hospitable, courteous and universally respected gentleman, and an honest, efficient and faithful public officer.


ORSE, DAVID APPLETON, M. D., Physician, Surgeon, and Professor of Nervous Disorders and Insanity in Starling Medical College, Columbus, Ohio, was born, December 12th, 1840, at Ells -. - worth, Ohio, of New England parentage. Ile received a classical education, and while a student his tastes were manifest in a preference for languages, meta- physics, and kindred studies, which doubtless, to a great ex- tent, has determined his subsequent course in life and been the foundation of his success in teaching those branches, in which he is recognized as high authority: Possessed of a good memory, with keen perceptions and well-developed intuitive faculties, he has been saved much labor that with many others render great exertion necessary to acquire knowledge. When but seven years old he recited each Sunday, for five months, at Sunday school, one hundred verses from the New Testament, and received a prize com- peted for by many much older in years. At this time he was a pupil of the academy at Ellsworth, then taught by Rev. Mr. Norton. Ile was placed in a class of the oldest and most advanced pupils, some of whom, during the follow- ing year, began the study of law or medicine, while others entered the ministry. Ile was selected to give the opening address at the exhibition at the close of the term, which posi- tion, from his size and age, made him conspicuous. From this time until he was sixteen years old he was occupied in study, with the exception of a portion of the years 1853-54, when he assisted in a dry-goods store, in which his father was a member of the firm. When he had attained the age of fourteen, his father died. During the subsequent four or five years, in connection with a younger brother, he had the




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