USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 65
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- issue of this election was unfortunate to Mr. Pendleton. The anti-Nebraska tornado swept over the country with ir- resistible force, and he, as well as other Democrats, was badly beaten. In 1856, at the next Congressional election, he was unanimously selected to bear the standard of his party, and was elected by a flattering vote, Ile took his seat in the House of Representatives in December, 1857, in the carly part of James Buchanan's administration. Stormy times were ahendl. Ultraism, both North and South, was surging against the ship of state. Mr. Pendle- ton's course was soon decided upon. It was moderate and conservative, having in view the preservation of the Union by maintaining amity among the States. In 1858 he was nominated a third time for Congress, his competitor this time being T. C. Day, who in 18544 had defeated hin. The contest was sharp and generally unfortunate to the
ticket who was elected. In 1860, in the breaking up of the Democratic party at the Charleston Convention, hie warmly sustained Mr. Douglas, and was nominated by that wing of the party for reelection to Congress. Ilis main competitor was Judge Oliver M. Spencer, of the Superior Court of Cincinnati; and, although a considerable portion of the county ticket was defeated, he was again elected. While serving his third term in Congress the civil war oc- curred. His position was similar to that held by the great mass of his political friends. In 1861 the Democracy were overwhelmingly beaten in Hamilton county, and in 1862 there seemed to be little hope of the party being able to elect Mr. Pendleton again. Ile was, however, unanimously nominated. His opponent was Colonel John Groesbeck, but Mr. Pendleton was again successful. This was his fifth nomination, an unusual number where the doctrine of ro- tation had so long prevailed. Ile was prominently spoken of for Speaker of the House, but the Republican ascen- deney in that body prevented any serious effort being made in his behalf. He was appointed upon the Committee of Ways and Means, on which it was usual to assign the strongest and ablest members. Ile had already served on the Judiciary and Military Committees, the two other lead- ing committees of the House. In 1864 there was a strong feeling in favor of him as the candidate of the party for the Presidency. But the majority of the delegates were in favor of a military man, and the result was that Mr. Pendleton was nominated for the Vice-Presidency, with General George B. Mcclellan as the candidate for President. IIe was a delegate at large from his State to this convention. The issue of the election was of course adverse, only Del- aware, New Jersey and Keytucky casting their votes for Mcclellan and Pendleton. On the 4th of March, 1865, hus fourth term of service in the national House expired. ile had long been regarded as the leader of his party in the House, and his retirement was the cause of general regret. In 1866 the Democratic State Central Committee of Ohio elected him a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention. This appointment he declined to accept. The time for another Congressional election had now rolled around; and in view of the importance of the next Congress, and the belief that Mr. Pendleton was the best and strongest man that could be selected, he again received the nomination of his party. Ile ran ahead of his ticket, as usual, but was defeated. In 1867 there were strong indications favorable to his nomination by his party for President of the United States. The Ohio delegates to the National Convention were instructed to vote for him, and before the convening of the convention at New York, on the 4th of July, 1868, several other States had instructed their delegates to vote for him, and his name stood first among the candidates. After a protracted balloting his name was withdrawn and Horatio Seymour was made the nominee of the party. In 1869 the Democratic State of Ohio nominated General
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Rosecrans for Governor. That gentleman declined, and, at | tion of Sandusky. In early life Mr. Mackcy was a Dem- the unanimous request of the State Central Committee and ocrat. When General Cass, however, was nominated, in 1848, he cast his personal influence and that of his news- paper in favor of Martin Van Buren as the Free-Soil candi- date for the Presidency. He has been an ardent member of the Republican party since its organization, taking an active interest in public affairs. In whatever position he has been placed he has acquitted himself creditably. Oc- tober 24th, 1849, he married Violetta Mackcy, in Erie county, Ohio. other leading men of the party, Mr. Pendleton consented to accept the gubernatorial nomination. He was unable to make a canvass of the State, and was unsuccessful. In 1871 he was President of the convention in which the Democ- racy of Ohio made the famous new departure platform, and declared their acquiescence in the new amendments to the Constitution. Since that time his private business has pre- vented him from taking an active interest in political affairs. This has been necessarily a brief statement of Mr. Pendleton's political career. Endowed by nature with a strong and vigorous intellect, it has been assiduously im- proved by cultivation and study, and by scholastic and educational polish. There are few men who have less weakness and frailty, and whose minds are more completely developed. Calm and self-possessed, he is seldom be- trayed into excitement, and always acts under the dominion of reason, instead of passion. He is moderate and con- servative in his views, but inflexible and determined in adhering to them. Dignified in his deportment, yet modest and unassuming, he is always courteous to op- ponents. Ilis speeches and public addresses have been marked by great logical and oratorical strength, and clas- sical purity of style. Ilis social qualities are very attrac- tive, his address and personal appearance fine, and his hosts of friends who take pride in his past career, regarding him as one of the most promising statesmen of his time, look forward with hope and confidence to the future that will bring for him still higher honors and a more brilliant position in the affairs of the country. He was married in 1846 to Alice Key, daughter of Francis Scott Key, of Bal- timore, and has three children, one son and two daughters.
EWEY, HON. CHAUNCEY, Lawyer and Presi- dent of the Harrison National Bank of Cadiz, Ohio, was born, March 27th, 1796, near Nor- wich, Connecticut, and is a son of the late Eliphalet and Rachel (Ilyde) Dewey. Ilis father was a native of Windham county, Con- nectient, who was a farmer by occupation, and removed from Connecticut in 1798 to Otsego county, New York, where he settled on the Susquehanna river, in that county, where he lived until 1834, and then proceeded to Oswego county, in the same State. In 1836 he went to Ohio and located in Cadiz, Harrison county, where he died in 1837. Ile was a soldier in the revolutionary war. His wife was a native of Norwich, Connecticut, a lineal descendant of Chancellor Hyde, of England; she survived her husband ten years, having died in Cadiz in 1847. Chauncey worked on the farm until he was eighteen years old, attending school in the winter. In 1814 he was drafted into a mil- itary company, and marched to Sackett's Harbor to repel an anticipated attack of the British, and was in service about seven weeks. On his return he entered Hartwich Academy, in Otsego county, New York, where he pursued a course of literary study until the summer of 1818, and became proficient in the classics. In the same year he passed the requisite examinations prior to entering the junior class of Union College, Schenectady, New York, then under the supervision of the celebrated Dr. Eliphalet Nott. Ile graduated from that institution in 1820, and in the same year commenced the study of law at Coopers- town, Otsego county, under the preceptorship of Samuel Starkweather, a prominent attorney of that place, and con- tinued so engaged for a year, and in 1821 removed to Cadiz, Ohio, where he completed his legal studies, and was admitted to the bar in the following year. He immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in Cadiz, and so continued until 1845, being a partner for a number of years with the late Ilon. Edwin M. Stanton. In 1845 he became connected with the Harrison branch of the State Bank of Ohio, at Cadiz, and soon afterwards was elected its Presi- dent. Ile devoted the greater portion of his time to the interests of this institution until 1865, when its business was closed and the Harrison National Bank was organized as
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ACKEY, JOIIN, Lawyer, was born, January 7th, IS18, in Warren county, New Jersey. He is the son of Lewis and Margaret (Campbell) Mackey. Ile laid the foundation of his education in a dis- triet school. The family emigrated to Erie county, Ohio, when John was about eighteen years of age. Ifere he attended school at Milan, preparing himself for college. Leaving school at the age of twenty-two he en- tered the law office of Messrs. Beecher & Cooke. Ile was auchmitted to practise in 1846, opening a law office in San- dusky. At this time he also entered into partnership with Messrs, Mills & Ross in the publication of the Daily Dem- ocratic Mirror. Ile severed his connection with that paper in the spring of 1849. Since that time he has devoted himself exclusively to the law, in which his labors have been well rewarded. He was for six years Prosecuting Attorney of Erie county, and was six years in the City Council of Sandusky, being President of that body for four years. Ile is at present a member of the Board of Educa- I its successor, of which he was elected President, and has so
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continued until the present time, beside being its principal { bearing, and yet affable and courteans in intercourse with his fellows. In ISAS he married Kate Hodson, of Clinton county.
stockholder. He is also largely interested as a shareholder in the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad Com- pamny ; in the Jefferson Insurance Company of Steubenville; in the Franklin luarance Company of Wheeling; and also in the Amazon Insurance Company of Cincinnati. IIe has been more or less a contributor to colleges and theological schools. He was a member of the Ohio Senate from 1841 to 1843, resigning before the expiration of his term of ser- vice. He has never aspired to any politieal office. In politics he is a Republican, and gave his first Presidential vote, in 1824, in favor of John Quincy Adams. Ile is a Presbyterian in religious belief. Ile is a man of the most inflexible integrity and unimpeachable character; he has always led a temperate life, and, though he has passed his eightieth year, is still active and energetic in his business. Ile was married in February, 1823, to Nancy, daughter of John Pritchard, formerly of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, but who was one of the pioneer settlers of Harrison county, Ohio, whither he removed in 1807. He is the father of ten children.
LONE, FELIX G., Lawyer, was born, July 28th, 1826, in Goshen, Clermont county, Ohio. Ile was the third of seven children born to William Slone and Rachel Mann. William Slone was a native of Ilamilton county, Ohio, and by voca- tion a farmer. IIe moved to Clermont county in 1808, and subsequently to Peoria county, Illinois, where he died in 1872. Rachel Mann Slone was a native of Bullett county, Kentucky. The subject of this notice was engaged on a farm until he was nineteen years old, attend- ing school in the winter. The next three years he passed in Martinsville, Clinton county, teaching school in the winter and attending school as a pupil during the summer. In 1850 Mr. Slone began merchandising at Westborough, Clinton county, and was thus engaged for about three years. During these years he was industriously devoting his spare time to reading law. After his admission to the bar, in IS53, he was chiefly engaged in school teaching until IS58. Ile then went to Georgetown, Brown county, where he re- mained in the practice of his profession until IS61. As Second Lieutenant of Company K, 70th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, he went to the front and was in active service for nearly three years, participating in the battles of Pittsburgh Landing, Corinth and Vicksburg. By meri- torious conduct he earned a first lieutenant's and then a captain's commission. IIe was honorably discharged from the service in 1863, and returned to Georgetown, Brown county, where 'he remained until October of 1865. Ile then located in Wilmington, where he has since made his home and secured a large practice. In polities he is a Republican. Mr. Slone is a valuable citizen, and is re- garded as a man of strict integrity. He is dignified in
ECK, WILLIAM VIRGIL, Lawyer and ex-Judge, was born, April 16th, 1804, at Cayuga, New York. Ilis parents were Virgil and Mary (Wallace) Peck, and he was the youngest of their three children. Both parents were natives of Litch- field, Connecticut. They settled in Cayuga, New York, in 1802, and there Virgil Peck died in September, 1804. Ile was of English extraction, and at the time of his death was a merchant in that place. After his death his widow, in 1So8, married Dr. Abel Catlin, of Litchfield, Connecticut, who died in 1856. She then removed to Portsmouth, Ohio, and resided there with her son William until her death, which took place in 1860. The boyhood of William Virgil Peck was passed at Litchfield, Connecti- cut. Ile attended the district school there until he had passed beyond its educational resources. He then studied the classics at the Pierce Academy and at the South Farms Academy in Litchfield. In 1816 he went to Watertown, New York, where he entered a store as elerk. Ile re- mained at Watertown, employed in that eapacity, for about three years. In the year 1819 he returned to Connecticut and obtained a situation as clerk at Winsted, in that State, and continued in its employ until 1824, at which time he entered the then very celebrated law school of Litehfield. From this institution he graduated in the summer of 1826, and almost immediately moved to Ohio. Ile went to Cin- cinnati, where he entered the law office of the late Judge Bellamy Storer. lle remained with him until 1828, and then, removing to Portsmouth, Ohio, he immediately en- tered upon the practice of his profession. Ile has resided in Portsmouth ever since, and almost from the first his suc- cess was great. ITis fine natural talents, added to thorough training and high legal attainments, won for him a sub- stantial recognition, which manifested itself in a very extensive practice. In February, 1848, he was elected President Judge of the Common Pleas Court of his district. lle was re-elected to the same position in IS51, and again in 1856. IIe served until the spring of 1859, when he took his seat as Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, to which position he had been elected in 1858. No higher evidence of the thoroughly acceptable manner in which he performed the duties of his judicial office could be required than the fact that his re-elections to the Common Pleas bench were without opposition, and that in 1863 he deelined a re- elcetion to the bench of the Supreme Court. In 1864, on account of impaired health, he retired from all offieial and professional business, and has since been living in honored retirement at his home in Portsmouth. ITis impaired physi- cal health has not in the least affected that of his mind, and liis strong and brilliant mental qualities are as noticeable
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now as ever. Politically, he is a Republican. Ilis first | June is a superior mechanic as well as a good business man- vote was cast in 1828 for John Quincy Adams. Though ager. Ile has made many valuable improvements in build- not an active member of any church, he has (until prevented | ing engines. Ile is the patentee of a self-acting spark ar- by bronchial trouble and ill health) been a very regular at- tendant of either the Presbyterian or Episcopal Church, and has always been a contributor to those institutions. Ilis life has been always characterized by the most unquestioned integrity, and by habits of strict temperance ; and in social life his pleasant temper, his agreeable manners and uniform courtesy, render him universally popular. He was married, July 8th, 1830, to Mary Ann Cook, of Portsmouth, Ohio. Of their large family of children only four are at present living.
UNE, DAVID, Machinist and Engine-Builder, was born, May 11th, 1824, in Ithaca, New York, and is a son of Peter June, also a native of New York, who had formerly followed the sea, but removed with his family to Ohio in 1833 and settled in Sandusky ; he sailed for a few years on the lakes, and died in 1851. David lived in Sandusky until he was about sixteen years old. Ile attended school until fourteen, and then commenced to work in a machine shop to learn the trade. In 1842 he went to Cleveland, and found em- ployment in the Cuyahoga Iron Works, and became a good machinist and engineer, and for the next ten years was in the service of this company during the winter, and filled the position of engineer on the steamers of the Buffalo and Chicago line through the summer season. By industry and economy he laid by some money, and in 1853 went to Fre- mont to start in business. Ile there purchased a plow shop, and fitted it up for repairing and building engines. Ile was assisted at the outset of the enterprise by an elder brother, D. I .. June, who had been a resident of that town for several years. Business began at once, for the steamboat company, for which he had worked, sent him engines, etc., to repair, and orders for machinery came in from the country. The first steam-engine in the county was built there. In 1858, at the urgent solicitation of the Lake Superior Transporta- tion Company, he left the business at Fremont in the care of a partner, lately taken in, and went to Cleveland, where he took charge of all the company's boats, keeping them in running order. He remained in that position until 1860, when, finding that his interests at Fremont needed his atten- tion, he relinquished his situation at Cleveland and returned home, where he purchased the interests of his partner and assumed entire control of the business. In 1862 he com- menced the erection of new works, and completed the present buildings, now occupied, in 1867. In the meantime he asso- ciated with him as partner Robert Brayton, an old and skil- ful machinist, with whom he had worked in Cleveland (and whose biographical sketch appears elsewhere in this volume). The business has ever since been a prosperous one, and was not seriously affected by the financial distress of 1873. Mr.
rester, invented in 1875, of which the firm have the exclusive right to use, and is a valuable article. The engines built by D. June & Co., both portable and stationary, have a high reputation ; many hundreds have been built since 1860 and shipped to all parts of the country. They have aimed to excel in thoroughness of work and finish, and have a steady demand. They are now (1876) building fifty portable en- gines, of two patterns, to meet the demands of their trade. They also build circular saw-mills, etc., etc. The amount of capital invested in the buildings, machinery, etc., is about sixty thousand dollars, the greater part of which has been made in the business. They give employment to between forty and fifty men, on full time, all the year round. David June was married, November 28th, 1844, to Caroline A. Owen, of Painesville, Ohio, and has had two children, one of whom only is living, a daughter of eighteen, who is still at home.
BERMILLER, MINRAD, Physician and Surgeon, was born, February 18th, 1818, in Schwarzenberg, Province of Tyrol, Austria. IIe is the son of Gephard Obermiller, a manufacturer of woollen goods, who for forty years carried on business successfully. When Minrad was eight years of age, while playing in his father's mills, he was caught on a wheel and had his left hand torn off, crippling the arm to the shoulder. IIe laid the foundation of his education at the district school. At the age of fourteen he entered the university at Innsbruck, where he remained for six years. From Innsbruck he went to the university at Gratz, where hc studied medicine and surgery, receiving his diploma in 1842. In this year he accepted the position of Assistant Physician in the Imperial Hospital, at Vienna. In February, 1848, he was sent as Assistant Surgeon to the Austrian army, then stationed at Milan, a severe fever having broken out among the soldiers in that city. At this time began the Italian revolution, assisted by King Charles Albert, of Sardinia. As the war progressed, the force with which Dr. Obermiller was serving was ordered to guard the government buildings with their funds and records. The Hungarian revolution breaking out at this time, the Austrian government was obliged to divide its army. By this move the strength of its forces were so weakened that it was found impossible to hold the buildings at Milan. The troops at Milan were therefore ordered to fall back to Verona, taking with them the government funds and records. This they succeeded in doing by resorting to a clever ruse, cutting their way through the Italian forces and reaching Verona with the money and records concealed about their persons. From Verona Dr. Obermiller was ordered to join reinforcements sent to Venice. Being a few hours in advance of the troops he paid a visit
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to a friend, living near the powder magazine in Verona. As | their origin to this Edward Rawson, whose descendants at soon as the inhabitants heard of the approach of more Aus- trian troops they arose in arms, forcing the few soldiers stationed in the city to flee to meet the coming reinforce- ments. All communication with his regiment was cut off; the Italians had sworn death to every Austrian in the city, and Dr. Obermiller was obliged to take refuge in the maga- zine, located on a small island and in charge of a corporal's guard of six men. After remaining here over six weeks, the party effected a conditional surrender; left the powder in a'useless condition, and landed safely at Trieste, where Dr. Obermiller resigned his commission, retiring honorably from the service of his country. Ile paid a short farewell visit to his mother (his father having died while the doctor was in the field); he started for America, via Antwerp. After a voyage of forty two days he landed in New York, July 24th, 1848. Thence he went to Tiffin, Seneca county, Ohio, where his brother, a priest of the Roman Catholic Church, was stationed. Here he performed many success- ful cures in chronic and other diseases, and built up a large practice through northern Ohio and southern Michigan. Jannary Ist, 1872, Dr. Obermiller removed to Toledo, where he has since resided, enjoying a large and lucrative practice. During his professional career he has discovered many valu- able remedies for fevers, consumption, lung and kidney diseases, diabetes, cancer, etc. In 1870 he built a handsome block on St. Clair street, Toledo, which he occupies as a residence and office. Ile has invested the greater part of his surplus funds (all made in his practice) in Michigan and prairie lands. May 13th, 1852, he married Mary Borke, a finely-educated lady, of Tiffin, Ohio. By this marriage he has one son and three daughters. The son and eldest daughter have shown marked talent for portrait and land. scape painting, and have produced some works of decided merit, without any instruction. Dr. Obermiller and his family are held in high respect by all who know them, being people of culture and refinement.
AWSON, BASS, M. D., Physician, was born, April 17th, 1799, in the town of Orange, Franklin county, Massachusetts, and is a son of the late Samuel Rawson, also a native of that State. Hle is one of five brothers, who removed from Massa- chusetts at an early day and settled in Ohio. Four of them were practising physicians, including Dr. L. Q. Rawson, of Fremont ( whose biographical sketch appears elsewhere in this volume). The fifth brother was the late Hon. Abel Rawson, an eminent lawyer of Tiffin, Ohio. Dr. Rawson is one of the sixth generation of the Rawson family in direct descent from Edward Rawson, who left England in 1836, and was the honored Secretary of the Massachusetts colony from 1650 to 1686. All of the Raw- sons in the United States, with one exception only, trace
the present day, according to a genealogical book, very com- plete, published at Boston by the family in 1875, number over 5450 names, as recorded in the work, the youngest being in the ninth generation. Dr. RawSon's youthful days were passed at home, working at times on a farm, and in attendance upon the country schools. At a later period he was placed to learn the trade of a hatter, and worked at it until he was about twenty years old. As the business did not agree with him, his health becoming impaired, he de- cided to abandon it and qualify himself for a profession. lle accordingly entered the academy at New Salem and went through a course of study, and subsequently was en- gaged in teaching at intervals until he was about twenty-five years of age. Ilaving married, he went to Ravenna, Ohio, where he remained a few months, and then returned cast- ward as far as Otsego county, New York, where he located in Richfield, where his wife had friends, and, having pur- chased a small property, resumed his avocation of school teaching. He had, previously to leaving Massachusetts, been reading medicine for a few months, and he now began to study that science systematically under the supervision of Dr. Thomas, of Richfield, and in 1827 attended the lectures at Dartmouth College. In 1828 he removed to Ohio, and sojourned for'a little over a year with his brother, Dr. Secre- tary Rawson, in practice in Medina county. In the follow- ing year he proceeded to the new town of Findley, then in the wilderness, and where he finally settled. At that period there was no practising physician, save himself, in the town, and his advent with his family in that region is still remem- bered by many as an occasion of rejoicing. Ile entered there upon an active practice, which continued with but little cessation for over forty years. Though he was never blessed with a robust constitution, his health had become very much impaired by close application to study prior to his removal to Ohio; but he found great benefit in the active life and the long horseback rides, which were then incident to practice in a new country, where there were no roads worthy of the name, and by this continued healthy exercise he gained both physical strength and endurance. He was for many years the leading physician in that region, and known as a most successful practitioner. Since 1870 he has endeavored to withdraw from active professional pursuits, but some of his old patrons yet insist upon receiving his medical advice, so that he still goes out to attend such calls. Ile has always been ready to give to deserving objects, pub- lic or private, and especially in promoting the welfare of his own church and society. For his kindred, whether near or distant, he entertains warm feelings of attachment, often evidencing this to one and another, as occasion offers, in many quiet but substantial ways. Since the death of his wife a young nicce has been his housekeeper, and he still resides in the plain, substantial frame-house, which was among the first erected in Findley, on the main street, front- ing the public square. Locating there when the country was
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