The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2, Part 66

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


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a wilderness, he has endured with others the hardships and privations of a frontier life, but is at last able to discern the silver lining of the dark cloud which hung so heavily around all in their once new Western home. He was married, in May, 1S24, to Amanda Blackmer, of Greenwich, Massachu- setts; she died in 1874. Their daughter and only child, Harriet E. Amanda, married Dr. William D. Carlin, of Findley, who was a surgeon in the army, and died in 1862, while in the service. She died in 1870, Leaving three chil- dren; one of these is a physician, and another the wife of C. T. Dondon, a resident of Toledo.


IFE, JAMES, Banker and Farmer, was born, August 19th, 1798, in the county Tyrone, Ire- land. He is the first of five children of William Fife and Mary McCoy, both of whom were born and died in the county Tyrone, and were mem- bers of the Seceder Church. The subject of this sketch worked on a farm and attended school until he was seventeen years of age. In 1817 he came to America and settled in Cincinnati, where he secured a situation as clerk in the diy-goods store of Paxton & Pierson. In 1818 he went to Lebanon, Warren county, where he passed a year as clerk in a store. Jumuary 8th, 1819, he went to Wilming. ton, Clinton county, where he has since resided. For two years after settling in Wilmington Mr. Fife was engaged as a clerk. In 1821 he purchased his employer's stock and be- gan business on his own account. He continued in business, sometimes being associated with a partner, until the close of the rebellion, Since then Mr. Fife has given his attention mainly to the care of his farm and his interests as a stock- holder and director of the First National Bank of Wilming- ton, together with the supervision of his extensive real estate. Ile has studiously avoided a political life, with great reluc- tance consenting to run as a Presidential Elector for Martin Van Buren. Formerly a Jackson Democrat, he is now a Liberal. His life has been marked by temperance, industry, thrift, and integrity beyond reproach. Careful in business, he is genial and agreeable in his social relations. November 28th, IS19, Mr. Fife married Jane Dillon, of North Carolina, who died in 1830, leaving four children. In 1831 he mar- ried Catherine M. Moon, of Virginia. In 1876 he married Nancy M. Bosworth.


and a sister. When he was about six months old his father, who was a blacksmith, removed to Canton, the county seat, where he lived for six years and a half; then returned to Tuscarawas township, and in three years moved to Bethle- hem, in the same county. During these years George W. attended the public schools, which were held but for three months in the year, and in them was instructed only in the lowest branches of an English education. Ilis father was poor, and could not afford to send him to better schools. Teachers in those days in Ohio were very inefficient, and it was an uncommon thing to find one who could go beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic as far as and including the " rule of three." When the lad was twelve years of age his uncle, Daniel Raffensperger, who had been elected County Recorder, gave him a situation in his office, where he re- mained several months, and was then placed in a country store to learn the business of clerking. In 1840 his father died, and from that time until his marriage the care of his mother's family, with the support of his younger brothers and sisters, devolved upon him. When this event occurred he was clerking in Bethlehem, and he so continued until the fall of 1844, when his uncle Daniel, who was Clerk of the county courts, offered him the Deputy-Clerkship, which he accepted. During the years of his mercantile clerkship he had endeavored to improve every moment of leisure in reading, and otherwise " making up " for his lack of educa- tion. But the range of books to which he had access was very limited, and it was not until he entered his uncle's office, and obtained the advantages afforded by a residence in a county town of some proportions, that he was able to make much progress in the course of self-education which he had planned out, and to which his limited circumstances confined him. He remained Deputy-Clerk for six years. In 1848 he was appointed Clerk of the Supreme Court for the county, and filled the office in connection with his dep- utyship. Ile also commenced the study of the law in this year. In 1850 the members of his grandfather's family, then living, with one exception, and a number of others bearing the same name, consummated a purpose which they had long had under consideration, namely, an abbreviation of the family name. For many years previously they had been familiarly known by the name of "Raff," and this had become so universal that the name was even more fre- quently thus written by their friends than the correct one, and strangers being thus often misled, much embarrassment was caused the family. In addition, the different branches of the family were spelling the full name so variously that confusion was created, while investigation disclosed that the original name of the family was " Ravensberg." These considerations induced the change, which was accomplished without legislative action, and without causing the least in- convenience to themselves or friends. In 1850 George W. Raff was admitted to the bar, and in the fall of the succeed- ing year he was elected Probate Judge of the county. Dur-


AFF, GEORGE WERTZ, Lawyer, was born in the country, in Tuscarawas township, Stark county, Ohio, on March 24th, 1825. ITis parents were William and Mary (Wertz) Raffensperger, natives of Pennsylvania. ITis father's ancestors came to America from Westphalia, Germany, be- fore the Revolution, in which they participated. Ile him- self is the oldest of a family now consisting of four brothers | ing his term of office he conceived the purpose of preparing


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a " Guide for Executors and Administrators in the State of Ohio," which he subsequently (in 1857) earried into effect. Ile remained in office until February, 1855, when he en- tered upon the practice of law at Canton, Ohio. On De- cember 18th, 1855, he was married to Belinda J., daughter of Frederick A. and Rebecca Schneider. Two sons, one nineteen and the other seventeen years of age, are the fruits of this marriage, which has been a very happy one, his part- ner being a truly noble woman. He continued in the prac- tice of law until the spring of 1871, during which time he prepared three additional works-a " Pension Manual ; " " Road-Laws of Ohio," and " War Claimant's Guide." The "Guide to Executors and Administrators" has run into the fourth edition, and the road-book into a second. Both have become standard authority in the State. In 1871, finding that the demands of a heavy legal practice were seriously threatening his health, as well as wearing upon his mental faculties, he accepted the position of legal adviser and confidential secretary to Cornelius Aultman, Esq., the well-known manufacturer of agricultural implements and owner of a large number of valuable patents. In this posi- tion, which he still occupies, he has found the relief from mental strain which he sought in accepting it. He is a man of large ability, and is highly respected and esteemed in a wide circle as a lawyer, a citizen and a gentleman.


ASSETT, EDWARD P., Lawyer, was born, Oe- tober 220, ISIS, in the State of New York, of New England parentage; both father and mother were natives of New Haven county, Connecticut. IIe removed to Ohio in 1831, and located at first in l'ortage county, of which he was elected Sheriff in 1839, and served in that office until 1845. Meanwhile he read law under the supervision of IIon. Luther Day, after- wards a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio. Ifc was ad- mitted to practice in 1845, and two years thereafter removed to Toledo, where he has ever since resided, and was con- stantly engaged in the practice of his profession umtil 1861. Ile was admitted to the bar of the United States Circuit Court in 1854, and to that of the United States Supreme Court, at Washington, District of Columbia, March 7th, 1861. Ile was commissioned, May 16th, 1861, by President Lincoln, Postmaster of Toledo, and retained that position until July, 1865. His political predilections led him to adopt the tenets of the old Whig party, and when it ceased to exist he adopted the principles of Republicanism. He regards the most exciting and imposing public events, of which he was an eye-witness, to have been the Fort Meigs Political Convention of 1840; the Chicago Convention, that nomi- nated Lincoln in 1860; and his inauguration at Washington in 1861; while the impromptu gathering of the citizens of Toledo, at White's Hall, on the receipt of the news of the President's assassination, April 15th, 1861, he deems the


most solemn and impressive seene he ever witnessed. Hav- ing been an active participant in partisan politics for a quarter of a century, he is impressed with the truth of the saying of Confucius, that " The superior man is catholic, and no par- tisan ; " and that great good would result to our republie could all violent partisans be similarly impressed.


LLBRITAIN, RICHARD LEE, School Superin- tendent, was born, June 18th, 1839, in Muskin- gum county, Ohio, of American parentage. Ilis father was a farmer by occupation, who removed from Virginia about 1825. Richard lived on a farm until he was twenty years old, and attended school during the winter seasons. In 1859 he commeneed teaching the common school in Guernsey county. During the civil war he entered the army as a private soldier, August 22d, 1861, and participated in many engagements. Ile was severely wounded at Vicksburg, Mississippi, May 20th, 1863. Having recovered, he rejoined his regiment and served with them until honorably discharged, August 24th, 1865. During his four years' connection with the army he served as private, corporal, sergeant and quarter- master, and in May, 1865, was commissioned as First Lieu- tenant. After his return to civil life he attended Muskingum College during 1866, and then resumed his avocation as a school teacher. In 1869 he was elected Auditor of Noble county, Ohio; but having favored the nomination of Ilorace Greeley in 1872, was defeated at the election, having been again a candidate for the same office. Ile is at present Superintendent of the Caldwell schools, having been chosen to that position in the spring of 1873, and these seminaries have improved much under his supervision. Ile has been an industrious, painstaking, useful citizen, and has risen to his present position by his own efforts, never having received any assistance whatever. He was married, October 7th, 1867, to Mrs. Mary E. Ilalley.


ODGERS, ROBERT, M. D., was born in Cumber- land county, Pennsylvania, September 26th, 1807. Ilis parents were James and Jane (Quigley) Rod- gers, both natives of Pennsylvania. Ile received his education in a private school in Shippensburg, and began the study of medicine in a private office in the same town. Having attended lectures at the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, he received his diploma from that institution in 1828, and immediately began practice at New Hope, Bucks county, where he remained three years. Thereafter he practised at Newville for one year, and then moving West settled for a year at Portsmouth, Ohio, leav- ing there for Springfield in 1833, where he has ever since remained. There is little to be said of a life as quiet as


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that which ordinarily falls to the lot of a physician. Dr. men to Nashville, Tennessee, where he resigned in 1864. Rodgers' life has been successful, and happily the life of a doctor cannot be successful without being useful. Hle ar. Lived in Springfield when the city was a mere village, and has been identified with its growth and progress. Just be- fore moving there in the spring of 1833 he returned to Pennsylvania, and married Effie Harrison, of Lebanon county. With her he has seven children : John HI .; Isaac Ward ; Richard Henry ; James Godman; Frances ; Sarah Elizabeth ; and one who died in infancy. le a third time entered upon his professional practice, and carried it on with great success, enjoying in a comparatively short time a very large patronage. Ile was chosen a mem- ber of the Board of Education of Cincinnati, and served with distinction for five years, having been three times re- elected. In 1867 lic was elected to the City Council from the Fourth ward, and was re-elected in 1868, and served with credit and efficiency. Upon the expiration of his term of office in 1870, he devoted his whole time and energy to his professional calling until the death of Dr. Dougherty, County Coroner, in the latter part of 1872, when he was appointed to fill the vacancy. At the general election in 1873 he was chosen to the same office, and in October, 1874, was re-elected for two years, and now exercises the duties of the office. Ile has shown his complete qualifica- tion for this public trust, and the honors of the re-elections conferred upon him by the public, indicate that the people of Cincinnati are amply satisfied with the care and fidelity with which he discharges his duties. He was married on April 23d, 1861, to Josephine E., daughter of A. C. Ilol- combe, a native of Virginia, who was one of the early set- tlers of Cincinnati.


ALEY, PATRICK FRANCIS, M. D., Physician, Surgeon, and Coroner of Hamilton county, Ohio, was born in county Mayo, Ireland, January 15th, 1838, and attended school in that county until he reached his fourteenth year, when he emigrated with family to the United States. Upon their arrival in 1851, they settled in Hamilton county, Ohio, where Mr. Maley's education was completed. It was scho- lastic in character, and embraced a number of the higher branches of study. Upon leaving school he went to learn the drug business with J. P. White, of Cincinnati, with: whom he remained seven years, mastering in that time all the details of that trade, and graduating from the College of Pharmacy. He then commenced to read medicine with Dr. John A. Thacher, of the same city, and during his course of reading attended the Cincinnati College of Medi. eine and Surgery, from which he graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1861. 1Ie at once engaged in practice, but within a short time of his entrance upon professional duties was appointed Assistant-Surgeon in the United States navy, and was assigned to the western flotilla. At Helena, Ar- kansas, he contracted the swamp fever, and in the latter part of 1862 was compelled to resign from the service. Upon his recovery he resumed practice in Cincinnati, which was continued for a short time, and was then again inter- rupted by his application to Assistant Surgeon-General Wood, whose head-quarters were at St. Louis, for a position. Having passed the requisite examination and being found fully qualified, he was assigned to duty at Jefferson Bar- rocks, Missouri. On September 22d, 1863, he was ordered to join Rosecrans at Chattanooga, and did so just before the battle of Chickamauga. As a token of the esteem of the officers and patients of his hospital at Jefferson Barracks, they presented him before his departure for the South with a silver ice pitcher and salver. On his way to Chattanooga he had to travel seventy miles over the mountains on foot, and lost all his instruments and personal effects by the cap- ture of the wagon train accompanying him and his compan. ions by the enemy. Upon arriving at Rosecrans' head- quarters he was immediately placed on duty at Cutchfield Ilotel, which had been converted into a hospital. He was subsequently ordered to escort a train of sick and wounded


YERS, PHILIP VAN NESS, Lawyer and Author, was born, August 10th, 1846, at Tribes Ilill, Montgomery county, New York. Ilis father, Jacob Myers, was a physician, and of Dutch descent. Through his mother he was allied to the Morris family, whose genealogy, carefully preserved in some of its branches, is carried back to Elystan Glodrydd, a British chieftain, prince of Ferbys, founder of the fourth royal tribe of Wales. The ancestor of the branch of the family in America was Thomas Morris, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1637. The following ycar he removed from Boston to Quinnipiac, now New Haven, where he purchased the tract of land still known as Morris's Point. In 1850 the parents of Philip Van Ness Myers removed to Saratoga Springs, where he received his first academic training. Completing his preparation for college at Ballston Spa, New York, he entered Williams College, Massachusetts, in 1866, becoming a member of the class of '68. While a student at Williams he was chosen by the Lyceum of Natu- ral Ilistory of that institution a member of a scientifie expe- dition to South America. The party, comprising seven persons, made an adventurous and successful journey across the continent along the line of the equator. Philip Myers in connection with his brother, HI. M. Myers, gave the publie the results of this expedition . in a volume entitled " Life and Nature under the Tropics." At the close of his college course he assumed the principalship of Pompey Academy, New York, giving up this position after one year to take charge of Naples Academy in the same State. The year 1871 he spent at Williamstown, Massachusetts, devot-


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ing himself to studies preparatory to a contemplated tour [ his death. During his long career he was known as one of around the world. In 1872, accompanied by the brother the oldest and most popular of lake captains, and was a man of great kindness of heart and geniality of disposition, whereby he won his way to the esteem of his acquaintances. Ilis independence of character ever prompted him to self- reliance and unremitting efforts. After a residence of fifty- eight years on the Maumee river he passed away amid a scene which contrasted greatly with that which first pre- sented itself to his youthful eye. He was married, Novem- ber 27th, 1827, to Caroline M., daughter of Jolm G. Forbes, who had removed, in 1825, from Manlius, Onondaga county, New York, to Port Lawrence, Ohio. Ile was the father of five children, all of whom are living: William D., the eldest son, is in Toledo; Emeline HI., wife of Isaae R. Thompson, of Perrysburg; Sarah HI., wife of 11. 11. Dodge, of the same place ; John E. Wilkison, of the firm of Foster & Co., bankers, of Fostoria ; and Caroline M., wife of Earl W. Murray, of Bowling Green, Ohio. Captain Wilkison died in Perrysburg, September 8th, 1873; his widow yet survives him. already mentioned as his companion in South American travels, he visited Europe, and the following year made ex- tended journeys through several of the countries of Asia which lie out of the usual course of travellers. The sites of Pahnyra, Nineveh, Babylon, and Persepolis were visited, and several months were spent by the brothers among the I Iimalayas of India, the hot season of the Indian year being thus turned to account in botanical and geological studies. Ilis brother having died of fever in India, P. V. N. Myers upon his return home commenced the preparation of a his- tory which should embrace the results of their united travels in Asia. This work, under the title " Remains of Lost Empires," was issued by Ilarper & Brothers in the fall of 1874. The work soon passed through two editions. While engaged in the preparation of the above-named volume for the press, Mr. Myers was prosecuting the study of the law at the Yale Law School. He here divided with a fellow- student the prize, open to both classes, for the best essay on the constitutional law of the United States. In 1874 he re. moved to Columbus, Ohio, continuing there his legal studies. The following year he was married to Ida C. Miller, of Pompey Hill, New York. He was admitted to the bar in 1875, and is at present engaged in the practice of the law at Columbus, Ohio.


ILKISON, DAVID, Lake Captain and Farmer, was born, February 23d, 1800, in Warren county, New York. Ile lost both parents in early youth, and was left to his own resources, consequently he received but a limited education. When four- teen years old he went to Cleveland, and the fol- lowing year shipped on the schooner " Black Snake," under his uncle, Jacob Wilkison, and in 1815 that vessel landed at Swan Creek some passengers who settled at Perrysburg on the Maumee river. This was just at the close of the war with Great Britain, and Fort Meigs was then garrisoned by United States troops. Fishing was the principal occupation of the inhabitants. When seventeen years of age he was promoted to the command of the " Black Snake," and to that of the schooner " Pilot " in the following year. This latter vessel plied between the Maumee river and Buffalo. Ile continued to sail different vessels until 1835; among these was the schooner " Eagle," which he had built, in 1828, at Port Lawrence, now Toledo. In 1835 he took command of the steamer "Commodore Perry," which traded between Buffalo and Chicago for ten years, and he then was transferred to the " Superior," in which he re- mained until 1852, when he retired from the lakes, and went to his farm near Perrysburg. Hle subsequently had charge of the lighthouse in Maumee Bay for two years. Ile suffered for some years from loss of eyesight, which was partially relieved by an operation, a year or two previous to


EBB, JOIIN, was born, August 27th, 1795, in Maiden Lane, New York city. Ile is the son of John Webb, who like his wife was a native of Pennsylvania. The father was a hatter in New York eity until 1798, when he engaged in business in Ilagerstown, Maryland. About 1799 the family removed to Durstown, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania. Shortly after they went to Youngmanstown, in the same county, where they remained until 1814, when they settled in Canton, Stark county, Ohio. Young John, who was the second of fourteen children, went to district school until he was sixteen years old, when he began to learn the trade of a hatter with his father, with whom he re- mained as a journeyman until he was twenty-four years old, when his father took him into partnership. In 1822 the son sold out his interest and went to Perrysburg, Wood county.' Perrysburg had been laid out five years before, but it was little more than a town in imagination, without inhabitants. Mr. Webb helped to raise the first log house in Perrysburg, where he arrived with a cash capital of $1.25. Ile was variously employed until 1824, when with the scanty savings of two years he bought tools and began business as a hatter. This he continued until 1828, when he was elected Sheriff of Wood county, filling the position satisfae- torily for two terms. From 1832 until 1842 he was Clerk of the County Court. In the latter year he was elected Sheriff for a third time, serving four years. In 1848 he was elected County Clerk again, and held the office until 1860. Ile has since led a quiet life, giving his attention chiefly to farming. At the advanced age of eighty-one, after the hardships of pioneer life and an active public career, he enjoys good health in the retirement of a comfort- able home in Perrysburg. Ile still writes a remarkably


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plain hand He has been married three times : March 8th, 1821, to Elizabeth Charles, at Canton, Ohio; July 18th, 1834, to Muy Dean; February 23d, 1851, to Mary A. Jones ; the two latter of Perrysburg, Eighteen children, of whom eight are now living, have been born to him.


ODGERS, JOIIN II., M. D., son of Dr. Robert Rodgers, was born at Springfield, Ohio, August Igth, 1834. He received his education at the Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, graduating in the class of 1853, and at once began the study of medicine in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania, the same institution whence his father had graduated twenty-eight years before. He took his diploma in 1856, and returning to Springfield, immediately joined his father in the practice of his profession. October, 1861, he entered the army as Assistant Surgeon of the 44th Regi- ment Ohio Volunteers. Ilis service while in this commis- sion was principally with his regiment in West Virginia and Kentucky. In the spring of 1863 he was promoted to Sur- geon, and transferred to the 104th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, joining the army of Burnside in East Tennessee, and par- ticipating in the Atlanta campaign in the following year. Ile retired from the service, December, 1864, on the expira- tion of his term, and resumed his practice in Springfield. After his promotion he became chief of the operating staff of the 2d Division of the 23d Army Corps. The cxpe- rience acquired during his three years' service was both ex- tensive and varied, and has doubtless materially contributed to the high reputation he sustains among the faculty. May 2Ist, 1857, he married Jane M. Sturgeon, of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania who died October 20th, 1869, leaving two sons.




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