USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 7
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his twentieth year; and during his six years' stay with the Little Miami river, near what is now Plainville, for- Buttrick he had but one month's schooling each year; but, merly known as Armstrong's upper, middle and lower being a close reader, devoted all his spare time to study. Leaving lancaster he went to Boston and Iwished karing; his trade, staying there about two years. Having attained his majority he went to Framingham, and worked as a jour- neyman at his trade for about one year, and then com- menced business on his own account, which he prosecuted with great energy and success for the period of twenty-five years at Framingham. In the autumn of 1838 he closed out his business and removed to Ohio, locating himself at Athens, in 1839, where he has ever since resided. After he had become permanently settled in his new home he en. gaged in the mercantile business, which he conducted with success and the practice of the strictest integrity until 1865, when he retired from active business pursuits to enjoy the fruits of his labors for so many years. Feeling a deep in- terest in the development of the mineral resources of his new home, in 1845 he successfully engaged in the manu- facture of salt ; his usual good judgment was drawn out in the selection of a site uniting cheap transportation and water-power, the want of which had wrecked former enter- prises of the kind. He was a Director of the Cincinnati & Marietta Railroad Company for a number of years, and was the President of the Athens branch of the State Bank of Ohio for about fourteen years. Ile is now a Director of the First National Bank of Athens, Ohio. In political belief he is a Republican, and at the outbreak of the rebellion ex- hibited his faith in the unity of this great republic by being the first to furnish the sinews of war by investing in United States bonds to the amount of $80,000, in its darkest days and when the outlook was very discouraging. Previous to the organization of the Republican party he was a strong Whig. He has been a member of the Presbyterian Church for over twenty years. He has ever been a temperate, in- dustrious and cheerful man, of pleasing manners and of a social disposition ; and he has always been remarkable for untiring energy and industry. He was married in 1816 to Pamelia Bennett, a native of Middlesex county, Masachu- seits, who died in 1858, leaving a family of eight children. His second wife, to whom he was united in 1861, was Catharine ' Stearns, a native of Lancaster, Massachusetts, They were married in Boston, Massachusetts. mills, Nathaniel Shepherd Armstrong, the lather of this luge family, assisted in locating his six sons as follows; Wilham and Major John were located at the lower mill; Thomas and Leonard operated the middle mill, while James and Nathaniel had charge of the upper mill. In 1822 James, the father of James Monroe Armstrong, dis- posed of his interests in the upper mill to his brother, and removed to a farm on Indian ilill, in the same township, where he remained until 1828, when he removed to Cin- cinnati, where he became flour inspector, as above stated, and held the position for many years. He died in 1841, aged fifty-seven years; his widow survived him until 1866, when she followed him, at the ripe age of seventy-seven. James Monroe Armstrong, at the age of sixteen, com- menced learning the coachmaking trade in the establish- ment of William Holyoke, then located on the present site of the National Theatre, on Sycamore street. At the ex- piration of five years he had thoroughly mastered his trade ; but, feeling the need of a better education, he entered the Talbot School, in the old Cincinnati College. ile re- mained there a few months, paying for his tuition by his own labor. After leaving school he began work in the factory of the late George C. Miller, then one of the largest carriage manufactories in the West, and is yet in a flourish- ing condition under the management of two of the founder's sons. fle remained at this establishment for three years, and then formed a partnership with Sammel Barnes, and in 1838, under the firm-name of Armstrong & Barnes, opened their own factory on Vine above Twelfth street. This connection continued prosperously until about 1844, when the junior member disposed of his interests to his partner, Barnes, and with two others engaged, in the following year, in the grocery, coopering and whiskey-ganging busi- ness. In 1850 he retired from this connection, and in company with Hermann Krafeldt embarked in the flour trade on the West Miami canal. In 1854 his brother, Arthur E. Armstrong, on account of his superior knowledge of the quality of flour and grain, was added to the firm. In 1855 Mr. Krafeldt died, but the business was continued by himself and brother on the same square (the last eight years on the corner of Walnut street) until 1867. At that date, in connection with A. O. Russell, R. J. Morgan and John F. Robinson, he purchased the Cincinnati Enquirer job printing office on College street. After remaining RMSTRONG, JAMES MONROE, Mechanic, Merchant and one of the Proprietors of the Russell, Morgan & Co. Job Printing Office, Nos. 258 and 260 Race street, Cincinnati, was born, 1812, in Columbia township, Hamilton county, and is a son of the late James Armstrong, for many years flour inspector of Cincinnati. The latter was one of six brothers, who with thetr three sisters and parents removed from Maryland and located, in the year 1800, on there for between five and six years, during which time their business assumed immense proportions, the company purchased the ground and erected their present building on Race street, which is now one of the largest, most com- plete, and thoroughly and successfully conducted printing establishments in the entire West. In 1874 James M. Arm- strong was elected a member of the City Council, in which body he served as a member of some of its most important committees. In the fall of 1875 he was one of the nom-
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inees of the Democratic party for the Legislature. With [ Democrat, and has acted steadily and consistently with all of the other candidates for the Legislature of the party that party. In IS71 he was candidate, on the Democratic ticket, for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the District of Mount Vernon, and was elected by a handsome majority. He took office in 1872 for a term of five years. Ilis course while on the bench has fully vindicated the wisdom of those who elevated him to the position. To high abilities and fine attainments he joins the strictest integrity, a judicial impartiality which nothing can swerve, and a regard for principle which all recognize and appreciate. Hle is honored and esteemed as the right man in the right place, and the fact that his high and responsible station was awarded to him because of the sterling characteristics be- longing to his nature, and the high attainments which he acquired through his own almost unaided exertions, is a fact that must be gratifying to himself no less than en- conraging to all men who are struggling and aspiring within the circle of his influence. He was married on the 16th of May, 1860, to Julia IInxford, of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Four children, three girls and one boy, have blessed the union. on that ticket he was defeated. For the past ten years he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Second National Bank. His business interests have from time to time brought him into relations with the various commercial organizations of the city. Ile has been more than usually successful in his career of varied effort. His personal and business habits have been unexceptional. Ilis brother, Arthur E., is still engaged in the flour and grain trade, and another, Sandford L., is a merchant at Rising Sun, Indiana. Dr. Nathaniel S. Armstrong was a practitioner of medicine in Cincinnati, and one of its most prominent, honest and conscientious ; he was the brother-in-law of the late Charles Woodward, both of whom the profession were proud of; he died in Cincinnati in 1854. Leonard L., another brother, is in the drug business at Cumminsville, Ohio. John Wesley, another brother, was attached to the 5th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was mortally wounded at the battle of An- tietam. Thomas Milton, his youngest brother, died in 1863, aged thirty-three years ; his only sister living is Mrs. Robert Evans, of Indianapolis, Indiana. He was married, January 29th, 1840, to Martha, daughter of Caleb Williams, one of the oldest and most respected citizens of Cincinnati, with whom he has three children, two daughters and one son. In 1853 Caleb Williams dicd, at the age of seventy-two years ; his companion, Martha Williams, died in 1846.
DAMS, JOIIN, Common Pleas Judge, was born on December 11th, 1824, at Mount Vernon, Ohio. IIe was a farmer's son, and the experi- ences of his boyhood and youth were such ex- periences as befall almost any farmer's boy whose father has only the wealth that comes of hard toil, every day in every season. lle "learned to labor and to wait ; " for as soon as he was old enough he took part in the lahors of the farm, and for the fulfilment of such hopes and aspirations as come to the ambitious and capable boy he had to wait until the opportunity for gratify- ing them could be made. He attended school first at Martinsburg, and afterwards at Kenyon College. Subse- quently he entered Jefferson College, in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and graduated there in the spring of 1847. After leaving college he commenced the study of law, reading with IIon. John K. Miller, at Mount Vernon. IIe was admitted to the bar at Mount Vernon in 1850, and at once commenced the practice of his profession there. At a professional partnership with Mr. Dunbar. Eventually this partnership was dissolved, and subsequently he asso- ciated himself with his former preceptor, IIon. John K. Miller. Ile prospered well in his profession, and gained a practice that was large and lucrative. In politics he is a
first he practised alone, but at the end of a year he formed | incumbent of that office until October, 1875, when he re-
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MITHI, WALTER II., Lawyer and ex-United States Assistant Attorney General, was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, June 21, 1826. ITis parents were both natives of the same State; his father, the Rev. Walter Smith, a Congregation- alist, graduated from Yale College in 1816; his mother, nee Orpha Jerome, being of French origin. After a thorough preparatory course of study, under the able tuition of his father, Walter II. entered Union College, Schenectady, New York, and graduated from that institu- tion in 1846. Returning to his home in Mount Vernon, Ohio (where the family had removed in 1840), he imme- diately commenced the study of law, and was admitted to the bar on the 12th of June, IS48. IIe then engaged in the practice of his profession at Mount Vernon, and so continued for a period of fifteen years, being associated during that interval with the Ilon. Columbus, Delano, ex- Secretary of the Interior, and the IIon. W. R. Sapp, ex- member of Congress from Ohio (now deceased). In March, 1869, Mr. Smith was appointed Solicitor of In- ternal Revenue, the duties of which office he performed with marked ability and satisfaction for a period of two years, when he was called to assume the responsibilities of . a more important position of trust and honor, that of As- sistant Attorney-General of the United States, and was the signed, in order to resume the practice of his profession (in Washington, District of Columbia), in which he had al- ways taken high rank and sustained an honorable repu- tation. IIe was married; June 3d, 1851, to Frances E., daughter of the late Hon. W. R. Sapp, ex-member of
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Congress from Ohio, aud for many years one of the part- ners of Mr. Smith while practising low at Mount Vernon, Ohio.
HISTER, COLONEL JACOB O., Manager of the Phister Tobacco Warehouse, in Cincinnati, Ohio, was born in the town of Maysville, Kentucky, August 10th, 1820. . Ile was the second chikl in a family of seven chiklren, five sons and two daughters, whose parents, esthable members of the ruling middle class of the country, gave to them such educational advantages as their means and the opportumties of that day permitted. His father being a carpenter and builder, he was apprenticed to learn the trade of carpenter- ing, and as in that day and section it had yet to " be made casy " by planing-mills and the various kinds of machinery pertaining to them, he learned his trade thoroughly in all its branches, from the making of a hen-coop to the building of a continued rail stair-case. In 1840 he emigrated to the town of Burlington, on the Mississippi river, in the then new Territory of Iowa, carved out of the Black Hawk pur- chase. Very soon after his arrival the newly-appointed Governor, Hon. John Chambers of Kentucky, selected him as his private secretary, and made him one of his military aides, with the rank and title of Colonel. Those places he hell during the administration of the Governor, about five years, filling them with credit to himself and to the satisfac- tion of all the departments of the government with which his duties brought him in contact. Ile was also Secretary to several commissions appointed to treat with the Indian tribes in the Superintendency of Governor Chambers, and performed his work so well that at a subsequent period, after he had left the Territory, he was selected to take charge of a similar field of labor. Ile travelled much over the Ter- ritory in the discharge of his duties while in the employ of the government, and associated much with frontier military officers, usually men of superior intelligence and attainments, and with the officers of the territorial and general govern- ment, socially and officially, and thus acquired a large amount of information on a great variety of subjects, from the Indian in his wigwam to the President in the White Hlouse, which but few men possess, and but few have such opportunities to acquire. On the retirement of the Governor he returned to his old home in Kentucky, without any in- tention, however, of abandoning his new one in the West. But, through the persuasions of his relatives, he was induced to engage in business there, which he did, and remained during the ensuing ten years. In this period he conducted a large hardware business, and also acquired some distinc- tion in a quiet way as an amateur in literary matters. Meet- ing with reverses in the great financial storm of 1857, he relinquished his business in Maysville and visited Leaven- worth, Kansas, and Omaha, Nebraska, with a view to a settlement ultimately in one or the other of these towns. But
failing to make such connections in cither place as were de- sirable, he located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and projected a leaf tobacco warehouse, Then making a strong report to the City Council of the possible future of Cincinnati, under proper and timely efforts, as a leaf-tobacco market, he suc. ceeded in inducing this body to grant his company a large unused market-house, admirably suited to warehouse pur- poses, on very favorable terms for some years; and, De- cember Ist, 1857, the Wheeler Leaf-Tobacco Warehouse was opened under his management, which, afterward taking the name Phister House, was conducted by him for a period of eighteen years. Up to this time but one other house in the city was devotod exclusively to the sale of leaf-tobacco, while several conmission pork and grain houses received and sold it, on the same principle that makes a tavern of almost every house in a rural district, because now and then a wayfarer may demand food and shelter. These commission houses made no systematized efforts to secure shipments, but ac- cepted what came as so much commercial driftwood that floated into their business from the great river of commerce that flowed into New Orleans, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. Fully appreciating the fortunate geographical position of Cincinnati in relation to the tobacco-growing districts, and anticipating her prosperous future as a leaf- tobacco market, he applied himself to the building up of the business in a careful and systematic fashion ; and by means of elaborate circulars, extensive advertisements and personal solicitation, labored energetically to make his anticipations permanent realities, and secure the coveted business for Cincinnati on a lasting basis. Long before the term of the lease of his house had expired, his promises to the city were more than fulfilled by the establishment of several ware- houses, and the growth of a general effort on the part of each establishment to secure a fair share in the control of the rapidly-growing trade. The combined efforts culminated in the making of Cincinnati the first market in the country for cutting-leaf, if not for all kinds, in the West. The exi- gencies of the war between the government and the Southern States brought up the important subject of taxation, and as tobacco was called on to contribute heavily to the necessary funds for carrying on the war, the very interesting question as to whether taxation should be placed on the raw material or on the manufactured article was at once raised, and for the time became an all-absorbing one to all interested parties : Congress, growers, dealers and manufacturers. In that con- troversy Colonel Phister took an active part in favor of plac- ing the tax on the manufactured article, and not on the raw material ; he supported his views with zeal and ability-by arguments addressed to Congressmen, letters in conversa- tional style, by various speeches, and by an admirable re- port to Commissioner Wells, embodying the sentiment of the Western growers and dealers. And the statement is war- ranted that, on one occasion during the struggle, when the Eastern manufacturers, aided by several strong Western allies, had well nigh secured the decision of the Committee
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on Ways and Means in favor of placing the tax on the leaf, | Democrat, and though tolerant of the opinions of others, has by a well-timed, brief and powerful article, addressed to Hon. his own views on all the questions of the day, and holds to them with inflexible pertinacity. Endowed with keen wit, a sprightly mind, fine imaginative powers and an enviable flow of language, he would have made his mark at the bar, in the pulpit or in the editorial chair. As it is, his position in life is far beyond the common level, and in the eyes of more than a majority of mankind is an enviable one, and with large tincture of local glory. George Il. Pendleton, then Representative from Hamilton county, he turned the tide, reinvigorated the disheartened leaf men and rallied them to a final effort, which resulted in the placing of the tax where it now rests, on the mannlac. tured article ; where, he contends, the policy and spirit of the American government and the good of the American people demand that it shall stand. He was uniformly in favor of an ad valorem instead of a specific tax, but, recog- nizing some almost insurmountable obstacles to the carrying out of this principle, he finally abandoned his opposition to the specific plan, and became usefully instrumental in the ORR, CHARLES WILLIAM, Manufacturer, was „born in Avon, Lorain county, Ohio, January 25th, 1837. He entered college at Oberlin, Ohio, in 1856, and in 1860 graduated from the Antioch College. Ile was then engaged for one year in teaching in the Union Schools of Vandalia, Illi- nois, and at the expiration of that time entered the army as Captain in the 35th Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Ile received his commission from the Governor of Illinois in 1861. At the close of a period of eighteen months he resigned his commission and commenced operating in stocks. About the termination of the rebellion he erected, in con- junction with his brother, the first cheese factory in northern Ohio. Since his entry into this business he has continued to sustain it with energy and success, and the house in which he is now a partner is at the present time the largest manu- facturer of cheese and butter in the United States. Ilis house is known under the style of Bramm & Horr. He is a Director of the Savings Bank of Elyria, and of the First National Bank of Wellington. Although admitted to the bar in Columbus in 1864 by the Supreme Court, he has never practised his profession, but devoted his time and at- tention entirely to his manufacturing business. By careful management he has accumulated considerable property, and gained a leading position by his unswerving integrity amid his fellow-townsmen. Politically, he is a liberal Republican. He was married in 1860 to Esther A. Lang, of Huntington, Ohio, daughter of Rev. Mr. Lang. adjustment of the details of the laws on the best basis. While entirely willing that tobacco should bear its fullest possible proportion of the tax, he never concealed his indig- nation at the invidious distinctions placed on the trade in the guise of the licenses, bonds and rulings of the depart- ments, and was ever ready to resent them as an aspersion upon a great body of enterprising, honorable and respected citizens and tradesmen. In the transition of any business from a fugitive and an uncertain state to one of permanence and solidity, many perplexing questions arise relating to its control and management which must be adjusted, and many jealousies and animosities will be engendered between rival parties which must be settled by mutual concession. In all such controversies he was always consulted, and his con- servative disposition, strengthened by his love of harmonious proceedings, always enlisted him on the side of compromise, while the impress of his diplomacy can be clearly traced in the present high position occupied to-day by the tobacco trade in the great Queen City. Being a quick and ready writer, his services have been in constant requisition by the trade, and for it he has composed innumerable articles- obituaries, biographies, essays, etc. Probably three-fourths of the tobacco trade literature of the West owes its existence to his pen ; and an address to his constituents at an agricul- tural fair, held at Ripley, Ohio, on " Mason County To- bacco," was highly commended and widely published as a very able production. The humorous side of his character faund a suitable field in his auction sales, which were in- variably conducted by him in person, and also in banquet speeches made after the removal of the cloth. One of the latter effusions, a speech known as " the Boy Allegory," was ACON, HENRY MARTYN, Clergyman, was born in the city of Albany, New York, on September 24th, 1827, of English parentage. While still quite young, he removed with his parents to Wil- liamstown, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and there remained until he reached manhood, his youthful experiences being unmarked by any remarkable in- cidents. Ile obtained his early education at the Berkshire common schools, and when he had reached a suitable age entered Williams College, at Williamstown. His course there was a creditable one, and he graduated with honor. delivered at the first fair of the trade, held in the Bodman warehouse; another, known as " the Argonauts," an effort of peculiar brilliancy, was delivered at the Spence banquet, in the St. Charles Hotel. Colonel Phister has travelled very considerably in the prosecution of his business, and profited greatly by his travels. He possesses a vast fund of curious and useful information on a variety of subjects, and as a conversationalist is an exhaustless dispenser of quaint ideas and odd fancies. He is totally opposed to liquor as a beverage, and to the use of tobacco in all its forms, and is a zealous Old School Presbyterian. Politically, he is a liberal , On leaving college he became a teacher, and in 1845 he
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went to Natchez, Mississippi, to engage there in that profes- sion. lle taught there some time, and then went to Indi- ana, where he followed teaching in various portions of the State. He was of a devont and earnest character, and felt a strong desire to engage in teaching of a loftier and more important kind than he had heretofore been occupied in, high and important as that is. While teaching school he was also studying, with a view to satisfying this aspiration by entering the pulpit as a teacher in the church. Eventu- ally he was regularly qualified to enter the pulpit as a l'res- byterian minister, and in the year 1851 he went to Covington, Indiana, and became pastor of the Presbyterian Church there. Ile occupied the pulpit of that church for a period of nine years, at the end of which time he went to Attica, Indiana, where he remained in charge of a church for a year and a half. Leaving Attica he removed to Toledo, Ohio, where he became pastor of the Westminster Presby- terian Church. There he still remains, engaged in earnest work, and doing faithful and effective service. Ilis resi- dence at Attica was interrupted by that momentous episode that interrupted the course of so many individuals and com- munities, the war of the rebellion. In 1862 he joined the 63d Indiana Regiment at Attica, as Chapluin. Ile remained with the regiment for three years, and was mustered out in June, 1865, returned to Attica, from whence he went to Toledo. Besides his duties as pastor, he now fulfills those of Trustee of Wooster College, a prominent institution, located at Wooster, Ohio. Ile was married on November 29th, 1852, to Mary A. Mallory, of Covington.
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