USA > Ohio > The Biographical encyclopedia of Ohio of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 71
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ODGERS, WILLIAM A., Judge, was born, De- cember 9th, ISog, in Dauphin county, Pennsyl. vania, Ilis father, Robert Rodgers, was a miller and farmer. On the mother's side he was de- scended from genuine fighting revolutionary stock, his grandfather, William Allen, having been a colonel in the revolutionary army, wounded and taken prisoner at the battle of White Plains, and after the close of the war appointed a Judge. William Allen Rodgers, after acquiring such knowledge as was to be acquired at the com- mon schools, passed through a preparatory course of study, and then entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pennsyl- vania. After graduating from this college, he commenced the study of law in the office of Judge Kennedy, in Pitts- burgh. At the conclusion of the prescribed course of legal studies he was admitted to the bar in Pittsburgh, and then in |
OWEN, IION. BENJAMIN S., Lawyer and Jurist, was born, September 27th, 1792, in Washington county, New York, where he was also educated. lle removed to Ohio in 1825, and settled in the village of Moorfield, Harrison county, where he practised medicine for a short time, but subse- quently studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1830. Ile shortly afterwards was appointed Prosecuting Attorney for Monroe county. In 1832 he formed a legal partnership with William B. Hubbard, and removed to St. Clairsville, where he resided until his death. In 1840 he was elected to the Twenty-seventh Congress, where he was made Chair- man of the Committee on Claims. In 1844 he was chosen to the State Legislature, and was there recognized as the acknowledged leader of the Whig party in the lower House. Ile was elected in 1847 a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and was on the bench until 1853. lle took a leading part in the founding of Brooks' Institute and Seminary, of St. Clairsville, where his two sons, D. D. T. and B. R. Cowen, received most of their education. ' lle was married, in Washington county, New York, to Anne, daughter of Judge Wood, of that county. lle died on his birthday, September 27th, 1869, at the ripe age of seventy seven years, respected and beloved by all who knew him.
ITCIICOCK, PETER, Farmer and Legislator, was born, January 16th, 1818, in Burton, Geanga county, Ohio, and is a son of the late Judge Peter and Nabby (Cook) Hitchcock, who were both na. tives of Cheshire, New Haven county, Connecticut. llis father was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio; his elder brother, Reuben, was for some years Judge of the Court of Common Pleas; and another brother, Rev. Henry 1 .. Hitchcock, was for sixteen years a distinguished and popular pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Columbus, Ohio, and from 1856 to his death, in 1873, I'resident of the Western Reserve College, at Il udson,
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Ohio. Peter Hitchcock, the younger, received his elemen- tary education at the academy in his native town, and also attended, after he was twelve years old, the district schools, only during the winter. Hle early adopted the occupation of an agricultmist, and has ever since resided on a pleasant farm near the little village of Burton. When quite young he was chosen a local Magistrate, and held the position for eighteen years. In 1858 he was elected a Representative to the Ohio Legislature, and re-elected in 1860. In 1862 he was chosen a Senator from the district composed of Geauga, Ashtabula and Lake counties. He has been since that date elected three several times to the House, serving in the sessions of 1866-67, 1870-71, and is a member now, in 1876, still bearing evidence of ability for much hard work, and in the right direction. During his legislative career he has been placed upon important committees, usually on that of finance, and was its Chairman in 1870-71. Being thoroughly conversant with parliamentary rules and tactics, he was Speaker of the House in 1861; President pro tem. of the Senate while a member of that body, and Speaker pro tem. of the House in 1866-67. He was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1873, and in that body was as distinguished a member as he was throughout his legislative career, by his practical ideas and application of a strong common sense view of public matters. Ile was an influen- tial member of the two important Committees on Revenue and Taxation and on Education ; and also originally Chair- man of the Committee on Rules. Ile has ever taken a deep interest in the great system of charitable and correctional institutions which distinguish the State of Ohio, and was carly identified with the legislation to establish an institution for the care and instruction of feeble-minded and imbecile youth. His interest and sympathy in that direction soon attracted the attention of the Governor to him as a suitable person for a trustee of the institution, which position he held from 1862 to 1874, when he retired through a partisan reor- ganization of the Board. During the four years of the civil war many opportunities were afforded him both in the Legis- lature and in frequent public meetings, as well as on the field of military operations in service, and in looking to the care of the dead and wounded, to testify to his patriotic love for American nationality and opposition to slavery. Ile was also especially active, as a member of the Legislature, in promoting the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, its success being largely attributable to his efforts. Originally a Whig, he has since the inception of the Republican party been actively identified with the latter organization. In religious faith, he is a firm and unwavering member of the Congregational Church, and a liberal supporter of it in his native town. He is a man of plain, unostentatious appearance. Starting in life with only such moderate educational advantages as were afforded to the average American youth before the present educational system was founded, he has, nevertheless, been a close stu- dent during his leisure hours, and has acquired a vast fund|
of knowledge, which has borne its fruit in the years given to his State as a legislator. He was married, February 8th, 1841, to Eliza Ann Cook, with whom he has had three sons and one daughter. One of his sons fell at the battle of Perryville, instantly killed by a shot in the forchead.
LDS, IION. CHAUNCEY N., Lawyer and Legis- lator, was born, February 2d, 1816, at Marlbor- ough, Vermont. Ile received a thorough acad- emical and collegiate education, and graduated from the Miami University in the class of 1836. Ile was immediately elected a Professor in that institution, and held the position until 1840, meanwhile pre- paring himself by the usual course of study for the legal profession. Ile was admitted to the bar in 1841, and com- menced the practice of law in that year at Circleville, where he resided for fifteen years, removing in 1856 to Columbus, which he has made his home, and where he is still engaged in professional pursuits. He was elected both to the lower and upper Houses of the General Assembly from Pickaway and Ross counties, and was a member of the Legislatures which convened in 1848, 1849 and 1850. Ile filled the office of Attorney-General of the State in 1865. Ile has been a member of the Presbyterian Church for the past forty-four years, and has been frequently chosen as a lay delegate to presbyteries and synods of the denomination, and has also been twice a Commissioner to the General Assembly. Ile takes great interest likewise in the Sunday-school, and is very active in that important adjunct to the church. lle has been a Trustee of his Alma Mater for twenty-five years.
RADBURY, HON. JOSEPH, Lawyer and Legis- lator, was born, September 7th, 1807, in the town of Exeter, Penobscot county, Maine, and is the fifth of ten children, whose parents were Joseph and Elizabeth (Stevens) Bradbury, who was a farmer by occupation, and who removed to Ohio, where he settled in Gallia county towards the close of that year, and where he resided until his death, September 1st, 1828. Ilis wife survived him some nine years ; she was a native of Andover, Massachusetts, a daughter of Peter Stevens, and of English descent. Joseph, the younger, labored on the farm until he was about seventeen years of age, attending the district school during the winter season. Ile then worked in a distillery for some four years, and when of age returned to farming, occupying his leisure hours, for about eight years, in the study of law. In 1836, having been previously examined, he was admitted to the bar, and at once entered upon the practice of his profession, having his office on his farm, where he resided, and pursuing his avocation in the counties of Meigs, Athens, Gallia and
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Jackson. In 1852 he located in Cheshire township, Gallia [ establishment, both of which oeeupied his attention for county, at Kygerville, where he opened his office, remaining there until 1875, when he removed to Gallipolis, where he has since resided, and has established an excellent practice. He was elected a Representative to the Ohio Legislature in 1861, and re-elected in 1863. In 1865 he was chosen to the Ohio Senate. Ile was again a candidate for the lower House in 1869, and elected, and a second time re-elected in 1871 ; thus having been for ten years a member of the General Assembly. During his term of service he took a very active part in the indorsement of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, through the legislation of Ohio. Politi- cally, he is a Republican of the radical school. Ilis religious ereed is that of the New Jerusalem Church as founded by Emanuel Swedenborg. He is, as may be seen from the foregoing record, emphatically a self-made man, and has raised himself from comparative obscurity to the prominent positions he has filled and to the practice he now controls. Ile was married, January 11th, 1829, to Eliza, daughter of Elijah Strong, a pioneer settler of Meigs county, Ohio.
URSELL, JAMES, Farmer, Merehant and Banker, was born, October 21st, 1813, in Ross county, Ohio, and is the second of six children, whose parents were Reuben and Mary (Jenkins) Pursell. Ilis father was a native of western Pennsylvania, who followed through life mechanical pursuits. Ile removed to Ohio about the year 1805, and settled at first in Ross county, where he resided until 1832, when he re- moved to Fayette county, which became his future home, and where he died in 1864. Ilis wife was also from western Pennsylvania, having been born in Washington county ; she was the daughter of William Jenkins, an early settler in eastern Ohio; she died in 1856. James worked on a farm until he was twenty-four years old, attending the common school during the winter season-in all about three terms. In 1835 he went to Washington, Fayette county, but moved a little later into the country. In 1840 he returned to Washington, having been elected Constable of Union town- ship, adjacent to the town, and was engaged for about a year attending to the duties pertaining to that offiee. Ile was appointed, May 8th, 1841, Auditor of Fayette county by the County Commissioners, and was elected at the following general election, October, 1841, to the same offiee, and thrice re-elected, holding the position altogether about nine years. After the expiration of his official duties he became interested in a woollen mill, and was industriously engaged as a manu- faeturer, and also in buying and selling real estate, continu- ing in these two avoeations for about five years, when he relinquished the factory, disposing of the same to his brother, and confining his attention solely to dealing in lands for a year or two. Ile then erected a warehouse and engaged in the humber business, and also in conducting a large grocery
several years. In 1858 he started the Fayette County Bank, over which he exercised a general supervision until about 1867, when he disposed of the same to the First National Bank of Washington. In 1867 he returned to the grocery and lumber business, in which he continued until 1869, when he disposed of the former, although he carried on the lumber trade until 1874. In the last-named year he became President of the Merchants' and Farmers' Bank of Wash- ington, and has been identified with its interests in that capacity ever since. Ile is largely interested as a stock- holder in the Dayton & Southeastern, as also in the Spring- field & Pomeroy Railroad Companies. Ile was elected to the Ohio Legislature in 1861, and re-elected in 1863, serv- ing four years in that body. He was appointed, 1869, by President Grant Collector of Internal Revenue for the Sixth District of Ohio. His political creed is that of the Repub- lican party ; was formerly a Whig, and gave his first vote for General Harrison for President. Personally, he is of pleas- ant and social manners, and is much esteemed by his fellow- townsmen. Ile has always led a temperate life, and has ever been distinguished for untiring energy and industry. Ilis pecuniary circumstances were limited when he started in life, and his present competence is the result of his per- severing efforts. He was married, May 25th, 1841, to Margaret Ilartzell, of Pickaway eounty, and is the father of seven children.
OND, ARTIIUR, County Auditor of Morgan county, Ohio, was born in Ellisburg, Jefferson county, New York, September 11th, 1829. Ilis father, a well-known citizen of New York, was, although by profession a lawyer, during the last forty years of his life engaged in evangelical labors as a minister ; he was one of the first graduates of Hamilton College, and esteemed for his extensive fund of varied scholarly attainments. Ilis mother was a native of Rox- bury, Massachusetts. On both sides of the house the origin of the family may be traced back to an old and very honor- able source. Until his seventeenth year was attained he attended the academy in his native place; was subsequently for one year a student in the schools of Marietta, Ohio, and afterward pursued a higher course of studies in Oberlin Col- lege, in Oberlin, Ohio. Upon relinquishing student life, in 1849, he engaged in teaching school in Jefferson county, New York, and sustained the role of educator until 1851, the date of his removal to Illinois, where he found employ- ment in railroad building, as a eivil engineer on the Illinois Central and Joliet & Chicago Railroads. Ile was busied in this capacity until 1858, when he returned to New York, and again engaged in teaching school, at Turin, until the spring of 1861. Ile was then appointed by Abraham Lin- coln Postmaster at Turin, New York, and fulfilled the duties of that office for a term of four years. In 1863 he was
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appointed Commissioner of Board of Eurolment, and held this position until the close of the war, in 1865, when he moved to Morgan county, Ohio, settling at Malta, opposite McConnellsville, where he was engaged as surveyor until, in 1868, he was elected County Surveyor. In 1871 be was re-elected to the surveyor bip, but within twelve days after the election was appointed County Auditor, an event due to the demise of his predecessor in that office. In 1872, and again in 1874, he was re-elected to the Auditorship, and al the present time serves in this position. In 1850 he con- nected himself with the Masonic order, and is now serving a second term as Master of Valley Lodge. Ile is a promi- nent member of this famous organization, and is highly es- teemed by his brethren as an useful and able associate. Ile was married, December 27th, 1860, to Ilelen M. Williston, of Lewis county, New York, who died November 28th, I'S66.
EIFER, EDWIN G., M. D., Physician, was born, May 21st, 1846, in Fairfield, Greene county, Ohio, of American parentage. ITis father was a native of Maryland, and a farmer by occupation, who removed to Ohio in 1836, and settled near Fairfield. Ilis mother is a native of Ohio. Ilis preliminary education was obtained in the district school. When but sixteen years of age he enlisted as a private in the 44th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, August 15th, 1862, and served with that command about eighteen months, when he re-enlisted in the 8th Ohio Cavalry, under General Averill, and remained in that regiment until June 31, 1865, when their term of service expired. He was pro- moted, November 3d, 1864, to Sergeant of Company II, 8th Ohio Cavalry, which position he held when mustered out of the service. After his return home he entere I Wit- tenburg College, at Springfield, Ohio, from which institution he graduated in 1866. Ile then attended the medical de- partment of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in that State, and subsequently matriculated at the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, graduating from the latter school in the spring of 1869, and in April of the same year he removed to Simesford, Madison county, where he has since resided, engaged in the control of a lucrative med. ical practice. He is a contributor to the literature of the profession, as well as to the county press, and has gained some reputation as a writer over a nom de plume. He has been an active and zealous member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church for the past ten years, and is at present Super- intendent of the Sunday-school, and one of the board of trustees of the congregation. He has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since July, 1871, and has attained the highest honors in the brotherhood. His political views have ever been those adopted and held by the Republican party. The position he occupies at present in the community where he resides is due entirely to his absent from home, a party of five soldiers came to the house
own industry, economy, frugality and perseverance. While yet a youth attending school, he worked hard during vaca- tions, and laid by what he earned, and after his discharge from his three years' service in the army, he appropriated his pay, together with what he had previously saved, to de- fraying the expenses he incurred in studying medicine. . Such a course ever meets with its reward, and he is now reaping the fruits of his labors, and is respected and es- tecmed by all who know him. He was married, January 15th, 1868, to Lou C. Trediker, of Fairfield, Greene county, Ohio, and is the father of three daughters, all living.
XTELL, MANLEY WASHINGTON, Railroad Contractor, was born, March 30th, 1831, on a farm in Russia township, near Oberlin, Lorain county, Ohio, and is descended from one of three brothers, who came to America with the Puritan fathers, and settled in Massachusetts; one of them was killed in the King Philip wars two hundred years ago. Manley was educated in Oberlin College, and afterwards learned the carpenter trade, in Amherst, Ohio, but did not fancy the business, as he could not advance quickly in the narrow field where he then resided. He removed to Chicago, where he disposed of his tools, and after expending nearly all his funds, he obtained a situation as foreman on the lilinois Central Railroad. When he first applied for the situation some objection was made on account of bis age ; but upon his expressing that he felt confident that he could give satisfaction, he was placed in charge of a portion of the line, and three months after was promoted to the po- sition of Chief Foreman of the entire road. He remained so connected for six years, and then resigned. HIc next secured a contract to build the Iron Mountain Railroad, and from this time his reputation as a railway contractor in- creased, and he subsequently received and executed con- tracts with the North Missouri, the St. Louis & St. Joseph, and the St. Joseph & Denver Railroad Companies, beside several other than railways, and from all these he succeeded in making a handsome competence. He was the contractor for the stone to be used in constructing the bridge across the Missouri river at St. Joseph, and he purchased a quarry to fulfil the stipulations of the contract. The total amounted to $66,000, but he lost considerably by the operation. At the outbreak of the civil war he entered the army in an Illinois three months' regiment, and was honorably dis- charged from the service at the expiration of five months. Ile then studied medicine at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and graduated in 1863, and shortly after became an Assistant Surgeon at Camp Dennison, Ohio. He has travelled through every State and Territory in the Union, east of the Rocky mountains. During the latter part of the war he was residing in Missouri. On one occasion, being
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and demanded dinner, making many threats, and brandish- ing their revolvers in the faces of the women, and alarming them very much. The meal was, however, prepared, and the squad had just seated themselves as Mr. Axtell reached home. Ile took in the situation at a glance, and sat down with them. As each man had a revolver beside his plate, the host produced his toothpick, remarking, " We six men are good for three women "-thus shaming them. 1Ie then ordered them out of the house, and they left at his com- mand, minus the dinner. Another incident is related of his coolness and bravery. While sojourning in Dacotah Terri- tory in 1872, a party of " regulators " stopped at his house and ordered him to get them a pail of water. Ile pointed to a pail near by, and remarked, " There is the pail, you can get it yourselves. ' Whereupon they drew their revolvers and repeated the request. Ile then said he had changed his mind, and would get it. Stepping within the house, he obtained his pistols, cocked them and placed them in the pail, and went out, saying, " I have changed my mind again, and I think I won't get the water." The leader of the squad laughed at their dismay when the cocked pistols were seen, and told the others, "Get the water yourselves; he don't seare worth a cent." Having made a large fortune, he finally retired from active business pursuits in 1874, and has settled in Amherst, Ohio, to enjoy the fruits of his labors. Hle was married in 1865 to Catharine A., daughter of Judge A. L. Whiton.
ALDWELL, IION. WILLIAM B., Lawyer and ex-Chief-Justice of Ohio, was born on his father's farm, June 23d, 1808, in St. Clair township, Butler county, Ohio. His parents were William and Mary Caldwell, of sturdy north of Ireland Presbyterian stock. They removed to Butler county in 1805, and there followed the peaceful pursuits of agriculture until their death. Their son resided here until his twenty-second year, doing farm labor and going to school whenever an opportunity offered. In 1830 he en- tered the Miami University, at Oxford, in the same county. Here he remained for five years, employing his vacations in farm work. At college he earned distinction as a ready and forcible debater. Most of the scholars were his juniors in years, and they looked up to him as a counsellor. Ile was graduated in 1835. Among his classmates were ex-Gov- ernor Dennison, Hon. Samuel F. Cary, Hon. John A. Smith, and others. After leaving college he began the study of law in his native county, his preceptor being Hon. John Woods. lle was admitted to the bar in 1837, and com- menced practice at Xenia, Ohio. In 1841 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Hamilton county, and in the fol- lowing year was elected by the Legislature President Judge of the Comt of Common Pleas. lle remained on the Common l'leas bench until 1849, in which year he was
elected by the Legislature Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio. Ile held this position until the adoption of the new Constitution in 1851. That instrument provided for the election of judges by the people, and he was again chosen. At the expiration of his term he was re-elected. He was the first Chief- Justice of the Supreme Court of the State under the new Constitution. Hle resigned in 1854, and resumed the practice of law in Cincinnati. Ile was married in 1844 to Agnes, daughter of William and Eleanor Corry, of Cin- cinnati. They were blessed with three children. llis wife died in 1869. Ilis career presents the rare example of one starting upon a professional course late in life, and yet rising to distinction. Ile entered college at the age of twenty-two, was graduated at twenty-seven, a Prosecuting Attorney at thirty-three, President Judge of Common P'leas at thirty- four, on the Supreme Bench of the State at forty-three, and Chief- Justice of the State at forty-six. lle was straight- forward and manly in all his impulses, and for the younger members of the bar he had always a kind word and a help- ing hand. He died March 21st, 1876. At a bar meeting held soon afterward, eulogies were delivered by some of the most gifted men of Ohio, some of whom had known him for half a century. At the time of his death he was a member of the law-firm of Caldwell, Coppock & Caldwell, the last- named being a son.
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