USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume I > Part 30
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BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
Governor Harrison, with eight hundred volunteers and regu- lars, marched to Tippecanoe, then occupied by the main force of Indians, under the command of their principal chiefs Tecumseh and his brother the Prophet, so-called. Here Governor Harrison, having encamped his force, was furiously attacked, but successfully repelled that attack, beating the Indians so badly that were it not for the war just then pro- claimed with Great Britain they would probably have then come to terms. After Hull's surrender, Governor Harrison in September, 1812, was placed in command of the North- western frontier, with the rank of brigadier general, but not until the following year, and when he had been promoted to the rank of major-general, was he enabled to begin active operations. Then mistakes of his subordinate officers caused several mishaps to his troops, but Perry's victory on Lake Erie enabled him to recover so much of the territory of which he was governor as had been occupied by the British troops, and he pursued them into Canada where, October 5th, they were totally routed in the battle of the Thames. Peace with the northwestern Indians soon followed, and with the conclu- sion in 1815 of the so-called war of 1812, they finally ceased to trouble the settlers. In consequence of misunderstandings with Mr. Armstrong, the then Secretary of War, General Har- rison soon after resigned his commission as major-general ; and Indiana being admitted as a State in 1816, Governor Harrison retired to his estate a few miles below Cincinnati on the north bank of the Ohio river, and from where, as part of the Cincinnati Congressional district, he was in that year elected to Congress. After serving a term in that body, he was elected to the State senate of Ohio, and held that position two years. In 1824 he was elected to the United States Sen- ate, and on taking his seat was, instead of General Jackson, appointed chairman of the military committee in that body, on which he served until in 1828 he was appointed by Presi- dent John Quincy Adams, minister to the South American Republic of Columbia. Having accepted the appointment, he proceeded to Bogota, but General Jackson having been elected, he, in 1829, cancelled the appointment, and General Harrison returned to again live in retirement upon his North Bend estate. Being in very moderate circumstances he ac- cepted the position of clerk of Hamilton county court, and held it twelve years. In 1836, he was, as a military man of distinction, brought forward as a candidate for the Presidency, and received 73 electoral votes, Martin Van Buren being elected. The disastrous financial condition into which the whole country was subsequently plunged, caused by the arbi- trary conduct of President Jackson during his second term, weakened the Democratic party and created a probability that, were an available Whig candidate found, he would be elected. After canvassing the merits of all such candidates, including Henry Clay, as the father of the protective system, and General Scott as the head of the army, none more, avail- able than General Harrison could be found, and on the 4th December, 1839, he was by the convention at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, nominated. After a supreme effort continued during the eleven following months, the Whig party in such effort exhibiting the most surprising ability as an electioneer- ing party, of the 294 electoral votes cast by twenty-six States, William H. Harrison secured 234. The popular vote was, for Harrison, 1,274,783; for Van Buren, 1,128,702, and for Birney, the abolitionist candidate, 7,609. Inaugurated on the 4th March, 1841, President Harrison very carefully and judi- ciously selected his executive cabinet, and his administration
promised to be all the country required, but, before any dis- tinctive line of policy could be established, after an acute illness of eight days, following an attack of pneumonia brought on by exposure on the day of his inauguration, he died on the 4th April, 1841, and his body was removed to and interred in the tomb he had built on his estate at North Bend. The constitution of President Harrison's mind was of a high order; caution, cool judgment, and good sense influenced his every action, and he died regretted by the whole people, whose feelings had to their depths been stirred by the excite- ment attending his election. Not a stain sullied the fair escutcheon of his name, and throughout all time will that name be remembered with affection, and mentioned with respect by the people of the great territory of which he was first governor and defender.
LEE, JOHN C., a lawyer and soldier, of Toledo, Ohio, was born January 7th, 1828, in Brown township, Delaware county, Ohio. Hugh Lee, his father, and Mary A. Lee, his mother, were both natives of Virginia, though their parents came from Northern Ireland. Mr. Lee's father and mother removed to Ohio immediately after their marriage, and settled in Delaware county, where the mother died in 1837, the re- mainder of the family living there till 1844, residing the last six years in the county-seat of that county. The family then removed to Union county, and in 1847 to Tiffin, Ohio, whence, in 1851, they went West. The father resumed farming in the same year, and died in the State of Missouri, in 1859, aged sixty-one years. The early education of Mr. Lee began in a log school-house, and was there continued till 1838, when he began attending the village schools and academy at Dela- ware, the county-seat. He was thus enabled to prepare him- self for college. In 1844 he entered a new institution called Central College, in Franklin county, but remained there only one year, and in 1845 entered the sophomore class at the Western Reserve College, where he graduated in 1848. After receiving his diploma Mr. Lee taught academies two years, one year at Atwater, Portage county, and one year at Tiffin. In 1850 he began the study of law in the office of R. G. Pennington at the latter place, where he remained till his admission to the bar, July 6th, 1852. Immediately after this event Mr. Lee became a partner of his old tutor, Mr. Penning- ton, and shortly afterwards succeeded him in his practice. He then received as a student N. L. Brewer, of Tiffin, for two years, and at the end of two years more took him as a part- ner. Mr. Brewer is at present engaged in a very large and lucrative practice at Tiffin. In 1857, at the age of twenty- nine, Mr. Lee was a candidate for judge of common pleas, but was defeated by a still younger man, G. E. Seney. The firm of Lee & Brewer continued till April, 1861, when Mr. Lee withdrew to enter the military service. He enlisted in the 55th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was immediately ap- pointed its major, and, before leaving the State for active duty, was commissioned its colonel. In January, 1862, with a full regiment, he was ordered to West Virginia, where he reported to General Rosecrans. His first engagement was at Moorefield, where the rebels were repulsed and the town taken. Colonel Lee served for a month as a member of a court martial, convened by order of General Rosecrans at Charlestown, and then joined his regiment at Romney. Being the senior officer he was, by order of General Schenck, placed in command of the district of the South Potomac. He marched under command of that general to the re-
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lief of Milroy at McDowell, in May, 1862. He also partici- pated in the Shenandoah campaign, which culminated in the battle of Cross Keys. He was engaged in the battles of Freeman's Ford, White Sulphur Springs, Warrenton, Bris- tow's Station, New Baltimore, New Market, Thoroughfare Gap, Gainesville, Chantilly, the second Bull Run, and several others, in all of which he received the special commendation of his superior officers. In 1863, at the battle of Chancel- lorsville, Colonel Lee, in command of a brigade of Ohio troops, composed of the 25th, 55th, 75th, and 107th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, did noble service in staying the tide of rebel success, he having a horse shot from under him. In this terrible battle his efforts were most determined and his brigade suffered great loss. On account of the death of a child and the severe sickness of his wife Colonel Lee was obliged to tender his resignation, which was received May 18th, 1863. Returning home he devoted his time to his family and the recovery of his wife. During the fall elec- tions of 1863 he took a very active part, and did effective work in the contest between Brough and Vallandigham for governor of Ohio. In the , spring of 1864, when the National Guard was called out by Governor Brough, he was commissioned colonel of the 164th Ohio Volunteer Infan- try, which did service around the fortifications of Washing- ton. Here he remained in command of all the troops and fortifications between Chain Bridge above and Long Bridge opposite Washington, till Grant had settled around Rich- mond and Petersburg. In March, 1865, he was breveted brigadier-general. General Lee never failed to command the esteem, confidence, and good will of his soldiers. His high moral character added much to the courage and good behavior of his men. His command was noted for its excel- lent discipline and good conduct. As an evidence of his excellent discipline may be mentioned an occurrence at the second Bull Run, mentioned in the reports to the War De- partment. Colonel Lee's regiment had been sent to an advanced position, and in the midst of the fight the enemy had made a flank movement and formed a line at right an- gles with the union lines, so that a change of front had to be made by Colonel Lee's regiment. His regiment had been disorganized by the excitement of battle and its company organization was completely broken up; but hastily arrang- ing his line without respect to companies or any thing else, the captains and other officers taking positions along the line at about equal distances from one another, Colonel Lee, right under the raking fire of the enemy, gave orders to change front by battalion instead of by company, as is the invariable rule, since to change front under fire is very dangerous, and especially so by whole battalions ; but the order was promptly obeyed, and the feat accomplished. This merely shows the excellent discipline of his men and the confidence reposed in their commander. After returning home from the war Gen- eral Lee resumed the practice of law with his old partner in Tiffin, where he remained till 1869, when he removed to Toledo. While in Tiffin he met with great success in his profession, and acquired a very large practice. He was there identified with all public enterprises. He was a mem- ber of the board of education for five years, and chief engi- neer of the fire department for seven years. Upon his removal to Toledo he formed a partnership with James M. Brown, who had formerly been a student under him at Tiffin. This firm still remains as Lee & Brown. In 1867 General Lee was nominated unanimously by the State central re-
publican committee as lieutenant-governor, to take the place declined by Samuel Galloway, and was elected. Again, in 1869, he was nominated by acclamation and elected, serving both terms with Governor Hayes. This office he filled with great credit to himself and the entire satisfaction of the people, gaining the reputation of being the best parliamen- tarian that has ever presided over the Ohio Senate. He was three times presiding officer of State republican conven- tions. In 1868 he was a delegate-at-large to the Repub- lican National Convention at Chicago, that nominated Grant, and was a member of the committee on resolutions from his State. In 1872 he was one of the two presidential electors- at-large for the State of Ohio, and also the president of the electoral college the same year. In 1877 he was appointed United States district attorney of Northern Ohio, his term of office expiring March, 1881. In all his public capaci- ties General Lee has shown rare ability, conscientiousness, and industry. As a lawyer he stands foremost at the bar- the industrious student of law, inveterate worker, and elo- quent and forcible advocate. He is a man of great energy. General Lee has the reputation of being one of the most effective and eloquent political workers and speakers in northwestern Ohio. During important campaigns his services are in great demand, and he is often sent into other States. Possessed of an unusual gift of language and endowed with a strong and pleasant voice, his well-rounded sentences come with-an ease and scholarly polish and accent which, with his great natural earnestness, make him most interesting and impressive. As a citizen he belongs to the highest type; he is public spirited, patriotic, and honorable. His social life is of the purest and noblest-a perfect gen- tleman and refined scholar. May 26th, 1853, General Lee married Charlotte E. Hoffman, of Tiffin, Ohio, a native of Germany. Three children have been born of this union, one daughter (who is now dead) and two sons. The oldest son, Frank A. Lee, is engaged in the postal service, and Henry E. Lee is studying law with his father, soon to be ad- mitted, and was a graduate, in 1879, of the same college as his father. General Lee has been trustee of his Alma Mater for the last six years. He is not a member of any church, though he has been connected with both the Congre- gational and Presbyterian Churches for many years. He has always been an uncompromising temperance man, but never was connected with a political temperance party. Politically he was first a whig, and, on the organization of the republi- cans became an adherent of that party, which he has ever since zealously supported. Since his residence in Toledo he ' has repeatedly been requested by his friends to run for Con- gress, but has invariably declined, preferring his profession to political office. He has had many expressions of public confidence, but likes the practice of law and labors very hard in its pursuit. He has had great success as an advocate before juries.
BROWN, DAVID I., lawyer, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, October 4th, 1824, and is the son of Henry and Margaret (Knightz) Brown. His great-grandfather, a Scotchman, was an officer in the British army, stationed in this country while we were colonies, but, with all the men under him, joined our cause at the commencement of the revolutionary war and fought with us till the close, ranking as brigadier-general. His grandfather was killed by the Indians in the war of 1812. His father, a wheelwright and
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chairmaker, was born in Licking county, February 22d, 1798; went to Pennsylvania when a boy, married there, and re- turned to Wayne county, Ohio, and, after living there a short time, removed to Marion county, and to Crawford county, and thence to Wyandot county, where he died, August 27th, 1880. David I. Brown lived among the Indians till he was twelve years of age, when he was enabled to attend a three months winter-school each of three years. The next winter he taught school in his own neighborhood, and at the close entered the academy at Marion for the summer term of five months, teaching the following winter, and then returning to the academy to spend another five months' term. At the end of this time he entered the college at Delaware, but was obliged to leave at the end of three months on account of his health. This misfortune compelled him to seek some, out-door employment in order to regain it, and he engaged in selling oil-cloths and maps for the next two years, travel- ing through Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Ohio, teach- ing school, however, a part of the time. In. August, 1847, he went to Putnam county, and taught a select school the following summer, and a district school in the winter. The next year he settled in Gilboa, and began the study of law with Judge Palmer, remaining his student until the fall of 1851, and teaching school most of the time. He showed re- markable diligence and receptivity in this, and it could easily be seen that he was destined to make no second-rate mark in the world. During the summer of 1851 he made a thor- ough canvass of the county in favor of the new constitution, which had been adopted by the constitutional convention, and was now offered to the suffrages of the people, and that fall he was elected clerk of the courts, serving two terms of three years each. During this time he carried on a large business in buying and selling stock. In 1858 he started a drug-store in Kalida, which made him the first druggist of the county, and continued in the business till January, 1861. In 1860 he was elected to the legislature, and was one of the fourteen democrats who bolted the caucus rule, and voted to sustain all measures for prosecuting the war, contrary to the action of the majority of the party. In 1861 he was admitted to the bar, and soon after was appointed prosecuting attorney for Putnam county, holding the office till 1863. In the follow- ing year he resumed the stock trade, which he prosecuted very successfully for a number of years. In 1877 he was elected to the legislature and re-elected in 1879. He was the chairman of the standing committee on ditches, drains, and water-courses, and the author of the present drainage laws of the State. He also procured the passage of the pike laws as affecting Putnam county. In 1875 he ran for State senator, but was defeated by Perrysburg being thrown out. He was a member of the committee on federal relations, and caused permanent landmarks to be set up between Ohio and Pennsylvania. He was also a member of the committees on the judiciary and on colleges and universities, taking a very active part in the cause of education. In addition to his other business, he has dealt quite largely in real estate, both wild and improved lands. He joined the Masonic order in 1856, and the Odd-fellows in 1854. He was married May Ist, 1849, to Elizabeth, daughter of George and Dorcas Shaw, seven children being the result of the marriage-Remus R., Helen J., Ella A., David I., Jr., Flora B., Alice M., and Lizzie F. He is a man of positive opinions and fine social qualities, and possesses ability as a lawyer to a marked degree. He commands the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens,
and his standing in the community is excellent. He does not push himself forward, but goes into the work with his whole soul. He is a true friend. In politics his aim is to do right, party or no party.
MEIGS, RETURN JONATHAN, the second governor elected by the people of Ohio, was born in Middletown, Con- necticut, in 1765. When twenty years old he graduated at Yale College with the highest honors of his class. Returning home he studied law and was admitted to practice in his twenty-third year, when having married Miss Sophia Wright, he, with his bride, in the same year went to Marietta, Ohio, and in the neighborhood purchased a large tract of land. In 1788, when Mr. Meigs and his wife arrived at Marietta the whole region was an almost unbroken wilderness. Still, in the little cluster of log huts which were built in the form of a hollow square, called the Campus Martius, there were those who in intellectual culture, in social virtues, and in refinement of manners would have been ornaments to any community. Devoting himself to the cultivation of his land, and occasion- ally as a lawyer settling the difficulties which occurred among the inhabitants, Mr. Meigs soon gained the confidence of the community, and especially that of General St. Clair, who in 1790 sent him with dispatches to the British commandant at Detroit, remonstrating against the manner in which that func- tionary was inciting and supplying the Indians with arms and ammunition to prey upon the defenseless settlers. The re- monstrance proved of no avail, although Mr. Meigs per- formed his mission to the entire satisfaction of the govern- ment, and in doing so met with adventures that would make a bulky memoir if printed. In the winter of 1802 he was by the Ohio legislature elected a judge of the Supreme Court. The associate judges were Samuel Huntington, subsequently governor of the State, and George Tod, whose son David Tod was the second war governor, so-called, of Ohio. The United States government having in 1804 purchased of France the vast territory then called Louisiana, extending from the mouth to the junction of the Mississippi with the Missouri river, President Jefferson appointed Mr. Meigs to the com- mand of the upper portion of that district of country, with the rank of brevet-colonel of the United States army. Having also the additional dignity of a judge of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, he performed the functions of judge and com- mandant for about a year, located at St. Louis, and then his health failing he resigned and returned to Ohio. Soon after, the President appreciating his abilities as a lawyer, appointed him United States judge for the district of Michigan, and he had but just entered upon the duties of this office when he was nominated as the second civil governor of Ohio, and elected over his opponent, General Nathaniel Massie, by a majority that would unquestionably have seated him had not the State senate declared his election void, under the assump- tion that by his residence in Louisiana and Michigan he had forfeited his citizenship. He never questioned the decision, and was immediately elected judge of the Supreme Court, and soon after elected to the United States Senate, to fill the unexpired term of the Hon. John Smith, who had resigned the seat to avoid impeachment for alleged complication with the conspiracy of Aaron Burr. At the same session of the 'Ohio legislature, Judge Meigs was chosen for the full term in the Senate from March 4th, 1809. The next year, after a very hotly contested election, he was chosen governor by a majority of over 2,000 votes, His inaugural address stamped
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BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
him as a man of extraordinary ability and comprehensive mind, and the war of 1812 found him constantly exercising that ability to defend the frontiers of his State from the savage enemy. In this he greatly succeeded, and his tireless devo- tion won him national recognition to such extent that he was called by President Madison to the seat in his cabinet of Postmaster-General. Here he proved that the appointment was an excellent one, and for nine years, and until declining health made it necessary for him to retire, he discharged the arduous duties of his position in manner to gain the highest commendation of his fellow-citizens .. His latter years he spent in his quiet home at Marietta, and died March 29th, 1825.
JONES, WILLIAM W., physician and surgeon, of Toledo, Ohio, was born September 28th, 1819, in Chenango county, New York. His father, Marquis Jones, was a son of Colonel Israel Jones, of Barkhamsted, Connecticut, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, and for several years a member of the General Assembly of that State. His paternal ances- tors were among the earliest settlers in Connecticut, having immigrated there in 1643. Dr. Jones's mother, Elizabeth Merril, was a native of New Hartford, Connecticut. Her father was a prominent and public man. She died in Buffalo at the age of eighty-four, surviving her husband for many years. He died in 1827, at the age of forty-seven. The occupation he followed was chiefly that of a drover. William W. Jones's early education was derived in a district school in his native town, though at the age of ten he was sent to a private academy in the same place, where he remained till he was thirteen years of age. The succeeding two years were spent in an academy at Salem, New York, where he was enabled to possess himself of a very liberal English edu- cation. Desirous of learning some trade or business, he entered a printing office in Forestville, Chautauqua county, New York, where he remained several months, until the fail- ure of the paper on which he was engaged led to his removal to Buffalo, where for a year or more he was engaged upon a literary paper, upon its failure becoming connected with what is now the Commercial Advertiser of that city, where he remained until his removal to Ohio in 1836. At that time a brother was engaged in an extensive flouring mill and in selling merchandise at Dresden, in this State, and the jour- nalist was easily persuaded to adopt a business life which promised greater pecuniary rewards than the calling he was following. He became a partner with his brother in the mill, and acquired an insight into commercial business which was of great advantage to him in after life. While a measure of pecuniary success attended his efforts in business, his tastes for study and knowledge could not in this occupation be gratified to the extent he desired. Notwithstanding tempting offers were made him from time to time after he commenced the study of medicine in 1844, he declined them all, believ- ing that making money did not constitute the chief end of man, but rather that true happiness could best be found in a life of usefulness to others as well as to himself. Dr. Jones began the study of medicine with Dr. W. W. Rickey, of Dres- den, who was afterwards one of the charter members, and subsequently president, of the Ohio State Medical Society. For some time he was a private student of Dr. Frank H. Hamilton, then professor of surgery in the University of Buffalo, where he graduated in the winter of 1848-49. Mil- lard Fillmore, then President of the United States, was chan-
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