USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume I > Part 32
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seat. This contest was between our subject and the Hon. Lewis D. Campbell, and was one of the most noted cases of the kind in the annals of Congress. He was reelected in 1858 and 1860. His ability, industry and sincerity gave him great prominence in Congress. He took a leading part in opposition to the war, not because he did not love the Union, but upon constitutional grounds in its management, as well as from an honest conviction that force would lead to its de- struction ; and if it did succeed in holding the States together,
· would eventuate in the course of years in the entire destruc- tion of our form of government, and the establishment of a military despotism, supported and sustained by a large stand- ing army. For these reasons he advocated compromise a.s the only way to perpetuate the Union, our form of govern- ment, peace, prosperity and liberty. This opposition to the war, together with his great ability, and the wonderful influ- ence he held over the great mass of his partisans, induced the government to order his arrest. He was tried in Cincinnati by a military commission in May, 1863, and sentenced to be banished to the South; was sent through our lines by a mili- tary escort, and left within the rebel lines in Tennessee. The officer having charge of the Southern pickets advanced, and Mr. Vallandigham surrendered himself a prisoner of war, and was taken to General Bragg's headquarters. Herc he distinctly stated to that officer that he was a citizen of the United States, loyal to the Constitution and to the Union, and that he was not in sympathy with any effort to establish a Southern Confederacy. He was, however, kindly treated and sent to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he ran the blockade on the 17th June, 1863, on the 20th landed at Ber- muda, and on the 5th July at Halifax, and, by way of Quebec and Montreal, procceded to the Clifton House at Niagara Falls, arriving there July 15th. He received marked atten- tion and respect from the leading men of Canada, and, on the 24th August, he repaired to Windsor, opposite Detroit. Large meetings were held in many of the Northern States in condemnation of his arbitrary arrest and banishment. So
great was the feeling that the democratic convention, at Columbus that fall, nominated him by acclamation with an almost frantic enthusiasm, as their candidate for governor, he still being an exile. The political meetings that followed were larger and more fiery than had ever been witnessed in the State. But, although he received a larger vote than was generally expected, his opponent polled 101,099 majority, being the largest majority ever received by any candidate for governor of the State. On the night of June 14th, 1864, taking the responsibility, he left Windsor in disguise, crossed the Detroit river, and, taking the cars in that city, arrived the next morning in Hamilton, Butler county,"Ohio, and the same day having addressed a democratic convention then in session in that place, he was appointed by it a delegate to the Chicago convention that nominated George B. McClellan for the Presidency, and in the evening returned to his home in Dayton, by the regular train, where he was received by an immense assemblage, whom he addressed in a speech of great eloquence and feeling, narrating in the strongest lan- guage, the wrongs he had suffered from the Government. The administration, however, took no public notice of his return. In May, 1871, he presented to a democratic conven- tion held in Dayton, his "new departure " resolutions which were unanimously accepted, and adopted by the State dem- ocratic convention at Columbus on the Ist June following. These resolutions were received favorably by the press of
both political parties all over the country, and did more to reconcile the democratic party to the new amendments to the Constitution than all else combined. He followed the adop- tion of these resolutions the same evening in Columbus, by one of the ablest speeches of his life, and the last political speech he ever made. On the night of June 16th, 1871, in full vigor of life and health, whilst engaged for the defense in a murder trial at Lebanon, Ohio, he accidently shot himself in the demonstration of a theory as to the manner in which the alleged murder might have been committed, and died the next morning. This accidental shot proved fatal, not only to Mr. Vallandigham, but to his wife also, who was at that time attending the funeral of her brother, J. V. L. McMahon at Cumberland, Maryland. On receiving the sad news, the shock was so great that she never recovered from it, but died a few weeks after, with the last letter her husband had writ- ten clasped to her breast. He possessed great physical and. mental vitality, a wonderful memory, and a towering ambi- tion. He was a severe student and very methodical in every thing he did. Nothing could move him from his honest con- victions; strictly honest himself, he would frequently burst out in passionate language at the dishonesty of others. Such were the resources of his mind that he was never known to deliver the same speech twice. This country has produced but few men that could hold an audience as he could. He possessed a moral courage truly remarkable, and appeared to be insensible to fear. His ability and energy were such that he always rose with the occasion, and no degree of oppo- sition could discourage him. He always regarded an hon- orable defeat preferable to a dishonorable victory, and never became personal unless first so attacked. He was a fine historian, had a remarkable knowledge of religious history, believed strongly in special providences, had great reverence for the Sabbath, but was very liberal in his general religious opinions. He was greatly devoted to his family, and, in his social relations, was as confiding and affectionate as a child. He had but one child, Charles N. Vallandigham, a young attorney of much promise, resident in Dayton.
WALKER, WILLIAM T., a commission merchant of Toledo, Ohio, was born near Dublin, Ireland, December 28th, 1825. His parents were Robert Walker and Anna A. Evans. His father was of English and his mother of Welsh parent- age. The former was an officer in the English military service for twenty years, during which he contracted a disease which re- sulted in his death in 1845, at the age of forty, in Ireland, then being a pensioner of the English service. His wife died in Ireland in 1837, at the age of thirty-one. In consequence of his father's position in the English service, which compelled his family to accompany him in all his movements, William T. Walker did not enjoy the privileges of public schools, but was taught at home by private tutors. He was, however, able to obtain a good, liberal education, calculated for the especial purpose of preparing him for the army engineering service. For this he prepared himself, but having from childhood been of an unhealthy constitution, he could not pass the strict physical examination required by law for candidates, and was thus obliged to abandon the vocation which he had designed to follow, and for which he had been educated. After the death of his father, however, he served on the staff of the . government inspecting engineer during the great famine in Ireland, and was stationed in the county of Kildare, Ireland. Previous to this duty he had conducted for some time the
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Geo . Milmind
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mercantile business of his father, which was left in the young man's charge upon the death of the former. In 1847 Mr. Walker came to the United States, arriving in New York after the outbreak of the Mexican War. Being filled with military ideas and aspirations he immediately enlisted in the first New York volunteer infantry, under the command of Colonel, afterward General Ward B. Burnett. Upon the arrival of the detachment at Vera Cruz, Mr. Walker was retained as clerk of the surgeon-general of the United States army, serving in that capacity throughout his whole term, having his headquarters at Vera Cruz. This was done very much against his own wishes, as his ambition was to engage in active field service. But in consequence of the scarcity of competent clerks he was compelled to perform this duty. He was discharged in New York in July, 1848. Mr. Walker then recrossed the Atlantic, and spent nearly a year in traveling in Ireland and England, after which he returned to America, bringing a sister with him. Upon his second arrival he located in Buffalo, and at once engaged as clerk for a railroad construction company. He was soon made overseer of construction on the Erie road, and afterwards on the Buffalo and Lake Shore, and also on the Buffalo, Canandaigua and Niagara Falls Railroad, of which he built three miles himself, near Batavia, for the gene- ral contractor. He was afterwards engaged on the Akron branch railroad. In 1853 he became connected with the Northern Transportation Company of Cleveland, as agent, locating first at Rochester, Penn., and in 1857 at Cleveland; but in 1858 he came to Toledo, where he remained its agent until the company dissolved, in 1880. Mr. Walker is now assisting in organizing a similar line between Toledo, Ohio, and Og- densburg, New York, of which he has been made general agent. When he arrived at Toledo in 1858, Mr. Walker en- gaged in the grain commission business, carrying it on ever since. Upon the organization of the first Board of Trade of Toledo in 1859, he became a member, and was subsequently made its vice-president and director. He has been a director of the Produce Exchange since it was organized in 1876, and in 1879 was made its president. During the construction of the Produce Exchange Building he took an active part in carrying out the enterprise, being at that time one of the directors. As commission merchants, receivers and shippers of grain Walker & Fiske carry on a very extensive busi- ness. In 1875 Mr. Walker was elected a member of the city council of Toledo, and again in 1877. In 1880 he was elected a member of the board of aldermen, of which he is now presi- dent. While a member of the council he labored zealously for the admission of railroads to the city, and in behalf of all the commercial and material interests of the city, in which he was very successful. He has been chairman of the committee on ways and means since 1877. In 1880 he was the republican candidate for mayor, but was defeated by the greenback can- didate, as were nearly all the other candidates on the republi- can ticket. He is a director of the Toledo Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and president of the Toledo District Tele- graph Company, organized in 1875, which has grown into an enterprise of considerable magnitude. He is also vice- president of the Masonic Temple Association of Toledo, and was among the men who were chiefly instrumental in con- structing the Masonic Temple of Toledo, which was erected in 1880. He is vice-president of the Toledo Soldiers' Memorial Association, and director of the Northwestern Ohio Masonic Relief Association. Mr. Walker has been a Mason since 1853, having entered the order while in Rochester, and is now
one of the most prominent Masons in northwestern Ohio. He joined the Royal Arch Chapter, Commandery, and Council of Toledo, and is treasurer of the lodge, Chapter, and Council. In 1876 and 1877 he was commander of the Commandery of the Knights Templar, and has attained the thirty-second degree in A. and A. Rite. He is a member of Ohio Con- sistory at Cincinnati, and is now grand master of the Council of Scottish Rite Masons, and deputy grand master of the Lodge of Perfection in Toledo, and also grand captain gene- ral of the Grand Commandery of Ohio Knights Templar. In religion Mr. Walker has always been an Episcopalian, being a member of that Church. He has always been a staunch republican and a zealous anti-slavery man, principles he im- bibed while young and which he advocated before he ever came to America. Mr. Walker is somewhat of a politician, always taking an active part in politics and campaigns. He has been married twice, first in 1852 to Miss Julia Barrell, of Evans, New York, who died in 1870. In 1871 he was mar- ried again to Miss Rose Jennings, of Adrian, Michigan. Six children were born of the first marriage, four of whom are still living, three boys and one girl. Two sons, Robert and Carlton, are engaged in office with their father, and the other, Charles, is a clerk for the Wabash Railroad. Two children have also been born of the last marriage, both living. Dur- ing the twenty-four years of Mr. Walker's residence in Toledo, he has done much for the commercial and material interests of the city. While he has conducted his own affairs success- fully and built up a large and thriving business, and also managed the interests of other corporations and companies in various capacities, he has not lost sight of the public wel- fare, but has been liberal in time and money for the promotion of the city's progress. As a business man Mr. Walker pos- sesses rare capabilities, and his whole career in this line has been one of marked success. He has survived all panics, and is to-day one of Toledo's solid men, whose integrity is unquestionable, and enjoys the confidence and respect of all his fellow-citizens.
MILMINE, GEORGE, merchant, banker and capitalist, of Toledo, Ohio, was born September 13th, 1828, in Grimsby, Ontario. His father, Alexander Milmine, a native of Mont- real, Canada, was of Scotch parentage on his father's side, and French on his mother's side. During the war of 1812 he resided in the State of New York, and served as a volunteer in that struggle in behalf of the American cause. In 1814 he removed to Canada, where he resided until his death in 1871, at the advanced age of eighty-six. His mother, Hannah Milmine, a native of Connecticut, was a descendant of the Todds, who emigrated to that State in an early day from England. Her father was a soldier of the Revolutionary War. Her death occurred in 1867, at the age of 79. Mr. Milmine's early edu- cation consisted in what could be acquired in the country schools. He drew his school-days to a close before he had reached his fifteenth year, and began learning the currier and tanner's trade with his father. At this occupation he labored till he was nineteen years of age. His father having bought some land he engaged in farming, which he followed for the next six years. At this period he determined to begin life for himself, and to follow one in accordance with his earliest inclinations and in harmony with his natural capa- bilities and tastes. His first business enterprise was that of buying and shipping grain on the Great Western Railroad, having his headquarters at Princeton. In this he was success-
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ful, and during the four years thus engaged, from 1854 to 1858, he saved from his business about five or six thousand dollars, and had besides gained an insight into commercial matters, which with succeeding years has developed into a knowledge of affairs and a comprehension of commercial relations that have made him one of the most successful men in Toledo. After closing his business at Princeton he mar- ried and went west, spending a year in Wisconsin, prospect- ing for a location in business, but not finding a suitable place he left the State and came to Toledo, Ohio. What money he had saved from his enterprise in Princeton was gone, hav- ing been lost in various unfortunate investments, but principally through loans to irresponsible persons, so that upon his arrival in Toledo in the fall of 1860, he had no means to engage in any thing. His first efforts were directed towards obtaining employment, in which he was successful, finding work at the dock, there laboring all winter at fifty dollars per month. In the following spring, that of 1861, Mr. Milmine went to Illinois, and the next fall in company with E. C. Bodman (his present partner) engaged in the grain business again at Bement, Piatt county. Success again attended his efforts, and in 1865 the partners removed their business to Toledo, and at once estab- lished themselves in an extensive grain and commission busi- ness. Mr. Milmine immediately became a prominent mem- ber of the Board of Trade, holding various offices during the existence of that body, and upon its reorganization in 1878 as the Toledo Produce Exchange became its president, and also one of the directors, acting in the latter capacity ever since. During the year 1878, while he was president, Mr. Milmine was among the first who set on foot the project of erecting the present magnificent Produce Exchange Building of Toledo, one of the finest in the country, built at a cost of $154,000, though the property is now valued at over $200,000, and owned by the Exchange. Mr. Milmine was on the building committee during the construction of the institution, and took a 'very active part in carrying out the enterprise. In its initiation he was one of the first, and in its ultimate success he was equally instrumental. It is an ornament to Toledo, and a monument to the energy and business enterprise of its pro- , jectors. The business carried on in Toledo by Milmine & Bodman, as receivers, shippers, and commission merchants, has grown into one of great magnitude, and in the extent of operations is second to none in the city, and probably in the State. In 1876 a house, carrying on similar business, was established in Baltimore, Maryland, under the firm name of Milmine, Bodman & Co., which is managed by the junior partners, who were formerly and for many years employes of the Toledo firm. The amount of business carried on by this house is even greater than that in Toledo. Besides this, Mr. Milmine is largely interested, though not as partner, in the firm of Franklin Edson & Co., of New York, having been connected with it for the past two years. He is a stockholder in the Car Wheel Works of Toledo, and also in the First National and the Northern National Banks of Toledo, and for several years past has been one of the directors of the latter. While these are the most important of his business interests, he is con- nected with various other enterprises of considerable magni- tude, and is a property-holder in other cities and States. Ever since his location in business in Illinois (where, by the way, the town and post-office of Milmine on the Wabash Railroad was named after him), all his enterprises have been a remark- able success; nor can that success be attributed to any thing other than his keen foresight, which has led to skillful opera-
tions, his wise management of affairs, strict application to his own business, and honest dealing. That skill and sagacity have been factors throughout his business career, his present pecuniary means fully show. That good judgment and wise management have characterized his conduct of affairs, is evi- dent from the fact that during his entire career, including the great panic of 1872, when thousands of men in his kind of business failed, he has always paid one hundred cents on the dollar. That honesty and integrity have been his principles and motto is well established by the testimony of all who know him. It is true that never in a single instance has his paper gone to protest, which, when we consider the extent of his deal- ings with men, is remarkable. Twenty years ago George Mil- . mine was laboring on the dock of Toledo at fifty dollars per month ; to-day he is reputed to be worth nearly half a mill- ion dollars, and one of Toledo's best, wealthiest and most respected citizens. He has been a member of the Episco- palian Church all his life and for eight years vestryman in his church. He has been a Mason since 1859, having reached the degree of Chapter Mason, and has held several offices in the lodge. In the spring of 1881 he was appointed by Gov- ernor Foster one of the police commissioners of Toledo. In politics he has always been a republican, and while not in any sense a politician, is well versed in politics and is a liberal and zealous supporter of his party. He never made but one political speech in his life, and that was for our martyred Garfield. On April 8th, 1859, Mr. Milmine was married to Miss Emma Goble, of Oxford county, Ontario, the daughter of William L. Goble, a prominent man and postmaster of Gobles, Canada, a town which bears his name. Mrs. Mil- mine's mother was a descendant of General Greene, of Revo- lutionary fame. Four children have been born to them. though but two are now living, a boy and a girl. The son, Charles E., now seventeen years of age, is a student of Kenyon College. Mr. Milmine is a man of remarkable physical energy, strong, vigorous, and industrious. His physique is large and massive. His weight is about two hundred and twenty-five pounds, and he is tall, broad-shouldered, and with muscular limbs. He is a man possessed of a constitution calculated to carry him through a hundred years. While Mr. Milmine is not an educated man in the scholastic sense of the term, yet he is a man of natural and acquired intelligence and native ability, which are of more usefulness to their possessor and the community than the borrower of other's ideas. He is a man of most generous and benevolent impulses. To all laudable enterprises he is a liberal contributor, and to the needy, charitable. He is a man to whom one never appeals in vain, but always is a liberal and willing helper to a friend in need.
FINDLAY, JAMES, was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1770. His parents were Samuel and Jane (Smith) Findlay, who had a family of seven sons, viz : John, William, James, Samuel, Jonathan, Thomas and Nathan. With the exception of Samuel, who died young, these were all, more or less, prominent and distinguished men. In politics they were democrats and held offices of distinction. John, the eldest, was member of Congress from the Chambersburg district, Pennsylvania. William was in Congress from 1803 to 1817, was governor of Pennsylvania from 1817 to 1820, and United States senator from 1821 to 1827 About the year 1795 James, the third son (and sub- ject of this brief sketch), with his wife, Jane (Irwin) Findlay .
GEN. JAMES FINDLAY.
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removed to Ohio, by way of Virginia and Kentucky, travel- ing on horseback, and eventually settled in Cincinnati, then a small village. Here for a number of years he filled the position of receiver of public moneys in the land office. In 1805-6 he served as mayor of Cincinnati, and again in 1810- II. In the war of 1812 he served as colonel of a regiment, and was present at Hull's surrender of Detroit. For his meritorious conduct in the war he was shortly afterward pro- moted to the rank of brigadier-general of the Ohio State militia, in which capacity he served for a considerable period. He erected Fort Findlay, from which the town of Findlay, Hancock county, Ohio, derives its name. Naturally reserved in his manner, he presented to strangers an air of austerity ; but to those who knew him he was the soul of kindness and geniality. He possessed great decision of character, was just in all his dealings with men and maintained through life an unsullied reputation. He died in Cincinnati in the year 1835.
WALCUTT, GENERAL CHARLES C., collector of internal revenue for the seventh district of Ohio, was born in Columbus, Ohio, February 12th, 1838. He is the son of John M. Walcutt and Mariel (Broderick) Walcutt, who were · among the pioneer settlers of Columbus. John Macy Wal- cutt was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his father, William Walcutt, a Virginian, was in the Revolutionary War. The early education of General Walcutt was acquired in the pub- lic schools of his native city, and at the Kentucky Military Institute, from which institution he graduated in the class of 1858. Returning to Columbus, he was elected surveyor for Franklin county in 1859, and held that position until the breaking out of the rebellion, when he relinquished it in order to offer his services to the government. Hastily rais- ing a military company in the State capital, he entered the service of the United States, April 16th, 1861, with the com- mission of captain. In June of the same year he was pro- moted to the rank of major, and served on the staff of General Hill till August, when he was appointed major of the 46th regiment of Ohio Volunteers. In January, 1862, he was appointed to a lieutenant-colonelcy, and, with his regiment, joined the army of Sherman at Paducah, Ken- tucky, where the Tennessee River expedition was then in course of organization. At the memorable battle of Shiloh he received a severe wound in the shoulder from a musket ball, which has never been extracted. October 16th, 1862, he was made colonel of liis regiment, and participated in the Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi, campaigns. At the bat- tle of Missionary Ridge he was assigned to the command of the 2d brigade of the Ist division, 15th corps, and be- haved with such intrepid gallantry in holding the key-point of the field against repeated charges by superior numbers, that he was recommended for promotion in General Sher- man's report. General Sherman in this said: "The fight raged furiously about ten A. M., when General Corse re- ceived a severe wound, and was brought off the field, and the command of the brigade and of the assault at that key- point devolved upon that young and gallant officer, Colonel Walcutt, of the 46th Ohio, who filled his part manfully. He continued the assault, pressing forward at all points." Colonel Walcutt's brigade shared in 'the pursuit of the rebels from Mission Ridge, and then marched in relief of Knoxville. Upon its return it went into winter-quarters in Northern Alabama. January 5th, 1864, the entire brigade re-enlisted. This action was owing largely to the influence of Colonel
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