USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume I > Part 35
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the unusual period of eighteen consecutive years, during which period he established a degree of professional and per- sonal popularity rarely won by a lawyer. In 1855 he was offered and accepted a professorship in the Cincinnati Law School, and performed the duties so satisfactorily during many years that, in 1874, he was elected by the faculty pro- fessor emeritus in that institution. Having fully retired from public position, he once more devoted himself to practice, in partnership with his son, Bellamy Storer, jr., who had been admitted to the bar in 1869. Bowdoin and Kenyon colleges (of the former he having been for some time a member of its board of trustees,) conferred upon him the degree of doctor of laws.
CHISHOLM, WILLIAM, of Cleveland, contractor and iron manufacturer, was born August 12th, 1825, in the vil- lage of Lochgelly, Fifeshire, Scotland. His father, who was a man in moderate circumstances, died when William was about seven years of age. His educational advantages were consequently limited, but were of a practical character, and consisted of such knowledge as he would be most likely to need in making his way in the world. When twelve and a half years old he was apprenticed to learn the dry- goods business with a merchant in Kirkaldy, a seaport town on the Frith of Forth. Finding this occupation unsuited to his tastes, and having an ardent desire to see something of the world, he, after two years or more spent in Kirkaldy, engaged his services to a ship-owner as a sailor. He left his native land in September, 1840, and joined the good ship Burley, of Glasgow, at Antwerp, Holland. He sailed in this vessel for four and a half years, making voyages from Eng- land, Scotland, and Ireland to South America, the East Indies, Australia, the West Indies, and the coasts of Nica- ragua and Central America. Subsequently he was engaged on different vessels stopping at the principal American At- lantic ports between the mouth of the Mississippi river and the gulf of St. Lawrence. Becoming weary of this mode of life he, in September, 1847, abandoned the sea, after just seven years of active service, during which period he had filled the various positions on a ship from that of cabin boy to that of chief officer. He then settled in Montreal, Canada, September, 1847. There he remained for five years, and car- ried on the business of a builder and contractor. At the expiration of that time he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where one of his first enterprises was in connection with a large steamboat, named the Sebastopol, of which he was part owner, a boat designed for carrying both freight and passengers. In this vessel he made four trips. On her fourth trip, with a heavy cargo, and a passenger list of over a hundred, she was wrecked, being run ashore five miles south of Milwaukee, her captain, in the darkness, having mistaken a light on a ves- sel for the harbor light. Her passengers were all landed in safety, excepting five, who were drowned by the capsizing of a boat. He bought from the insurance company the ma- chinery of the wreck, which he secured, brought to Cleve- land, and put into a new steamer. In 1855' he removed to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, remaining there but two years, and returning to Cleveland in 1857, where he has since been en- gaged as a contractor in building railroads, bridges, docks, etc., and various other enterprises. He built the first street railway in Cleveland, the "East Cleveland Line," running from Superior Street to Euclid station. It has since been extended to Lake View Cemetery. The purpose of his re-
Klam Chisholm
J.m . Coffinking
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turning to Cleveland in 1857 was to assist his brother, the late Henry Chisholm (whose sketch will be found in this work) in building the rolling-mills at Newburg. These im- mense mills are the largest on the continent, and are owned by "The Cleveland Rolling-mill Company." In 1860 he built works and commenced the manufacture of spikes, bolts, rivets, horseshoes, etc. In 1871 he organized "The Union Steel Screw Company," another of Cleveland's great enter- prises. Their factory is among the largest in the country, and the buildings equipped with all the best and most mod- ern machinery and appliances. Their manufactures have a national reputation, and are unequaled for excellency. More recently he has engaged with his sons in the manufacture of steel shovels, spades, scoops, and forks. In 1882 the firm of William Chisholm & Sons commenced the manufacturing of engines, the engines being a new patent, adapted to hoisting, elevators, blast furnaces, quarries, marine purposes, etc., the advantageous features of which are simplicity, power, durability, cheapness, and requiring but little skill to attend to, together with absolute safety and freedom from the chance of accident. Mr. Chisholm is also the inventor and patentee of numerous and important mechanical appliances. For the last quarter of a century he has been largely interested and actively engaged in coal and iron mines, and in the various manufactures of the products of the latter. In 1876-77 Mr. Chisholm traveled extensively through Europe, and revisited his native town in Scotland, after an absence of thirty-seven years. His life has been distinguished by a varied experience, such as is given to but few, and from his early youth he has been compelled to depend upon his own exertions, to which, with the aid of a kind providence, he owes his success in life. He has been uniformly successful in all his undertakings, though they have been very dissimilar, evidencing, we think, the character of the man, determining, whatever he under- took, to do it thoroughly and well. Neither has he been entirely absorbed in the care of his many and extensive busi- ness enterprises, but has ever been ready to lend a helping hand to the needy and suffering. As a member of the Baptist Church, he has contributed liberally to its support, as well as to other religious institutions and charitable objects. In 1848 he was married to Catherine Allan, a native of Dum- ferline, Scotland, and daughter of Wilson B. Allan. She be- came the mother of seven children, only four of whom are now living, three sons and one daughter, and she herself followed her children to the better land in July, 1881. Be- loved and respected in life, her death was mourned by all.
COFFINBERRY, JAMES M., lawyer and jurist, was born May 16th, 1818, at Mansfield, Ohio, and is now living at Cleveland, Ohio. His father was Andrew Coffinberry, for many years a distinguished lawyer of Mansfield, where he was admitted to the bar as early as 1813, from which time he prae- ticed his profession until a few days before his death, which occurred May 11th, 1856. His practice in several of the coun- ties of Northwestern Ohio began with their organization, his riding, or circuit (always performed on horseback), extending from Mansfield north to Lake Erie, and west to the Michigan and Indiana State lines. A man of rare endowments and marked characteristics, he was widely known and greatly esteemed for his pure and upright life, while his quaint wit and genial manners gave him ready access to the hearts of all classes. He was called the "Good Count Coffinberry " by the younger members of the profession (all of whom, if living, are
now past middle life), in grateful recognition of services ren- dered and courtesies shown them when they most needed direction and encouragement from such veterans of the bar. His soubriquet of "Count" was first playfully given him by his professional associates, from some real or supposed resem- blance to the illustrious German jurist and publicist, Count or Baron Puffendorf; the title was recognized as being so appro- priate to the man, that it stuck to him for life, and thousands of those who knew him long and well never learned that it was not his real name. James M. Coffinberry, the subject of this sketch, received only such an education as was obtainable in the district school of a pioneer country village. He studied law with his father, then residing at Perrysburg, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1841, opening an office in partnership with his father the same year at Maumee City. His superior abilities and personal integrity were early recognized, and secured his election as prosecuting attorney for Lucas county, which position he filled with distinguished ability for several years. In 1845, he removed to Hancock county, and for about ten years practiced his profession successfully, at the same time editing and publishing the Findlay Herald. In 1855, he removed to Cleveland, and entered at once into a large and lucrative practice, devoting himself exclusively to his profession, maintaining and confirming the reputation that had preceded him, taking a high rank at a bar embracing among its members some of the most eminent lawyers of the State. In 1861, he was elected judge of the court of common pleas, and held that office for a full term of five years, win ning for himself, in this new field, the increased esteem of the public and respect and honor of the bar. His charges to the jury were models for clearness, directness, and logical compactness. It is complimentary to his judicial learning and professional ability, that no legal opinion pronounced by him was ever reversed on review by a higher court. He de- livered many able opinions, both verbal and written, that received the most favorable consideration of the profession. He was remarkable for seizing upon the strong points of a case, and also for an original manner of presenting his argu- ments and opinions; his apparently intuitive perception of legal truth giving to his utterances a freshness and vigor that commanded the admiration of all. While he had a fine appreciation of the learning of the profession, and was never unmindful of its nicest distinctions, he made them subserv- ient to the broad and liberal views of the case, looking beyond the mere technicalities of the law, thus evincing a broad, liberal, and well developed judicial mind. After retiring from the bench, he returned to the practice of his profession, but was soon compelled to retire from its activities by reason of failing health. He devoted many of his leisure hours to scientific reading and investigation, in which he took great interest. Actively engaged in business enterprises, he was a thorough business man. He was a member of the city coun- cil for two years, and president of that body. Formerly a whig, in the Fremont and Buchanan canvass he allied him- self with the democrats, and has since uniformly supported the candidates and policy of that party. At the breaking out of the Rebellion, he was chairman of the democratic central committee of Cuyahoga county, but warmly espoused the Union cause, labored assiduously to promote the recruiting service, and was largely influential, by his example and his earnest and forcible public speeches, in rallying the great body of the democratic party in Northern Ohio to the zealous support of the war, to vindicate the authority of the constitu -
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tion and laws. He was principal secretary of the great Union convention of Ohio, presided over by ex-United States Sen- ator Thomas Ewing, which nominated David Tod for gover- nor on a platform embodying the Crittenden compromise resolutions, which for the time abolished party distinctions in Ohio, harmonized all discordant elements, and thoroughly aroused and stimulated the patriotic sentiment of the people. He remained a conservative Union man during the war, but in private conversation disapproved of some of the more radical war measures, as being unconstitutional and of dan- gerous precedent. For several years he was the standing candidate of his party for representative in Congress and common pleas judge, but was in no sense a politician. It is believed that he never attended more than one primary or nominating convention, and that he never sought a nomina- tion for office. On the evening of April 8th, 1875, while returning with his wife from Mt. Vernon, where they had been to attend the marriage of his son to a daughter of Gen- eral Morgan, after they had reached the city and were being driven across the railroad track near the Union Depot, their carriage was struck by freight cars. They were both severely injured; he suffering the loss of a leg. His wife, though terribly bruised and mangled, was restored to comparative health. He married in January, 1841, Miss Anna M. Gleason, of Lucas county, and has two children living. His son, Henry D., a partner in the Globe Iron-works and the Cleve- land Dry Dock Company, also one of the fire commissioners of the city, served honorably through the war as an officer in the Mississippi gun-boat flotilla. His daughter, Mary E., is married to S. E. Brooks, also a prominent young business man of Cleveland.
PAYNE, HENRY B., lawyer and statesman, was born in Hamilton, Madison county, New York, November 30th, 1810. His father, Elisha Payne, an early settler of that county, having removed there from Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1795, was a man recognized for his personal integrity, purity of character, and public spirit, and was instrumental in an eminent degree in founding Hamilton Theological Seminary. Henry B. Payne was educated at Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, and graduated in the class of 1832, ranking high in mathematics and belles-lettres. He commenced the study of law in the office of John C. Spencer the same year. In 1833 he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, then a village of some three thousand inhabitants, and was admitted to the bar in the following year. He at once commenced the practice of law with H. V. Wilson, his partner and former classmate. This partnership continued twelve years, until, in consequence of hemorrhage of the lungs, he was compelled to relinquish his profession. He subsequently served two years in the city council, chiefly engaged in reforming the finances, restoring the municipal credit, and reconstructing the fire department. In 1849, conjointly with John W. Allen, Richard Hilliard, John M. Woolsey and others, he entered earnestly into meas- ures for constructing the Cleveland and Columbus Railroad. It is no disparagement to the labors of others to say that to him, Richard Hilliard, Esq., and Hon. Alfred Kelley that great enterprise was mainly indebted for its success-a success which, being achieved at a most critical period of the fortunes of Cleveland, contributed in a very great degree to its pros- perity. Upon its completion, in 1851, he was elected presi- dent, and retained the office until 1854, when he resigned. In 1855 he first became a director of the Cleveland, Painesville
and Ashtabula (afterwards Lake Shore) Railroad. In 1845 he was elected a member of the first board of water works com- missioners, which so successfully planned, located, and com- pleted the Cleveland water works. In 1862 the Legislature created a board of sinking fund commissioners for the city of Cleveland, and he has been president of this board since its organization. How wisely the commissioners performed their duties was shown by the fact that the fund, originally about $250,000, in the period of twelve years under the manage- ment of the board, increased to nearly $2,000,000, an in- stance of prudent and sagacious management of a trust fund which was perhaps without parallel in the United States. From an early day he became interested and identified with the manufacturing enterprises of Cleveland. He was at one time a stockholder and director in some eighteen corporations, embracing coal and iron mining, manufacturing in various branches, banking, etc., all of which were in a sound and flourishing condition. In politics he has ever been a conserva- tive democrat, not always active, and sometimes independent. In 1849 he was elected to the State senate, and served two years in that body. In 1851 he was a democratic nominee for United States senator in the prolonged balloting that finally resulted in the election of Benjamin F. Wade by a very small majority. In 1857 he was the Democratic candidate for gov- ernor, and made a canvass remarkable for its spirit and brilliancy, in which he came within a few hundred votes of defeating Salmon P. Chase. Mr. Payne was chosen Presi- dential elector on the Cass ticket in 1848, and was a member of the Cincinnati convention which nominated Buchanan in 1856. He was also a delegate at large to the Democratic National Convention at Charleston in 1860, and reported from the committee the minority resolutions which were adopted by the convention. He advocated that report in a speech remarkable for its perspicuity, brilliancy, and power, condemning incipient secession, and uttering kindly but earnest warnings to the men of the South. The speech won for him the applause and gratitude of the Northern delegates, and the personal admiration of the Southern members, and gave him a national reputation as an able and sagacious statesman. In 1857 he joined heartily with Senator Douglas in his opposition to the Lecompton Constitution; made speeches against it at Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and other cities, and was active in procuring the passage by the Ohio Legislature of resolutions denouncing that measure. He assisted Douglas in his celebrated campaign in 1858 against Lincoln and the Buchanan office-holders in Illinois; and when the civil war broke out he took his stand with that patriotic statesman, and persevered in public and earnest efforts for the suppression of the rebellion. In 1862 he united with prominent men of both the democratic and re- publican parties in addressing the people for the encourage- ment of enlistments, and joined with a large number of the most wealthy citizens in a guarantee and indemnity to the county treasurer for advancing of moneys to equip regi- ments, trusting to future legislation to sanction such advances. He was chairman of the Ohio delegation at the Baltimore convention in 1872, which nominated Horace Greeley for President, and warmly advocated that movement. In 1874, at the joint and urgent solicitation of democrats and liberal republicans, he accepted the nomination for the Forty-fourth Congress, and was elected by a majority of 2,532 in a district which previously had given a republican majority of about 5,000. On accepting the nomination he said: "If elected,
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and life is spared to serve out the term, I promise to come back with hand and heart as undefiled and clean as when I left you." In Congress Mr. Payne was appointed a member of the committee on banking and currency, and also on that on civil service reform. During the exciting contest over the election of President in the winter of 1876-1877, he was made chairman of the committee chosen by the House to unite with one from the Senate in devising a method of set- tling the impending difficulties. As such chairman he reported the bill providing for the celebrated Electoral Commission to the House, and had charge of it during its passage. He was also elected and served as one of that commission. He re- ported to the joint democratic congressional caucus a bill for the gradual resumption of specie payments, which was ap- proved by the caucus, but failed to pass. The principal feature of this bill was the permanent retention of the green- back as a constituent element of the currency. As a lawyer he is distinguished for fidelity, thoroughness, and forensic ability. The remarkable power of his mind is especially manifested in his influence over others in adjusting rights and equity, where great and antagonistic interests were involved. Coolness of temper, suavity of manners, and genial humor, combined with firmness of purpose and strength of will, are his commanding instrumentalities. As a political leader he has always had the confidence of his party and the respect of all. In April, 1875, he was prominently mentioned as the coming democratic and liberal nominee for the Presidency of the United States. Mr. Payne was married in 1836 to the only daughter of Nathan Perry, Esq., a retired merchant of Cleveland.
EELLS, DAN PARMELEE, was born in Westmore- land, Oneida county, New York, April 1,6th, 1825, the young- est son of Rev. James Eells and Mehitabel Parmelee. His father was a Presbyterian minister, as were nearly all the male descendants of their ancestor, one Major Samuel Eells, an officer in the British army, who emigrated to Connecticut from Barnstable, England, in the early part of the seven- teenth century. His mother came of an old and well known family of Durham, Connecticut, in which the patronymic for many generations had been Dan. In 1804, Rev. James Eells removed with his family from Connecticut to Oneida county, New York; and thence, in 1831, the youngest son being then a child of six years, he came to Ohio, and located first at Worthington, in Franklin county-afterwards removing to Charleston, Portage county, and again, in 1836, to Amherst, Lorain county. Dan remained at home until fifteen years of age, when he obtained his first employment as clerk in a store at Elyria. In 1841 he went to Oberlin to prepare for college, paying his tuition out of his earnings as clerk in one of the village stores. In the fall of 1844 he entered Hamil- ton College, in the class of 1848; but being unable to meet his college expenses he left at the expiration of his Sopho- more year and returned to Ohio. His business life began in Cleveland, when, in September, 1846, he became book- keeper for Cobb & Bishop, forwarding merchants, remaining with them, however, but two months, until the close of lake navigation for that year. He then taught school at Amherst until the spring of 1847, when he returned to Cleveland, and entered the extensive shipping and commission house of Bar- ney, Waring & Co., as general book-keeper. Two years later, in March, 1849, his ability as an accountant and espe- cially his fine penmanship procured for him a position as book-
keeper in the old Commercial Branch of the State Bank of Ohio, of which Truman P. Handy was at that time cashier. There he remained for eight years, during which time he displayed so much ability and won so many friends among business men that in the spring of 1857 a proposition was made to him to become partner in a private banking firm, which he accepted. The firm of Hall, Eells & Co. was suc- cessful. Its business prospered, and steadily increased in value and extent. But the directors of the Commercial Bank were anxious to regain Mr. Eells's valuable services, and on the Ist of November, 1858, elected him cashier, offering such inducements that he withdrew from the firm of Hall, Eells & Co., and returned to the bank where he had first won repu- tation as a financier. In this position he remained until the expiration of the bank charter, in 1865. The Commercial National Bank was organized in that year, under the Na- tional Banking Law, and the business of the Commercial Branch Bank was transferred to it. Mr. Eells was elected vice-president of the new bank, which position he held until the death of the president, Mr. W. A. Otis, in 1868, when he suc- ceeded him, and has continued in the presidency of the bank until the present time. His connection with the Commercial - National Bank and its immediate predecessor have extended, with the exception of a few months, over a continuous period of thirty-three years. Few banks in the country have enjoyed greater prosperity than these two under the presidency of Mr. Eells. During the entire period of his management, in the course of which have occurred some of the severest financial crises and revolutions which our country has seen, the banks never failed to pay their regular semi-annual divi- dend to the stockholders, and always commanded, in a high degree, the confidence of the community. The Commercial National Bank now ranks among the two or three largest and most influential banks in the State. As the business of the bank became settled and systematized, Mr. Eells was able to relegate the details of its management to subordinates, and devote a portion of his time to other matters. In 1875 he associated himself with John N. Glidden, and together they established a commission house as dealers in iron ores and pig iron, under the firm name of Glidden & Eells. This firm has been associated with the Republic Iron Company, of which Mr. Eells is vice-president and Mr. Glidden secre- tary and sales agent. In 1869 Mr. Eells became special part- ner in the banking house of W. G. Wiley & Co., now at 40 Wall Street, New York, and continued his interest with them in a successful and prosperous business for four years. Strong inducements were held out to him to remove to New York and undertake the management of a prominent bank in that city ; but he was firm in the determination to remain where his business reputation had been established. As he became more and more widely known as a judicious, honor- able, and enterprising business man, the wisdom of this course was apparent. New opportunities for investment pre- sented themselves, and the sphere of his influence broadened. He became identified with prominent eastern capitalists, and in conjunction with them originated and carried through sev- eral railroad enterprises of great magnitude and importance. The principal of these were the Lake Erie and Western Rail- way, the Ohio Central Railroad and Coal Company, the St. Louis, Keokuk, and Northwestern Railway, the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, the Detroit, Mackinac and Marquette Railroad, and the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad. The consolidation of the system of roads
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