USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume I > Part 55
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His manner was composed and calm, but very suave and gentle, scarcely indicating the great firmness that distin- guished him. We can not, perhaps, more fitly close this brief sketch than by giving a letter written to the Hon. C. B. Goddard, of Zanesville, Ohio, on the day following his death, by one of the friends who knew him long and well, and who could thus, probably, after a life-long intimacy, more fully measure the extent of his service to the country than many others.
" LANCASTER, May 12, 1862.
" DEAR GODDARD :- I was informed last night at mid- night of the death of our friend Vinton. I feel his loss deeply; but he lived to a ripe old age, and those of us who are his contemporaries must expect soon to follow him. Though for ten or fifteen years he had more influence in the House of Representatives, much more than any other man in it, yet the -nation has never appreciated him fully, according to his merits. He was a wise, sagacious, perse- vering statesman ; almost unerring in his perception of the right, bold in pursuing and skillful in sustaining it, he held, always, a large control over the minds of men with whom he acted. Within the range of my acquaintance, he has hardly left his peer behind him.
"I am, very truly yours, T. EWING.
"C. B. GODDARD, EsQ."
HINMAN, EDWARD LEROY, manufacturer and banker, Columbus, Ohio, oldest son of Daniel Hinman and Harriet (Woodworth) Hinman, was born at Southbury, New Haven County, Connecticut, October, 1825. Sergeant Edward Hinman, the first of the paternal line of this name in America, came to Connecticut from England, and settled at Stratford, about 1651. Among his numerous descendants was Captain Titus Hinman, one of the first settlers of Woodbury, Connecti- cut, where a branch of the family, from which the subject of the present sketch descended, still remains. Joseph was the second son of Titus, and left a large issue, Ebenezer being the eldest. Jonathan, the fifth son of Ebenezer, left behind him the following sons and daughters, viz .: Simeon, Ora, Betsey, Daniel (Edward Leroy's father), John B., and Rob- inson S. All these were men and women of great worth, and occupied important stations in life, especially Daniel, who held a warm place in the affections of the people in the county where he was born, and in which he continued to reside, filling many positions of trust and honor, the duties of which he discharged with singular fidelity and exactness. In all the relations of life he was recognized as a man of pure and lofty character, and left to his descendants an honored and untarnished name. The local histories and biographies of Connecticut show that the Hinmans were patriotic, sturdy, and thrifty people. In the war of the Revolution they served their country with zeal and courage, on both land and sea. Representatives of the family were found in almost every walk of life, whether that of husband- man, soldier, sailor, tradesman, merchant, artisan, jurist, publicist, or man of letters, and all were known as men of honor, honesty, and integrity. Royal R. Hinman, a near kinsman of Edward L., wrote a "History of the First Puritan Settlers of Connecticut," and a number of other books upon legal and biographical subjects. As to the political relations of the family, the Connecticut Hinmans were almost without an exception Democrats. Royal R. was made Secretary of State in 1835, and was elected to that office for seven suc- cessive years. He was a Democratic nominee for Congress upon the first Jackson ticket, and delegate to the National Democratic Convention at Baltimore, in 1844. Charles W.,
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a younger brother of Edward L., graduated from Yale Col- lege, in 1851 ; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in
. 1853 ; subsequently accepted a position in the Congressional Library, at Washington, which he filled for a number of years, and died in 1864, leaving one daughter. Marietta E., a sister, was married, in 1854, to George E. Clark, of South Carolina. The mother of these children and of the subject of this sketch resides with the latter, and is now in the eighty-fifth year of her age. Edward L. Hinman's early ed- ucation, received at Southbury Academy, was supplemented by private instruction from his father. His years of minority were passed upon a farm and in the business of surveying. In 1849 he went to New Haven, where he was employed for seven years in a dry goods store. He afterward en- gaged in the business of manufacturing agricultural imple- ments, at Naugatuck, Connecticut, but took up his residence in New York City, where he opened an office for the sale of his goods. In 1859 Mr. Hinman came to Columbus, and became a member of the firm of Hall, Brown & Co., manu- facturers of farm implements. In 1865 the firm name was changed to Brown, Hinman & Co., which name it has ever since retained. This house transacts a heavy business, its goods being shipped to all parts of the civilized world. The principal office is located in Columbus, although the firm is largely interested in other manufacturing establishments out- side of Ohio. In 1855 Mr. Hinman was married to Isabella G., daughter of Dr. William L. Simers, of New York City. Of this marriage were born two children, Charles D. and Flora. The life of a business man is usually full of reality, rather than of romance, and Mr. Hinman's is no ex- ception to the rule. But his career has been an active one. He has had a hand in many of the leading enterprises of Columbus, and has contributed his full share toward the growth and development of the city. In 1872 he was elected to the city council, from the ninth ward of Columbus. Upon the organization of that body, he was placed on the finance committee, of which, upon his re-election to the council, he was made chairman. This place he continued to hold also through his third term, which expired in 1878. The same prudence and economy which he exercised in the con- duct of his private business characterized his management of the city finances. His high standing among men of capital afforded him many advantages in the negotiation of municipal securities. Such advantages he used wholly in the people's interest, and the result was that the city's credit was raised to a higher standard and placed upon a securer basis than it had ever previously attained. In 1878 Governor R. M. Bishop, without being solicited thereto, appointed Mr. Hinman a trustee of the State Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, a position which he accepted, and held until the expiration of his term. In 1880 he was nominated, by the Democrats of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, as their candidate for member of the State Board of Equaliza- tion, and was elected in October of that year. Of this body, composed of equal numbers of both the leading po- litical parties, Mr. Hinman was unanimously chosen presi- dent. In this capacity he distinguished himself for the readi- ness, good sense, and positiveness of his rulings, never, at the same time, departing from the line of fairness and impartiality. Mr. Hinman is at the present time president of the Columbus Savings Bank, and vice-president of the Citizens' Savings Bank, and is connected with the di- rectory of railroad, insurance, and other corporations. Al-
though Mr. Hinman has been engaged in active life ever since his majority, he has nevertheless given much atten- tion to abstract questions connected with the growth and prosperity of the country, and has made himself familiar with the views and teachings of political economists. In addition to the theoretical information thus obtained, he has, as a manufacturer and business man, acquired a practical knowledge of the operations of State and national legislation, and has thus been qualified, as a debater, to state his propo- sitions clearly, and to forcibly illustrate and defend them. In the organized bodies of which he has been a member, he was noted for the readiness and animation of his style of speech, and for the directness with which he met the questions at issue. Descending from a sturdy Democratic stock, and adopting Democratic ideas from early youth, Mr. Hinman has always voted and worked for the ascendency of the Democratic party. He holds a trusted place in its councils ; and although his individual views may not always . have accorded with those of its State and National Conven- tions, he was nevertheless always willing to abide the com- bined action of the party, and has therefore cheerfully sup- ported its measures and its candidates. Although repeatedly urged by friends to come before the people for important political offices, he has heretofore steadily declined to accept any position other than such as seemed to be in a manner disconnected with politics, and to be in the line of business management and finance. Fortunate in the conduct of his private affairs, Mr. Hinman has accumulated wealth, but he has also disbursed it with a willing hand, and his pecuniary success has largely resulted from that enlightened and gen- erous economy which always reaps bountifully where it has freely sown. Nature gave him a sound mind in a sound body, and, as a consequence, a cheerful disposition. Not unmind- ful or unworthy of her bounty, he has been liberal to all sorts of charities, courteous in intercourse with his fellows, kind and obliging to all, and especially generous to those who have failed in the race of life. Mr. Hinman's financial success indicates unusual sagacity, judgment, and adroitness in the conduct of business affairs. Unthinking men might say that he was born under a lucky star, and that he has attained his wealth by accidental good fortune. But it is idle to speak thus of a man whose entire career has been a series of suc- cessful enterprises. Neither in luck, nor in chance, nor in unreasoning intuition is found the secret of this success. It is in the man himself. With mental capacities naturally adapted to rapid action, Mr. Hinman kept his powers con- tinually on the alert, and thus was enabled to seize with avidity, analyze with precision, and pronounce with cer- tainty upon whatever proposition came before him, and either abandon at once or push steadily any enterprise to which he might direct his attention. This element of his character, together with his integrity, wise liberality, and practical acquaintance with men and with affairs, is the true secret of his successful career, and proves him fitted for discharging ably and satisfactorily the duties of any position to which he may hereafter be called. It may truly be said of Mr. Hinman, whether considered as a progressive and intelligent man of business or as a friend and neighbor, that he appears without reproach both in public and private life. He has a fine personal presence, is free from offensive self- consciousness, and is animated and entertaining in conversa- tion. To conclude, he is a marked illustration of the grow- ing belief that the manufacturing interests of this country
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must, in order that they may compete successfully with those of the rest of the world, be conducted by men of that sa- gacity, originality, and boldness of thought with which he is so largely endowed.
BELL, WILLIAM, JR., a resident of Columbus, Ohio, was born August 23d, 1828, near Utica, Licking County, Ohio. He is the second son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Hanger) Bell. His father descends from that Scotch-Irish stock which settled in Connecticut long before the war for independence. Abraham Bell was the founder of the family in New England, and dwelt at New Haven, issue from his line settling in Roxbury, Norwich, and other Connecticut towns. Philip became the head of the family in Massachu- setts, living in Boston. The descendants of Samuel Bell, of Chester, England, with a number of the issue of the Con- necticut family of that name, emigrated in 1692 to the terri- tory west of the Delaware River, which was included in the grant of land made to William Penn by Charles II, and upon which the commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Delaware were established. Industrious emigrants of the great nation- alities early settled within the limits of the State of Pennsyl- vania in great numbers. Hence it contributed more largely than any other "to the original compact" to the settlement of the new Western States. Mr. Bell's father was born in Greene County, of that State, in 1800, and in the natural course of events was carried westward by the tide of emigration. Many of his ancestors of different branches of the family rendered military service to their country in the war of the Revolution. He was about the age of fifteen when the family located in Knox County, Ohio, within half a mile of the farm upon which he has lived for sixty-seven years, being now in his eighty- second year (June Ist, 1882). The mother of William Bell was a native of Augusta County, Virginia. Her family were among the early settlers of the valley of Virginia, and many members of the male line served as soldiers in defense of the country, as well as in its civil councils. She came from Vir- ginia in 1810, and settled with the family in Knox County, Ohio. Mr. Bell, the subject of this sketch, attended the com- mon schools in the neighborhood where his father lived, at in- tervals when he could best be spared from the labor of the farm. When twenty years of age he entered the Martinsburg academy of Knox County, Ohio, where he acquired a good, practical education. After completing his course of study at this institution he remained upon his father's farm until 1852, when the democrats of Licking County nominated him for the office of sheriff, and he was elected, although but twenty-three years of age. He discharged the duties of the office with rare ability and with great satisfaction to the people. At the expi- ration of his term he was appointed post-master of the city of Newark by President Franklin Pierce, and again by President James Buchanan. He held the position until 1858, when the people again elected him to the shrievalty of the county, and he was honored by a re-election in 1860. He must have made an excellent and popular sheriff, for, upon the expiration of his last term he was elected auditor of the county, an office he filled for three successive terms from 1864 to 1870. He must have been an exceptionally good auditor, for, at the expiration of his third term, he was elected to represent Licking County in the lower house of the legislature, and was re-elected in 1873. During his service in the house he was chairman of the committee on public works, and also a member of the com- mittee on insurance, and that of municipal corporations. He
must have made a useful and popular representative, for, by this time, his honesty, his efficiency, and his popularity as a public officer attracted the attention of the democracy of the whole State. The consequence was that the democratic con- vention which met in Columbus, in 1874, nominated him for secretary of state, and his nomination was ratified by the peo- ple in the following October, running a little ahead of his State ticket, and being elected by 17,000 majority. He was the first democrat for twenty years who was elected to a State office in Ohio by a handsome majority over all opposition. In 1876 he was nominated by acclamation for the same office. That being a presidential year, and a hotly contested campaign ensuing, party lines were closely drawn, and he was, in con- sequence, defeated by a comparitively small vote, though he led the State ticket over two thousand votes. In 1877, shortly after the election of the Hon. R. M. Bishop as governor of Ohio, in an interview with newspaper correspondents at the American House parlor, Columbus, Ohio, concerning his ap- pointment of a commissioner of railroads and telegraphs, the governor said : "I partially promised and intended to ap- point Joseph F. Wright, of Cincinnati, to that office, but I received thousands of letters from leading democrats in all parts of the state, asking me to appoint the Hon. Will- iam Bell, Jr., to that office. I believed then, and believe now that he is the most popular man in the State, and I felt it my duty to appoint him." He was accordingly appointed and filled the office to the satisfaction of the people until the election of Governor Foster, when his term expired. He was prominently connected with the party organization during his several terms of office. It seems, however, that his official life was not to cease after his retirement from his position as commissioner of railroads and telegraphs. Having perma- nently located in Columbus in 1874, the democracy of Frank- lin County at a convention held September 3d, 1881, nomi- nated him as their choice of one of the three representatives in the lower House, and he was subsequently elected, leading the legislative ticket by a small vote. He was a member of the committee on Imbecile Asylum, the committee on Peniten- tiary, and on Rules. On January Ist, 1856, Mr. Bell was mar- ried to Elizabeth A., the eldest daughter of James M. Ochel- tree, late of the city of Newark, Ohio. The offspring of this union are three children-one son, Samuel C., who was his father's chief clerk in the railroad commissioner's office ; Virginia, now Mrs. Frank Merion, of Columbus, and Maggie O. Bell. Mr. Bell was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court in March, 1872, but he has never actively engaged in the practice of the profession of which he is a member. Mr. Bell's record in public and in private life is in every respect untarnished. He has under all circumstances proved him- self to be above corruption and evil influences. Though a strict democrat, he is popular with the masses of the people, regardless of party ties. He may, in many respects, be con- sidered the most fortunate and happy of, men-fortunate, because he is so constituted that he sees and feels the har- monies of this life rather than its discords ; happy, because he takes a generous view of human nature, and derives as muchi pleasure in living and acting his part for the good of others as he does for himself. He is a man of fine pres- ence, a good conversationalist, with plenty of physical and mental energy, neat in dress, but plain and free from osten- tation and egotism. In fact, he is a good illustration of one of nature's gentlemen, and one whom it is a pleasure to know.
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HOFFMAN, RIPLEY C., attorney-at-law, Columbus, Ohio, was born in Jackson, Jackson County, Ohio, Septem- ber 22, 1822, and is the son of Daniel Hoffman and Julia (James) Hoffman. His father was born at Woodstock, Vir- ginia, in 1790, and his mother was born on an island in the Ohio River, near Parkersburg, Virginia, in 1800. His parents were among the early settlers of Jackson, where they were married in 1818, and where they resided until their death. His father died in 1861 and his mother died in the year 1865. Mr. Hoffman attended the common schools of Jackson until he was fifteen years of age, when he was sent to the Ohio University, at Athens, where he completed his education. He subsequently read law with his uncle, Elihu Johnson, a practicing lawyer at Jackson, and was admitted to the bar in November, 1843, and entered at once upon the duties of his profession in his native town, continuing there until 1860. He then removed to Steubenville, Ohio, where he continued in practice until January, 1869, when he removed to the State of Kansas, staying there until October of the same year, when he returned to Ohio, and located at Columbus, where he still lives. Mr. Hoffman has been continuously engaged in the practice of the law since 1843, except during the time of his residence in Kansas. Though a careful and studious lawyer, he has been active in other useful pursuits ever since he started in life. During the time of his residence in Jackson he was interested in the manufacture of pig iron, and at Steubenville he gave a good deal of attention to the devel- opment of coal mines. Since Mr. Hoffman located in Colum- bus he has been a large and successful operator in city real estate, and has contributed not a little to building up and beautifying the city. He has occupied many places of trust and honor in the different localities where he has resided, though he never sought office. As a member of the city council of Columbus, Ohio, he has rendered valuable services as a lawyer and as a prudent and economical legislator. He was the first Republican candidate for Congress in the Ports- mouth district in 1856, but was defeated by Joseph Miller, of Chillicothe. Judge William W. Johnson, of the Supreme Court, who lived in the district in which Mr. Hoffman made the race for Congress in 1856, and who was an active par- ticipant in that campaign, has written the following regard- ing the part Mr. Iloffman took and the issues involved: "The canvass which Mr. Hoffman made for Congress in 1856 de- serves more than a passing mention. The 'old Tenth Dis- trict' was composed of the counties of Ross, Jackson, Pike, Scioto, Lawrence, and Gallia. In politics it had been strongly Whig until the disintegration of that party, which quickly followed the defeat of General Scott for President in 1852. The American or Know-nothing party sprang into existence, and soon became the victorious rival of the hitherto invinci- ble Democracy. In this district this party elected Hon. O. F. Moore to Congress in 1854 by an overwhelming ma- jority. Up to this time the anti-slavery sentiment that had grown rapidly in other parts of the State had gained here but a slight foot-hold. To be suspected of being a friend of the negro race, or even opposed to slavery and all measures to protect it, was a stigma which few public men dared to encounter. This sentiment, however, received a powerful impulse by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854, and by the attempt on the part of the administration of Pres- ident Pierce, by the aid of the border ruffians from the South, protected by the regular army, to force slavery into the Ter- ritory of Kansas. For a short time the hopes of the people
were that the young and triumphant American party would aid in arresting these aggressions of the slave power. That hope soon vanished, for it became the apologist and even the defender of these aggressions, and vied with the Demo- cratic party for pro-slavery support, and in stimulating that passion and prejudice against the negro race, and against those who were opposed to the extension of slavery, which in this district amounted in some localities to an abridgment of the liberty of speech. In some parts of Ohio it was quite otherwise, but in this district politicians who cared for popu- lar favor dared not resist this social and political ostracism which was countenanced and even stimulated by the great political parties of the time. In June, 1856, the Republican party was organized as a national party at Philadelphia, and nominated General Fremont as its candidate for President. Those who in the Tenth District had determined to co-oper- ate in this movement were few in numbers and unorganized and without experienced leaders. The Democrats and Amer- icans had each nominated candidates for Congress. Moore, the sitting member, was the candidate of the latter, and Mil- ler, of Ross, of the former party. Moore was a popular fa- vorite, an astute politician, and an adroit public speaker, with a strong majority of the people behind him. Miller was a man of character, backed by all the power of the federal administration, and a perfect political organization. In this state of public sentiment in the district a call was issued for a convention to meet in Portsmouth to organize the Republican party, and to nominate a candidate for Con- gress. This convention was composed of earnest men, who were resolved to resist to the utmost the popular tide, but they were without old and experienced leaders. With great unanimity Mr. Hoffman was nominated as their candidate for Congress. He was a young man of liberal education, and was a rising member of the Jackson bar. He was a popular stump-speaker of great moral courage, and possessed that equanimity of temper and ready wit, so essential to a leader surrounded as he was everywhere he spoke by a de- cided popular current against his political views. He and his associates made a thorough canvass of the district by townships. In many places his entire audience was composed of adherents of one or the other of the two opposing parties, each of which pandered to the popular passion and preju- dices of the hour, which, in some places, amounted almost to a complete embargo on freedom of speech. With such surroundings it was often difficult to obtain an impartial hear- ing. At that day in Southern Ohio it required coolness and nerve to meet the strong popular prejudice everywhere mani- fest. The canvass was long, earnest, and oftentimes marked with great acerbity of feeling. Mr. Hoffman's bearing through- out was admirable. Always in a good humor, but uncom- promising in his declaration of principles, he won for himself and his cause the regard and respect of all fair-minded men. The contest resulted in the election of the Democratic nom- inee ; but the result was, in fact, a great victory for the infant Republican party, which thereby became a thoroughly com- pact organization. At the next election, and ever since, ex- cept in two instances, the district has been reliably Republi- can. To Mr. Hoffman, more than, perhaps, any single man, is due the credit for this successful canvass. It resulted in placing the party as second in that race, and as dominant almost ever since. Although Mr. Hoffman permanently re- moved from the district soon after this contest, he is still re- membered with pride and affection by the Republicans of the
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