USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume I > Part 64
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CURTIS, HENRY B., Mount Vernon, is a retired lawyer and capitalist. His father, Zarah Curtis, was born in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in 1762, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. His mother was Phalley Yale, eldest daughter of Aaron and Anna (Hosmer) Yale. She was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1762. They were married in 1785, and removed from Connecticut to Charlotte, Vermont, where some of Mr. Curtis' sisters were born. His older brother, the late Hosmer Curtis, who died at Keokuk, Iowa, in 1874, at the advanced age of eighty-five years, was born at Litch- field, Connecticut. The family subsequently removed to and settled upon a farm on the west side of Lake Champlain, near the village of that name, where they resided till 1809, when they removed to Ohio, and settled at Newark, in Lick- ing County. His father, a few years later, purchased a farm on the South Fork of Licking River, where the family resided when the subject of this sketch left home. This farm was subsequently sold, and another purchased on the North Fork, in Washington Township, in the same county, where the father died, in 1849, in the eighty-eighth year of his age, beloved and respected as a minister of the "Christian " de- nomination. Henry Barnes Curtis was born near the vil- lage of Champlain, New York, November 28th, 1799, and was nine years old when his father removed to Ohio. His younger brother, the late Major-general Samuel R. Curtis, of Iowa, was about five years old, and the youngest of the family. At this time Newark was but a small hamlet of about fifty or sixty rude houses, mostly log-cabins. The
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Counties. The district was over a hundred miles long, and strongly Democratic. Mr. Curtis niade campaign speeches through these and other counties during the season. At the election he succeeded in cutting down his opponent's previous majority about a thousand votes but not quite enough to de- feat him. While he has thus generally avoided the scramble for office, he has never been insensible or indifferent to the honor and dignity that offices, with their various trusts, con- fer. Nor can he be esteemed less honorable because he has neither sought for nor had thrust upon him political eleva- tion. Among the public trusts that have been reposed in him might be mentioned, that he represented Knox County in the State Board of Equalization in the winter of 1840-41, a body legislative in form of organization, and in which many vital and important questions in regard to the material interests of the State were discussed and settled. For twelve years preceding the dissolution of the board, under the recent law of this State, he held the office of Trustee of the Central Lunatic Asylum. At the time of the transfer of its powers to three commissioners of the building, and for some time previous, he was acting president of the board. This trust involved the care of over five hundred insane, the adminis- tration and the general government of its affairs, and after the burning of the old buildings, the yet more responsible duties of designing and carrying forward the construction of the immense new edifice for the institution. The annual reports made by the board for the last six years preceding its dissolution were written by him, and approved and adopted by the board. About the summer of 1823 Bishop Chase first visited Mount Vernon, with a view of finding a suitable loca- tion for a proposed institution, now known as Kenyon Col- lege. Through the influence of Mr. Curtis, a tract containing about eight thousand acres of land, owned by Mrs. Curtis's uncle, William Hogg, Esq., of Brownsville, Pennsylvania, was selected and purchased. Mr. Curtis gave all the aid that at that period of his life was consistent with his means, toward building up and advancing its interests. In 1881 he received from that institution the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. While a member of its board of trustees, he introduced a resolution, at a session held in Columbus, recommending a survey of the surplus lands of the south section, into farms, reserving about a thousand acres for the site of the village, the college buildings, and parks. The north section had already been surveyed and sold, and the proceeds used to pay the original purchase-money. The resolution was adopted, and was afterward confirmed by the Diocesan Convention, thus placing about three thousand acres in market, at high prices, by which a fund was created that relieved the college from debt and taxes, and gave it an annual income. In 1881 he made to it a munificent donation, by the terms of which he established and endowed a perpetual and growing fund for free scholarships, and to aid, when needed, deserving students. When Mr. Curtis came to the bar the court docket was full of cases against the "Owl Creek Bank of Mount Vernon," or rather against its members, for it had had no corporate existence. The subject was finally referred, after many judg- ments had been rendered and bills filed, to a special com- missioner and receiver, to which honorable position Mr. Curtis was appointed by the Supreme Court. After years of investigation and arduous labor the intricate affairs of the bank were brought to a satisfactory conclusion. Every dol- lar of an outstanding liability was paid, and the losses ad- justed and equalized among the several members of the
unfortunate association. on acknowledged principles of equity and justice. Mr Curtis's proceedings and their results were fully approved and confirmed by the court, with flattering commendations. In 1848 he organized and established the Knox County Bank, of Mount Vernon, a branch of the State Bank of Ohio. Its capital stock was $100,000. He was its president during its existence, nearly twenty years, and for about the same period was an active member of the State Board of Control. In 1865 Mr. Curtis organized the Knox County National Bank, of Mount Vernon, with a capital of $150,000, of which he was made president, which office he continues to hold. During the war of the Rebellion Mr. Curtis was active in raising volunteers and assisting in form- ing the companies and regiments that were organized in the county. He gave freely pecuniary aid, as well as personal influence; he often presided at the large meetings which the various successes or disasters of the Union forces called into existence. Holding at the period of the war the appoint- ment of United States Commissioner for the Northern District of Ohio (as now in the Central District), his judicial services were often required in disposing of cases connected with the military movements, and restraining the outbreaks of those who, sympathizing with the South, would sometimes venture to obstruct the operations of the laws for raising and organ- izing troops for the public service. He has been active in every enterprise for the improvement of Knox County, and especially of Mount Vernon. He drew up its charter, secured its passage through the Legislature, and has filled its various municipal offices, such as Mayor, Councilman, etc. His taste and study of architecture enabled him to give shape to many of the public buildings, and especially to two successive court-houses, and to encourage a more tasteful style of private residences. During his life he has constructed many new houses, now among the most ornamental and pleasant resi- dences of the city. He has ever been active in forwarding every railroad enterprise of his city, and was a director of the first railroad that entered the city. He is now a director in the Lake Erie Division of the Baltimore and Ohio. In the spring of 1873 he was appointed by President Grant a member of the Board of Visitors at West Point. The board held daily sessions, from the 28th of May till the 12th of June. While on this service Mr. Curtis learned that some eighty youths, children of professors, officers, and employes, at West. Point, were destitute of the usual means of a common school education, except as a few had the advantage of private in- structors. Being on a military reserve, the jurisdiction of which belonged to the United States, it was held that the residents were not included within the provisions for the bene- fits of the common school system of the State. He therefore introduced and advocated a resolution in the board, recom- mending Congress to make provision for this want, by a suit- able appropriation for maintaining at the Point a common school for the benefit of the children. The resolution was unanimously adopted, and incorporated in the report. After a long life of unusual activity and usefulness, he has come down to a mature old age. Although he has passed his fourscore years, his mental vigor and physical activity seem undiminished. He has still the elastic step and undimmed eye of middle life. The habit of self-control and the genial disposition which he has ever cultivated tend to make his life a serene and happy one. Naturally of quick and warm im- pulses, he has clearly demonstrated that "he who governs himself is better than he who takes a city." In his office he
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may still be found about eight hours each day, attending to the demands of his large private interests; but before retiring from his profession his usual time was from twelve to sixteen hours a day. This change affords him some leisure time for reading and the social recreation due to his age, and which he richly deserves and eminently enjoys. The beautiful home of Mr. Curtis, Round Hill, is the seat of elegant refinement and hospitality. He is a man of pronounced views, possessed of social and genial qualities, and ever accessible to the poor- est member of the community. The general opinion of him is, that Mount Vernon never had and never will have a more honest, noble, and generous citizen.
HICKENLOOPER, ANDREW, Cincinnati, ex-Lieu- tenant-governor, and president of Cincinnati Gas Company, was born in Hudson, Ohio, August 10th, 1837. In his early years his parents removed to Circleville, and subsequently to Cincinnati, where Andrew attended St. Xavier's College, and afterward Woodward College, where he continued his studies till 1853. In December, 1853, he obtained a situation in the office of A. W. Gilbert, city engineer, and was gradually pro- moted to the position of assistant, but owing to political change of chief engineer he relinquished his position. Mr. Gilbert having recognized the abilities of young Hickenlooper, formed a partnership with him, which lasted until the former was re-elected city civil engineer, in April, 1857. In 1859, when but twenty-one years old, Mr. Hickenlooper was appointed city surveyor of Cincinnati, in which office he won great praise on account of his scientific and skillful work. He held this position until the breaking out of the war, in April, 1861, when, under the auspices of General Fremont, he recruited "Hickenlooper's Battery, of Cincinnati," afterward known as the "Fifth Ohio Independent Battery." With it he was ordered, in September, 1861, to Jefferson City, Missouri, and by order of General Fremont, was appointed commandant of artillery at that post. In March, 1862, Captain Hicken- looper returned to his battery, and was transferred to Grant's army, on the Tennessee River, and assigned to Prentiss's division, with which he opened the battle of Pittsburg Land- ing. His skill and bravery at this great battle, which is one of the historic events of the war, attracted the attention of his superior officers, and three days after he was appointed by General Mckean division commander of artillery. In this capacity he served until the battles of Iuka and Corinth, when he was ordered by General Grant, October 26th, 1862, to report to General McPherson for staff duty. General Mc- Pherson quickly discovered his scientific attainments, and made him chief of ordnance and artillery, and afterward chief engineer of the Seventeenth Army Corps. Throughout the siege of Vicksburg, Captain Hickenlooper had charge of the engineer operations on the front of the corps, and con- ducted them so well as to elicit the warm commendation of his superiors. In his honor the commanding general named one of the forts "Battery Hickenlooper," and made special · mention of him in his official reports. Captain Hickenlooper won especial praise after the battle of Champion Hill by the rapid construction of a bridge over Black River, composed of cotton bales, over which McPherson's entire command passed, in close pursuit of the flying enemy. He had sole charge of the engineering operations which resulted in the complete destruction of the rebels' main stronghold, Fort Hill. For his services in this campaign he was specially mentioned, and recommended for promotion, in McPherson's official re-
port and personal letter to General Halleck, and was pre- sented by the "Board of Honor" of the Seventeenth Corps with a gold medal with the inscription, "Pittsburg Landing, Siege of Corinth, Iuka, Corinth, Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, and Vicksburg." When McPherson took command of the Army of the Tennessee Hickenlooper was made Judge-advocate of his staff, and a little later chief of artillery for the Department and Army of the Tennessee. In this position he accompanied his chief through the Atlanta campaign, up to the untimely death of that great and good man. After McPherson's death he accepted the position of inspector-general of his old army corps, the Seventeenth, with rank of lieutenant-colonel, and thus served until the army reached Goldsboro. After the campaign of the Caro- linas he was recommended for a brigadier-generalship. Gen- eral Howard said that he " knew of no officer in the service whom he would more cordially and heartily recommend." General Sherman said: "He served long and faithfully near General McPherson, and enjoyed his marked confidence; is young, vigorous, well educated, and can fill any commission with honor and credit to the service." General Grant added : " He has proved himself one of the ablest and most energetic volunteer soldiers, no one having the confidence of his su- periors in a higher degree." He thereupon received the pro- motion May 20th, 1865, and succeeded General Belknap, who had been promoted to major-general, in the command of the Third Brigade, Fourth Division, Seventeenth Army Corps. After the close of the war he returned to his profession as civil engineer. In 1867 he was appointed by President Grant United States Marshal of the Southern District of Ohio, being at that time but twenty-eight years of age. Considering his youth, his career in the army was far beyond the average, as it was seldom that any one so extremely young was com- missioned with so many duties and responsibilities of so grave a character. In 1871 he resigned his office as marshal, and returning to his profession, was elected city civil engineer of Cincinnati, served one term, and was unanimously re-elected for a second term, but soon thereafter resigned to accept the position of vice-president of the Cincinnati Gas Light and Coke Company, in which position he served five years; when, upon the retirement of Mr. W. W. Scarborough, he was elected president, which position he now fills. In 1879 General Hickenlooper was elected Lieutenant-governor of Ohio. The nomination for this office was entirely unsought by him; indeed, it was a spontaneous action of the convention. The general was present when his name was presented, and heard it received with prolonged cheers, but it was so unex- pected that he quickly left the hall, and was not found when the nomination was made unanimous. It was a question with him as to whether he could accept the nomination, on account of his business interests, but after he decided to accept he went into the canvass with all his accustomed energy, and was elected by a large majority. As the presid- ing officer of the Senate he was dignified, considerate, and impartial. No man in Cincinnati is held in higher esteem for his many excellent traits of character than General Hick- enlooper. He is at the head of the largest and wealthiest corporation in that city. Its capital stock is over four and a quarter millions dollars, and is quoted at $1.80. The amount of gas made in 1881 by their works was a little over 600,000,000 cubic feet, consuming 1,500,000 bushels of coal, and was run through 206 miles of pipes, covering 20 square miles of ter- ritory. Governor Hickenlooper is known in Cincinnati as a
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brave and sagacious soldier, and as a citizen of unblemished character. His career in the army was one of honor and renown. His daring courage, combined with his good judg- · ment, was felt in all the engagements and sieges in which he participated, and many defeats of the enemy were due to his superior knowledge of military affairs, and to his remarkable skillfulness in handling and managing his men, and in the example of bravery and courage which he set before them. Outside of his war record, perhaps one of the most effective operations of the general was his complete annihilation of some pretended capitalists who recently went to Cincinnati to establish an opposition gas company. An ordinance was in- troduced in the City Council of Cincinnati to grant a certain company the right to open the streets of the city to lay its mains, and was referred to the Committee on Light. The committee met several times, and the parties in interest were invited to be present to present their views. The matter dragged along for a month or two, and several meetings were held, until finally General Hickenlooper presented a state- ment to the committee, which required several hours to read, containing eighty-two pages in pamphlet form. It is un- doubtedly the most thorough and comprehensive paper on the manufacture of gas ever put in type, and was so crushing in its figures against the proposed new company that the scheme dropped out of existence immediately, and has never been heard of since. The general's logic was so sound, his array of facts so startling, and his uncovering of the specu- lative scheme of the pretended capitalists so scathing that they were only too happy to quit the city and try their arts upon those less able to combat them. General Hickenlooper is a man of extraordinary executive ability, and is one of the most energetic and industrious men to be found. He not only thoroughly understands every detail of the business of his own company, but there is not a city of any importance in the United States with which he is not perfectly conversant with their system of light. In fact, it is doubtful whether there is another individual in this country who has made the manufacture of gas so constant a study, or who has more practical or scientific knowledge of the business. However high he has been held in public esteem heretofore, his last victory, just referred to, has raised him to the highest pinnacle of local pride, as it was a reminder of the fierce and intrepid manner in which he made his onslaughts upon the enemy in time of war. Withal General Hickenlooper is a gentleman of cultivated tastes and scholarly instincts, while his charac- teristics are rapidity in thought and quickness in decision. He married February 8th, 1867, Miss Maria, daughter of Adolphus H. and Sarah E. Smith, by whom he has had six children : Charlie, born August 17th, 1868 (who died Decem- ber, 1874); Sarah S., born October 20th, 1870; Amelia S., born December 30th, 1873; Katie S., born May 17th, 1876; Andrew, born January 15th, 1879; and Smith, born February 13th, 1880.
BISHOP, RICHARD M., ex-Governor of Ohio, was born November 4th, 1812, in Fleming County, Kentucky. His parents, who were of German and English lineage, re- moved from Virginia in 1800. They were members of the regular Baptist Church, of which he also became a member in 1828. At this time the Baptist Churches in Kentucky were greatly excited in consequence of the criticisms made by Mr. Campbell and his co-laborers upon the religious cor- ruptions of the age. These excitements continued to in-
crease in the immediate neighborhood of the Bishop family until 1832, when they and others were excluded from the Baptist Church on account of "Campbellite heresy." Since then Mr. Bishop has been associated with the Church of the Disciples, or Christians. Mr. Bishop began his busi- ness career in Fleming County, Kentucky, at the age of sev- enteen, and before he was twenty-one he became a partner in the store which he had entered as clerk. From 1838 to 1841 he was engaged with his brother in the pork business, which proved unfortunate, in consequence of the sudden de- pression in prices and the failure of the Mississippi banks, in which State they had sold largely. They were compelled to suspend, but this temporary embarrassment did not discour- age him, for he soon resumed business in the same place, where he continued till 1847. He then removed to Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, at which point he established a branch house, his brother remaining at the old stand. In 1848 he removed to Cincinnati and commenced the wholesale gro- cery business under the style of Bishop, Wells & Co. This firm continued until 1855, when Mr. Wells retired. The busi- ness since then has been conducted under the firm name of R. M. Bishop & Co. The firm is composed of himself and three sons, and at one time did the largest business in the city, the sales amounting, in some years, to nearly five mill- ions of dollars. In April, 1857, he was nominated for coun- cil in the second ward, and was elected by a large majority. At the end of the second year he was elected presiding officer. In 1859 he was elected Mayor of Cincinnati by a handsome majority-which office he held until 1861, when he declined the renomination tendered him by each of the political par- ties. During his administration many remarkable events occurred, and it was characterized by wisdom, courage, and an active interest in every thing that concerned the material and social prosperity and upbuilding of the city. In Jan- uary, 1860, when the Union was threatened by the leaders of the Rebellion, the Legislatures of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee visited Cincinnati to encourage each other to stand by the old flag. At the grand reception given them at Pike's Opera-house, Mayor Bishop delivered an address of welcome amid a storm of applause. In the September en- suing, his royal highness, the Prince of Wales, visited Cin- cinnati at the invitation of the Mayor, and received from him a cordial welcome. In February, 1861, when President Lin- coln was passing, on his way to the inauguration, through Cincinnati, he was received in a speech by the Mayor. Dur- ing his administration the laws were rigidly enforced, of which the Sunday ordinance and those against gambling-houses were notable examples. Liquor-selling and various other forms of Sabbath desecration were, in the main, suppressed. He inaugurated, amid much opposition, most important re- forms in the management of the city prison, work-house, and police. Mr. Bishop has become widely known for his lib- erality and devotion to the Christian Church. From 1859 to 1869 he was president of the Ohio State Missionary Society, and was the successor of the late Dr. Alexander Campbell in the presidency of the General Christian Missionary Con- vention, which office he held until 1875. He was president of the board of curators of Kentucky University from its organization until 1880, when he declined a re-election. He is also one of the curators of Bethany College; was for many years trustee of the McMicken University. He was director of the First National Bank for many years, and several insurance and other business and philanthropic institutions.
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He was a member of the Ohio Constitutional Convention, held in 1873-74. He was president of the great National Com- mercial Convention held in Baltimore in 1871. He was one of the prime movers in that great enterprise, the Southern Railroad, the building of which was so successfully man- aged, having been a trustee from the beginning. The labo- rious work of obtaining charters for the road was largely his. In 1877 he was elected Governor of Ohio by a majority of near twenty-three thousand over the dominant party, and served two years with entire satisfaction to all parties. His first annual message was well received and complimented by the press generally. The New York Times referred to it as an able business document. Upon his return to Cin- cinnati he was given a cordial and enthusiastic reception at Lytle Hall, where a large number of ladies and gentlemen had assembled to welcome him home. Since the expiration of his term as Governor he has been urged by his friends to accept the nomination for various important offices, but always declined. Few men in the State can point to so many substantial benefits conferred upon society as the results of their single labors. Prompt decision, constant industry, sound judgment, and a desire to benefit his fellow-men, accom- panied by a frank, hearty address, are his characteristics.
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