USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume I > Part 66
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Henry B. Banning
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every class of disputed right came before him, from murder down. His department commander said of him that his was the only district in the State that did not make him trouble. As a soldier, he never shirked duty or exposure. He always shared with his men their hardships, dangers, and privations, and never asked of them what he would not do himself. His watchfulness and strict attention to business caused him to be assigned to the command of his brigade when he was the junior colonel in it. He was greatly beloved by his men, who at the close of the war gave him one of the finest presents given to any officer during the war-a magnificent sword, belt, and sash, costing nearly a thousand dollars- every man of his old regiment contributing toward its pur- chase. He always saw to it that his men had every thing the commissariat and quartermaster's departments could fur- nish, and ever stood up for the just rights of every en- listed man ; was a strict disciplinarian, requiring exact and prompt performance of duty, from men and officers alike. He looked most carefully after the honorable character and standing of every man and officer in his command, not only as a soldier, but as men and American citizens. He had not a man under him but felt always free to approach him at all proper times on terms of pleasant intimacy, nor ever felt that any grievance would be slighted by him merely because he was a private soldier. He was proud of his men. His · regiment won a great reputation in the war, much of which was due to the efforts and leadership of General Voris. He is not only a brave man in danger, but possesses that higher order of courage in an eminent degree-the courage of his convictions. He thoroughly believes in the policy of frank, honorable, fair-dealing in all things. He was mustered out of the service in December, 1865, after having served over four years in the army, and then returned to Akron, where he has since engaged in the active labors of his profession, but under great difficulties, owing to disability occasioned by his Fort Wagner wound. In November, 1873, he submitted to one of the most remarkable surgical operations in the annals of surgery. His wound had apparently healed. The bullet which caused it was cut in two parts, on his sword-belt ring, the smaller part lodging in the circular abdominal muscle, and was removed by the surgeon at the time of the injury ; the other part passed downward and backward in the abdominal cavity, and lodged on the crown of his bladder, and became impacted in the walls of that organ, till the fall of 1872, when it penetrated them, and became loose within. Up to this time it had been a source of great annoyance and bodily infirmity-the cause not being suspected even by Gen- eral Voris. Now it became most torturing, giving constant and almost unendurable pain, so much so that his friends supposed he must speedily die. His physicians did not sus- pect the nature of his disorder till early in the summer of 1873, too late in the season for a desirable operation. He waited, under the advice of his surgeon, till the ensuing fall, when he underwent the lateral operation in lithotomy. Three-fourths of an Enfield rifle shot was extracted, weighing one and one-eighth ounces. The great wonder is that he ever survived the first effects of this shot; and then, that he should carry it over ten years, and have his bladder perfor- ated by it, endure the torture and systemic derangement it caused, and not die, to say nothing of the surgical operation. Nothing but pluck and an extraordinary constitution saved him. His surgeons-say that he was the coolest and most self-possessed subject they ever witnessed at the operating-
table. All the years of his life, since the 18th of July, 1863, have been weighed down by this injury, the pangs of which are still borne in nerves which never cease to ache. In the spring of 1873 he was elected a delegate to the late Constitu- tional Convention, and though suffering terrible agony from his army wound much of the time of its session, he took a leading part in its deliberations, and was one of its most efficient and influential members. He is an ardent Repub- lican, politically, without being partisan, either in feeling or action, and a distinguished champion of protection to Ameri- can industry. His late campaign speeches on the protective policy were conceded to be masterly efforts, and were widely circulated. As a public speaker he is frank, candid, earnest, eloquent ; never abuses, and always addresses his hearers as if they were intelligent and self-respecting. He is invariably listened to with interested attention.
BANNING, HENRY BLACKSTONE, attorney-at-law, Cincinnati, was, on his father's side, of Maryland stock. His mother's family were of Virginia. Shortly after the Revolu- tionary war both his father's and his mother's families emi- grated from their native States, and settled near old Fort Redstone, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. They were pioneers in that then new country. In 1812 the Rev. Anthony Banning, a pioneer Methodist preacher, the grandfather of Henry B. Banning, settled on the banks of the Kokosing, having traded a lot of iron, leather, and saddlery for an in- terest in the then small village of Mount Vernon. James S. Banning, the father of General Banning, was then twelve years old. When he grew to manhood he revisited his native town of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, and married Eliza Black- stone, the mother of Henry. The Banning family has been actively and conspicuously identified with the growth of Knox County from its organization. In religion they are all Prot- estants. His mother was one of the principal organizers of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, of which sect she was a com- municant, although at her death she was a member of the denomination known as Christian. In politics the Bannings were originally Jackson Democrats, afterward Whigs. Henry B. Banning was the sixth child of his parents, and was born November 10th, 1836. His childhood was passed at Ban- ning's Mills, on the old Banning farm, at Clinton. He first attended school at the Clinton school-house, in 1842, when Father Mott was the teacher. After leaving this school, he attended Hull Bixby's private school, at Mount Vernon, and Sloan's Academy. He was examined, and admitted to Ken- yon College, but never attended. At the age of seventeen, he commenced the study of law, in the office of Hosmer Curtis and J. C. Devin, in Mount Vernon, and was in due time admitted to the bar, and began the practice. He be- came the partner of William Dunbar, Esq., the firm being Dunbar & Banning, at Mount Vernon. He soon established and maintained a large practice, and was succeeding finely when the war began, in 1861. He was one of the first to volunteer to put down the Rebellion, almost before the Pres- ident had issued his call for seventy-five thousand troops. He was at once elected captain by his company, which afterward became Company B, Fourth Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, a regiment which made one of the most gallant records of the war. He was afterward, upon the recom- mendation of General Shields, appointed major of the Fifty- second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, but never joined that com- mand, being placed in command of the Eighty-seventh, a
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three-months' regiment. At the expiration of the term of this latter regiment, he was made lieutenant-colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served as such until the spring of 1863, when he was made colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio. This regiment was in a badly demoralized condition, but the new colonel soon restored the esprit de corps, gained the confidence of the officers and men, and by a thorough sys- tem of discipline made it one of the best drilled regiments in the service. It took part in the Chickamauga and Atlanta campaigns, showing such signal instances of gallantry in action as to call forth frequent mention in the official and unofficial reports of its engagements. At the battle of Chick- amauga, in a bayonet charge, the regiment, under the lead of Colonel Banning, captured the battle-flag of the Twenty- second Alabama Regiment, the only colors taken by our troops upon that bloody and disastrous field. At the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, an eye-witness, in describing the fight, said: " Yesterday was a bloody day for the One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio-more bloody in numbers than Chicka- mauga. More than one-third of her gallant sons were killed or wounded. History's page will recall the deeds of her fallen heroes, and the command of the gallant Banning, ' Lie down, One Hundred and Twenty-first, and don't retire one inch until I order you,' when the storm of battle was at its highest, will make for him an imperishable record; and the stubbornness with which the regiment obeyed the order, un- supported and exposed to a galling fire from both flanks and front, of artillery and small-arms, for more than four hours, will be rehearsed in story and in song in after years." In the spring of 1865, after the fall of Atlanta, on the recom- mendation of General Jefferson C. Davis, approved by Gen- eral George H. Thomas, General Banning was promoted to be a brevet brigadier-general, for gallant and meritorious service during the Atlanta campaign. After Atlanta was taken, General Banning, still in command of the One Hun- dred and Twenty-first, accompanied General Thomas and the Army of the Cumberland, and took a gallant and con- spicuous part in the fierce and decisive battle of Nashville. In the spring of 1865 he was placed in command of the One Hundred and Ninety-fifth Ohio Infantry, and served in the valley of Virginia. He was commander of the post of Alex- andria, Virginia, until December, 1865, when he was mustered out of service, with the rank of brevet major-general, a rank which his gallant conduct had won for him, enlisting as a private in 1861. In the fall of 1865, while he was still in the service, the people of his home elected him to represent Knox County in the General Assembly of Ohio. Stepping from the field to the forum, he became a leading spirit in that legislative body. He was made Chairman of the House Committee on Military Affairs. He devoted his attention to the wants of the laboring classes, and through his efforts much good was accomplished for them. In September, 1868, General Banning married Miss Julia, daughter of Timothy Kirby, of Cincinnati, and immediately removed to that place, and resumed the practice of law, with his usual success. In 1872 he was nominated by the Liberal Republican Conven- tion as the candidate to represent the Second District in Con- gress, his opponent being R. B. Hayes, now ex-President. After an exciting canvass, General Banning was elected by a handsome majority. He was re-elected twice to the same position, as a Democrat, beating, successively, Job E. Steven- son in 1874, and Stanley Matthews in 1876. At the expiration .
of his last term in Congress, in 1879, he again devoted him- self to the law, in which he continued until his death, which occurred suddenly, December 10th, 1881. He leaves a wife and four children, namely, Kirby, Henry, Ella, and Clinton, to mourn his loss. When the news of his death transpired, the members of the bar in Cincinnati and Mount Vernon held meetings, at which the leading lawyers of both places spoke in the most eloquent terms of the general's life, character, and personal qualities. Several of the societies to which he be- longed also held special meetings on the occasion, and testi- fied to their appreciation of his excellencies and virtues. All accorded to him earnestness, sincerity, purity of purpose, and unalterable attachment to his principles and his friends.
WRIGHT, JOSEPH FREDERICK, Cincinnati, ex-State Senator and late State Commissioner of Insurance, was born April 22d, 1821, in Williamsburg, Clermont County, Ohio. His father, John Wright, was a native of Belfast, Ireland. He came to this country during the Emmett Rebellion, just as he was about finishing a course in medicine. After his arrival he engaged in mercantile trade in Alexandria, D. C., and soon after located in Cincinnati, which at that time was a small village, and contained but one brick house. Here he followed school teaching for a number of years, and afterward engaged in merchandising in Williamsburg and Batavia, and subsequently located at Mount Pleasant, now Mount Healthy Hamilton County, and was postmaster of that place for several years prior to and at the time of his death, in 1854, and was succeeded by the subject of this sketch, who filled that posi- tion till the fall of 1857, when he resigned. While teaching in Cincinnati, he married Miss Maria L. Hefleigh, of Baltimore. Joseph F. Wright, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the public schools of Mount Pleasant, where his parents resided for many years, and at "Woodward College," of Cin- cinnati, which he attended for a short time, and com- pleted his education under its distinguished mathematician, Dr. Joseph Ray. Dr. Ray formed a strong attachment for his pupil, which developed into a life-long intimate friendship. Mr. Wright's early inclinations were for the legal profession, for which his abilities eminently fitted him, but force of cir- cumstances led him into other pursuits of life. In 1837 he began to teach school, an occupation he followed with marked success till 1846, when, looking forward to a more lucrative and permanent vocation, he engaged as clerk in a mercan- tile business in Cincinnati, and in 1848 opened a store, in conjunction with his brother, at Mount Pleasant, which they conducted prosperously for sixteen years. In the fall of 1857 Mr. Wright was nominated by the Democratic party, and elected a Representative to the State Legislature, for the term of two years, and was re-elected for a second term in the fall of 1859, but was defeated for the State Senate in 1861 and in 1863, although he received a much larger vote than any other Democrat on the ticket. His defeat was owing to the overthrow of the Democratic party of Hamilton County on the war issue. Mr. Wright, however, was a "war Democrat," and one of the very few members of his party in the Legislature who sustained a motion to suspend the rules in order to pass at once the "million bill," the first appro- priation "for the defense of the State and general govern- ment against rebellion." The Democrats were wavering, un- decided, but generally voted against the motion, in order to gain time to hear from their constituents. On the call, when Mr. Wright's name was reached, he arose, and in decided
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No tify Joseph Might
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and emphatic tones said: "In an emergency like this, all party lines should be obliterated. I know no party but my country. I vote, aye." The next day instructions came from all parts of the State sustaining Mr. Wright. On the passage of the bill, he again arose, and addressed the house in the following words :
"Mr. Speaker, it is well understood that from the beginning I have favored the passage of this bill, voted for the suspen- sion of the rules to avoid the constitutional delay, believing that the emergency of the hour demanded prompt and ener- getic action. Delay, however, has produced a unanimity of sentiment which I trust the result of the vote will very soon demonstrate, that will dissipate all regrets heretofore felt upon this score, and produce a moral effect that will not be misin- terpreted. The fact may no longer be disguised. We are now in the midst of a revolution. Civil strife has commenced. Fraternal blood has been shed. Nor is the wrath of the war fiend yet sated. Sumter has fallen. Our national ensign is trailing in the dust. Shall its honor be vindicated? Shall the integrity of the government be maintained? To these questions every loyal and patriotic heart, here and elsewhere, must respond affirmatively. It is not now the time to pause and inquire who or what has produced the overshadowing troubles of our disrupted Union. Our duty in this perilous emergency of our country can not be mistaken. Much as we all deprecate a civil war, much as we deplore the terrible conse- quences which must be the inevitable result of a conflict of
arms between the Federal Government and the Confederate States, we have no alternative in the present crisis. Duty, honor, patriotism, and every other consideration, require that we should by every act and word support the constitution and aid in the enforcement of the laws. Let no man hesitate when it is his country that calls. But while we are resolutely determined to defend our homes and maintain the govern- ment at Washington, let us hope that an overruling Provi- dence will so direct the current of events that peace will again soon be restored to our beloved country, and that with- out a further effusion of blood. But come what may, the government must and shall be preserved."
It was in this Legislature that President Garfield began his public career, and with him Mr. Wright formed a very friendly acquaintance. In 1865 he was engaged as special agent for the Underwriters' Agency, of New York, but at the end of one year's service he gave up his position, and entered into a general commission business in Cincinnati, and in Nashville, Tennessee. At the expiration of two years he turned his attention to life insurance, at which he was successfully en- gaged till 1871, when he was elected by the Democrats State Senator from Hamilton County. One of the issues in that cam- paign was temperance and Sunday legislation, and with Mr. Wright's well-known position as a temperance man and an ad- vocate of law and order, he received a majority of fifteen hun- dred votes, notwithstanding his senatorial district was largely Republican, and gave General Noyes, then at the head of the Republican ticket, twelve hundred majority. While a mem- ber of the Senate, Mr. Wright introduced and secured the passage of the bill creating the State Insurance Department of Ohio. He was active in the procurement of the legislation in behalf of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad, one measure relating to which is known as the "Wright bill." During his term in the Senate, he signalized himself as an excellent legislator, and was, as a contemporary justly said, "one of the most clever and sensible Senators, a man above suspicion, and one who never gets to be such a partisan as to forget to be tlie much-to-be-admired Christian gentleman. No other member of either body has more real influence than Mr. Wright." After Mr. Wright left the Senate, he was appointed by the trustees of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad, treasurer of the board. This position he held for five years, during
the construction of the road. Mr. Wright was the custodian of all the funds, and paid out during his term as treasurer over twenty million dollars. In 1878 he resigned this position to accept the appointment, by Governor Bishop, of State Superintendent of Insurance, a position he had wisely created as a legislator. Of his appointment the Insurance Age, a publication of the highest standing, in its issue of May, 1878, said :
" For once, and for a wonder in these times, a man compe- tent to discharge the duties of the office, has been appointed an insurance commissioner. Ohio gets the credit, and its Gov- ernor, Hon. R. M. Bishop, is entitled to the honor of the con- summation so devoutly to be wished. Hon. Joseph F. Wright is the coming man, and will take charge of the insurance depart- ment on the 3d of next month. He will bring to the dis- charge of his duties judicial firmness, practical experience, integrity of purpose, and a reputation too valuable to tarnish or lose. Mr. Wright was indorsed for the position by the leading men of his State, among whom we noticed such names as William H. Groesbeck, E. A. Ferguson, Reuben Springer, and Alexander Long, besides a large proportion of the underwriters of his section of the State. In the petition signed by the above-mentioned gentlemen, urging the ap- pointment of Mr. Wright, the following points were made : First. A thorough knowledge and practical experience in the business, both of fire and life insurance, obtained by years of service in said business. Second. The highest character for honesty and integrity, as the best guarantee for a faithful and impartial discharge of the duties of the office. Third. Ex- perience in our State Legislature, as a Senator and Repre- sentative, during which service he was a member of the In- surance Committee under which the most important laws of the State were enacted relating to insurance companies, thus securing a knowledge of the laws and duties of the office. Fourth. Executive talents of the highest order, assuring a prompt and thorough dispatch of the business of the de- partment."
Mr. Wright entered upon the duties of the office in June, 1878, which he performed with marked ability for the three succeed- ing years, his term being about equally divided between Gov- ernor Bishop's and Governor Foster's administration. So satisfactorily did he administer the affairs as Superintendent of Insurance, that on the occasion of Governor Foster's ap- pointment of a successor to Mr. Wright, petitions from the entire insurance interests of the State were sent to the Ex- ecutive to retain him in that position. A very urgent letter to the same effect was also received from Mr. Julius Clark, Commissioner of Insurance for the State of Massachusetts. Mr. Clark's knowledge of and appreciation for Mr. Wright's ability in this department grew out of an association with him in an investigation of the Mutual Benefit Insurance Com- pany, of Newark, New Jersey. Six months were consumed in this investigation, which resulted in the most searching and exhaustive examination of an insurance company ever made in this country. Since Mr. Wright retired from the State Superintendency of Insurance, he has, in connection with Major James B. Day, had the general agency of the Washington Life Insurance Company for the States of Ohio and Kentucky, under the firm name of Wright & Day. Dur- ing the war Mr. Wright served as member of the military committee of Hamilton County, by appointment of Governor Dennison. He has always been very active in educational matters, and was member of the school board at Mount Pleasant for twenty years, and president of the township board for nearly an equal period. It was chiefly through his efforts that the present public school building was erected in that place. He was appointed by Governor Hayes one . of the original trustees of the Ohio State University, at
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Columbus, and during his term of four years the grounds of the institution were located, the buildings erected, the faculty appointed and organized, and the university put into success- ful operation. For ten years he has been a member of the board of trustees of Farmers' College, College Hill, Ohio, and for six years of this time was president of that body. Mr. Wright has been for many years president of the Cincin- nati and Hamilton Turnpike Company, and was one of the pro- jectors and original stockholders in the College Hill Narrow Gauge Railroad. On the 8th of May, 1851, Mr. Wright was married to Miss Mary Gano, daughter of Dr. John A. and Catherine M. Gano, and granddaughter of General John S. Gano, a pioneer settler of Cincinnati. Three children are. the issue of this union, namely: Maria Louisa, wife of John B. Peaslee, superintendent of public schools, of Cincinnati, born March 18th, 1852; John Gano, born August 27th, 1855; and Charles Francis, born August 21st, 1860. Of Mr. Wright in his relations with his fellow-men, it is proper to say that no citizen of his city enjoys the confidence of the public to a greater degree. Scrupulously conscientious, modest, and con- servative, yet of strong convictions, and of judicious inde- pendence, he commands the respect and good will of all in- telligent people, irrespective of party or creed. He has labored much in the cause of temperance during his lifetime, and has gained quite a reputation as a temperance lecturer. Mr. Wright is a prominent member of the denomination of Christians, and has been an active worker in Church and Sunday-schools for more than thirty years. For a long time he was identified with the County and State Sunday-school Associations, and has been for many years the superintendent of the Mount Healthy Christian Sunday-school. As to the political honors he has enjoyed, it is due him to state that no office, public or otherwise, was ever sought by him; but, on the contrary, the voluntary suffrage of the people has placed him in all the public positions he has occupied. It is also true that in none of his canvasses did he ever spend a cent to secure a vote or buy a glass of liquor, or even a cigar. Mr. Wright, like most men who by their talents reach high official and social position, has been a great reader, and possesses a fine library, at his beautiful residence at Mount Healthy, where he has resided since boyhood.
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