USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume I > Part 69
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MILLER, LEWIS, inventor and manufacturer of the "Buckeye Mower and Reaper," at Akron, Ohio, was born at Greentown, Stark County, Ohio, July 24th, 1829. He is of respectable and industrious parentage. His father, John Miller, was a cabinet-maker, house-builder, and farmer, and came originally from Maryland, removing to Ohio in 1812. He was of German descent, held a prominent position in his community, and was universally esteemed for his sterling in- tegrity. Lewis, the youngest of three sons, received his early education in academies in Illinois, having removed to that State at the age of eighteen. After mastering the funda- mental branches of a practical education, he engaged in the plastering trade for a period of five years. While in Illinois he made the acquaintance of Miss Mary V. Alexander, whom he afterward married. Returning to Ohio, in 1851, he con- nected himself as a partner with the manufacturing firm of Ball, Aultman & Co., of Greentown, afterward of Canton, and, by industrious and untiring devotion, he soon mastered the machinist's trade. His peculiar aptitude for this branch of industry manifested itself to such a degree that, in a short time, he was advanced to the superintendency of the works. It was while in this position, and during the year 1856, that the turning tide in his fortune was reached, in the invention of the world-renowned "Buckeye Mower and Reaper," known in the market as the double-hinged floating-bar, a distinctive feature after which all two-wheeled machines were modeled, and to which all machines of this description paid tribute. To this important invention he has added others of scarcely less importance, chief among which is his table-rake, a self- rake, which, within a few years, attained a marvelous popu- larity. Over one hundred patents have been granted to Mr. Miller and his brother Jacob, one of which was "Miller's Binder," a result of Mr. Miller's individual study, and one of the most brilliant achievements in the history of inven- tions. With the manufacture of the "Buckeye " the business of the Canton works became so largely increased, that in 1863 it was found advisable to establish a branch concern at Akron, under the incorporate name of Aultman, Miller & Co., and in the year following he removed to that city for the purpose of assuming the duties of superintendent. In this position he has lived to see the establishment, in less than a decade, grow up from insignificance to be one of the most extensive of the kind in the country. The combined shops now give employment to upward of fifteen hundred men, and their product has increased from six threshers and ten or twelve reapers a year to twelve hundred threshers and about thirty thousand reapers and mowers, or one complete machine to every four minutes during working hours. Besides his connection with the Akron concern, he is president of the Canton manufactory, under the name of C. Aultman & Co. He is also a stockholder of the First National Bank of Can- ton; and of the Weary, Snyder & Co. Manufacturing Com- pany, of Akron ; and is president of the Akron Iron Company. He has always taken an active interest in politics ; was a strong anti-slavery man, and subsequently acted with the Republican and National parties, the latter of which made him candidate for Congress in 1878, but he was defeated, the opposing majority being reduced, however, from six thousand to fifteen hundred. He is a member of the Board of Edu- cation, was three times President of the same; and was President of the City Council in 1865, upon the first organiza- tion of Akron into an incorporated city. In educational matters he has showed a laudable interest, notably so in the
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cases of Buchtel College, Akron, and Mount Union College, Mount Union, both of which have been repeated recipients of substantial aid from his hands. He is at present a mem- ber of the Boards of' Trustees of Mount Union College, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, and Allegheny Col- lege, Meadville, Pennsylvania. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since 1843, holding all po- sitions in the same, and was three times a lay delegate to the General Conference of the Church. His especial sphere for religious work, however, was always in the Sunday-school. He has been a Sunday-school superintendent for thirty years, and of the Akron Methodist Episcopal Sunday-school for six- teen years. He was president of the Ohio Sunday-school Association, and was the projector, and one of the managers of the great National Sunday-school Assembly, which met at Chautauqua Lake, in 1874. He has since been prominently identified with the Chautauqua scheme, and as co-worker with Dr. J. H. Vincent, of New York, has infused new life into the methods of Sunday-school work. He was married September 16th, 1852, to Miss Mary V. Alexander, and has had eleven children, ten of whom are living. In personal address Mr. Miller is courteous and very genial. He is unvaryingly con- siderate, quick and generally accurate in his decisions, and unswerving in his devotion to duty. He possesses decided powers of execution, and an unflagging energy to carry out every project to a successful issue. He has eminently an analytical mind, coupled with strong common sense, and to this, no doubt, is due his great success in the world of inven- tions. The importance of his additions to the stock of me- chanical aids to agricultural industry can scarcely be over- estimated. The many who have been benefited by them appreciate and acknowledge their value.
ERRETT, REV. ISAAC, A. M., was born in the city of New York, January 2d, 1820, the fifth of a family of seven children, five of whom are still living. His father was a native of Arklow, County Wicklow, Ireland, and was edu- cated in Dublin, but spent the last sixteen years of his life in New York City, and died there in 1825, aged thirty-six years. His mother was a native of Portsmouth, England, a woman of vigorous physical constitution and superior in- tellect, who died in her eighty-third year. During the Irish rebellion of 1798 his paternal grandfather was shot dead, near his own home. His parents were of Protestant fam- ilies, and became identified with the Disciples as early as 18II, his father being an elder in the original Church in New York City. Hence, the son was trained from infancy in the principles, which he now cherishes. In the spring of 1832, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania-whither his mother had moved some years after the death of his father, in 1825-when only a little over twelve years of age, at a time when there was no religious excitement and no regular preaching, under the instruction of his mother, he, in company with an older brother, went forward, uninvited, and asked the privilege of baptism. He now became a diligent student of the Word of God, and under many embarrassing circumstances made constant and encouraging progress. From the time he was ten years old, he has been dependent upon his own exertions for a living ; hence his education was ob- tained in the midst of toil and care, by dint of untiring, in- dustrious application. While laboring as farmer, miller, lum- berman, bookseller, printer, school-teacher, and editor, the toils of the day were succeeded by nights of liard study. He
has never ceased to augment his stock of useful knowledge, and to use whatever opportunities he had for the development and discipline of his mental powers. He commenced preach- ing in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in the spring of 1840, and soon gave promise of the distinguished position which he has since attained as a preacher of the Gospel. He enjoyed the advantages of frequent and intimate association with Walter Scott, Thomas Campbell, and Alexander Camp-
bell, and most of the early leaders of the Disciples in the West, and his association with these men was of incalculable advantage to him, as they not only gave him valuable in- struction in the principles of the religious reformation which they advocated, but he was enabled by his frequent contact with them to draw inspiration from their lives and characters for the great work upon which he had entered. His minis- terial labors have been divided between the work of an evangelist and that of a pastor. He was pastor of a Church in Pittsburg, three years; New Lisbon, Ohio, five years; North Bloomfield, Ohio, two years; Warren, Ohio, five years ; Muir and Ionia, Michigan, eight years; Detroit, Michigan, two years; and Chicago, Illinois, two years. At all these points he was eminently successful; and besides his pastoral labors, he did a great deal of useful work in the general field. He was one of the originators and staunch supporters of what is now known as Hiram College, the institution with which, as student, teacher, president, and patron, the name of James A. Garfield is so prominently and tenderly associated. Mr. Errett re- moved to Warren, Ohio, in 1851, and while there, in addition to his pastoral labors, was corresponding secretary of the Ohio Christian Missionary Society, three years; and it was he who first put that society into systematic active operation. In 1856, with a view to train his children to industrious habits, he removed his family to a farm in Ionia County, Michigan, and while laboring to build up congregations in that region, he was prevailed upon to take the corresponding secretary- ship of the American Christian Missionary Society, which position he held three years, and succeeded in bringing the society to a degree of prosperity which it had never before reached. When he resigned the secretaryship he was ap- pointed first vice-president, and afterward presided at the annual meetings of the society, until 1866, when, upon the death of Alexander Campbell, he was elected president. This, however, he at once declined, though some years after- ward he served the society several years in that capacity. In the spring of 1866 he removed to Cleveland, Ohio. A publishing company having been formed, composed of such men as James A. Garfield, Dr. J. P. Robison, and Dr. W. S. Streator, at their urgent solicitation he abandoned his favor- ite field of labor, in Michigan, to assume the editorial control of the weekly paper they proposed to publish. He com- menced the publication of the Christian Standard, as editor- in-chief, in April, 1866. He had previously been associated for several years with Alexander Campbell as co-editor of the Millennial Harbinger, at that time the leading periodical among the Disciples. In 1868 Mr. Errett accepted the pres- idency of Alliance College, at Alliance, Ohio. This new in- stitution, under his management and supervision, became very successful, and established an enviable reputation. Finding that his residence at Alliance was interfering greatly with his publishing business, and with his evangelical and editorial labors, he resigned his position in the college, and in 1869 removed to Cincinnati, where he now resides, giving his attention chiefly to the editing of the Christian Standard
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and the Sunday-school periodicals published in connection with it. This religious journal has become very prosperous, and is now the most popular and widely circulated weekly under the patronage of the Disciples. After leaving Alliance College, he was elected president of the Agricultural College, in Kentucky University, at Lexington, and was also chosen to fill the chair of Biblical Literature in Bethany College, West Virginia; but these, and all other such positions, he was compelled to decline, on account of his fast increasing ed- itorial labors. He has been from its beginning, seven years ago, president of the Foreign Christian Missionary Society, the most prosperous of the benevolent institutions of the Disciples. The most important of Mr. Errett's writings are "Debate on Spiritualism" (this debate lasted ten days, and was carried on with Joel Tiffany, Esq.); "Walks about Jerusalem;" "Talks to Bereans;" "Brief View of Christian Missions ;" "Letters to a .Young Christian;" and "The First Principles of the Gospel." Sermons, essays, tracts, and lec- tures on leading topics of the times, have come from his pen in large numbers, and have had a large circulation. He is now writing "A Commentary on I and II Corinthians," and has in contemplation several other books. In 1867 Bethany College conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts. As a public speaker he has few superiors. At the funeral obsequies of the lamented President James A. Gar- field, at Cleveland, Ohio, he was chosen to pronounce the funeral oration. His writings, like his sermons, are full of strong and rugged points. His personal appearance will be recognized as striking and prepossessing. He represents the advance and progressive elements of life in the Church. Over forty years in the advance certainly gives him rank as one of the first and most truly representative men in the Christian Church. In 1840 he married Miss Harriet Reeder, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and has four sons and two daughters living.
STANTON, EDWIN M., United States Attorney-Gen- eral and subsequently Secretary of War, was born at Steu- benville, Jefferson county, Ohio, in 1814. He was of Quaker descent. His early education was obtained at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio. He engaged in the study of law, and after being licensed to practice, removed to Pennsyl- vania. As the successor of Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, he was by President Buchanan appointed Attorney-general of the United States, and in November, 1860, believing that the threatening language of the Southern States press, immedi- ately following the election of President Lincoln, betokened secession and an earnest desire to disintegrate the Federal Union, he advised President Buchanan to incorporate into his last message to Congress the statement, to be made with all due solemnity, that the Federal government had the power, and that it was its duty to coerce seceding States. But, except himself and another, Buchanan's cabinet were men who favored secession, while Buchanan himself was too timid and irresolute to assert in any manner doctrine offen- sive to its members. When John B. Floyd, as Secretary of War, enraged at the conduct of Major Anderson, in remov- ing his command from a very unsafe to a much safer position, charged his associates in the cabinet with violating their pledges to the Southern people, Mr. Stanton rose, and with fierce loyalty abashed him; and though overwhelmed by the tide of openly expressed secession doctrine maintained by his colleagues, until Buchanan with his cabinet went out of office
Attorney-general Stanton boldly confronted the representa- tives of the seceding States. Having retired to his practice, he remained in private life until it became evident to Mr. Lincoln that Hon. Simon Cameron should be assigned to some other position than that of Secretary of War, and then notwithstanding the most resolute opposition of Hon. Mont- gomery Blair, as a member of his cabinet, President Lincoln appointed Mr. Stanton Secretary of War. It was the position beyond all others he coveted, and which his earnest zeal and spirit especially fitted him for. He immediately engaged in a thorough examination of the number and position of the United States forces, and having met the military committee of the Senate, submitted to them the result of his prompt and exhaustive labors and researches. More than one hundred and fifty regiments, many of them but partially filled, and dispersed throughout the northern, eastern, and western States, he proposed to bring together and consolidate, and after explaining to the committee his reasons for this proposi- tion, they accepted and supported it. The preparations for the active campaign of 1862-63 he pressed vigorously, and very often occupied night after night, in addition to day after day, in attending to the civil and military exigencies of the period,-telegraphing important information to all parts of the loyal States, and proffering needed and wise counsel to the various officials with whom he was brought into contact. Throughout the years of the war, subsequently, he devoted himself to maintaining the integrity of the Union with an un- selfish earnestness only equalled by his masterly ability, untiring energy and high confidence in the triumph of right. When President Lincoln proposed to negotiate terms of peace with the Confederate generals, through General Grant, should that officer secure a victory at Richmond, Secretary Stanton opposed the measure steadfastly and sturdily, declaring as a lawyer that no one had the right to do this but the President himself, and hence, as was done, Grant should be instructed to treat with Lee only on questions of a purely military char- acter. When in 1863, the legislature of Indiana was dis- solved without providing means to carry on the government of the State, and Governor Morton solicited advice and succor from Secretary Stanton, that officer drew his warrant in favor of Governor Morton upon the Treasury of the United States for $250,000, to be paid from the unexpended appropriation made some time previously by Congress for enlisting and equipping troops in States in insurrection. "If the cause fails," said Morton, in acknowledging receipt of the money, "you and I will be covered with prosecutions, and probably imprisoned or driven from the country." "If the cause fails," responded Stanton, "I do not wish to live!" The quarter million dollars were finally accounted for on settle- ment by Indiana with the government in closing the accounts of the war. Subsequent to the occupation of Richmond by General Weitzel, President Lincoln, in cabinet council, pro- posed authorizing that officer to convene the legislature of Virginia, all rebels to a man, when Secretary Stanton earn- estly opposed the proposition as a premature movement and mischievous, and it was dropped. Finally when the news of Lee's surrender was received, Secretary Stanton, assuming that he was no longer needed, offered his resignation, but this President Lincoln refused to accept and begged him to recall it, which he did, and held his position, assisting in his usual effective manner in the organization of the Freedman's bureau, so-called, as he had previously assisted in that of the Sanitary and Christian commissions. As the avowed oppo-
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nent of President Johnson's "policy," his arbitrary discharge from office by the latter was not recognized by the Senate, and he continued to perform the duties of Secretary of War until the 20th December following the first inauguration of President ,Grant, when he resigned, and was immediately appointed, and confirmed by the Senate, an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He had but re- ceived the appointment, however, when death released him from worldly occupation forever, December 24th, 1869. A testimonial fund of $100,000 to repair the losses occasioned by his complete abnegation of his private interests during the period of his secretaryship was by him refused in the firmest manner. Subsequent to his death, however, the amount was contributed for the benefit of his family.
PERKINS, SIMON, soldier and pioneer, was born in Lisbon, Connecticut, September 17th, 1771. He was a de- scendant of one of the oldest Puritan families of New Eng- land, having descended from John Perkins, who came over with Roger Williams in the good ship Lion, in 1631. His mother, Olive Douglas, was a descendant of William Doug- las, one of the colony from Boston which founded New Lon- don, Connecticut. His father was a captain in the army of the Revolution, and died in camp in 1778. Two of his ma- ternal uncles were also officers in the army of 1776. At a very early age, owing to the death of his father, the estate, consisting of a mill and farm, came under his charge. It was part of the land purchased by his ancestors when they first settled in Connecticut, in 1695. In 1795 he removed to the then "Far West," and located at Owego, New York, where he remained about three years, and was occupied with large land agencies and other matters incident to the opening and settlement of a new country. In 1795, the State of Con- necticut sold to the Connecticut Land Company, the West- ern Reserve, (except "the Fire Lands,") and in 1797, proprie- tors of that company residing in Windham and New London counties, united the stock which they held in the original company, and formed the Erie Land Company, and through their trustees proposed that he should go to new Connecticut and explore the country, and report a plan for the sale and settlement of their lands. He accepted the proposition, closed his business at Owego, and in the spring of 1798, ac- companied by James Pumpelly, afterward of Owego, pro- ceeded through western New York (then an unbroken wilder- ness), by the way of Cayuga and Ontario lakes, to Buffalo, where he obtained a sail-boat and coasted up Lake Erie. He entered Ohio on the 4th July, and established his camp about eight or ten miles south of the mouth of Grand river. He explored the lands of the company, examined into the character and prospects of the country, and returned to Con- necticut in October. The trustees, before the next spring, made an agreement by which he was to assume the entire control or agency of the lands of the Erie Land Company, and for several years he spent his summers on the Reserve and his winters in Connecticut. His attention to business, and his integrity and discriminating judgment, were widely known and duly appreciated; and to him was committed the management and sale of more lands by non-resident pro- prietors than to any other person in the State; while in 1815 the State land tax paid by him, as agent and owner, amounted to one-seventh of the entire amount collected in the State. He was ever the patron of the pioneer, and his forbearance and leniency secured homes for many families who bless his
memory. Warren was the county seat of Trumbull, which embraced the whole Reserve, and, when he and his wife made it their home, July 24th, 1804, contained sixteen log dwellings. In 1801, the first mail route northwest of the Ohio river was established from Pittsburgh to Warren, via Beaver, George- town, Canfield and Youngstown. He was made postmaster at Warren, October 24th, 1801, and held the office till Octo- ber, 1829. During these years he rendered the postmaster- general invaluable aid in establishing county postoffices and in choosing reliable postmasters. In December, 1807, Mr. Granger, as postmaster-general, wrote him as follows: “SIR : . You cannot be ignorant of the unpleasant aspect
of public affairs between this Nation and Great Britain, nor of the vigorous preparations making for war in Upper Can- ada. In this state of things, it has become necessary to es- tablish a line of expresses through your country to Detroit. To avail ourselves of the energy of your talents at this crisis, I have to solicit you (and even more, to express my opinion that it is your duty) to depart immediately for Detroit. I know of no other person whose ex-
ertions would, at this time, be as satisfactory to the govern- ment; and however inconvenient the discharge of this duty may be to yourself, it is what you owe to your country, and to the south shore of Lake Erie in particular." The services were rendered without delay, and a report made on his re- turn to Warren. The country west of the Cuyahoga river, and south, was Indian territory, except twelve miles square at Fort Miami and two miles square on Sandusky river, ceded by treaty of Greenville, 1795. He conversed with several influential Indians, and suggested to them and Governor Hull, at Detroit, the treaty which was made at Brownsville, November, 1808, by which the Indians ceded land for a road, and land to build a road, from the Western Reserve to the Miami of the Lake, and thus, by his far-reaching sagacity, secured this grant of territory, which cannot be too highly estimated as a private or public benefit. He was elected brigadier-general of the first brigade, fourth division, Ohio militia, and commissioned May 31st, 1808. Major-general Elijah Wadsworth commanded the division. On the 22d August, 1812, General Perkins issued his brigade order (with- out knowing of the proceedings of Major-general Wadsworth) to the respective colonels under his command. The orders were as follows: "SIR: Information this moment received by the express mail carrier that the town of Detroit is taken by the British troops and Indians from Canada. Also, that the whole army of General Hull on our northwestern frontier have been taken prisoners. That the Indians, etc., have progressed as far as the Miami, and are continuing their march this way. To repel the enemy, you are hereby ordered to detach one-half of the effective men in your regi- ment, with a suitable proportion of officers, and that they be well equipped for the field. This duty is to be done with all possible dispatch." General Perkins was as- signed to command the troops detailed from the Reserve to protect the northwest frontier; and, on taking leave of the detachment, Major-General Wadsworth said: "To the care of Brigadier-General Simon Perkins I commit you. He will be your commander and your friend. In his integrity, skill and courage we all have the utmost confidence, and I hope that he will return you to me crowned with honors obtained by your bravery." West of the Cuyahoga river, he com- manded a separate detachment, with the responsibility inci- dent to a frontier exposed to a watchful and merciless foe.
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