USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume I > Part 76
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though they suffered severely by it. He was married in May, 1841, to Caroline Rosecranz, of Middletown, Connecti- cut, daughter of Depui Rosecranz, a relative of the general of that name. Two sons, James Franklin and Henry Parsons, were the result of this union; both were officers in the United States regular army,-James Franklin Wade, now lieutenant-colonel of the roth United States cavalry, and Cap- tain Henry P. Wade, of the 8th United States cavalry, re- signed in 1869.
WEDDELL, PETER MARTIN, of Cleveland Ohio, was born in the year 1788, in Westmoreland County, Penn- sylvania, and died May 6, 1847. He was born after his father's death. His mother married again when he was two years old, and removed to Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky, then a wild and lawless country, in which a protracted struggle with the aboriginal savages was carried on, the contest being conducted with relentless fury on both sides. Under such circumstances, as may well be supposed, he grew up with but few educational or other advantages, and his youth was one of vicissitude and hardship. At the age of fourteen he set out to seek his fortune, all his worldly effects being carried in a bundle slung over his shoulder. Applying at a store for employment, and promising to do faithfully whatever task was set him, he was engaged, and gave so much satisfaction that at the age of nineteen he was made a partner. This partner- ship continued until the death of the senior member, when the junior closed up the business, and with some money in his pocket, and good judgment and sound health as additional capital, removed to Newark, Ohio, where he opened a store, and did a successful business. This was during the war of 1812. In 1820 he removed from Newark to Cleveland, and commenced business on Superior Street, taking rank at once, by his energy and good business qualities, among the leading merchants. When Mr. Weddell entered upon his commercial career there were no canals, no railroads, and scarcely any roads at all. Specie was the only currency west of the Alleghanies, and that, as well as goods, was carried across the mountains on the backs of mules. These journeys were attended with danger, and merchants would usually travel in companies, even then frequently necessitating guards. Many are the interesting stories he could relate of those trips. At the time of his arrival in Cleveland, the now great and pros- perous city was but a village, with a population of about seven hundred. At present writing (1883) it has over two hundred thousand. He was one of the pioneers of Cleve- land, and did much toward making her the great city she now is. In 1823 he built a brick house and store on the corner of Superior and Bank Streets, then the finest building in the town. In 1845 this was torn down to make room for the Weddell House, which was erected on its site. This house occupied two years in building, and is still known as one of the most popular hotels in the country. In 1847, when on his way home from New York, whither he had gone to pur- chase furniture for the hotel, he contracted a typhoid fever, and died three weeks afterward, leaving a large property in real estate, in which his surplus funds had been invested. As a merchant he had few superiors; a man of quick intelligence and keen insight, courteous in manner, untiring in industry, of unblemished honor, he was popular, successful, and safe. With a warm heart and open purse for cases of genuine benevolence, his liberality was well known to all religious and benevolent institutions. He was always willing and
ready to aid and assist young men who were struggling to make honorable progress in business. Very few men of his day were so liberal in this respect, or could point to so many who became prominent merchants by their aid, as could Mr. Weddell. In the closing years of his life he was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church, of Cleveland, and died in the Christian faith. He bequeathed large sums of money to the American Board of Foreign Missions and to the Home Missionary Society, and made bequests to several other benevolent institutions. Mr. Weddell was twice married-first, in November, 1815, to Miss Sophia Perry, of Cleveland, who died in 1823 ; and a second time, in 1824, to Mrs. Eliza A. Bell, of Newark, Ohio. By the first marriage he had three children, of whom only one survived, Horace P., now a prominent banker and capitalist of Cleveland.
MITCHEL, ORMSBY MCKNIGHT, scientist, was born at Morganfield, Union county, Kentucky, on the 10th August, 1810,-died October 25th, 1862, in South Carolina. He was a graduate of West Point in the class with General Robert E. Lee. He early turned his attention to studying and lecturing on astronomy. In this field his merits were soon recognized, and in 1834, he was appointed professor of mathematics, natural philosophy, and chemistry at the Cin- cinnati college. By the public lectures which he delivered in 1841, the interest in astronomical inquiries was raised so high that he resolved to make an effort to establish in Cincinnati an observatory on a more grand scale than had been hitherto attempted in the United States. Having formed a joint stock company for carrying out this laudable design, he visited Europe, purchased, at Munich, a fine seventeen-foot refract- ing telescope, and, by spending some time under the instruc- tion of Airy, the astronomer royal of England, he rendered himself more competent for the enterprise which he had undertaken. On his return to Cincinnati in the fall of 1842, he found that the derangement in financial circles threw many difficulties in his way; but these he surmounted by his energy and perseverance. The observatory was commenced in 1843, and completed in 1845. His great work of exploring the skies then began. It contributed much to the progress of astronomy, and, among other distinguished writers, Hum- boldt, in his Cosmos, makes a favorable allusion to the ob- servations of the Cincinnati savant on the double stars. His brilliant and useful career was soon interrupted, as the burn- ing of the Cincinnati college left him without any adequate means of support. To obviate the effects of this calamity, he undertook to give popular lectures on astronomy in the Eastern cities, and the enterprise met with great success. He also engaged as consulting engineer and financial agent for the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad; and he soon accumulated so much wealth that he was able to keep the observatory in proper action, without any remuneration, and to pay an assistant $600 a year, and to perfect his new contrivances, which were of the greatest service in practical astronomy. Of the efficacy of his methods of observation for finding the right ascension and declension of celestial objects, a very favorable report was given, in 1851, by a committee of astron -~ omers appointed by the American association for the ad- vancement of science. In 1847, he published a series of astronomical lectures, under the title of "Stellar and Planet- ary Worlds." This work, which shows great scientific and literary ability, obtained a wide circulation, and was repub- lished in Great Britain. Besides presenting in it a very
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interesting sketch of the progress of science and the history of great astronomical discoveries, he entered into a discussion of some of the great problems and speculations which have been the subject of modern controversy, and on which there is still much difference of opinion. Of the "Nebular Hypoth- esis" of Laplace, he was always a warm advocate. During 1850, he was induced, by peculiar circumstances, to divide his services between Cincinnati and Albany. In the latter city an astronomical observatory was established and sus- tained with liberal endowments. But an unhappy quarrel having arisen in regard to its control, it was deemed expedi- ent to give the direction to Professor Mitchel. His presence at Albany soon restored tranquillity, and the result justified the propriety of his acceptance of the position. About this time he published his work entitled "Popular Astronomy," and much calculated to advance the interests of his favorite science. Another work, entitled " Astronomy of the Bible," was prepared soon afterward, but was not published until after his death. As the great civil war burst forth on the country, in 1861, Professor Mitchel warmly embraced the side of the Union, and not content with rendering moral aid to his country by his eloquence, he resolved to participate in the dangers and the trials of actual warfare. He immediately relinquished his tranquil occupations in the observatory to accept the post of brigadier-general in the Northern army, and to use his own expression, descend "from the stars of heaven to the stars and stripes of earth." On receiving his command, he displayed great energy in organizing his troops, and in establishing defensive works along the approaches to Cincin- nati from the South. In February and March, 1862, he dis- played great activity in the advance on Bowling Green and Nashville. Soon afterward, being stationed at Murfreesboro, he resolved, by a bold movement, to strike a severe blow against the enemy, and was very successful. He marched his troops to Huntsville, which he occupied; and taking pos- session of nearly two hundred miles of the railroad, which formed the main channel of communication of the confeder- ates, he rendered many of their plans abortive. For this exploit he was promoted to the rank of major-general, dating from April 11th, 1862, the day on which he entered Huntsville. Soon afterward he was ordered to South Carolina, where yellow fever terminated his life.
MORRIS, THOMAS, statesman and United States sen- ator from Ohio from 1833 to 1839, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, January 3d, 1776, and died at his home, four miles from Bethel, Clermont county, Ohio, December 7th, 1844. He was the fifth of a family of twelve children, whose parents were Isaac and Ruth (Henton) Morris. His mother was a native of Virginia, to which State, soon after his birth, his parents with their children moved, and settled in Harri- son county, near Clarksburgh. School privileges being in those days almost unknown in this part of the State, Mrs. Morris instructed her son, our subject, in the rudiments of an English education. In 1795 he took up his residence across the Ohio river in what subsequently became that State, and in the town of Columbia, then a hamlet, now a portion of Cincinnati city, he engaged as a clerk in the store of the principal merchant there, John Smith, a Baptist preacher, and subsequently one of the earliest United States Senators from Ohio, and of whom it may be mentioned that his un- fortunate connection with the conspiracy of Aaron Burr drove him from home and friends in disgrace. In the employ of
this man, our subject remained several years, during which he increased his knowledge through the study of books. When twenty-one years old he married Rachel, a daughter of Ben- jamin and Mary Davis, of Welsh descent, and natives of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. This union was a happy one, and existed nearly fifty years. Eleven children were born to them, all of whom lived to become useful members of society. In 1800 the young couple moved to Williams- burg, Clermont county, and, four years later, to Bethel, where they subsequently remained during their lives. In 1802, with meagre facilities, Thomas Morris began the study of law, and two years later was admitted to the bar, where he soon became a leader. Having in his youth given much at- tention to the study of the scriptures, in which he was en- couraged by his father, by profession a Baptist preacher, he never refused to plead the cause of the poor, and from whom no fee was expected, as freely as he did the cause of the rich, and but for this his large practice would have made him a wealthy man. In 1806 he was elected from Clermont county to the legislature, and here, true to his early training, he fought all legislation tending to favor slave-holders. His le- gislative labors extended over a period of twenty-four years continuously, and no matter which party was in the majority, he was made chairman of the most important committees. His entire legislative career was marked by a total absence of ambition or worldly gain. Having largely aided in doing away with imprisonment for debt, that vestige of slavery and barbarism, he opposed with all his strength the canal system, for the reason as he stated it, and the statement was prophetic, that "in twenty-five years canals would be superseded by rail- roads, which, in forty years. would form a net-work over the State." An ardent and able friend of the common schools, he voted for and advocated the largest provision for the ac- cumulation of a fund devoted to this great object. In 1809 he was appointed by the house of assembly to conduct the impeachment of Judges Tod and Pease, but, as we have mentioned in our sketch of Governor Huntington, the im- possibility of obtaining a two-thirds vote of the legislature in favor of the conviction of these judges, annulled the prose- cution. Nevertheless, his success in the performance of the duty assigned him led to his appointment to the seat of Judge Huntington, the governor-elect, but an act of the legislature prevented him from taking the office. He strongly sustained the war of 1812, and in the nullification troubles of 1832 he was a firm supporter of the administration. In 1826 he was tendered the nomination for United States Senator, but de- clined at that time to accept. Six years afterward he was elected. A member of the democratic party, he never failed to follow his convictions, especially in his opposition to the extension of slavery. In December, 1833, he took his seat in the United States Senate, and in this new field of labor he found the stormy era of sectional prejudices begun. But he never faltered in the declaration of his principles, and his ca- reer in that tribunal, if not especially brilliant, was always honorable and consistent. He measured swords in debate with Clay, Calhoun, and others, and so roused the ire of the opposition that one domineering Southern senator said he ought to be expelled. February 9th, 1839, (just twenty years too soon,) he made a memorable speech in answer to Henry Clay, that produced so great a sensation that his expulsion was again mooted by the slave-holding States' senators, and caused his defeat for his second term, but he took this defeat calmly, and soon after took a prominent part in the forma-
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tion of the free-soil party. In August, 1843, at the national convention of the party at Buffalo, where were present more than a thousand delegates, James G. Birney was nominated for President and Thomas Morris for Vice-President, and the ticket received 621,000 votes. He died the following year, and, buried in the graveyard at Bethel, a suitable marble monument rises above the grave of one of Ohio's most noble and honorable sons.
RIGGS, JOSEPH, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, July 2d, 1796, and died in Portsmouth, Ohio, July 28th, 1877. He removed with his parents to Steuben- ville, in this State, in 1809, and eight years later worked his way down the Ohio river on a flat-boat to Manchester, and from that place walked to West Union, Adams county. Ar- riving there in January, 1818, he found employment as a clerk in a bank, and was subsequently made cashier. In 1824 he was appointed auditor of Adams county, and twice elected to the same position, serving in all seven years. For several years subsequent he was employed as surveyor in Adams and Brown counties. In 1831 he was elected to the State Senate, and served two years. In 1833 he removed to Hanging Rock, where he was engaged in the furnace busi- ness for some two years, and in the fall of 1835 removed to Portsmouth, and became a partner with the late T. G. Gay- lord, of Cincinnati, in the Gaylord Rolling Mill. After re- linquishing this business, he was engaged for a time in the dry goods trade. In 1837 he became a member of the town council, in which capacity he served, with intermissions, for some nine years. He subsequently served for some time as surveyor for Scioto county. All of these positions he filled with credit to himself and to the fullest satisfaction of the public. He was noted for his careful, prudent habits, strict integrity, and conscientious regard for the rights and in- terests of his neighbors. He was a partner in the Peck, Bond, and Sinton addition to the city of Portsmouth, and laid out many of the streets of that city. He took a very active personal interest in the advancement of the welfare of the town, and after his retirement from business, in 1856, devoted much of his time to the public needs. He was very liberal and unselfish in disposition, and very regardful of the interests of the poor, to whom he disposed of a great deal of property, upon terms of payment adapted to their circumstances. He possessed a memory which retained its tenacity even to advanced age; and he was frequently con- sulted in regard to statistics and facts pertaining to matters in general, but particularly those connected with his profes- sion as surveyor. December 8th, 1819, he married Rebekah G., daughter of Rev. William Baldridge, an Associate Re- formed clergymen, of Adams county, Ohio. Mr. Riggs was a member of the Presbyterian denomination. For most of the time he was connected with the First Church, of Portsmouth, but upon the organization of the Second Church he became a member of that congregation, that he might give his influence and support to the weaker body. His pastor, Rev. H. A. Ketcham, thus speaks of him in a funeral sermon : " To those who have known Mr. Riggs during his long residence in Portsmouth, words of eulogy would be superfluous. Of him it can be said, without the slightest exaggeration, that he was a Christian gentleman. He was a most acceptable and efficient officer in the Church, having served more than a third of a century in the capacity of ruling elder."
LINCOLN, FREDERICK DANIELSON, lawyer, of Cincinnati, was born in Brimfield, Hampden County, Massa- chusetts, April 27th, 1818. He is the son of Dr. Asa Lincoln and Sarah (Danielson) Lincoln. He is descended, on both sides, from some of the most honored families of New England. His father, Dr. Lincoln, held several prominent public posi- tions in his section of the State, and was highly esteemed, both as a physician and a man of unusually liberal and ad- vanced views. His mother was a daughter of the Hon. Timothy Danielson, who was chairman of the Committee of Safety in Western Massachusetts, during the Revolutionary War, and was a member of the First Provincial Congress, which met at Salem, in October, 1774; he was chairman of the Military Committee of the Second Congress, which met at Cambridge ; he was also a member of the Third Congress, which met at Watertown. Dr. Holland, in his "History of Western Massachusetts," says of General Danielson: " He was the leading spirit in Western Massachusetts during the revolutionary period, and left the impress of his mind on all public proceedings. Mr. F. D. Lincoln, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the public schools of his native vil- liage, and at Wilbraham and Westfield Academies. In win- ter he taught school, until he was seventeen years of age, when he went to Hingham, Massachusetts, where he taught school one year. He then went to New Bedford, Massachu- setts, and taught school two years, reading law at the same time with the Hon. Charles Henry Warren, after which he attended the Cambridge Law School. Mr. Lincoln came to Cincinnati in September, 1843, and soon after went South for the benefit of his health; on his return to Cincinnati he com- menced the practice of law, which he has continued to the present time. Ås a lawyer he is profoundly versed in all de- partments of the science of jurisprudence. His record for acute analyzation and cogent reasoning is scarcely surpassed by any other jurist. As an advocate he is very effective, always preparing his cases most thoroughly, so that he is rarely or never surprised by his opponent. He presents his cases with a directness, clearness, force, and earnestness which seldom fail to produce conviction in the minds of the court and jury. His practice has been large, including many important cases involving very large amounts of money ; and although he has never exacted exorbitant fees, he has ac- cumulated a handsome fortune. Notwithstanding the rare force and vigor of his intellect, and the power of his will, his intercourse with his brethren of the bar is ever distinguished for courtesy and genial kindness, but no temptation can shake his fidelity to truth and duty. He is held in high re- gard by the profession for his soundness and ability as a lawyer and his personal integrity. To an intellect of the highest order and sound judgment, he adds one of those naturally legal minds which has the faculty of grasping a question in all its relations. Deliberateness of judgment and quickness of perception are characteristics which enable him to meet those unlooked-for emergencies which every lawyer of large practice must encounter. Mr. Lincoln has never had any desire for public office, and has devoted his whole time to his practice, except when he spent a portion of the year 1857 traveling in Europe. He was a Democrat up to the time of the Rebellion, when he joined the Union party. Never a strong partisan, he rarely ever votes the straight ticket, but chooses the man he believes best qualified. Nature has endowed him with a tall, finely proportioned form and a commanding presence. Mr. Lincoln was never married.
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BROUGH, JOHN, journalist and twenty-first governor elected by the people of Ohio, was born at Marietta, Ohio, September 17th, 1811, and died August 29th, 1865, at Cleve- land, Ohio. His father, John Brough, was the companion and intimate friend of Blennerhassett, coming to America in the same ship with him in 1806, and remaining in close friend- ship with him for years, but escaping the unhappy entan- glements in which Blennerhassett became involved through his acquaintance with Aaron Burr. When the elder Brough died, his widow was left but slightly provided for, and had a family of five young children to support-the second child, to whom was given his father's baptismal name, being but eleven years old. Young as he was, and with but little schooling, it was necessary that he should begin to earn his own living at the earliest possible period. Before he was fourteen years old he was sent to a printing office in Mari- etta,-that of the Athens Mirror,-and he set to work dili- gently learning the business of a compositor. But he was desirous of obtaining an education, and after a few months entered the Ohio University, at Athens, studying and reciting with his class, and setting type mornings and nights to sup- port himself. He became a good type-setter, was at the same time head of his classes, and became distinguished among his fellow-students and companions by his skill in athletic games. His education at the University being com- pleted, he commenced the study of law, but, before he had finished his studies, was induced to go to Petersburg, Vir- ginia, where for a short time he edited a newspaper. In 1831 he returned to Marietta and became proprietor and editor of a democratic newspaper, the Washington County Republican. This he conducted with considerable ability until 1833, when he sold the paper for the purpose of seeking a journalistic
. field where he could wield a wider influence. In conjunction with his brother, Charles H. Brough, he purchased the Ohio Eagle, published at Lancaster, Ohio, and became its editor. The influence of the Eagle in local and State politics was speedily felt. Its editorial articles were written with an ability and force that attracted attention and secured respect. Strongly partisan as his writing was in the main, at the same time he had no toleration for meanness or unfairness even in his own party. The stern, uncompromising sense of justice which marked the man and his utterances won him the re- spect of men of all shades of political opinion. The dis- honest and the dishonorable in his own party feared him as much as did the same class among his opponents. In 1835 he was elected clerk of the Ohio senate, which position he retained until 1838, spending his winters at Columbus, in the discharge of the duties of this office and corresponding with his paper, and editing it during the remainder of the year. In 1838 he was chosen to represent the counties of Fairfield and Hocking in the house of representatives, filling that position to the satisfaction of his constituents. In the succeeding year he was chosen by the general assembly to fill the office of Auditor of State, the election being brought about by the union of the best men of both political parties. The term was for three years, and he was reelected for a second term, serving in all six years. Those six years of service effected great changes in the financial affairs of the State. When he took office the finances were in a deplorable condition. A serious monetary depression existed. The State had become involved in schemes of internal improve- ment, on which large sums had been expended with little prospect of return. The financial accounts were in seem-
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