USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume II > Part 13
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nership with J. J. Moore, now judge, and dissolved this rela- tjon when Judge Moore became judge, May 12th, 1879. Al- though a republican, very active in politics, and living in a democratic county, he has twice been mayor of Ottawa, member of council four terms, clerk of the council two terms, and twelve years a member of the board of education, per- forming a leading part in organizing the union graded schools of the place. In 1875, he was elected to the State Senate, and although his district was democratic, he was given a major- ity of 360 votes, running ahead of his ticket, in his own county, 262. He declined to run the second time. He was a very active worker while in the Senate, being a member of the judiciary committee, secretary of the committee on public works, chair- man of the committee on colleges and universities, member of the committee on public buildings and printing, and chair- man of the committee on enrollment. He joined the Free and Accepted Masons, in 1864, and has been master of Ot- tawa Lodge and high priest of Ottawa Chapter, and is now a Knight Templar. He has taken all the degrees and filled all of the offices in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which he joined in 1874. He was married February 25th, 1864, to Miss Irene N., daughter of John Keller. They have three children, Gertrude M., born April 25th, 1865; Cora, born November 7th, 1867; and Fred. C., born January 2d, 1869. Mr. Swan is possessed of a high order of abilities, such as have placed him among the foremost in his profes- sion in Northwestern Ohio, and by fine social qualities and warm-hearted generosity has endeared himself to all with whom, during a long and busy career, he has been brought into contact.
BALL, ALFRED, physician, Zanesville, was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, August Ist, 1820, and is the son of William and Sarah (Cassidy) Ball. William Ball followed farming pursuits in Virginia until interrupted by the late civil war. He was a man of decided Union proclivities, but was too far advanced in years to render much material assist- ance to the cause. The immediate vicinity of his home, Fall's church, was the scene of some of the initial operations of the war, and he it was who warned General Schenck of the proximity of the rebel ambush, which subsequently fired upon the train, on which was General Schenck's force, and resulted in a complete rout of his brigade. Ball's Cross- roads, a spot which has been perpetuated in history as the scene of a memorable conflict, derived its name from his family. He died in April, 1862, his death having been in- duced, no doubt, by the constant state of excitement in which he lived, surrounded by belligerent forces. It may be stated, as a matter of interest, that the Ball family have been celebrated for longevity. Two brothers of William lived to be over ninety years old, and a sister still lives aged about ninety. The subject of this sketch is of English, Welsh, and Irish extraction. His paternal ancestors were among the first to come over from England, long prior to the Revolu- tion. An ancestor, James Ball, fought for independence in the Revolutionary war, serving with the rank of major. There is but little accessible information relating to his mother's ancestors. However, they came from Ireland and Wales to this country at an early date. Mr. Ball's early education was acquired in the schools of Fall's church, sup- plemented by a term in Rittenhouse Academy, Washington, D. C. He quitted that institution at the age of twenty; then teaching school for a time near Arlington Heights and
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alternating his duties as school-master with the study of medicine, which he read with Dr. Locke, of Georgetown. In 1842, he removed to Zanesville, and there prosecuted his studies under Dr. Moorehead. He completed his medical education at the National Medical College, Washington, graduating in 1847. He has continuously practiced his pro- fession in Zanesville since 1850, excepting a period of service in the late war. He received the first officer's commission issued by Governor Dennison, and on April 18th, 1861, en- tered upon the discharge of the duties pertaining to the office of surgeon-general, pending the appointment of that official. He continued in the governor's office, in this capacity, until the latter part of May, 1861. In the organization and equip- ment of the early regiments his official relations brought him much in contact with General Garfield, then a young State senator and an active spirit among the army organizers. On his relief from duty in the governor's office, he returned to his regiment, the 5th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was subsequently detailed as medical director to several points. He served successively on the staffs of Generals Kelly, Lan- ders, Shields, Tyler, Ferry, and Geary. He was with. the latter officer two years. He also served temporarily on the staff of General Hooker. He was tendered a position in the veteran reserve corps by General W. S. Hancock, but de- clined. He was married December 24th, 1848, to Sarah Barr, and has one child. In politics, Dr. Ball acts with the democratic party, and has been prominent before the con- ventions in his district for Congress. He served two years on the Board of Directors of the Athens Asylum for the In- sane by appointment of Governor R. M. Bishop.
TOWNE, HENRY ABNER, lawyer, judge, and mayor, Portsmouth, Ohio, was born in Litchfield, Herkimer county, New York, January 5th, 1826. He is the only child of Abner Towne and Sarah Eliza Vinton. His father graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York; studied divinity at Andover, Massachusetts; and was ordained pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Litchfield, New York, on July 18th, 1825, where he died June 19th, 1826, in the very prime of his usefulness, greatly lamented. Our subject was then only five months old. His mother was a sister of the Hon. Samuel F. Vinton, once a member of Congress from the Gallipolis, Ohio, district. Shortly after the death of her husband she returned to her parents in Amherst, Massachusetts, but some two or three years subsequent came to Ohio and made her home with her brother in Gallipolis for a year or more, while there being engaged in teaching school. She afterwards became the wife of Dr. Robert Safford, of Putnam, Ohio (now included in the city of Zanesville), and in 1831 removed to that place. When about ten years of age young Towne went to live with an aunt in Milan, Huron county, Ohio, and there began a course of study preparatory for college. Returning to Putnam after a year or two, he completed his college preparation under the instruction of Professor Porter and the Rev. Henry Calhoun, the latter now pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Ironton, Ohio. In the fall of 1841 he entered Marietta College, Mari- etta, Ohio, and graduated therefrom in 1845. For a year sub- sequent he was engaged in teaching a select school in Co- shocton, Ohio, and while thus employed resumed the study of law under the Hon. David Spangler, which he had previ- ously begun under General C. B. Goddard, of Zanesville. In 1849 he was admitted to the bar in Cincinnati, and immedi- ately located in Marietta, where he began the practice of his
profession in partnership with Hon. W. A. Whittlesey, after- wards a member of Congress from Southern Ohio. In De- cember, 1855, he removed to Portsmouth, where for several years he continued in practice by himself, but subsequently took into partnership James W. Bannon, of Portsmouth. In 1868 he was elected judge of the common pleas bench for the second subdivision of the second judicial district of Ohio, but served only something over a year, and then resigned and resumed his legal practice in Portsmouth. In the spring of 1879 he was chosen mayor of Portsmouth, and acceptably served a term of two years. During the summer of 1880 he served under the government as supervisor of the census for the 4th census district of the State. In January, 1882, his health being impaired, and for the purpose of having a change of climate, locality, and labor, he accepted the position of clerk of the House of Representatives Committee on District of Columbia, and is now at Washington in the discharge of the duties of that office. In politics, he was formerly an old- line whig, but upon the organization of the republican party became one of its first advocates, and has voted solely with that party since. He has always taken a lively interest in all edu- cational matters, and for four years was a member of the Ports- mouth board of education, serving as its secretary, and also having charge of its finances. He is connected as stockholder and director with the Scioto Star Fire Brick Works, of East Portsmouth, and also in the same capacity with the Globe Iron Company, of Jackson, Jackson county, Ohio. On December 18th, 1856, Judge Towne married Harriet Nye, of Marietta, Ohio, whose father, Judge Arius Nye, once represented his district in the Ohio Legislature, and was also a common pleas judge of Ohio, and was a very prominent and useful man of his day. She is also a great-granddaughter, on her mother's side, of General Benjamin Tupper, of Revolutionary fame. The issue of this marriage was one son, Robert S. Towne. He is a graduate of the Ohio State University, at Columbus, and is by profession a mining engineer. He is now located at Buena Vista, Colorado, and is prosecuting his chosen pro- fession with fine success. In religious views, Judge Towne is an Episcopalian, and is a vestryman in All Saints Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, Ohio. He is a man of fine natural abil- ities and good judgment, and is well qualified for the honora- ble positions held by him, all of which have been tendered- him without his solicitation. His ministrations, both as judge and as mayor, have been rendered with fidelity and impar- tiality .. He possesses a fine physique, courteous manners, and excellent social qualities, and is very greatly respected in the community.
WILLIAMSON, SAMUEL, president of the "Society for Savings," Cleveland, was born in Crawford County, Penn- sylvania, March 16th, 1808. He was the eldest son of Samuel and Isabella (McQueen) Williamson, who, in May, 1810, re- moved to and settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where, until the time of his death, in September, 1834, he was engaged with his brother in the tanning business. He was a man of high stand- ing and commercial and moral worth, and for many years was a justice of the peace and associate judge of the common pleas court. The subject of our sketch attended the common schools until the age of eighteen, when he entered Jefferson College, Washington County, Pennsylvania. From that insti- tution he graduated in 1829, when he returned to Cleveland, and entered the office of Judge Andrews, with whom he read law for two years. In 1832 he was admitted to the bar, begin-
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ning the practice of his profession with Leonard Case, with whom he was associated for two years, when he was elected auditor of Cuyahoga County. This office he held for eight years, when he returned to.the practice of law. In this he con- tinued until 1872, when he retired from its duties to become president of the bank. During these years he was elected to a number of important positions, all of which he most ably filled. In 1850 he was elected a member of the State Legis- lature. In 1859-60 he was a member of the Board of Equali- zation. In 1862 he was elected to the State Senate, in which he served two terms. He also rendered valuable services as a member of the City Council and Board of Education, and was active in promoting public improvements and the cause of education. He was a director of the Cleveland and Co- lumbus Railroad, and was for two years prosecuting attorney. Throughout his professional career at the bar he held high rank for his legal ability, honor and integrity as a man, and is held in high esteem by all who know him. The institution of which he is now president is one of the largest and best conducted of its kind in the entire West, its deposits being in the neighborhood of $12,000,000. He was married June, 1843, to Mary E. Tisdale. They have a family of three sons, Samuel E., who is now judge of common pleas court of Cuya- hoga County ; George T., iron manufacturer, Hyde Park, lllinois ; and James D., pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Norwalk, Ohio.
LITTLE, WILLIAM, merchant, was born in Columbia, Connecticut, December 24th, 1779, and died at Delaware, Ohio, November 30th, 1848. His early educational advan- tages were such as were ordinarily obtained in the district schools of his day. Early in life he went to New York City, where he engaged in the mercantile business, and after remaining there for some time, he emigrated to Ohio, in 1804, locating for a while at Chillicothe and Worth- ington. During the war of 1812 he was commissioned quartermaster, and was taken prisoner at Fort Meigs. His services in the cause of his country were valuable and mer- itorious. Subsequently he removed to Delaware, as early as 1815, and engaged in mercantile pursuits, on the same premises that are now owned by his son, Mr. C. O. Little, at which time Mr. B. Powers was a clerk in his employ, and shortly afterward became a partner. Mr. Little con- tinued in business in this place, being associated with other parties, until about the year 1840. As a business. man, while he was engaged in no speculations, he was judi- cious and successful in his investments, and became the owner of a very large amount of real estate, which has since become very valuable. He was the prime mover in organiz- ing the first bank in Delaware, and was a large stockholder in the same. He contributed liberally of his means toward the building of railroads, and, in fact, was always known as a liberal supporter of all enterprises calculated to advance the public interest. In religion he was a strong adherent of the faith of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and was the first to make a move toward the calling of a meeting in Delaware to take into consideration the advisability of organ- izing what is now known as St. Peter's parish. At its first vestry meeting he was elected senior warden, in which position he served for many years. His deep and hearty interest in this new movement for establishing an Episcopal Church in Delaware is evidenced by the fact that the very ground on which the edifice now stands was generously and liberally
donated by him, as that upon which the parsonage was sub- sequently erected was a donation by his wife. Mr. Little was elected as the first delegate from this Church to the first Diocesan Convention of the State of Ohio, which met at Co- lumbus, shortly after the consecration of the Right Reverend Philander Chase, D. D., the first bishop of the diocese-con- secrated February 11th, 1819. During all his life he was a liberal and active supporter, a most exemplary and influential member. His views of truth were those that have always distinctively characterized that portion of the Protestant Episcopal Church known as evangelical, being in entire sympathy with the views of such dignitaries of the Church as Bishops Mcllvaine, of Ohio, and Meade and Johns, of Virginia. As a business man he was scrupulously honorable and liberal in his dealings with his fellow-men. Associated, as he was, with a large number of men, he was never heard to enter a single word of complaint against any one. The universal testimony in reference to him is eulogistic of his conduct, as an honorable, generous, and exemplary business man. As a Christian, no man ever stood higher, and was more thought of in the community. He was truly an example, honorable to his profession, and he endeavored to carry out in all his life the spirit of Him who said: " Do to others as ye would that they should do to you." Judge T. C. Jones, of Delaware, who was intimately acquainted with him for more than twenty-five years, and was one of his bosom friends, speaks of him in the following terms:
" I never knew any one to speak unkindly of him, and he was never known to speak uncharitably of any one else. I don't think a man could be mentioned whose life was more useful in every thing that should adorn a Christian citizen. He was a man of the most exceptionable courtesy in his social life and intercourse with his fellow-men, and always commanded their respect and esteem. No man ever lived whose death was more universally regretted than his was."
As his conduct as a consistent member of the Church of his choice was influential for good, his death will ever be held in holy and tender remembrance by his surviving friends and relatives. Mr. Little married Miss Catherine Wood, of Washington, Kentucky, May 23d, 1823. The fruit of this union was six children, all of whom are now living, with the exception of Louis W., who was unmarried, and died of wounds received in the late war, March, 1866, and Dr. John A., who married Miss Caroline M. Williams, of Delaware, Ohio, and died in 1877. Elizabeth W. married George W. Campbell, of Sandusky, Ohio; William S. married Mary Ellen Thomson, of Taneytown, Maryland; Charles O. married Julia G. Howard, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; and George Wood mar- ried Annette P. Pettibone, of Delaware, Ohio.
SCOTT, WILLIAM JOHNSTON, M. A., M. D., physician and surgeon, Cleveland, was born in Culpepper County, Virginia, January 25th, 1822. His grandfather was a Scotchman, who came to this country before the Revolu- tion, and served his adopted country as a soldier in the war for independence, afterward settling in Virginia. John and Mary (McKenney) Scott, the parents of W. J. Scott, were natives of Virginia, but migrated to Ohio in 1835, and set- tled in Knox County. William J. Scott assisted his father on the farm and attended district school until he was twenty- one, when, on his own responsibility, he went to Gambier, and entered the preparatory department of Knox College. He intended only to study mathematics and engineering, but President Douglass finding him an apt and ready scholar,
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strongly advised him to take a full course. This advice he followed, and there he remained for five years, studying chemistry, medicine, mathematics, and the classics, and grad- uating in 1848 with the degree of B. A. He was immediately appointed a tutor in the college, and filled that position for two years with acceptance and ability. Having, in the mean- time, decided upon the medical calling as his chosen pro- fession, he devoted much of his time to that branch of science, giving especial attention to chemistry, under Pro- fessor Homer L. Thrall, who was then connected with the. college. In the winter of 1849 and 1850 he went to Cleve- land, and attended his first course of lectures at the Cleve- land Medical College, afterwards returning to Gambier, and practicing for a short period. He was then appointed Pro- fessor of Chemistry at Jefferson College, near Washington, Mis- sissippi. There he remained nearly two years. In 1853 he re- turned to Ohio, and attended a course of lectures at Starling Medical College, at Columbus, graduating with the degree of M. D. Kenyon College had previously conferred on him the degree of M. A. He then settled in Franklin County, Ohio, where he vigorously pursued his profession for ten years. His practice there was an extended and eminently successful one, and he became widely known and sought after, botlı from far and near, as an eminent physician and skillful sur- geon. In 1861, on the outbreak of the war, he was employed as a recruiting officer and examiner, though he never held an absolute army commission. He made many stump speeches in favor of the government, and helped to raise a company. In these matters he was a hard and earnest worker. He also gave efficient aid in raising the 3d battalion of the 18th reg- ulars. In the winter of 1863 and 1864 he again went to Cleve- land, having been appointed Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics in what was then known as Charity Hospital Medical College, and which became four years later the med- ical department of Wooster University. A still later endeavor was to unite Cleveland Medical College with Wooster Uni- versity, and, at present writing (1881), the aim is to remove the Western Reserve College from Hudson and locate the entire university at Cleveland, instead of having it di- vided as it now is. This position he again filled in 1865 and 1866, when on the reorganization he took the Chair of Prin- ciples and Practice of Medicine. This chair he has since continuously occupied with distinguished ability. In the summer of 1864 he was appointed by Governor Tod a visitor of the military hospitals at Louisville and Nashville, to look after the interests of the Ohio troops therein. In this he acquitted himself to satisfaction, doing good and able service in this field. In the spring of 1865 he removed his family to Cleveland, and made it his future home, remaining there ever since, in the en- joyment of a large, lucrative and successful practice. He is still consulting physician at the college, but his private prac- tice almost entirely occupies his time, being through the whole range of medicine and surgery. In 1881 he lectured in the medical department of the Western Reserve Uni- versity, the department being located at Cleveland. Among the societies of which the doctor is a member may be men- tioned the American Medical Association, to which he has belonged for some twelve years; the Ohio Medical Associa- tion, for twenty-nine years ; the American Pharmaceutical, for some ten years ; the Northwestern Ohio Medical Association ; and the Cuyahoga County Medical Association. Of the Ohio State Medical Association he has been president. He is also a member of the United States organization of Associated
Charities, a society recently formed, in behalf o. which he attended a meeting in Boston in the summer of 1881. He is also one of the executive committee of the Associated Chari- ties of Cleveland. He has been a member of the Masonic order since 1854. In politics he is a republican, and in religious belief an Episcopalian, being a member of St. Paul's Church. He was married October 25th, 1855, to Miss Mary Stone, daughter of Nathan Stone, a prominent farmer of St. Johnsville, Vermont. They have had five children, one only of whom is now living, a son, Nathan Stone Scott, aged sixteen, now attending the high school. One little daughter died in 1876, aged nearly ten years; the others all died in infancy. As a physician, a surgeon, and a gentleman, Dr. Scott ranks among the foremost in the city of Cleveland. He is an erudite scholar, a skillful physician, and a courteous Christian gentleman.
RHODES, DANIEL P., mine owner, Cleveland, was born in Sudbury, Vermont, in 1814, and died at Cleveland August 5th, 1875. At the age of twenty-one he left Vermont to seek his fortune in the West. He was one of the pioneers in the coal trade in Cleveland, his first enterprise being at the Brier Hill mines in 1845 in company with Governor Tod and Mr. Ford. He was largely the means of overcoming the old habit of using wood for fuel on the boats, as he saw the greater economy and value of coal. The business under his care, with his tact and energy, soon became of great magni- tude, and fresh mines were shortly opened by the firm in Tuscarawas and Wayne counties. In 1855 the firm of Tod & Rhodes was dissolved. In 1857 Mr. Rhodes formed a partnership with J. F. Card, and the new firm pushed the development with great earnestness. In 1864 they purchased the old blast furnace at Canal Dover, where they manufac- tured immense quantities of pig iron. In 1860 Mr. Rhodes's attention became attracted to the mineral resources of Stark county, and there opened the since famous Willow Bank mine. This has proved to be one of the most extensive and profitable mines ever worked in Ohio. The next opened were the Rhodes, the Willow Bank No. 3, the Buckeye, and the Warmington. He was also largely interested in the Ful- ton Coal Company and the Silver Creek Company. The combined product of these various mines soon reached an aggregate of over two thousand tons daily. In 1867 the firm of Rhodes & Card was dissolved, and that of Rhodes & Co. was formed, consisting of George H. Warmington, Marcus A. Hanna (son-in-law of Mr. Rhodes), and his son, Robert R. Rhodes. Mr. Rhodes took an active part in the construc- tion of the northern division of the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad, and also of the Massillon and. Cleveland Railroad, and the Lake Shore and Tuscarawas Valley Railroad. He, in company with H. S. Stevens, constructed the Cleveland West Side street railway. He was a zealous promoter of the West Side Gas Works, and was the founder of the People's Savings and Loan Association, of which he was president at the time of his death. In politics he was a strict constitu- tional democrat. He was a cousin of Stephen A: Douglas, and his earnest and steadfast supporter. He was a member of the Baltimore Convention in 1860, which nominated Doug- las for the presidency. Mr. Rhodes has contributed as large a share as any one man toward the growth, wealth, and pros- perity of the city of Cleveland. He was a man warmly esteemed by all for his qualities of head and heart; his char- acter was sterling, and his judgment ripe, and his loss was
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