USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume II > Part 21
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on the continent, the transport already lying in wait, the regiment was transferred to the mouth of the Rio Grande, with Dr. Robison as its surgeon. Here, during the following hot months, though only twenty-six years of age, and almost inexperienced, he had full professional charge of all the troops in that vicinity. On the 9th of the following Decem- ber he was commissioned regular surgeon of the 3d Illinois Regiment, and served as such during the remainder of the war, returning to Cincinnati in the fall of 1848. His return only revealed to him the fact that his practice had been absorbed by other hands, and to remain there was to undergo again the ordeal of building up a city practice, a trial suffi- cient to tax the courage of the most enthusiastic young pro- fessionalist. He visited his friends in Wooster, and at the earnest solicitation of his parents, consented to locate there. In this place he has remained to the present time. On the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion, he entered it, at the first call for volunteers, as surgeon of the 16th Ohio Regiment. He was with it in the first battle of the war, the battle of Philippi, and amputated the first leg of the war-that of a Confederate soldier. At the close of this three months' en- listment, he was commissioned, by Governor Dennison, sur- geon of the 45th Ohio Volunteers, and ordered to report to Gen- eral Rosecrans, then in Western Virginia, whom he reached the day preceding the battle of Carnifex Ferry. Immediately after this battle he was assigned, by chief of staff Dr. Wertz, to locate hospitals at the mouth of the Gauley River and at Charleston, in West Virginia, and at Gallipolis, in Ohio, as- suming personal charge of the one at Gallipolis. He re- mained here until ordered to report, as surgeon of volunteers, to General Lander, whom he reached, at Paw-paw Tunnel, three days previous to the general's death. Dr. Robison went with this army, now under the command of General Shields, up the Shenandoah Valley, participated in the first battle at Winchester, after which he was placed in charge of the hospitals at Winchester. Remaining here in charge sev- eral months, he was ordered to report to General Banks, in person. Assigning the hospitals to Dr. Salter, he went out of the valley as an officer on the staff of General Banks. He was then placed in charge of a hospital at Hagerstown, Maryland, and to him was committed the duty of relieving the army of disqualified troops. He was next ordered to the Sixth Army Corps, under General Franklin, as assistant-in- spector, under Dr. White, of the regular army. This corps belonged to the Army of the Potomac, then under General McClellan, and was soon after engaged in the battle of An- tietam Creek. Soon after this engagement Dr. Robison was ordered to Washington, to take charge of the Patent Office Hospital, where he remained about four months, when he was called home, in consequence of the serious illness of his wife. Her lingering illness, of which she subsequently died, compelled him to resign his position in the army, but he was soon commissioned surgeon of the Board of Enrollment for the Eighteenth Congressional District, in which he lived, and served in that capacity during the remainder of the war. Although advanced in years, Dr. Robison is strong and active, performing with promptness the labors of a very extensive professional practice. In personal appearance he is of medium height, straight and strongly built, and genteel and courteous in his bearing. He is well educated in his pro- fession, a good talker, and of a buoyant temperament, excel- lently qualified to inspire courage in the suffering. With his very extensive and varied experience it would be superfluous
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to speak in eulogistic terms as to his ability as an accom- plished practitioner. He has never gone outside of his pro- fession for employment, and consequently held no political offices. He is a member of the American Medical and Ohio Medical Associations, a member of the Episcopalian Church, and a Republican in politics. He was married February 18th, 1856, to Anna E. Loring, of Medina, Ohio, who died Sep- tember, 1868, and again in October, 1869, to Mrs. Viola Taylor, of Lorain County. He has two sons living, Richard, a manu- facturer, at Wooster, and Harry, a sheep-grower, on the plains of Kansas. Thomas, the oldest son, died September 27th, 1878, three months after graduating from the University of Wooster.
HUGHES, HUGH WASHINGTON, President of the Union National Bank, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, October 26th, 1812. His pa- ternal grandfather, Richard Hughes, came from the North of Ireland, and settled in the Colony of Virginia, about two years before the breaking out of the Revolution. It is an authenticated tradition in the family that the Wesleys used to preach from the " upping-stone " that stood in front of his grandfather's house, before he emigrated to this country. When the war of the Revolution opened his grandfather at once espoused the cause of the colonies, and enlisting as a soldier in the American army, served as such throughout the struggle, contributing as much as in him lay to the achieve- ment of our national independence. Out of his earnings he purchased land in Rockingham County, and there spent his closing years in agricultural pursuits. There was also born Richard Hughes, the father of the banker. His mother, Nancy Davis, was born in Greenbrier County, of the same State. From these immediate ancestors descended seven sons and five daughters, all of whom reached maturity with- out a serious accident befalling any of them, all married, and all had children. Of this number three sisters and two broth- ers are dead. One brother, Hon. Charles M. Hughes, is now serving as Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court of Ohio; another, John L., is at present steward of Dayton Lunatic Asylum. The parents of Mr. Hughes emigrated to Ohio, and located in Dayton, in 1829. He spent his early years in labor upon his father's farm. He had the ordinary educa- tional facilities of that day, of which he earnestly availed himself. Shortly after reaching Ohio he engaged in teaching school, and at the same time was a student himself, engaging zealously in the study of the higher branches-mathematics, surveying, and Latin. His early taste was for mathematics, a financial turn of mind that ultimately determined his choice of business pursuits. His first step in the banking business was taken in 1838, when he became teller and cashier in a branch of the Planter's Bank, of Yazoo, Mississippi. It should be stated in passing that this bank alone survived the calamities that befell the other branch banks, that it met all its liabilities and paid a surplus into the parent bank, upon winding up its affairs. In 1848 Mr. Hughes came to Cincinnati, Ohio. Having by industry and economy accumulated a little re- serve, he entered as teller in the Mechanics' and Traders' Branch of the State Bank of Ohio, and served as such until January, 1849, when he became cashier, and served as such in the firm of Smead & Co., until May, 1852, when the partnership of Smead, Collard & Hughes was formed, in which Mr. Hughes had one-fourth interest, and which continued until 1857. The firm of Evans, Swift & Hughes
was immediately thereafter started, which continued one year, when it became Evans & Co., continuing until 1875, when Mr. Hughes, having purchased the entire interests of his partners, associated with him Messrs. John R. Wright, William Sumner, and Augustus Wessel, the firm thereafter being known as H. W. Hughes & Co. This continued until August 22d, 1881, when Mr. Hughes organized the Union National Bank, with a capital of five hundred thou- sand dollars, and of which he was then elected president. In common with many other banking houses the firm of Smead, Collard & Hughes suffered in consequence of the crisis of 1857. In order to meet his liabilities to his depositors Mr. Hughes relinquished all his property, dis- claimed all exemptions allowed by law, sold his home, his household goods, and many of his valuable books, and applied the proceeds to take up checks and certificates of deposits against his bank-in this instance living up to one of his rules in the banking business, " never to regard yourself as worth a dollar until every cent of your deposits is refunded and your debts all paid." The business of this bank, thus closed up, unexpectedly left a surplus after having paid in full every depositor and creditor. This conduct showed that an honorable man was on trial, and hence an acquittal at the bar of public opinion. It constituted the basis of renewed credit, and, therefore, when the time came for asking a renewal of confidence on the part of depositors, capital flowed to him, and his career has since been marked by uninterrupted success. While thus professionally engaged during the progress of the civil war, Mr. Hughes was in active and practical sympathy with the operations of our army. Although near fifty years of age, he was elected first lieutenant of a company of one hundred and ten men, raised in Glendale and its vicinity, and of which N. C. McLean (afterward general) was the captain. Upon the promotion of McLean Lieutenant Hughes was elected captain, and for two years held that position. Two days in every week were spent, alternately. in Glendale and Springdale, drilling his company in the manual of arms, and military tactics gen- erally. They were fully armed and equipped. More than fifty per cent enlisted for the war from its ranks, and many of the number never returned. Of his means also he con- tributed largely to the support of the government in its struggle for self-preservation. When Secretary Chase, in 1861, made the first call for a loan to the government, for the purpose of embarking in a war whose end no man could foresee, the bank of Evans & Co. was the first to respond, and thereupon Mr. Hughes carried upon his own shoulder fifty thousand dollars in gold, from his bank over to the Ohio Valley Bank, and deposited it to the credit of the govern- ment, taking only a receipt therefor. Thus did he exemplify his faith and sympathy and patriotism at that dark hour in the history of the nation. His political affiliations were at first with the Whig party. He was one of the one hundred thousand that assembled at Dayton, in mass meeting, to listen to General Harrison, during the campaign of 1840. He is one of the founders of the Republican party. His political faith is as deep-seated as his religious convictions; indeed, one is the corollary of the other. Mr. Hughes has been an active member of the Presbyterian Church since 1838. For years he has been one of the ruling elders in his Church, at Glendale. He has always been a student of the Bible, and during all his Church connection has been a teacher in its Sabbath-schools. No man more firmly or pro-
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foundly believes that "the law of the Lord is perfect, con- verting the soul." A theologian by nature and culture, he has acquired in the course of study and research a collection of theological works which give character to a library con- sisting of over twenty-five hundred volumes. In it may be found the Bible in fifty different editions. The late W. H. McGuffey, LL. D. (uncle of Mrs. Hughes), and Rev. Dr. Thomas E. Thomas (deceased), and other eminent divines, have often consulted and enjoyed his library on this account. Upon questions of sectarian differences, Church polity, and ecclesiastical law, his judgment is regarded as almost un- erring. He represented his Church as a delegate to the General Assembly which met in St. Louis, in 1874; also in Springfield, Illinois, in 1882, and was the author of the motion to take the vote standing in condemnation of the " new criticism," which passed with unanimity and met with unqualified approbation throughout the bounds of the Church. Recognizing his high Christian character as a man, and his eminent fitness for the duties to be dis- charged, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, at its session in Saratoga in May, 1883, elected him a delegate to the " Third Council of the General Alliance of the Reformed Churches holding the Presbyterian Sys- tem," which meets in Belfast, Ireland, in July, 1884. He is one of the trustees of Lane Theological Seminary, and also of the Miami University; is an active Sunday-school worker, and has been instrumental in establishing mission schools in many instances. Upon questions of Church and charitable giving he may be classed among the most liberal, his self-appointed rule being, "Give whenever called upon, and whenever the opportunity presents itslf, to the extent of my ability." Considered with reference to these fundamental features of his character, we are not at a loss to account for those traits that predominate in him as a successful bank president. "A high sense of honor, moral and business integrity, firmness, quickness of perception, promptitude, a knowledge of human nature, and such an adherence to business principles and rules as will enable one to say 'Yes' or 'No' to any man at any time." Per- sonally he is held in high esteem by all who know him. He has been treasurer of Glendale Corporation for years. A lover of the truth wherever it lifts its head, and imperious in its defense when assailed ; impatient with the false, and resolute in his assaults upon it whenever it seeks to invade either Church or state or society ; possessing a sympathetic heart, dominated by a calculating head; a hand given to charity, while no tongue is permitted to herald it-these are some of the moral characteristics of one of the leading financiers of Ohio. Mr. Hughes married Miss Clara Mon- fort August 30th, 1838. She was born September 21st, 1812, at Yellow Springs, Ohio, and was the daughter of Rev. Peter Monfort, a Presbyterian minister who preached the gospel more than fifty years in the State of Ohio. She died at Glendale, Friday, April 27th, 1883. The funeral was attended by a large number of sympathizing friends. She was a Christian almost from her infancy, of rare equanimity, kind- ness, consistency, intelligence, and piety. Of three children one only survives, Henry Webster Hughes, who was born June 5th, 1853. He graduated at Miami University, Ohio, in 1873, at the age of twenty. He was one of five students who, by extraordinary application, achieved the distinction of having the degree of Master of Arts conferred at the time of his graduation. He married Miss Mary B., a daughter of
Rev. L. H. Bugbee, D. D., late President of Wesleyan Female College, Cincinnati, Ohio, and still later of Alleghany Col- lege, Pennsylvania. Mr. Hughes is a well preserved gen- tleman of the olden school. A Virginian by birth and early education, years spent in his adopted State have not wholly eradicated the pride of character peculiar to those born and reared in that old Commonwealth. He has spent nearly half a century in a business crucible as trying as any in which it is possible to engage, and from which should he emerge to-day his reputation would be without spot or blemish. His pleasant residence-within, pictures and books and all things that may add comfort and refinement; with- out, ample grounds, abounding with trees and flowering shrubs and plants-is one of the most attractive places in the beautiful village of Glendale. Mr. Hughes is a method- ical man. This arises from his early appreciation of the value of time. "Toil for the body, study for the mind," was adopted as a rule of conduct when he was but a boy. When his day's work was done, then mental toil began, often ex- tending late into the night. And at no time in later years has he been without a definite plan as to literary pursuits. This course of reading and study has necessitated the accumu- lation of a large library, until it may be said of him, as it was said of another, "he lords it o'er an ever-widening realm of books." Therefore time has never dragged upon his hands. With the same alacrity with which he transacts his business he turns to toil in the fields of literature. To this regularity of employment, both of body and mind, may be attributed that healthy look and steady step that char- acterize his appearance to-day. If he could say a word that would reach the ears of the rising generation, it would be, " Time is the warp of life. O tell the young, the gay, the fair, to weave it well."
MCCURDY, THOMAS A., D. D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, at Wooster, Ohio, was born at Lewis- ville, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, January 18th, 1839. He is the son of John McCurdy, and Sarah (Ewing) Mc- Curdy, whose parents emigrated from Northern Ireland to America, in its early history, and settled in Indiana and Westmoreland Counties, respectively. They bought land from the government, and engaged in clearing it and culti- vating the soil. Young Thomas, son of John McCurdy, re- ceived a thorough common school education in his boyhood, and took a full classical course in the Jacksonville Academy, preparatory to a university course. He then entered regularly the junior class in Washington and Jefferson College, and graduated with honor in 1865. From here he went immed- iately to the Western Theological Seminary, at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and took a full theological course. He was in early life an admirer of books, and enthusiastic student, and resolved to devote his life to one of the learned professions, but rather inclined to the study of medicine. But a severe and lingering illness led him to serious contemplation of the spirit world, on which he came so near entering, and the fact pressed itself upon him, that the highest aim of the present life should be to prepare for the next. He thereupon resolved to make the ministry of the Gospel his life-work henceforth, devoting his energies with unswerving zeal to that end. His first pastoral charge was in Wellsville, Ohio, where he located immediately after graduating at the seminary. Two years after, he was called, and settled as pastor of the First Pres- byterian Church, of Steubenville, Ohio. After a successful
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his fortune. His judgment of character is almost absolutely perfect, so that in all the positions of trust in which he has placed men, he has in no single instance been deceived. In his friendships he is warm-hearted and sincere, and commands in return the affectionate respect of all who share his confi- dence. Young men have always found in him a prudent adviser and friend, and more than one successful business man owes his success to his timely assistance, generously and considerately bestowed. For more than thirty years Mr. Chamberlain has been an honored member of the Second Presbyterian Church, and one of the most liberal supporters of all its Christian and benevolent enterprises. Mr. Cham- berlain was married in 1844 to Miss Arabella Cochran, of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Two children were born to them, both of whom died in early childhood. His nephew, Mr. Robert L. Chamberlain, was at once taken into the place thus made vacant. He is a graduate of Yale College, and a gentleman of stainless integrity and elegant culture, who, in time, will succeed to the large fortune of his uncle, as he has long shared in his good name.
. JENNER, JOHN W., Common Pleas Judge, of Mans- field, Ohio, was born February 17th, 1836, in Mansfield. His father, Dr. A. Jenner, was born near Newark, New Jer- sey. His ancestors, at an early day, sought an asylum in this country, coming from London, England, about 1715, and settling in Litchfield County, Connecticut. To escape the tyranny and oppression of the Old World, they were willing to brave the dangers and endure the hardships of the New, for the sake of the liberties it afforded them. It was love of liberty and hatred of despotism that peopled this country and transformed its unbroken forests and rolling prairies, as if by a magic wand, into a blossoming paradise, filled with happy homes. Soon after his marriage with Julianna Mclaughlin, born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whose an- cestors came from the southern part of Scotland, Dr. Jenner and his young wife, turning their faces toward the setting sun, and traveling with the star of empire westward, settled in Mansfield, Ohio, in 1835. The present city, with its rail- roads, telegraph lines, telephone exchanges, manufacturing institutions, public schools, and magnificent churches, was then a small frontier village, without any of these wonderful inventions of the nineteenth century. The doctor practiced medicine in Richland County till about the year 1860, when they removed to Crestline, Crawford County, Ohio, where they continued to reside the remainder of their lives. During the years of 1857-8-9 Dr. Jenner was a member of the State Legis- lature. To the doctor twelve children were born, six sons and six daughters, of whom four sons and four daughters are now living. Until sixteen years of age, John W. Jenner attended school in the village of Ontario, Richland County, where he availed himself of such opportunities as it afforded him. But this was not enough ; his mind was awakened and am- bition aroused, and he was eager to attain a higher educa- tion-one that would fit him for a career of usefulness, and enable him to make a success of life. To this end he entered the university at Delaware, Ohio, and pursued his studies through the junior year, gleaning much valuable information outside the prescribed course of study. But perhaps the most valuable schooling he ever received was the self-reliance he had to exercise during this time. Being entirely dependent upon his own resources to make his way through college, he was obliged to teach school for four winters, attending the
university the remainder of each year. At the close of his junior year he went to Missouri, and taught a year, intend- ing to return and graduate the following year. But the un- shaped future had it otherwise for him. Instead of returning to college, circumstances induced him to change his purpose, and he commenced reading law in 1859, in the office of Judge T. W. Bartley, of Mansfield. In the spring of 1863 he was admitted to the bar, and has continued to practice ever since in his native city, except while on the Common Pleas Bench. In 1864 he entered into partnership with Judge T. W. Bartley, now a practicing lawyer of Washington, D. C., and William Johnson, who served in the Lower House of Congress for two years. This partnership continued till the removal of Mr. Bartley, when Messrs. Jenner and Johnson remained in the firm. They were thus associated up to the time of Mr. Johnson's death, which occurred soon after his defeat for re-election to Congress, in 1867. Five years after this Mr. Jenner again entered into partnership with Judge Dickey, now of Cleveland, and Judge G. W. Geddes, present member of Congress for the Fourteenth District of Ohio. This relation continued till Mr. Dickey was elected Common Pleas Judge, and Mr. Geddes was elected to Congress At the time of his elevation to the bench, Mr. Jenner was associated in the practice of law with his brother, S. E. Jenner, a son-in- law of Judge Bartley, and Mr. F. K. Tracy, the last two still continuing together. Mr. Jenner was twice elected prosecut- ing attorney of Richland County, serving from 1864 to 1868. He performed the duties of that office with marked ability and credit to himself and satisfaction to all concerned. Act- ing as President of the Board of Education of the city of Mansfield ever since 1875, he has always taken a principal part in the prosperity and development of all the educational interests of the city, and the excellent condition of the schools at the present time is largely due to his influence. Mr. Jen- ner's only military experience was in September, 1862, when he, in company with four or five hundred others from Rich- land County, responded to the call of Governor Tod, and proceeded to Cincinnati as one of the famous " Squirrel- hunters." In politics Mr. Jenner has always been an earnest and ardent supporter of the Democratic party, and being a Democrat received a high compliment when Governor Fos- ter appointed him to the Common Pleas Bench, made vacant by the resignation of Judge Dickey. This was done, too, at the request and approval of every Republican of any prom- inence at the bar. Although but recently appointed, he has shown such ability and fairness on the bench as to gain the highest esteem and confidence of the bar, and the friend- ship of those over whose interests he has presided. On the 19th of May, 1868, Mr. Jenner was married to Miss Emma A. Mack, daughter of Dr. John Mack, a well-known physician of Richland County, who formerly represented the counties of Ashland and Richland in the State Senate. To them five children have been born, four of whom are now living- Mary, born July 5th, 1870 ; Florence, born September 17th, 1872; Grace, born August 14th, 1874; William, who died in infancy ; and the youngest, an infant daughter, a few months old, born March 23d, 1882. As an attorney Judge Jenner stands among the very first of his compeers, as he is one of the most successful, for years seldom losing a case of any importance. A thorough knowledge of the law, augmented by his weight of character and moral worth, gives him at all times a great vantage ground. Others may resort to tricks and cunning tactics, he wins by fair and honest means, and
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