USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume II > Part 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74
worship to any other, yet he was one of the most catholic of men, loving the Christian spirit under whatever form it was manifested, and ready at all times to assist other denomina- tions in their efforts to sustain themselves, believing that each has its sphere of duty and usefulness. Judge Lane died on the 12th June, 1866, and his remains were buried in the cem- etery at Sandusky, eight lawyers acting as pall-bearers.
WELCH, JOHNSON M., of Athens, a prominent law- yer and a major in the late war of the rebellion, is a native of Athens County, being the son of John Welch, L.L. D., late Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio. He was born April 20, 1832, and at an early age matriculated at the Ohio Uni- versity, where his early education was acquired. Quitting that institution at the age of nineteen, he commenced the study of the law under the tuition of his father. He par- tially completed his course, when he was appointed to a clerical position in the Interior Department at Washington. Ill-health necessitated his retirement from that position, and he spent a number of months in travel, recruiting his health. In 1856-7 he was engaged in mercantile business in Athens, but, resuming the study of the law, he completed his course, and was admitted to practice in 1858. He was thus engaged until the breaking out of the war. In July, 1861, he recruited Company C, 18th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Colonel T. R. Stanley. His regiment was attached to the Army of the Cumberland, and he served as Captain of Company C with credit until his promotion to a majority, June, 1863. During Major Welch's time of service he was largely employed on staff duty. He participated in most of the battles of his de- partment, including Stone River and Chickamauga. At Stone River he received a severe shell wound in his left leg. During the Winter and Spring of 1864 he was in command of his regiment. He filled the arduous position of provost marshal at Chattanooga, and discharged the multifarious duties of that office with signal ability. On his return from the army, in November, 1864, he resumed the practice of his profession, and on the retirement of his father from the supreme bench formed a law partnership with him, which still continues, the firm of Welch & Welch being widely and favorably known. Of late years he has become largely interested in the mineral lands of South-eastern Ohio, and he has conducted with success operations of great magnitude. He has also made a business of operating in all kinds of real estate, especially farming lands, of which he has sold many thousands of acres. While holding pronounced views upon all the political questions of the day, Major Welch has never entered actively into poli- tics, being content to preserve to his community simply the relations of an able and skillful lawyer and an enterprising business man. In civil as in military life, he is distinguished by his great tact and administrative ability, which have ena- bled him to conceive great projects and push them to a suc- cessful conclusion. He is at this writing vice-president of the First National Bank of Athens and president of the Athens Gaslight Company. Major Welch was married in 1853 to Adaline Carpenter. She died in 1866, and he was a second time married, in 1870, to Miss Ella Cadwallader, of Mari- etta, Ohio.
LOCKE, JOHN, physician and scientist, was born at Fryeburg, Maine, on the 19th February, 1792, and died at Cincinnati on the 10th July, 1856. He was the son of a mill- wright. In 1816, he commenced the study of medicine at
#
402
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
Bethel and subsequently under Dr. Twitchell, at Keene, New Hampshire. In 1819, after spending the previous year lec- turing on the science of botany at Portland, Boston, and elsewhere, he completed and published a book which, while professing to be an abridgment of "Smith's Botany," con- tained much original matter. Finding it difficult to procure the plates of this work, he procured tools and, with some slight instruction how to use them, he engraved the necessary plates himself on copper. His displays of mechanical and artistic skill caused the surprise of all who knew how little education of this kind he had obtained. He settled in 1822 in Cincinnati, and abandoning the practice of medicine, he opened a female school, and took an important part in or- ganizing the Mechanics' Institute, delivering lectures before its classes, and giving in various ways instruction in those departments of science which bear upon the arts. In 1835, he was elected professor of chemistry in the Medical College of Ohio, and as the chemical department was then almost destitute of every means of illustration, he supplied much of the deficiency by his ingenuity and handicraft. Subsequently he visited Europe and purchased apparatus at an expense of several thousand dollars. In the department of geology, Dr. Locke occupied a high rank. In 1838, he was engaged in the geological survey of Ohio; and his report on the phys- ical structure and the paleontology of the southwestern part of the State must be regarded as a paper of great value. In connection with David D. Owen, he was next engaged to examine for minerals the lands of the Northwest, and in this work proved the correctness of his theory that the Cincinnati blue limestone underlies the whole Mississippi valley. Dur- ing his connection with the Ohio Medical college, he con- tributed much for the advancement of science by his im- provements in experimental physics. His communications, published in the Philosophical Magazine and Silliman's Journal, afford proof of this fact. But the most valuable of his inventions was the magnetic clock, combined with the telegraphic wire, by which the longitude, regarding which there was previously an error or uncertainty of a few miles, even for places on land, could be determined as accurately as the latitude, and thus correcting to exactitude results geo- graphical and astronomical dependent on the magnitude of the earth. For this invention, Dr. Locke received from the general government $10,000. For fifteen years he filled the chair of chemistry in the college with honor to himself, and benefit to his students, but in the winter of 1849-50, this institution being dragged into the arena of political warfare he was removed, and although subsequently reelected, the indignity weakened his desire to hold his chair, and two years afterward he resigned it. Going to Lebanon, Ohio, he there opened a seminary for young ladies, but it did not succeed, and in 1855, he returned to Cincinnati. Here his health rapidly failed, and continued to do so until his death in July of the following year. No brighter student of science ever lectured a class in an Ohio college.
MITCHELL, ROBERT, president of the Robert Mit- chell Furniture Company, of Cincinnati, was born November 15th, 1811, in the North of Ireland. His ancestors belonged to that class of people known as Scotch-Irish, a race who have made their mark in America as well as at home, being distinguished for their force of character and strong individ- uality in every department-as merchants and manufacturers, in the military, in literature and in science, indeed, in all the
higher pursuits of life. The subject of this sketch immigrated to America, with his parents and a family of nine children, in 1824, he being in his thirteenth year, and proceeded at once to Cincinnati. To those who only know of railroads and steamships, it may be interesting to learn that at the period referred to it took the party three and a half months from the time they sailed from Londonderry, Ireland, until they reached Cincinnati. They arrived at Quebec by sail- ship, after a passage of fifty-two days; thence to Montreal by steamer ; thence up the St. Lawrence to Kingston, Canada, by what was called a Durham boat, that had to be pulled up the rapids by oxen, numbering sometimes eight yoke to a boat. From Kingston they sailed to the upper end of Lake Ontario, by schooner ; thence to Buffalo, past the Falls of Niagara, by wagon ; thence to Erie, Pennsylvania, by schooner, where they encountered a violent storm, and people who watched the boat with glasses from the shore expected every moment to see her go down with all on board. They finally succeeded, however, in effecting a landing, and the party proceeded by wagon to Waterford. At this point they ex- pected to go down the Allegheny River by row-boat, but the water was too low, and they traveled by wagon to Pittsburg, where they anticipated finding a steamer to Cincinnati, but found the water so low that no boat could run, so they were obliged to take a keel-boat instead. By this, floating by night and rowing by day, they reached their destination in two weeks from Pittsburg, having been from June Ist until September 16th in making the entire journey. When it is considered that they were strangers in a strange land, with but a slender stock of cash, it can be seen that it took no little courage and resolution to perform such a journey. At Cincinnati they found some old acquaintances, who joyfully and hospitably received them. This part of our sketch is dwelt upon to show the hardships of immigration at that date-before the age of railways and steamships. After prospecting in various places, the family finally settled on a rough farm in Indiana, and Robert bore his part in clearing it of the forest and building a home for the family. The only school in those days was kept in a log-cabin, for about three or four months in the winter season. But having attended a good common school in Ireland, and bringing all his books with him, which he studied of winter evenings by the light of the fire, he succeeded so well that he was urgently requested to teach the school himself, though then but sixteen years of age. He finally decided to assume the responsi- bility, and the largest school was made up for him that had ever been collected at that school-house, many of the pupils being much larger and several years older than himself. At this period the price of farm produce was extremely low, and farm labor was poorly paid. Having attained his eighteenth year, young Mitchell became dissatisfied with his prospects in that vocation, and reflected whether he could not improve his condition. The result was that he left the farm he had labored hard to develop, and found his way to Cincinnati, his sole capital consisting of a good character and a sound and vigorous constitution, to which he added a determination to do something, he scarcely knew what. So, after spending some time at various employments-one of which was carrying mortar and brick for the foundation of the old church in which Dr. Beecher, the father of Henry Ward Beecher, preached for many years, and which was torn down forty years afterward by Mr. Mitchell for the erection, on the same ground, of the magnificent block now
Western Biogl Pub Co.
yours Truly
403
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
occupied by him as a furniture store-looking about him, he determined to learn a business as the first step to fortune, and accordingly, as soon as possible, apprenticed himself to the business of cabinet-making. At that time the manufac- ture of furniture, like every other trade in a new country, was in its primitive condition. He completed his apprentice- ship, and then worked as a journeyman for the next five or six years. An incident occurred during his term as appren- tice which shows something of the spirit within him. The first year he -bargained to work for one dollar a week and board ; by working extra hours, and by strict self-denial, he saved all his wages for eleven months, when his employer failed, and through him he lost all his savings. He had intended with his wages to purchase some tools to work with as a journeyman at the end of his term of service; but his misfortune raised up a friend in a fellow shop-mate who loaned him the money with which to make his desired pur- chase. This act of kindness has never been forgotten by him. After working a few years at his trade, and during a strike in 1836, he commenced business for himself in part- nership with Mr. Robert M. Moore, who was a fellow shop- mate. Mr. Moore afterward made a creditable record both in the war with Mexico and in the late Rebellion. He sub- sequently became Mayor of Cincinnati. The partnership continued for several years, but with little progress financially, having but small capital and no business experience, though some knowledge of the trade and general business was gained. The first ten years of his business career had pro- duced but little gain, but the experience was valuable, and opened the way to future success. About 1844 some little wood-working machinery was introduced in the manufacture of furniture, and Mr. Mitchell foresaw the great advantage it was likely to prove in cheapening the cost of labor, but he was without the means necessary to its adoption in the proper manner. Still his mind was full of it, and on a very stormy Christmas day he called on a neighbor and expati- ated on the great advantage to be derived from the use of machinery. The gentleman, John T. Martin, listened atten- tively to his remarks, and said very little, but early the next morning Mr. Mitchell was called on by him. He said: "I have been thinking over what you said about the advantage of machinery, and if you think well of it, will furnish the necessary capital to give it a fair trial." This seemed the most glorious moment of his life-the dream of years seemed now a reality. He did not hesitate, but at once accepted the offer, and very soon commenced the construction of a factory forty by eighty feet, four stories high above a basement, and soon got it in operation; but Mr. Martin not being a mechanic, and the golden results not being realized as soon as he expected, offered to sell out his interest, and Mr. Frederick Rammelsberg became the purchaser. At the end of two years their factory was burned, with no insurance on it; but having realized some of the advantages of the use of machinery, they at once proceeded to erect another building on a larger scale, and although there were many obstacles to conquer and prejudices to overcome, both from the work- men and the public, as well as the old fogies who adhered to the old modes, and ridiculed " steam-made furniture." But the "steam-made furniture " was not long in proving its good qualities, as well as greatly reducing the prices. Up to this time the supply of furniture for each locality was supplied by home workmen, but soon the advantages of quality and prices were so great that steam-made furniture
became an article of merchandise, and was shipped to all points of the West and South that were accessible by water and rail, until now the annual export of furniture exceeds eight millions of dollars from Cincinnati alone. Mr. Ram- melsberg died in the year 1863, since which time Mr. Mitchell has conducted the entire business himself, though at the present time his two sons, Albert and Richard, have largely assumed the management of the concern, which is undoubt- edly the largest of its kind in this country. In the year 1867 Mr. Mitchell desired to retire from the active duties of the business, and to that end converted the concern into a stock company, giving the employes twice the amount of stock they could pay for, leaving the remainder to be paid by dividends, and he started on a tour of Europe. But on his return it was found necessary for him to put his shoulder to the wheel again, and he has continued to devote a large portion of his time to the business ever since. Throughout his long business career Mr. Mitchell has exercised the closest personal supervision over each and every detail in his large manufactory, as also all interests connected with his extensive store combined with it. He has never allowed a well day to pass without devoting a portion of it in this way. To this fact is his great success largely attributable. Thoroughly interested in his enterprise, he has always been the first to thoroughly test and adopt new methods and im- proved machinery, thus securing the highest attainable de- gree of excellence in all departments. During the exposition in Philadelphia, in 1876, he was selected one of the judges in his department of industry. The only other interest of importance with which Mr. Mitchell is identified is that of banking, having been one of the founders of and original stockholders in the First National Bank of Cincinnati, in which he has been director ever since its organization. He is a man of great probity of character, original in his views, independent in action, and sagacious in his undertakings. His excellent judgment has great weight with men who know him, and where questions of justice and equity arise in all matters in which his opinion or action is demanded, he per- forms what to him seems his duty, without fear or favor. Mr. Mitchell stands in the business world and in the esteem of his fellows a typical example of what physical and mental energy, persistent application, an indomitable will, unblem- ished character, and strict integrity can accomplish. Mr. Mitchell has been twice married. Three daughters and two sons by his first wife survive. All are married and living around him in the pleasant suburb of Avondale, just outside the city proper. There are no children by the second wife, but she makes him a happy and comfortable home. Being fully occupied with his business, he has never held any public office, although frequently solicited to do so, but has always taken an active part in all matters of public concern and every thing tending to the improvement of the city as well as the country. He is a Republican in politics, and although not a member of any denomination in religion, in the strict sense of the term, yet strongly attached to and an attendant of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Having been actively engaged in business forty-seven years, he can show a clean record, having never failed nor compromised any indebted- ness. In consideration of the long period over which his business career has extended, throughout which his labors of both mind and body have been unremitting, both in estab- lishing, against adverse circumstances, the foundation of what is now a mammoth industry, and also in maintaining
13-B
-
404
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
it against the prejudices of men and the depressions in the commercial world, attendant on the numerous financial panics through which he has passed; and although now in his seventy-second year, he retains to a remarkable degree his native vigor, both physical and mental, and with his accustomed regularity is still daily found at his places of business, guiding and directing the more important work in the various departments of his factory, and looking after the finances and general interests connected therewith.
HEDGES, JOSIAH, founder of Tiffin, was a lineal descendant of Sir Charles Hedges, one of the Secretaries of State under Queen Anne of England, and a member of the British Parliament. Joseph Hedges, who was the son of Charles Hedges, gentleman, and grandson of Sir Charles, came to America at an early day, and settled in Prince George County, Maryland. He had nine children, two of whom-Charles and Joseph-moved to Frederick County. The former of these became the father of fourteen children, one of whom was named Charles; the latter had an only daughter and child, named Rebecca. The last-mentioned, Charles and Rebecca, intermarrying, left their Maryland home, and settled in Virginia. They were the parents of eleven children, including the subject of this sketch, who was born in Brook County, Virginia, April 9th, 1778. Reared amid the incidents of a long war, inspired by contact with heroes of the Revolution, Josiah grew up a sturdy, resolute, and self-reliant youth. At the age of eighteen he was en- gaged, on his own account, in shipping produce from Wheel- ing to New Orleans, the then seat of the French govern- ment of Louisiana. About the same time he moved into the "Northwestern Territory." He was permanently located there in 1801, and when, a year afterward, Ohio was admitted as a State into the Union, the people of Belmont County conferred the honor of making him their first Sheriff. In- telligent, energetic, and upright, this executor of the law, young as he was, discharged the duties of the high trust with promptness and discretion, and secured the good will of his fellow-citizens; for, upon the expiration of his term, he was chosen Clerk of the Courts. He made a careful and efficient clerk, and continued to hold that office until, turning his attention to mercantile pursuits, he devoted his time to the establishing of an extensive trade at St. Clairsville. There were no commercial agents on the road in those days, no facilities for exchange, and Philadelphia (three hundred miles away) was the nearest point at which to replenish a depleted stock. Thither, on horseback, semi-annually, the enterprising merchant journeyed, with large sums of money on his person, to make selections and pay for the goods he might purchase. By prudent investment and judicious man- agement Mr. Hedges made the St. Clairsville venture a success, and in 1819 he started a new store in Mansfield, Ohio, and associated with him as partners his two brothers, Elza Hedges, a man of mark in his day, and General James Hedges, a distinguished soldier of the war of 1812, on General Harrison's staff. The Hedges Brothers, of Mansfield, were a prosperous firm, and a strong bond of friendship ex- isted between its members throughout their lives. In 1820 Josiah Hedges visited Fort Ball, bought a tract of land oppo- site it, on the Sandusky River, laid out a town, which, in honor of his warm personal friend, the first Governor of Ohio, he named Tiffin. In 1822 he had put up a saw-mill, built a mill for making flour, erected a public hall, provided rooms
for offices and shops, and then by disposing of building lots at moderate prices, and by being lenient and magnanimous with purchasers, the infant town of Tiffin grew apace. In 1824, upon the organization of Seneca County, Mr. Hedges aspired to make Tiffin the county seat. It was centrally located, had many natural advantages, and its founder pro- posed donating ample and suitable grounds for county build- ings. Across the river, however, was a troublesome rival. At Fort Ball a town called Oakley had been started, equally well situated, and which its proprietor, Jesse Spencer, de- clared outranked Tiffin in seniority and in its reminiscences of history. While the respective friends of these two places were studying how best to get ahead, Mr. Hedges, with his usual quickness of decision and promptness of action, cut the Gordian knot, by buying out Spencer and becoming the owner of both Oakley and Tiffin. The county seat secured, the town increased steadily, the land office was removed to it from Delaware, manufactories sprung up, commerce flour- ished, and Mr. Hedges lived to see a wilderness transformed into a city of cheerful homes and busy industry. Enterprising and public-spirited though he was, Mr. Hedges did not seek public position, but intelligence, integrity, and sound judg- ment were qualities which his fellow-citizens recognized in him, and of which they availed themselves in 1825 by elect- ing him to the Legislature. He represented in that body the counties of Sandusky, Crawford, Seneca, and Marion, and discharged the duties of legislator with fidelity and marked ability. In the good old days of Jackson and Clay, Mr. Hedges was an ardent Whig. He was frequently nominated by his party for political preferment. But the Democrats having the ascendancy, he held no political position again until 1830, when he was re-elected to the Legislature, by the District composed of Seneca, Hancock, Sandusky, and Wood. His legislative career was characterized by industry and by an unswerving devotion to the interests of the young counties of the Northwest. Mr. Hedges possessed the attributes of a good citizen and Christian gentleman. Though a man of great firmness and decision of character, he was benevolent and just, and was the last man in the world to drive another to the wall. He lent a helping hand to the honest poor, and was ready at all times to assist with his funds any good work needing aid. He gave building-sites and subscribed liberally to the Churches. Itinerant ministers and visiting statesmen made his home a resort, for the latch-string was always hanging out, and the cordial and generous hospitality of Mr. Hedges was proverbial. In the domestic circle he was kind and indulgent, and was, as he deserved to be, the idol of the household. He was one of the original stock- holders and directors of the first railroad constructed in Ohio, the Mad River and Lake Erie, now the Indiana, Bloomington and Western, and it was through his instrumentality that the benefits of that road were secured to the people of Tiffin. In religious faith the ancestors of Mr. Hedges were Episco- palians. He was thrice wedded. His first wife, Rebecca Russell, was of Ohio parentage, and died at the early age of thirty, leaving six children, three boys and three girls. Two of the boys, Thomas and Albert, died in early youth, and Josiah at the age of thirty-six. Of the girls, Juliet was married to Dr. Joseph Mason, and Rebecca to Joseph Walker, one of the earliest merchants of Tiffin. Clarinda, the only survivor, was the wife of the late William Hunter. Mr. Hedges's second marriage was with Eliza Hammerly, who came of a Virginia family. Of the three sons and six
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.