USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume II > Part 30
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mocracy of the State conferred on him the honor of a nomi- nation for Lieutenant-governor, the Hon. Rufus P. Ranney occupying the first place on the ticket. The result of the campaign was disastrous to the party, and the whole ticket was defeated by a very decided majority. Although having been elected and commissioned colonel of the 4th Regiment of the Ross County Militia, in the year 1863, and having diligently trained in camp to acquire a knowledge of his duties as such, yet he never had occasion to test his capacity as a military leader, or exhibit his aptitude as a martial tac- tician. The Legislature for wise reasons repealed the act authorizing the organization of the enrolled militia, and he and his brother officers were forced, much against their in- clination, to retire from the service. In the year 1868 he was elected a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the Fifth Judicial District of Ohio, and held the office until the close of the term, in February, 1874, declining a renomina- tion. It was during his appointment in this capacity that the trial of the celebrated Blackburn Lovell murder case was had, which has elsewhere been referred to in this volume. Mr. Safford presided at the trial, which lasted over three weeks, and excited wide-spread interest. Since his retire- ment from the bench he has resumed his practice of the law, in which he is at present engaged. Mr. Safford's early political affinities were with the Whig party, with which he continued to act until the organization of the "Know- Nothings," by which it was first demoralized, at which time it was absorbed by the " Free-soilers," and dubbed Repub- lican. Refusing to follow the masses of his former political associates, he, in 1854, consorted with the Democratic party, with whom he has since continued to act. He was educated in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and has been particularly identified with the common school system of the State, and has for many years officiated as a member of the Board of Education for the union schools of Chillicothe-much of the time as its president, and the residue as secretary and general legal counsel and adviser. As an advocate he has stood for forty years in the front rank of the bar of his district, and was rarely surpassed in the skillful use of all the weapons known to be effective in debate. His well disciplined and cultivated mind, re-enforced by a knowledge of all useful literature, seemed ready at his command. As a judge he commanded respect by his learning and fairness, and has won the regard of the younger members of the profession by his encouragement and kindness. His sterling integrity and long career untarnished by a stain must after all be regarded as a bright example of public services in judicial and legislative spheres.
NEAL, LAWRENCE TALBOTT, lawyer and legis- lator, was born at Parkersburg, Wood County, Virginia (now West Virginia), on the 22d of September, 1844. His great- grandfather, James Neal, distinguished himself as a captain in the Continental Army, during the war of the Revolution, and was the first permanent settler in Wood County, having, in the fall of 1785, made a settlement at the mouth of the Little Kanawha River, and erected a block-house (near the present site of the city of Parkersburg), which was afterward known as Neal's Station. His great experience and wisdom caused him to be looked up to as counselor and leader in the settlement. He was commissioned a justice of the peace by the Governor of Virginia, and granted a commission as captain of the Frontier Rangers, organized for the defense of
the border settlement, and was also intrusted with other im- portant public duties in the county. John, the second son of Captain James Neal, and the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was commissioned as a Judge of the County Court of Wood County, by James Monroe, Governor of Vir- ginia, took his seat upon the bench in May, 1800, at the age of twenty-four, and ably filled that office until his death, October 23d, 1823. He was also high sheriff of the county, and was elected a Representative of the county in the House of Burgesses, of Virginia, and served two consecutive terms. We now come to the father of Mr. Neal ; his name was Lawrence Perry Neal, a worthy and respected merchant of Parkersburg. He was married 9th December, 1841, to Mary Hall Talbott, who was born in Frederick County, Maryland, and is a descendant of the well known Talbott family of England. The family, on the paternal side, is of Irish ex- traction, the name having been originally prefixed with an "O." Mr. Neal received his scholastic education at a private school in Parkersburg, taught by Professor John C. Nash, and known as the Asbury Academy, which institution he left at the age of seventeen, with an ordinary education, though more proficient (especially in Latin) than the generality of his classmates. A year afterward he engaged himself as a clerk in a dry goods house, where he remained for about a year, when he resolved to carry out the long-cherished object of his life, and with that end in view left his native town, and came to Chillicothe, where he commenced the study of the law, under the tuition of the Hon. W. H. Safford, one of the leading members of the Ross County bar. He pursued his studies with characteristic energy, and on the 23d of February, 1866, was admitted by the Supreme Court, at Columbus, to practice law, after a severe and strict examina- tion by the committee, of which Hon. Allen G. Thurman was a member. He immediately applied himself to his profession, at Chillicothe, with the ability, energy, and diligence that has always distinguished him, and soon became established as a successful lawyer. In April, 1867, then only twenty-two years of age, he was elected city solicitor, and served in that capacity for two years, with satisfaction to the community and credit to himself, and though offered, declined the nom- ination for the second term. The same year he was nomi- nated for the legislature, on the Democratic ticket, and duly elected; served one term, but declined to be nominated again. Mr. Neal was the youngest member of the legislature, and while others of his age were completing their education, he was taking an active part in the administration of the affairs of the State. In the summer of 1870 he was nomi- nated for prosecuting attorney (although not a candidate for the office), was subsequently elected, but resigned before the expiration of his term. The bar of the district, at that time, contained some of the ablest lawyers of the State, yet with such care, skill, and industry did the young attorney dis- charge his duties, that he seldom lost a verdict, and never had an indictment quashed during his term of office. In 1872 he was elected a Member of Congress from the Seventh District of Ohio, comprising the counties of Adams, Brown, Highland, Pike, and Ross, and was re-elected in 1874, thus serving two terms. At the Democratic National Convention, held at Cincinnati, in 1880, Mr. Neal was a delegate from his congressional district, and was a supporter of Allen G. Thurman for the nomination for President. He has always acted with the Democratic party, and taken an active interest in national and State affairs. Since his retirement from
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Congress, in March, 1877, Mr. Neal has devoted his time to the pursuit of his profession, having a large and lucrative practice. During his career as a lawyer he has been engaged in many important criminal and civil cases, sometimes for the prosecution and at others for the defense. He was engaged, while serving his term of prosecuting attorney, in the trial of John Samuel Blackburn, for the murder of Mary Jane Lovell, which case was tried before his old preceptor, Judge Safford. Amongst the lawyers retained for the defense, and opposed to the young county prosecutor, may be mentioned the well known names of the Hon. George E. Pugh, of Cincinnati, and Judge James Sloan, of Hillsborough. It excited great interest at the time, and is still referred to as a cause celebre. Mr. Neal's closing speech was highly spoken of both by the press, public, and his legal confrères. We quote the follow- ing from the Cincinnati Commercial : "The closing argument for the State by the young prosecuting attorney of Ross County is regarded in all respects as the ablest delivered on the trial. Neither the word, spirit, nor effect could be trans- mitted by telegraph last night, so I revert to it to-day, and give, in justice to him, a few of the closing paragraphs. After an intelligent and logical review of the facts and evidence in the case, Mr. Neal said :- " Then follows a verbatim report of the paragraphs referred to. The trial lasted twenty-one days, and created wide-spread interest. The manner in which the youthful lawyer conducted the prosecution called forth the admiration of all parties connected with it. Mr. Neal is an earnest and convincing speaker, a good special pleader, and thoroughly versed in the rules of practice; in some of his best speeches he often rises to a high degree of eloquence that carries conviction with him. He employs all his talents and good sound common sense to the advantage of his clients with whose interest he always identifies him- self. Mr. Neal is still a young man, yet stands in the front rank of his profession. His courteous demeanor and frank bonhommie procure him numerous admirers, and he has gained many devoted friends during the comparatively short time he has practiced his profession.
STONE, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, M. A., was born in Washington County, Ohio, on the 4th of December, 1831. He is descended from Deacon Gregory Stone, who emigrated to this country from England, and settled at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the year 1634. John Stone was born in 1703 (fourth generation from Gregory), removed to Worcester County, Massachusetts, in the latter part of the eighteenth century. His son, Israel Stone, born 1749, served with dis- tinction in the War of the Revolution, moved to Marietta in the year 1790, bringing with him his family, among whom was Benjamin Franklin Stone, the father of the subject of this memoir. He was born on February 22d, 1782, and was married in the year 1810 to Rose De Vol, whose family were French, and traditionally of Huguenot origin. The young Benjamin received his rudimentary education from his father (himself a scholar, and teacher by profession), until, at the age of seventeen, he was sent to Marietta College, and prose- cuted his studies there with uninterrupted success, graduating with distinction in 1852, taking the second honor in a class which was one of unusual ability. The college afterward conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. Having chosen the Church as his profession, he entered Lane Seminary, at Cincinnati, and commenced a course of theo- logical study, graduating there in 1855. He then came to
Chillicothe, and officiated as pastor of the Second Presby- terian Church for two years, when he resigned and accepted an appointment as master of mathematics and classics in the public schools of that city; but upon the outbreak of the war of the secession the military spirit inherited from his grandfather asserted itself, and resigning his appointment in the public schools, he enlisted in the 73d Regiment of Ohio Volunteers. He did not, however, remain long in the ranks, for on the Ist of January, 1862, he received a commission as lieutenant, and was eventually promoted to captain, serving
with credit throughout the war. His regiment having been ordered into West Virginia, the winter and spring of that year were spent in wearisome marches in that rough country, the principal duties being confined to scouting and garrison- ing forts through the mountains .. In May of the same year he was appointed adjutant of his regiment, and served through the campaigns in the Upper Potomac and Shenan- doah Valley, and was actively engaged in the battles of McDowell, Cross Keys, and Fort Republic. His regiment was then placed under General Pope's command, and Captain Stone was present at the battles of Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock, and Manassas, and, while under General Sigel's command, participated in the battle of Fredericksburgh. It was here that he obtained his captaincy, and was appointed adjutant- general of brigade, serving on the staff of General F. C. Barlow. He fought at Chancellorsville, and through all the campaigns ending with the battle of Gettysburg. Afterward, under General Hooker, he, with his command, was trans- ferred to the army of the Cumberland, at Chattanooga, and was engaged in the battles of Lookout Mountain and the storming of Mission Ridge. He took an active part in the long and laborious Atlanta campaign, ending with the capture of that city. In General Sherman's famous march to the sea Captain Stone was also present when, after the fall of Savan- nah, he was mustered out of the service, broken in health, and returned home in January, 1865, having had nearly four years of hard fighting. Captain Stone has reasons to look back with pride upon this portion of his career, satisfied that he did his duty to his country, both as a man and a soldier. In 1874 he was elected a member of the Board of Education, and has held that position ever since. In 1875 he was elected Probate Judge, was re-elected twice, and is now serving his third term. On the 19th February, 1867, he married Olivia Allston. The issue of this union has been one daughter.
GOODMAN, WILLIAM AUGUSTUS, president of National Lafayette and Bank of Commerce, Cincinnati, was born in that city November 22d, 1822. His parents, Timothy S. and Amelia (Faxon) Goodman, removed to that city, from West Hartford, Connecticut, in 1817. Mr. Goodman's paternal ancestors date back to a very early period in Ameri- can history, one John Goodman having been one of the passengers on the Mayflower. His father was engaged in the wholesale dry goods trade in Cincinnati till 1840, when, in company with a brother, H. H. Goodman, who had been a banker for some years, he engaged in the same business, under the firm name of H. H. Goodman & Co. The re- mainder of his active career was devoted to this vocation, having retired but a few years before his death, in 1873. Our subject was a student of Woodward High School and at Marietta College, where he finished his education. On leaving college he at once joined his father and brother in banking, and remained with them until 1858, when he was
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made cashier of the Bank of Ohio Valley, with which he was connected until 1871, having been for several years prior to that date its vice-president. In that year that bank was merged into the Third National, and Mr. Goodman was made its vice-president, which position he held until 1876. He then organized a new bank, known as the Bank of Com- merce, with a capital of three hundred thousand dollars, of which he became president. In 1879 the consolidation of his bank and the old Lafayette National was effected, which new corporation has since been known as the National Lafayette and Bank of Commerce, with a capital of four hundred thousand dollars, afterward increased to six hundred thou- sand dollars. Mr. Goodman became . its president, which responsible position he now honors. Schooled and trained from boyhood in all the departments connected with bank- ing, and having spent his entire active career in this vocation, with great success, he is recognized as one of the leading representatives of the banking interests of Cincinnati. By virtue of his long experience and his natural mental capacity he is enabled to grasp and solve the complex questions and problems which necessarily arise in the financial world. There is no business name in the commercial directory that demands of those who administer its affairs clearer brains and higher business qualifications than does that of banking. To this fact alone can the great majority of failures in this department of commerce be attributed. The great success that has attended the various banks in which Mr. Goodman has held leading official positions certainly evinces excellent judgment and a thorough knowledge of his business. He is recognized as one of the shrewdest financiers in Cincinnati, and than whom there is none more honest or stands higher in the esteem of his fellows. Mr. Goodman is a man of unassuming manner, retiring in habits, and conservative in opinions. In his address he is dignified yet exceedingly agreeable to all, a perfect gentleman both by nature and education. He has been a member of the Episcopal Church for many years, and for several years junior warden in the same. In politics he was originally a Whig, but is now in- dependent, leaning rather to Republicanism. He has never allowed himself to mingle in public affairs or to accept any public office. He was married July 7th, 1848, to Miss Lucy Grandin, daughter of Philip Grandin, a very wealthy and influential citizen of Cincinnati, now deceased.
HOLDEN, LIBERTY EMERY, of Cleveland, Ohio, and Utah, mine owner and capitalist, was born in Raymond, Cumberland County, Maine, June 20th, 1834. He is the son of Liberty and Sally Cox (Stearns) Holden, and the eldest of a family of eleven. On his paternal side he is a direct descendant, in the seventh generation, of Richard Holden, who sailed from Ipswich, England, April 30th, 1634, in the good ship Frances, Captain John Cutting, and settled in Stoneham, Massachusetts, about 1635. Later on Richard removed to Groton, where he was one of the first landed proprietors. The Holden family is one of the oldest English families of which we have any record. They are descended from Robert De Holden ; their names are to be found in the old Doomsday Book, with the record of their estates described. One title-deed held in the family bears the date of A. D. 1189, and they were known in England for two hundred years before the advent of William the Conqueror. Of this family much might be written did our space permit. Holden Chapel, of Harvard College, was the gift of Samuel Holden. Ezra Holden was the founder of the
Philadelphia Saturday Courier, and brother of Mr. Holden's father. Liberty Holden received his name in the following rather remarkable way, showing the patriotic devotion of the man : His father came in from the farm one evening and said to his wife: "Mother, I want something to remind me of the great blessings of liberty to my country; we will call that baby Liberty;" which name the baby also gave to his son. The Stearns family are also a very old English family, a family of note, both in England and this country. The American branch are descended from Isaac Stearns, born in the year 1600, who came to America with Governor Win- throp of Massachusetts in 1630, and settled in Watertown. On May 18th, 1631, hewas made a freeman of that town, which was the earliest date of any such admission in the country. For several years he was a selectman, and died in the year 1671, leaving large estates in both landed and personal prop- erty. Sally Cox Stearns, the mother of Mr. L. E. Holden, was a descendant in the seventh generation. The Stearns family is one of the oldest and most respected families of Massachusetts. Many of their men have held important po- sitions in both Church and state. They have been distin- guished as divines, presidents of colleges, as authors, on the bench, at the bar, in medicine, business, and commerce. The coat of arms borne by the family in England is in possession of several of its members here, and is the same as that of Richard Stearn, archbishop of York, England-one set be- ing now in the old homestead of one branch of the family in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Liberty Holden and Sally Cox Stearns were married at Sweden, Oxford County, Maine, in the year 1832. Thence they removed to Raymond, Cum- berland County, the birthplace of Liberty Emery Holden. Soon after his birth the family removed to Sweden, in Ox- ford County, where he attended the district school, and was prepared for college at the academy at Bethel, Maine, then under the care of Dr. N. T. True, a most excellent instructor, and greatly beloved. by his pupils, who are found in all parts of the country. In 1853 he entered the freshman class of Waterville College. On account of the exhausted state of his means he left and taught high-schools in Denmark and Bridgeton Center, Maine ; returning again, after twelve months absence, he spent two years at Wat- erville. At this time Dr. Robert Patterson was president of the college, and most of the professors had been educated at Brown University, and the same rigid discipline and method of instruction which had given character to Brown University were inaugurated at Waterville College. Mr. Holden looks back with gratitude upon the years spent at Waterville College, as being of great value as a means of discipline for future life. In those days the class instruc- tions, as given by personal examination and drill, he believes to have been the very best kind of training. At the college he was an active member of college societies, and took great interest in debates and literary exercises. At the close of the freshman year he was selected as the class poet, and delivered a poem at the annual festival. At the close of the sophomore year, in 1856, he returned to Sweden, the little country town situated between the hills of Oxford County, where his grandfather and parents were living. During the summer vacation he determined to go into the Western country and finish his college studies, and there seek a field of action for future life. He decided to go to the University of Michigan, then, as now, the most prominent of the Western colleges. He says that he believed that by studying two
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years among Western students he would become acquainted with Western ways and Western men, and then be better prepared after graduation to compete for the prizes of life. He went from Maine in August, 1856, visited Malden, the old home of his ancestors, Boston, Providence, Newport, New York, and Philadelphia, where he spent several weeks at the home of his uncle, Ezra Holden, formerly editor and proprietor of the Philadelphia Saturday Courier. The visit ended in Philadelphia, he started for Michigan, traveling over the Allegheny Mountains by way of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and was wonderfully impressed by the magnificent scenery along the road, and the extensive manufactories in and around Pittsburg. Arriving at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, September 15th, 1856, on looking for his mem- orandum in which he carried his certificates of scholarship and membership at Waterville College, he found that it was gone. Remembering that he had the memorandum in his side pocket on entering the berth of the steamer at Cleve- land, he wrote to Detroit, to the captain of the steamer Ocean, saying: "I occupied berth number thirty-one from Cleveland to Detroit, on the night of September the 14th, and in it left a memorandum containing papers valuable to me, and to no one else. Please send them to me by express." And the next day they came, but the owner had no money witlı which to pay the charges, except a fifty-cent gold piece, which was hanging on his watch-guard as a charm; he took this off, and paid the express, and had twenty-five cents left. This was the stock-in-trade with which he presented his cre- dentials, and was admitted to the Junior class of the Uni- versity of Michigan. Necessity, often the best tutor, though a severe instructor, in this case pointed directly to something to do. After looking over the ground with great care, he found that in the city of Ann Arbor there was a vacancy in one of the union schools; he went to the board, and made application for position as principal, and was told that there were seventeen applications ahead, and the chances were very poor. But necessity knows no defeat. He went to the Presi- dent of the School Board, told him frankly where he had taught in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, showed him the certificates of scholarship and standing in college, and asked him to go to his room as he had some other evi- dences of success as a teacher which he wished to show. Mr. Felch, President of the board, was a man who felt a deep interest . in the schools, and so he walked over to the room. Mr. Holden took from his trunk some books filled with wrought book-marks which had been given to him by his pupils in the old Bay State. This touched Mr. Felch, and he said, after reading the inscriptions: "I would rather have these books than all the recommendations that have been brought to us, and I will do all I can for you." And so he did. At the next meeting of the board Mr. Holden was elected principal, and taught the school all through the year, keeping up with his class in the University at the same time, and at the close of the year was admitted, by examination, to the Senior class, having earned sufficient money for his support for two years. The senior year was one of great value as a year of uninterrupted study. He was graduated in 1858. Immediately on his graduation, through the recommendation of Dr. H. P. Tappan, and other members of the faculty of the university, he was elected professor of rhetoric and English literature, in the College at Kalamazoo, Michigan. Here he remained three years, filling the position with great ability. In Kalamazoo, August
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