USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume II > Part 37
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After the dissolution of the firm of Wade & Ranney he con- tinued in practice alone until 1850, when in connection with Judge Peter Hitchcock and Jacob Perkins, he was elected by a large majority a member from the counties of Trumbull and Geauga of the convention called to revise the constitu- tion of the State. With that able body of men he served upon the Judiciary Committee, and was chairman of the Committee on Revision, to which the phraseology and ar- rangement of the whole instrument was committed. He took active part in the debates upon most of the important questions considered, and did as much as any one to impress upon that instrument those popular features which have ever since made it acceptable to the people of the State. Im- mediately after the adjournment of the convention, in the spring of 1851, when he had just returned to his neglected duties, and without any previous knowledge on his part that a vacancy existed, he learned of his election, by the Legisla- ture, then in session, as a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, at the same joint session at which his old preceptor , and partner was first elected to the United States Senate, Benjamin F. Wade. The new constitution being afterward adopted by the people, he was elected to the same position, in the fall of the same year, by a majority of over forty thousand votes, and continued to discharge its duties, both in District and Supreme Courts, until shortly before the expira- tion of his term, in the winter of 1856, when he resigned. He soon after associated himself with F. T. Backus and C. W. Noble in the practice of law, in Cleveland, and about the same time was appointed, by the President, United States Attorney for the Cleveland district, but as the appointment (which had been wholly unsolicited) proved to be too much in the way of his more important civil business, and not suited to his tastes, he resigned it a few months afterward. Nothing further occurred to interfere with the large and in- creasing business of his firm until 1859, when the State Con- vention of his party unanimously and very unexpectedly nominated him for Governor. The canvass was a spirited one, and was attended with several joint discussions between him and his competitor at many important points in the State, but the Republican party retained its ascendancy, and he was. defeated. On the outbreak of the civil war, which he did every thing in his power to avert, he became satisfied that arms must settle the conflict, and that the preservation of the Union depended on making it as short and decisive as pos- sible ; and to this end, in the spring of 1862, he readily accepted the invitation of Governor Tod, and in connection with Thomas Ewing and Samuel Galloway, addressed the people at several points in the middle and southern portions of the State, to encourage enlistments. In the same year he and his partner, Mr. Backus, were nominated as opposing candidates for the supreme bench. Not desiring the place, and holding a very high opinion of the qualifications of Mr. Backus for it, he declined the nomination, but, his party not acquiescing, his name was kept upon the ticket, and in the fall he found hiniself again elected to the position. He took his seat, and remained two years, when, convinced that duty to his family required it, he very reluctantly resigned, resolved to devote himself exclusively to his profession, to which reso- lution he has for the most part steadily adhered, but not so exclusively as to prevent his occupying many positions of trust, imposing much labor and responsibility, which have from time to time been conferred upon him. He was Presi- dent of the State Board of Centennial Managers for the
M. P. Raney
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Philadelphia Exposition, composed of ex-Governors Hayes and Noyes, Hon. George W. McCook, and Hon. Barnabas Burns; and, upon the resignation of Governor Hayes, after his nomination for the presidency, General Ralph P. Buck- land, who was appointed to the vacancy. This commission, after providing for a very full representation of the industries and resources of the State, and the comfort and convenience of the many thousands of visitors, accomplished the very unusual result of returning to the treasury over five thousand dollars of the funds placed in its hands by the Legislature. He was a candidate for senatorial elector at the presidential election of 1880, and during the same year was elected the first president of the Ohio State Bar Association. His official address at the close of his term is generally conceded to be the most earnest appeal yet made for higher qualifications for the bar, and for a better knowledge of the general principles of jurisprudence by the liberally educated classes graduated from the higher institutions of learning. He is now president of the Board of Trustees of the Case School of Applied Science, an institution founded by the liberality of the late Leonard Case, with about a million and a half of endowment, and designed to afford the very best scientific education in its application to the various arts and industries of practical life and business, which if prudently managed until the growth of the city has made all its property productive, can not fail to become one of the most important and useful in- stitutions of the country. The result has been that in addi- tion to his large practice in the courts of his own State, his engagements in important cases have extended into several other States, and into all the courts, State and federal, where such cases are disposed of. And while he is very far from having amassed a fortune, he has so far succeeded, without ever embarking in any speculation, and from the avails of his labor alone, as to have acquired a competency, which with his disregard of all show and his economical habits, places him in a position of complete independence. Of one so well known as he is but little need be added. That he has dis- charged the duties of every position in which he has been placed with distinguished ability and strict integrity, no one that has ever known him well will deny. As an advocate and jurist he has had very few, if any, superiors among his contemporaries, while his recorded judicial opinions upon many great questions that arose during his service upon the bench are conceded to be models of clearness, learning, and force, and especially distinguished for the broad and compre- hensive principles upon which his reasoning is generally founded. In the very best sense of the words, he is a speci- men of a self-made man, and his history furnishes additional evidence that integrity of purpose, when coupled with perse- verance and assiduous labor, will overcome all the difficulties which may beset the path of the young American, and enable him to fit himself fully for honorable and useful positions in society.
MCFADDEN, HENRY S., one of the oldest and most influential men of business in Eastern Ohio, living at Cadiz, was born in County Cavan, Ireland, in 1814. He is a son of Samuel McFadden and Lydia Stafford, who were of English, Irish, and Scotch extraction. On the paternal side of his house, our subject is descended from the Scotch Cov- enanters, his grandparents being George and Isabel (Mc- Intosh) McFadden. The subject of this sketch emigrated, with his parents, in 1822, being then about eight years of
age, and settled in Philadelphia, remaining there until 1831, when the family removed to Cadiz, Ohio. Until arriving at his majority he assisted his father in a store which he had opened for general merchandise, and when he became of age he was admitted to partnership. This partnership con- tinued until the death of the elder McFadden, when the son succeeded to the entire business, and prosecuted it with suc- cess until his retirement from active business in 1877. Mr. McFadden early saw to what proportions the wool product of Ohio would develop in the future, and appreciated its commercial value as an article for shipment East. He com- menced to buy wool as early as 1834, and now is doubtless the oldest living wool merchant in the State of Ohio. In affording the farmers a market for their wool Mr. McFadden exerted a large influence in shaping the industrial character of all the region surrounding the town of Cadiz. A ready market for wool being near at hand, served to stimulate the farming community in this direction; in fact, the usual farming pursuits were, in a measure, subordinated to the business of sheep raising. The County of Harrison ranks first among all the counties of the State in the amount of wool produced, taking into consideration its area. To this pursuit is attributed, in part, the exceptional position of the town of Cadiz as a financial center; and in accomplishing this result Mr. McFadden has exerted an important influence, not only in the indirect way indicated, but as one of the earliest and most enthusiastic advocates of the national banking law. He was one of the organizers of the Harrison National Bank, of Cadiz, which ranks, in point of system and thoroughness, second to no banking institution in the State of Ohio. He has been for years the vice-president of this bank. Mr. McFadden never held political office of im- portance. His political affiliations are Democratic, but he inclines strongly in the direction of conservatism, and has been content to confine himself strictly to the sphere of an honorable and sagacious man of business. However, he has exercised a quiet, but none the less effectual, influence in certain political matters. In 1836 he was an enthusiastic partisan of William Henry Harrison, and was among the first men in the country to draw resolutions favoring his candidacy for the presidency. He was present at the Baltimore Con- vention which nominated Clay, in 1844; and in 1856 he represented his district in the National Convention which nominated Fillmore and Donelson. In this convention he was the Ohio member of the Committee on Resolutions. Mr. McFadden is remarked for his happy and equable disposition, and is a most companionable gentleman, his conversation abounding with anecdote and reminiscence. In 1882 he accepted an invitation to speak before the Farmers' Tri- county Institute, at St. Clairsville, on the subject of "Farmers' Wives." This address was published in a number of the leading newspapers in the country, and attracted a great deal of attention. The following is a characteristic extract from the address: "I have had very pleasant relations with farmers' wives. In a business extending over a period of forty years I recollect only one dispute with a woman. That was with a lady who came in to settle her account; it proved to be much larger than she anticipated, and she then made the grave charge that I had two splits in my pen when I entered the charge in my book; that is a new way of keeping books by double entry. This was a strong insinua- tion that I did not keep accounts honestly. The dispute re- sulted in my accepting and settling the account by single
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entry, using only one split, dividing the account by two. This arrangement was not arrived at without a protest on my part, but I have learned that it is better to suffer loss than to have a fuss with a woman." Mr. McFadden married in 1842 Frances I. Poor, whose grandfather, John Poor, was the head of the first female seminary established in the United States, in Philadelphia in 1787. He was also the first man to organize a Sabbath-school in this country. Eight children were born of this union, seven of whom are living at this writing, viz .: Henry H., editor Daily Gazette, Steubenville, Ohio; John F., lawyer, Columbus, Ohio; Mrs. H. Bell Kinsey, San Francisco, California; George E., accountant, Fresno, California; Mrs. J. J. Hanna, Columbus, Ohio; Samuel F., Oakland, California; and Miss Elizabeth, who resides at home, and is well known as an indefatigable laborer in the mission field of the Pres- byterian Church.
FALLIS, DANIEL JAMES, President of the Merchants' National Bank, of Cincinnati, and late Vice-president (for Ohio) of the National Bankers' Association of America, was born near Fredericksburg, Fauquier County, Virginia, August 19th, 1809. The place of his nativity abounds in historic associations. His father's mills stood upon Deep Run, about two miles from the Rappahannock River. The northern limit of the Union army rested at that point at one time. While the war was in progress Mr. Fallis took a thrilling interest in the bloody drama as it was enacted around the home of his childhood, upon the hills and valleys over which he rode as errand-boy from those mills. He is descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry. His great-great-grandfather pre- sided at a manufacturers' meeting in Dublin, in 1698, for which he was compelled to sell his glass manufactory to a pauper, to avoid ruinous taxation, and finally was executed for treason. In the same year his great-grandfather, Thomas Fallis, came to the American colonies, and landed in Phila- delphia. Nine days after his arrival, his grandfather, George Fallis, was born. Remaining there twenty-three years, they emigrated to Virginia, where they purchased a landed estate in Stafford County, adjoining that in which lived General Wash- ington. George Fallis inherited the farm upon the death of his father. There was a community of Quakers in that vi- cinity, to which the Fallises belonged, owing to which fact he was a non-combatant during the Revolution. He was personally acquainted with General Washington, and know- ing him to be a man of prayer, and hearing of the sufferings of the Continental soldiers, he wrote letters of sympathy to him, and offered to render him any service (except bearing arms) in his power, for the relief of his army. Much of his property, consisting of farms, was sold, for the purpose of raising money to make his offers good. At one time the Con- tinental money on hand, arising from such sales, amounted to one hundred and one thousand dollars; and after the war, when it was supposed to be worthless, it was burned. He afterward removed to Apple Pie Ridge, Frederick County. Thomas Fallis, his son (and the father of Daniel J.), and one other brother, remained in Fauquier County ; the rest of the family subsequently went to Redstone, Pennsylvania. From that point his uncles, John and Richard Fallis, emi- grated to Ohio, in 1815, passing down the Ohio, and through Cincinnati, finally settled on Todd's Fork, in Clinton County. In 1824 Daniel J. Fallis followed his uncles, and after a journey of twenty days, in a family Jersey wagon, reached Clinton County, December 14th, of that year. His father,
Thomas Fallis, married Mary James, in 1797. He died in Virginia, in 1819, and his mother in 1845, in Clinton County, Ohio. Of eight children, Daniel J. was the sixth. He re- mained about one year, assisting in farming during the summer and going to school in the winter. His first em- ployment was as a store boy, in Wilmington, in the fall of 1825. In February, 1826, he went to Greenfield, Highland County, where he engaged temporarily in the store of W. & S. E. Hibben, with a view to removing with that firm to Hillsboro, which took place April 26th, of that year. He remained with that firm until about the close of the year 1829. His first visit to Cincinnati took place in November of that year, for the purpose of purchasing goods for that firm. In 1830 he engaged as clerk in the office of Hon. John Smith, who was then treasurer of that county, who also kept a store. At the end of the first year, August 31st, 1831, he became a partner of his employer. The new firm of Smith & Fallis continued four years. He then engaged in the business of merchandising, alone, for two years. In 1836 he formed a partnership with Mr. Barry, the firm of Fallis & Barry thus formed lasting until 1840, when he sold out to Mr. Barry. In February, 1843, the firm of Fallis & Evans was formed, lasting until 1846, when Mr. Fallis sold his in- terest to his partner. After the lapse of a year or so he entered into the business of merchandising, again alone, and so continued until November, 1853, when he sold out, pre- paratory to going to Cincinnati. July 17th, 1854, he began the banking business in that city, as the head of the firm of Fallis, Brown & Co., at No. 33 West Third Street, in Brach- man's Building. In 1856-8 he bought his partners' interests, and carried on the business as Fallis & Co., until December, 1859, when the firm of Fallis, Young & Co. was created, which continued until 1865, when it was merged in the Mer- chants' National Bank, with a capital of five hundred thou- sand dollars. In August, 1867, this bank purchased the stock of the Ohio National Bank, thus increasing the capital stock to one million dollars. Of this bank Mr. Fallis has been the only president. He has thus been uninterruptedly in the banking business since 1854, passing safely through all the financial crises of that eventful period-never suspending or failing to meet the demands of his depositors and creditors. He is the oldest banker in Cincinnati, who has continued uninterruptedly in that business. One depositor only during that period (it was in the panic of 1854) manifested his appre- hension by withdrawing his account. But afterward, when his fears had proved groundless, he returned, and offered to renew his account, his money was respectfully declined. One account has stood on their books since 1854, that of Marsten Allen, now continued by his sons as Allen & Co. His partner, John Young, was a warm personal friend of Secretary Chase. From this arose the fact that Mr. Fallis's judgment was also invoked touching the financial meas- ures of the government, and had great weight upon the pub- lic mind. And it was from this intelligent and unfaltering support of the leading bankers of the nation, of whom Mr. Fallis was a representative, that the government-the Treas- ury Department-derived the wisdom and courage to take the steps which finally led to the crowning consummation- specie payments. The glory that surrounds the names of Chase and Sherman is none the less enduring because they were great financiers, and not great generals. These great secretaries-supported by their lieutenants, the representative bankers of the nation-their judgment and co-operation,
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commanded the revenues and marshaled the resources that constituted the sinews of the war. Mr. Fallis was president of the Cincinnati Clearing-house, an important institution which he and John W. Ellis, Esq. (now of New York City), were chiefly instrumental in organizing. He is a director and president of the Covington Transfer Company ; is a stockholder, di- rector, and chairman of the executive committee of the pioneer iron establishment of Alabama, known as the Eureka Company; is director and president of the Western Tract Society, of Cincinnati, etc. Besides these interests he has invested his capital in other enterprises, which yield profitable returns while they give employment to many men. He married Miss Ann Poage, a daughter of General John Poage, of Boyd County, Kentucky, October 13th, 1835. They now reside in a beautiful home in Covington, Kentucky-the scene of hospitality, refinement, and domestic happiness. They have two children-John T. Fallis, Esq., a member of the Cincinnati bar, and at present associated with his father in his bank, and who represented Hamilton County in the Ohio Legislature in 1872-3; and Hattie E., now the wife of Charles G. Rogers. From nineteen years of age he has been a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church, and for years has been a ruling elder, having his Church relationship, at present, with the First Presbyterian Church, of Cincinnati. For fifty-four years he has been a student of the Bible, and a teacher of a Bible class. He does not hesitate to say that he owes his success in life to that Bible and its Author, that he owes a duty to the Church as well as to the state, and that he hopes he has failed in the discharge of neither. These constitute the foundations of his character. Add to these, experience, judg- ment, quick perception, a fine moral sense, unquestioned integrity, and we have the main reasons for a business career which has been as honorable as it has been success- ful. Mr. Fallis is a quiet man withal. While thus pursuing his business he as quietly dispenses his large charities. The acquisition of wealth has not been for its own sake. While much has been given to him as a reward for diligence in business, much also has been required of him. But his giving, even from the beginning of his career, has been as a noiseless, ever-widening stream, passing continuously out into the world again through the various channels of the Church and charitable enterprises.
GARDNER, MILLS, lawyer, was born at Russellville, Brown County, Ohio, on the 30th day of January, 1830. His father, Seth Gardner, was a native of New York, but removed to Ohio with his parents. His mother was a daugh- ter of George W. Barrère, a native of Virginia, who emigrated to Ohio and settled in New Market, Highland County, before the formation of the State. He was a member of the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives, and associate Judge for many years. The subject of this memoir received his preliminary education at the common schools, and was after- wards sent to an academy taught by the Rev. John Ranken, in Ripley, Ohio. Here he remained until fourteen years of age, when he entered a dry-goods store as clerk, and con- tinued selling goods, etc., until 1855. Having thus tempor- arily followed the mercantile business more by force of circumstances than any predilection or preference for the employment, he determined to abandon it for a vocation more congenial to his tastes. The Hon. Nelson Barrère, of Hillsboro, Ohio (the last Whig candidate for Governor), who was an uncle of Mr. Gardner's, offered him the oppor-
tunity of a course of legal study under his personal super- vision, and Mr. Gardner became a delighted student of this talented and successful jurist. Having read a sufficient length of time for admission to the bar, he was duly licensed to practice in the courts of law in 1855, and immediately applied himself to the practice of his profession with the ability, energy, and diligence that has always distinguished him. Mr. Gardner soon became established as a successful lawyer. The same year he was elected prosecuting attorney, and held the office two terms. In 1861 he was elected a Senator in the General Assembly from the counties of Greene, Clinton, and Fayette, and was a Presidential Elector on the Lincoln ticket in 1864. In 1865 he was nominated for the Legislature on the Republican ticket, and duly elected, and served one term. In the spring of 1873, he was elected to the Constitu- tional Convention of the State, and served during its sessions of 1873 and 1874. In 1876 he was elected a member of Congress from the Third District of Ohio, comprising the counties of Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette, and Warren. Since his retirement from Congress, he 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 civil cases. As an advocate, Mr. Gard- ner stands in the front rank. He is an earnest and con- vincing speaker, and in some of his best speeches often rises to a degree of eloquence that carries conviction with him. In his legislative and congressional experience, he evinced the same character of energy and industry as marked his professional career, and if not remarkable for high flights of eloquence, he was at least a good speaker, and always com- manded the attention of the house. He has been particu- larly identified with the common school system of the State, and is now President of the Board of Education. He was married on October 9th, 1851, to Miss Margaret A., daughter of John Morrow, of Highland County. They have two children, Gertrude and Hortense. Mr. Gardner removed to Washington C. H., Fayette County, Ohio, in 1854, and has since resided tliere.
SENEY, GEORGE E., member elect of the Forty- eighth Congress, ex-Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and the author of "Seney's Code of Procedure," was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, May 29th, 1831. On the pa- ternal side his ancestors were French; and his mother, whose maiden name was Ann Ebert, traces her lineage to the Wood family, of Holland. Both parents were natives of the United States-one of New York, the other of Pennsylvania. His grandsire, John Seney, was, during the last century, a promi- nent citizen of Maryland, being a Judge of the Court of Ap- peals, and a Representative from that State in the national Congress. He married Frances Nicholson, daughter of Com- modore James Nicholson, a distinguished officer of the Revolu- tion, and hero of the fight between the frigate Trumbull and the British man-of-war Wyatt. Joshua Seney, the father of George E., was a graduate of Columbia College, and of the University Law School, of New York City. He was the nephew of Albert Gallatin, and was private secretary of that statesman. He was a lawyer, too; and after practicing ten years in Fay- ette County, he left Pennsylvania, and moving with his family to Ohio, settled at Tiffin, in 1831-the same year the subject of this sketch was born. Judge Seney has ever since made Tiffin his home. In his boyhood he attended such schools as that then infant town afforded. At the age of
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