USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume II > Part 40
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
0
Wester - Biogl Pub Co.
En. A. M Clean
*
447
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
one of the leading men of the State. In 1812, when the representation of the State in the House of Representatives of the United States was increased from one member to six, he was put in nomination for that office. His personal acquaintance was principally limited to Adams and High- land counties of the district, composed of several counties, and he was beaten by a small number of votes by his com- petitor. In the counties where he was known he received a very large majority of the votes. In the fall of 1816, he was elected to Congress by a very large majority, and reelected by the people of his district by an almost unanimous vote five times, and until he, against their strong and reiterated remonstrances, declined being a candidate. A congress- ional service of ten years gave him a prominent standing in the nation. To his various duties as a representative, he was very attentive, and in the discharge of them he uni- formly acted under a due sense of his obligation to his God and to his country. His name is found on many of the most important committees in the House. * He evinced no dispo- sition to figure in debate, but seemed to be called out by a deep sense of what he owed to his constituents and the country ; and he occupied no more time than was necessary to express, in a concise way, his views upon the subject under discussion. During his long and arduous service in congress, no member sustained a more unsullied character or an integrity more free from suspicion. He utterly discard- ed the maxim of Machiavel, that " the appearance of virtue to a public man is of great advantage, but the possession of it is lumber." He was a politician of lofty bearing,-his principles never being compromised under any circum- stances ; and yet, he was decided and firm in his political opinions, and no man was more ready than he, on all proper occasions, publicly to avow them. With him politics were as much a matter of principle as any of the other great matters of human opinion. Had he remained in Congress it is quite probable he would have been elevated to the speaker's chair. In political principles he was never extreme. Whilst he was utterly opposed to nullifica- tion, he was equally hostile to that ultra protection which seemed to lose sight of all interests except those of the man- ufacturers. And it can not be doubted that his views, which
political aspirants, and placed them upon their own intrinsic disconnected great and leading interests from the fortunes of
merits, were dictated by an enlightened patriotism, and
ought to receive universal commendation. Leaving Congress in 1826, and cherishing a fondness for a retired and rural life, Judge Campbell removed to Brown county, and settled on a farm, which he improved with care, and for some time subsequently his attention was chiefly engrossed in the occu- pations of his farm, and in building a large and convenient mansion house. In the fall of 1828, a very short time before
the election, he was nominated for governor. If he con- sented to this step, it was with no small reluctance, as it broke in upon his retirement, and the time before the election
was so short that but little hope could be entertained of suc- His name, however, throughout the State, was found cess. to carry with it great strength, and especially in those parts where sufficient time was given for reasonable exertions by his friends. He received a powerful vote, and if his party in
the northern part of the State had fully appreciated his
strength in other parts of it, he would, without doubt, have . secured the election. On the accession of General Jackson to the Presidency, in March, 1829, John W. Campbell was
nominated for the office of judge of the United States court for the district of the State of Ohio. The Senate unani- mously confirmed this nomination, and it was accepted. He carried with him on the bench the same unbending integrity and good sense which had marked his public course. His early habits of study were never laid aside. It was a maxim with him to economize time, and so employ his passing hours as to conduce to the improvement of him- self, or the instruction of others. He generally rose at four o'clock in the morning, to engage in some favorite study. Many of his lucubrations were published anonymously, in the periodicals of the day, and he has left many disquisi- tions in manuscript, on various subjects, which have never been published. The honorary degree of doctor of civil laws, without his knowledge, was conferred on him by Augusta College, at its commencement in 1831. From the time he removed to Columbus, he considered it his permanent resi- dence, and his efforts to improve the common schools, and zealous aid and cooperation in an attempt to establish a lyceum on an extended plan for the public benefit, attested the paramount place in his regard which the public welfare always seemed to have. The same feelings led him to em- brace, at an early period, the cause of the American Coloni- zation Society, as a great scheme of benevolence which promised much good to the degraded suffering African race. Of the Ohio State Colonization Society he was president at the time of his death. When the fatal scourge of cholera made its appearance in Columbus, in the summer of 1833, from the dawn of day until midnight, he was almost contin- uously engaged in visiting the abodes of distress, and in administering to the necessities of the afflicted. His foot- steps and his voice were heard wherever human suffering was found, and his kindness soothed the sorrow and cheered the hopes of many who were yielding to despair. This work of benevolence was continued by him until it was arrested by the serious illness and death of an adopted little daughter, to whom both he and Mrs. Campbell were most tenderly attached. Judge Campbell and wife, being broken down by fatigue and anxiety, and as the cholera was rapidly subsid- ing at Columbus, concluded to visit the Delaware Springs, to recruit their health and spirits. On their way thence the for- mer had a severe chill which was followed by a high fever. Arriving at the springs he was in a short time reduced to a most critical state. The hand of death was upon him, and retaining the exercise of his faculties, he was fully aware of its approaches. After some remarks to his affectionate wife, to a brother just arrived, and to his nephew, he at last seemed to compose himself for his last and trying moment. With his hands crossed and his mind uplifted with prayer, he calmly resigned his breath on the night of the 24th of September, 1833. On the arrival of the melancholy intelli- gence of his decease at Columbus, a great sensation was produced, for he was universally respected, and his late acts of benevolence had endeared him to the hearts of his fellow- citizens. Some hundreds of citizens from Columbus met the funeral cortege near Worthington, and accompanied the remains of their lamented neighbor to his last home. Judge Campbell's mind was cultivated. His knowledge was accu- rate, varied and extensive. He was fond of composition and criticism, and he acquired a correct taste in these most
desirable attainments. His style is chaste and perspicuous. What he conceived he expressed clearly and forcibly. And when he discussed a subject, either in a public speech or in
448
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
a written disquisition, views were always presented interest- ing and instructive. The leading characteristic of his mind was common sense, which must be the basis of all great minds. It is, indeed, one of the most encouraging facts that in this country, a large proportion of these individuals who, by their public services, or their professional acquirements and talents, have attained a degree of eminence, have risen by their own exertions. The influence of their lives is felt in the great operations of science and government, whilst others more favored by fortune, who have wasted their time and money, remain undistinguished in the mass of society. Judge Campbell's life exhibits what can be accomplished by industry and integrity combined with good judgment. The following memorial, written by an esteemed friend, is inscribed on the stone over his grave : "Erected in mem- ory of Hon. John W. Campbell, late judge of the court of the U. S. for the district of Ohio. He was born in the county of Augusta, Virginia, and died at Delaware, Ohio, September 24th, 1833, aged 51 years and 7 months. He served his fellow citizens first in the legislature of Ohio ; afterwards, during ten years, as a representative in Congress. He was approved as an efficient legislator, and as an upright and enlightened jurist, possessing talents of a high order, directed by the strictest integrity. He was esteemed as an honest man, honored as a patriotic citizen, beloved as a kinsman and friend. Cordially embracing the religion of the Divine Savior, he wished to live to recommend that reli- gion to others. He was just and benevolent, had hope in his end, and his death was lamented by all who knew him."
MONFORT, REV. JOSEPH GLASS, D. D., senior editor of the Herald and Presbyter, was born December 9th, 1810, in Warren County, Ohio. He is a son of the late Rev. Francis and Sophia (Glass) Monfort. Dr. Monfort's father, a descendant of the Huguenots, was a Presbyterian minister, and for many years pastor of a Church in Hamilton, Ohio. His uncle, Rev. Peter Monfort, D. D., was also a minister of the Gospel, and preached for half a century in the Miami Valley. From his mother he inherits an indomitable will, an energetic disposition, which may account, in part, for his never having failed in any business or professional enter- prise that he ever undertook. From his father descended his inclination for literature and the ministry as a profession. Thus endowed, he eagerly sought the means for acquiring an education. He graduated at Miami University, Oxford, in 1834. He began the study of theology in 1835, at Indiana Theological Seminary, Hanover, Indiana. In the spring of the following year Dr. Monfort purchased the Standard (then published at Hanover), and changed its place of pub- lication to Louisville, Kentucky. There it took the name of the Western Presbyterian Herald, and was edited by Rev. W. L. Breckenridge and J. G. Monfort, and was published under the firm name of J. M. Wampler & Co. It should be stated that Dr. Breckenridge in this paper made a very strong move for a division of the Presbyterian Church into the Old and New Schools, stating that there was no alternative, clinching it with the memorable remark: "For they will not change who think they are not wrong-they can not change who know that they are right." And it should be stated, also, that in after years Dr. Monfort was the first to move in the matter of the reunion, as will hereafter appear in this sketch. Dr. Monfort was licensed to preach September, 1837, by the presbytery at Oxford. Upon the resignation of his
father as pastor at Hamilton he preached six months to the same charge. At this time an invitation was extended him to labor as a missionary, which he accepted, in the counties of Decatur, Shelby, and Bartholomew, Indiana. After a year's work in this field, he received a call from the Churches of Greensburg and Sand Creek, which he accepted, and was accordingly ordained and installed as pastor in charge, by the Presbytery of Indianapolis. Before his call, however, the Church at Greensburg had divided into Old and New School. In consequence of this division, Dr. Monfort re- signed this charge in 1842. For the ensuing two years he was agent for the Theological Seminary at New Albany, Indiana. In October, 1844 he was recalled to Greensburg, both divisions of the congregation uniting in the invitation. This call he accepted, and remained pastor at Greensburg until January, 1855, when he was invited by the vote of the Synod of Indiana, and by a circular letter signed by a large number of the ministers of the Synods of Northern Indiana, Cincinnati, and Ohio, through the agency of the Rev. Drs. E. D. MacMaster, Thomas E. Thomas, and J. M. Stevenson, to become the editor of the Presbyterian of the West, Cincin- nati, from which the Rev. Dr. N. L. Rice had recently re- tired. He has ever since conducted this paper, first chang- ing its name to the Presbyter, and in October, 1869, uniting it with the New School paper at Cincinnati, under the name of the Herald and Presbyter. He was stated clerk of the Presbytery of Whitewater from its erection until his removal to Cincinnati. The honorary degree of D. D. was conferred upon him in 1853 by Center College, Kentucky. For many years he was a member of the Church Extension Committee and of the Boards of Domestic and Foreign Missions, and a trustee of Hanover College, Indiana. For several years he was a director of the Theological Seminary of the Northwest. For ten years preceding the event, Dr. Monfort was an efficient promoter and earnest advocate, as well upon the floor of the Assembly as through the columns of his paper, of the reunion of the Presbyterian Church. Indeed, the Presbyter was the first Church paper that took decided ad- vanced ground for reunion. He is now working as zealously for a reunion of the Northern and Southern branches of that Church. Dr. Monfort was the author of the action of the General Assembly in 1866, at St. Louis, proposing the appoint- ment of a joint committee of thirty of the two Assemblies to negotiate a basis of reunion, and was made a member of that committee. He was the author and mover of the supple- mentary action of the General Assembly, in Albany, in 1868, proposing to the other Assembly a change of the basis, so as to make the standards, pure and simple, the basis of reunion. He was also the author of an article in the American Presbyterian Review, which was sent to all the ministers of both Churches, discussing the whole subject, and proposing union upon the standards alone as the proper basis. Dr. Monfort has been a trustee of Lane Theological Seminary since 1870. From that date until May, 1883, he was also treasurer and financial agent of that institution. To him is due the credit of greatly improving the seminary grounds. He also managed its monetary affairs in a way that displayed the qualities of a good financier. The campus was in a state of nature as to its surface, with two ravines running through it. He was authorized by the trustees to grade it, and in doing so added greatly to its natural beauty. He also erected a number of tenements, built three residences for professors, transformed the dormitory into a large boarding house, and
Engry id, by John Sam
HEJ E. MONFORT. ..
449
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
converted the old boarding house into tenement houses. His work was well and tastefully done, and the impress of his hand will long be seen upon those walls and grounds, con- secrated as they are to sacred learning. He retired from the office of treasurer and financial agent of the board May Ist, 1883. Captain E. R. Monfort, his son, who is also a trustee, was elected treasurer in his stead. In 1856 Dr. Monfort moved from Greensburg, Indiana, to Glendale, Hamilton County. He purchased the Glendale Female Col- lege, and was president of it until 1865, when he sold it to Dr. L. D. Potter, whose fitness for the position Dr. Monfort foresaw from his association with him, and whose judgment in selecting the man for the place has been approved by the gratifying success that has attended Dr. Potter's administra- tion. From this time forth he devoted himself mainly to the management of his paper. Its subscription list numbered eighteen hundred when he assumed control. It now numbers more than fifteen thousand, and is read, doubtless, by four times as many people. Dr. Monfort has been a man of but one work -- that of bettering the condition of his fellow-men. It has been a life of intense energies, directed by lofty purposes, and accomplishing corresponding results. If success has attended his efforts in that he has at the same time achieved eminence and acquired a competence for the evening of life, it is that reward which comes in fulfillment of the proverb : "Seest thou a man diligent in his business ? he shall stand be- fore kings; he shall not stand before mean men." For half a century he has sustained the relation of teacher, minister, and editor to the Church and state. If religion and morality are essential to good government, has he not done his duty as a citizen ? As to the good he has sought to accomplish touching man's highest interests, that is left for Him to ad- measure in whose name it was done, and who alone can "bind the sweet influences of Pleiades." It has been a characteristic of Dr. Monfort to assist many others on the way to success in life. Many a young man has made the right start in life owing to his kindly interest and counsel and oversight. His benefactions have been many. His friendships, once formed, are enduring. About him now, in his printing rooms, may be seen those whom he took into business relationship with him more than twenty-five years ago-Rev. J. M. Wampler, Hiram Tumy, and Robert Boschen may be thus mentioned ; also Rev. S. S. Potter, his brother- in-law, who also for years has worked faithfully by his side. And at present there are five nephews in his employment, who have availed themselves of his counsel and assistance, and who give sure promise that they will make good and successful business men. In this way Dr. Monfort has cared for his own household ; while, owing to his editorial relation- ship to the Church and ministers, he has been enabled to render much and gratifying service to both, by way of sug- gesting supplies and securing places for unemployed preach- ers. Dr. Monfort married October 8th, 1839, Miss Hannah Riggs, who is a daughter of Rev. Elias Riggs, of New Prov- idence, New Jersey. Dr. Monfort resides upon Walnut Hills, in what was formerly known as the "Beecher Mansion," for the reason that it was built, in 1833, by the late Dr. Lyman Beecher, the first president of Lane Seminary. Dr. Beecher resided there until about 1850; then it passed to the possession of the late Professor Henry Smith, D. D., LL. D. Dr. Monfort purchased it in 1865. It is a plain brick structure-in its day a noble type of suburban home-standing upon a gentle eminence, in the midst of more pretentious residences, but
around which cluster associations that will beautify its walls as long as they shall stand. The homes of his three children almost environ it. In one resides Captain Elias Riggs Mon- fort, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume ; in another, the Rev. F. C. Monfort, D. D., born at Greensburg, Indiana, September Ist, 1844. In acquiring his education, by his father's counsel, he spent two years at Hanover Col- lege; two at Wabash College ; one year at Lane Seminary ; one year at the Northwestern Theological Seminary, at Chicago; one year at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland ; and one year at Berlin University, Germany. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him June, 1883, by Wooster University. He is now paster of the First Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati, accomplishing a good work. He is also associated with his father in editing the Herald and Presbyter. He married Miss Anna L. Hubbard, of Indian- apolis, May 17th, 1871. In a third house resides their only daughter, Margaret C., born October 6th, 1846. She is a talented and accomplished lady, whose home abounds with paintings, wood carvings, ceramics, etc., the result of her artistic handiwork. She is married to Mr. H. B. Morehead, a prominent broker of Cincinnati. As to Dr. Monfort's work, the end is not yet. In his editorial chair he yet labors with zeal and vigor, bringing to the task matured judgment and ripened wisdom in his Master's cause, and has done much to verify his words: "My word shall not return unto mne void ; but shall accomplish that whereunto it is sent." To this end he intends to write and speak until the pen shall drop from his guiding hand and his voice be hushed in the silence of the grave. And when he shall have passed from his earthly to an heavenly home, the poor will have lost a friend and benefactor, society an ornament, the state a conservator of public morals, the pulpit an able, devoted minister, the press a distinguished representative, and Christianity-" broad, general, tolerant Christianity "-one of its noblest exemplars.
CRITCHFIELD, LEANDER J., lawyer, Columbus, Ohio, was born at Danville, Knox county, Ohio, January 13th, 1827. At the age of eight years he removed with his parents to Millersburg, Holmes county, Ohio, where he spent his early life, receiving such scholastic training as was afforded in the public schools of that place. When fifteen years of age he obtained employment in the office of the clerk of Holmes county. He remained in that position for two years, becoming familiar with the various legal forms which came under his observation, and finding that the training thus acquired was especially useful in the practice of the law. With a view to a professional career at the bar, and to lay the foundation of a broader culture than the common schools afforded, he entered Wesleyan Uni- versity at Delaware, Olio, from which he graduated in regular course, and subsequently completed the study of the law, being admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Ohio in banc, in the year 1849. Immediately after his admittance he located at Delaware, and entered regularly upon practice. The following year he was elected prosecut- ing-attorney for Delaware county, and subsequently re-elected, serving four years. In December of 1856 Mr. Critchfield was appointed, by the supreme court of Ohio, reporter of its decisions, and continued in that office by reappointment for five consecutive terms of three years each. During this time he prepared and published seventeen volumes of the "Ohio State Reports," being from volumes five to twenty-one,
450
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
inclusive. At the close of that term another reappointment was tendered him, which he preferred to decline, in order to de- vote his entire time and energies to the requirements of his profession. While he was discharging the official duties of supreme court reporter his residence was in Columbus, Ohio, where he gave to the general practice of the law such atten- tion as opportunity offered without prejudice to the public interest. In 1858, at the request of Judge Joseph R. Swan (a sketch of whose life appears in another part of this work), Mr. Critchfield joined him in the preparation of Swan and Critchfield's "Revised Statutes of Ohio," with notes of the decisions of the supreme court. The work was completed and published in 1860, and was received with great favor by the bench, bar, and public throughout the State. These statutes continued in use till 1880, when they were super- seded by the "Revised Statutes of Ohio," prepared by the State Codifying Commission. Governor Hayes tendered Mr. Critchfield a position on that commission, which he declined, preferring to give his time to his clients in the discharge of his professional duties. He has never held any political office except those in the line of his calling, and since locat- ing in Columbus has maintained a strict fidelity to his pro- fession in all its details. He was a partner of Hon. N. H. Swayne when the latter was appointed a justice of the supreme court of the United States, since which time he has practiced alone. Although Mr. Critchfield has given very exclusive attention to the law, he has also devoted consider- able time and labor to promote the cause of popular educa- tion, having been a college trustee for many years, and a member of the Columbus Board of Education. He was alco connected with the movement to organize the present public library of Columbus, and later was a member of the com- mittee that drafted the plan upon which the library is now so satisfactorily and successfully operated. Mr. Critchfield is a gentleman of culture and refinement, 'dignified and cour- teous at all times. He, therefore, seldom, if ever, fails to elicit the highest esteem of all with whom he is called in contact. He is one of the most practical and learned law- yers at the Columbus bar, and, indeed, has few superiors in the State. His practice extends to the United States courts, where he has appeared in some of the most important cases (railroad and other corporation suits) therein adjudicated. The honorable and dignified course of Mr. Critchfield during a long period of practice in the various courts of the country has won for him the unqualified encomiums of the members of his profession in the district where he has resided and practiced his calling. He is a close observer of men and things, and has the personal acquaintance of nearly all the leading attorneys of the State. He combines in a happy degree all those qualities of head and heart so desirable in a lawyer as well as a citizen. In public life he has been of great service to his profession in the State, and is, there- fore, entitled to the esteem and respect so universally accorded him. November 7th, 1850, he was married to Miss Sarah J. Mansur, daughter of the late William Mansur, of Dela- ware, Ohio.
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.