USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume II > Part 43
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debarred from further appearance by arbitrary rulings of the court, she continued to prosecute them with wonderful ability, in person, to the bitter end, in the courts of last resort, and then appeared as a memorialist to Congress for the judge's impeachment. Rev. Stephen Ingalls Bradstreet, the father of Edward P., was a native of New Hampshire, where he was born in 1794. He entered Dartmouth College, at his own expense, and worked his way through, graduating in 1819, and from Andover Seminary in 1822. He early resolved to devote his life to God's service, as a Presbyterian minister. He first began his labors as a missionary, in the Valley of Virginia. He crossed the Alleghanies in 1823, preaching as he went, and selected Cleveland, Ohio, as his home. It was but a small village then, and there he found a field for his labors. His preaching was aggressive and eloquent, and produced decided results. Although in feeble health, he was yet adapted to his times. To a clear and strong mind were added great knowledge, tireless energy, and courage always to maintain the right. Thus he did much good in his Master's name. In 1825 he was a very active member of the committee to raise money to build Western Reserve Col- lege. He was one of the founders and editor of the Ohio Observer, the first religious paper west of the mountains. He was the founder and long the minister of the First Pres- byterian Church, of Cleveland. The impress of his blameless and useful life long remained upon that community, where he died June 8th, 1837. It was said of him, " His greatest joy and only ambition were to teach the Christian religion to those who knew it not, and this not for pay, but from love of God and his fellow-men." His widow, Anna Dana, a de- scendant of the New Hampshire Danas, survived him but one year. She was the worthy companion of her husband in his labors and trials, and their memory is cherished in the hearts of the Lake Erie pioneers. Upon her monument are en- graved these words, "Useful, loved, lamented." Upon the death of their parents, the three children were separated, Edward finding an excellent home in the family of Alexander Gaston, a farmer, near Oberlin, until sixteen years of age. He attended Elyria high school, where he fitted himself for college. For his education he depended solely upon his own efforts-his inheritance being only a good name. In 1849 he entered Western Reserve College, founded by his father. He subsequently attended Yale College, where he graduated with the class of 1853. After thus graduating he taught as principal of the academy at Tallmadge, Ohio, for a year. He commenced the study of law in Cincinnati, in 1854, in the office of Ferguson & Long, making his way by teaching in the day time and studying at night. In 1856 he was ad- mitted to the bar. In 1857 he became the partner of Henry Snow, Esq. This partnership continued until 1859, when he removed to St. Joseph, Missouri. He, however, returned to Cincinnati in 1860, owing to the certainty of coming war, since which time he has devoted himself to the practice of his profession. Yet much of his time has been given to enter- prises which have for their object the advancement of re- ligion, morality, and the good of humanity. He was one of the founders, and for many years president of the famous Cincinnati Gymnasium, and its enthusiastic friend; associated himself with others in an effort to create a sentiment in favor of enforcing law and order upon Sunday ; was a member of the Board of Education, and greatly assisted in establishing the Public Library of that city; from 1869-71 he was a trustee of the Homoeopathic Free Dispensary; for years has
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been a director in the Young Men's Bible Society ; in 1872 was chairman of a private organization calculated to unite all good citizens in voting for the best candidates for local offices, regardless of politics; assisted in organizing the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in 1872, and ever since has been one of its officers, to the service of which he has given his time and professional services gratu- itously ; he was president of the Ohio Department of the National Capital Life Insurance Company until it was merged in the Penn Mutual; for years has been a trustee of the famous Kilwinning Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. In 1865 he was appointed superintendent of St. Paul's Episcopal Church Sunday-school, and has served as such ever since. He was also one of the organizers of the Associated Charities in Cincinnati, and an active officer thereafter to the present time. He devised and superintended the "Ballot Box Char- ities" on election days, in Cincinnati, Boston, and New York, by which about twenty thousand dollars was realized for the relief of sufferers from the yellow fever in the South, and also afterward for the sufferers from the Mississippi flood. In 1875 he was elected president of Yale Club. In 1874, when the new Ohio constitution seemed about to be adopted he was a leading conditional candidate for Common Pleas Judge. He was a delegate to the State Democratic Convention in 1877, that nominated the Hon. R. M. Bishop for Governor, and was a member of the Committee on Resolutions that framed the famous "Ohio idea" platform, the terms of which struck a popular chord, which resulted in the election of the entire ticket. He was the discoverer of the availability of Hon. William Means as a candidate for Mayor of Cincinnati, in 1881, instigated the public call upon him, nominated him in the convention, and was one of his most active and efficient supporters in securing his election. Mr. Bradstreet was nominated for State Senator, in his absence, in 1881, and after vigorous remonstrance on his part upon his return, consented to make the race, but shared in the general defeat, at the same time running far ahead on his ticket. He was appointed a director of the Cincinnati Workhouse in 1881, for five years, and served one term as president of the board. Touching his honorable and successful professional career, an incident or two should be given. One of his earliest cases was in ejectment, to recover the fourth of an acre of land, in Deercreek Valley, near to where Gainsford's carriage works now stand, the case being Henrietta Young vs. Dag- neaux et al., which involved among other curious questions of law and fact, the identity of the real daughter of an early settler (old Mrs. Dagneaux), and which after twelve years of fierce contest, shared by Hon. George E. Pugh, Henry Snow, Esq., Judge D. Thew Wright, and others, was finally dropped, from an irreconcilable clash between the testimony of more than twenty unimpeachable witnesses to plaintiff's identity, and the date of Mr. Dagneaux's will, leaving a great mystery unsolved. Many of the incidents and characters were afterward ingeniously woven by Judge Thew Wright into his novel "Mrs. Armington's Ward." In 1868 Mr. Bradstreet commenced a suit in bankruptcy against the veteran lumber firm of T. W. Farrin & Co .; and after a long and stubborn resistance by the late distinguished Judge Coffin, made out his case, and established the first precedent, in the West, at least, of what acts, by a conscious bankrupt, constitute an unlawful preference. The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad had to refund a large amount under the final decision in this case. This suit speedily led to his
retention in others, so that during the continuance of the bankrupt act he was connected with more cases than any other member of the bar in Cincinnati. He was senior counsel with Judge Hoadly in the leading case of Port vs. Gilbert, covering the value of the old Queen City Mills and Distillery property, which was defended with their usual ability by Judges Coffin and Matthews; and after having been always won by plaintiffs below, was, after many years of litigation, decided in 1876, by the Supreme Court of Ohio, in favor of defendant. Many intricate points of the law of vendor and vendee were involved and decided; and also under what circumstances a lessee, with a privilege of pur- chase, can have the benefit of insurance paid for by him, and also when he must make his election to purchase. In 1877 Mr. Bradstreet was employed by the taxpayers of Cov- ington, Kentucky, to prevent the city council from paying out large sums as rewards and expenses for the capture and return of their defaulting city treasurer. The injunction was dissolved by Judge Menzies, of the Circuit Court, but his act was reversed by the Court of Appeals, of Kentucky, and thus the law was settled, for that State, that a municipal cor- poration can not spend its money in prosecuting criminals of a less grade than a capital offense. He has had an un- usual number of assignment cases, several being among the heaviest that have been made in Cincinnati. Among them may be named Tolle, Holton & Co., Schoenfeld (which went to the Supreme Court) and Heman's Bank, in which he was assignee, and also of counsel. For several years following 1870 he was engaged in a heavy and fierce litigation in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, in an anthracite coal case-the estate of Alexander Dolph-wherein a most unfavorable lease made by a decrepit old gentleman, was broken, in favor of his clients, the heirs, and an obstreperous adminis- trator compelled to settle his estate. Mr. Bradstreet is a gen- tleman of fine literary attainments. He has long been a member of the celebrated Cincinnati Literary Club, upon whose register may be seen the names-Stanley Matthews, M. F. Force, R. B. Hayes, A. T. Goshorn, C. D. Coffin, John Pope, George B. McClellan, and others who belong to fame. He has been a frequent contributor to the public press, and as such is a ready, graceful, and pleasing writer. Mr. Brad- street's varied legal learning, pleasing address, earnestness, and scholarly attainments render him one of the ablest and most convincing speakers at the bar and before popular assemblies. In 1860 Mr. Bradstreet married Mrs. Dolabella Fraisse, of Vicksburg. She died August, 1867, loved and lamented by all who knew her. He again married, August 7th, 1883, Miss Harriette B. Herrick, of Amherst, Mass. A reverend and honorable ancestry; stainless professional reputation ; high moral character; a Christian gentleman, whose profession of faith is exemplified by his works as an instigator and promoter of benevolent enterprises having in view the relief of his fellow-men, the betterment of society, and the glory of God-these are some of the sayings of those who know him the best, concerning the life and character of Edward Payson Bradstreet.
TURLEY, HENRY CLAY, lawyer and probate judge, Portsmouth, Ohio, was born in Scioto county, January 10th, 1852. He is the second son of Colonel John A. Turley, of the same city. His father served as colonel of the 9Ist Ohio, in the war for the Union, and has also repre- sented his county in the Ohio Legislature. His literary edu-
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E. R. Monfort
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cation was obtained in the Portsmouth public schools. He began life as a clerk at the age of seventeen, and a year later went to Emporia, Kansas, where he was engaged in farming for three years. Returning to Portsmouth he read law under Messrs. Jones and Thompson, of that city, and attended lectures in the Cincinnati Law School, from which he graduated in the spring of 1876, being at once ad- mitted to the bar in Cincinnati. He immediately became a partner with his brother-in-law and preceptor, Judge A. C. Thompson, in Portsmouth, and so remained until the fall of 1878, when he was elected on the republican ticket to his present position as probate judge of Scioto county. On June 24th, 1879, he married Julia A., daughter of W. Q. Adams, Esq., now president of the Hocking Valley Fire Brick Com- pany, of Logan, Ohio. Judge Turley, although a young man, is one of the most trustworthy and esteemed citizens of Portsmouth. He is industrious, energetic, and compan- ionable. In his official position as probate judge he has given excellent satisfaction, as is demonstrated by his large majority on re-election.
MONFORT, ELIAS RIGGS, A. M., managing editor of the Herald and Presbyter, one of the largest and most in- fluential religious papers in this country, was born March 2d, 1842, at Greensburg, Indiana. He is a son of the Rev. Jo- seph G. Monfort, D. D. His mother, Hannah (Riggs) Mon- fort, is the daughter of Rev. Elias Riggs, of New Providence, New Jersey. He represents, in person and character, the happy commingling of the blood of an honest and God- fearing ancestry, and inherits from them the physical stature, mental energy, and stalwart qualities that make the noblest and most progressive type of American manhood. When he was fourteen years of age, his father moved to Glendale, Hamilton County, Ohio, and assumed charge of the Glendale Female College, as its president. This step offered Elias R. the benefit of the schools of Glendale, and also those of Cin- cinnati, where he attended Race Street Intermediate School for one year. He entered Hanover College, Indiana, as a sophomore, in 1859. While in attendance there, the war came. At the call of his country he entered its service as a private in Company A, 6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, June 23d, 1861. Few soldiers have seen harder service or suffered more in the cause of his country than Captain E. R. Monfort. We can do little more in this sketch than outline his military career. As a private he served under Generals Mcclellan, Morris, Dumont, and Milroy, at Philippi, Beverly, Dry Forks, Burlington, Laurel Hill, Carrick's Ford, Georgetown, Hutton- ville, Elkwater, Mingo Flat, Cheat Mountain, and Greenbrier, West Virginia. On the 8th of October, 1861, he was com- missioned second lieutenant, 75th Ohio Volunteer Infantry; May 15th, 1862, he was promoted to first lieutenant ; and January 12th, 1863, he was commissioned captain, Company F of that regiment. He served with this regiment continu- ously from the time it left Ohio. until he received his wound at Gettysburg, July 2d, 1863. During this time he partici- pated, under the command of General Milroy, in engage- ments at Cheat Mountain, Crab Orchard, Franklin, Buffalo Gap, McDowell, Shenandoah Mountain, and again at Frank- lin, until May, 1862; under General Fremont, at Petersburg, Strasburg, Mount Jackson, Cross Keys, and Port Republic, until August, 1862; under General Pope, at Sperryville, Cul- pepper C. H., Cedar Mountain, Raccoon Ford, Rapidan, Freeman's Ford, Waterloo Bridge (second Bull Run), Man-
assas, and Groveton, until September, 1862; under General Burnside, at Falmouth and Rappahannock, until December, 1862; under General Hooker in his Chancellorsville cam- paign, and under Generals Reynolds and Mead at Gettys- burg, where he was dangerously wounded in the hip-thus ending his brilliant career as a soldier. He had been two days in that terrible battle. Night had closed upon them, amid " the shoutings of the captains, the confusion of noise, and garments rolled in blood." The 75th had gallantly withstood the enemy's charge, and made a counter-charge in support of the battery on Cemetery Hill. At 8:30 P. M., while the battle was still raging-the enemy having been re- pulsed-an explosive Minie ball struck Captain Monfort in the left hip, carrying a part of his sword into his thigh, and then exploded, shattering the bone, tearing the flesh, and in- flicting one of the most painful wounds from which a soldier ever suffered and recovered. Somehow he was borne from the field, and lay all the first night under the eaves of a barn, from which the rain dropped upon him, cooling his fevered body. For six months he remained in hospital before his removal to Cincinnati. By order of a military board he was discharged nearly a year before he was able to walk without crutches. In 1882, the 75th held a reunion at Wyoming, Ohio. On this occasion Captain Monfort delivered an ad- dress which contained a historical sketch of the brilliant career of that illustrious regiment. He referred with conscious pride to the old flag that had floated over them on more than twenty battle-fields, through which sixty bullets passed at Chancellorsville, leaving it but silken shreds upon a shat- tered staff, carrying which more than twenty color-bearers were shot ; under which Colonel Reily and so many gallant comrades fell; and cheered by the sight of which Major George B. Fox, commanding the remnants of that intrepid regiment, consisting of two commissioned officers and forty men, charged through Gettysburg, July 4th, 1863. It was with reference to his conduct in this battle that Major Fox subse- quently wrote : " Captain Monfort's bearing was admirable. The hotter the fire, the braver and cooler the. man. Con- scious of the danger that surrounded him, his sense of duty was yet so strong that every service was performed, regard- less of personal peril." Of him Colonel Ben. Morgan of the same regiment reported as follows: "As an officer and a soldier he was all I could wish, being intelligent, faithful, and brave-one in whom I could place, at all times, implicit con- fidence in carrying out and obeying orders. On the battle- field, in the midst of carnage and death, he was ever active and zealous in the discharge of his duties, fully realizing the glorious cause in which he was enlisted, and which called forth man's noblest ambitions and energies. I shall always feel myself greatly indebted to him for his aid as a soldier on the field, and for his cheering words in wearying days of the march and camp, and his devoted affection (I may say) for his old captain." The following letter from Colonel Rob- ert Reily was found among the papers of Rev. Dr. Monfort:
"STAFFORD C. H., VA., January 13th, 1863.
"REV. J. G. MONFORT .- Sir: Knowing that it would be gratifying to you, it has long been my desire to drop you a line commendatory of the conduct of your son, First Lieuten- ant Elias Monfort. But being so much occupied in marching, also so much of my time having been taken up with the necessary duties of the regiment, so long under my sole command, that I have been necessarily deterred from doing so. Throughout the whole of our Western Virginia campaign, under Generals Milroy, Schenck, Fremont, Pope, and Sigel,
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also more recently in the 11th Army Corps, under Sigel, I have seen much of Elias, and always have taken an interest in him. He is one of the very few officers of the regiment who can be said always to have been at their post. I regard the company to which he is attached as one of the best drilled and disciplined companies of the regiment. No com- pany, I believe, has been better held together throughout our hard marches, hard fighting, and harder fare, than Company F. No little credit for this is due to Elias ; yet, of course, much is due to his sterling commander. I regard it as a matter of special gratification to you, sir, that your son has escaped the ordinary and terribly pernicious vices of the army-profanity, vulgarity, and intemperance. It pains me to admit that he has not been without the example in any one of these soldierly qualifications before him in the regi- ment, and that too in high authority. And last, though not least, your son enjoys the esteem and respect of every officer in the regiment. My earnest prayer is that he may long live to enjoy the same, and to still contribute his valuable services to a cause so worthy. With great respect,
"I am, yours very truly,
ROBERT REILY, "Major 75th Regiment O. V. I."
After his return home, Captain Monfort determined to fin- ish his collegiate course, and accordingly graduated at Han- over College, with the class of 1865. In 1867 he graduated at the Cincinnati Law School, and was admitted to practice law in the courts of Ohio the same year, but concluded to begin his career at the bar in his native place, Greensburg, Indiana, where he opened an office, in the spring of 1868. Two years afterward he was elected District Attorney for the Twenty-second Judicial District of Indiana, serving as such until 1872. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of the Fourth Judicial Circuit, in 1872, an office which he held for two years. And he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Indiana, June, 1874. But his wound prevented his continuing in the practice of his profession. Upon tlie ad- vice of his physician, he turned away from its alluring pur- suits. Had he continued to devote his unusual abilities to the law he would have doubtless taken high rank as a lawyer. His political prospects of promotion were also flat- tering. But the change of pursuits was unavoidable. De- cember 9th, 1874, he entered upon the duties of managing editor of the Herald and Presbyter. To this field he brought great capacity for work, industrious habits, fine scholarly attainments, a practical knowledge of jurisprudence, excellent literary taste, and brilliant descriptive powers. As an editor, a bright career is predicted of him, an ever-increasing sphere of influence and usefulness, and a name of which it is the highest praise to say that it is worthy to be written side by side with that of his venerable, widely-known and highly honored father. In 1877 Captain Monfort, in company with his father, visited Europe, for the benefit of his health, so much impaired by his wound. They traveled over thirteen thousand miles, and visited the most interesting and instructive places known to the traveling public. Upon his return he resumed his editorial labors with greatly bene- fited health. In 1878 he was elected ruling elder in the Walnut Hills Presbyterian Church, and is still serving as such. In 1881 he was elected a member and secretary of the Board of Trustees of Lane Theological Seminary; and in May, 1883, was elected treasurer of the same, upon the resignation of his father. He is also serving as trustee of Hanover College, having been elected as such in 1881. Captain Monfort married Miss Emma A. Taylor, September 4th, 1867. She was a daughter of the late Eli Taylor, who for forty years was a prominent business man of Cincinnati. The children of this marriage are-Joseph Taylor, born
April 3d, 1870; Hannah Louise, born July 15th, 1872; and Marguerite Morehead, born December 14th, 1877. Unlike many young men of growing prominence Captain Mon- fort's chief characteristics are not eccentricities and strong prejudices, but manly virtues. Brave without the semblance of bravery, enthusiastic in every good cause, amiable in the highest sense, generous and kind-hearted to the exclusion of all prejudice, yet open and pronounced on all questions of principle, he is respected and beloved by a large and ever increasing circle of friends.
POWELL, THOMAS E., one of the most prominent and well-read lawyers of Delaware, Ohio, was born at that place February 20th, 1842. He is a son of Judge T. W. Powell, who for more than half a century has been widely known to the brethren of the bar and in literary circles, as a lawyer, legislator, and author. He gave to the profession of his choice, in which he was an ornament, two of the most valuable works, which will ever be much needed and highly prized by the courts and bar, viz .: "Powell's Analysis of American Law," and a work on "Law of Appellate Proceed- ings," also a "History of the Ancient Britons," and other valuable historical and legal works. The subject of our biog- raphy, Thomas E. Powell, after having undergone a thorough academical training preparatory to his collegiate course, en- tered the Ohio Wesleyan University, from which he graduated in 1863. Shortly after, he commenced the study of law in his father's office, and was admitted to the bar in 1865. His thoroughness, legal education, industrious habits, quick per- ceptions, and ready eloquence brought him at once into notice at the bar, and secured for him a successful business, which has constantly increased, until now he has acquired, through his persevering industry and adaptation to his profession, a practice that extends throughout Central Ohio. In order that his business may be the more successfully managed, Mr. Powell has found it necessary to establish law offices at Del- aware, Columbus, Marysville, and Mount Gilead, with resi- dent partners at each place. The lawyers with whom he is constantly brought into competition are many of them men of distinguished ability, possessed of high intellectual culture, yet le always holds his own with the best of them-secures and maintains a leading place. Being an industrious student of law, an inveterate worker, he stands among the foremost at the bar. His reputation as an eloquent and forcible advocate is not surpassed by any lawyer in Central Ohio, and he is often retained in important cases. Mr. Powell has made a specialty of cases against railroads and other corporations. His business and reputation in this branch of his profession, too, is as extensive as that of any lawyer in the West. While devoted to the profession of his choice, he is a decided Democrat in his views, and has always taken a prominent part in the political matters of the State. He was elected a delegate to the National Convention which nominated Horace Greeley at Cincinnati, in 1872 : and in the same year was chosen Presidential Elector for his district, upon the Demo- cratic ticket. At the State Convention of 1875 he was nom- inated Attorney-general of the State, and although he re- ceived a much larger vote than other nominees he was defeated with the entire ticket. At the Congressional Con- vention of his district, in 1882, he was nominated by accla- mation for Congress, and although the district polled more than twelve hundred votes against his party he came within a few votes of being elected. He was made permanent
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