USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume II > Part 57
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gallantry in the field; also the respective ranks of major and lieutenant-colonel, by brevet, in the regular army. After four months spent in the hospital, he returned to duty, as the Atlanta campaign opened, and served in every battle until its close. Being at the close of the war mustered out of the volunteers with his regiment, he was placed upon the retired list with the rank of colonel, for wounds received at Chicka- mauga, having been stricken with a piece of shell and his spine injured, and also shot in both legs. During the autumn of 1868 he was ordered to Texas for duty. He was subse- quently appointed district Judge. Again ordered to Texas, he was appointed to the supreme bench of that State as the colleague of Judges A. J. Hamilton, Morrell, Lindsay, and Dennison, and served under that appointment until the State of Texas was admitted to representation in Congress. Re- turning North he was reappointed, by Governor Davis, one of the supreme Judges, and went back to Texas, where he served three years under the constitution of 1869, after which, again returning North, he settled at Kenton, and with his sons resumed the practice of his profession. It is here proper to mention that during a critical period of the war, by order of General Rosecrans, he came back to Ohio, and by his speeches delivered at various points aided in securing fresh enlistments, and this done, he returned to his command, and fought in the battle of Stone River. In 1850-51 Mr. Walker was a member of the Ohio Senate, and in 1864, and again in 1866, he was nominated for Congress, and beaten, first by sixteen hundred and next by six hundred votes in the old fifth district, that usually polled eight thousand majority against his ticket. On the 10th November, 1842, he married Miss Maria van Skayck, a daughter of an old Knickerbocker family, then a resident of Germantown, Ohio. Mrs. Walker died in July, 1853, the mother of three children-a son and two daughters. On the Ist May, 1855, he married Miss Mary H., the daughter of Dr. Willis W. Hitt, of Vincennes, Indiana. Eight living children have been the issue of this union. Dur- ing the war, Mr. Walker was often intrusted with the most dangerous and important duties. He enjoyed the full con- fidence of General George H. Thomas, and was with him through the entire war. He was among the brave old 14th corps, regarded as an intrepid and skillful officer, no officer in that corps standing higher for merit. A ripe scholar, he possesses high ability both as a lawyer and advocate. Gen- eral Walker has suffered greatly from the effects of an acci- dent which occurred to him in the city of Springfield, Ohio, on the night of the 18th of December, 1879. The night was very dark, the gas was not lighted in the streets, and no bar- ricades to give warning of danger. 'A deep excavation in the sidewalk had been left open, into which he fell, injuring himself severely by breaking his left ankle and crushing the foot, also hurting his left knee and hip, and his right hand and arm were badly broken and injured. In consequence of this accident the General has been compelled to retire from the practice of the law. He now lives in a somewhat rural manner, in the southern suburb of Kenton, where he indulges his taste for flowers and fruit culture, surrounded by the younger members of his family -- and there are few more interesting family groups. Willis S. Walker, the second son of the General, is a young lawyer of great promise, a grad- uate of Michigan University, in both the literary and law courses, and is now associated with the Hon. George Spence, of Springfield, Ohio. Miss Mozella is an artist of fine prom- ise. The children are all gifted and promising. The General
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takes great pride in them, and often addresses his wife as "Madam Cornelia." For a man who has buffeted so boldly with the world and seen so much of it as General Walker, there are few who are leading a more quiet and peaceful life towards its close. He makes no outward profession of religion, belongs to no Church, but is a firm believer in the divine character of the Bible, and thinks if it were properly understood none could hesitate to believe and confide in it. The General is a severe censor of the politicians of the day, and has ceased to take much interest in the success of parties. He thinks his own life has not been as successful as it might under other circumstances, or perhaps ought to, have been.
DOUGHERTY, FRANK CESSNA, lawyer, of Kenton, Ohio, was born in that place, September 14th, 1851. His parents are William and Helen (Cessna) Dougherty-the former a native of Steubenville, Ohio, and the latter a native of Bedford County, Pennsylvania. They are still living in Kenton, his father having been a clothing merchant of that place for the past thirty years. Frank C. enjoyed the privi- leges of the Kenton public schools. In the fall of 1867 he en- tered the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio, and was graduated from the classical course in 1870. Though but nineteen years of age, he was at once called to the prin- cipalship of the Galion, Ohio, High School, which he ably filled for the two succeeding years. In the fall of 1872 he entered the Law College at Cincinnati, from which he grad- uated in 1873. Having a love for, and interest in, educa- tional work, he, the following fall, accepted the proffered position of principal of the Wooster High School. After two years of successful work in this capacity he was elected by the School Board as superintendent of their public schools; the duties of which position, however, he was not permitted to assume. At about the same time he was pro- moted to the superintendency of the Wooster schools he was nominated by the Democratic party of Hardin County for Prosecuting Attorney, and was elected by a handsome ma- jority. He resigned his new position of superintendent to accept the one which had been so unexpectedly bestowed upon him. This recognition of his ability and integrity in- augurated a most successful career. He performed the duties as Prosecuting Attorney in a most satisfactory manner for the two years of his office, establishing himself in the mean- time in the practice of the law, in which he has since become distinguished. In 1878 he formed a partnership with a younger brother, J. W. Dougherty, a promising young law- yer, who is still associated with him. Mr. Dougherty was the nominee of the Democratic party, in 1881, for Attorney- general of Ohio, and shared in the defeat of the ticket. Mr. Dougherty's career in the legal profession is a most excep- tional one, and his success is the best testimony that can be offered as to his ability and integrity. Though but thirty- two years of age and with but eight years' experience, he has already attained to the leading place at the bar of Hardin County, is recognized as the ablest advocate and a learned counsel, and has the largest and most lucrative prac- tice. He has made a special study of the law on corpora- tions, and is the attorney for the leading corporations in Kenton. He is vice-president of the Champion Iron Fence Company, of Kenton, one of the largest institutions of its kind in the country. He is also one of the three executive financial officers of the Kenton Savings Bank, and is one
of the enterprising men of his city. He has been a member of the School Board for four years, and since 1882 presi- dent of the same. Mr. Dougherty is a young man of edu- cation and culture, and in the practice of the law takes a broad view of all questions. He studies his cases thoroughly and conducts them in a manner characteristic of marked ability. He was married September 15th, 1875, to Miss Luella Merriman, daughter of Mr. Lewis Merriman, a wealthy and influential merchant and citizen of Kenton.
DE CAMP, JAMES MILTON, M. A., General Agent of the Central Department of the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company, President of the North-western Association of Fire Underwriters, President of the Ohio State Board of Fire Underwriters, etc., was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, December 25th, 1845. His father, James De Camp, was one of the well known family bearing that name, mention of which is made to some extent.in a sketch of Mr. Daniel De Camp, appearing elsewhere in this book. He died in 1858. His mother is still living in a pleasant home in Hart- well, a suburb of Cincinnati. She was Miss Joanna Evans, a sister of Mr. Caleb B. Evans, a prominent manufacturer of that city. Mr. De Camp received his preliminary educa- tion in the public schools of Cincinnati, but before passing entirely through Hughes High School, he entered the fresh- man class at the Ohio Wesleyan University, at. Delaware, Ohio, where he graduated in 1867, then in his twenty-second year. After graduation he found employment in the fire in- surance business, entering the Ætna branch office, at Cin- cinnati, where his faithful attention to clerical duties resulted. in his promotion to a special agency, in Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska, inspecting property and adjusting losses. He con- tinued in this field-work, both West and East, in New York and New England, for eleven years, with the Ætna, Amazon, and Liverpool and London and Globe Companies. In De- cember, 1879, he was elected to the position of General Agent at Cincinnati for the Central Department of the Liver- pool and London and Globe Insurance Company, a respon- sible and lucrative position, for which he is qualified both by nature and experience. It is one involving peculiar talents- executive ability, rapid dispatch of business, and the infusion of energy into a large corps of agents. Mr. De Camp's taste for conventions and committee work have made him a useful member of various insurance organizations. He is President of the North-western Association of Fire Underwriters, Pres- ident of the Ohio State Board, and Vice-president of the Cin- cinnati Board of Fire Underwriters. He possesses in a remarkable degree certain family traits-nervous energy, determination, industry, and an ambition to do well and faith- fully every task assigned him. While withal reserved and dignified in his intercourse with the world, he is yet open and pronounced upon all matters requiring his views and action. He is in this respect a peculiar and worthy representative of his honorable ancestry. At college his mental trend was for oratory, declamations, mental and moral, and the natural sciences, rather than mathematics and the languages. In the pursuit of the former he acquired a reputation in college circles which survives to the present, mainly as a rhetorical and eloquent speaker. His essays indicated the possession of a gifted as well as cultivated mind. These intellectual attainments have won distinction for him in competing for prize essays, one of which was awarded him in 1881, at Chicago, a paper upon "The Special Agent-His Duties, and
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Best Methods of Performing them." Thus to the allurements of business he adds the charms of literature. He is a mem- ber of the Mount Auburn Methodist Episcopal Church, and is liberal in his charitable and Church giving. As to political views, he believes them embodied in the principles of the Republican party. He is a trustee of the Ohio Wesleyan University. Mr. De Camp married Miss Jennie Brandebury, in 1867, immediately upon his graduation. She is a socially gifted lady, and the daughter of the Rev. C. B. Brandebury, of Delaware, Ohio, a retired minister of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. Two sons, Walter and Charles, have been given them. They reside in Mount Auburn, one of the beau- tiful suburbs of Cincinnati.
DENNISON, WILLIAM, lawyer and nineteenth gov- ernor elected by the people of Ohio, was born in Cincinnati, November 23d, 1815. His father and mother emigrated from New Jersey to Ohio and settled in the Miami valley about ten years previously, and being in good circumstances, gave their son a liberal education, he graduating from the Miami University in 1835, with high honors in political science, history, and belles-lettres. After leaving college he became a student in the law office of Nathaniel G., the father of the Hon. George H. Pendleton, at Cincinnati, and was in 1840 admitted to practice. In the same year he married a daughter of William Neil, a prominent citizen of Columbus, Ohio, whither removing he applied himself with energy to the practice of his profession for several years. In 1848 he was on the whig ticket elected to the Ohio Senate, from the Franklin and Delaware district. It was at this time politics had heated the blood and caused men to take position on the subject of slavery, for or against, and a desperate struggle was made for the controlling majority in the State legislature. Being a man of elegant presence and much ability as a presiding officer, his nomination for president of the senate was nearly successful, and his introduction in this manner to his fellow senators gave him prominence, and a leading position on the committee appointed to examine and remodel the stat- utes. Among these at the time the law, forbidding black men and mulattoes the privileges of permanent residence in the State, or of testifying in the courts, had for nearly half a century remained on the statutes, a reproach to the people of the State. Mr. Dennison warmly advocated its repeal, and succeeded. His speeches on this subject at once defined his position as an ardent anti-slavery advocate, and especially for its confinement as a local institution to those of the original thirteen States which had retained it. His senatorial term having expired in 1850, he retired to his law practice, and remained so engaged until 1852, when, appointed a presiden- tial elector, he cast his vote as such for General Scott. About this time elected president of the Exchange Bank of Colum- bus, he began to give some attention to the railroad enter- prises of the West. Being elected president of the Columbus and Xenia railroad, he from that time became actively engaged as director of all the railway lines centering in Columbus. Entering ardently into the objects recognized by the republi- can party, he became one of its most prominent members in Ohio, and as a delegate to the Pittsburgh convention in June, 1856, advocated and voted for the nomination of John C. Fremont for the Presidency. In 1859 he was, by his party. nominated for governor of Ohio, and being elected, thus succeeded, in 1860, Governor Chase, whose example and opinions upon the subject of slavery he faithfully entertained.
In his inaugural he announced as the will of a majority of her people that Ohio was unmistakably opposed to the exten- sion of slavery in any direction, and directed the attention of all to the artful machinations of pro-slavery politicians. In his first message to the general assembly in January, 1861, he met the menacing action of the slave-holding States with the declaration that the position of Ohio was the same as when, in 1832, nullification being threatened by South Car- olina, her legislature resolved: "That the Federal Union exists by solemn compact, voluntarily entered into by the people of each and every State, and thus they became the United States of America, e pluribus unum, and this being so, no State can claim the right to secede from or violate that compact; and however grievous the real or supposed burdens of any State may be, the only legitimate remedy is the wise and faithful exercise of the elective franchise, and submission to the will of the people's representatives in Congress as- sembled." In this manner he informed the country at large of the position taken by Ohio, and when war became a fact, he invoked all the authority of his office to assist the gov- ernment. As the first war governor of Ohio, his name will go down to posterity with the names of the most patriotic men of any age. Locally placed at much disadvantage, when Governor Magoffin, of Kentucky, in response to Presi- dent Lincoln's first call for volunteers, refused to furnish troops, saying that Kentucky should not furnish troops "for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States," Governor Dennison at once telegraphed to the War Depart- ment: "If Kentucky will not fill her quota, Ohio will fill it for her." In less than two weeks, under the influence of her enthusiastic governor, Ohio had furnished men enough to fill the quota of three States, and in sixteen days her gov- ernor had the pleasure of determining that "Ohio must lead in the prosecution of the war." Naturally this extraordinary promptitude in obeying the call of the President, and, in doing so, within one month furnishing enough men to fill the entire quota called for by his proclamation, directed the attention of the whole country toward Ohio, and kept her people eager to sustain the governor's declaration. In their support the loyalists of West Virginia received such assist- ance from the volunteer troops of Ohio, as enabled them within. a short time have the benefits of a separate State gov- ernment, and this fact is certainly the work of Governor Dennison, and the new autonomy the gift of Ohio to the nation within the first two years of the war. The national banking system of Mr. Chase exhibiting, as it did at its in- ception, severe hardships toward the banking system then in existence, met with Governor Dennison's disapproval; but when its ultimate beneficence became clear to his mind, he withdrew his objections and favored what has become so universal a benefit to the people at large and an additional bond of national unity that demagogues have in vain, so far, endeavored to break. The close of his term of office as governor by no means impaired his interest in the success of the Union arms, for he assisted his successor zealously. Being free to address the people on the cause nearest his heart, on every occasion he could appear where the fire of his enthusiasm for his country's unity would be most effect- ive, Governor Dennison became a favorite throughout the country at large as one of the most powerful Union speakers known. Delegated to the republican national convention in 1864, he was made chairman of that body and led it in the renomination of President Lincoln, and, on the retirement of
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Montgomery Blair from the cabinet, was called to take his place as Postmaster-General, and retained in it by President Johnson, until the definition by the latter of his "policy," when he resigned, and returned to his home in Columbus, where he passed several years in the retirement of private life. A man of courtly and dignified presence and manners elegant and polished, he would be distinguished for these characteristics in the most exalted positions of life. In 1875 he was appointed a member of the commission to examine the financially entangled affairs of the District of Columbia, following the change of government of that district, and having spent until the spring of 1878 thus engaged, again withdrew from public life to the privacy of his home engage- ments in Columbus, where he died June 15th, 1882.
PERRY, AARON FYFE, only child of the marriage of Aaron Perry and Elizabeth Fyfe, was born in Leicester, Ver- mont, January 1st, 1815. On his father's side, he is a lineal descendant in the seventh degree of John Perry, of England, who emigrated to Boston in 1632. On his mother's side, Mr. Perry is a lineal descendant in the sixth degree of John Strong, of England, who came to Boston in 1631, and was one of the founders of Dorchester. John Strong was the head of the widely known family of Strongs, of New England, and whose history was written by Prof. Benjamin W. Dwight. Mr. Perry was a posthumous child; his mother died when he was four years old. His early education was obtained at the public schools. Later, he became a student of law, and was temporarily editor of a county newspaper. In 1837, he en- tered the law school of Yale college, and doing two years' work in one, passed his examination, and was admitted to the bar in New Haven at the same time with Hon. Alphonso Taft. Shortly after, Mr. Perry removed to Columbus, Ohio, where he practiced law till 1854, when he removed to Cincin- nati. As partners in his profession, he had at one time William Dennison, a governor of this State, and at another, Colonel Henry B. Carrington. Mr. Perry's removal to Cin- cinnati was at the invitation of Taft & Key (Alphonso Taft and Thomas M. Key), the firm name becoming Taft, Key & Perry. Judge Key left the firm on account of ill-health, and in 1861, Taft & Perry dissolved partnership. Mr. Perry opened a separate office, subsequently taking as a partner his son-in-law, Herbert Jenney, Esq. Early in life, Mr. Perry was a laborious student, and later, wrote considerably for the press; he was able to buy his first set of text-books with money earned by his pen. The extensive notes and abstracts of decisions, concerning Virginia military land law, which have appeared in "Swan's Statutes," were prepared by Mr. Perry at the request of Judge Swan. Close attention to his profession brought a fair share of business, including some celebrated cases, and for years his practice has been of a character gratifying in all respects to a man of his elevated character. Discarding trivialities, Mr. Perry has aimed (and it is believed with more than ordinary success) to present his oral and written arguments in the clearest and simplest form ; it is not his custom to cite authorities which he has not per- sonally examined. One of the earliest cases in which he was engaged was the prosecution of parties who abducted a col- ored man, who, after living sixteen years in Ohio, was taken to Kentucky as a slave. The opposing counsel were the Hon. John Brough and the Hon. Noah H. Swayne. The trial ended in the acquittal of the private persons indicted, in the convic- tion of the magistrate, and the return of the colored man to his
family. Then, and afterward, the colored people of this State showed themselves grateful. In the cases of Myers vs. Hal- stead, for libel; Manuel vs. Manuel, 13 Ohio State Reports, 458, (associated in the latter case with the Hon. A. Taft and the Hon. W. Y. Gholson,) raising the question of the validity in Ohio of a holographic will executed in Louisiana; Frazer vs. Siebert, 16 Ohio State Reports, 614, as to the validity of a tax on shares of stock in National banks under a State law levied in excess of the tax on State banks, and on a different principle ; Sinton vs. Boyd, 19 Ohio State Reports, 30, in- volving the construction of a peculiar clause in a will; the State vs. the Cincinnati Gas Light and Coke Company, 18. Ohio State Reports, 262, in quo warranto, involving questions relating to the construction of several contracts, statutes, and city ordinances, relating to the use of the streets for the laying of gas pipes by the company, under contract with the city, and the power of the city to grant exclusive rights for such purpose ; the Mechanics' and Traders' Bank (branch of the State Bank of Ohio) vs. Charles Thomas, treasurer of Ham- ilton county, and the same plaintiff vs. Henry Debolt, treas- urer of Hamilton county, reported in 18 Howard Reports, 384, in which the general question related to the validity of a tax assessed upon branches of the State bank under an Ohio statute; Bissell et al. vs. Jeffersonville, 24 Howard Reports, 287, deciding upon the validity of municipal bonds in the hands of bona fide purchasers without notice against de- fences, grounded on irregularities in issuing them, (Hon. Reverdy Johnson being for the defendant,) and Mr. Perry preparing the brief of Taft & Perry, for the plaintiff, and in other important cases associated with and opposed to eminent counsel, Mr. Perry added greatly to his reputation as a law- yer, and has left enduring marks upon the judicial history of the country. An enumeration of cases argued gives no adequate idea of the career or character of a lawyer, nor do the cases mentioned in the above list approximate an enum- eration. Nor do the cases reported in the Supreme Court of the State, and in the Supreme Court of the United States, where Mr. Perry's name appears as of counsel, represent the cases argued by him in those courts, his name having been at times omitted and at times misplaced. In 1873, Mr. Perry was appointed by the President, and associated as senior counsel with gentlemen eminent in the profession, to prepare under the direction of the Attorney-general, a suit in equity against the Union Pacific Railroad Company, the "Credit Mobilier," and many other defendants, in pursuance of the requirements of section 4, of the general appropriation act, approved March 3d, 1873. This suit, touching interests of unprecedented amount directly, but indirectly reaching much further, has not been decided. In the important case of Clement L. Vallandigham against General Burnside, in the circuit court of the United States for the Southern District of Ohio, involving the validity of the arrest of a citizen, not in the naval or military service of the gov- ernment, Mr. Perry appeared (with District-attorney Ball,) for General Burnside. A full report of this case, includ- ing arguments of counsel, was published in a volume by itself. In Whitelaw Reid's "History of Ohio in the War," the occasion is given its due prominence, with refer- ence to other events, accompanied by copious extracts from Mr. Perry's speech. As Mr. Perry has been widely known in the political world, a statement of his labors in that field may, perhaps, be found more interesting to the general reader than that which relates to his career as a law-
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