USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume II > Part 6
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first to introduce the plan for the superannuated ministers' fund in that church in 1839. He was also the first to estab- lish a young men's prayer-meeting in his church in Ports- mouth. In politics he is a staunch republican. He has been twice married. His first wife was Isabella McNairn, daugh- ter of his first partner in business, whom he married May 23d, 1839. Mrs. Murray died in the spring of 1848, having been the mother of three children, namely: Joseph, now engaged as traveling salesman for a Baltimore firm ; Hiram B. Murray, a coal merchant of Portsmouth, and Mary, a graduate of Oxford, Ohio, female seminary, who resides at home. On May 14th, 1850, Mr. Murray married Harriet White, daughter of Josiah White, of Hadley, Massachusetts. The issue of this union has been seven children, three deceased. The surviving ones are Emma, who was edu- cated at Vassar and is now the wife of J. Boyd Herron, a hardware merchant of Hillsboro, Ohio; Addie, a graduate of Hillsboro Highland Institute; Lulu, now a student at the same place, and Maggie, now prosecuting her education in the public schools of Portsmouth. All these ladies are natural musicians, and have become quite proficient in that art. His son, Joseph N. Murray, left Marietta college at the age of eighteen, entered company E, 33d regiment, under Colonel Sill; was wounded in the leg at the battle of Per- rysville, and carried the bullet in his limb for a year. He
was brought home by his father, who ran the hazardous risk of going for him through the enemy's country. Mr. Murray is one of the very oldest business men of Portsmouth. Hc stands in this line like an old land-mark, and is, with one exception, the only man in active business there who was thus engaged when he located in that place. His business career has been remarkably successful, and his enterprise and public spirit have been clearly manifested by his inti- mate connection with such a number of the industries of his adopted city. Quite a number of the enterprising younger business men of Portsmouth and elsewhere, moreover, are indebted to him for substantial assistance furnished them in the infancy of their respective enterprises. He is greatly respected in the community as a thorough and reliable busi- ness man, and an influential and worthy citizen.
IRVINE, JAMES, a prominent lawyer of Lima, born in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, November 28th, 1842, is of American parentage and Scotch-lrish descent. The an- cestors of his father, Dr. William Irvine, and of his mother, whose maiden name was Sarah J. Kitchell, came to this country at an early day and settled, the one at Carlisle, Penn- sylvania, the other in New York City. General William Irvine, his paternal grandsire, and Captain Brush, grandpar- ent of his mother, were in the war of the Revolution, and fought for American independence. They were both distin- guished soldiers, and General Irvine received for his ser- vices, from Pennsylvania, large tracts of land in the north- western part of that State. When the subject of this sketch was a year old his parents moved to Ohio. They settled in Wyandot County, where his father became established as a physician. James passed his boyhood in that county, attend- ing the schools of Marseilles and Upper Sandusky. In 1857 he went to Cincinnati, entered the Woodward High School, and, after spending three years in that institution, was graduated with honors about the time South Carolina passed the ordi- nance of secession. To the first call for troops by President Lincoln young Irvine responded by joining the 15th Regi-
ment of Ohio Volunteers. He started in as a drummer boy, but soon discovering he had no special talent for that branch of the service, shouldered the musket, and peformed duty in the ranks throughout the term of his enlistment. At the age of eighteen he again volunteered, but not having attained his full growth, nor the stature required by the army regulations, he failed to pass, and his visions of military glory vanished. Turning his attention to more peaceful pursuits, he accepted, for a brief period, the care of a district school, and while so engaged had the respect of his pupils and the reputation among his patrons of being a faithful and suc- cessful instructor of youth. In 1863 he gave up teaching to assist the provost marshal of the 5th Ohio District. The po- sition was not an important one at first, but the promptness, energy, and intelligence of the young man soon attracted the attention of that officer, who made him his chief clerk. At twenty-two Mr. Irvine decided to have a profession. As a stu- dent of law he went in the office of Judge Mackenzie, an emi- nent jurist of Lima, and, after attending the law school of the University of Michigan, was admitted to the bar in 1867. Soon thereafter he entered into partnership with Calvin S. Brice, and the law firm of Irvine & Brice, now of sixteen years' duration, has been a popular and exceedingly lucrative one. In 1871, conceiving the idea of utilizing the fine timber to be destroyed in the clearings of the neighborhood, Mr. Irvine projected and established the Irvine Wheel Company. These works give employment to seventy-five men, and the manufactured products, which have become famous, are in constant demand in this country and Europe. Mr. Irvine is president of the company. He is also president of the Lima Mill Furnishing Company, an important enterprise lately started, which, too, affords labor for a great number of men, and which promises, under the skillful and judicious man- agement of its president, to become one of Lima's most useful and paying industries. Possessed of a cheerful disposition, being brimful of energy and having an abiding faith in the certain growth and future importance of Lima, he has ex- tended the city's limits by laying out new streets, erecting numerous dwellings, and providing desirable and beautiful homes for others. Besides, there is not. a public enterprise concerning the welfare of his town, since 1867, that has not received from him cordial and substantial aid. As an in- stance of his sagacity and business tact, there were, in 1879, five small railroads, in any thing but a flourishing condition. They were either unfinished, defective in construction, out of repair, not wisely managed, or poorly patronized, and the projectors or owners had not the heart or the funds to make them a success. Irvine & Brice took hold of these seeming failures, bought every road, consolidated them, and by mak- ing certain connections, formed the Toledo, Delphos, and Burlington Railway, in which Mr. Irvine disposed of his interest for a handsome consideration and profit. In 1869 he was appointed United States Register in Bankruptcy, and he was elected a member of the National Convention of 1876 that put in nomination Rutherford B. Hayes for Presi- dent. But although Mr. Irvine takes a lively interest in State and national affairs, and has always been a steadfast adher- ent of the Republican party, yet he has not sought political distinction, seeming contented to devote the time he can spare from his professional duties in looking after the various business enterprises in which he has become involved. A Presbyterian in religious preference, he has been a consistent and liberal supporter of the Church, and he has always come
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to the rescue of any good work that needed help. In Jan- uary, 1868, Mr. Irvine was married to Roberta McKelly, daughter of Hon. Robert McKelly, a distinguished lawyer of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and has had five children, four living-two sons and two daughters.
TOWNSEND, CHARLES, of Athens, Secretary of State of Ohio, was born at Harrisville, Belmont county, Ohio, December 22d, 1834. He is a son of Samuel and Rebecca (Morrison) Townsend, the former of English and the latter of Irish descent. His ancestry on both sides were citizens of this country before the Revolution, and took an active part in the war for the freedom of the colonists. The primary education of Mr. Townsend was obtained in the common schools of Athens county. Later he entered the Ohio Uni- versity, at Athens, from which he graduated in 1861. Dur- ing his collegiate course he relied upon his own efforts for support, teaching in the public schools in winter and return- ing to his class in the spring, and was thus enabled to complete his studies. He founded Decamp Institute, in Meigs county, Ohio, and was in charge of that institution when the war began, leaving it to engage in the service of the national government. In July, 1861, he enlisted a com- pany of Ohio volunteers for a three years' service in the war. August 15th, of the same year, he was made captain of the 30th O. V. I., and acted in this capacity till 1864. January 27th, of this year, as a recognition of merit as a soldier and an officer, he was promoted to be major of his regiment. He participated in nearly all the great battles of the army of which his command formed a part, and was mustered out of the service near the close of the war, having been injured by a bursting shell near Atlanta, Georgia. Soon after his return home he entered the law school at Cincinnati, where, in the spring of 1866, he graduated, and, being admitted to the bar, began the practice of law at Athens. As a result of three successive elections he was prosecuting attorney of Athens county for six years. He has twice been elected to the Ohio House of Representatives from Athens county. His fellow members in the legislature regarded him as a wise and prudent counselor, and of their own accord began paving the way for his nomination for the office of Secretary of State at the close of his legislative career. In the State election of 1880 Major Townsend was elected to the position he now so creditably fills against Judge William Lang, of Tiffin, Ohio, a very popular and in- fluential gentleman on the democratic ticket. Major Town- send has always been a republican, and, being well informed on current topics and an excellent speaker, has rendered his party valued service in the State. October 7th, 1858, he was married to Miss Margaret J. Allen, of Athens county, who had been his playmate in youth, and later his school- mate and familiar acquaintance. Socially, he stands high among his compeers, being noted for his polished and agree- able manner and most exemplary habits. He is agreeably quiet and unassuming, but withal highly entertaining in con- versation when his acquaintance has been formed. He is satisfied with doing his duty, and neither desires nor permits any fulsome laudations of his career, either in public or pri- vate life. He believes that men should treat all matters of public import with the same sincerity, candor, and integrity that they would those of a purely private nature. In Major Townsend the republican party has a faithful and able repre- sentative, and the people of Ohio an excellent officer.
WALLER, THOMAS, physician and legislator, was born in Stafford county, Virginia, September 14th, 1774. He was a descendant in a direct line, on his father's side, from Edmund Waller, the great English poet, who was also for many years a member of parliament; and on his mother's side, from the English patriot Hampden, whom the poet Gray has immortalized in his celebrated "Elegy in a Country Churchyard." A volume containing the life of Mr. Edmund Waller, together with his poems, published in London in 17II, is still preserved as a family relic by the son of our subject, Mr. George A. Waller, of Portsmouth. The history of the Waller family in this country has been closely inter- woven with that of the Baptist denomination during the past hundred years, especially in Kentucky and Virginia. Many of the Wallers were Baptist ministers, some of them of de- cided note. Among these may be mentioned William Waller and his brother, John Waller, the great leaders of the Ken- tucky and Virginia Baptists during the times of persecutions in those States. Amid the trials, imprisonments, and universal hatred which the Baptists in those days endured, these two brothers stood forth fearlessly, "steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." The sons of William Waller-Absalom, George, and Edmund-were also ministers, distinguished for their talent, eloquence, and pro- found acquaintance with the Scriptures. Untaught in the schools, they made themselves learned in the highest and truest sense of the term, and, under God, were the architects of their own eminence and power. Those familiar with the his- tory of Kentucky Baptists will remember that it was Edmund Waller who burned a revision of the New Testament, made by Alexander Campbell, for the reason that he regarded Mr. Campbell's renderings of certain passages inimical to a true and pure Christianity. Independence, boldness, firmness, energy, and zeal have been, and continue to be, the character- istics of all members of this family. Dr. Thomas Waller was a second cousin of the Revs. John and William Waller, just noticed. He was educated in William and Mary's Col- lege, Virginia, studied medicine and attended lectures under Dr. Rush, in Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and located in Bourbon county, Kentucky, where, in 1800, he married Elizabeth McFarlane, and took his bride on a wed- ding tour on horseback to visit her relatives in Pennsylvania. While sojourning in that State, a daughter was born to them, and in 1801 they returned West, bringing their baby on horse- back, a distance of several hundred miles, over, perhaps, as rough a road as man or beast ever traveled. He settled at Alexandria, at the mouth of the Scioto river, and at once entered upon the practice of his profession. Scioto county was organized in 1803, and Dr. Waller was its first represent- ative in the State legislature. In 1805 he removed to Ports- mouth, where he afterwards purchased one hundred acres of land, adjoining the then incorporated limits of the town, all of which territory is now embraced by the city; and in inemory of him one of the streets is called after his name, " Waller street." He also built the first post-office and apothecary- shop in the city, and was the first postmaster, remaining so all his life. He was for several years president of the town council, and also of the Commercial Bank of Scioto. In 1822 and 1823 a very fatal epidemic prevailed, at which time his additional professional labors, extending over a very wide cir- cuit, induced the illness of which he died, on July 19th, 1823. He was a very active, energetic man, and a popular physician. It is said of him that he had at the time of his death more
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friends and fewer enemies than any other man in Scioto county. He had a family of nine children, four of them being now living-George A. Waller, John Waller, and Mrs. John P. Terry, all of Portsmouth, and Elizabeth Waller, of Sci- oto county, Ohio. The latter has a ring that once belonged to Mrs. Edmund Waller, and which bears the family coat of arms.
WALLER, GEORGE ALLEN, youngest son of Dr. Waller, just noticed, was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, August 24th, 1817. When a young man, he was a member of the engin- eering corps that located the canal from Indianapolis to Evansville, Indiana. He subsequently followed the Ohio and Mississippi rivers as a pilot for some eight years. In 1856 he embarked in the hardware trade, in which he has continued to the present time. For quite a number of years he served on the Portsmouth city council and board of education. He has also taken quite an active part in politics. In 1848 he was elected county auditor, and served three terms. In 1852 he was a delegate to the Baltimore national convention which nominated General Scott for the presidency. Also, in 1864, he · was a delegate to the republican national convention in the same city. Likewise, in the same year, he was a member of the Lincoln electoral college. For two years he served on the republican State central committee, representing the eleventh district of the State. In 1859 and 1861 he was the republican candidate for State Senator; but, the district being strongly democratic, he was not elected. In 1876 he was a delegate to the democratic national convention in St. Louis. In all the positions which he has held he has made an effi- cient and faithful public servant. For over threescore years identified with the interests of Portsmouth, he has long ranked as a leader in its business and social circles, and is greatly respected for his quiet, modest manners, sound judgment, and sterling integrity. October 6th, 1847, he married Jane Davey, a native of Charlestown, England. Three sons and a daughter have sprung from this union-William, a lawyer of Ports- mouth; Henry Davey Waller, an Episcopalian clergyman of Cincinnati ; George A. Waller, Jr., clerk in his father's store, and Clara Waller, who resides at home.
BATTELLE, JOSEPH BARKER, journalist, of To- ledo, Ohio, was born at Newport, Ohio, October 15, 1845. His father, Ebenezer Battelle, Jr., was a son of Ebenezer Battelle, whose father, Colonel E. Battelle, was a member of the Ohio Company who settled in Marietta, Ohio, in 1788. His mother, Julia P. Barker, was a daughter of Judge Joseph Barker, of Marietta, whose father, Colonel Joseph Barker, was also one of the Ohio Company. Both father and mother of Mr. Bat- telle are natives of Ohio, and are now living at Newark, Ohio. The father was born in 1812, at Newport, and the mother in 1815, at Marietta. Mr. Battelle's early education was derived at the school in his native village, where he was in attendance till seventeen years of age. He next took charge of a military store at Wheeling, West Virginia, re- maining there till January, 1864, when he again directed his attention towards securing a more extended education than he had obtained at the village school. His choice of insti- tutions was the Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, which he entered, there pursuing his studies till 1868, when he was graduated in the classical course, in good standing. It was during his college life that Mr. Battelle developed a taste for the vocation which he has since chosen, that of jour- nalism. In the Fall of 1867 he began a semi-monthly, the
Western Collegian, publishing it at his own expense up to his graduation, in 1868, when he turned it over to the senior class, and their successors. The Collegian has been published ever since, and has become a popular paper. The next year after graduating, 1868-9, Mr. Battelle was made a tutor in his alma mater. In 1869-70 he was superintendent of public schools at Ironton, Ohio, This closed his connection with educational matters, and in the Fall of 1870 he went to To- ledo, Ohio, and became associated with the Toledo Com- mercial. The next year, 1871, he accepted a position on the Blade, where he remained till September, 1880, first as com- mercial editor, then as assistant city editor, afterwards city editor and editor of Locke's Literary Monthly and American Farm Journal, and subsequently became editor of the Weekly Blade, acting as such for the last six years of his connection with that paper. His ten years' experience in journalism, having been in every and all places that a newspaper man could fill, in the capacity of editor and reporter, furnished him with a knowledge of the business that he proposed to utilize in the management and publication of a paper of his own, so in September, 1880, Mr. Battelle severed his connec- tion with the Blade, and, in company with J. H. Ainsworth, purchased the Commercial, which was soon changed to the Telegram. Mr. Battelle at once became its editor and gen- eral manager. The Telegram is now two years old, and is fast becoming one of the leading dailies of Toledo. It is the only morning paper published in the city, and always makes its appearance fresh with the latest news of the day. The Tele- gram is one of the strong political advocates of Republican- ism. Mr. Battelle's first ballot was cast for Grant, in 1868, and the candidates of the same party have ever since re- ceived both his ballots and cordial support. October 24, 1871, Mr. Battelle married Miss Emma D. Clarke, daughter of S. G. Clarke, of Clermont county, and niece of the Hon. R. W. Clarke, congressman from Southern Ohio. Three children are the result of the marriage.
THATCHER, PETER, railroad contractor and bridge builder, was born in Attleborough, Massachusetts, July 20th, 1812, and died at Cleveland, Ohio, February 12th, 1880. He was descended from a very old family of English divines, noted for their learning in theology, the arts, and sciences. He was the eldest son and third child of Peter and Salona (Dunham) Thatcher, of Attleborough, and of the eighth generation in lineal descent from the Rev. Peter Thatcher, rector of the church at Salisbury, England, whose son, Thomas, came to New England in 1635, and subsequently founded and was the first minister of the "Old South Church," at Boston, Massachusetts. Many of the American branch of the family became men of letters, eminent as divines, and held high positions in the Church. Peter Thatcher attended the academies at Wrentham and Amherst, 1826-28; 1829 he spent on his father's farm; 1830 he went to Taunton, with the determination to earn his own livelihood and make his way in the world. He first devoted himself to learning the trade of a carpenter. In 1834 he entered the employ of the Boston and Providence Railroad Company, whose confidence he soon won by his faithfulness and ability, and was advanced to the position of superintendent of construction. Later he was a contractor in the construction of the Stonington Railroad, 1836; Long Island Railroad, 1837; Norwich and Worcester Railroad, 1838; Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad, 1839; Taunton and New Bedford Railroad, 1840; Troy and Schen-
Peter Thatcher
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ectady Railroad, 1841; Nashua and Concord Railroad, 1842; Macon and Atlanta Railroad, 1846; Vermont Central Rail- road, 1847; Cheshire Railroad, 1848; Erie Railroad, and Hudson River Railroad, in 1849. In 1843-4-5 he was en- gaged in the construction of Forts Warren and Inde- pendence, in Boston Harbor, under the superintendence of Colonel Sylvanus Thayer. The value of his services and the estimation in which he was held may be inferred from the flattering letters and credentials of which he was the re- cipient. In 1850 he obtained control of the Howe Patent Truss Bridge, and established the firm of Thatcher, Burt & Co., with offices at Springfield, Massachusetts, and Cleveland, Ohio, shortly after removing to Cleveland. For the follow- ing thirteen years he was one of the foremost bridge builders of the West. He erected nearly all of the original railroad bridges in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky ; on the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad; Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad ; Cleveland and Toledo Railroad ; Pan Handle Railroad ; Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad ; Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad ; Ohio and Mississippi Railroad ; Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and others. In 1862 he rebuilt the bridge over the Cumber- land River, at Nashville, Tennessee, which was burned dur- ing the war. In 1863, having relinquished the business of bridge building, the firm of Thatcher, Gardner, Burt & Co. was formed; they erected the Union Elevator, at Cleveland. The same success which characterized his former enterprises still attended him. From this firm, however, he withdrew in 1865. A company being formed for the manufacture of a durable and fire-proof paint, from iron ore, Mr. Thatcher was chosen president, and at once entered upon a vigorous prosecution of the business, succeeding beyond the anticipa- tion of the directors of the company. He also purchased the patent, and up to the period of his decease manufactured a "metallic shingle," or iron roofing, which, after a test of years, has been acknowledged to be unequaled for strength, durability, economy, and beauty. Socially Mr. Thatcher was a genial, whole-souled gentleman, and enjoyed the affection and respect of a large circle of friends, and as a citizen and business man enjoyed the confidence of all. Politically he was a Republican, and, though never seeking preferment, he held several offices of public trust. He was a Commissioner of the Cleveland Water Works for six years, and for three years he was a member of the State Board of Public Works ; he was for two years President of the Cleveland Library Association ; a member of the Western Reserve and Northern Ohio Historical Society, and a member of the Committee on Genealogy. In the Masonic Order he stood high, being one of the organizers of the Scottish Rite at Cleveland, and for eighteen years prior to his death was Treasurer of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of Ohio. He always manifested a lively interest in public institutions, churches, schools, and charitable associations, his purse and influence being always at command to advance the cause of education and benevolence. During the war of the Rebellion he took active part in providing for the welfare of the soldiers, and to the cause contributed freely both of his means and per- sonal services. Mr. Thatcher was married May 6th, 1849, to Sarah Adams, daughter of Endor and Lydia (Adams) Es- tabrook of West Cambridge, Massachusetts. To them were born three children-Peter, John Adams, and Annie Adams, who died February 7th, 1857. Mrs. Thatcher and her two sons still survive (1883).
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