USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume II > Part 66
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
Western Biogl. Pub Co
Very Truly yours De Parfum
539
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
Sunday paper on the chain of Lakes. Mr. Canfield at once became the editor and manager of the Journal, and has re- mained as such up to the present time, in consequence of the public duties of his partner, General Sherwood, either in Con- gress or on the bench, the entire labor, both as editor and manager, devolving upon Mr. Canfield. The great success of the Journal is the best testimonial of his ability that can be furnished. The Journal is one of the most readable and pop- ular papers in Toledo, having a very large circulation, which is constantly and rapidly increasing. Mr. Canfield's literary training has well qualified him for the vocation he has chosen. His editorials are characterized by intelligence, sound sense, and good taste, and are such as people like to read. In 1878 the Journal was made a semi-weekly paper, which added very largely to its circulation. But few men of his years can point to their early record with as much credit to themselves. Three years in the service of his coun- try, through long march and bloody battle, ten years in a constant struggle for an education, graduating at four differ- ent institutions, and two among the first in the country, and six years a journalist-all before reaching his thirty-third year. During Mr. Canfield's service in the war, though but a boy, he became instilled with military ideas, and has ever since taken a great interest in military matters. In January, 1881, he was appointed assistant adjutant-general of the Depart- ment of Ohio, G. A. R., a most happy choice, since by his energy, influence, and ability he pushed the organization for- ward so energetically that it made greater progress during his short management than it had done at any time previous in its history. When Mr. Canfield took charge of it there were some forty posts; before the year closed there were two hun- dred, with ten thousand members, against one thousand nine hundred at the beginning of his administration. Mr. Canfield was formerly identified with the republican party, though at present occupying rather independent ground. Socially, Col- onel Canfield is of a most genial and open-hearted nature; he is industrious and enterprising ; a man prompt to duty, and with his friends liberal and self-sacrificing to the last. Mr. Canfield's career has thus far been an exceedingly ear- nest one, as it could not otherwise have been, in order that he might accomplish what he has in so short a time, and by his own unaided efforts.
BARBER, OHIO C., manufacturer, of Akron, Summit County, Ohio, was born in Middlebury (now part of the city of Akron), April 20th, 1841. His father, George Barber, was a native of Connecticut, and his mother, Eliza Barber, was a native of Ohio. George Barber was born in the year 1804. His parents, Ezriah and Ann Barber, removed to Onondaga County, New York, when he was one year old, and there he remained until he became of age. His education was ob- tained in the district schools. At the age of eighteen he was apprenticed to the coopering trade, at which he worked for three years. In 1826, moved by the same pioneer spirit that had actuated his parents and grandparents before him (he being a descendant of a family that came to this country from England in 1620), he decided to explore what was then considered the far West. After a few years of travel, he settled at Middlebury, and engaged in the business of coopering until 1845, when he began the manufacture of matches, being one of the first to engage in that business in the West. At first he met with indifferent success, owing to the great difficulty in distributing the goods manufactured.
There being no railroads at that time that would transport matches, it was necessary to distribute his product by wagons. In 1852, feeling somewhat tired of the struggle, and the necessity of a rest, he concluded to retire from the business in which he was engaged, and accordingly he did so. He was appointed postmaster of Middlebury, under President Pierce's administration. Of this, however, he grew tired in about a year, desiring a more active life, and again engaged in the manufacture of matches, adding also that of buttons. The latter part of the enterprise proved unprofitable, and was soon abandoned, when he again gave his entire time and attention to the making of matches. The facilities for work were improved, from time to time, to keep pace with the growing demands of the trade; and from making matches by hand in a barn, step by step, the business has so increased that in 1883 it is conducted in buildings that if all arranged on one floor, twenty-two feet wide, it would be over a mile long. Enough matches are turned out every twenty-five days that if placed end to end would span the earth, and from which the government received for internal revenue stamps over two thousand dollars per day. Such has been the immense outcome of this small beginning. O. C. Barber, the only surviving son of the founder of this great business, was raised in his native village (now the important city, Akron), and received a course of study in the common schools. The circumstances of the family early ushered him into business affairs. Thus at the age of sixteen he began selling matches for his father, operating in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, in which States, through his activity and in- dustry, the reputation of the Barber match soon became well established. In 1862 the entire management was left to his dictation, from which time the success of the enterprise be- came more marked. In 1864 the business was merged into a stock company, known as the Barber Match Company, of which George Barber was the president, and O. C. Barber the secretary and treasurer. This company had by far the largest and best equipped match works on the continent. Later, the propriety and economy of merging all the match companies of the country into one company became ap- parent, and a consolidation of twenty-eight of the leading manufacturers was effected, under the name of the Dia- mond Match Company, with a capital of two million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The business of this immense corporation, whose sales are in the vicinity of eight million dollars annually, is managed by an executive committee of three, of which Mr. O. C. Barber is one. He is also treasurer of the corporation, and has general charge of the Company's business in the Western States. In 1872 he founded and formed the Akron Straw Board Company, another very important enterprise, which has also proved highly successful. In 1875 he sold out his interest in this Company, but again entered the business in 1882, as presi- dent of the Portage Straw Board Company. This company built the largest mill in the United States, in New Portage, Ohio, and is now (1883) erecting a second mill at Circleville, Ohio, whose capacity will be double that of the Portage mill. The two combined will have a capacity of sixty-five tons of straw board per day, or about one-third of the entire con- sumption of the product in the country, although there are some thirty-eight or forty other mills that are engaged in the same manufacture. Mr. Barber was married, October 10th, 1866, to Miss Laura L., daughter of Minerva and Daniel Brown, Esq., of Akron, both of whom were descended from
30-B
540
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPAEDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
the renowned historical Cotton Mather. They have one daughter, Anna, born in 1867, and have lost one son, Charles. Of Mr. Barber it may be said, he has risen by his own industry, perseverance, and integrity. It is not to any fortuitous circumstances that he owes his success in life. His early training eminently qualified him for a successful business career, and he applied himself diligently and in- telligently, and has reaped his reward. Identified with the city of Akron from its infancy, he has ever sought to en- hance its commercial enterprises, and it is in a large degree owing to him that Akron to-day stands as one of the large manufacturing centers of the State. In the commercial and social circles of life he is equally esteemed.
JOHNSTON, JOHN, was born near Ballyshannon, Ire- land, March 25th, 1775, and died in Washington City, Feb- ruary 18th, 1861. His paternal ancestors went from Scotland into Ireland in the service of the Protestant king, William, and being officers, were rewarded with estates near Ennis- killen, county of Fermanagh. His maternal ancestors, named Barnard, were Huguenots, who fled from persecution in France and took refuge in Ireland. His father, Stephen Johnston, emigrated from northern Ireland about the year 1785, and settled in Perry county, Pennsylvania. In his seventeenth year he accompanied Samuel Creigh to the West, an an attaché of the quartermaster's department of General Wayne's army; passing the winter of 1794-95 at Bourbon Court House, now Paris, Kentucky. Returning to Philadelphia, he was for several years employed as clerk in the War Department under Henry Dearborn, who succeeded Washington as general commanding the United States army. He was an officer of the military escort of honor delegated by the governor of Pennsylvania on the occasion of Wash- ington's retirement from the Presidency, and also upon the inauguration of President Adams; and as the secretary of a Masonic lodge in Philadelphia, participated in the obsequies to General Washington in the winter of 1800. He was com- missioned by President Madison, and was employed under General Harrison, as Indian agent at Piqua, Ohio, for nearly thirty years having control of the affairs of ten thousand In- dians, including the Miamis, Delawares, Shawnees, Wyan- dottes, Pottawattamies, Chippewas, Ottawas, Senecas, some Kickapoos, Sankees and Kaskaskias, among whom Bucking Chilas, Little Turtle, Black Hoof and Brighthorn, otherwise known as John, were the influential chiefs. He gave great satisfaction to the government and to the tribes under his charge, but was removed for political reasons by President Jackson in 1829. Subsequently in 1841-42, he was appointed by President Harrison to negotiate for a treaty of cession of the Wyandottes, the last of the native tribes of Ohio, and for their removal beyond the Mississippi, and in the consummation of this important work won great commendation both from the government and the red-men. The English novelist, Charles Dickens, was present on the occasion, and makes favorable mention of the circumstance in his "Notes on America." Colonel Johnston also served in the war of 1812. In 1844 he was a delegate to the whig convention in Baltimore, rode on horseback the whole way from his home in Piqua, Ohio, and made speeches for "Harry " Clay along the route. He was one of the founders of the Episcopal church in Ohio, - being an early associate of that venerable pioneer, Bishop Chase. Assisted by his excellent wife, he established the first Sunday-school in Miami county. He was actively prom-
inent in the establishment of Kenyon College at Gambier, Ohio, of which he was one of the first trustees. He was also a trustee of Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, a member of the Historical Society of Wisconsin, of the Antiquarian Society of Massachusetts, and president of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio. In 1859 he was appointed by President Buchanan one of the visiting board to West Point. His wife was Rachel Robinson of a Quaker family of Phila- delphia, who bore him fifteen children, fourteen of whom reached their majority. Three of his sons were distinguished government officers-Captain A. R. Johnston was killed in the battle of San Pasquales in the Mexican war, and Lieu- tenant Stephen Johnston made an honorable record in the navy. James Adams Johnston, at the beginning of the war of Secession, left a lucrative position in New York City, and enlisted as a private in the 9th New York volunteer infantry, in which he served about a year, and then was honorably discharged, that he might take a commission in an Ohio reg- iment, and this he immediately did, being commissioned a captain in the 75th Ohio infantry. He was killed in the battle at Alexandria, Virginia, in September, 1862. Highly com- plimented by his colonel for his brave and gallant bearing in places of danger, he enjoyed the esteem of both officers and men. Only two of his children survive, William Barnard Johnston of Cincinnati, and Mrs. Jefferson Patterson of Dayton. Mr. Patterson was at the time of his death a mem- ber of the State general assembly. He was a son of Colonel Robert Patterson, one of Ohio's earliest pioneers.
WHITTLESEY, ELISHA, lawyer and comptroller of the Treasury of the United States, was born in Washington, Litchfield county, Connecticut, October 19th, 1783, and died in Washington, District of Columbia, January 7th, 1863. His father, John Whittlesey, a farmer of Litchfield county, was directly descended from the John Whittlesey who emigrated from England to Saybrook, Connecticut, about the year 1650. In 1803 he commenced the study of law in the office of his brother Matthew, and at the March term of 1805 he was ad- mitted to the bar. His first practice was in New Milford, Litchfield county, but before he had long been in that place he was induced to remove to Ohio. On the 3d June, 1806, he left New Milford and arrived at Canfield, Trumbull county, Ohio, on the 27th. On the following August he was admitted by the supreme court sitting at Warren, Trumbull county, to practice law. Before removing to Ohio he had familiarized himself with military drill and tactics, and a few months after his arrival at Canfield he was chosen ensign of a company of infantry, of which his knowledge of military matters afterward made him captain, his commission as such being given him in February, 1808. Two years afterward he was appointed aid-de-camp to Major-General Elijah Wads- worth, commanding the 4th division of Ohio militia. With this rank he went into the service of the United States, Au- gust 22d, 1812, in the war with Great Britain, rising to the rank of brigade major and inspector, under General Perkins, and remaining until the spring of 1813, when his term of ser- vice expired. Whilst in this position he was detailed to act as aid and private secretary to General Harrison, and thus began an acquaintance which ripened into mutual friendship and regard, and which continued through life without abate- ment. General Harrison, in February, 1813, confided to Major Whittlesey the perilous duty of delivering a message to the governor at Chillicothe, one hundred and sixty miles
541
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
distant. The trip lay through the Black Swamp for fifteen miles from the camp on Maumee, watched by hostile Indians. This low land had been inundated, and the water, frozen throughout, afterward subsiding, left the swamp covered by cakes of ice resting on mud. He set out at night in order to evade the savages. By noon the next day the swamp was cleared. Passing the fort at Upper Sandusky that night, he reached the house of Mr. Guznee late in the third night, about twenty miles west of Columbus. Here he procured a fresh horse, and at daylight pressed forward, reaching Chilli- cothe before he slept. At the first full term of the court of com- mon pleas of Trumbull county, after his admission to the bar in 1806, he was appointed prosecuting attorney for the county, and continued to discharge the duties of that office until the autumn of 1823, when he resigned. At that time he formed a law partnership with Eben Newton -a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this work -and the association con- tinued for about twenty years, the business built up by the firm being very extensive and valuable. Whilst still holding the position of prosecuting attorney he was elected, in Octo- ber, 1820, as a representative to the general assembly of the State of Ohio, and was reëlected in 1821. In the house he was again associated with his old friend, General Harrison. In October, 1822, he was first elected from his congressional district a member of the House of Representatives in the Eighteenth United States Congress, and was seven times thereafter, in succession, returned to his seat by his constitu- ents, until in the latter part of the Twenty-fifth Congress, 1837-38, he resigned. In his congressional career he won and held his place among the distinguished men who were his colleagues rather by the solid and intrinsic worth of his character than by the more brilliant and popular qualities of his individual genius. In all matters his rule of action was justice and equity to the humblest and the poorest, resistance to the most powerful when in the wrong, without the fear or favor of man before his eyes, strict attention to the public business, economy in the public disbursements, and purity in the public offices everywhere. As an illustration of his moral worth and strict integrity, it is recorded that the proper records will show that, while in Congress, every day's absence from his seat was noted in his account for pay. If such ab- sence was on committee or other duty connected with his office as a member of the house, the fact was stated. If the absence was on his own private business, the government was credited with so much at the rate of $8 per day. The same scrupulous care in regard to mileage was exhibited. He never claimed more than for the actual distance by the most direct route from his home to the capital. He returned to Canfield in July, 1838, where he resumed practice, the business having been carried on during his absence by his partner and friend, Hon. Eben Newton. In February, 1841, General Harrison, who had been elected President, tendered him a seat in the cabinet, which was accepted, but circum- stances compelled a change of arrangement, and on the 17th of March, 1841, he was appointed auditor of the Treasury for the Post Office Department. He accepted this position, which he resigned on the 30th September, 1843. In 1847 he was appointed general agent for the Washington National Mon- ument Association, and continued in this capacity till May, 1849, when he resigned the office, but was afterward again called to manage the affairs of the association as its presi- dent, and continued to do so without charge until 1855, when he was removed by a change in the political party in the
municipal government of the capital. In June, 1849, he was appointed by President Taylor to the position of First Comp- troller of the Treasury of the United States, and at once en- tered upon his duties. He held this office through the Tay- lor and Fillmore administrations, and on the accession of General Pierce as President, being opposed to the principles on which he had been elevated to the chief magistracy, re- signed. The resignation, however, was refused, and he was retained in office until Buchanan's accession, when for like reasons he again resigned, and this time his resignation was accepted. In May, 1861, President Lincoln called him to as- sume once more the responsible duties of the position, and accepting the appointment, he continued to act, though at an advanced age, with slight interruptions, owing to the pres- sure of his duties and the infirmities of years, till the very day of his death ( January 7th, 1863). The scrupulous care with which he performed the duties of his responsible office throughout his entire connection with it, earned him the title of "the watch-dog of the treasury." It was well said of him that he was a remarkable and wonderful man, whose services to the government of his country were inestimable. As au- ditor of the Treasury for the Post Office Department he redeemed that department from absolute chaos. He was endowed with talent and genius which most admirably fitted him for the office of comptroller, through whose hands every claim against the government of the United States, real and unfounded, must pass. No just claim was ever rejected by him, and no unjust one ever succeeded in obtaining access to the National Treasury. He was passionately fond of in- vestigation, and no problem, however complicated or ab- struse, was ever found too tedious for his inquiring mind. His pertinacity in resisting unjust or fraudulent claims upon the Treasury caused him some trouble and subjected him to vexatious suits during the interval between his retirement from his office of comptroller under President Buchanan and his return to it under President Lincoln. One who knew him well during his congressional career has placed on record the testimony that as a useful and indefatigable legislator he had no superior in Congress, perhaps no equal. His whole time and study were directed to the public good. Ever anxious to promote the best interests of the people and expedite the true course of legislation, he never annoyed the house for mere purposes of declamation. Stern integrity, benevolence and morality were to be read on his features, and his whole life was a commentary and illustration of his physiognomy. Amid all his public labors he ever found time to interest him- self in the works of religion and charity. He early in life made a public profession of Christian faith by uniting with the church in his adopted town, and he gave hearty assist- tance, so far as lay in his power, to all the great schemes of Christian enterprise that were brought to his notice. He early became and ever continued a steadfast friend of the American colonization cause, which laid the foundations for a better and greater hope for the future of Africa. He saw from the beginning the importance of this great work, and more than thirty years before his death he prepared and de- livered an address upon the whole question, which had great influence in opening the eyes of the people and in diffusing a better understanding of the objects proposed throughout the nation, and which is now treasured as one of its most valued documents in the archives of the society. He con- tributed valuable assistance to the work of spreading Chris- tian doctrines and influence. Besides this he prepared many
542
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
documents on miscellaneous subjects, and lectures of popu- lar interest and concern. He kept for many years a diary of current events and a journal of autobiography, compiling with these an immense mass of material of the most valua- ble kind on many subjects, now to be found in the volumin- ous manuscript and printed papers he left at his death. In all relations of life, public and private, he acted wholly from principle. Whenever he assumed any relation in life he did it with a full purpose to fulfill- all its obligations to the end; when for any reason failing to fulfill them, he held him- self accountable to his associates, and above all, he held himself as a steward of God, and accountable to Him for every action. He married in Danbury, Connecticut, January 5th, 1806, Miss P. Mygatt, of that place, who died in June, 1855, having borne him seven sons and three daughters.
ROSECRANS, WILLIAM STARKE, soldier, was born in Kingston township, Delaware county, Ohio, September 6th, 1819. His father, Crandall Rosecrans, emigrated to Ohio from the Wyoming valley, Pennsylvania, in 1808. His an- cestors came from Holland. His mother, Jemima (Hopkins) Rosecrans, was of the family of Timothy Hopkins, whose name has passed into history as one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. She was a daughter of a soldier of the Revolution. Young Rosecrans was a diligent student, and at the age of fifteen evinced the strong religious tendency which has continued to characterize him through life. His proficiency in mathematical studies, however, led him strongly to desire a West Point education. He applied, unknown to his father, to Hon. Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War, for a cadetship, and after a little delay received it. At West Point he was known as a hard student, rather reserved, and a religious enthusiast. He was graduated in the class of 1842. Entering the engineers as a brevet second-lieutenant, he was ordered to duty at Fortress Monroe. A year later he was returned to West Point as assistant professor of engineer- ing, and about this time married Miss Hegeman, only daugh- ter of Adrian Hegeman, then a well-known lawyer of New York. He remained at West Point seven years, and in 1847 was ordered to Newport, Rhode Island, to take charge of the fortifications. In 1853, Lieutenant Rosecrans, now a first- lieutenant, was assigned for service as constructing engineer at the Washington navy yard. Here he continued for some months, when his health broke down. He was now thirty- four years of age, was an acknowledged master in the pro- fession of engineering, and had given eleven of the best years of his life to the government without yet having reached the 'dignity of a captain's commission. He became discouraged, and tendered his resignation. The Secretary of War (Jef- ferson Davis), unwilling that so valuable an officer should be lost to the service, gave him a year's leave of absence, with the understanding that if he should then insist upon it, he would be permitted to resign. In 1854 his resignation was accepted. Soon after this, we find him in a modest office in Cincinnati, on the door of which appeared the inscription, "William S. Rosecrans, Consulting Engineer and Architect." Some time after, he became superintendent, and then presi- dent, of the Cannel Coal Company. After this he took charge of the Cincinnati Coal Oil Company. Thus were passed seven more years of his life, his ventures mostly ter- minating in pecuniary failure. As some compensation, how- ever, he had become a man of considerable influence in the city in which he had made his home. In the beginning of
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.