USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume III > Part 16
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GLENN, WILLIAM, merchant, head and founder of the well known house of William Glenn & Sons, Cincinnati, was born in Guilford County, North Carolina, March 13th, 1800. His ancestors were Scotch, who emigrated to this country and settled in that State prior to the American Revolution, and
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some of them shared with marked distinction in that mem- orable struggle. The death of his father occurred when he was quite young, and soon thereafter his mother, with this, her only son, and an only daughter, decided to cast her lot with her aged father and a brother, in the wilds of the then almost unknown West. She came first to Ohio, and for sev- eral years resided on a farm near Lebanon, in Warren County. She then removed to Dearborn County, Indiana, and settled on a wooded tract, a few miles north of the present town of Aurora. The country was wild, and the Indian had not yet disappeared. The block-house remained, even then necessary for the protection of the brave settler. The rifle accompanied the ax and the plow, and the pioneer was not unfrequently aroused in the dead of night by the savage yells of the red man, who if not seeking an opportunity to murder the en- croaching whites, was at least bent on stealing or killing their stock. It was a courageous step for this widow and her two children to attempt life in that new country, but she possessed in a high degree the unconquerable resolution so marked in her son, then and all through his subsequent career. A cabin was built of logs cut from their own forest, and in this humble abode they began a life which involved great labor and hardship for years. Upon the boy of sixteen rested responsibilities which sturdy manhood alone should bear ; a mother and sister to provide for, with only primitive nature's sources from which to draw. Nothing daunted, he went to work-splitting rails, building fences, stables, and cribs, plow- ing, planting, and gathering, so that each recurring autumn found the little family with sufficient store to last until the succeeding harvest. But he had a higher ambition. His opportunities for education, limited as they were, had been sufficient to incite in him a keen appreciation of the value of learning, and he resolved to lose no chance for acquiring more. When the day's toils were ended the evening found him by a blazing fire of hickory, poring over a volume from his own scant library or borrowed from that of a distant neighbor-for books were treasures then in that new country, and not regarded as absolutely necessary by the hardy pio- neer so earnestly engaged in conquering the forest to pro- vide a home for his family. A love for the systematic study of the English language manifested itself early in his literary pursuits, and he soon acquired a reputation for scholarship in that direction. He became noted for his proficiency in grammar, and for several years, during the winter months, he devoted himself to giving lessons and lecturing upon that subject. Cincinnati, Covington, Newport, and other places were chosen for his efforts in that way, and not a few of the older citizens of those cities, then poor young men, availed themselves of his instruction, and still hold him in grateful remembrance. His lectures met with favorable comment in the Cincinnati Gazette, then under the direction of the dis- tinguished Charles Hammond. Far from him then was the thought that in subsequent years the columns of the same paper would be open to the brilliant contributions of one of his own sons, and that he and that son would be among its principal owners. Finding, at the age of twenty-five, that the labors and exposures of pioneer life were telling upon his health, he took the small capital he had acquired by his lectures and engaged in business, first in Wilmington, after- ward in Dillsborough, and then in Aurora, Indiana. About eleven years of his life were thus spent, with a fair degree of success. During these years he made frequent trips to New Orleans, on both steam and flat boats, carrying cargoes
of produce for sale, and acquiring considerable note as a successful river trader. At this time, there being an evident opening for a steam-packet between Cincinnati and Rising Sun, Indiana, he promptly sold out his business, bought the steamboat Fashion, entered the trade, and succeeded so well that he was induced to extend his trips to Madison, Indiana. He was really the pioneer in what afterward became an im- portant packet-trade. He subsequently commanded the Wm. R. McKee, in the same line, and during his four years of river life was regarded as a capable and popular commander. It was during this time that he moved his family to Cin- cinnati, and after relinquishing that occupation he decided to engage in merchandising in that city, and in so doing he then laid the foundation of the business house which has for years been regarded as the leading one of its line in the West. This modest beginning, with limited means, was at the northwest corner of Lower Market and Sycamore Streets. Five years of marked success there induced him to erect a larger building at the northeast corner of Walnut and Second Streets, where ten years more of prosperity followed, and the firm had attained a position and reputation equal to the best. Then followed the building of the solid and extensive stores on Vine Street, which the firm has occupied for the past twenty-three years, the acknowledged leaders in the grocery trade, doing a business amounting to millions annually, and possessing a trade extending for hundreds of miles in every direction. They have reason for some feeling of satisfaction in view of the reputation, confidence, and credit which by their prudence, energy, and honorable dealing they have built up and maintain in the commercial world. The founder of this well known house, though now in his eighty-fourth year, is still an erect, active, and clear-headed gentleman. To the same keen oversight which characterized his earlier supervision he now adds such commercial wisdom as an ex- perience of half a century alone can give. It may well be permitted him to feel a pride in the house that he has founded, especially in view of the fact that during a business career of nearly two generations he has maintained an untarnished credit, and has never, in all that time, asked an extension, never allowed a debt or note to go unpaid when due. This is certainly a remarkable record. Four years after the estab- lishment of his house, Mr. Glenn associated two of his sons, Joseph and James M., with him, and the firm name became William Glenn & Sons. A few years later Joseph Glenn withdrew, and became directly interested in the ownership and management of the Cincinnati Gazette, a relation which he maintained until his death, in 1874. During his connec- tion with that journal he was acknowledged as an elegant and forcible writer, and his death was recognized as a loss to both press and public. Upon the withdrawal of Joseph Glenn, Richard Dymond, Mr. Glenn's son-in-law, became a member of the firm, and he and James M. Glenn still con- tinue active partners in the house. Subsequently a younger son, Omer T. Glenn, was admitted, continuing until 1866, when he withdrew, and has since passed most of his time in Europe. Shortly before giving up farm and frontier life Mr. Glenn married Miss Alice Miller, a young English lady, who has ever been to him a faithful and devoted companion and helpmeet, sharing his earlier hardships, and now rejoic- ing with him in the possession of abundance and in the sat- isfaction which well-earned success should inspire. Both have been earnest, consistent Christians during the whole of their journey together, as members of the Methodist Epis-
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copal Church, giving largely and constantly to its support. In the upbuilding of Churches, the establishing and support of missions, in the cause of temperance, and in all other good works, they have ever been among the most active workers and generous givers. In 1875 they celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage. Many friends and kindred then gathered around this venerable couple, who had so long journeyed together, at the beginning over rough, and now at last over smooth places. Their hospitable home was crowded by those who came to offer their warmest congratu- lations. It was an occasion that will be long and pleasantly remembered by all who were present. During Mr. Glenn's mercantile life he has ever taken an active interest in all that related to the prosperity of his adopted city. Seeing the great benefit that Cincinnati would derive from direct communication with the South, he became one of the earliest advocates of a Southern railroad, exerting himself in the effort to raise a bonus fund of one million dollars to offer to any company that would build such a line, heading the sub- scription himself with a large sum. And although this effort failed, it was as seed sown, which soon ripened into a general demand for a direct connection with the vast and growing South, culminating finally in the construction of the Cincin- nati Southern. He was one of the company leasing this road after its completion, and an active director therein, con- tinuing as such until its transfer to the Erlanger syndicate. Mr. Glenn feels amply repaid for his long continued efforts in this behalf by the triumphant consummation of this great work, so creditable to the energy and enterprise of Cincin- nati. He was also connected with the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, in its commencement, being a director when the line reached no farther than Seymour, Indiana, and lacked both money and credit to go farther. He, however, continued to urge its continuation to Vincennes, where it would meet the West Branch, and thus form a through line, opening up the rich valley of the Wabash and the fertile plains of South- ern Illinois to the trade of Cincinnati; and finally, as its president, concluded the contract with the syndicate which soon thereafter added the necessary link, thus uniting Cin- cinnati with St. Louis and the Far West. He was also a director in the Marietta and Cincinnati Road, during its early existence, not for a moment wavering in his belief that it would ultimately prove a most valuable connection for Cin- cinnati. His faith was fully justified by the final consolida- tion of that line with the great Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Mr. Glenn was one of the first to see the benefits that would follow from the national banking law, and, in connection with the late Lewis Worthington and others, organized the First National Bank, of Cincinnati. The perfection of the organization was largely due to the efforts of Mr. Worthing- ton and himself. He served as a director in this noted bank for many years, until impaired health and a desire for foreign travel caused him to resign. He is now a director in the Union Central Life Insurance Company, and president of the Hammond Building Company. For years he was a leading stockholder and director in the Cincinnati Gazette Company, and is now one of the principal owners of the Commercial Gazette. He is president of the board of trustees of St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church, with which he was connected before its change of name and place of worship from Morris Chapel to the present stately and graceful temple, at the southwest corner of Smith and Seventh Streets. It is but simple justice to say that Mr. Glenn aided largely in its
construction, and it has ever been his earnest Christian desire that moral and religious movements should always keep pace with, at least, the wonderful material development of Cin- cinnati. Mr. Glenn was a delegate to the Law and Order Convention, held at Columbus, in March, 1882, serving as a member of the committee which prepared the forcible reso- lutions adopted by that noted assemblage, composed of able and excellent men from all parts of the State. Amid the cares and responsibilities of a long and active business life, extending over sixty years, Mr. Glenn has yet found time for the gratification of a fondness for books and travel. He has been a close student and keen observer of passing events, keeping himself well informed in all things pertaining to the literature and politics of the day. He has traveled extensively, visiting Europe several times, and, as a result, has acquired a great store of practical knowledge and valuable experience, making business and social intercourse with him highly in- structive and agreeable. To conclude, the subject of our sketch is now, in his eighty-fourth year, the honored head of the largest mercantile house in the Ohio Valley, the center of a wide circle of friends, extending through many States, comprising all who have come in personal or commercial relation with him. His name is loved and revered by a city whose many commercial and public enterprises he has so earnestly fostered and supported, and he is also gratefully remembered by many young men who, seeking education or starting in business under great disadvantages, have received from him encouraging words or practical sympathy. Of him it can be fittingly said: "He has lived peaceably with all men, he has recompensed to no one evil for evil, he has cleaved to that which is good, he has distributed to the necessities of saints, he is given to hospitality, and has pro- vided things honest in the sight of all men."
WARWICK, JOHN G., Massillon, Lieutenant-governor of Ohio, is a son of Robert and Mary (McConnell) Warwick. He came from that sturdy race which has given to our country so many of its statesmen, jurists, generals, and other distinguished and noble men. He was born in the county of Tyrone, Ireland, December 23d, 1829. At the age of twenty-one, in the year 1850, he came to this country, and located in Stark County, Ohio. His first occupation was that of clerk in a store, in Navarre, where he remained nearly three years. In 1853 he removed to Massillon, and entered the employ of Cumins & Co., in the same capacity. In 1855 he engaged in the dry goods business on his own account, and speedily became one of the leading merchants in that line in Massillon. This business he continued until 1872. In the meantime he had become largely engaged in other enterprises. In 1865 he embarked in milling, in which he has been highly successful, and is principal owner of the Sipps Valley Mills, one of the largest in the county. In rail- road interests he has been very active. He is a director in the Massillon and Cleveland Railroad Company, the Wheel- ing and Lake Erie Railroad Company, and the Cleveland and Marietta Railroad Company, of which road a consider- able portion was built under his immediate supervision. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of these roads. He is largely interested in the Rhodes Coal Com- pany, the Beaver Run Coal Company, and the Elm Run Coal Company. Of the two latter companies he is presi- dent, and holds considerable of the stock. With all his important business enterprises, he also devotes some time to
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agriculture, being the owner of a number of farms, among them one of six hundred and fifteen acres, within two and a half miles of the town of Massillon. It is to his influence, largely, that Massillon enjoys such important railroad facil- ities. His life has been a busy and active one. Bringing to all his commercial pursuits a strict integrity of purpose, with a clear judgment, he has been eminently successful in all his undertakings, and has made himself the representative man of his district. In politics he is a Democrat, and the Democratic party is the only organization of which he has ever been a member. Secret organizations he has always eschewed, and has never been a member of any of the nu- merous orders. Popular in the town and district in which he has so long resided, and so thoroughly and favorably known from having done so much toward its prosperity, he has been frequently importuned to accept office-the people, for years, assuring him he might have any office he would accept that their votes could elect him to. Their importunity was ever unavailing, until his nomination for Lieutenant-governor, in the summer of 1883. His nomination was made by acclama- tion, in the State Democratic Convention, and he was subse- quently elected by an overwhelming majority. He is a man who has risen from the ranks of labor himself, and has ever been the friend of the working man. The sentiment toward him of those still in the ranks of toil was expressed at the polls, where he received an immense majority of the miners' votes in his home district. These men knew him personally, and for him they cast their ballots almost unanimously. This, too, was done in spite of false accusations, circulated by old enemies, during the campaign, in the hope of defeat- ing him, and through personal malice. In private life and in the social circle Mr. Warwick is held in the same high esteem as in the commercial and political world. A happy husband and father, surrounded by his wife and family, in their elegant home, he enjoys the benefits that accrue from a life of hon- est, honorable industry.
JAMISON, JAMES BEATTY, of Cadiz, Ohio, was born in Harrison County, Ohio, August 3d, 1830. His parents, Walter and Martha (Beatty) Jamison, were early settlers in Harrison County, coming to that place as early as 1802. He was educated in the public schools of Cadiz, after which he pursued his studies in private, in the special line of agricul- tural and horticultural acquirements. By diligent investiga- tion of the subject of experimental farming, and by later prac- tical demonstrations on his own farm, he became, in some measure, an authority among farmers. In 1867 he was elected, on the Democratic ticket, to the State Senate, to represent the Belmont-Harrison District, and served two terms in that body. In 1872 he championed, in the Legislature, the bill providing for the establishment of the Agricultural and Mechanical College. In 1871 he was elected a member of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture, and in 1877 elected its president, serving two terms. He was zealous, with others, in having the place for the annual exhibits permanently located at the State capital. In 1878 he was appointed on the Board of Trustees of the Ohio State University (formerly the Agricul- tural and Mechanical College), and at this writing (1883) is serving his second term, by appointment of Governor R. M. Bishop. He married, in 1855, Miss Gilmore, and has had three children, two of whom are living at the present time. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He is exten- sively engaged in farming and stock-breeding.
MCDOWELL, IRWIN, soldier, was born October 15th, 1818, in the village of Franklinton, near Columbus, Ohio. He is of Scotch-Irish descent, the McDowells having been driven out of Scotland by the religious persecutions of the time, and taken refuge in the north of Ireland. After the siege of Londonderry (in which the McDowells took part,) they emigrated to the United States, and settled first in the valley of Virginia. Some of them, including the branch from which the general sprang, removed thence to Kentucky. Abram McDowell, the father of Irwin, served through the war of 1812, and at its conclusion, removed to Ohio, and set- tled near Columbus. His wife, Eliza Lord, was a member of the Starling family, one of the most influential in that county. Abram McDowell is spoken of by old citizens of Columbus, as a perfect specimen of the type of Kentucky gentlemen of the old school. He was an intense aristocrat, priding himself on his culture, his social position, his refinement, and keep- ing haughtily aloof from the masses. But he was never wealthy. His son, Irwin, was sent to the Columbus schools, but afterward went to France to complete his education. He remained in a French school for a year or more, and when he returned home his father had procured him a warrant for West Point, to which institution he was admitted in 1834. Here he was associated with the future military chieftains of both sides in the American civil war. On his graduation he was at once assigned to the artillery, and ordered on duty on the Niagara Falls frontier. He was next ordered to the northeastern boundary, during the progress of the contro- versy with Great Britain as to the disputed territory. Some recruiting duty followed, then he was again on the Maine frontier, and in 1841, he returned to West Point as assistant instructor in infantry tactics. Here he remained four years, during three of which he served as adjutant of the academy. During those years of military duty, he had become a man of the world, reserved, formal, and polished. He had also devoted himself to the study of his profession, and had more than made up for any deficiencies when a cadet. Such was the favorable impression he now made that he was selected as an aide-de-camp on the staff of General Wool, a position reserved for the most promising of the young officers. He retained this position from October, 1845, to May, 1847, and made himself thoroughly familiar with the whole theory of the art of war, and with the literature of his profession, while socially he was held to be one of the most polished and charming of men. At Buena Vista he behaved handsomely, . and for gallant and meritorious conduct there was brevetted captain. He became assistant adjutant-general May 13th, 1847, first for General Wool's division; then, on December 9th, 1847, for the army of occupation, which position he con- tinued to hold until the end of the Mexican war, when he was placed on duty for a year in the War Department, and during this time General Scott had selected him for one of his staff. He was now thirty years of age, and remained on staff duty with the general-in-chief (with brief intervals of staff service with Albert Sidney Johnston and General Twiggs,) until the outbreak of the civil war. McDowell, now a brevet major, was on duty in the War Department. Secretary Chase at once sought out the young officer. To every mem- ber of the government military matters were a mystery. On Mr. Chase fell the burden of organization, and he has re- peatedly declared that he owed more to the clear head, and admirable executive faculties of Major McDowell than to any other source. On Lieutenant-General Scott, as the nominal
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head of the army, everything depended. But the veteran was old and bowed down with infirmities, and he gladly left much to the vigorous and accomplished young officer who had been in his military family so long. Governor Dennison proposed to make him commander of the Ohio contingent, but changed his mind in favor of Captain (General) Mc- Clellan. McClellan was only appointed after much influ- ence had been brought to bear on the governor. Governor Dennison wrote to Major McDowell explaining his conduct, and the latter replied in the most generous spirit, fully in- dorsing the appointment. Within a few hours after this letter was written, McClellan was, partly on account of McDowell's own recommendation, appointed a major-general. The same bulletin that announced Mcclellan's advancement, an- nounced his own to that of brigadier-general. General Scott opposed this latter promotion, as he wanted it for another officer, and that was the beginning of much opposition he met with from the old chieftain. When the campaign against Virginia was decided upon, McDowell was assigned to the leadership of the army. He had his misgivings, not as to his competency to perform the task, but as to the obstacles that were being thrown in his way at headquarters in Washing- ton. Week after week went by, and still the commander of the column that was daily expected to move upon the enemy could get nothing that he wanted. His force was without or- ganization, without commissariat, without transportation, without organized artillery. He was even himself without a competent staff. The history of the disaster at Bull Run which succeeded, is too well known to be repeated here. The disaster fell at first with bewildering and stunning effect upon the country. The press heaped censure upon the gal- lant officer in command of the Union forces, and some even accused him of treason. A victim was wanted. He was accused of drunkenness, although he never tasted liquor. It is the opinion of many military men, and dispassionate writers, that he was defeated as much by influences in the rear (Washington) as he was by the army opposed to him at the front. The plan of battle, it is conceded, was admirably arranged, but the raw condition of his troops, and the failure of one of his generals to carry out his orders, turned the tide at the very moment when the Union officers were expecting a brilliant victory. The story of the battle as narrated in the public press made him odious in the sight of the people, who clamored for his removal as the commanding general. Pres- ident Lincoln accordingly removed him, and placed him in a subordinate position, assuring him at the same time that he still had confidence in him. His evidence before the com- mittee on the conduct of the war, is the manly utterance of a dignified soldier. Except in reply to official inquiries, he never attempted to refute the slanders heaped upon him. He did not resign his commission, and thus make a virtual con- fession that he had been humiliated. He was a soldier willing to serve his country in any capacity, and is serving it still (1883.) But he was peculiarly unfortunate, being dis- liked by the citizen-soldiery for his strict enforcement of dis- cipline. He served throughout the war in various positions, but fate was always against him. He never became famous, yet he never lost the confidence of the authorities, who still consulted him in military matters of importance. He was virtually retired from active service. He was appointed pres- ident of a board to investigate cotton frauds in the South- „west. He was also, in 1863, president of a board retiring disabled officers. In July, 1864, he was sent to take charge
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