USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume III > Part 2
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by President Hayes, minister to the Hawaiian Islands. When he was about to leave for Honolulu a banquet was tendered him by the chairman of the Democratic State Executive Committee, Senator Thurman, the editor of the leading Dem- ocratic newspaper, and others, without distinction of party. During his sojourn of five years at Honolulu as minister resident, from September, 1877, to August, 1882, although the duties of the position at that time were peculiarly trying, requiring an unusual degree of circumspection, he discharged them in such a way as to acquire the respect and approba- tion of all parties interested. He shaped the policy of his government in a manner which gained the special good will of the Hawaiian court, while bringing forward measures for the protection of American interests, which were particularly commended by the home government. On the eve of his departure for the United States from Honolulu a reception was given for him which evidenced the esteem in which he was held amongst all classes and all nationalities. A banquet was also tendered him by the American residents, at which the feeling demonstrated was such as can only be felt by fellow-countrymen in a strange land. On his return to Col- umbus, the Journal having been sold, negotiations were opened with the proprietors of the Toledo Commercial, which resulted in the purchase of that paper by General Comly, his former partner, A. W. Francisco, and A. E. Lee, ex-consul- general at Frankfort-on-the-Main. His return to the press of Ohio was heralded with enthusiastic greeting from every part of the State, and beyond, without distinction as to politics or party. In 1863 he married Elizabeth Marion Smith, daughter of Susan E. and Dr. Samuel M. Smith, sur- geon-general of Ohio during the war. From this marriage there were born five children, two of whom died.
KENTON, SIMON, pioneer of the valley of the Ohio, and a soldier of the Revolution, was born in Fauquier county, Virginia. His father was of Irish and his mother of Scottish descent, her ancestors having been among the first settlers in Virginia. He was employed till the age of sixteen in the cultivation of his father's farm. About that period an inci- dent occurred which changed his simple course of life into one of thrilling adventure and enterprise. The son of a neighbor had married the girl to whom he was attached, which led to a series of quarrels between the two young men, and finally to a personal rencontre which ended in his adversary's defeat, who was left on the ground for dead. This determined young Kenton to flee from home, which he did without the knowledge of his parents or friends. Chang- ing his name to that of Simon Butler, he crossed the Alle- ghany mountains April 6th, 1771, and, at Ise's Ford, meeting three men who were about to descend the Ohio river, he joined them, and proceeded as far as Fort Pitt, now Pittsburgh. At this spot he met the notorious renegade, Simon Girty, whom he had known previously. Accompanied now by a single companion, he descended the Ohio as far as the great Kanawha river, and, ascending a short distance the Elk river, they formed a camp and passed the winter in trapping. They remained here until the spring of 1773, when they were attacked by the Indians, and became separated. Kenton, with a companion, reached the mouth of the great Kanawha, where they met another party. A Mr. Briscoe was then endeavoring to form a settlement on this river, and they entered his employ. Kenton's adventurous spirit was not long satisfied with so quiet a life, and he soon after joined a
party of trappers who were proceeding to the Ohio. In 1774 an Indian war breaking out, he made his way back to Fort Pitt. Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, determined to punish the aggressors, had raised an army with that object, and employed Kenton as a spy to precede the troops, and report the state of the country. He was again employed in a similar capacity under Colonel Lewis, in a second effort to chastise and subdue the enemy. Eventually receiving his discharge, he resumed his old pursuit of trapping. In the following spring, the American Revolution being now in progress, Kenton joined Major (afterward General) George Rogers Clarke, who had been sent out by Virginia to protect the settlers against the Indians, who were encouraged by the British to destroy the infant settlements. Kenton again accepted the position of spy or scout, and proved himself worthy of the confidence reposed in him, always giving the fort timely notice of a meditated attack, and assisting in the defense. After accompanying Colonel Clarke on several adventurous expeditions, in which he rendered good service and was generally successful, he joined Daniel Boone, and signalized his courage to the entire satisfaction of that cele- brated pioneer and patriot. In 1778, he joined Alexander Montgomery and George Clarke in an expedition to Ohio, with the avowed purpose of obtaining horses from the Indians. Near the old Indian town of Chillicothe they fell in with a drove of horses, took away seven, and made for the river. They were soon overtaken by the Indians, who killed Mont- gomery and captured Kenton; Clarke escaped. Kenton was taken back to Chillicothe, and there subjected to the most horrible tortures, preparatory to being burnt at the stake. This latter sentence was to take place at Sandusky, and Kenton reached there just as the renegade Girty returned from an unsuccessful expedition. Girty struck the weak and suffering prisoner to the ground, and was on the point of committing further violence, when Kenton called him by his name, demanding his protection. For once this infamous wretch, who never before nor after was known to show mercy, listened to this appeal. Kenton, indeed, had a claim upon him, which he could not but recognize, for in their youth he had saved Girty's life. Remembering this, the white savage interceded for the captive, and saved him from the stake. When he had recovered his strength, the Indians repented of their leniency, and holding another council, they again con- demned him to be burned. Fortunately a British agent was present, who had him transferred to himself as a prisoner of war, when he was conveyed to Detroit. With two American patriots he escaped from Detroit, and with the risk of recap- ture and certain death, again crossed the Indian country, and after a month's travel through the wilderness reached Ken- tucky. This was in July, 1779. Kenton then proceeded on foot to Vincennes, to join his old commander, General Clarke. During the invasion of Kentucky by the British in 1779, he was appointed a captain of volunteers, and distinguished himself in that campaign. In 1782 he heard for the first time of his long-abandoned parents, and of his former opponent, who had recovered from the effect of their mutual encounter. He now resumed his own name, and concluded to make a settlement on a fertile spot at Salt river, south of Louisville. A few families joined him, and having helped to gather their first crop of corn, he resolved to visit his parents. His glowing description of Kentucky induced them to accompany him on his return, but his father died before reaching their destination. He remained at Salt river until
Very July Durbin Ward
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1784, and then removed to near Maysville, where he formed the first permanent station on the northeast side of the Lick- ing river, and called it Limestone, many emigrants being attracted to the spot. In 1793, Major Kenton joined the army under General Wayne, and was variously employed. Kenton was regarded as a large real-estate owner, but, like Boone, through ignorance or dislike of legal forms, had neglected to secure his title, and his lands, for which he had fought and suffered through many years, were taken from him by later settlers, and in poverty he retired to a tract of moun- tain land which had not yet tempted the farmer or the spec- ulator. But even this was at length claimed by the State, and in 1824 the old pioneer, in tattered garments, appeared in Frankfort to petition the legislature to release the State's claim. He at first met only with ridicule; but when he proved himself to be the Simon Kenton, the story of whose exploits in the early days of Kentucky had long been familiar among old and new settlers, he was treated with due respect, his lands were released, and a pension obtained for him from Congress. He died in Logan county, Ohio, April 3d, 1836, aged about eighty-two years.
WARD, DURBIN, was born at Augusta, Bracken county, Kentucky, February 11th, 1819. The paternal ancestry, .in both lines, were of English extraction, and settled on the eastern shore of Maryland and Virginia about 1734. They were engaged in agricultural pursuits, and were members of the Episcopal church. On his mother's side, his ancestry were of Welsh descent, and were also agriculturalists. They belonged to the Methodist church, and settled in Pennsyl- vania early in the eighteenth century. His father, Jesse Ward, served in the war of 1812, and fought at Bladensburgh, and in defense of Baltimore. After the war he removed to Kentucky. Owing to the law of primogeniture, then exist- ing in Maryland, he, being a younger son, inherited no land. In Kentucky he married Rebecca Patterson, the daughter of a substantial farmer who had also served in the war of 1812, at the River Raisin, in Michigan, and afterward lost his lands . by the "shingle" titles of Kentucky. The subject of our sketch was their eldest child, and was named after the famous Methodist preacher, John P. Durbin, the school-mate of Mrs. Jesse Ward, in one of the rude country school-houses of Kentucky. The family subsequently removed to near Everton, Fayette county, Indiana, and there young Ward was brought up, aiding his father in the rude labors of the farm. The avidity of the boy for reading, and the scarcity of books in this wild and uncultivated country at the time, are illustrated by the fact that the youth had read every book he had ever seen, when he was eighteen years of age. Dur- ing each winter he attended the country schools for a few weeks, and this was all the common school education he re- ceived. At eighteen, having acquired by his own unaided studies, a knowledge of the rudiments of Latin, algebra, and geometry, he entered Miami University, and by teaching during the vacations, and living economically, he managed to maintain himself there for two years, when he left it with- out graduating. Having chosen the law for his profession, he removed to Lebanon, Ohio, where he commenced study- ing under the preceptorship of Judge Smith, but instructing pupils at the same time, in order to pay his necessary ex- penses. He completed his law studies under Governor Cor- win, with whom he entered into partnership in 1843, and they remained associated in business for nearly three years. The
partnership was dissolved on account of Mr. Ward's election to the office of prosecuting attorney of Warren county. After holding that office for six years, he became one of the repre- sentatives in the lower house of the Ohio general assembly, the first legislature elected under the new constitution. He was one of the most active members of the house, and distin- guished himself by drafting an elaborate report against capital punishment, as well as by delivering an eloquent eulogy on Governor Morrow, which was ordered to be spread on the journal of the house. It was during this session that Judge Bellamy Storer and the Hon. William M. Corry en- deavored to induce the legislature to loan the public arms to Kossuth, ex-governor of Hungary, who was then an exile in this country. Mr. Ward was one of the most vigorous in defeating the measure in the house, after it had passed the senate. At the next election he declined to be a candidate, deciding to return to the practice of his profession. Up to this time he had acted with the Whig party, and had been an active politician and a frequent campaign speaker. From the time that Zachary Taylor was elected to the Presi- dency, up to 1855, he took no active part in politics; but during those seven years he was a constant and close student of the history and politics of his country. The Whig party being dissolved, and having no sympathy whatever with the Know-Nothings, he connected himself with the democrats,. being convinced of the soundness of their political doctrines. In 1856 he was, in his absence, and notwithstanding his re- monstrance, nominated on the democratic ticket for Congress in a strong republican district, and was, as a matter of course, defeated. The next year his name was mentioned for the supreme bench, but he declined to be a candidate. In 1858, he was nominated by the Democratic State convention for attorney general, but was beaten at the polls. Two years subsequently he was a delegate to the Charleston and Balti- more conventions, and he there warmly supported Stephen A. Douglas. During the canvass of 1860, he published a pamphlet in support of Douglas' doctrine of popular sover- eignty in the territories. When the war broke out in 1861, he immediately joined the Union forces, going into the ranks as a common soldier. He served in West Virginia under McClellan, and afterward becoming major of the 17th Ohio volunteer infantry, served for the remainder of the war under General Thomas in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Ala- bama, and Georgia, taking part in the battles of Rich Moun- tain, Mills' Spring, Pittsburgh Landing, Perryville, Stone river, and Chickamauga, the Atlanta campaign and Nash- ville. He never served a day in garrison duty, but was always at the front, and rose to the rank of Brigadier Gen- eral by brevet. He was shot through the body at Chicka- mauga, near the close of the second day's battle, and his left arm was thereby disabled for life. He was then mustered out of the service on account of permanent disability ; but he immediately went to Washington, got the order revoked, and returned to the field, commanding with his arm in a sling during the whole of the Atlanta campaign. At the close of the war he opened an office in Washington for the prosecu- tion of soldiers' claims, and remained there for nearly two years. While there he took part in the organization of the Union club, which gave support to Andrew Johnson's admin- istration, in opposition to the Republican party, which strenu- ously assailed it. He took part in the famous "Arm in Arm" convention, as it was called, in Philadelphia, and in September, 1866, while still residing in Washington, he was.
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without his solicitation, nominated for Congress in the third Ohio district, in opposition to General Robert C. Schenck.
The district was strongly republican, but he reduced the
majority from 2,700 to 1,000. In November, 1866, he was appointed United States district attorney for the southern dis- trict of Ohio, and served for nearly three years, when he was removed by President Grant. In 1868 he was a candidate for nomination to Congress, but was defeated in the conven- tion by Vallandigham. In 1870, against his consent, he was nominated and elected to the State senate for a broken term, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of the Hon. L. D. Campbell, but he declined a reëlection. In 1877 he was a candidate for the nomination for governor of Ohio, but was defeated in the convention which nominated R. M. Bishop. He then aspired to the United States Senate, but was beaten by the Hon. George H. Pendleton. General Ward is acknowledged to be one of the ablest and most prominent political speakers of the day. His speeches on the Southern policy of the Republican party had a wide cir- culation. His printed speeches on the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution, on the labor question, on the Tilden and Hayes electoral contest, and especially those on the currency, were the most able and carefully prepared of his political addresses. He married November 27th, 1866, Miss Eliza- beth Probasco, sister of Judge John Probasco, a former partner of Governor Corwin, but has no children. While the life of General Ward has been prominent and active, it has not been successful, as measured by the practical standards of wealth or emolument. His mental constitution and train- ing required him to pursue his thought to its result, without regard to its effects upon himself. Freedom of thought, as a rule, is a luxury to be indulged in at the expense of worldly aims. To make the thought the means to an end, and always subordinate to it, seems best to secure what is called success. This, General Ward has not been able or willing to do: pos- sessed with the principle in politics or morals, he battles for it, not for himself. So in his profession: absorbed with the questions which arise in the case, he battles for his case, and not for the rewards which may attend it. General Ward is an earnest thinker and student, and also an earnest and able advocate of the results of his own thought, and would find it difficult we suspect, to modify and adjust his thought and action so as to become thoroughly identified with any party or creed. He has exhibited great foresight as to the course of events, and promptness to act, as he thought for the best. When war was upon us and the Union endangered, he im- mediately gave his services to the cause of the Union, laying aside all political differences until the vital question to be tested by arms was settled. As soon as by arms the integrity of the Union was established, he was the first to advocate those measures of peace and reconciliation which in his judgment tended to promote the future prosperity and con- cord of the nation. His orations upon these subjects abound in eloquent and beautiful passages, evincing depth of feeling as well as purity of style. All his papers on finance and other subjects are carefully prepared and thoroughly consid- ered. Summing up all: his mind is of a high order; he is frank, fearless, and outspoken; always generous and firm in his friendships, and never malicious in his enmities.
KINSMAN, JOHN, pioneer settler and capitalist, was born at Lisbon, Connecticut, May 7th, 1753, and died August 17th, 1813. His father, Jeremiah Kinsman, being descended
from Robert Kinsman, who arrived from England in 1634, and settled at Ipswich, Massachusetts; and his mother, a sister of General John Thomas, one of the first brigadier- generals (afterward promoted to major-general) appointed by Congress, being a descendant of John Thomas, who came from England in 1635, in the ship "Hopewell." At the breaking out of the Revolution he was twenty-three years old, and on the call of Governor Trumbull for nine regiments to defend New York, he joined a Connecticut company as ensign, and was in Colonel Huntington's regiment at the battle of Long Island. He fell into the hands of the Hes- sians, and was imprisoned in the Jersey prison-ship. The miseries endured in that dungeon permanently injured his health. At length he and two companions were released on parole, and until their exchange, nine months after, were al- lowed to mess together in a room in New York. Here he formed the acquaintance of a hatter, and learned the leading features of his business. On being exchanged he employed an experienced workman and opened a store, selling largely to the army, and becoming very successful. In 1797 he was elected a representative to the Connecticut legislature, where he remained for three years. In that connection, at Hart- ford, he formed the acquaintance of the officers of the Con- necticut Land Company, and many of the stockholders, and made extensive purchases of the lands. In 1799 he made his first visit to Ohio to examine his purchases. Having bought what is now the township of Kinsman, he determined on making his residence on it, and built a log house and saw- mill on what was there called a prairie, there being over five hundred acres with but little timber. It had been an old In- dian hunting ground which was yearly burned over by the Indians, and part of which gave evidence of having been used to raise corn. This land, without timber and free from roots, was soon put into cultivation, and fine crops were raised thereon, much in advance of the settlements upon the heavily timbered lands that surrounded it. These crops were of great service to the less favored settlers, who drew their needed supplies from the Kinsman tract. In 1804 he brought his family from Lisbon, and with the products of the saw-mill soon provided them with better dwellings. In 1805 his sales of land were paid for mainly in specie, little paper currency then being used. During the year he made his deposits in Pittsburgh, and late in the season went there to provide for its transfer to Boston, exchange being out of the question. He found more than he could carry on one horse, so pur- chased another, and with the specie packed on two horses, one of which he rode and led the other, he made the transfer to Boston. He was a man of much kindness and indulgence to the purchasers of land, and also to those in his employ ; and in business affairs exhibited great energy and activity. He was appointed justice of the peace under the territorial, and an associate judge under the State government, was prominent in county organization and all matters of pub- lic interest, and continued his mercantile business in Ohio until his decease. He was one of the many projectors of the Western Reserve bank, subscribing for one-fifth of the whole capital stock of $100,000, but did not live to see its or- ganization, which took place three months after his death. His life and business were marked with great activity and toil, he having to ride often on horseback to New England, New York and Philadelphia, to purchase goods, and through the Western Reserve looking after his land and aiding the improvements of the new settlements. He exerted and ex-
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posed himself beyond his powers of endurance, and sank" under the exposures, cares, and fatigues of a life too labori- ous for his constitution, being at the time of his death but sixty years old. September 27th, 1773, he married Miss Re- becca Perkins, sister of General Simon Perkins, of Lisbon, Connecticut, who died May 27th, 1854, in her eighty-first year. Five children were the fruits of this marriage. Joseph, the second son, was a young man of promise, who entered Yale College and died of consumption whilst in his senior year, June 17th, 1819, aged twenty-four years. Olive Douglas, the daughter, married George Swift, son of Chief Justice Zeph- aniah Swift, of Connecticut, and who was a member of the State legislature. She died June 24th, 1835, aged thirty-five years. Of the other three sons, John, the eldest, was a prom- inent merchant, and was born at Lisbon, Connecticut, Sep- tember 20th, 1793, and died Feburary 4th, 1864. In 1804 he removed to Kinsman, Trumbull county, and on reaching a sufficient age was associated with his father in the farming and mercantile business at that place, succeeding to the homestead and business upon his father's death. His fine business qualities called to him many positions of trust and responsibility in the county, and he devoted much of his time and means to the development of its resources in various ways. For fifteen years he was a director of the. Western Reserve bank. He took an active interest in all benevolent enterprises, and administered largely by advice and means to the wants of those around him. In his extensive business large credits were freely given to relieve the wants of the early settlers at a time when such credits were deemed almost indispensable to their success. He held a high place in the esteem of his neighbors and associates, and his death, which occurred at Warren, in the seventy-first year of his age, was widely mourned by his numerous friends throughout the State. Thomas was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, being the third son of John Kinsman the elder, noticed above, and the first of the family born after their removal from Connecticut to Kinsman, in 1804. When he grew up he chose a farming life, and became one of the most exten- sive farmers in northern Ohio. His lands of two thousand acres were mostly under fine cultivation, well watered, and very productive. His large dairy of from sixty to eighty cows, with the necessary machinery for manufacturing the cheese, formed an interesting and important feature of his business; but the chief attraction on his farm were the full- blooded Durhams. His life from childhood to old age was peculiarly marked by kindly relations with all with whom he had to do. Buoyant in spirits, and with a strong mind abounding in wit and humor, he drew around him a large circle of friends; this, connected with his marked integrity, consistent Christian character, and a modesty that withheld him from any aspirations for fame or official position, placed him prominently as a counselor and adviser with his neigh- bors and friends, and in every work of progress or benevo- lence. He was eminently social and hospitable, easily ap- proached, while his genial presence cheered every one who came under its influence. He was an affectionate and faith- ful husband and father, a devoted and consistent Christian, a citizen of liberal and progressive views, free-hearted and open-handed when charity sought his aid. His life, as a cit- izen of Kinsman, numbered more years than those of any one that had preceded him, and at his death he was the old- est native inhabitant. At home with his family, on his large and well-cultivated farm, his worldly happiness seemed to
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