USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume III > Part 51
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
753
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
tributary, which, though as large as the Connecticut river, had remained almost unknown, and which, though now traversing a solitude, once flowed past the populous towns or the detached stone-built residences of a semi-civilized people, the ruins of whose homes now border the banks for hundreds of miles. The report of Dr. Newberry on the geology of the region visited by the expedition was published by the War Depart- ment in 1876. It forms a handsome volume of one hundred and forty-eight pages, quarto, with numerous plates of scenery and fossils made from the author's drawings. Soon after the breaking out of the war, the United States Sanitary Commis- sion was organized, and he was chosen a member of it. His services were immediately called into requisition to aid in organizing the Commission and setting it to work. In Sep- tember, 1861, he accepted the position of secretary of the western department of the Sanitary Commission, and from that time until its work was closed with the end of the war and the return of the soldiers to their homes, he had the gen- eral supervision of the affairs of the Commission in the valley of the Mississippi, his headquarters being first at Cleveland and subsequently at Louisville, Kentucky. The magnitude and importance of the work done by the Sanitary Commis- sion at the West can be partially estimated by the fact that at one time there were over five thousand societies tributary to it in the loyal States of the Northwest, that hospital stores of the value of over $5,000,000 were distributed by it in the val- ley of the Mississippi, that over eight hundred and fifty thou- sand names were on the records of its hospital directory at Louisville, and that one million soldiers, for whom no other adequate provision was made, were fed and sheltered in its "homes." The Sanitary Commission at the West was an elaborate and extensive organization for the perfect connec- tion and mutual assistance of benevolent patriotism at home and fighting patriotism in the field. Throughout the war it worked with precision and to general satisfaction. In extent of territory covered at home and at the front, in the magni- tude of the work accomplished, and in the admirable results effected, it stands confessedly unrivaled. To his talent as an organizer, and his executive ability as general manager of the vast and complicated organization, this phenomenal success is largely due. A history of the work of the Sanitary Com- mission at the West, a volume of five hundred and forty-three pages, octavo, entitled, "The Sanitary Commission in the Valley of 'the Mississippi," was published by him in 1871. At the close of the work of the Sanitary Commission he re- sumed his scientific pursuits, and in 1866 assumed the duties of professor of geology in the school of mines of Columbia College, New York city, a position tendered him whilst still on the Sanitary Commission. In 1869, he was called by the State of Ohio to take charge, as State geologist, of the geolog- ical survey of the State which had been determined upon. The work of organizing a corps was soon completed, and for the next five years the survey was vigorously prosecuted, and was finished in 1875. Several volumes reporting progress, and a portion of the final report, have been published, with maps. The work done was of the most important character, and the reports added greatly to the practical and scientific information concerning the natural resources of Ohio. His own contributions to the geological portion of the report relate mainly to the northern part of the State, and were highly valuable, especially in regard to the coal measures, their pub- lication having stimulated the development of hitherto untried fields. The volume of the report devoted to palæontology,
in richness of new facts and fullness and beauty of illustra- tions have rarely been equaled in a similar line of work. His additions to palæontological knowledge are numerous and important, especially in the departments of fossil plants and fossil fishes. These, and his attainments in other depart- ments of natural science, have given him an extensive repu- tation. He was enrolled among the members of most of the leading learned societies in his native country and of many in Europe; he was one of the original corporators of the Na- tional Academy of Sciences, was president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1867, and has been since 1866 president of the New York Academy of Sci- ences. Dr. Newberry was one of the judges in the Centen- nial Exhibition at Philadelphia, and made a special report on the "Building and Ornamental Stones" exhibited there. He is a close student, an indefatigable worker, and possesses the rare combination of scientific knowledge and enthusiasm, with executive ability, practical common sense, and polished courtesy.
RIDENOUR, WILLIAM TARLETON, physician, of Toledo, was born at Hagerstown, Maryland, July 31st, 1832. His father, Daniel Ridenour, was a native of Western Maryland. He removed in 1853 to Knox County, Ohio, where he died, in 1862, at the age of fifty-eight. He was a descendant of a family of German origin, who had for generations been engaged in farming in Pennsylvania and Maryland. His mother, Sarah Bean, was descended, on both sides, from families who were among the earliest set- tlers in Maryland, and who for many years were reputed very wealthy planters in that State. The son, William T., began, as most boys of that day did, attending school in a log school house. His school privileges were limited to this grade of schools till he was sixteen years of age. He then began to teach school winters, and work on the farm sum- mers, thus passing seven years of his life, till he was twenty- three years of age. However, in 1852, when twenty years old, he started west, not knowing particularly what he was to engage in nor where he might locate. He continued west- ward as long as his means would permit, finally locating at Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, having accomplished the journey partly on foot, partly by canal-boat and the remain- der by rail and stage. Determined not to be long idle, next morning after reaching Wooster, he applied for a cer- tificate to teach school; in fact, the meagerness of his finan- ces demanded immediate employment, seventy-five cents being the sum total of his assets on that morning. His ex- amination was very brief and simple, consisting simply in a request to write his name and address, supplemented by a short conversation on the subject of teaching, etc. The ex- aminer was no less a personage than John McSweeney, then and now of Wooster, and the most famous criminal lawyer in the State of Ohio. During these years thus engaged, labor- ing summers and teaching school winters, Mr. Ridenour, not satisfied with thus devoting his energies, resolved to adopt for his life vocation the medical profession-the one of his early choice, and more in harmony with his capabilities. Devoting his spare hours to the study of medicine, he pre- pared himself to enter college, which he did first in 1856, at Michigan University, where he remained one year. In 1857 he entered the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, where he graduated in 1858. He first engaged in practice in Wayne County, Ohio, continuing there till October, 1861, when he
754
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
entered the army as assistant surgeon of the 12th Ohio Infantry. It was not long before his skill became man- ifest, and in the following spring he was made surgeon of the regiment. It is worthy of mention here that Dr. Riden- our was with the same brigade as Gen. Hayes, during his entire period of service, and there being such a marked re- semblance between the two men that they were, by the soldiers, repeatedly saluted each for the other. At the sec- ond battle of Bull Run, Dr. Ridenour was taken prisoner, but was soon released, upon the condition that he would care for a wounded Confederate soldier that had fallen into the hands of the Unionists. During the terrible carnage at South Mountain, Antietam, and Bull Run, Dr. Ridenour did noble service in caring for the wounded and dying, and was imme- diately put in charge of the hospital at Middletown, Mary- land, near the battlefield of Antietam. He superintended this hospital for two months, when he was made Medical Inspector of the district of Western Virginia, then under command of General Cox. On account of failing health he was compelled, in 1863, to resign his commission and return home, having, during constant exposures, contracted lung dis- sease. However, the physician, Dr. W. W. Holmes,who ad- vised him to* leave the service, died himself of consumption, in less than six months from that time. After partially re- covering his health, which took about six months, he re- sumed practice at Wadsworth, Medina County, where he remained over four years, when he removed to Oberlin, prac- ticing there one and one-half years. In 1869 Dr. Ridenour removed to Toledo, where he has been engaged in the active pursuit of his profession ever since, winning for himself a most enviable reputation as a physician and surgeon. As a student at college he evinced unusual ability and aptness in the science of medicine, passing a most excellent exam- ination. Also on examination of surgeons for the army Dr. Ridenour, then twenty-nine years of age, stood seventh among a list of eighty. Besides his professional duties, Dr. Ridenour has for several years filled several municipal offices with which he has been honored by his fellow-citizens, who recognize in him not only the learned and skilled physician, but also the useful citizen. Before going to Toledo he had been a member of the first village council of Wadsworth, and afterwards of Oberlin, resigning as member of council there upon his removal to Toledo. In 1875 Dr. Ridenour was elected member of city council of Toledo, to which office he was called for four successive terms of two years each. However, shortly after entering upon his fourth term he resigned to accept the position of health officer of the city, having been appointed to it by the board of police commis- sioners, which office he now fills, and with great credit to himself and satisfaction to the city. Under the circumstances, his appointment to this office was especially complimentary to him, since the majority of the board, who are appointed by the Governor, were opposed in politics to the Doctor, setting aside, however, their political bias in consideration of his fit- ness for the position. Dr. Ridenour is also an active mem- ber of several medical societies, viz. : American Medical Association, Northwestern Ohio Medical Association, South- ern Michigan and Ohio Medical Associations, and also Lucas County Medical Association. During the two years' existence of the Toledo Medical Journal, he was one of its associate editors. He is also Instructor of Physiology in the Summer School of Medicine, Toledo. He is also a member of Ma- sonic Lodge. Dr. Ridenour was married first in 1854 to
Mary Bricker, who died in 1865. He married his present wife, Henrietta Angier, in 1873. Her father was a promi- nent man in Cleveland, after whom the Kennard House was first named Angier House. Four children were the result of the first marriage, and two of the last. Dr. Ridenour is not a member of any Church, and though not religiously inclined, entertains the highest respect for Christian people. Politically he has always been a Republican, though his father, up to 1855, was a stanch Democrat, when, becoming disgusted with that party during Pierce's and Buchanan's administra- tions, he abandoned it. Besides Dr. Ridenour's high pro- fessional standing, he fills a large place in whatever is of public interest and benefit. He is a man of exceptional in- dependence of opinion and action, and possessed of a cool mind and sound judgment ; a valuable member of society and of great usefulness to the city and community.
SPENCER, P. M., banker, Cleveland, son of Lyman M. and Phebe J. (Kingsley) Spencer, was born at Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, March Ist, 1844, and was the youngest of a family of five. He comes of Puritan stock, and can trace his genealogy back to the time of the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers. His ancestors came to this country either in the Mayflower, or immediately after her advent, when they settled in Connecticut, and afterwards in New York. His paternal grandfather served in the war of 1812 as captain of a volunteer company. His father was one of a family of twelve children. His mother, who was one of a family of thirteen children, was a descendant from the great Reformer, Martin Luther. Raised on his father's farm, in Washington County, New York, he attended the common school of his district, and later the academy. At the age of seventeen he left school and, moved by the spirit of patriotism, entered upon the service of his country by enlisting in Company "D," One hundred and Twenty-third New York Infantry, August 11th, 1861. With this regiment, which formed part of the Army of the Potomac, he remained until November, 1863, when, by special order of Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, he was mustered out on ac- count of sickness. The regiment, during his career, was en- gaged in active operations in Virginia, and took part in the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. It was after the latter battle he was stricken down with fever. After long confinement in the hospital, he, on a leave of absence, was taken to his home; and it was then, being so reduced as to be incapacitated for further service, that he was mustered out. Having always entertained a strong predilection for the banking business, on recovering his health, at the solicitation of his brother, A. K. Spencer, Esq., then cashier of the First National Bank, of Cleveland, he proceeded to Cleve- land, and entered that bank as a messenger, March 2Ist, 1864, where he remained for nineteen years, rising success- ively through the various grades from messenger to that of assistant cashier, which latter position he held for ten years. His thorough knowledge of the banking interests of the city led him to conceive the idea of organizing a new bank, and with this end in view he severed his connection with the First National, and through his efforts the Cleveland National Bank was organized in May, 1883, and commenced business on the 28th of the same month. Mr. Spencer was elected a member of the board of directors, and upon the organization of the board he was appointed to the responsible position of
Weste - 1 min
1
755
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
cashier and active manager. To his efforts the bank owes its existence. Being an old and experienced banker of the highest personal and business standing, thoroughly ac- quainted with all the minutiæ of banking, he has been careful to associate with himself such men as from experi- ence and capacity were fitted to support his own liberal and enlarged views of policy and practice. The result has fully demonstrated the wisdom of his course, the success of the bank, from its inception, being unprecedented in the history of banking in the city of Cleveland. Mr. Spencer is a pro- nounced Republican, and has been a member of the Cleve- land City Council for six years, serving as a member of the most important committees, and contributing largely toward shaping the financial policy of the municipal government ; he is now (1884) serving his fourth term in the Council as the representative of one of the most intelligent constituen- cies in the city. He is a director of the Leader Sewing Machine Company, of Cleveland, and one of the trustees of the Homeopathic College. In the Masonic fraternity he stands high, having taken the 32d degree. He was married January 30th, 1873, to Miss Hattie E., the estimable daughter of James Pannell, Esq., banker, of Cleveland. Although comparatively young in years Mr. Spencer is a man rich in experience, and possesses in a high degree the confidence and esteem of his business associates. Of marked financial ability and keen, unerring judgment, a fine organizer and manager, he is most eminently qualified for the important position he holds. Of fine appearance, pleasing address, and courteous manners, he is esteemed alike in the social and business circles. A man of strict integrity and thorough business habits, and an avowed enemy to political or com- mercial chicanery in every form, he has won and enjoys the highest regard in the community he has so long been iden- tified with.
MILLIKIN, MAJOR JOHN M., once Treasurer of the State of Ohio, was born in Greensboro, Greene County, Pennsylvania, on the 14th of October, 1804. He was the son of Dr. Daniel Millikin and Joan Minor. When he was three years of age his father removed to the West and set- tled in Hamilton, Ohio, being the first physician who perma- nently took up his abode there. John M. Millikin received instruction from Dr. Alexander Proudfit, who taught a school in Hamilton about the time of the second war with Great Britain, and from others, and in 1824 went to Washington College, in Washington, Pennsylvania, there spending a year. Returning home the last of May, 1825, he imme- diately began the study of law with Jesse Corwin, and on the 5th of September, 1827, at Columbus, was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court of Ohio, and immediately opened an office in Hamilton. In 1834 the law firm of Mil- likin & Bebb was begun, by the formation of a partnership between himself and William Bebb, afterwards Governor, and this connection lasted till 1840, when Millikin retired from practice. In 1829 he was appointed Brigade Major and Inspector of Militia, an office he retained until 1833. January Ist, 1841, he was appointed an aid-de-camp by Gov- ernor Thomas Corwin, and in 1846 he was a member of the State Board of Equalization. In 1856 he was elected a mem- ber of the State Board of Agriculture, and was twice re- elected. He served as president of the board one year. In 1860 he was appointed a trustee of Miami University. In this capacity he served two terms of nine years each, and was
re-appointed for the third term. In 1873 he was named by the Secretary of the Interior as one of a commission to proceed to the Indian Territory for the purpose of making a treaty with the Creek Nation for the relinquishment of a part of their territory to the Seminoles. In October, 1875, he was elected Treasurer of the State of Ohio, and on the Ioth of January, 1876, entered upon the discharge of the duties of his office. The Republicans renominated him for the same position in 1877, but at the October election the Democrats were in the ascendancy, and he was, therefore defeated. He retired from office on the 14th of January, 1878. He was always a Whig or Republican in politics. He cast his first ballot in 1826, and voted at all State elections. His first vote for President was cast in 1828 for John Quincy Adams. Major Millikin was always an important man in local affairs. He was president of the County Agricultural Society; president of Greenwood Cemetery Association ; president of the Farm- ers' Club, and other societies. He had an excellent knowl- edge of local history, and skill in narrating it. He was highly esteemed by his fellow-citizens, and was frequently named by them as a suitable man for Governor. He re- sided a little east of Hamilton, on a farm, which was culti- vated according to the true principles of agriculture. He was married on the 6th of September, 1831, to Mary Green- lee Hough, daughter of an esteemed early citizen of Ham- ilton, and had by her four children, who attained full age: Minor, Joseph, Dan, and Mary. Major Millikin died April 8th, 1884.
ESTE, DAVID K., the son of Moses and Ann Este, of Morristown, New Jersey, was born October 21st, 1785. Captain Este, his father, was severely wounded at the battle of Monmouth, and would have died from exposure but for the personal attentions of Colonel Hamilton, aide to General Washington, who found him among the dead and dying, and provided him with food and medical assistance. He was subsequently Collector of Revenue under President Adams, and died at the age of eighty-four. David K., his son, received his elementary education in his native town, and entered Princeton College, where he pursued the full course of studies, and graduated with distinction in 1803. In April, 1804, he commenced to read law in the office of Gabriel Ford, Esq., at Morristown, and after thorough prep- aration, was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court at Trenton, in May, 1808. He commenced practice in Morris- town at once, and after continuing there one year as a law- yer, he removed to Cincinnati, Ohio; but with the intention of making his practice a very general one, covering all the courts in that judicial district, including the United States Distriet and Circuit Courts at Chillicothe, and subsequently at Columbus, he opened an office in Hamilton in order to be centrally located. In the spring of 1814 he located in Cincinnati, and established himself at the corner of Main and Fifth Streets, and by careful attention to his business and the exercise of rare legal talent, he soon secured a very large and influential clientage. In 1817 he formed a part- nership with Bellamy Storer, and this business relationship continued until 1821. In 1830 he admitted Ezekiel S. Haines to an interest in his large and increasing business, and this partnership existed until Mr. Este was made President Judge of Hamilton County ; and after the organization of the Su- perior Court, in 1837, he was appointed its judge. Upon the expiration of his term in the spring of 1845, he retired from
756
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
public and professional life. His career at the bar and on the bench was a distinguished one. He was profoundly read in civil and criminal law, his knowledge of the science being constantly improved by continuous research. He was as indefatigable a worker as a student, and gave to all the business intrusted to his care his close attention. He was especially forcible as a pleader, and had rare power for the analyzation of evidence in order to present it clearly to the jury and the court, forming from it a plain and easily un- derstood exposition of the continuity of circumstances in- volved in the case. He was skillful in the interpretation of the law, and logical in his arguments, which were models of rhetorical expression. His decisions from the bench were accepted as authority, and were characterized by an entire absence of personal bias. He was at all times firm in his support of the integrity of the law. These qual- ities won for him the sincere respect of the entire commu- nity, and his retirement from professional duties was re- garded as a public loss. His career was closely identified with the growth and prosperity of Cincinnati. He was zealous in his efforts to secure public improvements, and to make the city attractive, not alone as a place of resi- dence, but as a good field for capitalists, in the way of increasing mercantile and commercial traffic. The first building erected by him was his own residence on Main Street. Subsequently he erected fourteen structures on the same thoroughfare and Ninth Street, three on Sycamore Street, and one on Fourth Street. In 1858 he reared the handsome stone residence on West Fourth Street, which he occupied until his death, April Ist, 1876. In the fall of 1819 he was married to Lucy Ann, daughter of General William Henry Harrison. She died in April, 1826, having been the mother of four children, three of whom died when quite young. The surviving daughter became the wife of Joseph Reynolds, of Baltimore, and died in 1869, at the age of forty-seven years, leaving seven children. In May, 1829, Mr. Este married Louisa Miller, daughter of Judge William Miller, by whom he had seven children. For many years he was senior warden of Christ Church, of which he was a leading member.
CALDWELL, HON. WILLIAM B., ex-Judge Su- preme Court of Ohio, was born in Butler County, Ohio, June 23d, 1808. His parents, William and Mary Caldwell, were of Scotch-Irish descent, and emigrated from South Carolina in 1805, and settled upon a farm in Butler County, where the subject of this sketch lived and labored upon his father's farm until the twenty-first year of his age. In 1830 he en- tered Miami University, and graduated therefrom in 1835. He studied law in the office of Hon. John Woods, of Ham- ilton; was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court at Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1837, and commenced practice first in Xenia, Ohio. The next year (1838) he removed to Cincin- nati, and formed a partnership with Hon. S. F. Cary. In 184I he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Hamilton County. In 1842 he was elected by the Legislature as Pres- ident Judge of the Common Pleas Court of that County. He remained on the bench until 1849, when he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and was re-elected by the people under the new Constitution. He resigned in 1854 and resumed the practice of the law in Cincinnati; his rea- son for so-doing being inadequacy of salary. The main characteristics of Judge Caldwell were, his great common
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.