USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume III > Part 57
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
774
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
director till January 12th, 1869, and since which time he has been president. During the late secession struggle he was a war democrat. He is not a strong partisan, however, but looks to principles rather than to party. He was formerly connected with the First Baptist church of Dayton, but in 1870, became one of the constituent members of the Linden Avenue Baptist church. For about fifteen years he has been a member of the board of trustees of Dennison University at Granville, Ohio, and for eleven years past, chairman of its finance committee. To this institution and to the Baptist churches of his native city he has freely contributed for their support and usefulness; while for other objects his donations have been liberal. He has erected a large number of dwell- ing houses in Dayton for the purpose of assisting indigent persons to homes on easy terms. Mr. Huffman possesses an unusually clear and sound practical judgment, is exceedingly careful and reliable in all business transactions, and, in every respect, a gentleman of strict integrity. He is frequently called upon to attend to the settlement and subdivision of large estates among the heirs thereto, and his advice and counsel are often sought in various business emergencies. In 1861, he removed to his present beautiful residence on Huff- man Hill, about one mile beyond the city limits. His family has numbered ten children, nine living. William, the oldest son, is a dealer in building stone, and conducts a very exten- sive business. The oldest daughter is the wife of Mr. E. J. Barney, vice president and superintendent of the Barney & Smith Car Manufacturing Company; the second daughter, Mrs. James R. Hedges of New York city, and the third, is the wife of Mr. Charles E. Drury, cashier of the Second National Bank of Dayton, Ohio.
WOODS, JOHN, was the son of Alexander Woods, who was born in the County of Tyrone, Ireland, in 1768. In 1790 he left his native land and came to the United States, and resided for some years in the eastern part of Pennsylvania. He afterwards came to the West, first to Kentucky, and subse- quently to Warren County, Ohio, where he purchased a farm a few miles east of the town of Franklin, which he improved, and on which he resided until the time of his death, January 9th, 1848. He was married in 1793, in Pennsylvania, to Mary Robinson, who was born in 1762, and who died on the 16th of August, 1828, having become the mother of eight children. John Woods, the oldest son, was born in Jones- town, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, on the 18th of Octo- ber, 1794. When Alexander Woods settled upon his land, in what is now Warren County, in the year 1797, the country was a primitive wilderness. John-then in almost infancy- was reared in a log cabin, and as soon as his strength would admit, had to participate in the labors of the farm. He re- ceived such an education as the common schools of the coun- try at that time afforded, which, by severe study at nights and such times as he could spare from hard labor on the farm, he improved, much to his advantage in after life. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812. He was included in the last draft of the Ohio militia, which was made in 1814, and was in the garrison at Fort Meigs when peace with Great Britain was proclaimed. On his return from the army he opened an English school in the neighborhood of Spring- borough, which he continued for one or two years. From boyhood Mr. Woods had formed the resolution of acquiring an education and finally becoming a lawyer; and for the pur- pose of enabling him to carry out his design, he contracted,
for a certain compensation, to clear a piece of ground adja- cent to where his father lived, as a means of support. He built a hut or camp on his clearing, and after chopping and mauling the heavy timber all day, at night he often read and studied law in his rude cabin while others slept. He pursued his course of reading under the direction of Hon. John Mc- Lean, who had been a member of Congress, and was after- wards one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Woods prosecuted his studies in this manner for some time, and went regularly once a week to Lebanon, where Judge McLean then resided, to recite to him and receive in- structions. He afterwards devoted his time more exclusively to the study of law. Having qualified himself for admission to the bar, and having undergone an examination touching his legal knowledge and abilities, he made application to the Supreme Court of the State, sitting at Dayton, in Montgomery County, at their June term, 1819, and was admitted to practice as an attorney and counselor-at-law in the courts of Ohio. Af- terwards, in January, 1825, he received a license as attorney and solicitor-at-law to practice in the courts of the United States. In August, 1819, he established himself in Hamilton, and, opening an office on the 19th of that month, commenced the practice of his profession. The courts of Hamilton were then attended by some of the old and able lawyers from Cincinnati and Lebanon, with whom Mr. Woods had to come in competition. At his first attempts at the bar Mr. Woods said that he some- times felt himself in rather an awkward predicament, with a confusion of ideas; but, reflecting that but few of a large audience could immediately perceive what was sound sense or the reverse, that those who were capable of thus discrim- inating were probably the most generous and indulgent to youthful orators, and that it was necessary, at all events, to succeed in his profession, he made it a positive rule never to sit down or to hesitate or halt, but to talk on and go ahead. And he did go ahead. In 1820 he was appointed Prose- cuting Attorney for the County of Butler, in which office lie served until 1825, at which time his services as member of Congress commenced, when he resigned. On the 20th of June, 1820, John Woods was married to Miss Sarah Ann Lynch, of Springborough, Warren County. She was a native of South Carolina, born on the 29th of December, 1801. They forth with commenced housekeeping in Hamilton. At the general election in October, 1824, he was elected a Repre- sentative in Congress from the Second Congressional District, composed of the Counties of Butler and Warren, over Thomas R. Ross, of Lebanon, who had been the former Representative. His term of service commenced on the 4th of March, 1825, but he was not required to take his seat un- til the first Monday of December following. On the 18th of October, 1824, Mr. Woods formed a partnership with Michael B. Sargent in the practice of the law. Mr. Sargent was a fine classical and literary scholar, as well as a thorough lawyer. His qualifications and strict attention to business in superintending the affairs of the office, while Mr. Woods was absent attending Congress, were of great advantage to Mr. Woods. Mr. Sargent died suddenly on the 19th of May, 1830. When Mr. Woods's first term in Congress expired he was again elected for a second term, so that he served four years from the 4th of March, 1825, until the 4th of March, 1829. While there he was distinguished for his industry and attention to business. On the 18th of January, 1828, Mr. Woods, from the Committee on Roads and Canals, made a report, accompanied by a bill, "to aid the State of Ohio in
775
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
extending the Miami Canal from Dayton to Lake Erie." The bill was twice read and committed, and finally passed, and became a law on the 4th of May following. By this law there was granted to the State of Ohio a quantity of land equal to the one-half of five sections in width, on each side of that canal between Dayton and the Maumee River, at the mouth of the Auglaize. The same law also granted to the State of Ohio the further quantity of five hundred thousand acres of land for the purpose of aiding the State in the pay- ment of the debts which had been or might thereafter be contracted in the construction of her canals. Mr. Woods was a warm friend of internal improvements, and while in Congress advocated these measures with all his energy. At the session just referred to, the subjects of the tariff, inter- nal improvement, Indian appropriations, and Indian affairs were largely debated, in all of which he took a prominent part. He was decided and ardent in politics, as he was in every thing else. He warmly opposed the election of Gen- eral Jackson to the presidency. This threw him in the mi- nority in Butler County, which was then about three-fourths in favor of Jackson. The consequence was that, at the end of his second term, he was defeated by the election of James Shields. After Mr. Woods retired from Congress, he became the proprietor, publisher, and editor of the Hamilton Intelligencer, which he conducted with great ability for three years, a portion of the latter part of the time in connection with Lewis D. Campbell, who assumed the business manage- ment of the concern. Although Mr. Woods was engaged in editing a newspaper and attending to various other kinds of business, he did not relinquish the practice of his profession as a lawyer, but prosecuted it vigorously until the year 1845. On the 30th of January, 1845, the Legislature of the State of Ohio elected him Auditor of State for the term of three years from the 15th of March ensuing, at which time he went to Columbus and entered on the duties of his office. At that time the State of Ohio had been running in debt from year to year, borrowing money to pay the interest on the State debt, and thus compounding it, until the public obligations loomed up in fearful magnitude. John Brough, the former Auditor, had vainly endeavored to accomplish a reform in taxation ; fear brooded over the members of the Legislature, and none dared to touch the dreaded subject. It was neces- sary that something should be done. Mr. Woods represented the condition of affairs to the Legislature, and strongly urged upon them to take measures to remedy the evil; and it was mainly through his instrumentality, and by his courage, in- dustry, and perseverance that the State was saved from re- pudiation, bankruptcy, and ruin. By virtue of his office, Mr. Woods was one of the board of fund commissioners who contracted the loans on behalf of the State, and had the con- trol of the public debt. When he went into office there was not to be found in any of the offices at Columbus a book in which was entered an account by which the condition of the State debt could be clearly seen. Mr. Woods procured a set of books, and from the loose papers found in the office of the fund commissioners and in the Auditor's office, he had a set of accounts opened, showing the amount of each descrip- tion of public debt and the balance remaining standing. He also introduced important reforms in the mode of keep- ing some of the accounts in the office, by which they were simplified and rendered more intelligible. As Auditor he left indelible marks on the policy and history of the State. He had determined to relinquish his office at the expiration of C-26
his first term of three years, but through the persuasion of a number of his influential friends throughout the State, he was induced to serve for another term, and accordingly was re-elected, and remained until March, 1851, when he returned to Hamilton. His habits of industry and restless energy would not, however, permit him to remain idle. He became president of the Eaton and Hamilton Railroad Company, and brought his strong powers to bear on the prosecution and completion of that work. Previous to the second election, after Mr. Woods became president, a proposition was agi- tated and advocated by many for the construction of a branch road from Eaton to Piqua by the Eaton and Hamilton Com- pany. This, Mr. Woods strongly opposed, and, in conse- quence, was defeated at the second election. Subsequent events have proved the correctness of his judgment on this subject. With some difficulty and trouble the Eaton and Hamilton Railroad Company have since been released from their obligation to construct that branch road. Immediately after retiring from the Eaton and Hamilton Road, Mr. Woods was appointed and accepted the office of president of the Junction Railroad, leading from Hamilton to Oxford, Con- nersville, and thence to Indianapolis; to the prosecution of which work he brought his energy to bear, and faithfully at- tended to the business of the office, with honor to himself and to the advantage of the company. Until the time of his death Mr. Woods was indefatigable and persevering in every thing he undertook. His energy was untiring, and his firm- ness indomitable. His early course of life had rendered his constitution hardy and capable of great endurance. At the bar his conduct was a model for imitation, despising all low and illiberal practice. To the junior members of the bar he was ever prompt to extend his friendship and patronage; and as an adviser to young men beginning life he won many friends among rising men by his generous treatment and sympathy. To the judges of the court he was polite and re- spectful ; and to witnesses he was considerate and candid, never attempting to puzzle or embarrass them, except when there were strong signs of falsehood or corruption. No one, it is believed, ever discharged his trusts as a lawyer with more scrupulous fidelity and spotless integrity. The strong mind and energy of Mr. Woods have left their impression on almost every public improvement in and about Hamilton. He was a liberal contributor to every thing which had for its object the promotion of the happiness of man. Many years ago he took a leading part in founding and establishing the Hamilton and Rossville Female Academy. He was active in the construction of the Cincinnati and Hamilton Turnpike Road, of which he was a director. He was president of the Darrtown and Fairhaven Pike. He was one of the leading spirits in projecting and constructing the Hamilton and Ross- ville Hydraulic Works. He spent considerable time in pro- curing subscriptions for the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad, in which he was largely interested, and of which he was a director during his life. Indeed, far more of the en- ergy displayed in carrying forward that great work came from Mr. Woods than from any other man. In his temperament he was decidedly amiable, and of a most kind and forgiving disposition. His walk through life was without any devia- tion from the paths of honor and rectitude. In his dealings and business relations he was prompt, honorable, and ex- pert, and a pattern of integrity. Law and order had in him an undeviating advocate. He was always found on the moral side of every public question. He was a regular at-
776
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
tendant at the House of Worship of the Associate Reformed Church, of which he was a consistent member. The purity of his private morals has never been questioned. In the early part of the month of July, 1855, Mr. Woods was at- tacked with inflammation of the lungs, so severe as to cause strong apprehensions of its fatal termination. However, he became better, and hopes were entertained that his system would rally, but the disease finally terminated in typhoid fever with ulceration of the bowels, which ended his exist- ence on Monday, the 30th day of the month, in the sixty- first year of his age. His funeral took place at five o'clock P. M., on Tuesday, the 31st. The services on the occasion were by the Rev. William Davidson, of the Associate Re- formed Church, of which Mr. Woods was a member; after which the corpse was conveyed to Greenwood Cemetery, fol- lowed by one of the largest concourses of citizens ever as- sembled in Hamilton on a similar occasion. His remains were consigned to the tomb amid the regrets of numerous friends, and with the respect due to a life of integrity and useful public services. Mr. Woods left a widow, who sur- vived him until 1881, when she died, leaving several chil- dren.
LEWIS, ELIAS LANGHAM, well and widely known as Colonel "Bolly" Lewis, associate proprietor of the Gibson House, Cincinnati, and late general manager of the Athenæum Hotel, of Chautauqua, New York, is of English- Welsh lineage. His father, Colonel Philip Lewis, emigrated from Pennsylvania and settled in Madison County, Ohio, in 1803. Shortly afterwards he opened a tavern in London, the county seat, and continued thus engaged, in the main, until his death, in 1850. His house, during all that period, cover- ing more than forty years, and especially during the sessions of court, was the rendezvous of many of the leading men and lawyers of Central Ohio, among whom may be named Richard Douglas, Moses B. Corwin, General Charles An- thony, John W. Andrews, Gustavus Swan. Around that old-fashioned fireside many a pleasant evening was spent in social conversation by these then eminent men, with "mine host," who is still remembered there for his hearty welcomes, his hospitable entertainment, his congeniality, and his con- versational powers. For years he represented that county in both houses of the State Legislature, and thus helped to frame the laws and shape the institutions of Ohio. He was a natural lawyer. His advice was often asked, and his judg- ment acted upon by his neighbors, who, by common consent, constituted him their arbiter, referee, and counselor, and for which his true and honorable instincts, his strong sense of justice, and fondness for fair dealing, eminently qualified him. Tall, and of commanding person, dignified in de- meanor, and as remarkable for his intelligence as his integ- rity; of liberal and enlightened views, arising from his ex- tended experience in private and public life, he was a noble representative of the influential men of the first half century of the history of Ohio. Abigail Melvin, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was a member of a large and respect- able family bearing that name, in Tennessee. Coming to Ohio with her father, in an early day, she met and married Colonel Lewis, surviving her husband's death until 1876, when she died, in her eighty-seventh year. For seventy-five years she paid quarterage as a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Large and imposing in appearance, a faithful wife, a fond mother, and a devout Christian, she did
much good in her day and generation, and, dying, left a kindly remembered name. The seeds of religious truth which that mother sowed in the heart of a much-loved son, was the means of finally causing him to turn from the error of his way, and to conform his life to the principles thus early inculcated. Four children survive these pioneer set- tlers: Hon. Joseph R. Lewis, late Supreme Judge of Wash- ington Territory, and at present a banker in Seattle, in that Territory; John Lewis, and Mrs. M. A. Acton, both residing at London, Ohio, and the subject of this sketch, who was born July 12th, 1825, beneath the roof of his father's inn. He was named in honor of Elias Langham, a government surveyor, for whom his father had formed a personal attach- ment. Colonel Lewis-for as such lie is popularly entitled out of regard for his commanding presence and dignified bearing-was liberally educated, beginning his education in the schools common to the neighborhood of his birthplace, and embracing a thorough course at the academy at West Jef- ferson, where he acquired a knowledge of the Latin language, for which he had a special fondness. He taught school eight years in Madison County, Ohio, and one year in the State of Mississippi. While teaching, he was a general reader of history and current literature. He has always been a student of Shakespeare. He began the study of the law as his chosen profession, mainly under the preceptor- ship of the late Samuel N. Kerr, Esq., in whose office he was a student, at intervals, for more that eight years. Be- fore admission to the bar he was offered a partnership by the Hon. John A. Corwin, with a view to entering into the law business in Urbana, Ohio. He was upon the point of so doing when he was invited, by a friend who then kept the " Voorhees House" in Dayton, to make him a visit. This was the turning point in the remarkable career of Col- onel Lewis. Eminently endowed by nature in mind and personnel for the legal profession, educated to that end, early noted for his fortiter in re as well as for his suaviter in modo, he undoubtedly would have achieved distinction had he obeyed the voice that called him that way, if not to a still higher plane of usefulness, as was hoped and prayed for by a pious mother when she saw her manly, gifted son leave her threshold to enter upon the world's broad field of battle. But that voice was unheeded then, if not unheard, which invoked him to forensic contests in the intellectual arena, or to be an influence for good in the moral and spiritual world. The invitation to visit Dayton was ac- cepted, and Colonel Lewis went with the intention of re- maining only two weeks; but being offered a situation in the hotel kept by his friend, he remained a year. While there he was invited by the citizens of Dayton to deliver the customary Fourth of July oration for that year (1849.) He accepted, and delivered a burlesque speech which created a sensation, in so much that it was repeated for five years in succession, and is still remembered by some of the early settlers in and around that city as a masterpiece of the bur- lesque in oratory. The "Voorhees House" was the princi- pal stopping place-the terminus of the old-fashioned stage- coach; also of the Doyle & Dickey packet line, on the Mi- ami canal. In the fall of 1850 Colonel Lewis left Dayton and came by stage to Cincinnati, engaging as clerk in the Waverly House, then on Main Street and the canal. He served there one year, then went to the Gibson House, in the same capacity, Messrs. Geoffroy & Wetherbee being the proprietors, and remained until 1855. The next change was
este - Brogi Phy Co
Rightly EL Servis
777
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
to the old Neil House, of Columbus, where he clerked one season. In September, 1856 he returned to Cincinnati, hav- ing been appointed local mail agent under the late Dr. J. L. Vattier, then postmaster at that city, the duties of which of- fice he faithfully discharged. It was at this period in his life that Colonel Lewis made that departure from the path of duty, and entered upon that career as a gamester, with which the public is but too familiar, and which he permits to be commented upon in these pages for the purpose of admon- ishing others, and to show what may be accomplished in ef- fecting self-reform by the exercise of will-power, especially when incited thereto by the voice of conscience and the re- membrance of early parental training. In 1856 Colonel Lewis married Miss Lucy E. Smith, a Cincinnati lady. "The unity and married calm" of wedded life had a perfect illustration in this union of husband and wife. Barring the compunc- tious throbbings of his conscience, now and then, while thus an alien from the proper sphere of usefulness, Colonel Lewis was a happy man. Of that gentle-hearted companion he could say, as did Brutus to Portia :
"You are my true and honorable wife ; As dear to me as are the ruddy drops That visit my sad heart."
He had a daughter who was the child of genius, gifted and beautiful; and upon whose culture and education he spent thought and money until her accomplishments were all that a doting heart could wish. Thus the waves of a smiling sea seemed to roll beneath his bark, contending only to bear it onward, turning to spray at the touch of the prow, and spark- ling in the sunshine of prosperity, that whitened and filled all its sails. Friends without number surrounded him, paid him tribute, and wished him bon voyage. The revenue that flowed so freely into his coffers, flowed as freely from him through the ways of his prodigal living and the channels of charity. None, who ever asked, ever went away empty- handed. He seemed to mingle with the votaries of folly only for the purpose of distributing the proceeds of their folly to the poor, the sick, and the unfortunate, whether friend or stran- ger. Colonel Lewis never went by on the other side to avoid one he should help or befriend. Thus, from seeming evil, he educed good. He lent dignity to his calling, and with the hand of charity somewhat redeemed the deformities of its features. The natural honorable instincts of the man were never blunted or blurred. And the fact that he was the soul of honor, while thus living, was the principal preservative of all his principles; was the bed-rock upon which he stood when he resolved to lead a new life. That remained. And, having resolved, nothing could withstand his resolution to go forward in the direction of moral and Christian reforma- tion. While then he did all the good he could for others, it was his determination from henceforth to seek as well as to do good in the world. A resistless wave seemed to rise within him. It was as peaceful as it was powerful. Imme- diately his ship tacked about. In a moment he found all his relations to the world radically changed, and for a while he sailed a not unstormy sea. He was drifting away from his past. To some he had to wave an adieu forever. Some regarded his course as whimsical, others as fundamental and irreversible. Others placed him upon probation before ac- cepting his conduct as the result of conscientious convic- tions; others deplored his departure as they would the loss of a powerful friend, and sought to constrain his return to
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.