The history of Champaign county, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; history of the Northwest territory etc, Part 82

Author: Ogden, J. W. (John W.); Beers (W.H.) & Co., pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : W.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 926

USA > Ohio > Champaign County > The history of Champaign county, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; history of the Northwest territory etc > Part 82

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corruption. Later, he was connected with the United States mail service, on the Pitts- burgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad, which positions afforded him an excellent oppor- tunity for development in the rapid and accurate transaction of business, and enabling him to act efficiently and promptly, and especially fitting him for a business that brings him in contact with the masses. It is a rare thing to find a trio of men possessing more business experience, and better calculated to conduct a large and profitable busi- ness.

JOSHUA SAXTON, editor and real estate dealer, Piqua. Mr. Saxton is a na- tive of Pennsylvania, born in Huntingdon, Dec. 11, 1807; his father was a hand man- ufacturer of nails; he assisted his father until 1822, when his mother died, and he came West, to Canton, Ohio, where John Saxton, an elder brother, was editor and proprietor of the Canton Repositor ; after serving a six-years apprenticeship there, he was a " devil " in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus and other points, and returned to Can- ton in 1830, and, in 1831, became a partner in the proprietorship of the Repositor, in which he continued until 1838. In 1830, Mr. Saxton made the first composition roller used in Canton, and, it is believed, the first used in the Strte. Mr. Saxton came to Urbana in the spring of 1838, by the solicitation of the leading Whig citizens, to take charge of a paper, and purchased the office and established the Western Citizen, now Urbana Citizen, and Gazette, with which he has been connected until recently : he is now retired from the paper and editorial labor, being in his 73d year, and the oldest continuous editor in the State, having been engaged in editorial work since 1831. Mr. Saxton is emphatically a self-made man, for, in his youth, he received but the bare, ru- dimentary education obtained at the subscription schools of that day, and afterward ed- ucated himself while apprentice-" devil "-and editor ; he began the issue of his paper in Urbana with a list of 300 subscribers (the citizens had promised him 500); he re- tires with a list of 1,500, and it was as high as 2,000 during the credit times Mr. Saxton has been a worthy and active member of the M. E. Church for upward of fifty years. He married, in 1834, Miss Margaret A. Hemphill, a native of Pennsylvania and a childhood acquaintance, who visited friends at Canton, and thus the friendship of childhood grew into wedlock ; they have had five children-John L., who died at 7 years of age; Frances R. widow of the late W. A. Brand; Emma, now Mrs. J. M. Knight; Sarah P., now Mrs. Edwin S. Hedges, of Springfield ; Kate R., now Mrs. Frank M. Wood, also of Springfield.

MOSES M. SAYRE, attorney. Moses M. Sayre, son of Martin Sayre and Jane C. Sayre, daughter of the late Moses McIlvain, of Salem Township, was born Nov. 21, 1849, in Harrison Township, Champaign Co., Ohio. He was brought up on the farm, working and going to school in the country until March 5, 1869, when he entered the Preparatory Department of Oberlin College, in which he remained until the fall of 1870, when he entered the college department. He passed successively through the Fresh- man and Sophomore years and the first and second terms of the junior year, when he applied to the Faculty for a dismissal from the college, which was granted May 11, 1873. He at once applied for admission to the senior class of Yale College, and, after several days of scathing examination in all the studies which the class had pursued, he entered the senior class unconditionally-a thing rarely accomplished. He graduated June 25, 1874, with distinguished honor in a class of one hundred and twenty-three members. Although the roll was called four or five times every day, he never failed in a single in- stance in either college to respond to his name. He also holds an honorary degree, which the Trustees of Oberlin College presented him Aug. 8, 1874, on account of his scholarship, punctuality and general conduct while a member of the college. After graduating, the profession of teaching engaged his attention six months, but, not being satisfied with the occupation, he abandoned it. He has since been tendered several good situations, but has declined all offers to teach. He next read law with Judge Will- iam Lawrence, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar May 12, 1877, by the Supreme Court of Ohio. He began practicing his chosen profession Jan. 15, 1878,

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in Urbana, Ohio, where he now remains, doing a successful business. He is a promi- nent politician and an enthusiastic Republican. He does considerable business in nego- tiating loans. He also gives close attention to his farming interests, having 205 acres of land, well watered with Mad River and Glady's Creek. He keeps his farms in good condition and well stocked with select stock, mainly cattle, in which he deals quite extensively.

FRANK SEWALL, A. M., Professor and Minister. The Rev. Frank Sewall, A. M., President of the Urbana University, Professor of Intellectual and Moral Science in the same institution, and minister of the New Church, in Urbana, since 1870, was born in Bath, Me., in the year 1837, and is the son of Wm. D. Sewall, of that city. He was educated in the public schools, and, at the age of 16 years, entered Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Me., where he was graduated in the degree B. A. at the age of 20. The same year, 1858, he went abroad ; spent a winter in Rome and other parts of Italy ; the following summer, went to Germany, where he was matriculated a student in the university of Tübingen in Würtemberg, and pursued his studies in theology, philosophy and literature under the direction of the learned scholar and eminent Swedenborgian, the late Dr. Frederick Immanuel Tafel, then professor of Philosophy and Librarian of the university. From Tübingen he went to pursue his studies at the university of Berlin, where he attended lectures under the eminent Orientalist, Bopp, the historian Ranke, the theologians Hengstenberg, Nitzch and others. He also traveled extensively in Germany, Switzerland and France, passing considerable time in Paris attending lectures at the Sorbonne, and subsequently making a sojourn at St. Amand, in Cher, enjoying the intimate society of the eminent French New Churchman, the late M. Le Boys des Guays. Returning to America after three years' absence, he received from Bowdoin College the degree of Master of Arts, and he then entered upon his preparation for the ministry of the New Church, in which faith he had been nurtured by his parents, studying under the direction of the Rev. Samuel F. Dike,_ his Pastor, and the ordaining minister of the Maine Association of the New Church. In 1862, he received license to preach, and accepted a call to the parish of the New Church in Glendale, Ohio. In the following year, at the request of his parish, he was ordained to the ministry of the New Church by the Rev. Samuel F. Dike, the ordina- tion taking place at Gardiner, Me., at the meeting of the Maine Association there. In 1869, he married Thedia R. Gilchrist, daughter of William Gilchrist of N. Y. City. He continued in the pastorate of the church of the New Jerusalem in Glendale, until the year 1870, when, being elected President of the Urbana University, he removed with his family to Urbana, and took up his permanent residence in this city. His duties embrace the pastorate care and religious instruction of the students of the college, and also the teaching of the several branches of study assigned to his department of intellectual and moral science. The society of the New Church in Urbana, uniting their public worship with the college, came also under his ministry. He has, meanwhile, in 1865, made a second visit to Europe, enjoying an extensive tour, and meeting espe- cially in England, a number of prominent members of the New Church. On this tour, he held services of Divine worship in the various cities of the continent where he and his friends would be passing the Lord's Day, and for a number of Sundays conducted worship and preached in Rome, where a considerable number of New Churchmen and others assembled to worship together. In 1862, Mr. Sewall was elected a member of the Committee on Foreign Correspondence of the General Convention of the New Church in America, and was some years ago made chairman of that committee, a posi- tion which he still holds. He was Clerk of the Ohio Association of the New Church for the four years 1866-70, and was President of that body for the years 1870-71, and is at present and for a number of years past, the Chairman of the Board of Mis- sions. Mr. Sewall is the author of the following works: "The Christian Hymnal," " Hymns with Tunes for the Services of the Church," published by J. B. Lippincott & Co., in 1867; " The Prayer Book and Hymnal for the use of the New Church," 1868; "The Pillow of Stones, Divine Allegories from the Old Testament," 1876;

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" The Hem of His Garment; Spiritual Lessons from the Life of Our Lord," 1876. Also the following stories for youth : " Moody Mike; or, The Power of Love : a Christmas Story," 1869; " Angelo, The Circus Boy," 1879. The above are all pub- lished by J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia. In 1878, Mr. Sewall had published by Appleton & Co., of New York, his new aid in learning Latin by the "natural method." "The Latin Speaker, Easy Dialogues and Selections for Memorizing and Declaiming in the Latin Language." Mr. Sewall is also the author of a widely circu- lated pamphlet entitled " A Talk about Swedenborg," containing familiar explanations and defense of the doctrines of the New Church, and is a frequent contributor to the periodical literature of that religious body.

JOHN M. SHAUL, merchant. Among the business firms of Urbana who deserve more than a passing notice is Shaul & Co., dealers in stoves, tinware, queensware, glass- ware and house-furnishing goods. Their store is located at No. 9 South Main street. Mr. Shaul, the senior member of the firm, is a native of Ohio, born in Clark Co. in 1831, and son of Jeremiah Shaul, a resident of Wayne Township. Before engaging in business for himself, he was with a large jobbing house some two years, and commenced in the retail trade at Cable in 1860, where he continued in business until September, 1879, when he removed to Urbana. Here he formed a partnership with John May se, and the firm of Shaul & Co. has become one of the important business firms of Urbana. Mr. Shaul married, in 1860, Miss Almira Beatley, of Franklin Co., Ohio. They have five children-George, Hattie, Charles, Allie and Bessie. Nettie died in childhood. Mr. Shau! began business without capital, and, by economy and careful management, has increased it to goodly proportions, his being the first establishment exclusively of this kind in Urbana. His residence is at No. 79 North Main street.

JOHN SHOWERS, retired; P. O. Urbana. His paternal grandparents were of German extraction, born and raised in Pennsylvania. They moved to Berkeley Co., Va., in an early day, where they died. His maternal grandparents were natives of Maryland, where they were raised, married, reared a family and died. Abraham, the father of our subject, was born and raised in Virginia. Furnished a substitute in the war of 1812, and, early in the nineteenth century, married Elizabeth Miller, born in Maryland. After their marriage they settled in their native State, where they remained until after the close of the struggle of 1812. Having followed blacksmithing until about 1814, he then engaged in farming in Virginia. This was ever after his occupation. In Octo- ber, 1834, he, wife and eleven children located in Champaign Co., where he purchased a farm. His death occurred in 1847; his wife died in 1858. Five of their children were born in Maryland, but John, the sixth, was born in Virginia, March, 1820; was partly raised in his native State and matured in Ohio. Here he, in 1846, married Martha A. Osborn. Six years later, death seized her and she was consigned to the silent tomb. One child was born to her, which preceded her. Mr. Showers married, for his second wife, Elizabeth Heflebower, a native of Ohio, born in 1831. She had born to her four children, of whom two are deceased. When a young man, Mr. Showers engaged in the carpenter trade, which he followed until after his first marriage, when he commenced farming, in which he was active, live and practical. Three years since, he removed to Urbana, where his wife died, in March, 1878.

J. F. SHUMATE, Secretary of Ohio Mutual Relief Association, Urbana. He was born, 1842, in West Liberty, Logan Co., Ohio, and is a son of B. E. and Elizabeth A. Shumate ; he is the last of a family of nine children, of whom one died in infancy. J. F. was raised in his native county, and obtained his education in his boyhood days. He engaged in the shoemaker's trade, which he followed until 1862, at which time he enlisted in Company I, 96th O. V. I., going in service and remained until the close of the great struggle. In the meantime, he participated in the battles of Chickasaw Bluffs, Vicksburg, Ft. Morgan, Ft. Gaines, Mobile and others. He was one of the few who returned home uninjured; he was discharged at Camp Chase, then returned home, where he soon engaged with Griffith Ellis, of Urbana, in merchant tailoring, but after-

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ward was in the insurance business. In 1868, he married S. Isabelle Parckchus, of this city. In 1872, when the association of which he is Secretary was organized, he was elected to his present official department, and annual re-elections have since followed. The association is the oldest of its kind in the State ; is favorably known far and wide, with a large membership, which has been steady and firm from its start. Mr. and Mrs. Shumate have had three children.

CHARLES G. SMITH .* Chicago is a great city, but her greatness consists not nearly so much in the area inclosed by her municipal boundaries, or the numerical ag- gregate of her population, as in the fact that she is the focus of the Northwest-the receiving and distributing point where centralize the energies and wants of the millions of people who live beyond. The men who have so successfully labored through a long course of years to bring about this result are the true benefactors of Chicago. To bring hither the products of the whole world, outside of the Northwest, to show to the people that they could be served here with as good material, as varied selections, as new styles, and at as moderate prices, as at the East, saving the cost and the risk of carriage, and the time and expense of journeys thither, was to do a great part of the work of building up our city. The trade in drugs is immense. Within a few years, it has risen from nothing to the prominence it now occupies. The wholesale drug merchants of Chicago now supply the physic and perfumery of the great West, and subserve a large portion of many other wants. This fact is largely due to the exertions of one man, who is noted as having done more than most others to extend the business of the city, by showing to the people of the surrounding country that they could rely on the integ- rity of Chicago merchants to serve them with whatever they required, and on their en- terprise for offering better facilities than could be found elsewhere.

This man is Charles G. Smith, who was born in the town of Nelson, Madison Co., N. Y., July 23, 1831. His father, George Smith, was a native of Orange Co., N. Y., his grandfather having emigrated from Scotland to that county in early manhood, and there married into a highly respectable family. His mother was a daughter of Judge Eben- ezer Lyon, of Nelson, one of the first Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Madi- son .Co., his term of office being in the years 1806, 1807, 1808 and 1809. He was also Supervisor for fifteen years. The American ancestors of Mr. Smith were all farmers, and both of his grandfathers served with honor in the Revolutionary war. They were among the most highly respected members of the community in which they lived, and were men of the strictest integrity of character.

When Mr. Smith was 5 years of age, his father died, leaving him, the youngest of seven children, to struggle through the world without the advantage of paternal aid or counsel. The widow's work was no ordinary one, but she undertook it bravely. She sold the farm and removed to Cazenovia, that she might secure to her children better advantages of education than were possible at their birthplace. After a stay of rather more than a year there, she, by the advice of friends, removed to the western part of the State of New York-Rushfield, Allegany Co .- and there the greater portion of Mr. Smith's early life was spent.

Those early years were spent to good purpose. His only educational advantages were those offered in the village schools of that early day, but the existing lack was more than supplied by an insatiable thirst for knowledge and a determination to acquire everything that lay within his mental reach. Every spare moment was devoted to reading and writing, his object being especially to perfect himself in business qualifications. Multi- tudinous scraps of paper, covered with business forms and penmanship studies, attested his attention. His whole boyish ambition was centered on this one goal, and, while other boys played or slept, he was engaged in preparing himself to step out into the busy world and take his place as one able to compete for the prize of business success.

His eldest brother had removed to Chicago, and, in the summer of 1849, procured for him a clerkship in the drug store of Mr. L. M. Boyce; before Mr. Smith arrived

* This sketch is copied from the history of prominent business men of Chicago, published in 1869, with ad- ditions since that date.

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in Chicago, Mr. Boyce died of cholera, and the establishment was bought by the firm of Sears & Bay. Mr. Smith commenced his apprenticeship to the drug business under them, his advent in Chicago being made in October, 1849. At this time, the entire jobbing drug trade of the city did not amount to more than $100,000 per year, but, as- the population of the country increased, and the means of communication with the great West beyond were extended, this branch of business grew with corresponding rapidity. Six years thereafter, in 1855, it had increased tenfold, amounting to at least $1,000,000. Mr. Smith very soon acquired a knowledge of the business, and gained the confidence of his employers by his strict attention to business, and his unremitting regard for their interests. On the retirement of Mr. Bay from the firm in the year 1852, he was advanced to the position of head clerk. During this time he attended Bell's Commercial College. On the 1st of January, 1854, he became a partner in the firm, assuming the place made vacant by Mr. Bay. The business was henceforth con- ducted under the firm name of Sears & Smith, they occupying the same store as pre- viously, No. 113 Lake street.

During the first year of the partnership the business doubled, and, the opportunity for trade extension appearing to be good, they, in February, 1855, took into the firm Mr. Edwin Burnham, now the senior partner in the firm of Burnham & Van Schaack. This partnership, under the name of Sears, Smith & Co., continued for two years, when Mr. Sears retired, and the business was continued by the remaining partners, under the firm name of Burnham & Smith, a removal being effected to No. 23 Lake street. This place was held for three years, when the growing demands of the business impera- tively called for more room. A removal was made to No. 16 Lake Street, which place was held until March, 1864, when the firm was dissolved, and Mr. Smith established himself alone, at No. 259 South Water street, pending the erection of the spacious edifice he now occupies, for the building of which he had contracted with the Hon. J. Y. Scammon.

January 1, 1866, Messrs. C. Henry Cutler and Henry T. West became his part- ners. The business, now conducted under the firm name of Smith, Cutler & Co., has attained to mammoth proportions. As a continuation of one of the oldest wholesale houses in the city, and a pioneer in its branch of trade, the firm occupies a really com- manding position among its fellows, transacting the lion's share of the exclusively wholesale drug trade of our city, which, for the year 1866, amounted to between $5,- 000,000 and $6,000,000, and now extends over twelve different States and Territories. Mr. Smith's business motto has always been "Deal honorably with all." He has always endeavored to prevent the introduction into the trade of inferior qualities of goods, and has uniformly exercised the utmost care to secure the purity of drugs pur- chased by him. He has aimed, all through his business life, to merit the confidence of his patrons, and so to deal with them that they shall at least be satisfied that they cannot do better elsewhere. Among all those whose strict business integrity has won so hon- orable a name for the merchants of Chicago, none has done more than Mr. Smith .. This conscientious business trait is but the legitimate sequel to the youthful manifesta- tions of his character in the family of his mother. He was always thoughtful and amiable, kind and considerate, as he has been in the family that have been raised around him in his mature years.

Shortly after his arrival in Chicago, Mr. Smith's attention was directed to the subject of his religious duties. His mother being a Baptist, he joined the First Bap- tist Church of this city, and for two years the greater part of his time not devoted to his business was occupied in the study of theology. He, however, became dissatisfied with the Baptist faith, being persuaded that it was too indefinite for him. His partner, Mr. John Sears, was a member of the New Jerusalem Church, and conversation with him and the reading of " New Church" books enabled him to solve many doubts that he had previously entertained on doctrinal points. A thorough investigation of the teachings of the New Church resulted in convincing him of their truth, and, in the year 1853, he became a member of the Church of the New Jerusalem, worshiping in.

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the temple on Adams street, near the lake, with which he is still in communion. The writings of Swedenborg, in particular, made a profound impression on his mind, and were very influential in molding his character. Mr. Smith is one of our most highly respected citizens. He has never tried to make a noise in the world, being simple and unobtrusive in his manner, but he has wielded an influence which has been very widely felt in this part, and is now as potent as ever. His business abilities are universally recognized as of the highest order, and his judgment, although he is yet a young man, is regarded as almost infallible in all matters to which he has directed his attention. He is a man of strong will, but mild in expression, and invariably true to his friends.

Mr. Smith was married January 7, 1855, to Annie E. Cooper, a daughter of Alexander Cooper, of Peoria, Ill. She died January 17, 1861, leaving two daugh- ters, aged respectively 2 and 4 years. On the 16th of August, 1866, Mr. Smith married his present wife, Eliza L. White, only daughter of Moses White, of Cincin- nati, Ohio, and for many years a prominent merchant in that city. By his present wife he has seven children-four sons and three daughters.

In the year 1868, Mr. Smith retired from the drug business in Chicago, and removed to a country seat at Wilmington, Ill., where for one year he resided, but at the end of that time removed to Urbana, Ohio, for the purpose of educating his children at the New Church school located in that city. He retired from active busi- ness in Chicago, principally on account of failing health, but soon after locating in Urbana he regained his health, and his life-long business habits soon compelled him to again enter an active business career. He purchased an interest in the tannery on the corner of Main and Water streets, with the intention of increasing and developing the leather manufacturing interests of Urbana to a greater extent, but in 1871, the great fire of Chicago having destroyed Mr. Smith's property in that city, and being able to collect only a small amount of the insurance, on account of the failure of the insur- ance companies, he was compelled to use the money intended for the development of his new business in the erection of business houses in Chicago, which, with his usual energy and promptness, he immediately carried into effect.

In 1874, having, to some extent, recovered from his losses in Chicago, he purchased the balance of the tannery, becoming sole proprietor, since which time he has rebuilt, added and extended the buildings and increased the business to more than fourfold what it was when he first took hold of it, thus demonstrating that he still possesses those same eminent business qualifications and characteristic energies that won for him a lead- ing place among the foremost merchants of the great metropolis of the West. He manufactures an extra fine quality of oak leather, which is in large demand by whole- sale dealers in many leading cities throughout the United States, the demand being greater than he can readily supply.

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The history of Champaign county, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; history of the Northwest territory etc, Part 82

Author: Ogden, J. W. (John W.); Beers (W.H.) & Co., pub Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : W.H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 926

Author: Ogden, J. W. (John W.); Beers (W.H.) & Co., pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : W.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 926