USA > Ohio > Clark County > The history of Clark County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men, V. 2 > Part 40
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tending the construction of ironclads; in September, 1863, was ordered as Exec- ntive Officer of the United States steamer Sacramento, and in November was transferred to the ironclad Sangamon, on the blockade off Charleston; in April, 1864, was transferred to the command of the ironclad Nabant, and in May. 1864, was engaged in an attack on Ft. Sumter: in July, 1864, was detached from the Nabant and granted sick leave; in August, 1861, was ordered to the ironclad steamer Monadnock, and was present in both attacks on Ft. Fisher. Dec. 24 and 25, 1864, and Jan. 13, 14 and 15, 1865; in February, 1865, was detached from the Monadnock and ordered to the Naval Academy as head of the department of Seamanship; commanded the practice ship Marion during the summer cruise of 1865; was detached from the Marion on Sept. 30, 1865, and was assigned to duty at the Naval Academy as head of the department of Ethics and English Studies; in September, 1867, was detached from the Naval Academy and ordered to the United States steamer Powhatan, South Pacific Squadron; served in that vessel in the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico until Jan. 5. 1970, when he was detached and placed on leave; was commissioned as a Com- mander in the United States Navy Jan. 25, 1870; was ordered on duty at the New York Navy Yard in February, 1870, and in April, 1870, was detached and ordered to the South Pacific Squadron as Chief of Staff; in February, 1871, was assigned to the command of the United States steamer Ossifer, in addition to the duties as Chief of Staff; in December, 1872, was dotached from the Ossifer, and placed on waiting orders; in January, 1873, was ordered as Executive Officer of the naval station at New London, and in February, 1873, was transferred to the Hydrographic Office at Washington as Assistant Hydrographer; in November, '1873, was ordered to command the ironclad Ajax, which joined the fleet at Key West, assembled in anticipation of difficulty with Spain; in June. 1874. was detached from the Ajax and again assigned to duty as Assistant Hydrographer; in August, 1875, was detached from the Hydrographic Office and ordered to command the United States steamer Tuscarora; ran a line of deep sea sounding's with that vessel from the Sandwich Islands to Fiji Islands and Australia; in September, 1876, was detached from the Tuscarora and placed on leave; in December, 1876, was ordered as Assistant to the Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks; in March, 1877, was detached from the Bureau of Yards and Docks and ordered as Inspector of the Eleventh Lighthouse District, which embraces Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior; on Oct. 1, 1880, was detached from light- house duty and ordered on special duty at the Naval Department, Washington. D. C., and is at present on that duty. Commander Miller was promoted to a Captainey in May, 1881.
ROSS MITCHELL, retired manufacturer, Springfield. The subject of this sketch is one of the most remarkable instances of self-made inen; he has, by his own talents and his personal industry, become one of the most wealthy and influential of our citizens: has, by mere integrity of character and skillfulness in. labor, risen from poverty to wealth-from obscurity to prominence. He is the son of James B. and Cynthia (Gowdy) Mitchell; born Nov. 14, 1824, in Landis- burg, Perry Co., Penn .; he came with his parents to Dayton, Ohio, in May. 1836; in 1838, he came to what is now called Woodbury, in this county; in February, 1840, to Medway: in February, 1849, to Hertzler's: in 1852, to Springfield; in September, 1554, to Lagonda, where he became assistant book- keeper, and. two years after, bookkeeper in the Lagonda Works; he then be- came a special partner, and, after two years, a regular partner. After twenty- six years' connection with the establishment. he retired, in November, ISSO, in order to devote himself more especially and personally to his large personal estate and works of benevolence. Mr. Mitchell was blessed with what Milton so justly pronounces "heaven's last, best gift to man" -- a good wife. He was married,
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Oct. 7, 1852, to Catherine Ann Miller, daughter of Casper and Susan (Wirt) Miller. Mrs. Mitchell was born Feb. 20, 1827, in Dauphin Co., Penn., and died Sept. 12, 1878; they had five children, all girls, of whom the eldest and youngest are deceased. Mrs. Mitchell had gained a high place in the estimation of the community; her good sense and modesty, her clear understanding and generous temper, were manifest alike in all the vicissitudes of her life; poverty could not repress nor wealth corrupt her noble disposition; actively engaged in every good work, it was remarked by all that the only change observable in her was an increase of benevolent action in proportion to the increase of her means for doing good. Ross was the oldest of eight children, and, at the age of 12 years, the support of mother and four children dependent upon his efforts; his first $78, worked for and saved, were lost by the breaking of a bank; but he and his brother James would save a little from year to year and put it on interest until they could put $1,500 in a farm in Indiana. Thus bas he risen from small beginnings to the possession of ample means, by honest skill and faithful labor --- by the use of a keen intellect and the power of a fixed habit of industry. But the best of all is that, as he did not, like the multitude of men, abandon himself in the midst of want and opposing forces, so he does not, now that he possesses power, concentrate all upon Limedif- does not apply his accumulated. means to self-gratification, but to the benefit of others, to the welfare of man- kind; he is one of those who connect with the most vivid self-consciousness the most complete sense of the existence of others, the most thorough conviction of the claims of God and his fellow-men; he has devoted himself to the most de- cided efforts for the amelioration of the condition and the improvement of the moral and spiritual character of man, for the benefit of society in church and state; he not only appropriates liberally of his means. but he gives also his personal attention to works of beneficence, laboring with mind and heart, with tongue and hand, to be helpful to man; deprived of an education, yet, by exten- sive and careful reading and by the diligent use of a fine library, he has ae- quired much knowledge and become an effective practical teacher and speaker; and all who are associated with him in beneficent enterprises will admire the manner in which he devotes the skill and experience acquired in secular busi- ness to the formation and execution of wise plans, as well as the clearness of understanding and the integrity of purpose which characterize his actions. May he find many to sympathize with him in his noble purposes, and may the community long enjoy the blessing of so useful a life!
J. DOUGLASS MOLER, City Civil Engineer, Springfield. John D. Moler has been City Engineer of Springfield for fifteen years -- a period covering its best growth and most rapid expansion-which is of itself a sufficient commentary upon his thorough efficiency and capability in his profession. Mr. Moler is 45 years old. having been born July 8, 1836, six miles from Springfield, on the National road. On the very day after attaining his majority. he commenced life in the right way by marrying Miss Ella A. Dushane. of Logan County, but originally from Pennsylvania, who, after bearing him two sons and journeying through twenty-three years of life with him, was taken from him by the band of Providence in March of last year. Their first son, William, is teaching in the State Reform School at Lancaster, Ohio, and the second. Harry, is a farmer in Logan Co .. Obio. Mr. Moler was ten years in the United States military serv- ice, in the Provost Marshal's office at Columbus, Ohio, then raised Co. E, of the 184th O. V. I., their principal service being the guarding of the railroad be- tween Nashville and Chattanooga, Tenn. Mr. Moler is now busily engaged drafting plans for projected city water works, which are urgently needed by roa- son of the rapid growth of the city, and. as proposed, they will not only be a great acquisition to the city, but are to be of sufficient extent and capacity to
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meet the demand that a greatly augmented population will make on its re- sources. Mr. Moler is tall in stature. intelligent-looking, deliberate, humorous, genial, and a man you would naturally trust without other guaranty than his appearance and manners.
W. S. MOORE, general life insurance agent, Springfield. Col. Will- iam S. Moore, although a new-comer to Springfield, is to a certain extent representative because of his energy and enterprise, and his varied career enti- tles him to unstinted personal mention. He was born in Richmond, Va., May 17, 1846, where his mother still resides: his father has been dead two years; he has an older brother, Josiah L., who is a wholesale grocery merchant in Rich- mond, Va., and a twin brother. J. C. Moore, doing a dry goods business in Bal- timore. The Colonel took a full course at the University of Virginia, and, going to New York Oct. 11, 1865, he entered the establishment of A. T. Stewart as salesman, remaining seven months: was then for one year Inspector of the Dry Dock & East Broadway Railroad, after which he spent considerable time travel- ing, and on his return went to Kansas City, Mo., there representing the old Atlas Life Insurance Company of St. Louis about five years; he then went to Pittsburgh, where he represented the United States Life, continuing in this intrest dont fre veers; from there to Cleveland one year as special agent for the company, then returned to New York, after which he made a visit home to Virginia. On the 9th of September, 1879. he went to Cincinnati in the interest of the Mutual Life Insurance Company, of New York, under L. C. Hopkins, General Agent. He came to Dayton, Ohio, in March, 1880, where, meeting Mr. D. F. Harbaugh, Special Agent of the Equitable Life Insurance Society, he took a contract to represent this company as General Agent for Clark, Cham- paign, Darke, Logan, Miami and Shelby Counties, with headquarters at Spring- field, since which time he has done a remarkably fine business, aggregating in the twelve months over $400,000 of insurance, and among his larger policy-hold- ers are Ross Mitchell, $40.000; John H. Thomas, $25,000: W. S. Thomas, $25,000; Joseph W. Thomas. $25,000: Charles E. Thomas, $25,000; Edward Wren, $10,000; Clifton M. Nichols, $10,000-all of Springfield, and George A. Weaver and Lemuel Weaver, of Urbana. the former for $20.000 and the latter for $10,000; besides his $400,000 in the Equitable, he has placed in other com- panies about $20,000, which the Equitable could not conveniently take. In harmony with the excellent taste that is characteristic of the Equitable in all its branches and departments, Col. Moore has one of the most complete and city- like offices in Springfield, located in the northeast corner of the new Bookwalter Block, and has been doing the bulk of the life insurance in this section. The Colonel is well adapted for his business, and his wonderful success since coming to Springfield demonstrates that he is a man of push and energy, who is determined to be second to none in his line.
GEORGE W. MOORE, physician and surgeon, Springfield. Dr. Moore deserves a more extended biography, as he has a splendid war record, as well as a history of professional life. He was born in Ohio in 1831, and his parents, John and Mercy (Rolfe) Moore, who were among the first settlers in Huron County, in 1822: Indians were numerous in that day: in fact, more Indians than white men. They reared a family of eight children, all of whom lived to adult age. Dr. Moore was reared on a farm, and was educated in the public schools until he was 18 years of age. when he commenced the study of medicine under the tutelage of Dr. John Osborne, of Bowling Green: in 1959, he attended medical lectures in Cleveland, Ohio; in 1862. he volunteered in the Federal army, in Co. G, H!1th O. V. I .: he recruited part of this company, and went into service as Lieutenant: he did duty the first year in Kentucky, engag ing in many active skirmishes: he was detailed as Regimental Quartermaster in
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1863, and received a Captain's commission in 1864, serving in that position until the close of the war. He finished his medical course at Cleveland in 1866 and 1867, practicing his profession afterward near Toledo, and afterward at Ashtabula, from which point he removed to Springfield in 1873; he is now one of the leading physicians of Springfield, and recently has associated in partnership Dr. Allen H. Vance, who is a graduate of the classical course of 1876 in the Western Reserve College, and is also a graduate of the Western Reserve Medical College, class of 1879, and of Pulte Medical College of ISS0; he is also a graduate of the Opthalmological College of Cincinnati, Ohio; he will make a specialty of diseases of the eye and ear. Dr. Moore was wedded to Miss Mary E. Love in 1855; two children were the results of the union -- Clara and Della. The elder daughter, Clara, was united in marriage to Dr. Allen H. Vance Sept. 22, 1880, carrying with them the best wishes of the entire circle of their acquaintances. The daughters are both graduates of the Springfield Female Seminary. The Doctor enjoys an excellent business among the first families of Springfield, and is certainly worthy of the confidence of the commu- nity.
STEWARD A. MORROW, ice and coal dealer, Springfield; is one of the active young business men of Springfield. He was born in Champaign County in 1849; is a son of Daniel and Matilda (Whitehead) Morrow, who were early residents of that county; the family removed to Springfield in 1852, and have resided here since. The subject of this sketch began a business life when quite young; has been an ice-dealer here for the past twelve years, and, three years since, opened a coal-yard, which he has since operated in connection with the ice trade; his office and yard are located on South Limestone street. near the C., S. & C. R. R. crossing: his general acquaintance and business energy have already secured a large trade, which is increasing. He married, in 1872, Miss Lizzie Resh, of Dayton, by whom he has three children.
JAMES MURPHY, merchant, Springfield. Mr. Murphy, one of the oldest dry goods merchants of Springfield, is a son of Daniel and Margaret Murphy, and was born in Adams Co., Penn., March 1, 1803; when about 14 years old, he began as clerk in a hardware store, and when 18 years old entered a dry- goods establishment in Pennsylvania, continuing as clerk there until 1844, when he came to Springfield. Ohio, and established the dry goods trade, which he bas maintained with increasing success from the beginning; in 1555, he took as partner his brother, Williain R. (who has lived for a number of years and is now living in Pittsburgh, Penn.), and since then the firm has been known as Murphy Bros., and lately his son, James W., has been added to the firm; there- fore. the members who comprise the firin now are James, William R. and James W. The store, since its first start, has been located in different parts of the city; in December, 1SS0, they took possession of their large and commodious room on the corner of High and Limestone streets. James was married, July 4, 1844. to Nancy McConnell, who was born in Franklin Co., Penn., April 1, 1818; of their four children -- James W., George, Jennie and Annio -- but two are now living, viz., James W. and Jennie. Mrs. Murphy's brother. George McConnell, who was at one time a clerk in Mr. Murphy's store (he also carried on harness aud saddle making in Enon, this county), went to Australia in 1853, and has never been heard from since. Among the many business men of Springfield. none have borne a higher reputation of honor than Mr. James Murphy.
ELIAB MYERS. physician and surgeon, Springfield. Dr. Myers was born and reared in the county, and is worthy of representation among her sons. whose biographical sketches do honor to her history; his parents, Jacob N. and Mary C. (Miller) Myers, were natives of Pennsylvania-Mrs. Myers of York and Jacob of Lancaster County; they emigrated to Clark County in 1837, and
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seitled in the small village of Springfield; his occupations were various, being mostly engaged in the milling interests, but. since 1856, has carried on the manufacture of spoke and felloes on a large scale, until his death, which oc- curred in 1866: Mrs. MIvers is living on a farm near the village of Dialton. Their children living are named respectively Sarah J., Rebecca, John, Jacob, Annie C., our subject and Alice Ida. Dr. Myers began his medical education in 1869, under the tutelage of Dr. Raper Rector, of Northampton, and gradu- ated March 1, 1873, at the Ohio Medical College, the oldest college in Ohio. In 1873, he was wedded to Miss Annetta, daughter of Dr. A. A. and Maggio Baker, of Northampton; they have one son living-John Elwood, born Oct. 7, 1877. Drs. Baker and Myers formed a partnership in 1880, and are now doing a nice business in Springfield. Ho practiced first in Northampton, afterward at Fairfield, Greene Co. He was Master of Osborne Lodge, No. 416, A., F. & A. M .. and is a bright and prominent Mason. and a gentleman in every sense of the word; he is also a member of Mad River Lodge, 246, I. O. O. F., and has passed all the chairs, and is now Past Grand in the Order.
JAMES NEILL, of the firm of Neill & Co., manufacturers of and dealers in boots and shoes, Springfield. Mr. Neill is a native of Chester Co., Penn., born May 9, 1829; his early youth was spent on a farm. At 16 years of age, he began to learn the shoemaker's trade in Rockville, in his native county, and, after completing his apprenticeship, worked there as a journeyman some two years, then went to Philadelphia, where he was employed eight years as fore- man in the cutting department of a large wholesale boot and shoe mannfactur- ing firm. In 1854, he came West and located at Springfield, and has since been identified with the boot and shoe trade of this city, with the exception of a short interval, when he was employed as a traveling salesman in the same line. During the ten years previous to the formation of the firm of which he is now a member, he was foreman of the manufacturing department of Reifsnider & Brother of this city. It will thus be seen that the greater part of Mr. Neill's life thus far has been spent in connection with his trade, and he has thus had unusual experience and opportunity to learn all the intricacies of manufactur- ing, and the special wants of the people of this vicinity, which accounts in part for the marked success of his present firm. He married, in 1856, Mary E., daughter of Jeremiah and Catharine Harris, who were residents of this city. Her father is now deceased, but her mother still res des here, being quite advanced in years. This union has been blessed with seven children, five of whom are living, two sons and three daughters, viz., Frank, George, Mattie, Nettie and Annie, all of whom are members of the family household.
JAMES W. NELSON, M. D., physician, Springfield. Dr. Nelsou was born in the city of Springfield August, 1850. When about 5 years old, he moved to Lagonda with his parents; he received his primary education in the school of said village, and remembers well the old woolen factory, grist and saw mills which have several years since passed away, and given place to the large manufacturing establishments of Warder & Co. At the age of 12 years, he began to work in said shops, where he worked four years; when, on the removal of his parents into Springfield, he entered the employ of Whiteley, Fassler & Kelly, and worked in what is now known as the "old Champion shop," where he worked three years, when he returned to Lagonda, and began working for Warder, Mitchell & Co., with whom he worked one year. Then after a short sojourn in Hamilton Co., Ohio, returned to Springfield. About this time his mother was very anxious he should go to school. He was reluctant to start, thinking, like a great many other young men. "that he was too old to go to school." But, after considerable persuasion, attended a private school taught by Mr. Morton. After attending this school one term, went to Wittenberg
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College, taking a select course; and then read medicine with Dr. Buckingham, of Springfield. During the winter of 1874-75, he took the first course of lect- ures in the Starling Medical College of Columbus, Ohio. He was married, in April, 1875, to Mary Mowait, and during that year removed to Illinois, where he began the practice of medicine. In January, 1876, at the request of his wife and mother, returned to Springfield, Ohio, and, in the spring of that year, moved to Clifton and opened an office, where he remained about one year, when he returned to Lagonda, the place of his boyhood days, where he is at present practicing his profession in connection with his drug store. During the winter of 1877-78, he attended the Medical College of Columnbus, where he received his diploma. He is a member in good standing; also P. G. of Ephraim Lodge, No. 146, I. O. O. F. Mr. Nelson so far has been successful in his practice, and is a young man of honor and good moral habits.
R. T. NELSON, editor, Springfield. Mr. Nelson was born in Springfield and graduated in the high school here in 1873, and entered Wittenberg College same year, in which he graduated in 1876; he then began working in the Daily Gazette office of this city, and, at the end of one year. entered upon the duties of editor, which position he has filled very creditably. His father, James H. Nelson, was born in Virginia, near Harper's Ferry, March 11, 1827, and. in 1650, moved to this county with his parents. They located on a farm six miles east of Springfield, and, in 1842, moved to this city. James worked on the farın until 20 years of age, when he began the carpenter trade, at which he worked some three years, when he entered the Pitts machine shops of this city; here he remained one year. After some changing around, working awhile in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1853, engaged with Warder, Mitchell & Co. After working with thein one year as bench hand, he was promoted to the position of foreinan of the wood shop, where he is still engaged. He was married, Nov. 26, 1849, to Mary Ann Thackray, daughter of Robert and Maria Thackray. She was born in Bramley, England, Jan. 22, 1832, and emigrated to America with her mother in August, 1842, coming direct to Springfield to join the father, who had come the year before to secure a home for his family. William Nelson, the father of James, served in the war of 1812. He died in this city in 1872, his wife, Margaret Fletcher, having died two years before. James started in life a poor boy, and by his industry and integrity has not only provided well for his fam- ily, giving to each one excellent opportunities to secure an education, but has accumulated considerable property
C. M. NICHOLS, editor of Springfield Republic. This gentleman has been for a quarter of a century prominently identified with every movement having for its object the moral and material welfare of the community, and such has been his zeal and activity in behalf of every good cause and in the promotion of the interests and growth of Springfield, that it has justly been said that to few other men is the city inore largely indebted for its rapid progress and wide reputation. As editor of the Springfield Republic he has used the columns of that paper, with the skill of an accomplished writer, to spread the fame of Springfield and its great industrial enterprises, with a degree of success which the marked prosperity of the city clearly attests. Every project which aims at the advancement of the public interest in any way, if not originated by him, as many such projects have been, is sure to seek and readily obtain his efficient co-operation. C. M. Nichols was born in Westtield, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., ' June 14, 1830. and was the eldest son of Wiseman Clagget and Firilla (Cass) Nichols, he being a native of Thetford, Vt., and his wife of Stratford, N. H .: and the grandson of Jonathan and Triphemia (Sackett) Nichols, the former of Boston, Mass., and the latter of Kent, Litchfield Co., Conn. Mr. Nichols was a resident of Mayville, N. Y., from 1837 to 1840; of Portland, N. Y., from 1840 to
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1SIS; of Oberlin, Ohio, from 1848 to 1852, in which year he went to Cincinnati, coming to Springfield in April, 1854, where he has ever since resided. Though wholly free from sectarian bitterness, Mr. Nichols has throughout his whole life taken an active and leading part in religious movements, in the advocacy of temperance principles, and in behalf of popular education. As a Sunday school worker, he is widely known, being called to the Presidency of the Ohio Sunday School Union, as a result of his untiring labors and recognized usefulness in that field, and, in June. ISSO, he represented the Union and the Congregational Association of Ohio, at the Raikes Centennial meeting held at London, England. To a cultivated mind, rare talent, a familiar knowledge and keenly appreciative taste in literature, he adds such qualities, as a worthy citizen, good neighbor and personal friend, as have secured for him the warm esteem of the commu- nity in which he lives.
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