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 46
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A. E. TAYLOR, Springfield; was born in Clark Co., Ohio, close to the city of Springfield, May 28. 1850, and is the son of Samuel and Nancy Taylor, natives of Maryland. who settled in this county in 1849, where his mother died in 1867, his father being now a resident of Enon. Mr. Taylor was reared in Clark County, and received his education in its public schools. In 1567, he began the profession of teaching, which he has since continued. being now Principal of the Western School of Springfield. He was married, Sept. 10. 1870, to Ada M. Gibbs, a native of Cincinnati. Ohio, to whom has been born five children. Mr. Taylor and wife are members of the Christian Church, and he belongs to the I. O. O. F .: also the O. D. I. F. He is a quiet, unassuming gentleman, who attends strictly to his professional duties. being considered a thorough and efficient teacher, who is trusted and respected by all who know him.
C. C. TAYLOR, coal dealer, Springfield; was born in Trumbull County in 1833. His father was a carpenter and builder, and owned a farm near Brook-
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field. The subject of this sketch learned the carpenter's trade, and worked with his father a number of years. Studied architecture and drawing with J. C. Johnson, now State Architect. During the war, was engaged as photo- graphic artist, and carried on an extensive business at Warren, Trumbull Co. In 1865, he came to Springfield and has since been engaged in the coal trade. He was the first to make an exclusive business of this trade in Springfield, and his success has been followed by the establishment of similar dealers. This firm, now Taylor, Hayden & Co., is situated on Limestone street, near the rail- road depot. An idea of the extent of their trade may be known by the fact of their having paid as high as $60,000 freight on coal in one year. Mr. Taylor married, Jan. 2, 1856, Miss Mary J. Watkins. She was a resident of New York. From this union two sons were born, one of whom survives-Benton C .. who is now book-keeper for the firm of Taylor, Hayden & Co. Mrs. Taylor died in 1866. In November, 1868, Mr. Taylor united in marriage with Miss Ella V. Clark, niece and ward of M. W. Fisher. Mr. Taylor is a member of the Coun- cil from the Sixth Ward: belongs to the Masonic fraternity; is a member of the High Street Methodist Episcopal Church, and a member of its. Board of Trustees; also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Springfield Female Seminary. A stanch and reliable temperance man, and thoroughly identified with the growth and progress of the city. His father was a pioneer of Trumbull County, and his grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The latter lived to see his 98th year. His mother's people were Quakers.
AARON TEEGARDEN, deceased. Dr. Aaron Teegarden was one of those men we do not soon forget -- one whose strong points of character projected themselves. as it were, into the notice and memory of the public, without any apparent effort of his own. He is as fresh in the recol- lection of the Springfield of to-day as in the year of his death, which occurred Aug. 17, 1874. He was born in Columbia Co., Ohio, the 16th of July, 1808; came to Springfield in 1840, in the prime of vigorous manhood, where he met his wife, Thurza Watson, of this city, who was born here on May 6, 1820, and whom he married in 1843. The Doctor was raised on a farm; studied medicine in Mansfield. Ohio, graduating at a college at Worthington; he practiced awhile with his brother at Mansfield before coming to Springfield. Of six chil- dren, they were fortunate in raising all but one daughter; of these surviving five children, William Teegarden is a practicing physician, residing on his farm, two and a half miles from the city, on the Charleston Pike: the younger son, Watson, is in San Francisco, in business with his brother-in-law; is 16 years old, and has been to college and military schools; their oldest daughter is Mrs. Sallie Cummins, a minister's wife; the second is Mrs. George Arthur, and the third Mrs. Thurza Campbell, living in San Francisco; her husband is proprietor of the "Golden Age Flouring-Mills," and is a large exporter of wheat to China and other Eastern ports. Dr. Teegarden's family were originally from Pennsyl- vania, and his father was a minister. The Doctor's practice here was oppres- sively large, and his prosperity great: he was a man of gigantic proportions, being six feet four in height, and proportionate size, a commanding presence, and pos- sessed of an iron constitution; his death resulted from a severe febrile attack of the typhoid nature. Of such extent was his practice that two horses barely sufficed him, besides his office practice; his presence in a sick room was hailed as the harbinger of speedy and sure recovery. His extensive and lucrative practice placed his family in the most comfortable circumstances. and Mrs. Teegarden, his most estimable widow, now lives in their comfortable home on West Main street. opposite her only sister, Mrs. Green, in whose society she spends much of her time; she is one of those ladies of the good old-school type-gentle, kind, refined and motherly, the true lady in every word and move-
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ment: she enjoys excellent health, and appears ten years younger than her age would indicate.
ED IRVIN TENNANT, manufacturer. Springfield. His father, William B. Tennant, is a son of David and Elizabeth (Barr) Tonnant, and was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., April 9, 1520; he came to Ohio and to Clark County with his parents in 1837; they located in what was then called New Boston, and now known as the "Clark-Shawnee Battle-Ground." David died in September, 1844, and Elizabeth in September, 1879. William taught his first school when he was 23 years old, and taught during the winter terms for twenty-two years. teaching seventeen successive years in one district, known as the Rockway School : during the summers, he followed stone and brick laying. He was married. April 29, 1849, to Salome Shellabarger, daughter of John and Julia A. (Neimand) Shellabarger: she was born in Pennsylvania Sept. 18, 1820, and came to Ohio and to Clark County with her parents in 1834, and settled on Donnels' Creek, in what is now Bethel Township: of William and Salome's five children, four are now living-Isaac N., Ed Irvin, Rebecca C. and Susan A. Irvin was born Sept. 5, 1S51, and, when 16 years old, began the trade of blacksmith, at which he served an apprenticeship. He is proprietor of the wagon and blacksmith shops at Sugar Grove, one mile west of Springfield, where he carries on quite Extensively the manufacture of spring wagons, etc .; he is also engaged in the sale of buggies, under the firm name of Tennant & Moses. West Main street, Springfield, where they keep a full line of first-class work. He is a Knight Templar, of Palestine Commandery, No. 33. Although a young man, yet he is active and energetic in business, and displays the judgment, in all his business transactions, of an old and experienced mind.
JOHN H. THOMAS, manufacturer of agricultural implements, Spring- field. John Henry Thomas, in all that relates to the moral health, business prosperity, industrial progress and general advancement of Springfield. is un- questionably one of its foremost men, having been, ever since his advent in this city, thirty years ago, one of the few to whose enterprise. energy and public spirit the almost phenomenal growth and uniform business prosperity of the city is largely due. He was born in Middletown, Frederick Co., Md., Oct. 4, 1826, the son of Jacob Thomas of that place: Marshall College, Mercersburg. Penn., was hi alma mater, from which he graduated in 1849; he commenced reading law with Hon. S. W. Andrews, of Columbus, Ohio, completing his course with the Hon. William White, of this city, to which he came in 1851; after two years' practice, he was the recipient of a flattering tribute to his pop- ularity and hold upon the confidence and esteem of the public, by being chosen Recorder of Clark County, which was the more complimentary by reason of his then brief citizenship. At the close of his official term, he abandoned the law and politics, and engaged in what has proved his life work, commencing busi- ness under the firm name of Thomas & Mast, for the manufacture of agricult- ural implements, in 1857, under the disadvantages of small capital and limited resources, and in a year memorable as one of the periods of universal financial disaster and ruin, its masterly management from the outset carried it success- fully through the commercial, industrial and financial chaos of that terrible year, and, in a few years, it had steadily. but rapidly and healthfully, advanced to the magnificent measure of $1,000.000 of annual sales, and the employment of several hundred hands. In the times which tried to the utmost the financial ability of the stanchest concerns, and the skill and norve of their proprietors. when others were inert, paralyzed and dazed. by the almost universal ruin and shaking up of values, Mr. Thomas, with his able coadjutor and honored fellow- citizen, Mr. P. P. Mast, carried their establishment through with unimpaired credit, the stronger for the ordeal. Mr. Thomas remained at the head of this
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house until 1872, withdrawing in that year, with the purpose of retiring from active business. His energetic nature and active habits of life, however, prompted him, after a rest of two years, to resume the business of manufactur- ing, associating with hin bis two sons, William S. and Findley B. Thomas; he accordingly established the present large establishment of John H. Thomas & Sons, for the manufacture of agricultural implements, chiefly of horse hay-rakes and steam engines: an idea of the volume of the business done by this firm may be had by reference to the industrial department of this work. On behalf of his two sons, the junior partners of the concern, Mr. Thomas purposes investing the entire future profits of the business in its extension. Aside from Mr. Thomas' private enterprise and its marked success, he has ever been a promoter of all public enterprises, improvements and advancement, and the city's welfare in every respect. He is a stockholder in three and a Director of one of the National Banks of the city, and connected generally now, as in the past, with nearly all its important corporations and industries, and as Chairman of the Finance Committee in the City Council, of which he was many years a member; he distinguished himself as au able financier, richly meriting the sobriquet. " watch-dog of the city treasury." and to his strong influence and efforts while in that position is greatly due the present healthy condition of thecity's finances. NO. Thomas' high position in the community is all the inoro creditable when viewed in connection with his political faith, he being an uncompromising Jeffersonian Democrat, in a community that is counted a Republican strong- hold, almost all of his business associates and personal friends being "stalwart " Republicans. Although a modest and reserved man, who never projected his views or convictions in politics or religion into public notice, his political predi- lections have frequently caused him much personal inconvenience and annoy- ance, especially during the late war with the South, during which his Joyalty was absurdly questioned by that thoughtless, unreasoning and arbitrary class of which every community is unfortunately largely composed. But, despite insult and the estrangement of friends and old associates, he stood firmly by his prin- ciples, his adherence to which the logic of events and subsequent experience have not shaken. His influence extended to State as well as local politics, he receiving, in 1868, the nomination to Congress from the Eighth District, and a higher tribute could not be paid him than the result of that election, in which he reduced a usual Republican majority of 3,000 to about 100. He has ever been a strong, active, able and effective advocate, in private and public life, of temperance, and it was upon the strength of his broad and practical views on this question that he was returned to the City Council in 1875. In all the rela- tions of life, Mr. Thomas was ever deemed eminently reliable, and the exponent of the greatest firmness of purpose and integrity of motive, having an abund- ance of the quality vulgarly but appropriately called "backbone." His religious. faith is Presbyterian, he being a member of the First Presbyterian Church, of which he is also one of the most liberal supporters. The position of Mr. Thomas and family in social life, is of course of the best. In 1854, he married Mary. youngest daughter of the Hon. Jacob Bouser, of Chillicothe, their family con- sisting of two sons and two daughters. Mr. Thomas has three brothers living in Springfield, and also engaged in manufacturing agricultural implements. viz., Joseph W., Charles E. and R. P. Thomas, of the firm of Thomas, Ludlow & Rodgers, whose business is also very extensive. Although no necessity exists for further effort or devotion to business, being in excellent health and possessed, even vet, of much of his old-time ardor and energy, Mr. Thomas is to be found daily at his post, finding the greatest pleasure in the discharge of its duties.
WILLIAM SCOTT THOMPSON, stone masonry and stock farming: P. O. Springfield. William Scott Thompson is a representative Westerner - one.
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of the best of them: sturdy, burly, frank, square, energetic, intelligent and lib- eral; his neighbors say of him, as they did of his father, "Thompson's word is as good as his bond." Mr. Thompson is in the very prime of life, having been boru sept. 25, 1832, in German Township, this county; his ancestors on both sides are English; his mother is still living, at 71; his father, well-known and loved by this community, passed away in February of this year. Christopher Thompson was President of the Lagonda National Bank (and the vacancy has not yet been filled); he was always prominent in the stone business (to which his son, William S. succeeded some years ago), and he it was who gave the first impetus to the Springfield lime business, which has grown to be so impor- tant an interest. Chris. Thompson commenced life in Springfield with four English sovereigns as his entire capital; his career was a most creditable one and his honor unimpeachable; but in paying just tribute to the father's memory we are forgetting the son. Mr. W. S. Thompson married Miss Matilda C. Layton, of Bethel Township, on April 24, 1560, and their family consists of two sons and one daughter. Mr. Thompson has, for years, done the greatest part of the stone contracting of Springfield, two-thirds of all being a moderate estimate. Among the buildings for which he has had the stone work contracts, way be mentioned. all the Champion Works buildings, Lagonda House, and the bninings dujoining and opposite the Second, Presbyterian Church. The stone work is no inconsiderable part of a building here, as the soft, yielding nature of the soil requires very deep foundations. Mr. Thompson has been very suc- cessful, and lives in a handsome home of his own, surrounded by auxiliaries of refinement and culture.
RALPH S. THOMPSON, publisher and editor, Springfield. Mr. Thomp- son is the head of the journalistic enterprise known as the Lice Patron, a. Grange periodical; he was born on the 19th of December, 1847; raised in Illi- nois; came to Cincinnati July 29, 1873, and to Springfield March 1, 1876; on Oct. 15, 1872, he married Maggie Weed, of Greene Co., Ill. Mr. Thompson started life on a farm, but for the past dozen years has been connected with publishing enterprises. Mr. Thompson's weekly, the Lice Patron, was com- menced in January, 1875, by E. L. Barrett, as a monthly, and called the Grange Visitor; in November, 1876, he transferred it to T. H. Edwards & Co., who secured our subject as its manager, and in the fall of 1877 commenced the pub- lication of the weekly Live Patron, continuing both publications until Janu- ary, 1879, when they were consolidated into one with the present name; on March 1, 1879, Mr. Thompson bought out Edwards & Co., and the present cir- culation of the journal is now nearly ten thousand. Mr. Thompson and his journal are widely and favorably known.
ROBERT THOMSON, grocer, Springfield. Mr. Thomson is one of the old residents of Clark County; he was born in County Antrim, Ireland. near to the celebrated "Giant's Cause Way," in 1815: when 2 years of age his mother died, and he was raised by his maternal grandparents: came to the United States when a young man: first engaged as a clerk in Pittsburgh, but being re- lated to John Maharg, then the principal pork operator of Cincinnati, he obtained a situation as shipping clerk with him, and came to Cincinnati early in the spring of 1837. and was at once placed at the river landing. then un- paved, and about six to eight inches deep with soft mud; this exposure was too much for his health, and the consequence a long spell of sickness; the follow- ing winter, having partially recovered his health, he came to Dayton, where be had obtained a situation as clerk with the then famous clothing man of Day- ton, J. McPherson; was in Dayton in 1840, and cast his first Presidential vote for Gen. Harrison, and the same fall married his first wife, Charlotte Patton, there. She was also of Scotch-Irish descent, but a native of Warren County,
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this State, and belonged to a quite numerous family, of whom Mrs. Small, of this city, and Montgomery Patton, of Middletown, are the only surviving mem- bers. In the spring of 1841, Mr. Thomson removed to a farm in Pleasant, Valley, Mad River Townshin, this county, and has since been a resident of Clark County, except about two years, during which he resided at Kenton, Ohio. About 1849, he removed to Springfield, and soon after engaged in the grocery trade, and was quite successful, until failing health compelled him to retire; subsequently he engaged in the manufacture of tallow candles. "Thomson's Solidified Candles" are still remembered by the older people, and were then admitted to be the best tallow candles made; while engaged in this, he built the factory on West Main street, but coal oil having superseded his business, he closed out and quit the manufacture; he has been actively engaged in business here since 1850, with the exception of occasional short intervals, and has con- tributed a considerable amount toward public enterprises, among which we mention $2,000 toward building the Springfield, Jackson & Pomeroy Narrow Gauge Railway; he was also one of the company which built the Lagonda House; he now resides in a handsome residence on South Market street, which he purchased about thirty years ago, and since materially improved. His first wife having died, he married, in 1875, Miss Elizabeth E. Faber, of Jack- o motivo of Pennsylvania. Mr. Thomson has two children by his first wife -James B., a grocer of West Main street, and Annie E., LOW wife of H. B. Clarke, a farmer in the vicinity of Nashville, Tenn.
JAMES A. TODD, Freight Agent, C., S. & C. R. R., Springfield; is a vet- eran railroad man and old resident of Springfield; he is a native of New Hamp shire; was born July 19, 1834; lived on a farm until of age, and came to Springfield in 1856; he became connected with the railroad first as clerk in the freight office here of the C., S. & C. in 1857; in 1861, he received promotion to local agent at Osborne; in 1865, he relinquished this position to take the agency of the A. & G. W., at Reno, Penn., then the terminus in the oil regions of the Meadville Branch. This was a very important position, and involved great re- sponsibility and no small amount of business capacity. In 1867, Mr. Todd be- came the successor of J. C. Buxton, as agent of the C., S. & C. at this point, and has since continued to hold this position, having charge of all the freight busi- ness at this end of the road; as indicative of the energy and enterprise of his management, when he took charge one horse did the work of moving cars; now two switch engines are kept busy, and the freight bills collected aggregate from $15,000 to $19,000 per month. Mr. Todd is also a member of the firm of Tay- lor. Hayden & Co., who are doing a large business in the coal trade. He mar- ried, in 1864, Miss Laura Brake, of. Osborne; this union has been blessed with three children, a son and two daughters; the family now reside in a residence which he built at the northwest corner of High street and Lincoln avenue. Mr. Todd was elected Councilman from his (Fourth) ward at the late October elec- tion, and is thoroughly identified with the local interests of Springfield and Clark County.
JAMES L. TORBERT .. deceased. The late Judge James L. Tor- bert was the eldest son of Lamb and Eliza Slack Torbert, of Bucks Co., Penn, where he was born in 1796, on the 22d of February ( Washington's birthday); he was the recipient of a liberal classical education, Princeton being his Alma MMater; coming to this State in 1818, he was, for several years, engaged in edu- cational duties in an academy at Lebanon. Ohio, assisting in the intellectual training and development of a number of young men, who have since achieved distinction, among whom may be mentioned. the distinguished astronomer, Gen. O. M. Mitchell. the founder of the Cincinnati Observatory, and author of several astronomical works and text books. Judge Torbert made his advent in Spring- KK
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field in 1824. and being a fine linguist. devoted himself, during the first few years of his residence here, to giving instruction in the languages: having been admitted to the bar in the meantime, he became associated with Gen. Sampson Mason in a law copartnership; he was the successor of Joseph R. Swan. as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the Twelfth Judicial District. and filled most satisfactorily and ably. for several years, the office of Judge of Pro- bate for Clark County. While Judge Torbert was a man of superior scholarly attainments and great literary tastes, he was modest, unobtrusive, and retiring; and with a remarkable gentleness and amiability of disposition. he united an- immovable firmness and fidelity to his convictions. which were sincere and ear- nest on all subjects. whether religious, political, or domestic; he was found at an early date. battling with voice and pen. against oppression, especially as he believed it to exist in the institution of slavery. and at this period to take so advanced a position. indicated the possession of a rare order of courage. But. the stern logic of events has demonstrated the correctness of his views and posi- tion on this important question. On the 31st of July. 1821, he married Hannah C., daughter of Dr. John C. Winans, of Lebanon. Warren Co., Ohio, to whom were born eig4 children, of whom two sons and three daughters survived their father; his death occurred very suddenly, on the 15th of May. 1859, on board the steamboat Tecumseh. on the Mississippi River, near New Madrid, en route from New Orleans, whither, accompanied by his wife, he had gone to bring home their eldest son, who had been for some time ill in that city. The occa- sion of his funeral elicited marks of the highest esteem and sincerest affection from the whole community, and especially his late associates of the bar. That, noble man. Gen. Sampson Mason, his quandam law partner, who has long since joined him on the other side, and who was well known to bestow none but sin- cerest praise, said of him on the occasion of the meeting of the Springfield bar, to pass resolutions of condolence and respect, that J. L. Torbert was "one whom no mode of praise could flatter." Springfield's past can boast no better, truer, or purer men than Judge James L. Torbert.
EDWARD P. TORBERT, County Clerk, Springfield. The present effi- cient Clerk of Clark Co., Ohio is a native of the county, born May 28. 1840, and is the son of Judge James L. and Hannah C. Torbert; he received his educa- tion at Wittenberg College, and afterward. for several years, was engaged in teaching: on the 1st of April. 1869. he was appointed United States Collector for the Fourth Division of the Seventh District of Ohio, which position he held until Jan. 1, 1873, when he resigned to enter upon his duties as Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas. to which office he had been elected the previous Octo- ber, and which he now fills; he has recently erected a handsome residence close to the old homestead, on North street, where he, with his sisters, resides. Mr. Torbert has made a good official. and by his kind and obliging disposition, has won many friends.
THEODORE TROUPE, druggist. Springfield; he was born in German- town, Montgomery Co .. Ohio, Feb. 2, 1853; he is a son of David and Julia Ann (Kemp) Troupe; he received his primary education in the town of his birth. and at the age of 15 years. came to the city of Springfield and entered the drug store of Ridenour & Coblentz as clerk. with whom he remained five years; during the five years, be recited regularly to Prof. Samuel Wheeler, who was conducting a private school at that thne. Mr. Troupe was also a student at Wittenberg for a short time, and at the end of a two years' clerkship with Charles Ludlow. he became the successor of Ridenour & Coblentz. and carried on the drug business under the firm name of Troupe & Co., and in December, 1876, he sold a half interest to Mr. Jacobs, and since then the firm has been Troupe & Jacobs. He was united in marriage, April 25, 1876, to Miss Mary C.
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