The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county, Part 121

Author: W.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1214

USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county > Part 121

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ufacturers of busses, coaches, etc., Concord, N. H. He remained at that business four years, and for one year after contracted for the painting in the car shops established at Hartford. In March, 1852, Mr. Tower came to Dayton, and soon after took the con- tract for painting in the car works then owned by E. Thresher & Co. Mr. Tower man- ufactured all the varnishes and Japan used by that establishment, and after a period of six years, engaged with E. & J. B. Thresher in the manufacture of varnishes. He re- mained in this connection eight and a half years. He then sold out his interest, and in connection with Chicago parties, formed the stock company, for the manufacture of var- nish, etc., under the name of the Tower Varnish Co., Mr. Tower becoming its President. This office he has satisfactorily filled to the present time. Mr. Tower became a member of the Baptist denomination while a resident of Roxbury, and upon coming to Dayton, united with the First Church. When a portion of the society, residing in the eastoru part of the city desired a place of worship nearer home, Mr. Tower became one of the organizers of the Linden Avenue Church, and, with his wife, has continued a faithful member to the present time. He was married, in 1852, to Annie J. Bisbee, a native of Waterville, Me. They have one son-Carl V. Mr. Tower was formerly a member of the Free Soil and Liberty parties, but since the organization of the Republican party, has been a quiet, but earnest advocate of its principles.

JAMES TURNER, retired, Dayton, was born on the 8th of June, 1812, at Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England, and at the age of nine years was put to learn the trade of a Brussells carpet weaver, and was considered an adopt in the business upon reaching his majority. From fourteen to twenty-three, Mr. Turner devoted all his spare moments through the day time, as well as every night, to study, having had no chance of attending school after his ninth year, and thus he laid the foundation for that wider sphere of knowledge, which he afterward acquired by contact with men and books. At the age of eighteen, he joined the I. O. O. F., and is yet an active member of the order, having devoted much of his time to the advancement of friend- ship, love and truth. He was married, June 21, 1835, to Miss Mary Brooks, of Stone Parish, near Kidderminster, England, and on the 12th of May, 1840, left his native land with his wife and three children, landing in New York on the 24th day of June following. In 1842, he came with his family to Dayton, Ohio, arriving here on the 12th of July, having traveled by water and wagon from Tariffville, Conn., spending four- teen days on the road. Soon after coming to Dayton, he began working at coverlet and carpet weaving, on the corner of Fifth and Stone streets, continuing in that line until March, 1858, when he formed a partnership with Robert Mercer, and engaged in the wood-turning business. In 1852, Mr. Turner was elected a member of the City Coun- cil, and continued therein most of the time until 1880. In 1857, he was elected a County Commissioner of this county, and in 1859 was elected Magistrate, which posi- tion he filled until 1868, with credit to himself and satisfaction to the community at large. In the fall of 1862, Mr. Turner was appointed by the Governor a member of the Military Committee of Montgomery County, and May 23, 1863, was requested to raise a company of Ohio National Guards, which he did, reporting to the Adjutant General on June 28, that he had enlisted eighty-seven men, which company was ac- cepted and designated as Company B, Second Regiment Obio National Guards, of which Mr. Turner was immediately elected Captain. On the 2d day of May, 1864. under the call of Gov. Brough for one-hundred-day men, he reported with his company for duty, was accepted, and mustered into the United States service as Company B One Hundred and Thirty-first Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, did duty at Balti- more, Md., and was mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, August 25, 1864. In 1868, Mr Turner retired to private life, but in 1878 he was elected to the State Legislature to fill a vacancy therein. At this time our subject is a well-preserved man of nearly seventy years of age, forty of which has been spent in Dayton, and we can truly say that few men have won and retained to a greater degree the respect and confidence of its citizens.

JEFFERSON A. WALTERS, physician, Dayton, was born in Fayette County Penn., October 19, 1810. His father, Ephraim Walters, was born in the same

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county in 1776, and, in 1800, boated flour to New Orleans in a keel-boat. In [1803, he married Elizabeth Ache, daughter of a Dunkard preacher, and passed his life in farming and stock-raising, and died at the ripe old age of ninety years. Ephraim, the grandfather of our subject, was captured at the age of fourteen by the Shawnee Indians on the South Branch of the Potomac, in Virginia, in 1851, together with his mother and six other children, her husband being shot dead at the same time. On crossing the mountains westward, her nursing babe was torn from her breast and its brains dashed out against a tree, and she herself was tied to a tree and tortured to death in the most horrid manner. Young Walters and the other prisoners were taken to an Indian vil- lage on the Monongahela, near Pittsburgh, and was adopted by the chief, Youghashaw, kindly treated, and became an expert hunter. He was a witness of Braddock's defeat, and the fall of Fort Du Quesne in 1758. He was exchanged in 1759, but becoming offended at the overbearing disposition of some British officers, he soon followed his Indian associ- tes to Ohio and spent two years on the Muskingum River and its branches. In 1761, he returned to the Monongahela, and made his headquarters at the village of the cele- rated Indian chief, Cornstalk, in what is now Fayette County. In 1770, he located, y " tomahawk title," about seven hundred acres of land in that county, which is o-day among the finest and most valuable land of any in Western Pennsylvania. In he same year, he married a Miss De Bolt, of French descent, and from this union there vere reared seven sons and three daughters. Three lived to the age of ninety ; six to ver seventy-five, and one to fifty-five. During the Revolution, Mr. W. raised a com- any for the defense of the settlement. During the war of 1812, his youngest son eing drafted, Mr. Walters, though over seventy-five years of age, offered himself as a ubstitute, and was accepted. For a number of years he filled the office of Justice of he Peace. Most of the land which he located is still in possession of his descendants. Ie died in 1835, aged ninety-six years, and his wife followed him seven years later at he age of ninety-four years. Dr. W., our subject, came to Ohio in the fall of 1830, nd entered as the first student at the Eclectic Medical College, then just organized at Vorthington, Ohio, where he graduated in 1834. He began practice in Perry County, here he remained some three years. In June, 1837, he located as a practicing physi- an in Dayton, Ohio. On December 24, 1840, he married Lucetta E., only daughter James Brooks, by whom he has had one son and one daughter. In the summer of 341, he engaged in the drug trade, which he carried on very successfully for twenty- ve years. In January, 1866, he had the misfortune to be thrown from a buggy, ceiving a very serious injury to his spine. He was almost disabled for six years terward, and was a great sufferer, but finally found relief, and has since enjoyed toler- le health. His only son, James B., is a prominent druggist of Dayton. In politics, r. W. has always been a stanch Democrat. He now devotes most of his time to tellectual pursuits, of which he is specially fond. He is particularly fond of histor- al and philosophical subjects, and his reading in this direction has made him quite an tiquarian. He is well preserved for his age, and looks much younger than he is. e possesses a very genial nature and unusually fine social qualities.

JOHN A. WEAVER, tobacconist, Dayton, was born in Ohio October 9, 1819. is father was Adam Weaver, a Revolutionary soldier, a native of Pennsylvania, and s mother a native of Ohio. Our subject, who was their oldest son, was married, in $40, to Miss Rachael Shade, who was born in 1822, and by whom he has had four ildren, two boys and two girls-John Alfred, James M., Elvina and Milla. Of ese, Elvina is married to J. T. Gassett, two others are in New York, and John Al- d is at home, being the only one the old folks have with them. Mr. Weaver was a "mer until 1878, when he engaged in the tobacco business, in which he has since con- qued.

LEWIS H. WEBBER, manufacturer and dealer in cut stone, Dayton, was born at Mlem, N. J., in 1845. His father was Thomas Webber, a merchant of that city. J. Webber was reared in his native State and Delaware. He received his educational tining in the Newark Academy, where he prepared for college. In 1869, Mr. Web- l" came to Dayton through the influence of his uncle, who was engaged in the stone

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business. He obtained employment with the firm as book-keeper, and remained in that position five years. He then formed a partnership with S. T. Bryce in the ston business. They erected a mill near the Union depot, where operations were commenced Mr. Webber's business inereased with time, and at present he is one of the largest con tractors of stone in the State. A sketch of his business will be found in the chapter on the industrial interests of Dayton. Mr. Webber was united in marriage, in 1875 to Florence Southgate, a native of Delaware. Two children have been sent to bles this union-Emma E and Florrie. Mr. Webber and wife are faithful and consisten members of the Third Street Presbyterian Church. Mr. Webber's father and grand father were " Old-Line Whigs," but the subject of this sketch has been a Republicar " all the days of my life." He is a man of striet business integrity, and since coming to Dayton has made many warm personal friends.

REV. J. T. WEBSTER, minister, Dayton. This gentleman was born in Bensa lem, Penn., May 26, 1846. His early days were spent on a farm. He graduated a Andalusia College, Philadelphia, and Racine College, Wisconsin. He taught school fo two years in New Jersey, and subsegently was Adjunet Professor of Mathematics ir Raeine College. He graduated in theology from Nashotah Theological Seminary, Wis eonsin ; was ordained Deacon in New Jersey, in May, 1869, and priested in Detroit Mich., in October, 1871. He was pastor of Trinity Church, Hudson, Mich., five years and of Emanuel Church, Detroit, Mich., five years. During six years of his Michiga! pastorate he was editor of the Michigan Dioeesan paper. He became pastor of Christ' Church, Dayton, Ohio, January 1, 1880, over which he has continued to preside. H was married, June 2, 1870, to a sister of Judge Barrett, of the Supreme Court c the State of New York, by whom he has had two children-a daughter aged ten, and son aged seven. He is a man of sterling qualities, fully appreciated by the eongregatio to which he administers. Though comparatively a young man, his ability, manifeste by the evident deep thought and logical tenets of his sermons, would do credit to a mue older and more experienced head.

J. H. WILD, manufacturer, Dayton, of the firm of J. H. Wild & Co., proprieto Dayton Woolen Mills, was born in Delaware, July 9, 1845. His father, John B. Will was engaged in operating a woolen mill in that State. When twelve years of age, M Wild accompanied his parents to Ohio, loeating at Spring Valley, where they remaine nine years, and where the subjcet of this sketeh was reared and cducated. He learn the woolen trade with his father, and has been engaged at that business all his life. F a short time he was engaged with Charles Rabbitt, at Springfield, and operated a m for seven years at Spring Valley. He came to Dayton, and purchased his present mil of Ritter & Aiken, and from his life experience in the business, has been enabled build up a large and profitable trade. A sketch of this business will be found in ti chapter on manufacturing industries.

REV. DAVID WINTERS, D. D., minister of the Reformed Church, Dayto was born in Martinsburg, Berkeley County, Va., December 24, 1801, and is a son Rev. Thomas Winters, a pioneer minister of illustrious famc. In 1809, he and fam; emigrated to Ohio and located near the (then) village of Dayton. In 1815, they ). moved to Germantown, Montgomery County, where Thomas continued his minister labors in behalf of the Reformed Church. He was one of the first of his denomin tion in the West, and in fact the first and only one to spread the doctrines of the church abroad in the Miami Valley, out of whose labors evidently much good has sulted. About the year 1819, there was a synodieal meeting of the Reformed deno ination convened at Germantown, Ohio. At this meeting were present three minist and two Elders. At the opening of this meeting, each of the former, who were respe ively Rev. Thomas Winters, Rev. George Weisz and Rev. - Riderof, these ea were elected to the respective offices, viz. : President, Secretary and Treasurer, tra acted their business and adjourned. From this small body has by careful nursing a the fostering care of those early pioneer ministers, grown to a body of over 500 mit ters west of the Alleghany Mountains, with charges for each to fill. We might sp further of the above meeting, but dcem it best for it to occupy a space in the gene

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body of this work under the head of German Township. Rev. Thomas Winters con- tinued his pastoral labors in the Miami Valley for many years, but at last laid down the shield of labor in West Alexandria, Preble County, Ohio, in 1863, and was in- terred on V. Winter's lot, in the Woodland Cemetery, at Dayton, Ohio. Thus ended the earthly career of one of the noble pioneer ministers, at the age of eighty-seven. In the bricf foregoing sketch of Rev. David Winters, D. D., it -is impossible to do justice to one so noble as he, and to one who has led so many souls from their sinful paths to the way of righteousness. He is the second of a family of twelve children, of whom eight are now living. Of the eight survivors two are ministers, viz., the subject of this memoir and Rev. Thomas H., the latter one having been in active serv- ices in the Reformed Church for many years, but now lives retired at Xenia, Ohio. The former received his education mainly from his father, and entered the ministry in 1824; was ordained at New Philadelphia, Ohio. Immediately after the ordination, he removed from Germantown to Dayton, where he has ever since resided. In January, 1825, his nuptials was solemnized with Mary A., eldest daughter of William Huffman, Esq., of the city of Dayton. In his early pastoral career, it was a common thing for him to travel on horseback from 2,000 to 3,000 miles per year, organizing congrega- tions, preaching under the tall and stately forest trees, in log huts and barns ; often ad- ministering the Lord's Supper to his people where nothing but the canopy of Heaven overspread them. Thus he labored for many years, having in his field of labor so large an area that of more recent date it has been divided and subdivided until now there are seven self-supporting charges that was his original one, and of which he virtually was the organizer. In the field during his ministerial labors there have been thirteen church edifices erected, with which he was either directly or indirectly associated. And the charge he now serves, being known as the Mount Zion, a part of the original field which he occupied, upon whose call he was ordained, he has served during his entire ministry, being a period of over half a century. The gentleman is now within a few months of the allotted period of life, fourscore years, and has been in the ministry fifty-seven years, the oldest active minister of his denomination in the city or State, and feel safe in saying in the United States. We here, by permission, place upon record a few of his correctly-kept records : He has attended 1,255 funerals, confirmed 1,793 persons, baptized 2,569 persons and married 4,564 couples. Rev. Winters has been for many years prominently identified or connected with the Heidleburg College and Seminary College at Tiffin, Ohio, of which institution the trustees of the former several years since conferred upon him the honor of D. D.

VALENTINE WINTERS, Dayton, was born in Clearfield County, Penn., July 8, 1807, and came to Ohio with his parents in 1809. His father, Rev. Thomas Win- ters, was one of the pioneers in the Miami Valley, and a sketch of his life appears else- where in this volume. Two of his brothers, David and Thomas, went into the ministry of the Reformed Church, and have labored successfully in Southern Ohio for fifty or more years past.

Valentine, at an early age, showed an aptitude for business, and as Germantown was too small a field, he left his father's family at the age of eighteen and sought em- ployment in Dayton. He obtained a situation in the dry goods store of Andrew Irwin, and subsequently in that of Harshman & Rench, in the first case at only $50 per year. But he showed so much capacity and industry in the business that, united to his pleas- ant manners, strict integrity and steady habits, he soon earned promotion, and gained not only the confidence of his employers, but also the hand of the daughter of the head of the firm, Jonathan Harsliman. He was married January 1, 1829. The next year, he became a member of the firm, which was, for awhile, Harshman, Rench & Co., and subsequently Rench & Winters, but all the time one of the leading dry goods establish- ments of Dayton. In 1845, he became cashier of the Dayton Bank, which was what was then known in Ohio as an Independent Bank. In 1851, the private banking house of Harshman, Winters & Co. was formed, of which Mr. Winters was the active and controlling member.

After two years, it gave way to that of Harshmau & Winters, and that again,

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after some four years, to V. Winters & Son, composed of the subject of this sketch and his son, Jonathan H. Winters. This firm continued in the same place for twenty-five years, enjoying a universal reputation for safety and square dealing. On January 1, 1882, it was merged in the " Winters' National Band," named after Valentine Winters, and established with a capital of $300,000, and alrcady regarded as one of the most substantial banking institutions in the State.

Valentine Winters, although its largest stock-holder, and still one of its directors, has given over its active control to his son, Jonathan H. Winters, President of the bank. Mr. Winters was also President of the Preble County Branch of the State Bank of Ohio from 1857 to 1866, the close of its charter, and from 1853 to 1866 a member of the Board of Control of the State Bank of Ohio, and, as such, was with a few friends successful in organizing the Ohio Valley Bank in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a view of tak- ing up State bank paper of the different branches for exchange, to keep it out of the hands of brokers, who would return it to the bank for specie. He continued one of the directors of this bank until it closed its business.

Mr. Winters took a deep interest in all public enterprises that were calculated to improve Dayton ; he spent a good deal of time in soliciting stock for the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad, and subscribed for ten shares when he had nothing to pay it with ; he was one of the organizers of the Dayton & Western Railroad ; spent much time in soliciting stock and getting right of way ; he was a Director from its organization, and Treasurer and President for many years. Hc also built and equipped the first railroad in Minnesota, being the road between St. Paul and St. Anthony.

Healso assisted in forming the Firemans Insurance Company of Dayton, and has been one of its Directors ever since, and Treasurer most, if not all, the time. He was one of the building committec in the ercction of their new building on the corner of Main and Second streets, and is a large stock-holder in all but one of the insurance companies of Dayton.

Some three years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Winters celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding, and the Dayton Journal gave a description of the exercises, and made it the occasion of an article upon the life and character of Mr. Winters, from which we make some extracts. After describing the company present, the presentation of a golden memorial plate, the speeches, music, ete., it added : " One of the pleasant incidents of the evening was the production by Mr. Winters of his cash-book, commencing January 1, 1829, fifty years ago. It contained many amusing items, which space will not, per- mit us to copy, but we may state, for the benefit of our young men, that Mr. Winters commenced his married life $46.75 in debt. His first year's salary, as a clerk in the dry goods store of Harshman & Rench, was $285, and yet, upon this small sum, after paying all the expenses of both himself and wife, including their clothing, he managed to pay the $46.75 he owcd, and at the end of the year to have $38.77 to his credit. The next year his salary was increased to $300, and the total expenses of himself, wife and child, were $191.18, and with the savings of himself and wife he was able, at the end of the year, to devote $251.65 to the building of his first house. It was on Jeffer- son street, on the site now occupied by the Beckel Hall. At the commencement of the third year, he was taken in as a partner, and the firm became Harshman, Rench & Co .. but, although his family had increased to two children, his expenses for the year were only $372.

" Thus he continued from year to year, working and saving until, at the end of the first ten years, he found himself worth over and above all debts, $9, 190.60, the foundation of his present fortune. What a lesson is here presented of the results of probity, industry, economy and good habits.

"All golden weddings are interesting on account of their rarity, but this of Mr. Winters and his wife possesses some extraordinary features, which entitle it to a special celebration. One remarkable feature is the almost uninterrupted good health of the parties. Both have attained the age of threescore and ten, without any visible or con- scious sign that they were nearing the limit allotted to human life. As was stated by one of the speakers last evening, Mr. Winters is not only the youngest-looking man of his years in Dayton, but the best-looking gentleman in Ohio.

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"Another extraordinary feature in the life of this couple is their uninterrupted pros- perity. Mr. Winters commenced life as a boy, working in a brick-yard near German- town, at 10 cents per day. He then went into a store in Dayton, and commenced clerking at $50 per year, and rose year after year, as already shown by his cash-book, first to a partner in the store, then sole proprietor, and finally a banker, in which capacity he is best known to the present generation. As a banker, he has conducted his business with the same energy, caution and probity that insured success in his previous mercantile operations. He has confined himself strictly to legitimate bank- ing, resisting the temptation to embark on the glittering sea of speculation, which has lured so many others to shipwreck and ruin. During the many financial panics that passed over the country in the past thirty years, the banking house of which Mr. Win- ters is the head, has never suffered in public confidence. The storms of financial dis- tress descended, and the floods came and beat upon that house, and it fell not, because it was founded on a rock. Another feature that will be generally recognized is the liberality and generosity of both Mr. and Mrs. Winters in all public, religious and charitable enterprises, refusing no applications, but generally responding to all." Mr. Winters has long been an active and consistent member of the Presbyterian Church, and has contributed largely, both in time and money, to the construction of the new church and chapel on Third street. His wife, Catharine Harshman Winters, died April 14, 1882, leaving eight children and twenty-three grandchildren. The former are-Mrs. N. B. Darst, Mrs. R. R. Dickey, Mrs. C. McDermont, Jonathan H. Win- ters, Mrs. L. B. Gunckel, Mrs. L. B. Eaton, Mrs. R. McGregor and Mrs. E. C. Shaw, all but two of whom reside in Dayton. In speaking of her death, the Dayton Journal said : " Mrs. Winters' life was thoroughly a home life, but many gracious and kindly nfluences went out from her life that were never connected with her name. The writer has knowledge of charitable streams that flowed the fuller because fed from her land. And now ' her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also, and he raiseth her.'" Mr. Winters, although well advanced in years, enjoys excellent health. nd gives promise of many years of usefulness to the family, church and community, which have been so long blessed with his kindly aid and fellowship.

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The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county, Part 121

Author: W.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1214

Author: W.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1214