PERSONAL SKETCHES,
PETER HITCHCOCK.
1806 - LATE CHIEF JUSTICE OF OHIO.
The subject of this memoir was born in Cheshire, New Haven county, Connecticut, October 19, 1781, At the age of seventeen he entered the sophomore , class at Yale college, and graduated in 1801. On account of the limited pecuniary circumstances of his father, he was compelled to rely measurably upon his own efforts for acquiring the means of securing an education. This he did by teaching during vacations, and some portions of the college terms. In his college course his success was not especially marked, he being regarded as a careful and accurate, rather than a brilliant student, and a young man of excellent habits and judgment.
In the spring of 1802, he engaged in the study of the law, and was admitted to the bar in March, 1804. He immediately engaged in the practice of the law, opening an office in his native town, where he continued nearly two years, with such assurance of success as follow thorough preparation, diligence and attention to business. December 1 2, 1805, he was married to Miss Nabby Cook, of his native town, who survived him many years. Although surrounded with flattering business prospects, he felt that a new country would furnish a wider field, with fewer competitors, and open the way to greater usefulness and larger success. Accordingly, in the spring of 1806, packing his little all with that of another family of "Cooks" in a wagon drawn by two oxen, and a pair of horses upon the lead, he removed to Geauga county and settled upon an unimproved farm in Burton, where he resided until his death. His journey occupied a m0nth, and its end found the young pioneer and his family in what was truly a "new country." Ohio was then almost an entire wilderness. In some portions only had settlements been commenced, and here and there might be f0und an occasional log cabin. The counties of Trumbull and Geauga, the latter organized just before his arrival, covered the entire Western Reserve, which is now divided into ten counties, and forms parts of three others, Here, at first, from sparseness of p0pulation, law business was small, and his time was divided in attention to it, to teaching school, and to work in clearing up and cultivating his farm. His school teaching, for portions of the year, continued for a number of
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years. As population increased, so did his business, until it 0ccupied his entire time, It was not confined to his own county, but extended all 0ver northern Ohio, His practice was successful, its constant increase showing the satisfaction and confidence of his clients. The records and files of the cases in which he was employed, indicate that in his early practice he was a well read lawyer, familiar with leading principles, and of an accurate, practical, discriminating and logical mind. His contemporaries speak of him as one coming to the trial of his cases well prepared, skilful in eliciting proof, of familiar and persuasive eloquence, taking a natural view of the most intricate case, able to simplify it and make it clear and easily understood, and of the ability and resource to satisfactorily meet any unexpected matter of fact, or law, suddenly thrown upon him, in the trial of a case, A safe opinion of his intellectual capacity and power may be formed from the fact that he held a leading practice at the bar, when it embraced men of signal ability, with whom he,was brought daily in contact. Among them may be mentioned Elisha Whittlesey, Judges Tod, Pease, and Goodman, Benjamin Tappan, Phillip Doddridge, Charles Hammond and Justice Baldwin, of the United States supreme court.
It was in a new country, with the cares of a pioneer, a young family to provide for and educate, and bearing, in the meantime, his share of the current burdens of society, that he was obliged to struggle up the hill of fame. Under these trying circumstances, he struggled successfully, Always undiscouraged and equal to the task, he attained to, and maintained, a proud eminence. An active, efficient member of society and church, he was there, no less than when representing the people in the legislature, in congress, or in convention, or while discharging the duties of chief justice of the State, the same self-possessed, imposing, but modest man of influence. The same unobtrusive individuality of character and sterling rectitude of conduct, in all stations of life mark him as a man of m0re than ordinary mould, and failed not to secure the respect and confidence of his fellow men, in whatever capacity they became acquainted with him.
He possessed a strong physical frame, and during a large portion of his life, especially the latter part of it, he was favored with good health, and was capable of uncommonly severe mental endurance, Endowed by nature with calm self- possession, firmness of purpose, and self-reliant judgment, he improved upon these faculties by constant habits of sobriety, personal restraint and untiring industry,
In early life he acted with the political party that brought Jefferson, Madison and Monroe to the presidency. His course in politics and his eminence at the bar soon directed public attention to him, and in 1810 he was elected to the general assembly of the State. In rEli 2 he was elected to the senate, and in 1814 was re-elected. He served b0th terms, of two years each, was speaker 0f that body for one session, Whether in the house or senate he occupied a prominent position, and exerted his full share of influence. In the fall of 186, at a warmly contested election, he was chosen to the congress of the United States, and took his seat as representative in that body in December, 1817. Before the close of his term of two years, he was, in 1819, by the legislature of Ohio, elected a judge of the supreme court of that State for seven years, He was re-elected to that position in February, 1826, March, 1835, and in January, 1845, retiring from the bench on the 9th day of February, 1852, at the advanced age of seventy, having been chief justice of the State many years, He also served in the State senate during the term between 1833 and 1835, and was at this time, for one session, its speaker. He entered public life in ar0, and with a brief respite of two years, continued to occupy the most important public positions for more than forty years. This is an eloquent commentary upon his
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character, expressive of the most decided conviction of his worth, and tells more than words can express, how his long and faithful services were appreciated, by those who best knew their value. This confidence was equally creditable to those who gave, as to him who received it.
His judicial station, so ably filled for twenty-eight years, was not calculated to secure popularity in a community where party lines are closely drawn. The judge who, like him, does his duty fearlessly, and thus wins golden opinions from the learned and good, must, in the very act of performance, so thwart.the course of the dissolute and criminal portions of the community, as to secure their enmity, and he necessarily incurs the hazard of their holding the balance of power, and using it under pretense of avenging a real injury,
Originally a Republican of the Jeffersonian school, he acted with that party until the reconstruction of old parties, after the election of John Quincy Adams to the presidency. Upon that reconstruction, although he had been a warm supporter of the war of 1814, and other Republican measures, he united his fortunes with the Whig party. He believed there was more of the spirit of genuine republicanism in that than the opposing party, and that its measures, if adopted and persevered in, would conduce to the best interests of the whole country. His course subsequent to 1824, in opposition to many of his early associates in political action, who then attached themselves to the Democratic party, placed him in a position to meet the decided opposition of that party whenever there was opportunity to make him feel their power. Hence arose the two interruptions in the continuity of his judicial service. But these things did not affect him. On his return to the bench he bore himself with such dignity and fairness, and exhibited such ability, as won from those opposed to him politically, opinions as favorable, and esteem as warm and abiding, as entertained by his political friends and associates. This testimony is drawn from the statements of one having unusual opportunity for knowing the fact. It is decided language, but is nevertheless true, and could only be said of a liberal, generous, noble mind, It is saying much for one who was for years regarded as a leading spirit of the Whig party in Northern Ohio, and who had long been a target for the shaft of political opponents of all grades.
A practical test of public opinion in regard to him, was furnished in the election of delegates to the convention, for the revision of the constitution of Ohio, in the spring of 1850. The district in which he resided was entitled to three delegates, and the Whigs and Democrats united upon a ticket against a third party, numerically stronger than either of them alone. In the adjustment between them, the Whigs were to have two and the Democrats one delegate, the latter party to name the Whigs to go upon the ticket. With great unanimity the Democrats named Judge Hitchcock, the leader of their opponents, and the man of most influence among them. Holding the office of chief justice at the time, he yielded with reluctance, and the whole ticket was elected.
He took his seat in the convention at the time it assembled, and was active in the discharge of his duties as a member thereof, fully satisfying his constituents of the wisdom of this choice. He performed his full share of labor upon committees, took an active part in debate, and was conspicuous among the most useful members of that most distinguished body of men. He entered the convention a man of large experience, of clear, methodical mind, and probably better understood the defects in the old system than any other man in Ohio, In his recorded votes and reported debates, he has left ample means by which posterity can form a correct judgment of his every act in that body.
He favored the election, by the people, of the judiciary, and of all State and c0unty officers; also, those provisions of the constitution rec0gnizing the public debt, providing for its payment, and limiting the power of the legislature to
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incur additional liabilities, the different clauses requiring equal taxation of all property, and individual responsibility of stockholders of corporations, although not carrying the latter principle as far as some.
In the course of Judge Hitchcock as a legislator, one thing is especially to be noticed: In entering the legislature in 1810, he took a position then considered heterodox—that it was the duty of the law-making power to carefully scrutinize, and strictly define all powers intended to be conferred in acts of incorporation. He also labored to secure in all such grants, the right of modification and repeal, of all charters granted, when demanoed by due regard for the public welfare. Failing in this in 1810, it was more than gratifying to him that forty years later the people, in their organic law, adopted both of these principles for which he had struggled, at an early day. Naturally, there were provisions in the constitution he did not approve, yet he voted for and urged its adoption. His labors in the convention did not prevent the performance of his usual duties on the bench, but the two offrces occupied his entire time, and made the year one of severe and continuous labor.
Important and useful as were the services of Judge Hitchcock in other departments of public life, it was upon the bench of the supreme court of Ohio that his severest and most untiring lab0rs were put forth,
The State was comparatively new and unsettled when he first came upon the bench. The population was sparse and widely scattered, No railroads traversed its limits, and facilities for passing from point to point were few and inconvenient. For fourteen years he travelled on horseback, over new, rough and unworked roads, annually visiting and holding court in the several counties of the State. When he left the bench, the population had swollen to about two millions. All the older States, as well as foreign nations, had contributed to make up this aggregate. It was amid the unsettled state of society and law, and the constant changing of circumstances, growing out of the rapid increase of population in a new country, by a people coming from so many different localities and nationalities, that he was called upon to discharge his duties as judge. He labored faithfully to introduce system, to sustain and enforce these principles of law, sanctioned by the wisdom and experience of ages. To adapt judicial proceed- ings to the character and wants of the people, and to give permanency and consistency to the jurisprudence of the State. In every emergency he brought to his aid such intellectual strength and research as to secure a success highly satisfactory, and honorable to him.
Ohio gave unequivocal evidence of her opinion of his sterling worth, and fitness for judicial station, by continuing him so long in service in that capacity. The twenty volumes of "Ohio Reports" show him to be, as he was, a man well versed in the elementary principles of law, anxious to do right, and to give plain reasons for his own belief, that what he did was right, without making any pretense to superior ability, or aiming to embellish his opinions by the ornaments of fine style.
On the bench, he was laborious, systematic, punctual and attentive. His official life was one of constant labor, but he was rarely, if ever, in a hurry. He readily ascertained the points in a case which were decisive of its merits, and at once rejected all immaterial and irrelevant matter. He understood the enforcement of justice between man and man to be the purpose of law, and that for this was established the machinery of courts. His desire was that strict justice should be done to parties litigant, and he had little reverence for a rule, the justice of which, he could not discover. It is said of him, that he frequently remarked, that, " show him the equity of a case, and he would find the law for it." Relying upon his own judgment, and reaching his conclusions only after careful thought, and thorough survey of the whole ground, when a position was
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once taken, it was very difficult to move him; only would he yield when shown that his premises were wrong. Probably forty-nine out of every fifty cases coming before him were decided upon the circuit, where opinions were given orally. His written opinions show evidence of the haste in which he was compelled to prepare them, but, nevertheless, the written opinions of this eminent man exhibit him in a light that will, in the estimation of sound lawyers everywhere, stamp him as a jurist, of extraordinary ability. It was felt by the bar of Ohio, as said by one of its members in announcing his decease, " that a most distinguished man had fallen. One whose death created a void, whose departure was a loss to them, to the State, and to the cause of justice," He had done more than any other man in the State to elevate the character of the profession, and to establish the jurisprudence of the State on a scientific, sound and practical basis. In private life, and in public station, which he so long ably filled, his life had furnished a practical example, worthy the emulation of the young men who should succeed him, that few great men had equalled, and fewer still exceed.
Judge Hitchcock was esteemed, by those who intimately knew him, not less as a man and a christian, than as a jurist and a civilian. In his social and domestic relations, he exhibited qualities of heart and action, that ever endeared him to those brought in contact with him.
Descended from Puritan stock, and raised in a New England home, he imbibed, in childhood, the principles of sobriety and uprightness that marked his subsequent career. His youth was marked by general correctness of deportment, and he entered upon public life with an established character of moral and industrial habits, which, with elevated aims, and fair ability, give prestige of success in any honorable vocation.
The moral and religious sentiments inculcated under the paternal roof, became with him, in riper years, matters of fixed and controlling interest. Long before he professed a personal interest in the Gospel, his lot being cast in a new settlement, he liberally gave his aid and influence to rear and support its institutions. On the 4th of March, 1832, he made a profession of religion, uniting with the Congregational church, in Burton, of which, until his death, he remained an esteemed and efficient member, He was a hearty and liberal friend and patron of the leading benevolent enterprises of the day; was personally identified with the earlier movements for the suppression of the evils resulting from the use of intoxicating liquors, and continued, until his death, a sincere, earnest temperance man.
In deportment he was reserved and unassuming; in taste and feeling opposed to artificial parade and sham ; a lover of republican simplicity of style and manner, but at the same time a pattern of generous hospitality. Living upon a farm, from his arrival in the State, he cultivated and kept up an interest in agricultural pursuits. Whenever his official duties allowed him a vacation, he spent more or less of it, in personal attention to the business of the farm. It was his custom to so arrange with his brethren upon the bench, that his vacation should come in midsummer, that he might engage, with his men, in labors to secure the harvest.
In the relations of husband and father, he was ever the faithful, considerate, and affectionate counsellor, guardian and guide. Controlling his children with mild, but firm, discipline, won to himself, in an eminent degree, not only their respect and veneration, but their confidence and love. He lived to see his seven surviving children—three sons and four daughters—settled in life, occupying positions of respectability and usefulness, and what was yet more grateful to him, all professed followers of the Savior.
He was privileged not to outlive his activity and usefulness. In the winter of 1853, he was engaged, for a number of weeks, in the preparation and management of a case of great importance in the supreme court at Columbus. The
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intense application and 'profound effort required, developed and aggravated a disease to which he was predisposed, which resulted in his death, on the 4th of March, at his son's house, in Painesville. On the morning of that day, he was, with some difficulty, aroused by Mrs. Hitchcock, with the remark: "Our children are all with us now." He replied, "Oh, my children; all be christians." This was his last utterance.
The news of his death, as it spread through the State, produced a deep sensation and called forth such expressions of regret and esteem as might be expected on the death of so great and good a man. In the principal cities, and in counties where courts were in session, meetings of the bar were held, addresses made, and appropriate resolutions adopted. As sample of the whole, two or three extracts are given. Judge Birchard, who served with him on the bench, and of opposite politics, said of him: "In recurring to the years of our acquaintance, now more than a quarter of a century, I cannot recall to mind an act of the great man who has fallen, that would tend to mar the beauty of his character, public or private, I know of none, He was a man who not only invariably aimed to do right, but his mind was so formed as to be admirably well calculated to come to the knowledge of the right,"
The bar of Cleveland adopted the following resolution: "That in the death of Peter Hitchcock, we deplore the loss of a patriot, distinguished for his advocacy of popular rights, and for his attachment to free institutions; of a legislator eminently practical, wise and sagacious; of a judge unsurpassed in integrity, in friendship, in strength, in grasp of mind, in clearness of perception, and freedom from extraneous influences, and who, in combination of qualities that go to make up a great judicial character, has probably never been equalled among the jurists of This State; of a faithful public servant, whose agency is perceivable in everything which has imparted value to legislation, or inspired confidence in judicial action; whose usefulness is to be measured not only by the positive good he has done, but by the evil he has prevented; who, beyond any other man, has impressed his mind and character upon the institutions of the State, and who, as much as any other, is entitled to be held in grateful remembrance by the people of Ohio,"
The legislature of the State, in session at the time, adopted the following:
"Resolved, By the general assembly of the State of Ohio, that in the death of the Hon. Peter Hitchcock, the State has lost an able jurist and faithful public servant, and society an honorable and useful citizen."
To show that his memory is still held in similar estimation, at an 8th of January banquet, in 1879, in the city of Columbus, Judge Gilmore, himself a Democrat, having referred to Marshall and Taney, of the United States court, used the following language: "In this presence, and on this occasion, it would be inexcusable to omit to name that grand, old, pure, and great judge, Peter Hitchcock, who was for twenty-eight years the ornament and pride of the supreme court of Ohio."
These testimonials show most clearly the estimation in which Judge Hitchcock was, and rs, held by the people of his adopted State. His memory still lives. The impression made by him, upon her institutions, and upon society, still remains, and the influence of his example and his active life, will long continue its effect for good.
Nabby Hitchcock.—This woman of blessed memory is recollected as the wife of Judge Hitchcock. When they came to Ohio in 1806, she was but a young girl, twenty-one years old. Only a few months married, she joined her fortunes with the chosen partner of her life, and braving the hardships and perils of a long and tedious journey of a month, she came to Burton when the whole region was an almost unbroken forest of heavy timber. Here and
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there, only, were small openings made by the few settlers who had preceded them. With him she settled upon the farm, where they continued to live, during their joint lives, and where she died a few years since, his death leaving preceded hers, some fifteen years.
When they came, nothing had been done but the chopping of the timber upon five acres of land. During the clearing and subduing of that large farm, she was the presiding genius of the household, directing and with her own hands aiding the work necessary in caring not only for her own family, but also for those laborers necessarily employed upon the farm. The absence of her husband so much of the time, occasioned by his occupancy in public affairs, threw upon her heavy burdens, all of which were cheerfully borne. During these earlier years, her house was the temporary home of numbers of young men first coming to the then far West. Among these were Williams, Wilmot, Fowler, Sperry, Mastick, Cook and others, since well-known. Some of these, and others of the opposite sex, remained in her family until they left for marriage and homes of their own.
She was a woman in whom "the heart of her husband safely trusted."
"She looked well to the ways of her household, and ate not the bread of idleness. She sought wool and flax and worked diligently with her hands." And she also "stretched out her hands to the poor. Yea, she reached forth her hand to the needy." No case of sickness or suffering but commanded her earnest sympathy and prompt assistance to the extent of her ability. Active, earnest, loving and sincerely christian, she was familiarly and widely known as "Aunt Nabby." Her cheerful spirit and kind and sympathetic heart, won their way with all, and it is not known there was an enemy within her entire acquaintance. A slight, frail woman, yet of a family long lived, with wonderful vitality of constitution, 'she lived to the advanced age of 83 years. Her energy and nervous force enabled her to accomplish much more than many a stronger person. Her great work was in her own family in rearing, training and shaping the life and character of her children. Of these were born to her in early life ten. Seven of them lived to man and womanhood, and settled in life. Of all of them, it may be said, that their whole life and character were largely influenced by the training and example of this godly woman. Although many years have elapsed since her death, her memory is yet fresh in their hearts, and nothing finds a quicker response with them than the thought, "It would be mother's wish," Truly in the words of the wise man, " Her children rise up and call her blessed." "Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates." Of the ten children born of these parents, three died in early life, and notes of ' three others, will be found in pages immediately succeeding.
Abigail S.-the oldest daughter, is referred to in the chapter on " Early women." She has one son, Samuel Cook Hotchkiss, whose wife and three children are living in the same house as their grandmother. She lost two children in youth.
Melissa,—the next daughter, married Col. William R. Tolles and died some twenty-five years since. She left three children, one, a son, living but a few years after her death. Two daughters still survive, one, Mrs. Helen T. Morley in Cleveland, the other, Melissa A., studying in the Lake Erie Female Seminary at Painesville, Ohio.
Eliza Esther—married Andrew Lee, and for many years has been living at Northfield, Minnesota. From early years she has been of feeble health, but has given birth to a large family of children, one of whom, Willie Lee, only remains.
Cynthia—the youngest, married Henry S. Tolles. She died in 1864, leaving three children, all of whom survive, Emily Witter, Shirlie Hitchcock and Abbie Osborn Tolles.
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All of these four daughters were active, earnest, christian women, and efficient members of the church and society. They were lovely in character, and those who have gone before, are affectionately remembered by families and friends.
JUDGE REUBEN HITCHCOCK,
the first son and child of Peter Hitchcock, so long connected with the judiciary of Ohio, and Nabby (Cook) Hitchcock, was born at Burton, September 2, 1806, and is now living at Painesville, Lake county, Ohio, The large influence exerted by the father on the locality in which he lived, and the State—the important part he took in shaping and constructing its constitution and laws, and his life of public service and extended usefulness—the subsequent prominence and success of the son, and others of the family in their several fields of labor, suggest the pertinent inquiry—Whence came 'this family? all of whom have had. so much to do in moulding the affairs of the State, from its infancy to the present time. Space allows of but brief reference to ancestry, the material for which is somewhat meagre.
The father, Peter, was understood to be of Irish extraction, in his genealogy, tracing back through Valentine, Peter, John and Nathaniel, probably to Matthew, who came to Boston in 1635, in the " Susan and Ellen," at the age of twenty-five. The Hitchcocks were men of rugged strength of character and sterling integrity, active, energetic and exerting their full share of influence, but,' so far as known, not generally of large property. Certainly this was true of Valentine, the father of Peter, as appears in the ske the latter. The mother was of the large family of Cooks, some of whom came to the country in the "Mayflower," but it appears certain that Nabby was great-granddaughter of Samuel, who came from England about the year 1700, her father, Elam, and grandfather, Ephriam, only intervening, the four generations covering about two centuries.
The Cooks were a long lived race. Wiry, active, nervous, full of life and work, they were well calculated to exercise a large influence in settling and clearing up a new country, and laying the foundations of society therein. Intelligent, honest, earnest and naturally religious, they helped much to impress like characteristics upon the infant settlements. Corning from such stock, born, and spending his early years in the midst of almost unbroken forests, which, year after year, were melting away under the bl0ws of the sturdy pioneers, it was to be expected that young Reuben would grow up strong, vigilant and self-reliant. Nor would it be strange that the rough and tumble of his early life, and wildness of all its surroundings, should have made a similar impress upon his character. But here came in the influence of that wonderful woman, his mother, who, dtiring a long life, and to the day of her death, was familiarly known throughout all the region as " Aunt Nabby," and whose life and influence had so much to do in softening and making better all those who came within its reach, If from the father came to him strength and ability, to will and to do, as well, from the mother came all the qualities that conspired to make him the kind husband, affectionate father, and active, earnest, useful member of society and the church that he is.
The early settlers of this locality, being of New England origin, felt the importance of making adequate provision for the education of the rising generation. In 1803, the foundation was laid for an institution of learning of high grade, and a charter was obtained for this purpose, under the name of the Erie Literary Society, This institution was afterwards known as Burton Academy, and was
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in successful operation when the subject of this sketch commenced preparation for college. Here he completed that preparation, under instruction of Rev. David L. Coe, and, in the spring of 1823, before he was seventeen years old, entered Yale college. The journey from Burton to New Haven was made by him on horseback, in company with Dr. Erustus Goodwin, elsewhere mentioned in these sketches. He graduated in September, 1826, returning to his home in Ohio, immediately after. A backwoods boy, it was to be expected that on making his advent among those coming from the longer settled portions of the country, and of wealthy families, he should have been looked upon, to some extent, as rather green. This, although not entirely pleasant, he does not seem to have allowed to trouble him, and his fellows were soon compelled to regard him as an equal. To him it was a pleasure to tell of his early days in his wildwood home; of their being spent in a log cabin, with a single room and puncheon floor; of his mother, cooking for the family by the side of a large stump, out of doors, and of himself being rocked in the shell of a hollow stump for a cradle. On his return, he taught, for three years, having charge of the same academy where he received his preparatory education. While under his charge the school was very successful, and largely attended from all the surrounding country. During this time he remained in his father's family, and in his leisure hours prosecuted the study of law; having the advantage of his father's library, and his assistance, when at home.
In 1831, at a session of the supreme court of the State, in Geauga county, he was admitted to practice in the several courts of the State. Immediately he removed to Painesville, where he commenced to practice; first in company with Stephen Matthews, an attorney of many years experience. This relation was not long continued, and after a few years, he entered into a co-partnership with Eli T. Wilder, now of Red Wing, Minnesota. This business arrangement was interrupted by his appointment as president judge of the court of common pleas of the district, in 1841. Having filled this position, and discharged its duties, to the entire satisfaction of all interested, he returned to, and continued his practice with Mr. Wilder until 1846, when he removed to Cleveland. Here he formed a co-partnership with H, V. Wilson and Edward Wade, under the name of Hitchcock, Wilson & Wade. This firm ranked among the first in the State, and had a widely extended practice, especially throughout Northern Ohio. In 1850, he was elected one of the delegates from Cuyahoga county to the convention forming the present constitution of the State. During its sessions his health was much impaired, depriving him of the ability to accomplish all he might have done under other circumstances; but he was, nevertheless, a prominent and influential member of that body. Among things done, to be especially noted, was the great service rendered by him, in devising a scheme for the gradual reduction, and final payment of the State debt,
In 1851 he returned to Painesville, taking up his permanent residence there, where he still is. He retained some business interests in Cleveland, which to some extent remain, In the fall of the year last named, he was elected judge of the common pleas court of the district, of which Geauga county forms a part, This position he filled with acknowledged ability and acceptance, until January, 1855, at which time, yielding to the solicitation of David Tod, afterwards governor of this State, that he should take an active part in the management of the Cleveland and Mahoning railroad, then in process of construction, he resigned his place upon the bench, and became vice-president and general legal advisor of that company. To its business, until the road was completed, was his time and attention devoted, and with substantial advantage to its interests. This road has proved a decided success, but during its construction the company was very much embarrassed, causing his position to be one of great
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labor and anxiety. When the completion of the road measurably relieved him from active service, he renewed practice in Cleveland, in company with James Mason and E. J. Estep, under the style of Hitchcock, Mason & Estep, dividing his time between that firm and the railroad company. This continued until 1865, when he retired from general practice, but retained his connection with the railroad company, as director and general advisor.
In his professional practice he attained to high standing, soon after his admission to the bar. That practice extended throughout northern Ohio, and continued thus extensive until his retirement from the bar. His familiarity with the affairs of the railroad named, and with railroad management and legislation generally, led to his appointment in 1869, as receiver of the Atlantic and Great Western railway, and again, in 1875, as special master in closing up the affairs of the reorganized company, under the sale made by him as such receiver. In his extensive railroad connections, by the ability and unswerving integrity he has displayed in the management of the great interests committed to his trust, he has secured, and still retains, the confidence of all parties. In addition to railroad interests, he has been, and still is, a stockholder in several companies in Cleveland, incorporated for manufacturing and banking purposes, was one of the original trustees and an early president of the Cleveland Society for Savings. In all these associations he has secured, ano held the confidence of his associates and the community, His name being a guarantee of an honest and faithful administration, of all trusts committed to his charge, or over which he was able to exercise control.
He was always deeply interested in education, and has exerted himself for its advancement. He has been, for many years, a trustee of Western Reserve College, was one of the original founders of Lake Erie Female Seminary, has been its most liberal contributor, and president of its board of trustees from its organization. The placing of the instituti0n upon the firm foundation it has secured, and the high reputation it has attained, are largely due to his labor, influence and pecuniary aid. He is still its ardent friend, and while his counsels aid, and kindly encouragements cheer, its instructors in their arduous work, his pleasant home and family, with their cordial greeting and kind attentions, make many a young girl to forget her separation from home and friends, while she is spending months and years in securing a thorough, practical education.
His political associations were originally with the whig party, and at different times his name was mentioned in connection with important public positions, and perhaps no better reason can be given why he was not selected to fill them than that his tastes did not run in that direction and that he never would stoop to, or countenance, such means for this purpose as are two common among aspirants for political favor. At the convention which nominated Joshua R. Giddings for his second term in congress, his name was presented for nomination under circumstances which assured success, but he would not allow its use, and personally withdrew it. At a subsequent period, a large circle of friends pressed him for a nomination without success. At the Buffalo convention of 1848, of which he was a member, he united with the Free-soil party, and at the organrzation of the Republican party he became an active member of that political organixation and still adheres to it, taking a deep interest in all issues that affect the State or nation. Although for some years he has not taken an active part in political management, yet his advice is freely given, and influence largely felt in the lo- cality in which he lives, He was a member of the peace congress which met in Washington in 1861, and sought for some means, by which the threatened war might be averted. When disappointed in this, and hostilities actually commenced, he threw himself with all the energies of his nature upon the side of the Union. Of an age incapacitating from service in the field, he promoted by all
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means in his power the enlistment and support of troops. His eldest son, Peter M. Hitchcock, now of Cleveland, enlisted and served three years in active, honorable service as lieutenant in the field under Gen. McPherson. His religious connection has been, and is, with the Presbyterian or Congregational church in Painesville, in which for about fifty years, he has been an active, consistent member, In it, for the greater portion of the time, he has served as committee man, or elder, and by his contributions of labor, influence and money, has aided largely to make it what it is, the leading church in the region in which located. He has been a life long temperance man, enforcing by his life what his lips taught, and an earnest worker in all efforts for the benefit of his fellowmen. Sorrow and suffering ever find in him ready and active sympathy, and the deserving needy are never by him turned empty away. In social, as well as in public life, he has been universally beloved and esteemed. As a lawyer he has been widely known throughout the state as able in his profession, and an example of strict integrity in its practice. By it, and his business operations growing out of it, he has attained a fair competence, and ability to make liberal contributions for objects before named. As a business man he has been largely confided in by his friends. As a citizen his course has been such as to win the esteem and hold the confidence, of the community in which he lives. As a christian known to be active and earnest, and as a supporter of all that aids in making a community prosperous and happy, always liberal and ready to contribute whatever might be required.
He was married in 1834, to Miss Sarah Marshall, of Colebrook, Connecticut, who is still living, This union proved, in every respect, a happy one, and never was it shown more truly to be so, than now in the declining years of their life, Four of their children are living and happily married. Peter M. residing at Cleveland; Edward M., at Northfield, Minnesota; Lizzie M. Morley, at East Saginaw, Michigan, and Helen T. Morley at Cleveland. Rarely is husband and father so revered as in this family, and among all its members is unbounded confidence, making it emphatically a united and happy family in all its branches.
HENRY LAWRENCE HITCHCOCK, D. D.
The subject of this sketch, president of Western Reserve college, was born in Burton, Geauga county, October 31, 1813, and died in Hudson, Summit county, Ohio, July 6, 1873. He was the second son, living to years of maturity, of Judge Peter Hitchcock, elsewhere mentioned, and like his elder brother, Reuben, prepared for college at the academy in his native town of Burton, under David L. Coe, Dexter Witter and, for a brief period, his brother. Well prepared, at the age of fifteen years he entered Yale college in 1828, and graduated in 1832. His rank as a scholar was high. After leaving college he returned home and took charge of the academy in Burton, teaching there for two years with complete success. After leaving the academy he remained a year in Burton, teaching private pupils at his father's house, and himself studying theology,
In 1835, he entered Lane Seminary, where he studied theology under Doctor Lyman Beecher for two years. Returning to Burton in 1837, he was there licensed and preached his first sermon. In the same year he was ordained and installed pastor of the Congregational church at Morgan, Ashtabula county. Here he remained two and a half years, preaching and laboring with satisfaction and success, and forming such intimate associations, as only to be severed with great reluctance to both pastor and people, when he left there for a wider and
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more important field of labor, The newly organized Second Presbyterian church at Columbus, Ohio, was looking for a pastor, and upon the recommendation of the venerable Doctor Beecher, young Hitchcock was invited to its charge. This call was accepted, he removing his family to that point, by way of the Ohio canal, in July, 1840, Coming into the pastorate of this church when not twenty-seven years old, he continued in its service for fifteen years, laboring with great zeal and success. A fine building was erected, and so great was the interest in spiritual affairs attending his ministry; so large were the accessions to the membership of the church, and so general was the attendance upon its ministrations, that this soon proved inadequate. A large addition was requireo and made to it, which only temporarily answered the demand,
By his aid a Congregational church was organized out of the surplus members of his own church. Into this new organization, acting upon his advice and by his request, entered a number of the strongest, most active and effective members of his church, he feeling that by a division of forces more could be accomplished than in one numerous, wealthy church, in which many members, who elsewhere might be useful, here would be lost sight of. This church, now the Broad street Congregational church, he succeeded in placing upon a strong foundation, while continuing to increase and strengthen his own organization. By his ability, energy, and unaffected piety, he won for himself a leading place among the clergy of central Ohio, and attracted to his church strangers from all parts. Although many years have passed, he is still remembered with reverence and affection by numbers of members in both of these churches and congregations, He is also remembered in the city of Columbus, as one of her pastors who, always actively at work in his own appropriate field, was ever ready to do what in him lay to advance the best interests of the community and city in which he lived.
In May, 1855, he resigned his pastorate, having been chosen president of Western Reserve College, at Hudson, Ohio, and was inaugurated as such July 12th of that year. In assuming charge of this institution, he undertook a work of very great labor and difficulty. The college was deeply involved. Its financial embarrassment was so great as to prevent prosperity and threaten its downfall. In every way the prospect was most discouraging, To the work before him, with his usual activity and zeal, he devoted his entire time and means. In his vocabulary there was no such word as "fail." Having left a pleasant home, admiring friends, and a large, loving, efficient church, in obedience to what he deemed the call of duty, he determined the sacrifice should not be in vain, and success crowned his efforts. His labors were multifarious. He had to raise, collect, invest and superintend the funds of the college. During term time he preached twice in the chapel each Sabbath, and taught in natural theology and evidences of Christianity. Besides these, he was subject to incessant calls to perform ministerial labors of every description, to which he always responded when time and strength would permit. In fact, he never seemed to hesitate from fear of overtaxing the latter, but was ever ready to "spend and be spent" in whatever promised good to the institution and the church. As the result of his labors, all the incumbrances of the college were removed, and over one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars were added to the permanent endowment fund. The grade of scholarship in the college was kept up to its high standard, and in the year 1869--70 the number of students was larger than ever before. Under his administration of its affairs, one hundred and forty-seven young men completed their college course, and were graduated by him.
In the autumn of 1867, under his constant labors and the severe strain upon his not over robust constitution, his health gave indications of breaking down. The necessity of rest became apparent, and for this purpose the winter following
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was spent in the south of Europe and England. In June, 1868, he returned, with health apparently much improved. Resuming his college work with the old vigor and courage, it was not long before the discovery was made that the improvement was but apparent and temporary. He could no longer perform the duties of the position with the old success, By his constant and untiringlabors his constitution had been undermined, and the irresistible result could only be temporarily postponed. Two years after his return he desired to resign, and seek some easier field of labor, but a suitable person as successor being difficult to obtain, he was induced to remain awhile longer. A year subsequent to this, he found it absolutely necessary to surrender the responsibility. of the presidency, but continued actively engaged, in the other departments of his old work. Two years more were spent in this manner, when, in the latter part of June, 1873, he was called upon to solemenize a marriage in the neighboring town of Atwater. On returning home in the evening, he took to his bed, and never rose again. It was just preceding the annual commencement exercises of the college, and he was very anxious to preach the baccalaureate sermon, for which he had prepared, but was unable to do so, His decline was rapid, and, after a few days, his illness terminated in death, July 6th, 1873. He fell with the harness on, at the post of duty. To some it seems, his life was cut off in the midst of usefulness, but his work was well done. His was a full and well-rounded life, Had he earlier yielded to the warnings of failing health and waning strength, he perhaps might have spent many years of usefulness in some field of less wearing labor, As it was, he fully illustrated the truth so often spoken by him, That it is better to wear out than rust out."
Whether considered as a minister of the Gospel, president of a college, or a teacher, his abilities were remarkable. As a financial manager he had few equals. This was shown by his establishing two large churches in Columbus, on a sound foundation, and by bringing the Western Reserve College out of the embarassments which had well nigh wrecked it, and placing it upon a sound financial basis. As a college executive he had the rare faculty of being able to maintain strict discipline, and, at the same time, retain the sincere and unqualified respect and affection of the students, who loved him as a kind father. As a christian, he was earnest, active and efficient, commanding the respect and admiration of all, whatever might be their religious belief. As a man, naturally hasty and nervous, he acquired complete control over himself, so that nothing could disturb his equanimity. Patient, modest, self-sacrificing, faithful, he was beloved by all who knew him, and had not a single enemy. Few living so long, and for so many years holding important positions like his, could have had such a tribute paid to their character.
He was married December 20, 1837, to Clarissa M., daughter of Stephen Ford, and granddaughter of John Ford, elsewhere mentioned. This union proved a happy one, she being the loving companion and sympathetic sharer of his life and labors. Especially was her influence largely felt during his connection with the college, in making it pleasant for, and influencing and shaping the character of the boys and young men in that institution. She survived him a number of years, having recently deceased. Of this marriage there remain of a large family, five children, three sons and two daughters. One of the latter is living at Hudson, the wife of one of the professors. The two younger sons, are studying in the college their father labored so long and effectually to place upon a firm basis, while the eldest son and second living daughter, are residing at Michigan City, Indiana.
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PETER HITCHCOCK.
This gentleman, known during the life of his father as Peter Hitchcock, jr., was the third, and youngest, son of the late Chief Justice and Nabby Hitchcock. He was born in Burton, Geauga county, Ohio, January 6, r818, and has always resided on the farm where he first saw the light.
The Hitchcock's are a remarkable strain of men, and one turns from the meagre sketches of the father, Peter, and the elder brother, Reuben, given in the Messrs. Williams' book of Geauga and Lake counties, with disappointment and regret, There is not the slightest reference to the ancestry of the family, save that the elder judge's father was unable to aid him in securing his education, nor is there the scantiest mention of the female portion of the family. Such men do not spring from accidents, and it is no violation of the reserve due to women, to give some account of the mothers who bore them. I trust that the history of Burton, to which this is appended, written from the bosom of abundant memory'and tradition, will supply those omissions which the scanty data before me do not furnish the means of doing. This is due to the subjects of these sketches, and the noble women to whom they are so much indebted.
At the time of the birth of the junior Peter, Ohio was still the west, and Geauga county quite a wilderness. Burton had been settled z0 years. Troy was still a part of the township. Claridon was then called Burlington, and was severed from it the year before, as was Newbury, and many other townships. Montville received its first settlers only three years before, and Russell her first a few months after his birth. His father, at that time, represented a large portion of the State in Congress, and was elected to his first term on the bench of the supreme court the year following. Burton, one of the oldest settled townships of the Reserve, had passed quite through the wilderness, and the Hitch- cocks had escaped the straits and pressure of pioneer life. The childhood, boyhood, and youth of the younger son, was surrounded with the healthy, bracing atmosphere, with all the habits of industry, thrift, and prudence, of an intelligent and enterprising New England family, and community, transplanted into the freer woods and on to the more fertile soil of the west. It was a family of education, redolent of the religious faith and training of the puritans, the traces of which often become indelible lines of character. Even the youngest boy in such a family, with such surroundings, was in little danger of becoming a spoilt child, Slight, lithe, active, spirited, adventurous, with abounding good nature, full of fun and frolic, he could not fail of being a general favorite, nor did he ever quite outgrow this pleasant peril.
He commenced going to school at three. Homer Goodwin brought tobacco to school, He begged it, chewed, and was laid terribly sick across the end of a slab bench, never afterwards using the vile stuff. His education was finished, so far as schools are concerned, in "the old academy," at twelve. Considering that his father and elder brothers were graduates of Yale, this seems a little remarkable. It arose from no lack of aptitude f0r study. In this he was quick and precocious, and would certainly have held his own in Yale, and succeeded in any. profession. That was not his bent. His father was away. His brothers were pursuing their professions elsewhere. Here was his mother, his sisters, his beautiful home, the free, delightful, stimulating life of the farm, of cattle and horses, fields, woods, birds, spring, summer, and sunshine. He chose them, and chose wisely, and his father wisely indulged him in his choice. Later, when his elder brother,' oppressed with overwork, would have gladly received him to the law and taken him to his side, he preferred his farm life. There is much in this domestic home life 0f Mr. Hitchcook, that presents many interesting features and pleasant pictures, which the necessary limits of this sketch
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preclude even a reference to. He was a true farmer and an enlightened agriculturist.
At the age of twenty-three, on the 8th of February, 1841, he was united in marriage with Miss Eliza Ann Cook, third daughter of Hiram Cook, of Burton, a fresh, lovely, and very interesting young lady of that day. The union is to be esteemed happy and fortunate. They became the parents of four children, three of whom are still living, Reuben Augustus, something after the pattern of his grandfather, in molo pf body and mind, is now the managing head of the large business house of J. S, Ford, Johnson & Co., in Chicago. Ann Cynthia, the only daughter, and a younger brother, Herbert Witter, remain at home with the family, Charles Cook, entering the service in 1862, was, just before his eighteenth birthday, instantly killed in the battle of Perrysville.
Burton was a place in which the old military spirit kept alive by the memories of the Revolution and the war of 1812, was the last to die out. As soon as Peter, jr., was of military age, he became a member of Colonel H. H. Ford's "Geauga Guards," handsomely uniformed in "Kentucky grey," and a thoroughly drilled company. At twenty-four he became the captain of the same company, commissioned by Thomas Corwin, commanding it for ten years thereafter.
In May, 1862, he was mainly instrumental in organizing the Geauga Blues, of which Governor Tod commissioned him captain. This was kept alive for any emergency. One arose in 1864, and it was called into active service by Governor Br0ugh, and saw its share of the t00 days service, It became a part of the 171st Regt, O, N. G., was at Johnson's Island a part of the time. In its ranks were some of the best men of the county, some of whom, like their commander, were then past military age.
It is needless to say that Mr. H. was one of the most ardent and active patriots. He spent his time, used his wide influence, and freely his means, in securing and forwarding soldiers to the field. Gen. Hazen recognized his active labor and influence in the formation of the 41st Ohio, in 1861, and attributed to him more than any other man, the numerous enlistments that so quickly filled the regiment, and early made it ready for the field. He declined positions of rank and honor, and his labors under the war governors of Ohio were almost gratuitous. He was appointed, by Gov. Tod, quartermaster in the 1st Ohio colored regiment, and would gladly have gone out in that service, but was prevented by paramount duties at home. From the time of the first commission by Corwin he held some position, military or civil, until the last issued by Gov. Hayes, in zfi77.
In 1846 Mr. Hitchcock was elected a justice of the peace, and re-elected till he held the office 18 consecutive years. With all his family and their relations, the Fords, Cooks, and others, he was an ardent Whig, and his first remembered speech, was in the memorable canvass of 1840. This was on the return of a large delegation from one of the great mass conventions held at Ravenna, and was delivered from the platform of a four-horse wagon, in front of Pinney's tavern and brought out the party huzzas. This year his first vote for president was cast for Harrison. In 1849 he was the regular Whig candichite for representative, against A, G. Riddle, the Free-soil nominee. It has been said that Mr. H. was defeated by a coalition between the Free-soilers and Democrats. It is true, the Democrats of Geauga spontaneously nominated Mr. R., but the majority against Mr. H. was considerably more than the whole Democratic vote. It is probably true that Mr. Hitchcock ran ahead of his ticket on that occasion, and was personally always a very popular man.
He remained a Whig until the formation of the RepUblican party. Re was with great unanimity placed in nomination for the house of representatives in 1857, and elected, and re-elected in 1859, In 1861, he was by election trans-
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ferred to the Senate. He served again in the House in 1866-67, and was rementurned for 1870-71. He was elected to the constitutional convention, which sat through two sessions in Cincinnati in 1873-74, and was again elected to the House of 1876-77, and re-elected for 1878-79, and again chosen to the Senate of 1880.
Doubtless, Mr. Hitchcock, upon his entrance into the House, was remembered as the son of his father, No mere name, however, could carry any man and sustain him in the career so successfnlly pursued by Mr. Hitchcock, and his fellow-members, and the State, soon came to understand that the still young, and slightly-formed farmer, was there on his own account, and on his own merit. Modest, with pleasing manners, well informed, active, fully alive to his duties, of strong, quick mind, he soon came to be known and trusted as one of the most intelligent, useful, and reliable men of the House, One of the most unassuming of men, he gained nothing by seeming or pretense, and what he gained he never lost. Naturally fluent, he became a ready debater and good speaker. Though not a lawyer, his appreciative readiness so0n enabled him to master the rules of the House, and when Mr. Speaker Parsons resigned the chair, in 1861, Mr. Hitchcock was elected speaker, a great and deserved compliment to his character and standing, He was afterwards often called to the chair, was twice Speaker pro tem, of the House, and also president of the Senate, pro tem. In both houses, and while a member of the constitutional convention, he occupied prominent places on important committees, and was chairman of the committee on finance, and came to be known as one of the ablest, most useful and reliable legislators of the State.
Among the prominent matters before legislature in his time, there was the proposed amendment to the constitution, conferring the right of suffrage upon men of African blood. As the parties were then balanced, and power distributed, the success of the measure was one of grave difficulty and doubt. Mr. Hitchcock was the recognized leader of his party, knew the men well, and all the forces to be met, conciliated and used, The result shows, in a general way, his success. It was one of those struggles and successses, however, which few can appreciate, for few can ever understand the difficulties to be met and overcome. Possessed of superior diplomatic ability, few men are better calculated to skillfully handle such a problem,
In the debates of the Ohio constitutional convention, in 1873-74, upon the question of female suffrage, he said: "Convince me that the majority of the women of the State desire the ballot, and upon my part there would be no hesitation. Say what you may, it is nevertheless true, that in conferring suffrage you impose weighty responsibilities, They cannot be thrown off, but must be discharged. By neglecting to vote no one is relieved from responsibility. Give to woman the ballot, and all women, not alone those who desire it, but all women throughout the State, will be held responsible for its use. All persons and all parties will call upon them to vote, and from the very necessity of the case, they will be forced to do it. In determing my own course, it is sufficient to be thoroughly persuaded that a very large majority of the women of Ohio, are found in 0ppositron to this proposition. While not fearing evil to the body politic, from conferring suffrage upon woman; neither do I fear its degrading influence upon herself. My confidence in her ability to discharge this great responsibility, if imposed upon her, in a judicious manner, preserving her integrity and womanly character, is very great. For woman and a truly womanly character, my admira- tion knows no bounds. If there be any influence irresistible, outside of Omnipitence, that influence is hers. But I am unable to divest myself of the conviction which has thus far accompanied my life, that appropriately, in one sphere, man in the out of door, rough-and-tumble public life and labor, discharges his duty,
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while in another, woman, quietly moulding character, shapes the destiny of man, and secures the best good of both, With this remains the conviction that the proposed change will not advance the best good of either."
The important subject of State finance and taxation early became quite a specialty with Mr. Hitchcock, and few men in the State better underitood its resources, or are capable of devising sounder methods of realizing and applying them. So entirely above party is he, that leading democrats in the legislature of 1878-9 credited him with doing more to serve the interests of the State, upon questions of finance and taxation, than any member of the house.
So, the paramount subject of education, early and constantly received his earnest and enlightened attention. Ohio has much to be proud of, in her system of popular education. Perhaps the representatives of no county in the State have, on the whole, contributed so much to its advancement as the representatives of Geauga. Of all the enlightened men whom she has given to the service of the State, none has more steadily and intelligently contributed to this cause than has he.
At the outbreak of the Rebellion, and during the war, he took very decided ground. Extracts from his public addresses will better convey his thought and spirit of patriotism, than anything that can be written,
From his speech in the house, February 23, 1861, on the "Bill to prevent giving aid to fugitive slaves," is extracted some paragraphs in his advocacy of human rights, and the support of the Union. He asks, " Must we pass laws which, if carried out in their spirit, would inflict severe penalties upon that person who should give a cup of water, a bit of bread, or bestow a blanket upon the poor, shivering, hunted fugitive? Does duty demand this of us ? Because we declare ourselves ready to oischarge constitutional obligations and aid in enforcing constitutional law, shall we volunteer legislation unasked? The bill before us proposes to punish, by severe penalty, that person who, under certain circumstances, furnishes aid to the hungry, naked and needy fugitive. You cannot by law prevent it. No law can do it, and the attempt is simply an effort to exercise the law-making power, in obedience to a spirit of oppression, in stifling and prevtriting the manifestation of benevolence and outspoken sympathy of the human heart. Laws for this purpose will, from the necessity of the case, prove a nullity.
What are the provisions of one section it is proposed to repeal?
“That no person or persons shall kidnap, or forcibly, or fraudulently carry off or decoy, out of this State, any black or mulatto person or persons, wrthin this State, claimed as fugitives from service or labor, or shall attempt to kidnap, or forcibly, or fraudulently carry off or decoy out of this State, any such black or mulatto person or persons, without first having taken such black or mulatto person or persons before the court, judge, or commissioner of the proper circuit, district or county having jurisdiction according to the laws of the United States, in cases of persons held to service or labor in any State, escaping into this State, and there, according to the laws of the United States, establishing by proof his or their property in such person.'
An examination of the various authorities quoted by the majority in its report, shows this to be the substance of decisions of the United States supreme court, where this principle may be supposed to be involved, more concisely stated, perhaps, in that known as the Prigg case, than any other. 1st. That the owner of a slave has the right to seize and recapture a slave where, and whenever he can do so, without force or illegal vi0lence; and d. That any State law or regulation which interrupts, impedes, embarrasses, or in any way postpones the exercise of this right, is void. That asserts the right of the owner to take his slave with0ut compulsion. This statute only requires that if he attempts to take
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him by force, and remove him without taking him before the proper authority and proving his claim, then he shall suffer a penalty, severe, it is true, but can it be aught too much so? It is a penalty for the attempt to subject a free man to slavery. Is it too much that he who attempts this enslaving shall himself be bound? Does it conflict with the second point, or with the fugitive slave law? No. It does not in any way interfere with or prevent the exercise of the right on the part of the owner, when he attempts to recover his slave without the exercise of force. But the fugitive slave law having been passed, requiring certain steps to be taken by the claimant, this law is passed imposing a penalty upon that person who comes in the State and attempts, forcibly, to remove any of its people without first having complied with the provisions of that law.
If right, justice and a proper regard to the interests of the people of our own State, demand the passage of measures like that now under consideration, then let them be enacted, otherwise not. Is aught that we have done, or may do, to accomplish anything in solving the uncertainty which hangs over us, and stay the tide of secession and disunion threatening entire destruction? What care our southern neighbors for what we may do, in the repeal 0r passage of laws?
Having so long, in their mind's eye, followed the "ignis fatuus" which has been leading them on—the dazzling prospect of a brilliant Southern Confederacy—in which slavery should be extended and perpetuated, and the cotton and sugar trade of the world monopolized—the leaders rejoice at this opportunity to take advantage of the prejudices of the masses, which had been excited by misrepresentations of the true sentiment of the north, as exemplified and attempted to be carried out by the Republican party, to accomplish their long concealed purposes of secession and dissolution. Those leaders are now in open rebellion against the laws and government of the United States, and yet measure after measure, like that before us, is urged upon us, and we are told to pass them that they may be appeased. Forcibly having possessed themselves of forts and arsenals, dock-yards, mints, and other property of the United States government, they now call upon that government to treat with them. If one now suggests the idea or propriety of making some little preparation for contingencies which may arise, we are told "Hands off! take care! you will needlessly excite the sensitiveness of our southern brethern ;" and immediately, with horror expressed in every tone, the cry of " Coercion,'" is rung in our ears, You have no right to coerce a State. But then has a State the right to coerce the general govorninent? What less? What differ'ent are, and have been, States attempting? With force and arms, surrounding and seizing upon forts and arsenals within their limits, and with greater force, and more extensive preparation, investing other positions not yet reduced, they demand their unconditional surrender, War is, and has been for weeks, actually begun upon the part of these States, although prosecuted thus far without bloodshed; they, by the force of numbers, overcoming and carrying one position after another, and yet we are called upon to legislate carefully not to disturb their equanimity.
Yea, more, traitors dictating terms to that government against which they are plotting and acting treason. Shall we, frightened by the noise and confusion, turn, and swallowing our words, give the lie to all our previous professions ? Is the position we have taken right? the principle we have advocated just ? Or have we no confidence in its truth, its justice, its importance? We are told that we must compromise, that we must yield up something, or our southern brethren will continue going away as they have been going, until the Union is broken, our constitution overthrown, and government destroyed. To sustain this Union, we must concede and compromise, and surrender, and yield what? Our manhood. We must abandon long cherished, and what we believe to be correct, principles—we must consent to constitutional changes—must give guarantees-
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must get down and humbly ask our southern brethren what legislation will suit them, then haste to grant it. To us the constitution is good enough—that constitution, as made and administered by its authors. We will abide by it. It requires of us duties repugnant to our sense of right, of humanity, yet those duties shall be discharged. But we say plainly, unequivocally, that we do not, can not, will not admire the institution; can not love it, will not cling to it, and shout around it in our self-abandonment, as a system containing the ne .plus ultra of all that is right, lovely, and of good report, Neither can we consent to its extension. In the States where it now exists, keep it as you desire, make the most of it. We have no power, neither have we the inclinati0n to interfere with it, but no farther extension. Thus far has it come, and no further shall it go, What is the object of constitutional change, The recognition .of the right of property in man, and this in some form to be recognized I understand to be the real object of such change, It is no time to change. If we cannot live under the constitution as it is, if alienation of feeling, of interest, of purpose, is such as to prevent it, certainly in this time of excitement, we cannot change that instrument with any safety. No; let us rally around it, with it determine to stand or fall, under its ruins, if it must crumble, let us be buried; let its flag be our winding sheet; let every one of its stars go out and fade away in eternal night, rather than that it shall continue to float only as a symbol of union, for the support of a system of oppression and wrong,"
Brief extracts, can but faintly outline the feeling aroused by his powerful words in support of the Emancipation proclamation, and for loyalty to the government, in the Ohio senate, March 4, 1863.
"MR. PRESIDENT :—War exists, A war, terrible in nature, fearful in extent, desperate in the struggles of contending forces, fierce and desolating in its progress, and apalling in the magnitude of the consequences involved.
"It exists not on account of conflicting jurisdiction with neighboring nations not by attacks upon the commerce of the country—not by invasion of a foreign foe attempting, in the fierce tribunal of arms, to settle long disputed questions of international comity, but by the act of traitors, rebels in arms against the gov- ernment. They, the prime movers, instigators Of this rebellion, and leaders in its efforts, being the representatives of the recipients of the richest blessings of the government, unoer which this whole people has become so great, and in time past has been so prosperous and happy.
"About two years since, in anticipation 0f a contingency that might arise, the general assembly of the State of Ohio, by a vote almost or quite unanimous, passed a resolution, pledging the entire resources of the State, moral and physical, in aid of the government in sustaining the constitution, and crushing out rebellion. The anticipated contingency happens, The present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the country by the disunionists of the Southern States, now in arms against tne government, and in arms around the capitol, and we come to the consideration of the resolution before the senate:
"Resolred, That it is with pain and mortification, that we hear of the propositions of either persons or parties in the North, to divide the loyal States with the ultimate design of attaching any portion of those States to the so-called Southern Confederacy.
"Starting with the proposition, which all will admit, that it is the duty of every loyal man in the whole country to give his entire energies, so far as they may be needed, to the support of the government in this struggle for its existence, and that every resource of the country should be subsidized to the same end—another inevitably follows: That there is a dividing line between the supporters and opposers of the government, upon one or the other side ..of which every man places himself. No matter whether, in taking any position he may, he is aware
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of the fact or not—it is nevertheless true. The conclusion cannot be avoided. He is either for or against the government. There is no neutrality in this was. There can be none. All the power of the government is demanded to carry on this contest, That power rests in the people. The people are the government. The executive and legislative departments of the government, so termed, are only the agents of that government, executing its will, and the withholding the energies of any one man, rightly demanded for its support, cripples, and to that extent opposes, the administration of the government in its efforts to sustain itself and maintain its supremacy.
"He who in arms attempts the overthrow of the government—he who sympathizes with and encourages this attempt—he who attacks the credit of the government, denounces its administrations, frowns when it succeeds, and laughs at its failures, and he who quietly folds his hands, saving this is none of my concern, I am not responsible for, and will take no part in its settlement, is alike guilty of opposition. If there be diffesence, it is in favor of that one wh0, believing it right, however false that opinion may be, fights for it, rather than the one who, thinking to avoid responsibility, stands back silently praying for its success, while he waits with illy concealed hopes therefor.
"Having said thus much, I turn to examine the position taken by senators in this discussion, The senator from Perry (Mr. Finck) tells us that 'he is for the support of the government and continuance of the Union' and 'that he will never consent to any dismemberment thereof; that he sustained the administration in the conduct of the war up to the time of the issuing of the president's emancipation proclamation, but that he will do so no longer.'
"It is a little strange, however, and indicates a little remaining consideration on the part of the senator, and those who act with him, for the feelings of those with wh0m they have been politically associated in times past, and of whom we sometimes speak as our 'erring brethren,' that when you touch rebels where their strength lies, they should all at once have such a holy horror of constitutional violation. The leaders in this rebellion are striving to establish a government whose corner-stone is slavery. In their efforts, their great element of strength is slavery. While white men in their army fight the battles of sebeldom, four millions of slaves are at home engaged in caring for the interests of those men, and raising supplies for the support of that army. More than this, they are pressed into service and made to dig trenches, raise fortifications, and even hold arms and shoot bullets by which our brothers, sons and friends are wounded and killed. Yet, if you strike at, or in any way interfere with this system, though it be necessary to save the nation, the senator is horrified.
The senator for Ashland (Mr. Kenny), exhibits his opposition, in an attempt to discourage the people of the country, by disparaging the conduct, and attempting to render odious the neccessary results of the war. He will not encourage and sustain the administration, in the prosecution of the war for the Union, He will not go into the army unless drafted, and it will take a strong draft to hold him. His declaration sounds very much like another read by the senator from Fayette in the course of his remark, from the Marion County Mirror, in which the editor of that paper says: "For our part, we shall oppose the draft. If Old Abe or his minions arrest us for this, we will submit to the arrest, if the people say so, and not without," These, taken in connection with telegraphic signals of approval, passing between senators upon this floor, as the quotation above referred to was read, irresistibly force upon my mind the conclusion that there is a determination on the part of some to resist the government in its attempt to add to, or fill up, its army. I will not ask, is this loyalty? Not one word as to the rebellion and the danger to the Republic from the combined attacks of rebels. No. All the danger in the mind of the senator is in assump-
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tions of power and constitutional encroachments by the President. His support, like that of the senator from Perry, depends upon the adoption of a policy such as he would mark out. All Rebeldom would be loyal, allowing them to fix the terms of their loyalty,
Had I been conducting this war, my purpose at the commencent would have been, as it seems to me was the policy of the President, to carry it on without reference to slavery, When by force of circumstances slavery was recognized as an element in the war, as I believe the President was convinced it was, when he issued his Emancipation Proclamation, I would have said, said, Slavery, STAND FROM UNDER, Where it stands in the way of sustaining the government, let the governmental car roll on. My faith in the "patriarchal" institution is not great, and in its "christianizing" influence far less, On this point let the long list of heathenish barbarities perpetrated by rebels during this contest testify. The senator would have property in slaves take its chances with other property, Exactly, But when in that property is a rebel's strength, take it from him. If you need it, use it, but mind it is never returned to him again. He has forfeited all claim to it. Thank Heaven, slavery is doomed, not because the President issued his proclamation—not because, in the conduct of this war he has sought this end, or that his administration has been directed to it, only as a means of crushing the rebellion; but because an all-wise, overruling Providence has decreed it as the result of this contest, and all the powers of earth and the infernal regions combined cannot prevent it.
I well recollect, perhaps other senators can; hundreds of the people of this State have vivid recollections, of the feelings with which they have approached the long lines of little mounds, on one and another of the fields of strife, where has gone out so much young life, amid the roar of battle and clash of arms. At such a time, how little seem any and all other sacrifices, in comparison with giving up a son, a brother, a friend, upon the altar of our country, a sacrifice to propitiate this unholy rebellion. Forgetting past differences and reckless of personal consequences, let us cast away every preconceived notion of policy, and joining hand to hand, while heart beats responsive to heart, anew pledge ourselves and energies, our State and its resources, to the struggle for the Union. With unwavering confidence in the justice of our cause, and reliance in the integrity of purpose, on the part of the executive, let us yield his administration a hearty support, while we go on in united, fearless and determined effort to crush out this rebellion and perpetuate the government. If the snares set for the Union are so strong—which I neither admit, nor believe—and the pitfalls surrounding her s0 deep, that she cannot by possibility escape—then let her perish in struggles to extricate herself, rather than by the hands of armed assassins she has nourished and brought up,"
As long ago as 1858, during his first term in the house, he was placed on the committee on charitable institutions, and came to have cognizance of the infant and feeble institution for idiotic youth, the most helpless and hopeless of the human race. He found it with seventeen inmates, while the State provided for but nine. His sympathies were at once enlisted, and from that day to the present, he devoted as much time and energy as his other duties would permit, to this noble charity. From 1863 till the present, except during the intervals when the democracy ruled the State, he has served as a trustee of the institution. This school, where the idiot, by nature so feeble that mother's love could find no rudiment of intellect in them whereon to build, and no ray of soul on which, in the measureless love of God, she could hope, have been gathered and placed under the hands of science and care, so subtle, patient, skilful and abiding, that, seemingly, minds are born and souls created, and they are built up, nursed, and sent forth with intelligence and moral faculties equal to' the struggles of the
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active world. More than one-fourth of those cared for, have been so helped as to be competent to care for themselves.
The kind-hearted Dr. G. A. Doren, a very young physician there, since found to be eminently practical in all the endless detail of a great institution, and a remarkable manager, now father of the asylum, found, in Mr. Hitchcock a careful but determined supporter, and the little school overflowed the narrow walls of the family house on Friend street, and the State gave it a farm on the heights, west of Columbus. The household of 1858, and its seventeen children, has grown to be the first, of its kind, in the land, if not in the world— nursing, developing, and educating 500 children, in a magnificent home of convenient beautiful surroundings, planned to admit and raoiate everywhere, the brightest quildings, with side of life. No institution of the same extent has cost the State so little, and there is none of which she may justly be more proud. The doctor and his sympathetic, helping wife, in the constant care through all these years, with their two little girls, is still the head of this great family.
Years of patient, untalked of, unproclaimed, unwritten, and unknown work, in and out of offrce, has Mr. Hitchcock given to this problem of human charities. The opposition could laugh at, and even abuse him, for persisting in his support and care for this and other benevolent instutions, but it made no difference; he was true to his highest convictions.
In the long and varied career of a useful public life, it seems to me, no seward, however well deserved, can, on the wh0le, be so highiy valued as the garnered fruit of years of work thus devoted, and all the more so, as it can win no plaudit from the multitude, no ballots at the hustings, and the memory of it should always come to shield the patient worker, from the uncharitable thoughts of enemies, if enemies he has. All labors for this and the 0ther benevolent institutions of the noble State, were without price or pay, and must ever be without thought of political reward. To the managers of caucuses, the packers of primaries, and the leaders of nominating conventions, they are as unknown and inappreciable as the prayer of a christian in his closet. Few men have remained so long in the legislative service of his State as Mr. Hitchcock. He has grown into a complete knowledge of her needs and resources, and his trained ability and experience have given him a capacity still capable of enlargement, of rendering the most valuable services to her, and which should be acknowledged by conferring upon him the highest honors within her gift. Most public men, as they gather experience and knowledge, and thus year by year become more valuable, in the triterations and conflicts of political life, produce atoms of jealousies, rivalries, and enmities, which deposited here and there, and in greater or less quantities, are kept stored for future use against him, or put in circulation to his annoyance or detriment. The very fact that he has become useful and experienced, is often fatally used to defeat him in the interest of the unknown and untried. I am not aware that Mr. Hitchcock has been accused of a grave mistake, or ever faltering in duty. This is very much, in so many years of public service. Nor are his faults those which may spring from want of moral courage, and the infirmities of integrity. And now at the age of sixty-one, at his best, with the confidence won by so many years, the future seems quite his own.
It is fortunate and marks alike the good sense and good fortune of Mr. Hitchcock's constituents, that they early discovered his capacity and usefulness, retained him in public life until his experience and knowledge enabled him to be of the largest service, and refuse to listen to the small and often querulous complaints, that always spring up to worry the footsteps of every man in the public service many years. A man thus steadily sustained may become most valuable. No man can without it, and it is most creditable to the prudence and good
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sense of Mr. Hitchcock, that he has served so long without furnishing occasion for any grave assaults upon him.
In person, Mr. Hitchcock is slight, wiry and nervous, one of those men capable of any amount of endurance; of good address, pleasing manners, and well calculated to win friends; has well developed intellectual powers, strengthened and quickened by a constant intercourse with the world, rather than with many books. Seeing quickly, is sagacious, politic, a good reader of men, and master of the arguments that will contr0l them, having considerable personal magnetism, well liked, kind, sympathetic, and charitable, he has always been, without seeming to be, a leader of men. He has a ready appreciation of the ludicrous, a capacity to enjoy good things, and an ability to be guilty of a joke. He is one of the most sociable and companionable of men, while he is all that can be desired as a friend and neighbor. At sixteen he united himself with the Congregational church, and adds the evidence of his profession and consistent life, to the weight of authority on the side of religion and pure morals. A strong temperance advocate, few men have been more consistent or persistent in favor of the reform. A member of every organization established in his township, since he was twelve years old, he has labored steadily for the reform of men, and the suppression of the liquor traffic, ever speaking and acting squarely against the evil, in his own county and in his public service.
Mr. Hitchcock resides in the old homestead of his father, and perpetuates its tradition and memories in home and social life, as he continues that revered name in the service of the State. His public life has not, in any sense, exalted or carried him away from, and above, the ordinary pursuits of the farm. When at home, his example is that of an industrious worker, honoring the pursuit of agriculture, with the labor of his hands, and enjoying the blessings of a genial home and the good will of his neighbors, and the social regard of his townsmen, alike honoring and being honored in any position of life. A. G. R.
JOHN FORD
Was born October 19, 1763, and raised on West Mountain, in Cheshire, Connecticut. His schooling was completed quickly and thoroughly. He started in, and on the third day the teacher laid him across her lap and applied the spanks. He struggled, and finally bit her knee. She set him with the girls, and he graduated—by crawling out of the window, never to return again.
He learned the carpenter's trade in Woodbridge, and when about zo years old worked at the trade in New Haven, where Judge Daggett became interested in him. Working in the day time, he would study evenings, and recited, in reading, spelling, writing, and arithmetic, to the judge. He was seven years, from the age of 14, steadily at work in learning his trade as carpenter and joiner, so thorough was the apprenticeship of that time. His first employment was on the recommend of Judge Daggett, and he walked eight miles, with tools on his back to the work. He was set to hewing, at fifty cents per day. After dinner his employer examined the scribe work, and found it square and smooth. He was told to take the square and compass, and go ahead. Not half a day in mastering the situation, his pay was increased to $1.00 per day, and ever afterwards he was a "boss builder." His work was largely in building bridges, mills, and meeting houses, with his brother, Elias, in the east.
His father's home was on West mountain, beside a great rock, and in the bracing air of that high region, there grew up in the lqg cabin, strong children, who sported in the shadow of the huge stone. This great worker—athlete in
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build, and clear of head as a mountaineer-wandered down South mountain, around its eastern slope, to a house in the valley. A little woman met him beside the well, as a drawer of water. He went again and drank inspiration; still was subject to some spell which he could not break. Before the eyes of this girl of the valley, he was a captive. She bound him with chains—not grievous, but of a bondage that was sought. His trade, his axe and square, his plans and courage for the great world of work, were all before her. She said, "John, I will go with you;" and she did, ever after a helpmeet, and her name was a household word for goodness and right, through all the generations of a new country. Easter Cook was this girl at the bucket and the well. She was born in the same township, March 22, 1769, and they were married September 20, 1790. She was a sister of Marimon Cook.
In 1804, with broadaxe on his shoulder, he set out for the west. Asa Wilmot, an apprentice, came with him. His first stroke with that broadaxe in the new empire of woods, was for education, in the building of the academy, of which he took charge that year. He looked out the lands, and, with Deacon Marimon Cook, purchased Mr. Street's interest in the township, in all, sonic 3,000 acres. The year 1805 he remained east, and worked on a mill north of Cheshire. This year they sent to Jonathan Brooks, and he cleared the field north of H. H. Ford's present residence, and sowed it to wheat. The next year, 1806, he and Cook walked th10ugh and harvested the crop, and he worked again on the academy, which was not yet complete, and both Cook and himself built houses, preparatory to their families coming the year following. His house still stands, southeast of the larger dwelling on Cheshire street, on lot 26, north of the fair grounds. They returned east again in the fall.
To the large wagon, covered with cloth, were yoked two pairs of oxen, and a horse hitched on lead, and in this was stored what goods they had, and the wife and children took their places for a journey upon a long r0ad. As in the march of life, so then, it was never to be retraced by all that company. Those children -Lydia, Stephen, Anson, Seabury, and Eliza—whatever might be their destinies, their faces were forever set westward. In their tears was said the "goodbye," and the last fond look caught the sunlight's gleam upon the great rock by the grandfather's door, of their New England home, as they passed away. This was April 20, 1807, and June d they were on Burton hill. They had come by way of Harrisburg, and at the foot 0f the Alleghenies stopped to sh0e the oxen. From there on to Pittsburgh, Beaver, Poland, and Warren. Cook took his mouse colored mare, " Old Blue," and came on to Burton for teams. At Warren, the party that had traveled together—being Ford, Cook, and Patchin —were met by Calvin Williams, Ebenezer Hayes, and Daniel Dayton, with three pairs of 0xen to help them on through the woods and mud. At Farmington they stopped over night, and did not reach Burton until midnight of the next day.
As noted, his trips to Ohio were made on foot, and the journeys were swift as if he had the power of the "Indian lope" through the forests. Eighteen times he traveled the whole distance between Ohio and Connecticut on foot. On one of these journeys he had a large amount of money in saddle-bags, that were slung over his shoulder. His only weapons of defense were two scythes, which he was bringing into the country. At night he was followed to the tavern by a suspicious looking man. He carelessly threw the bags behind the bar, as if of no value. The next day this stranger rode past him, then turned in his saddle and looked back, and finally wheeled around and came by, as though he was mistaken in the man he had followed. Ford's rough and uncouth dress, it is thought, threw the highwayman "off the scent"
The expense of "livery rig" was light as early as 1818. Ambrose Perkins
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had a horse and wagon to New Haven, a long trip from Ohio then, but Ford only charged him eight dollars for it. The characteristic tow frock of the day was all the coat he needed. His robust health enabled him to defy colo, and in winter he worked or walked in the sharp days, in his shirt sleeves. In the earlier day he followed his trade, and was a good manager at a raising. With the timbers in order, and each man in his place, he commanded, and all the frame went together and up, like "clock work."
His boys were early trained to the logging camp, and he was often with them in "rolling up and burning." They spent weeks on No. 9, where Anson afterwards lived, going there Monday morning and remaining until Saturday evening or Sunday morning. Several farms were, by his camps, cleared up. Not tolerant of a lazy motion, his impetuosity was illustrated on the son, who was afterwards Governor, one day in the logging field. Blackbirds settled on some wheat near by, and he called Seabury to run. The boy's steps were not lively, until overtaken by the father's stroke with an ox whip, who hit him, and at every jump cried, "Run, you dog, run."
Somewhat gruff, he used to startle the boys that came around where he worked on buildings. Always willing to lend tools, he wanted them returned promptly. Jacob Hutchins came to borrow a chisel. "Yes, Jake, take it, and when you are done, whip it, and send it home." Jake returned it with the handle slivered in pieces. " What, what!" exclaimed Ford. "Well," said Jake, "you told me to whip it, and I did." The wit of the boy brought a smile to the man's face. He could take a joke. After that, he called Jake Dr. Good-win's devil. Rough as he was, and abrupt in speech, beneath such an exterior was a kind heart. The force of early habits increased with him, in later years, to an excessive use of stimulants.
His lands advanced in value, and he bought, sold, and exchanged with suc- cess, as a financier, and amassed a large property. When the youngest son, Henry, reached the age of 20, he decided to divide his lands among them, and sent them all into the ball-room chamber, with instructions to work out the division among themselves, saying, when they were agreed he would deed them the land. A week's figuring finished the work, and the land was divided.
The spirit of humor overflowed with him, and when Brooks Bradley drove the cows up the lane at night, they would dash back past him, heads and tails high in air, and run clear to the woods. Brooks, as he chased back after the frightened cattle, did not see "Uncle John's" old hat down in front of his bent form, shaking out from behind a stump in that lane. He played some trick on David Tod, afterwards governor of Ohio. David sawed the top bar over which "Uncle John" leaned, when he poured the swill to his pigs. "Dave" and his companion watched, the next time "Uncle John" fed, and when well on the bar, it broke, and he fell, with pail and contents, among the hogs. A suppressed laugh from an adjoining fence corner, hinted to "Uncle John" how it happened, but he climbed from the mess and said nothing. He saw only one thing in Tod that he called mean that was when he tore leaves out of the old Bible. His kind- ness to the sick, and readiness to aid the poor, was known throughout the c0untry, and his hospitality was so thoroughly endorsed by his amiable and ready housewife, as to be remembered by hundreds of travelers and by many families.
For several years he served as justice of the peace. When the Western Reserve bank was started, he was one of the first subscribers to its stock, $12,000, in all, and was an influential director. Being at a meeting of the stockholders, before dinner-time, he went into the tavern. His rough and unshorn appearance was not favorable to much attention from the lendlord. Asking if he could have dinner, he was told, with some importance, dinner has been pre-
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pared for the stockholders of the bank. When they are through, you can have a seat. A-hem! hem's! well, was Ford's response, as he walked out of the door. When the stockholders gathered at the dinner-table, inquiry was raised where's Ford. Saw him on the street, said one. Send the landlord to call John Ford, said another. The landlord was called, discovered his mistake, and sought his neglected guest on the street, with liberal explanations. No, no, said Ford, needn't apologize. Will go in when the stockholders are through. When he came in afterwards, his friends gathered round the carpenter from Burton. Hem, hem! said he, landlord smart. Want a man to have on gloves, and carry a cane. Don't like tow frock and shirt sleeves. Didn't know as much as he thought he did, hem, hem ! His religious views took the Universalist way. His wife, "Aunt Easter" was a faithful member of the Congregational church, and her influence over the family comes back from that period of years, as the stars that shine in glory. Her life was to all, as gentle as the dews of heaven. From another pen, that of the Hon. Peter Hitchcock, comes this fitting tribute. "She.was one of those women who had very much to do in forming the character, and shaping the destiny of the infant settlement of Burton. Small, frail, yet she had wonderful power of willing and accomplishing. With quiet purpose, patient in bearing and doing, and a kindness of manner felt by all within her reach, she is well remembered by th0se who knew her intimately as dear "Aunt Easter." From choice, as well as force of circumstances, her life was almost entirely spent in the home circle. Emphatically was she a stayer at home. So true was this, that although early a sincere christian woman, and loving to meet with others in her chosen place of worship, it was only occasionally that her seat was fitted, other duties seeming to her sensitive mind as urging a prior claim. Fot these reasons, the circle of her immediate acquaintance was less than it wouldhave been. Upon her descendants for successive generations was the influence of her life and character most effective. The Ford family is well known. Rugged strength had they from the father, but largely may it be attributed to the precept and example of this good woman, that its members are so certainly found on the side of sobriety and good morals. May memory of her live and grow green in the coming years. Certainly with those who knew her personally, forgetfulness will only come with the termination of life." He went first to the long rest beneath the hill, dying August 6, 1842, almost 79, and at the age of 83 she was laid beside him, her death occurring December 26,1851.
Lydia,—the oldest daughter, was born September r r, 1791. She married Uri Hickox who died early, leaving her the care of a large family. She was a faithful mother, and toiled bravely through the lonely years, training her family to respectability, and well enduring the hardships of pioneer life. She died April 5,1871.
A son, Stephen—was born July 6,1793, and died February 7,1795.
Esther Eliza—wits born July 4, 1806, lived to be sixteen, dying August 29, 1822. Hers was a superior nature, attractive to all, and her death cast a gloom over the whole community. Lovely in person, and charming .in manners, her sweet experience led captive her frrends. Julia Chase, a companion with her in school, taught by Ralph Cowles, writes of her now, as one of the most gifted and best of girls. .
1807 - STEPHEN FORD.
Eldest son of John and Easter Ford, was born January the 28th, 1796, in Cheshire, Connecticut (New Haven county), on West mountain. Attended
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school higher up on the mountain, northwest from his father's house, at the age of four years. His teacher was Jessie Ford. He ran away from school one day to find a pond on the north side of the mountain, and his mother switched him for it. Sallie Curtiss taught two winters east of Elam Cook's, and he attended. In the winter of 1806-7, his last in that State, he was at school, south of his grandfather Ford's, in a frame dwelling house. The schooling was mostly in the spelling book. Summers he drove plough among the rocks and stones of that rough country for Nathan Ford, his uncle, who taught him how to hold the whip and drive oxen well. One summer he ploughed for Elam Cook, his uncle. Starting off one day from Cook's on a homesick trip, he stopped over night with Ephraim Cook and his aunt, "Sukey." He was cured of his homesickness, and went back next morning to Joseph Cook's, where he worked two or three weeks.
Leaving Connecticut in April, 1807, with his father's family, after a trip of 42 days, he reached Ohio May 3ist. At Youngstown he found Harry Umberfield, who was coming on from Poland with a stallion horse. Harry wanted him to be company, and he started on. They rode and walked by turns, and reached Parkrnan, where they staid over night, and came on to Burton next morning. The winter of 1807-8 he attended school in Hickox's store. Hickox taught the school. Esther Johnson was a large and frolicsome girl. He was one of the big boys who delighted in seeing her blush, when her face was well rubbed with snow, in some of their noon-day sports. The winter, 1808-9 he attended a school taught by Judge Peter Hitchcock, in the log school-house near Eli Hayes'. After that, he was a pupil of the judge and of Gilbert Ferris in the academy. Ralph Cowles taught in Bradley, the hatter's house, near where John Punderson now lives, and on the corner, where Lyman Durand lived. He attended both these schools, and at last he was at the school-house on the northwest corner of the square. He only studied the common branches.
Eunice Brooks, a daughter of Gideon Brooks, born in Cheshire, Connecticut, October 12, 1796, had come on with the family of Hiram Cook, and was visiting Jonathan Brooks and the Cooks. She was a sprightly girl, with light hair, blue eyes and sweet face, a winsome body, just the age to captivate the western boys. One night at a singing school, taught by Brooks, in the school-house, David Taylor and Stephen passed put together. Taylor saw Miss Cook and Miss Brooks, and said to Stephen, "go with those girls and help them home, I have a horse or I would go." The orders were obeyed. He spoke, the girls separated, and the gallant young Ford took one on each arm. On arriving at the house of Brooks, he was invited in, staving longer than was expected, but no doubt expectations were aroused, for he aftewards took Miss Brooks for his life companion. They were married August 19, 1816, The bridal trip was made in a two-horse lumber wagon, over logways and by wood routes, fording and ferrying streams, 600 miles back to old Connecticut. They drove ten miles in the mud of the Cattaraugus woods, with no house along the way. The c0mpany of this bridal party was Asa Wilmot, a carpenter, going to visit his friends. They were sixteen days going, and returned with her outfit of wooden bowls, pewter platters and blue dishes, to a log house which stood east of the spring, in the present old orchard on his farm. She was one of those patient, even tempered women, whose home was a blessing to all who cr0ssed its threshold, and, as in this log house, so it was in the latter one-a special hospitality in her care, to all corners in the early time and the later day. An orchard was set out in 1815, which surrounded the house and covered part of the nine acre lot that was cleared before that time. The balance of the clearing on the farm, in all about So acres, he did. The farm was a gift from his father—about Lao acres on lot 37. He took pride in raising red cattle. Grain for feeding the stock was part
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of the agriculture of that day. The first barn was built, where it now stands, in 1817, and the same hemlock siding covers it now that was nailed on more than 60 years ago. He was a superior hand to manage a team, and was often with the teams on the road. Captain Patchin drove with him the first loaded teams through from Painesville, by way of Chardon village, over a new and very rough, hard road. (No one living at the village then, about 1811) He took two pairs of oxen and went to Simeon Moss' landing, on the Cuyahoga, east of where Perry Reed now lives, for lumber. Returning with his load, when he came into the pinery, on Oak hill, the wolves began to howl. He sat with an axe, ready for defense, on the load, but no wolf came. Going across the woods from Page's to his brother's, he heard the brush snap, in the path just ahead, and thought a bear was ready to pounce upon him, when one started off with a snuff, and ran away.
He learned to write well, and one of his written notices for election day was taken to be that of Ralph Cowles, the master. He was first elected constable ; afterwards, served as justice of the peace for a time, and resigned; was elected township treasurer, and held the office 30 years, his accounts being carefully kept and with fidelity. In 1816, he was chosen lieutenant of militia, was cap- captain two years, and, in 1819 or '20, was elected lieutenant-colonel. The militia musters were held at Burton. At a revival meeting held in Claridon, he was converted, and joined the Congregational church in Burton. His father was friendly to the masons, and, about 1835, they held a meeting in the big ballroom of his father's house, when he joined them, and has been more than 50 years a mason-perhaps the oldest living in the county. His wife died October 31, 1856, and rests in the yard east of the village, only a little way west from the home of which she was so many years the light and the joy. He is living with his son, Henry, on the old farm-now past 83, able to mount his mare and ride well in saddle, until last summer (1878), when on mounting she started and his foot slipped. The fall injured his thigh. He recoved slowly, and is able to walk with a cane. His recollections have given may items for the history,
Clarissa M.-their eldest daughter, was born August 20, 1818; married to Lawrence Hitchcock, at Burton, December 20, 1837. She was one of the brightest of girls an amible, even tempered, and patient christian woman, known only to be loved. Her death occurred at Michigan City, Indiana, September 20, 1868.
S. Burdett-eldest son, born November 11, 1820, married Julia, a sister of Frederick Thomas, at Hartsgrove, November 8, 1849. She is well remembered as an assistant teacher, with her brother, in the 3d academy. Burdett and his family enjoy a quiet life, on his farm, lot 76, across the river.
Seabury-born September 6, 1823; died April 18, 1825.
Eliza E.-born June 9, 1826, was married to Thomas Brotherlin, at Burton, August 24, 1848. She was a gentle lady, and a faithful companion of a christian husband. He died in Columbus, May 18, 1864, and her death occurred April 1, 1865.
Eunice M.-born February 17, 1829, a girl of preposessing qualities, and all the genuine kindness of heart, so manifest in the life of her mother, resides with her sister, Mrs. Johnson, at Michigan City, Indiana.
Henry E.-born December 25, 1836, married Fanny E. Dayton, at Burton, June 6, 1858. He occupies the old homestead, and is devoted to the pursuit of agriculture. He has taken great interest in the county fairs, and has served several years as secretary of the agricultural society.
Ellen Annette-born February 22, 1839, became first a teacher, and, after the death of her mother, was with Mrs. Brotherlin, in Columbus. Their home was her home. In her school days, she met Henry W. Johnson, of Middlefield.
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When the stormy years of the war had passed, this gallant soldier of the first Ohio, sought her, and they were married in Columbus, January 1, 1867. Surrounded with an interesting family, they reside in Michigan City, Indiana.
Ada M.-born September 18, x844, lived to be a sweet girl and a much-loved teacher. She died at Burton, September 8th, when the shades of sorrow began to darken on the land, that memorable year of 1861.
JOHN S. FORD,
Third son of Stephen and Eunice Ford, was born September 6, 1831. He went to school as other boys, caring something for books, and as much for wooden swords and guns, painted with scokeberry juice, and the departing flocks of geese, charged upon by his command, as he did for the spelling class and the fifth reader. The military spirit of the "gineral trainins" broke out with the boys of his age every summer, and the paper hats so loftily worn, with pants striped with white, fell into line, at his call, as readily as drilled soldiers. He was captain of the boys' company which mustered on the old square about 1843. It was no task for him, about 1844, to wade the winter snows, from his father's house to the Welton district east, to be trained by Mary Clark, one of the most amiable and instructive teachers ever in a log sch0ol-house. With his cousin Wallace, from west of the village, he walked the path to that school and returned daily, and they advanced rapidly in the common branches.
The slow years of anxious boyhood went quickly by, and there was no waiting for study of more than Adams or Ray, or of Kirkham's grammar. Employment was before him and close by. Farm work in summer, and schooling three months in winter, was the ordinary way. The intention of his parents was to give him a thorough college training, and under Joel T. Case he received academic instruction, but a visit with friends in Columbus, Ohio, the fall of 1848 determined his course of life, accepting there a position in the store of Stanton & Lee, at the remunerative price of $60 a year, and board. With a brave spirit he set in to the duties of a boy, advanced to the position of a man, and the head clerkship of one of the oldest and largest business houses in the city, that of D. T. Woodbury & Co., and received the highest salary.
In the spring of 1856 he went to La Crosse, Wisconsin, as partner of Mr. Lee, his first employer, in a general store. Returning to Columbus in the fall, for a most special and important affair of life, he found many friends gathering at the house of P. T. Snowden, on the 15th of September. It was astonishing the number of friends he had, and how rapidly they were coming in. The first of society, of city quality and tone, filled the mansion, and a pleasant party was in waiting for the event of the morning. Sarah M. Starrett was a charming girl. The smiles of nineteen summers came as the rose tint of joy, in the blush of her face that beautiful morning. All eyes rested on her. She was the center of interest, when standing by John Ford, their vows for life were made, each to the other, and solemnized by the minister. It was a happy company, and the years that have followed have been happy to the united ones.
In June, 1857, he returned to Columbus, and became a partner in the first furniture house in the city. The firm was Brotherlin, Halm & Co. Changes occurred, and he succeeded these partners and became the head ot the house of Ford, Stage & Co. His foresight and experience enabled him to obtain the contract for the making of chairs in the Ohio prison, in 186̊. This led to a change, and, in 1865, the firm of Ford, Johnson & Co. was established-and engaged in the manufacture of chairs-and became large contractors of prison
538 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
labor. The years following the war had so filled the prisons in some of the western States, as to render labor unproductive. Finding something of this in northern Indiana, the whole concern was moved, and sat down on the white sand banks of Michigan City, in the fall of 1868. A few years later, all the families followed to this shore of Lake Michigan. In 1872 a branch house was opened at Chicago, and took the name of J. S. Ford, Johnson & Co. Henry W. Johnson, who was major of the 41st Ohio, in the war, is the home oirector of the concern in Michigan City. R. A. Hichcock is chief in the Chicago house. John S. is at the head of both houses, and general manager of the whole.
This boy, set to trimming lamps in the store, at $60 a year, by determined purpose to do well everything set for him to do, with no word of complaint, and only a pleasant smile for all, went bravely down to duty and up to high position. He became first clerk, partner, head of the house, general manager of two great concerns, doing the most extensive business, in their branch, of any house in the great west.
Religious in thought and education, he is a firm but liberal Presbyterian, as is also his wife. Short, stoutish, with easy carriage, eyes and hair brown, light of skin, pleasant-faced, generous in thought and in deed, given to be mirthful, to tell well a good story, he has hosts of friends, and is held in high esteem at home and abroad.
JOHN ANSON FORD.
1807. In a little log house, on the southern slope of West mountain, near Cheshire, Connecticut, September 18, 1798, the same year that the settlers began cutting away the woods of this far-off west, was born to John and Easter A. Ford, a second son, whose hand was to grow, as if bred to the stroke of an axe, the muscles of his arm had a fibre, that the on-coming years wove into power, before which great forests passed away. Strong in the resolute will of his father, yet kind as only could be the boy of such a mother—early the imaginations began their flight to the far-away country, where the father was at work, and the mind soared beyond the shades of the mountain, and in the wondrous paths of the sunset, led on to the golden future; but the heart came back to the home, to the sweet-faced mother, the evening prayer, and that most blessed of all rest, the pillow of youth. Away below these high lands of the little State, where the sea waves beat forever on the sands of the shore, at East Haven, March 30, 1804, six years later, in the family of a sailor, there came a child.
In 1807, with the family of John Ford, his father, this boy came to Ohio. Working in the clearings and fields summers, his schooling was confined to the winters, but he soon was teaching in some of the log school-houses of that day, one being just west of where Uri Hickox lived. Clearing away, logging, piling brush and burning, he was set for a house on No. 9, and often his brothers camped with him for weeks, as they cut over that lot.
Asahel Barnes had come, and in his family was a child of ten summers, called Eliza. She loved flowers. That she caught up, ever so delicately, for this youth, Ansoh, the blue violet of the woods, or that they plucked together the wild rose of the forest, I do not know, but this is true; he afterwards surrounded his house with the beauty of bloom, and made the pathway to his door, smile with the opening bud and the unfolded flower, through all the years from April to November. He found her in the father's home, by the spring
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 539
and the rocks. They were married April 1, 1820, and this boy of the mountain and child of the sea started on the journey of life together. Esquire John Ford performed the ceremony. On horseback, behind her husband, she rode away. They went by Deacon Cook's, turned into the lane north of his house, and followed a winding road to a clearing, near where Mrs. Hale now lives, and on down to a spring on the eastern hill slope on No. 9, and to a log cabin, the fire stones of which remain to this day, marking the spot where they began. The next winter they had an invitation to a ball, in the hall of his father's house, and this is the style of it, written on heavy paper cut square just the size to contain the words:
"NEW YEAR'S BALL."'
The company of Mrs. Eliza Ford is requested at John Ford's hall on Monday, the 1st day of January next, at 12 o'clock noon.
Managers.
S. Ford,
F. Fleetwood,
L. Millard,
Burton. Dec. 19, 1820.
Their nearest neighbor was "Uncle" Hull Bradley, about a mrle distant. Ford was a good hunter, and " jerked" venison was often smoked by the jams of the chimney, while a patridge was broiled on the coals. Half a mile east of where stood this cabin, now runs the trestle work of the Painesville and Youngstown railroad, over the east branch of the Cuyahoga, and crosses at the same point where the farmers' boys used to wade with pants rolled up, driving the cows home from the lower pasture.
One day, a little way from the door, a pet cat circled around, and drew close to a charming rattler. Mrs. Ford called her husband. With a stick he aimed for the neck of the deceitful reptile. The head stood about six inches above the coil, and the blow broke the neck of the snake, saving the mystified cat from death. He wore the hunter's shirt, a sort of tow frock, and often the buckskin pants. His rife was sure aim. A big bear had climbed into a high tree, and the quick shot tumbled him down. He had a Canadian horse, Pomp, so trained that when riding through the woods, if a buck started up, the horse stood firm, and the leveled rifle flashed, dropping the deer. A rifle company was organized early. He was elected captain. They were well drilled, and very alert in their movements. At his funeral, June 25, 1878, he was said to have been the last, having outlived all who were with him on that muster roll. On inquiry, it was found that two of the men still march the shores of time in 1879—Joseph Tucker, of Montville, and Barclay Johnson, the trapper, of Middlefield.
Henry and Caroline Barnes came to live with them in 1822, and others of the family from time to time ; these orphan children always finding there a welcome and generous home. At a later day, as the lands cleared, they built by the road, where Horace Hale now lives, and here, as by the cabin, the beauty of flowers opened up from the new made beds among the great tree roots of the yard. His house was open to the poor, and "Aunt Newell," an old lady not of kin, lived many years in the south room, which was made comfortable for her.
Somewhat troubled with the mystifications of doctrinal teaching, he found it hard to accept the creeds of any of the religious societies. Hearing the gospel preached at a meeting held in 1835, on King street, in Chardon, he, with his wife, confessed Christ as their Saviour, and took the Bible as their rule of faith and practice, and untramelled by any dogmas, started in a christian life.
540 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
In 1838, they moved to the first house west of the square. Here, for some years, meetings were held. The Scriptures were searched, and a "Thus saith the Lord," became the ready "sword of the Spirit," from the lips of those who there heard Elder William Collins preach, and were turned "unto the Lord." In these meetings the hymns often sung, beginning with the words, "I would not live always," "Oh, Land of rest, for thee I sigh," and "How firm a foundation you saints of the Lord," were sweet forecasts of a faith that led the friends, who gathered there, above the difficulties of this life.
A church was here organized, the year 1838, known as Disciples, and he was chosen one of the elders and Joseph Woodward the other. He continued in this office of the church, teaching the Word both in private and in public, until 1857—almost 20 years. In the building of the church for the Disciples he paid a large sum, and always carried the heavy end of the burden in the church's support. Being first to espouse what was then called a new and dangerous heresy, but which has stood the test of time and trial, in this country, as a religious faith, is reason for full mention on this point. Some friends were for a time estranged from the family, and even relatives looked with distrust upon this independent action of a house whose members had dared to investigate the Scriptures, and decide the "way of life" for themselves. His house was the place where the preachers rested, and always had a home, and the quick perceptions of his faithful wife, whose kind ways made visitors easy, put things in readiness for their comfort. It was here the young people of the village delighted to come, and often gathered to enjoy the freedom of the h0use. Now, many, older grown, recall with pleasure, the social ways of "Aunt Eliza." This was the home in which the family grew up, and from which they went out.
He was elected justice of the peace, succeeding John Cook, esq., in 1838, and the first case on his docket was Noah Hall vs. Amb10se Potter, June 15, 1838, and the last he entered was Johnson D. Ensign vs. Simeon Hayes, March 4, 1850. His successor was James Peffers, esq. Many times elected assessor, he served the people faithfully, and he was so often called to settle estates, that it became burdensome to him. In 1854, he was elected commissioner of Geauga county by a vote said to be one of the largest ever cast in the county.
In 1857 he removed, with his family, to Newburgh, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and from there to Wilmington, Illinois, the spring, 1860. Some time in 1862, there being no Disciple church in Wilmington, he and his wife united with the Presbyterian church at that place. Here, upon the bank of the Kankakee river, they lived upon a farm, and the two youngest boys, Eugene and Cyrus, came to manhood. The second daughter, Mrs. Emily L. Lacy, lived near them. Tuesday night, January 5, 1875, Eliza Ann Ford passed away in the good old age of 71. On the New Year's just passed, day the little children of the neighborhood had a little party with these old people. Now, they came, bringing flowers, wet with their tears, and laid them on her cold breast, saying,. "She had been so good and kind to them." These flowers were a wreath immortal, from the affections of those children, laid as a crown above the pulse-less heart of that good mother, and that kind tribute is sacred in the thought of her own children. The remains were brought to Burton for burial. Mr. Witter pregched from 1st Corinthians xv: 26th.
The 23d of June, t878, only a few months short of four score years, Mr. Ford died at the house of his son, Cyrus, on the bank of the river. He was brought for burial, to Burton, June 25th. An active and useful man in his day, and exemplary through a long life of christian service, it was said at the funeral, by the old pastor, Mr. Witter, who had known him longest ;" He was a man, upon whose character there was no stain." His strong faith was sublime. There was no doubt in his mind. A neighbor christian called in before his death,
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and they shook hands at parting, the dying man quoting the line of the hymn:
" When in that holy, happy land,"
" Well take no more the parting hand."
The children were all born in Burton.
Esther Lovilla—born May 3, 1826, died October 31, 1830.
Martha Eliza—born February 5, 1829, was married to
Alvin L. Tinker—December 31, 1846. They settled in Unionville, Lake county, where he began the practice of law. A man of generous spirit and very marked ability, he soon became known. His sarcasm and ridicule were sometimes as merciless as was his power in logical conclusions hard to overcome.
In 1851 they removed to Painesville, where he took and maintained high position, and now stands at the head of the bar. Of marked traits and decided character, true to friends, he has many who are life-long, and trust him to the end, holding him in the highest esteem, while some whom he has disturbed, in a varied and extensive practice, are bitter opponents. Such a character is worth more than that of the half way easy body, who is the friend of all. The students in his office have found him a ready help, and admire not only his legal, but general knowledge and literary culture. He has been a fearless defender of the poor, and many times gained for them justice in the courts, without reward other than their thanks and friendship.
Her kindness of heart, and care for those in affliction, has been often manifest in deed, in the community where they have so long lived.
3d daughter—born May 26, 1831, died a few weeks after.
Wallace John—born November 21, 1832. [See sketch.]
Emily Lovilla—born October 15, 1835; was at school in Hiram 1850-51. May 22, 1856, she married Dr. Charles B. Lacy, and settled in , Steuben county, Indiana, where he was successful in the practice of medicine. In the spring of 1860, they removed to Jackson, Will county, Illinois, and afterwards to Wilmington, in order to be near the father and mother. Dr. Lacy died there. She lived a widow and cared for the old people, and is the last of the family remaining in the place where their last days were spent.
Altha Esther—.was born on the old farm, September 2, 1837. The family having removed to Newburgh, Ohio, she was married there February 2, 1860, to Orlando B. Hoadley, and came to Burton, where they afterward lived.
Elias A.—the second son, was born at the village home, April 15, 1840. Mr. Riddle, in the Williams' History, has kindly written something of his record. [See sketch.]
Albert Eugene—one of the large-hearted.boys, and afterwards the kindest of men, was born August 1, 1842. He married Miss Cornelia L. McIntosh, in Wilmington, Illinois, Auguit 23, 1867. He was in the passenger department of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati railroad, as traveling agent, with headquarters at Columbus, Ohio. He died there suddenly, July 6, 1876. His face was impressive, and the large, brown eyes, full of tenderness. Tall and erect of form and prompt to duty, he carried always with him a certain easy dignity, that was an unconscious possession of power. Industrious, and strict in integrity, he quickly gained and held the respect of his superiors, on the road, and the strong friendship of the men with whom he was associated. He died too soon, and rests near the home of his youth, on the bank of the Kankakee river, in Wilmington, Illinois.
Cyrus Charles—the youngest son, was born June 24, 1844. He grew up in Illinois, and stayed with the family at the old homethere, until his mother died. He was married in Wilmington, to Cynthia A. Smith, January 23, 1876. Of a mechanical turn of mind, he sought an engine, and soon learned to run the steam power. In the fall of 1878, he removed to St.Louis, where he is now
542 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
actively employed as engineer on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern railroad.
WALLACE JOHN FORD,
The eldest son of John A. and Eliza Ford,. was born on November 21, 1832. Although Mr. Ford is still a young man, comparatively, yet, when the almost wonderful changes in the region of his nativity are considered, as well as the vast strides taken by the country, generally, since the day of his birth, that event seems to recede to the earlier of times in the history of the country. His child and boyhood home was on the northeast corner farm of the township, and he was subjected to much of the rigid discipline of a boy born in the later margin of pioneership, and grew up under the tuition of constant daily labor. Although his family were well off for the time, he, and all the young Fords, were reared as were all the boys of that day, under the reign of a pure democracy, that took no heed of distinctions, save such as were made for themselves by personal endeavor. Belonging to a family of unusual intelligence, he had all the advantages of the district-schools of that day, as well as those secured by spending some time in the academy under Joel T. Case and Frederick Thomas. He remained steadily on a farm until he was 18, when he became a clerk in G. Boughton & Co's. store (Joseph R. Johnson was the carpartner), where he remained a year. His parents were among the early acceptors of the ancient gospel, as preached by the Disciples, which commended itself with such force to his understanding that in May, 1851, he united himself with that church organization, and grew to be regarded as one of its widely known and influential members. This association naturally led his attention to the new Eclectic Institute, and academical school established at Hiram, Portage county, Ohio. Here he remained for a time, and was associated with Hazen, afterwards General, Everest, Garfield, and others, who since have reflected luster upon the school. Selected for that purpose, at the close of his last term, he delivered the valedictory address. Going to Cleveland, during the summer of 1852, he was head clerk in the store of A. S. Gardner, on Superior street. In 1853 his health had become impaired. In hope of gaining stength of constitution, and securing a fortune, he determined a trip to California. 'On March d, of that year, in company with young Dr. Colbert A. Canfield, of Chardon, he started for the "Garden of the Hesperdes," going by New York and Panama. Horace Greely gave him a letter of introduction to Postmaster Moore, of San Francisco, and this " Go west young man" amused himself a long time in trying to decipher that remarkably written letter. On arriving at San Francisco, he entered the service of James Mills, formerly of Ashtabula county, Ohio, and took merchandise to the northern part of the State.
Here in the Sacramento valley was erected a large canvass store, seeming in the very shadow of Mount Shasta, though its snow-crowned peak was 120 miles away ; so near on the vision, from the awful distance, come the majestic mountains of that country. The next January, in company with Canfield and others, he went south to the Los Angelos country, to purchase cattle for the San Francisco masket. In the wildness of that day, this was somewhat hazardous, though there was little fear that Indians, or banditti robbers; would be encountered. When started, the trail of the drove lay along the coast, and at one point on the sandy beach of the Pacific, the rocks of the coast range of mountains come down to the sea, and could only be passed when the tide was out. When the ebb left the solid sand of that shore, the drove passed the point, and was led
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 543
away, far up into a clover-grown valley, for feed. The tent was pitched, and camp fires burned into the night. One man, with saddled mule, watched the cattle. The others slept. Canfield was on watch from midnight until morning.
At day dawn, March 19th, a strange thing happened to young Ford, exceptional in its features, and taken altogether, it has sanked with the wonderful. In the early gray of the morning light, he left the tent, its sleepers undisturbed, and passed along a little brook running down the valley. In the shadow of its bank he was discovered by Doctor Canfield, who mistook him for an Indian or an animal, without even a suspicion that any one was so early away from the tent, and without hail, he promptly leveled a Colt's revolver and fired. The supposed native fell. On reaching him, Canfield was horrified beyond measure to discover in the victim, his friend. This was in no way diminished, when he found that his bullet had entered a little behind the ear, traversed the base of the head, passing directly through, making an exit at the orifice of the right eye, which it carried away with it. The distracted doctor bore his friend back to camp, and washed his wound. Ford seems to have been no more than stunned. "You will not live more than half an hour," was Canfield's declaration to him. "I shall come out all right," was the resolute response, and he did. He was placed on horseback, and rode two and one-half miles to a Spanish ranch, where he lay the rest of the day, on the earthen floor, with a folded overcoat for a pillow. The next day, Sunday, he rode with the drove 5 miles, and camped. On Monday he rode i 5 miles, and slept that night with his saddle for a pillow; and thus he went on with the party, by day and night, until Thursday, when he left the drove, and rode 24 miles, accompanied by Thaddeus Mills, to San Luis Obispo, where he took a steamer for San Francisco. In two weeks the wound was healed, with no other treatment than frequent washing ano application of wet cloths. It is but just to say, that Mr. Ford attached no blame to Dr. Canfield (since dead), for the accident, which came so near taking his life, and, as before, they were ever afterwards firm friends.
For the twenty-six intervening years Mr. Ford has experienced no inconvenience from this injury, other than the loss of his eye and impaired power of his left ear. The case is hardly paralleled by that mentioned in the sketch of his brother, Captain E. A. Ford, who was shot through the lung in the battle of Stone River.
Mr. Ford returned to Burton, and in 1855 he opened the first exclusively hardware store in Geauga county, which business he conducted until 1857, when he sold out. The following year he became a trustee of the Eclectic Institute at Hiram, now a college, which position he has continued to occupy until the present time, 22 years. Soon after becoming a trustee, he was appointed financial agent of the Institute, then depressed and in debt, and went among the churches and friends of education to solicit aid. In this service he spent much time for the next ten years, going from church to church, from neighborhood to neighborhood, and often from house to house, in the pulpit, on the platform, in the school-house, by the fireside, in the field and by the wayside, telling the story of the infant school, its importance and necessity, opening out the general grand subject of education, its measureless importance to individuals, and its crowning necessity to the American people. Such labors, in such fields, are, in their tendencies and far-reaching results, beyond estimate. By his effort the debts of the Institute were paid. He was instrumental in securing to the Eclectic, the first course of Biblical lectures delivered before the class of ministers in the summer of 1866, in charge of the Rev. Isaac Errett, and labored efficiently to establish the Christian Standard, now the largest paper of the Disciples, which is edited by Mr. Errett, at Cincinnati. In 1867 the Institute was re-organized into a college. His successful labors in behalf of education had secured sub-
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scriptions to the amount of $80,000, for an endowment fund, the major portion of which is already paid.
A fearless advocate of his convictions, he always held to them against friend or foe. At one time it was designed to accept the resignation of President Shepherd, and substitute a younger man. In Ford's judgment, this was neither right nor expedient. His strongest friends in the board meeting sustained the motion for a change. In the debate he stood alone, and in dosing the argument, so defended the right, and portrayed the dangers threatening the college, that the vote was close, although the motion was sustarned.
So much of interest centered in the "old Eclectic," when the board had decided to make it a college, that friends from various sections gathered at a meeting, held in the chapel hall. A resolution ratifying the change was to be passed. So vividly portrayed in his correspondence to the Herald, was the closing scene of that meeting, and the historic characters in it, that it is inserted here:
"Dr. Robinson, the author of the resolution, with paper in his hand stands up. The decisive moment approaches, stillness is over the convention, save the breath of the wind through the open windows. In gravely impressive tones, the Doctor asks that only those shall vote for this resolution who are willing to, and in v0ting, do pledge their influence and their means to its supp0rt, and those who are unable to give money, shall pledge their hearts and prayers to its success. The vote is taken, and every member of the convention rises unanimously in its favor. Pledged without reservation, stand all that convention, and the work is begun. In the joy of the moment, a most beautiful and touching speech came from the great heart of Gen. Garfield. Tears stole silently on the cheek as he carried us back in the memories of the past. Last night Dr. R. had told of a sunset on Lake Erie. To-day, the General stood in the vestibule of the past. Before him was the great ocean of busy life. Wrecks here—wrecks yonder—ships stranded—ships sailing gloriously. Behind was the old shore, where his young heart-hopes waited, gaining the vigor of early manhood. The Eclectic was there. Was it receding now, and he drifting away from the old landmarks? Were the ties that bound him there, to be broken? Might he not cast anchor and rest near that old shore, ere he turned to the dim vastness of the great future, and sailed to the eternal beyond? It was well to express the wish that the balance of his friend's, the Doctor's, life-work might be such, and so we say of his own, that when the sunset came, it should be like the scene on Erie.
The great sun hung just above the waters in the blue of the west, the clouds floating purple and scarlet and gold, rolled high heavenward, and the scimitar flashing blades of light cut across the waves of water, and circled around a ship, with canvass full-spread, sailing directly into sunset. Every mast was a towering spire of solid heat; every spar a beam of light; all the sails sheets of flame blazing on the sky; the decks a burnished plane of glittering fire, and the whole a magnificent palace ship, radiant in the splendid glories of the hour, went sailing from before the vision straight into the sun, and all, in the same sight, went down beyond the waters into the evening. A grandeur like this could only come to close man's voyage, after a life of noblest effort. The work that day begun, will live to bless the world, when we have all passed beyond the sunset of life's evening."
In these ten years of active and important college work, is covered the war period, a tale so often told in the lives of our patriotic citizens. Mr. Ford shared to the full, the fervor of feeling and firmness of determination, which hurled the armed north upon armed slavery. He was easly appointed a lieutenant, and assigned to recruiting, did volunteer duty in Kentucky, and was at Green river bridge in 1862. But the loss of his eye and impartial hearing so incapacitated him for active duty, that he did not long continue in the service.
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On the expedition from Columbus and Cincinnati to Pittsburgh Landing, Tennessee, on the steamer Tycoon, May 9th, 1862, after wounded soldiers in charge of Doctor S. M. Smith, medical director, Mr. Ford acted as secretary, and received the special commendation of his chief and honorable mention by Gov. Tod, in his report to the legislature. During the years 1861-2 and part of 1863, he was a legislative correspondent of the Cleveland Herald. On the battlefield of Shiloh, near the famous peach orchard, where occurred the terrific closing struggle of the d days' fight, one morning, in the spring of 1862, he rode with Gen. Garfield towards the Washington battery captured from the rebels in the edge of the wood. The whole field was one continuous record of wreck and carnage, and the value of human life seemed small in the presence of this awful desolation. The young general might go down in the next onset, as quickly as had gone the thousands in that fielo. His life seemed worth too much. There were too great possibilities before him. The nation had neeo. of such heart and such brain for counsels, in the fearful perils through which she was passing, more than she had need of his sword in the battle. So impressed was Ford with this thought, that he broke a moment's silence of the ride with words of this purport. "General, you ought to leave this army life. We have need of you in congress; your district will send you." Garfield answered, "No, I must go through the war." Ford returned home, went down the Mahoning valley, counselled with friends, wrote of the trip in a regular letter to the Herald, mentioned James A. Garfield for congress, and the publication of this in the Herald, is believed to have been the first press notice of his name, in that connection. He was that gentleman's private secretary during the first session of his remarkable congressional career. From that time to the day he received the unanimous nomination of the Republican members of the Ohio legislature, for the United States senate, in his presence, and to which he effectively contributed, Mr. Ford has been one of his steadiest, most zealous and able friends and supporters.
In 1870 he entered the service of the Climax Mower and Reaper company, of Corry, Pennsylvania, and in 1872, became its general manager. The continued strain on his energies, in the interests of this great company, brought him to a sick bed. Recovering, he labored on, until the extensive works, with all their varied interests and departments, were sold. He removed to New Castle, Pa., in 1873, and became interested in the oil business with Phillips Brothers.
In 1875, he returned, permanently it is hoped, to his native Burton. Here he purchased the old Hickox place, at the southeast corner of the public square, fronting on the Parkman road, which he entirely renovated, surrounded it with a neat fence, planted trees, shrubs, and vines, laid out and improved the grounds, and, from one of the dreariest places in all of that region, he changed it to one of the most attractive.
In 1876, he was chairman of the county Republican executive committee, and served well the party interests. The past year, he has devoted much of his time to the pioneer history of the county. He was one of the earliest and most earnest promoters of the historical society, and is an enthusiast in everything pertaining to the pioneers. At all of the gatherings and meetings, he has been one of the foremost of the devoted contributors and efficient workers. When the Messrs. Williams began their canvass for their history of the county, he early became satisfied that the scope of their proposed plan, as well as the hasty and ineffective gathering of material, and working it up, precluded their accomplishing what, in his view, ought to be accomplished by a history. He therefore determined to stand aloof from that enterprise, and, in the meantime, devote his attention to a work different in some features, and, as is hoped, more minute, more extensive, and more accurate in its history proper. To the writer
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of much of that work, however, he contributed such local knoweledge as he could then command, taking for that purpose, considerable labor upon himself. It is impossible to make a work of this character perfect, no matter by what hand it is performed, and how exhaustive the research. Little of it can be found in books or papers of any sort. A few accurate dates, a few entries in private books, a few paragraphs in newspapers, some inscriptions on tombstones, some old letters, and for the rest, the fading memory of the few who remain, who were too young, when the things happened, to observe and know certainly, and are too old to remember and narrate, when they tell their stories, and then —only tradition and hearsay, usually contradictory. These beginnings of history are always set down imperfectly and inaccurately. All these difficulties Mr. Ford has met, and, in a large measure overcome in his history of Burton.
The whole work contains matter equaling 1,000 pages of ordinary history size and all furnished at the astonishingly low price of 50. For this, it is said, the people of the county are largely indebted to Mr. Ford's exertions. Many will-grumble even at this cost, as many will be found to complain of the work, and many will be thankful that so much of fact has been preserved.
He is now forty-seven years old, with the years of his best work before him. In person slightly above medium heighth, slenderly and wirily built, square in the shoulders, of good carriage, anda.sy, graceful manners; dark brown-eyed, and black-haired, as are most of the Fords. I think the habitual pose of the head is now due to the loss of his eye, and the years it must have cost him to accustom himself to the loss, and seem unconscious of it. Few men are able to so overcome such a loss, as to wear the same manners as were theirs before. In ability he is above the good average, cultured more, perhaps, by a wide, varied, and constant intercourse with men, than with the reading of many books. He is an easy, graceful, forcible public speaker. Has evidently had much practice, and writes well. He understands men well; knows how t0 deal with them. In the world of men he has contented himself with laboring for others, in which he has a capacity of making himself very useful. This is often a thankless task. The good goes to another. The evil of men's speech, if such there is, falls to the share of the faithful friend. Mr. Ford certainly has contributed much to advance others. They are men who are not built up by indirect means, and thus far his support has reflected nothing but honorable credit to himself, and in its results, widely useful.
In the Murphy movement he early took high ground for temperance, and has stood firm in its advocacy and practice. In this, as in all else he undertakes, Mr. Ford shows a persistant determination that staggers at no obstacle in the way of success. This trait in itself so valuable, it is thought with him, in some instances, to be unduly developed, at all events, so much so, as to bring him in conflict with those more time serving and politic. In justice to him it should be said, h0wever sharply he may antagonize, no one is more ready t0 meet pleasantly and treat kindly his bitterest opponent, or to acknowledge an error when convinced. With determined perseverance, he accomplishes by hard work, what others would lack courage to undertake, comprehending quickly, in general and in detail, whatever his mind lays hold upon to plan, and his power to execute is equal to any need.
The-same purpose and will, which has directed him so well in the service of others, it would seem, should have held him steadily to some one aim or purpose, giving larger reputation for solidity, and greater personal success. With him changes have occurred, yet this summing up shows more of success in his life, than with many who "jog along the even tenor of their way."
At Lubec, Maine, June 7, 1868, Mr. Ford was united in marriage with Mary E. Staples, only daughter of Samuel Staples, esq., a ship 0wner and merchant
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of that sea-coast town. From the rocky shores of the wave-beaten State, and the fog clouds of its bays, she came to the fertile lands of the west, when the clearing work of the pioneers was done. Here she has earnestly and faithfully supported and aided her husband in his arduous labor of placing their names and deeds upon the page of history. A member of the Disciple church, she is a lady of cultivative, genial manners, decided convictions, frankly expressed— sincere and abiding friendship, and makes their happy home the center of a pleasant circle. They have three children—Samuel E., Lida L., and Elias E. Here, with the family, he will certainly gather and enjoy the fruits of a varied, active early life and experience.
A. G. R.
ELIAS ALONZO FORD,
Second son of John A. and Eliza Ford, born in Burton, April 15, 1840, was educated at Hiram, and taught school, just before the outbreak of the Rebellion, in Missouri. In the spring of 1861 he assisted in raising a volunteer company, in Geauga county, for the three months' service, and reported at Chardon with the company, but was too late to be mustered in. He returned to Burton and raised a company of "Militia of the Reserve," under the Ohio State law, and was elected captain. He drilled and kept up the organization until President Lincoln called for three years' men, when he stepped out from the State company, with seven others, and formed the nucleus arouno which company B, "Hitchcock Guards," Forty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, was formed. Mr. Ford drew up the enlistment roll himself, and was the first to sign it. The company formed, an election of officers was had by calling the roll. Mr. Ford's name being first, he nominated William R. Tolles for captain, W. W. Munn for first lieutenant, and H. W. Johnson for second lieutenant, who were elected, and commissioned by the governor of Ohio. He then took his place in the ranks, but was at once appointed by the three officers to the highest place in their gift —that of first sergeant. The company went into service in the fall of 1861, and early in 1862 he was promoted to second lieutenant, and soon after to first lieutenant, of the company. At the battle of Stone River, December 31, 1862, he had command of company B, Forty-first Ohio volunteer infantry. The regiment had been the pivot upon which that day's battle turned, as they had fought steadily, swinging around face to front on almost every point of the compass during the day. The terrible artillery fight, which began in the afternoon, brought the brigade in range 0f the enemy's shot and shell, and to save them, every regiment had been ordered to a new position. After fighting gloriously, the order came for the Forty-first Ohio to "fall back" and get shelter across the pike. His c0mpany rose up in good order, and as his sword waved in the light, and his voice shouted in the roar of that awful cannonade, "Steady on the left!" a minie-ball struck his right shoulder, and, passing through the right lung, was afterwards cut from under the skin of the right breast. Giving the command of his company to the sergeant, he started for the field hospital, feeling as if a cannon-ball had passed directly through him, but not knowing what the wound was. One of his sergeants, C. P. Bail, seeing that he was likely to fall, being weak from the loss of blood, hurried to him in time to support him across a cornfield and to the hospital. The ball being taken out, by Dr. Cleveland, surgeon of the Forty-first, he was removed to the division hospital. The route back to this midnight acre of the wounded, and its surgeon's tent, that last night of December, 1862, and the journey on to Nashville the next day, was so vividly described by the pen of Mr. Ford's brother oldee(W. J. F.), then the
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daily correspondent of the Cleveland Herald, that the letter was widely copied, and is given here:
"Sergeant Bail, a private, true to duty, as he told the story, let me tell it:"
That awful night 1 Words will not paint it, yet may give some faint idea of what sad experience a day of carnage brings. The moon shone out—traveling towards midnight in all the splendor of her majesty through a clear sky. The stars look in the beauty of their brightness from the heavens, as if to mock man and the dark, blood-stained earth.
At 9 o'clock of the evening of December 31st, an ambulance left one of the hospitals of Rosecrans' army, moving in the direction of Nashville. Two soldiers lay upon the mattresses of the carriage. The life blood of one, following the passage of a minnie ball through the breast, was oozing out from the right lung, staining the blankets beneath. The other, Private Wilder, suffering from a crushing shot through the left leg below the thigh, lay beside his fellow, scarcely conscious. Along with the carriage walked a private soldier—going to care for his wounded companions.
Three miles along the stony pike, literally guarded with the dead, lay their route. Here an artillery wagon had been swept by a bursting shell—its gun dismounted, its wheels shattered, the horses and men fallen together, lay mixed as they had gone down. The neck of a horse lay across the body Of his rider, and the hub of a heavy wheel, broken from the axle, lay crushing upon the breast of the gunner. Still tangled in the harness, hitched to the caisson, lay the hind parts of a horse, his breast and fore legs swept away, while the lifeless body of an artillerist rested with an arm over the dismounted gun.
Slowly passed the ambulance by the destruction at this spot, the hard breath of the men inside telling of suffering. Yonder a cavalry man had fallen, his drawn saber reflecting in the moonlight against the dark earth where he lay; and beside him, his comrade and his horse, all keeping the same watch of death. Here a headless body, gave n0 face to the moonlight, and near by was all that remained of one—the entire breast being swept away.
Just out of the rut of the wheels, lay rows of dead men, friend and foe to: gether, hastily thrown aside in the heat of battle, to save them from the crash of rolling wheels and tramp of flying horses rushing over the field.
The sharp frost of a clear night spread its white drapery over the clothes of the dead, and on the locks of many a veteran brave gathered its icy breath, offering to all alike a common shroud; while the moonbeams, robbed of their paleness, gave ghastly stare to the faces of these sleepers of the last day of 1862, save where these beams fell on the faces of the fallen rebel foe—to go out in gloom; for invariably the faces of the rebels had turned black, the effect of gun- powdered whiskey, given to inspirit them to rush with the fury of demons, in the mad charge to death.
All along the road, for more than two miles, were these scenes of horr0r before the weary soldier. Still on rolled the ambulance past broken wagons—by strewn baggage and wasted stores—lost muskets and dismounted artillery, to the great general h0spital of the fourth division.
Here, at midnight, lay the wounded and dying, covering an acre of ground around the great building, of which every room was filled, every outhouse crowded, every floor wet with blood. Close by, lay a man with an arm gone— next to him one with a leg smashed—there a part of a face was shot away— another had his scalp torn open from ear to ear by a ball glancing over the skull —and farther on, one had his back carried away by a shot, leaving a cut in which you might lay your arm—one shot in the cheek, the ball passing into the mouth through the throat and down the neck, lodging between the shoulders. Yet all these hundreds living, many waiting the dressing of their wounds with
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patience. The two soldiers were taken from the ambulance into the building, and with hundreds of others closed no eyes to sleep that last December night.
Another soldier, having his foot shot away, had confiscated a horse that he found hitched on the field the day before, and climbing into the saddle with the remaining foot, rode back, and, with the guidance of one of General Hazen's orderlies, had found the hospital.
At 9 o'clock that morning this soldier, Lieutenant H. P. Wolcott, and the one wounded through the breast, were put into a strong army wagon, drawn by four horses, upon a bed of corn leaves and a mattress, and with the sergeant, and a "will of a driver," Charley Stantial, started over the pike for Nashville. On rolled the heavy wagon, jarring and jolting, with a hundred more, passing ammunition caissons, among the dashing horses, by dead mules and flying wagons out to a bridge. Here the crowd halted, as only one team could pass at a time. Just as they reached this point, the enemy, sweeping around our right, hao brought a battery to bear upon the. The shell came whizzing through the air over the pike. Panic seized the teamsters, and crowding upon the bridge a pell-mell retreat commenced, our driver pushing across and putting his horses upon the run, the enemy sweeping down in the rear with a fearful yell. Now came the ammunition caissons, each drawn by six horses—thundering over the road in swift retreat—army wagons full of wounded—flying on, sometimes six abreast, crowding upon the pike. Fearfully whirled our driver on, as if careless of the dying men in his charge, and only seeking safety in flight. Full three miles the race continued, when on came dashing a battalion of the rebel Wheeler's cavalry. The race opened again with fearful speed. Past our driver hurled the ammunition caissons—any moment they might lock wheels, and crush his wagon to atoms. Yet on past the ruins of wagons already down, and blocking the way ; amidst the flying fugitives on came the rebel cavalry, yelling and firing upon the teamsters and the wounded. Our sergeant tore the red lining from his overcoat, and hoisted it as a flag, hoping they would respect it, as they were capturing the third wagon in the rear. The breast-wounded soldier lay gasping, and ordered the other soldier, who held his footless leg in one hand to keep it from pounding upon the wagon bed, and a revolver in the other, to shoot the driver, if he did not stop, that they might surrender before they were murdered by the now near foe. But on, on, heedless alike of threats and enemy, dashed the driver—now coming against a wagon, completely blocking the. road, yet wheeling with the fury of a madman, and cracking the whip upon the horses, rode into a close cut in a cedar thicket, and, whirling among the trees, emerged again on the pike, to find the 4th Michigan cavalry formed in column, awaiting the coming rebels, who, dashing around a bend in the road, met the sharp fire of the 4th's revolving rifles. Half a dozen rebels fell from their saddles. The Michigan cavalry charged with a shout, and the rebels fled. Nine miles over that stony road had the race continued. The determined driver had brought his team through and escaped, with the suffering load.
A long road to the city hospitals yet before them—the roar of booming guns far in the rear echoing along the hills, telling that comrades still struggled for victory—the sun descending would soon set and shut his glories from that New Year's day—and night close in upon the exhausted and dying men, too weak now to whisper. Yet on they rode. The excitement of the race for life was past, and the last miles of weary travel dragged far into the evening hours. So exhausted that life was despaired of—at 9 o'clock that evening they were taken from the wagon at the Planter's hotel in Nashville, and placed upon good cots, receiving close attention at the hands of skilful surgeons.
Poor Patchin, now gone to rest, was brought in the same day. Lieutenant Beebe and Captain McCleery, wounded, rode over the same route in the wild confusion."
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Thirty miles they rode that day, the oozing blood jolting out from Ford's lung, through the wound, until the mattress was covered with gore. This fearful ride over the stony pike, so cleared his lung as, without doubt, to save his life. He was the regular army correspondent of the 41st, to the Cleveland Herald, and from the date of his letter to the Herald, which is before the writer now, it appears that he was able to write on the 20th of January, twenty days after the ride, and on the 21st was started for home on a furlough. His recovery was slow, and his physician certifying that it would be a long time before he would be fit for field duty, he resigned, and was honorably discharged in May, 1863. His lung healed, but, on taking cold, the scar feels tight on the lung, though no serious difficulty has been experienced. Colonel Wiley, of the 41st, says of him, at Stone River, that he "commanded his company with coolness, and steady and cheerful courage, until disabled by a wound in the body." He was made captain by brevet. His company passed resolutions complimentary of his service as a soldier and officer, and forwarded them to the press for publication, at the time of his discharge.
April 15, 1863, he was married to Miss Lucy J. Jeffery, of Cleveland; was agent in the Union ticket office in Cleveland, one year, and at Union depot six months. His abilities were recognized by the superintendent of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati railroad, and he was employed as general western passenger agent of the road; was promoted to general passenger agent of the Bellefontaine railway, in the fall of 1867, with an office at Indianapolis. On consolidation of the latter with the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati road, he was made general passenger agent of the whole line. May 14, 1871, he was promoted to general passenger and ticket agent of the Missouri Pacific railroad, at St. Louis, and salary raised; was with that company until September, 1876, when he was offered a better position, and pay, which he accepted, and was made general passenger and ticket agent of the St. Louis & Iron Mountain railroad, controlling the passenger department of six hundred, and eighty-four miles of railway. Great energy and executive ability, with steady perseverance, have given him success. In the fall of 1879, he accepted the position of general passenger and ticket agent for the Vandalia route, being the western department of the Pennsylvania Railroad company, at an increased salary, and still has headquarters at St. Louis.