POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS - 125 Toledo railroad was secured to Toledo, and he served as director of the company for eight years, until 1882, when the road was consolidated with the West Virginia railroad. He was one of the organizers of the Union Elevator Company of East Toledo, in 1879. In the spring of 1880, he was appointed by Governor Foster as a member of the Metropolitan Police Board of Toledo, in which capacity he was active and efficient toward securing a greatly improved police organization for the city. Mr. Backus died in 1895. Representatives in Congress.—From 1843 to 1845, and 1849 to 1851, Emery D. Potter ; 1855 to 1859, Richard Mott ; 1859 to 1869, James M. Ashley ; 1869 to Feb. 5, 1870, Truman H. Hoag ; 1875 to 1877, Frank H. Hurd ; 1877 to 1879, Jacob D. Cox ; 1879 to 1881, Frank H. Hurd ; 1881 to 1883, James M. Ritchie ; 1883 to 1885, Frank H. Hurd ; 1885 to 1889. Jacob Romeis ; 1893 to 1895, Byron F. Ritchie ; 1895 to 1907, James H. Southard ; 1907 to 1911, Isaac R. Sherwood, present incumbent. Richard Mott was born on a farm in Mamaroneck, Westchester county, New York, July 21, 1804. He attended a Quaker boarding school, where members of the Society only were admitted, from his seventh to his tenth year, when he was set at work on the farm, plowing with a double team when but eleven years old. In 1815 the family removed to New York City, where he was again at school for a time, without a holiday to break the uniformity of his course of study. At the age of fourteen he was placed in a store as clerk, to begin the earning of a living. At sixteen he taught a school with the expectation of obtaining a collegiate education, but found himself wanting in requisite financial means and was compelled to return to his clerkship, where he continued to pursue his studies at night and early morning, in the hope of making up as far as possible for the disappointment of being unable to go to college. At twenty he became a clerk in a bank, remaining there until he was thirty-two years of age. In February, 1836, he left New York for Toledo. where he arrived March 1, by stage. Here he soon engaged in the forwarding, commission and grain business, which he continued without interruption until 186o. Aside from this, he dealt extensively in real estate and had charge of large landed interests of others, including Gov. Washington Hunt and the Hicks estate. In 1845 and 1846 he was mayor of Toledo, acceptably performing the duties of the position, which at that time embraced those of police judge and also president of the city council. Mr. Mott was among the earlier and most active directors of the Erie & Kalamazoo railroad, in which capacity he was able to do much toward helping that pioneer railway from the utter disaster, with which for years it was imminently threatened. and in making it an effectual lever in promoting the supremacy of Toledo. as opposed to the business rivalry of neighboring villages. He was prominently engaged in getting up the "Free Soil" convention at Buffalo in 1848, and was active in its workings. When what was known as the "Kansas-Nebraska policy" of the National administration had drawn more distinctly the lines between pro-slavery and antislavery, he at once arrayed himself on the side of the latter, and against his will he was made the Anti-Nebraska candidate for Congress, and . 126 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY was elected on that issue in 1854, receiving the support of a portion of the old Whig party and that of the anti-slavery Democrats. He was re-elected in 1856 and declined a third nomination in 1858. In 1873, he built the capacious residence at the southeast corner of Monroe and Nineteenth streets, which place remained his home until his death, Jan. 22, 1888. When the formation of an association for the political enfranchisement of women was discussed in Toledo, he at once gave it his hearty support, and when the association needed a permanent home he tendered it a local habitation in his Fort Industry Block. James M. Ashley was born near Pittsburg, Pa., Nov. 24, 1822. In 1826, the family* removed to Portsmouth, Scioto county, Ohio, and here James M. received his educational training, which was necessarily meager and limited, as the facilities for education were not of the best in Portsmouth and vicinity at that time. When about fourteen years of age he ran away from home, finding employment first as cabin boy and later as a clerk upon an Ohio river steamboat. Several years were then passed in a roving life, during which time he wandered through a number of states, engaging first in one thing and then another, but always with success. He finally settled in Portsmouth, Ohio. where he learned the printer's trade, and later commenced the publication of a newspaper, The Democratic Enquirer, which he was soon obliged to sell for want of sufficient capital, and in 1851 he removed to Toledo, where he established a wholesale drug store at the corner of Jefferson and Summit streets. Later, while a resident of this city, he studied law and was soon admitted to practice in the courts of the State of Ohio and in 1854 he took an active part in establishing the newly formed Republican party in the Toledo district at a convention held in the village of Maumee. He attended an important convention composed of many of the leaders of this party which was convened at Pittsburg early in the year 1856, and in the summer of the same year he was chosen a delegate to the Republican National Convention which was held at Philadelphia to nominate for the first time candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency of the United States, and to draft a party platform. At first he supported Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, for the Presidential nomination, but later he cast his ballot for Gen. John C. Fremont, who became the official standard-bearer of the Republican party in the campaign of that year. Later, Mr. Ashley delivered an address before a vast assemblage in Montpelier, Ohio, which marked him as a radical anti-slavery man and placed him in the front ranks of the Abolitionists. In the course of this address he said : "Conspirators are at this very hour laying broad and deep the conditions which are certain to ultimate in a revolution of fire and blood that must either result in the destruction of this Union and Government or in the abolition of slavery." In substance this was the same as Abraham Lincoln's celebrated dictum of 1858: "This nation cannot endure permanently half slave and half free." In 1858 Mr. Ashley was nominated and elected to Congress as a Republican from the Toledo district, and he continued to serve in that capacity by repeated re-elections for a period of ten years. At the first session of Congress after the election of President Lincoln he introduced a bill providing for the total abolition POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS - 127 of slavery in the District of Columbia, but because of its radical features the measure received but little support. In company with the Hon. Lot M. Morrill, of Maine, he drafted another bill of a less drastic nature, appropriating $1,000,000 to compensate the slave-owners of the District, and this was passed April 11, 1862. On Dec. 14, following, he introduced a resolution to amend the Constitution of the United States by abolishing slavery. On June 15, 1864, this measure was defeated in the House, but Mr. Ashley later managed to convert enough Democratic representatiyes from the Northern and Border States to secure its passage on a reconsideration. He commenced the impeachment proceedings against President Andrew Johnson, in 1867, by charging him with usurpation of power and violation of the laws of the United States by corruptly using the appointing, pardoning and veto power, and at the same time he offered an amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing for the election of the President by direct vote of the people. In 1868 he was defeated for re-election to Congress. and in 1869 he was appointed Territorial Governor of Montana, but he resigned at the end of a year owing to a disagreement with President U. S. Grant. With his son, James M. Ashley, Jr., he constructed the Toledo, Ann Arbor & Northern Michigan railroad, and they also established and operated a fleet of train-carrying ferryboats between the terminal of the above railway on the shores of Lake Michigan and Gladstone, Wis. In 1890 he re-entered the political arena and again received the Republican nomination for Congress in the Toledo district, but as there was no live or important issue in the campaign, and as he had left the .Republican ranks to support Greeley for the Presidency in 1872 and Tilden in 1876, he did not receive the active support of all the party leaders in his district and consequently was defeated at the polls. In 1892 he was again the Republican nominee for the same office, but was again unsuccessful. The worries incident to the memorable railway strike of 1893 tended to undermine the health of Mr. Ashley and in the following year he became afflicted with a severe attack of diabetes, from which he never fully recoyered. and on Sept. 16, 1896. he went to his reward. Truman H. Hoag was born at Manlius, N. Y., April 9, 1816. When a young man he went to Syracuse, where he held a clerkship in a store and in the Canal Collector's office. Thence he went to Oswego and was in the employ of Bronson & Crocker, commission merchants, coming to Toledo in 1849 as the agent of that house. In 1851. he first engaged in business, as the head of the house of Hoag, Strong & Co. In 1858, with Henry D. Walbridge, he formed the firm of Hoag & Walbridge, which continued for some ten years, when Mr. Hoag retired from active business. Though never an active politician, he was identified with the Democratic party and was the candidate of that party for mayor in 1867. In 1868, he was elected over James M. Ashley. Republican, as member of Congress, by a majority of 912, with Republican majority of 638 on the State ticket in the district at the same election. His. service in Congress was limited to an extra session in the spring of 1869 and a few weeks of the regular session, beginning Dec. 1, 1869 affording very little opportunity for the manifestation 128 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY of the qualities which he was believed to possess. He died at Washington. D. C., Feb. 5, 1870. Jacob Dolson Cox was born in Montreal. Canada, Oct. 27, 1828, his parents being natives of the United States, temporarily sojourning there. He was reared in the city of New York and received a classical education, graduating at Oberlin College in 1851. The following year he removed to Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, where he was superintendent of the high school for three years. Meanwhile he had fitted himself for the legal profession and was admitted to the bar in 1854. He was elected to the senate of the Fifty-third general assembly in 1859 from the Twenty-third senatorial district, and was at once recognized as the Republican leader of the body, along with James A. Garfield. In 1861 he was commissioned a brigadier-general by President Lincoln, and for a time had charge of the organization of the volunteer troops of Ohio. In July of that year he was assigned to the command of the Kanawha brigade, operating in Western Virginia, and performed brilliant and efficient service. In 1862 he was assigned to the Army of Virginia, under General Pope, serving in the Ninth corps. to the command of which he succeeded when General Reno was killed at South Mountain, and he led the corps gallantly at Antietam. On April 16, 1863. he was placed in command of the District of Ohio, and also a division of the Twenty-third corps. He served under General Thomas in the Atlanta campaign and in the battles of Franklin and Nashville. He fought the battle of Kingston. N. C., March 14, 1865. and united his forces with those of General Sherman. In 1865 he was the Republican candidate for governor of Ohio, and defeated Gen. George W. Morgan, Democrat, by a vote of 223,642 to 193,797. He was appointed Secretary of the Interior in March, 1869, by President Grant, but differing from the policy of the administration, he resigned in December, 187o, and returned to Cincinnati, where he had located in the practice of the law. In 1873 he was made president of the Toledo, Wabash & Western railway and removed to Toledo. and in 1876 was elected to the Forty-fifth Congress from the Sixth district—Lucas, Ottawa, Williams, Fulton, Henry and Wood counties. Three years later, in 1879, he returned to Cincinnati. and the year following he was elected dean of the Cincinnati Law School. and in 1883 President of the University of Cincinnati. He died Aug. E, 1900, at Magnolia, Mass. Jacob Romeis was born in Weisenbach, Bavaria, Dec. 1, 1835. He accompanied his parents to America in 1847 and with them settled at Buffalo, N. Y., having previously attended the village school of Weisenbach, as required by law, from his sixth year. In Buffalo he was a student in the common schools for one year, and in a German Protestant school for a time after his first communion. The family being poor, he was obliged at an early age to become self-supporting, and when fourteen secured a position as cabin-boy on the propeller "Oregon," Capt. Thomas Watts, running between Buffalo, Toledo and Detroit, his first visit to Toledo being in August, 1849. From 1850 to 1856 he was employed on passenger steamers commanded by Captains Watts, Hazard. Perkins, Pheatt. Willoughby and Goldsmith. The last named aided him to a position as train baggageman on the Toledo & Wabash rail- POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS - 129 road in 1856, and for two years he was thus employed. Afterward he was promoted to the position of conductor on freight and passenger trains, but after 1863 was given charge of passenger trains exclusively. Owing to sickness, in 1871 he was obliged to leave the road temporarily, but upon regaining his health he resumed. work, being appointed general baggage agent. So successful was he that he was promoted to the position of depot master at Toledo, and given charge of all passenger trainmen on the Eastern division of that road, extending from Toledo to Danville, Ill. In that capacity he continued until his election to Congress. His first public office was that of alderman from the Seventh ward of Toledo, to which he was elected in 1874. Two years later he was re-elected, and in 1877 became president of the Board of Aldermen. In 1878 he was nominated for a third term, but refused to allow his name to be used. The next year he was elected mayor of Toledo, and under his administration many important reforms were instituted and improvements introduced. In 1881 and 1883 he was re-elected, serving for six years altogether. His nomination for Congress followed in 1884, and at the end of a campaign which was one of the most active the district has ever known he was elected by a majority of 239 votes. In 1886 the same candidates—Mr. Romeis and Frank H. Hurd—were again pitted against each other, and the result was practically the same, Mr. Romeis receiving a majority of 1,588 votes in the district. After resuming the duties of a private citizen he devoted his attention largely to the interests of the Toledo City Natural Gas Company, one of the principal industries of the city, and of which he was vice-president. State Senators.—Sessions of 1835 and 1836, and 1839-40, John E. Hunt ; 1841-42, Jacob Clark ; 1848-49-50. James Myers ; 1854-55, Samuel H. Steedman ; 1864-65-66-67, James C. Hall ; 1868, Charles A. King : 1874-76-77, Emery D. Potter, Sr. ; 1876-77, Theophilus P. Brown ; 1878-79, James B. Steedman ; 1884-85, William H. McLyman ; 1886-87, Ezra S. Dodd ; 1890-91, John Ryan ; 1898, William G. Leet and Adam Schafer ; 1900-02, George C. Dunham ; 1904, L. L. H. Austin ; 1906-08, Sylvester Lamb ; 1909-10, Carl H. Keller, present incumbent. John Elliott Hunt was born at Fort Wayne, Ind., ( within the fort), April 11, 1798. Subsequently, his father, Col. Thomas Hunt, was ordered with his regiment to take possession of St. Louis, where he commanded from 1803 to 1807, and there he and his wife died, leaving the son, John E., an orphan in childhood. In 1812, he went to live with his elder brother. Henry J. Hunt, in Detroit, and there witnessed Hull's surrender to the British army under General Brock. While in his fourteenth year his brother sent him to Sandwich, Canada, to secure at least an elementary education, no school being then in existence in Michigan. His student life in Canada, as well as all the schooling ever received by him was embraced within the limits of one year. He was the first beholder of the landing at St. Louis of the celebrated travelers, Lewis and Clark, from their three-years' tour to the Pacific Ocean, in 1806. In 1816 Mr. Hunt came to Maumee City, where, and at Toledo, he subsequently resided. At the former place he at once commenced business and for many years was in mercantile trade. which was largely 130 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY with the Indians in this region, with whom his relations were ever friendly, in large measure possessing their confidence and regard. His first Presidential vote was cast for Henry Clay, in 1824 ; his next was for General Jackson, in 1828, and he supported the Democratic candidate at each subsequent Presidential election, the last one being for S. J. Tilden in 1876. He was the first senator from this district after the organization of Lucas county, serving two years, as he also did in the same body in 1839-40, taking a prominent position. He was a member of the State Constitutional convention of 185o, and in 1851 he was elected treasurer of Lucas county, serving as such for two years. Subsequently he served for eight years as postmaster at Toledo, until the incoming of President Lincoln in 1861. In 1837 he was elected by the legislature as major-general of the Eighteenth division, Ohio militia, in which capacity he did what was then practicable for maintaining both the morale and the organization of that system which, not long afterward, owing to the popular judgment as to its inutility, substantially ceased to be. He resided at Maumee from 1816 until 1853, when he removed to Toledo. He died July 22, 1877, and is buried in Forest cemetery, Toledo. Dr. Jacob Clark was born at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., June 8, 1807 ; studied medicine with Dr. Caleb Pierce, of St. Lawrence county, New York, and was graduated at .Burlington, Vt., in 1828. After practicing at Canton, St. Lawrence county, he removed to Toledo in 1834, and there .he spent the remainder of an exceedingly active career. During the cholera epidemic, in 1849, the call for assistance was so great that he, as well as all other physicians, was nearly worn out by his labors. James C. Hall was born in Cincinnati, Nov. 20, 1812, and there he lived until his removal to Toledo, in 1859. He was for many years engaged in mercantile trade at Cincinnati, having been among the pioneers of jobbing business at that point. He was one of the first, if not actually the first, president of the Chamber of Commerce of that city. Actively identified with all public enterprises, he was specially helpful in the construction of the first telegraph line to Cincinnati, the Ohio & Mississippi railway (of which company he was president) the city water works and other improvements. At Toledo his spirit of enterprise was also manifested and specially .beneficial to the city. At the time of his death, which occurred at Toledo, Nov. 13, 1868, he was serving his third term as state senator, in which capacity his long business experience and general intelligence made him very useful, both to his immediate constituents and to the State. Charles Augustus King was born at Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., Aug. 9, 1817. He came to Toledo in the spring of 1841, when he engaged as a clerk in the commission house of Morgan L. Collins & Co.. forwarding and commission merchants, and there he remained until the winter of 1845-46, when he entered like employ with Edward Haskell & Co. In August, 1846, with N. Mitchell, he established the forwarding and commission house of Mitchell & King, on Water street, near Jefferson, which continued until January, 1848, when the firm was dissolved, Mr. Mitchell removing to Cincinnati. With A. J. Field, the firm of Field & King was then organized and continued until 1853. Then was formed POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS - 131 the firm of C. A. King & Co., (Charles B. Phillips, partner), which continued until 1855, when Ebenezer Walbridge succeeded Mr. Phillips. In January, 1859, was formed the firm of King Brothers (C. A. & F. J. King), to which afterward was added Fred H. King.. In 1855 Mr. King contracted for building the first grain elevator (No. 1) for the Wabash railway. After the institution of banks in Toledo he was connected with them as stockholder and director. He was one of the five trustees appointed by the court of Common Pleas, to whose direction was assigned the construtcion of the Toledo & Woodville railroad in 1870. He was a member of every board of trade in the city, beginning with the first one in 1849 ; held like relation with the Produce Exchange ; and was president of the former body in 1868. He was many years president of the Mutual Insurance Company. Elected as Mayor of Toledo in 1867, he served for two years, and at a special election held in December, 1868, he was chosen state senator to succeed James C. Hall, deceased. Among the measures which received his special support was what is known as the "Interest law," under which, by special agreement, eight per cent. interest was made payable, the regular legal rate remaining at six per cent. In 1882 he was the Republican candidate for Congress in the Toledo district, and with a Democratic majority of 3,000 in the district he came within 1,104 votes of an election, running. 1,051 ahead of the Republican ticket in Lucas county. For many years Mr. King was an active member and a trustee of the Young Men's Association, and subsequently of the Toledo Library Association, organized in 1865. as he also was of the Toledo Public Library. William Gleason Leet was born in Courtland, Trumbull county, Ohio, Sept. 6, 1867. When he was but two years of age his parents moved to Andoyer, Ashtabula county, where he continued to hold his residence until locating in Toledo, Jan. 3o, 1888. When he was fifteen years old his father died, leaving him, an older sister and a brother ten years his junior. The future senator secured a position with the Ashtabula Russia Leather Company, but the work being too heavy for a lad of his age he was compelled to give it up and then went to work in a skating rink. He was thus employed a little more than a year, and during his spare time he learned telegraphy with A. W. Gates, manager of the telegraph office at Andover fort the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company. After working at that occupation at several different points he was located at home, where during nearly four years of night work he studied days and completed the course in the Andover High School. After completing these studies he was transferred to the Toledo division of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railway and located at Sandusky, and from there, after eight months' sojourn, was transferred to the Michigan division and located in the dispatcher's office at Toledo, where he was promoted to the position of Dispatcher during the World's Fair, in 1893. In 1890 he was elected by his co-workers as chairman of a committee of all the telegraphers on the Lake Shore system to present matters to the general officers of the company relative to the adjustment of wages. the work of which committee was in a large measure successful. In 1894 he began. to read 132 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY law, during his spare time, with the firm of Beard & Beard, of Toledo, but after two years of study he gave up the idea of adopting. the practice of law as a profession. In the fall of 1897 Mr. Leet was elected as a member of the Ohio State Senate by a majority of 1,770 votes over his Republican opponent, who two years before had a majority of over 7,000 votes. In 19o1 he accepted a position as train dispatcher for the Wabash railroad and was located at Montpelier, Ohio, where he remained until 1906. He then removed to Greenville, Miss., where he has charge of a large gas plant. CHAPTER VIII. LEGISLATORS AND COUNTY OFFICIALS. REPRESENTATIVES, WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES-PROBATE JUDGES, WITH SKETCHES-CLERKS OF COURT, WITH SKETCHES-SHERIFFS, WITH SKETCHES-COUNTY AUDITORS, WITH SKETCHES-COUNTY TREASURERS, WITH SKETCHES-RECORDERS-SURVEYORS-PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS- CORONERS-COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. Representatives.-Session of 1840, .George B. Way ; 1845, Lyman Parcher ; 1847, Emery D. Potter, Sr. ; 1848, Freeborn Potter ; 1849, Morrison R. Waite ; 1850, Samuel H. Steedman ; 1852-53, Lucien B. Lathrop ; 1854-55, Samuel Durgin ; 1858-59, Samuel A. Raymond ; 1860-61, Dennison Steele ; 1862-63, James Myers ; 1864-65, Lorenzo L. Morehouse ; 1866-67, John A. Chase ; 1868-69, John Sinclair ; 1870-71, Wilson W. Griffith ; 1872-73, Russell C. Thompson and Guido Marx ; 1874-75, Guido Marx and Russell C. Thompson ; 1876, Russell C. Thompson (died before the expiration of his. term) ; 1876-77, Conrad Huberich ; 1877, James C. Messer (to fill vacancy) ; 1878-79, Harvey Kellogg and David B. Sturgeon ; 1880-81, N. Montgomery Howard and Charles B. Holloway ; 1882-83, Henry Kahlo and Noah H. Swayne, Jr. ; 1884-85. William Beatty and Edward Malone ; 1886-87, John H. Puck and Orville S. Brumback ; 1888-89, Charles P. Griffin and James C. Messer ; 189o, Charles P. Griffin and James C. Messer ; 1892, Charles P. Griffin, Oliver P. Heller, Charles A. Flickinger ; 1894, Carl H. Beckham, Charles P. Griffin, Oliver P. Heller ; 1896, Carl H. Beckham, Christian Schneider, Jonas Stanbery ; 1898, John C. MacBroom and Frank B. Niles ; 1900, George Demuth and Charles P. Griffin ; 1902, Ulysses G. Denman, John C. Jones, George Demuth, Harold W. Fraser ; 1904, Charles Farner, Louis H. Payne, George A. Bassett, John C. Jones ; 1906, George A. Bassett, Louis H. Payne, D. J. O'Rourke, Frank Hillenkamp ; 1909-10, John Paul Jones, Myer Geleerd, Cornell Schreiber. Lyman Parcher was a native of Vermont ; came to what is now Fulton county in 1836 ; afterward lived at Maumee many years ; and while there was elected to the Ohio legislature, and held different county offices. He died' at Toledo. May 24, 1862, aged 57. Col. Samuel H. Steedman became a resident of the Maumee valley in 1837, being a contractor on the Wabash & Erie canal. He served creditably at different times in both branches of the State legislature, - 133 - 134 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY and during the first year of the Civil war commanded the Sixty-eighth Ohio infantry, being discharged from the service in 1862. Lucien B. Lathrop was born in Royalton, Vt., and immigrated .to Richfield township, Lucas county, in 1834, in 1848 removing to Sylvania. He served as a member of the Ohio legislature and held other official positions. He died of paralysis at his residence in Sylvania, May 9, 1873. Samuel A. Raymond was born at Stormville, Dutchess county, New York, in 1821, and from that place the family removed to Patterson, N. Y., in 1826. He came to Toledo while young ; went to St. Joseph, Mich., for a few years, and then returned to Toledo, where he was in business, including the lumber trade. He was a representative in the Ohio legislature of 1858-59, and was Collector of Internal Revenue for the Toledo district. He left Toledo in 1866, for California, and he spent the remaining years of his life in San Francisco. Dennison Steele was born at Williamstown, Vt., Aug. 18, 1815. His boyhood was spent at Sackett's Harbor, where he enjoyed as good educational advantages as the locality furnished. In 1833 he accompanied his father and family to Perrysburg, Wood county, Ohio. Remaining there a short time, the family removed to Maumee, then the most hopeful center of trade on the Maumee river. Dennison soon became assistant auditor of Wood county, and ere long the postmaster at Maumee, where he afterward was deputy collector of customs. He was engaged in the lumber trade for some time, beginning in 1838. From 1851 to 1854 he-was clerk of Lucas county, removing to Toledo when that city became the county seat, in 1852, and there he continued to reside until his death. In 1859 he was elected as a representative in the Ohio legislature from the counties of Lucas and Fulton. Taking special interest in the cause of education, he served for several years as a member of the Toledo board of education. In 1865 he was appointed postmaster at Toledo by President Lincoln, and served in that capacity until removed by President Johnson in 1866. Mr. Steele's death occurred Nov. 29, 1871. Lorenzo Lewis Morehouse was born in Charlton, Saratoga county, New York, Jan. 27, 1811. He came to Ohio in October, 1837, and took an interest with Elijah Dodd in a contract in the construction of the Miami & Erie canal, in which connection they had a store in Waterville. In 1846 Mr. Morehouse built a grist mill at Waterville, and in 1849 he entered into partnership with James M. Brigham, which continued until the death of that gentleman, in 1869, the business including the wholesale grocery house of Ketcham, Brigham & Co., in Toledo. For several years he was county commissioner and for two years a representative in the State legislature, to which office he declined a renomination. Mr. Morehouse died at Waterville, Jan. 28, 1872. John Sinclair was a native of Ireland and was born in 1825. Coming to the United States in 1826, the family settled at Monroe, Mich. In 1847 he came to Toledo and became the bookkeeper of Alonzo Godard. Subsequently he was engaged in the commission business with G. R. Williams, and still later with Matthew Brown, the latter partnership terminating in 1874. In the city council from 1859 to LEGISLATORS AND COUNTY OFFICIALS - 135 1863, and again from 1867 to 1873, he was a. leading member of that body, most of the time acting as president of the same. In 1868-69) he served a term as representative of Lucas county in the Ohio legislature. He was actively identified with the Board of Trade, of which he was at one time the president, and also with the Toledo Library Association. Mr. Sinclair died at Oakland, Cal., March 3, 1875. Wilson W. Griffith was born near the Falls of Sugar Creek, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, Feb. 14, 1823. When fourteen years of age he left the farm and went to Lebanon, Wayne county, where he remained for a few years, and then engaged as clerk in a store at Massillon. In 1840, when seventeen years of age, he went to Oberlin with the view of taking a full college course. but after spending about two years in preparatory studies his health so far failed that he was compelled to relinquish his purpose, much to his disappointment. In 1843 he went to Bethlehem, Stark county, where he acted as clerk in a store and taught school, and he commenced his business life in 1845 by opening a store at Sugar Creek. In 1849 he removed his stock to Middlebury, Ind., and also engaged in there. He remained there until 1854 and then came to Toledo and engaged in the grain, warehouse and commission business with William G. Powers, occupying the "old red warehouse" at the foot of Monroe street, which property Mr. Griffith soon thereafter purchased. In 1858, with Robert Cummings, he engaged in the wholesale boot and shoe trade. This arrangement continued until March, 1862, when the firm of R. & J. Cummings took the business and Mr. Griffith returned to the commission and grain trade at the former stand. His health again becoming impaired, in 1866 he commenced a series of journeys, including visits to Europe, Asia, and Africa, and to many portions of the United States, including the Pacific coast. In 1869 he was elected as representative to the Ohio legislature, in which capacity he occupied an unusually prominent and useful position. Among other things, he presented and ably supported in debate a series of resolutions protesting against the bad faith of the State of Indiana in not maintaining according to the obligations assumed by her, her section of the Wabash & Erie canal. In 1871, with Henry B. Probasco, of Cincinnati, he was appointed by President Grant a Centennial commissioner for Ohio, holding such position until the close of the Exposition of 1876, at Philadelphia. Throughout the Civil war, with the- earnest co-operation of Mrs. Griffith, he was active and effective in contributing to the needs of the soldiers of the Union, and although from physical incapacity exempt from military service, he sent two substitutes to the field. In 1871 he was chiefly active in the establishment of the Merchants' National Bank of Toledo, of which he was the president until 1882. He was prominent in the establishment at Toledo of the Milburn Wagon Works, one of the largest manufacturing concerns of the kind in the world, and which has contributed largely to the prosperity and population of the city. Guido Marx was born in Carlsruhe, Germany, June 28, 1827. From six to ten years of age he attended the Lyceum, where were 136 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY taught the common branches of education, with the Latin, he also receiving therewith some instruction in Hebrew. The following two years he visited the school in Baden-Baden, to which place the family removed. At fourteen he was apprenticed to the book trade in Brunswick. North Germany. When seventeen he returned to his father's store in Baden, where were oil paintings and prints, still employing his leisure hours in the study of the languages, and also began that of history and art. In 1846 his father sent him to Paris, where he found employment in warerooms of exporters of city-made goods—meantime improving opportunities for visiting galleries and the study of art. In 1847 he returned to Baden with a consignment of oil paintings. During the years 1847-48, as a member of different societies, he became involved in political agitation which specially embraced the young men of the country. The result of this relation was that upon the failure of the agitation for liberty it was found best that he and his older brother (Emil) leave Germany for the United States, which they did, landing in New York, Oct. 1, 1849. Continuing their trip westward, they soon found themselves among German friends in Wood county, Ohio, where, with two others, they purchased of the State forty acres of "Canal lands," on which they built a small log house, cut prairie grass for winter feed for a cow and a yoke of oxen, and began the work of clearing, grubbing and fencing, preparatory to the next year's crops. In the spring of 1851 the Marx brothers sold out and removed to Toledo for employment as clerks, and they were engaged in the grocery trade from that time until 1861. Subsequently, with Rudolph Brand, Guido engaged in the liquor trade, the firm name being R. Brand & Company. In 1869-71 Mr. Marx was a member of the Toledo city council, representing the Fourth ward, and he was elected as representative in the State legislature in 1871, being re-elected in 1873. In the last-named year he was appointed by Governor Noyes as Commissioner to represent Ohio at the Vienna (Austria) Exposition, and as the result of his observations there he made report upon the necessity for the introduction in the United States of special trade schools, such as Toledo now has in the Manual Training School. In 1875, before the expiration of his second term as representative, he was elected mayor of Toledo, serving for two years and declining a renomination in 1877. In 1876, by appointment of the United States Centennial Commissioners, he was a member of the board of judges of the international exposition, held at Philadelphia, and was specially assigned to Group IV (malt liquors, wines and distilled spirits). By appointment of the court of Common Pleas, in 1878, he was made one of the trustees of the Toledo sinking fund. In 1881 the governor appointed him as a member of the police board of Toledo, under a special act of the legislature, which position he resigned on account of ill health. For a time he served as examiner of teachers for the Toledo schools. Beside these public positions, Mr. Marx served as director in the Merchants' National Bank, and in the Toledo Savings Bank & Trust Company, resigning the former position on account of ill health. In 1867-68, and again in 1872-73, he LEGISLATORS AND COUNTY OFFICIALS - 137 visited the Fatherland, and he made a trip to California in 1884, and to Colorado in 1887. Harvey Kellogg was born in Canaan, Litchfield county. Conn., Jan. 19, 1813, and settled in Lucas county in 1837. In addition to a common school education he enjoyed the advantages of academic instruction for one year in Columbia county, New York, and in 1830, when a little over seventeen years of age, he engaged in teaching in his native town, where, a few years later, he was elected a member of the school board and of the Examining Committee. Upon coming to Lucas county Mr. Kellogg located in what is now Adams township, where he taught school thirteen terms, served as justice of the peace by successive elections fifteen years, and was postmaster at Hickory, in that township, seven years. In 1877 he was elected to the general assembly by a plurality vote on the National Greenback party ticket, and while a member of the House served on the committees on Temperance and on Unfinished Business. In 1883 he was chosen president of the Lucas County Sunday-school Union. Charles B. Holloway represented Lucas county in the Ohio legislature, 1880-81. He was born in York, Livingston county. New York, June 14, 1826, and when eight years old was brought by his father to Springfield township, Lucas county. He took a prominent part in the organization of the militia of his township. As captain of Company C, Fourth regiment Ohio militia, he was appointed by the adjutant-general, Charles W. Hill, to take command of the regiment till the organization was completed. At an election in Monclova, in August, 1863, he was chosen lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, and received his commission from Governor Tod Aug. 30, 1863. Mr. Holloway was active and efficient as a member of the general assembly, and gained great credit, especially for the passage of his telegraph bill, a measure designed to afford relief from the monopoly of the Western Union Telegraph Company, by securing competition in the telegraph business. Charles P. Griffin was born at Kipton. Lorain county. Ohio, Sept. 3, 1842. The rudiments of his education were obtained in the common schools of his .native village, and afterward, ambitious to increase his fund of learning, he entered Oberlin College, where he conducted his studies with diligence and success. In order to pay the necessary expenses of tuition and board, he taught school during the winter months for several years. At the age of twenty-two he secured a position as a teacher in a business college in Oberlin, of which, less than a year later, he became principal. In connection with another gentleman. in 1865, he opened a business college at Hillsdale, Mich., and this he superintended and conducted in addition to continuing the management of the college at Oberlin. For three years he was thus engaged, after which, in 1868. he came to Toledo and embarked in the real estate and insurance business. From 1879 until 1883 he served as general manager of the National Life Insurance Company of the United States, but in the latter year he returned to Toledo, Where his large and increasing interests required his personal attention. In 1887 he accepted the nomination, and at the election was chosen by a decided majority to repre- 138 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY sent Lucas county in the State legislature. In the Sixty-eighth general assembly he rendered efficient service in the interests of his constituents, and they, appreciating his fidelity and devotion to them, elected him to the Sixty-ninth assembly, and afterward to the Seventieth. Seventy-first, and again to the Seventy-fourth. In all the long contest for the establishment and maintenance of the city's gas plant, he was the champion of the rights of the majority. He also introduced bills, which became laws, providing for a more equitable distribution of the costs of extensions and openings, requiring the city to pay the cost of paving all street intersections, and to pay at least one-half the cost of street lighting. During the Civil war Mr. Griffin was an ardent supporter of the Union cause, and his patriotic spirit led him to enlist as a member of Company C, Seventh Ohio Infantry. He died Dec. 18, 1902. James Curtis Messer was born in Greenfield, Erie county, Pennsylvania, Feb. 1, 1834. His father was a farmer, and in 1844 came west and settled on a farm which is now within the corporate limits of Toledo. In 1858, the son purchased a farm in section 9, Oregon township, and there he resided the remainder of his life. His early school privileges were meager. During the Civil war he was not only a warm supporter of the Federal cause, but was active and effective in the organization of the First Regiment, Ohio National Guard, in 1863. He was made second lieutenant of Company A, of what was known as the One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio Infantry, mustered May 12, 1864. In September following it was mustered out and resumed its place in the State militia, Lieutenant Messer being promoted to the captaincy, which he retained until the company was disbanded in 1868. Commencing in 1858, he acted for two years as township trustee, four years as assessor, nine years as clerk, and six as treasurer. He represented Lucas county in the Sixty-second general assembly of Ohio, being elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Russell C. Thompson, and in 1887 and again in 1889 he was elected to the same position. He was for many years vice-president of the Lucas County Agricultural Society. Mr. Messer died Sept. 21, 1903. Oliver Perry Heller was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, Sept. 20, 1838. The family came to Lucas county in 1846 and settled in Providence township, and there Oliver Perry grew to manhood and lived a signally useful life. During the winter seasons he attended school, while the summer months were devoted to farm work. On Oct. 16. 1861, he enlisted at Napoleon under Samuel H. Steedman as a member of the Sixty-eighth Ohio infantry. Proceeding to Camp Chase, he was ordered from. there, Jan. I, 1862, to Columbus, Ohio. which place he left Feb. 10, for Ft. Donelson. He was assigned to Wood's brigade and Feb. 14 took part in the battle at that place. Later he took part in the battle of Shiloh, where he was disabled, in the Vicksburg campaign of 1863, and the Atlanta campaign of the following year. On Oct. 28, 1864, he was 'mustered out at Chattanooga. the term of his service having expired. On his return home he devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits. He held a number of important public positions, being twice elected to represent Lucas county in the LEGISLATORS AND COUNTY OFFICIALS - 139 State legislature. For fifteen years he was justice of the peace, also served as township trustee, and in 1890 was census enumerator. Probate Judges.—From 1852 to 1855. Charles I. Scott ; 1855 to 1858. Horace Thacher ; 1858 to 1861. Thomas Dunlap ; 1861 to 1873, Fred A. Jones ; 1873 to 1879, David R. Austin ; 1879 to 1885, Isaac R. Sherwood ; 1885 to 1891, Joseph W. Cummings ; 1891 to 1903, Irwin I. Millard ; 1903 to 1906. Richard Waite : 1906 to 1909, Horace A. Merrill ; 1909 to 1913. O'Brien O'Donnell, present incumbent. This court was created by the Constitution of 1851, with the provision that one judge of the same should be elected in each county. It is an office peculiarly local and intimately associated with the affairs of all the people, and it has been filled in Lucas county by some of her best citizens. In fact, it may be said that the county has been singularly fortunate in the selection of its probate judges, included in the list being some able lawyers, and all who have filled the position have been honest and pure-minded men, giving character and dignity to the court and reflecting honor upon the county and themselves. The first judge of the probate court of Lucas county was the Hon. Charles I. Scott. of Toledo. He was chosen at the first election following the adoption of the Constitution of 1851. Judge Scott was one of the pioneers who settled at Toledo in the early years of the municipality, and he was a man of great force of character and kindness of heart. In February, 1855, he was succeeded by Hon. Horace Thacher, also of Toledo, who held the office three years, and the records show him to have been a painstaking, careful official. Hon. Thomas Dunlap succeeded to the office in February. 1858. Judge Dunlap was a lawyer of learning and ability, and was possessed of that culture, refinement and kindness of heart which eminently fitted him for the discharge of the delicate and responsible trust. He held various offices of trust and honor. and in all the relations of life faithfully discharged whatever duty devolved upon him. Hon. Fred A. Jones, who succeeded Judge Dunlap in the office, brought to the discharge of his duties, not only talents of the highest order and a thorough knowledge of the law, but a kindness of heart which eminently fitted him for the position. Among the members of the bar of Lucas county few have attained a more prominent position. H e was born at Grafton, Lorain county, Ohio. Oct. to, 1823 ; received his education at Norwalk, Oberlin, and Granville ; and was admitted to the bar in 1849, about which time he was married to Miss Delia S. Case, of Granville, Ohio. For a time he taught school at Jackson. Miss., but soon returned to the North and practiced law at Granville until coming to Toledo in 1853. Here he continued his practice. having at different times M. O. Higgins and J. M. Ritchie as partners. In 186o he was elected probate judge and was completing his fourth term at the time of his death, Feb. 8. 1873. That the people of the county appreciated his services is evidenced by the fact that he was four times elected to the position. Judge Jones was succeeded by Hon. David R. Austin, who served until 1879, when he was succeeded by Hon. Isaac R. Sherwood. who 140 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY served until 1885, being in turn succeeded by Hon. Joseph W. Cummings. Judge Cummings was a good lawyer, and of a most genial and kindly nature. Sympathetic and generous, he brought to the discharge of the duties of the office qualities and qualifications rarely found combined in one man. Nearly all the people in the county personally knew and loved him, and their esteem was evidenced by twice electing him judge of probate of the county. He held the office from 1885 to 1891. Hon. Irwin I. Millard succeeded Judge Cummings in 1891, was reelected in 1893, again in 1896 and 1899, and he continued to hold the office until 1903, being succeeded by Richard Waite. He was one of the leading members of the Toledo bar, and was engaged in the practice of his profession in the city for twenty-four years prior to his election as probate judge, building up a most enviable reputation. For many years he was a member of the firm of Bissell & Gorrill, this connection existing until 1891. The birth of Judge Millard occurred in Richland county, Ohio, Dec. 9, 1838, and he passed his boyhood in Huron and Wayne counties. During this period he attended the public schools, later supplementing his elementary education by a course of study in Frenkesburg Academy. After completing the course there he taught school for the next three years. In 1861 he entered his country's service, and enlisted in Company I, Fifteenth Ohio Infantry, Col. Moses Dickey having command of the regiment, which was assigned to duty in the Army of the Ohio, and was stationed at Bowling Green, Ky. While there Mr. Millard was taken ill and for some time was in the hospital. In 1862 he was discharged on a surgeon's certificate and returned to Crawford county, Ohio, and when he recovered his health again engaged in teaching school at Weilersville. It was in the spring of 1863 that the future judge came to make his home in Toledo. He was offered the position of clerk in the Recorder's office and acted in that capacity for one year. Later he became bookeeper for Alonzo Goddard, consignee of the Erie Railway line of steamboats and the Miami & Erie Canal line in Toledo. At the end of a year in that position he entered the law office of Messers. Bissell & Gorrill to prosecute legal studies, and in the spring of 1867 he was duly admitted to the bar, after which he was taken into partnership by his former preceptors. In the fall of 1902, Richard Waite was elected as Judge Millard's successor, and served until February, 1906. In 1905 Horace A. Merrill was elected to the position of probate judge, and he was succeeded in office by O'Brien O'Donnell, who was elected in 1908, and is the present incumbent of the position. Clerks of Courts.—Under the Constitution of 1802 the occupants of this office were appointed, the provision being that "Each court shall appoint its own clerk, for the term of seven years ;" and it was further provided that "They shall be removable for breach of good behavior at any time by the judges of the respective courts." The first occupant of this office under the old Constitution was Horatio Conant, who served from the time of the organization of the county until the year 1837. He was succeeded in the office by Daniel McBain, James Myers, Jerome B. LEGISLATORS AND COUNTY OFFICIALS - 141 Myers. Francis L. Nichols, and Dennison Steele, the last named being elected the first clerk of the county under the Constitution of 1851. The successors of these gentlemen. in so far as the writer has been able to obtain their names, with the years of their elections, follow : 1854, Francis L. Nichols ; 1857, Peleg T. Clark ; 1863, Victor Keen ; 1872, Michael J. Enright ; 1881, Romanso C. Quiggle ; 1887, John P. Bronson ; 1893, Leroy E. Clark ; 1899, Jacob M. Weier ; 19o5, Edward L. Kimes, present incumbent. Dr. Horatio Conant was born in Mansfield, Conn., Nov. 25, 1785. He received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1810, at Middlebury College, and in 1813 the degree of Master of Arts. He was engaged two and a half years as tutor in the college. He studied anatomy at Malone, N. Y., with Dr. Waterhouse. In 1815 he visited Detroit and spent the winter with his brother, a merchant. In 1816, with Almon Gibbs, he opened a stock of goods on the north side of the Maumee river. opposite Fort Meigs. Continuing mercantile business about one year, he commenced the practice of medicine, and, although at different periods he held official positions, such as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, postmaster, collector of customs, justice of the peace for nearly half a century, and the office of county clerk after the organization of Lucas county, he made his profession his chief business. Dr. Conant died Dec. T0, 1879, aged ninety-four years. Francis L. Nichols was born July II, 1805, in the town of Norway, Herkimer county, New York. His father was a farmer, and his opportunities for obtaining an education were meagre, consisting of an annual term of three months in an ordinary country school. The father not approving of a plan for a more extended education, the son continued work on the farm : but having obtained a grammar from a friend, he carried the same with him, studying it as he had opportunity at work, in the field and elsewhere. When twenty-one years of age he resolved to leave the farm : and fortunately for him, about that time his father exchanged his place for one in Fairfield, Herkimer county. near to which was an academy, which the son attended for one term and until qualified to teach a common country school, which he did for four terms. Without means requisite for pursuing his plan of studies, he turned his attention to business and soon entered a store, acting as clerk at five dollars per month for one year, when he engaged at another place at $300 per year. with Hon. Alex H. Buell, remaining three years, and then without capital began business on his own account in his native town. On Aug. 19, 1835, he left that country and came to the West, with seventy dollars in cash and without known destination. He left Herkimer by an Erie Canal line-boat and was one week in reaching Buffalo. whence he proceeded by steamboat to Sandusky, and by stage and on foot to Mansfield, Mt. Vernon and Newark ; thence by canal to Cleveland and by steamboat to Detroit. Starting from there for Chicago by open mail stage. he proceeded as far as Michigan City, when for financial reasons he deemed it better to return East. Taking a steamer at Detroit for Toledo and Cleveland, he proceeded to the latter place, not daring even to land at Toledo from fear of the Maumee," as the prevalent malaria diseases there were then called. 142 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY He engaged as clerk in the Bank of Clevelam. Ind continued there until January, 1836, when he acccepted a propositon to come to Manhattan, a new town then just projected at the mouth of the Maumee river, to assume charge of a store to be established by the Manhattan Company. On Jan. 19, 1836. he took stage for Manhattan. Soon thereafter he took charge of the stock himself and continued business until 1837, when came the financial crash so memorable of those days, and which made a suspension of his business necessary. He was elected one of the trustees of Port Lawrence township, and afterward, when Manhattan township was organized, he became a trustee of the same. In 1841 he was, against his will, elected by the State legislature an associate judge of Lucas county, vice John Berdan, deceased. James Myers was appointed clerk of the court and held the office until April, 1844, when Judge Nichols succeeded him, resigning the judgeship and removing to Maumee, then the county seat, where he purchased the residence vacated by M. R. Waite, afterward Chief Justice of the United States Supreme court, upon the removal of the latter to Toledo. Upon the expiration of his term as clerk Judge Nichols removed to Toledo and built and occupied a residence at the corner of Galena street and Summit avenue. The county seat was again located at Toledo upon a vote of the people in 1852, and Judge Nichols was elected clerk of courts under the new Constitution, in 1854, serving for three years. At the expiration of his term he retired to his little farm, then just outside the city limits, to spend the remainder of his days in the quiet of retirement. He also embarked in the stove and hardware trade, with J. N. Stevens, but soon disposed of his interest to Mayor Brigham. On the breaking out of the Civil war, in 1861, though then by several years exempt from military service, he enlisted as a private soldier in Company C, Capt. Richard Waite, One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio Infantry, organized primarily for the defense of Ohio from Confederate raids, but serving chiefly on Johnson's Island and on the James and Appomattox rivers in Virginia. under General Grant. Judge Nichols was the chairman of the first county meeting held in Lucas county for organization against the Slave power, which movement led to the formation of the Republican party, of which he became an earnest and active member. Peleg T. Clark, long an active man in the business and affairs of the township of Sylvania, was born in Waterville, Me., in 1809, In May, 1832, he went to Flat Rock, Mich., where for nine years he was a trader among the French and Indians. He came to Sylvania in 1841, and was clerk of the courts of Lucas county from 1858 to 1864. Mr. Clark died in 1887. Michael J. Enright was born in Cincinnati, March 5, 1845, of Irish parentage, and the family removed to Toledo in 1853. His mother died in 1859, and then the son was sent to school at Notre Dame College, Indiana. After two and a half years' study, however, he left school without his father's approval and returned to Toledo, where he engaged to learn the carpenter's trade with Edward Malone. His wages not being sufficient to meet his expenses, he obtained employment in a tub and pail factory, where, in addition to his regular LEGISLATORS AND COUNTY OFFICIALS - 143 labor, he kept the time-book of the men and received in all eighty cents per day. At the end of six months of this service, and when seventeen years old, in 1862, he enlisted as a private in the Federal army, being mustered into Company H, One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio Infantry. He was subsequently appointed lieutenant, and served out his term of enlistment with special credit for fidelity and courage. He went with his regiment to the Army of the Ohio and participated in the campaigns of that command. He was with it in the pursuit and capture of John Morgan ; in the East Tennessee campaign of General Burnside ; in the Atlanta campaign and the Franklin and Nashville campaign under General Thomas ; and took part in the capture of Fort Anderson and Wilmington. He was slightly wounded at Dallas. Ga. ; was captured by Wheeler's Confederate cavalry at Kingston, Ga., but made his escape while crossing the Etowah river. He was mustered out with the regiment in 1865. Returning to Toledo, at the age of twenty years. he obtained the situation of entry clerk in the wholesale dry goods house of Luce, Chapin & Blass. In 1867 he went to Rochester, N. Y., to become clerk in a hotel, but soon accepted the position of clerk. for the manager of the New York Oil Company, where he remained for two years. Returning again to Toledo, he became a shipping clerk for Chase, Isherwood & Company, tobacco manufacturers. At the age of twenty-five he was appointed deputy sheriff. In 1872 he was elected clerk of courts, being re-elected in 1875 and in 1878, serving three terms and retiring in 1882. From that year until 1885 he was the manager of the Toledo Transfer Company; and then, in connection with Frank C. Smith, he established the Toledo Brush Company at 170-174 St. Clair street. In September, 1887. he was elected president of the Toledo Business Men's Committee, organized for promoting the .general interests of the city; and more especially for making known and giving effect to Toledo's advantages as a manufacturing and commercial point. In 1886 he consented to the use of his name as a candidate for nomination for Congress by the Democratic convention, in opposition to Frank H. Hurd.. and lacked but few votes of success. For several years he was a director of the Tri-State Fair Association. John P. Bronson was born in the village of Swan, Noble county. Indiana. May 18. 1847. He remained with his parents until 1864, when. although he was a youth of only seventeen years, he became a member of Company I, Fourteenth Ohio Infantry, under Capt. W. B. Pugh, a brother-in-law. He went to the front with his regiment and in the engagement of Utoy Creek he was wounded in the leg and an amputation below the knee became necessary. The unfor- tunate youth was in the hospital for six months, and then returned home on a furlough, when a second operation was performed, his limb being removed at the thigh. He was honorably discharged from the service, June 21, 1865, and was soon given employment by the Government at Nashville, Tenn. For a period covering some eighteen years he was a clerk in the city police court, and his faithfulness to his duties was the reason for his long retention in the position. In 144 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY 1887 he was elected clerk of courts of Lucas county, was re-elected in 1890, and served in the position until 1894. Sheriffs.—The first executive officer of the courts in Lucas county was Munson H. Daniels, who was appointed at the time of the organ-nation of the county, although Junius Flagg served at the first session of court. Cornelius G. Shaw was elected in the fall of 1837 and served until 1842. Messrs. Daniels and Shaw were among the earliest settlers in the county, and their successors in the office of sheriff, with the years of their election to office, are as follows : 1841, Elisha S. Frost ; 1845, Luther Dodge ; 1847, Elisha Mack ; 1851, Elijah Dodd ; 1855, Stephen J. Springer ; 1857, Henry D. Kingsbury ; 1861, Nathan M. Landis ; 1865, Henry D. Kingsbury ; 1869, Patrick H. Dowling ; 1873, Albert Moore ; 1877, Samuel S. Linton ; 1879, Albert Moore ; 1881, John S. Harbeck, Jr. ; 1885, Benjamin F. Wade ; 1887, Wilson W. Cullison ; 1888, John S. Harbeck, Jr. ; 1889, John B. Stuart ; 1893, Charles E. Tual ; 1897, Charles Stager ; 1899, John V. Newton ; 1903, S. B. Chambers ; 19o8, John C. Newton, present incumbent. Cornelius G. Shaw was among the early settlers at Toledo, coming here in 1832, the year in which the two villages (Port Lawrence and Vistula) began the bitter rivalry, which was soon measurably abated upon their corporate union as Toledo. He came from Western New York, having been married with Miss Sallie Starr in Cattaraugus county in 1828. Three years thereafter they started for the West, locating first at Stony Creek, near Monroe, Mich., whence, in 1832, they came to Toledo, bringing their limited stock of household goods in a rowboat. Reaching the mouth of the Maumee river at night, they camped upon an island, sleeping on the ground, notwithstanding Mrs. Shaw's illness from the ague. On May 15 they arrived at the subsequent site of Manhattan, where they found many Indians, gathered to consider the proposed sale of their lands in that locality. Mr. Shaw was a carpenter and joiner by trade and is said to have built the first frame house in what is now Toledo. He built the first jail for Lucas county, near the corner of Summit and Cherry streets, the same being a log structure. He acted as deputy under the first sheriff of Lucas county (Munson H. Daniels) in 1836, and was elected sheriff in 1837 and in 1839. He was connected with a copper-mining enterprise at Isle Royal. Lake Superior, in 1847-48, and returned to Toledo in 1849. In the spring of 1850 he left for California, but not finding mining what he expected, he took the first return steamer for home, was taken with cholera on board, and died about Sept. 4, 1850. Elijah Dodd was for many years a leading citizen of Lucas county. He was sheriff of the county two terms-1852 to 1856. He died Oct. 24, 1876, aged seventy-one years. Henry D. Kingsbury commenced his residence in the Maumee valley in 1835. He was during many years the proprietor of the Kingsbury House on Summit street, served four terms as sheriff of Lucas county, and after the commencement of the Civil war entered the three months' service, and was made captain and quartermaster. Under the three years' call he commanded a regiment, and after leav- LEGISLATORS AND COUNTY OFFICIALS - 145 ing the sheriff's office in 1870, he became connected with the police force of Toledo. Charles E. Tual was born in 1859. Early in life he removed to later he settled in Toledo and secured a position as driver for the Michigan, where he worked on a farm in the vicinity of Jackson, and Metropolitan Street Railway Company. It was while acting in this humble capacity that he first came under the eye of Sheriff John B. Stuart. who eventually appointed him his deputy, and whom he succeeded. Mr. Tual served the street railway about two years, then secured the appointment as turnkey in the county jail. Later he served as watchman in the court house, and in 1890 was appointed deputy under Sheriff Stuart, in which position he served four years. In 1893 lie was elected sheriff of Lucas county, was re-elected in 1895, and completed his term in January, 1898. County Auditors-1835. Samuel M. Young ; 1837, Levi S. Lownsbury ; 1841, Uriel Spencer ; 1845, William F. Dewey ; 1851, Andrew Young ; 1855, Cyrus H. Coy ; 1857, Cyrus D. Hanks ; 1859. Charles R. Dennett ; 1859. Alexander Reed ; 1863, James L. Smith : 1869, Elijah W. Lenderson ; 1874, Gustave Wittstein ; 1876. John Paul Jones : 1881, Walter Pickens ; 1884, Charles A. C. Vordtriede ; 1887. Michael J. Cooney (by appointment) ; 1887, Charles A. C. Vortriede ; 189o, Charles H. Jones ; 1896, William M. Godfrey ; 1902. David T. Davies. Jr. ; 1908, C. J. Sanzenbacher, present incumbent. Samuel M. Young was born in Lebanon, N. H., Dec. 29. 1806. His course of studies completed, he turned his attention to the law, which he read with John M. Pomeroy, of Burlington, Vt. This completed, he turned his attention to the matter of a location for his life work. and in May, 1835, came to Lucas county, settling at Maumee, where he opened an office and began the practice of his profession in a small way. Upon the organization of Lucas county the same year he was appointed as its first auditor, which position he held for two years. He then commenced the practice of law again and followed the profession incessantly until 1856. Meantime, having turned his attention to banking, in 1855, with others, he purchased the Bank of Toledo, with which he was actively as well as financially identified until it was reorganized under the National Banking Law in 1865, as the Toledo National Bank. Of this he was chosen president. In 1862 Ile became associated with Abner L. Backus, in the firm of Young & Backus, who built the large elevators on Water street, near Adams, designed more especially for canal grain traffic. In 1852-53 he became identified as stockholder and director with the Cleveland & Toledo railroad, then in progress of construction, and continued such relation until that road was merged into the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. He was the largest stockholder and a director in the Columbus & Toledo railroad, and continued in such relation until the road was consolidated with the Columbus & Hocking Valley, and the organization of the Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo railroad. In 1866 he purchased a large portion of the stock of the Toledo Gas Light & Coke Company, and was active in its reorganization and the extension of its business. He was one of the projectors and organizers of the 146 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY Toledo Hotel Company, in 1870, which in 1872 completed the Boody House, northwest corner of Madison and St. Clair streets. Mr. Young died Jan. 1, 1897. Levi S.. Lownsbury was among the very first settlers in the city of Toledo. He came from the State of New York, near Syracuse, and reared a goodly family of nine children. He was a lawyer and the first superintendent of the Toledo public schools. He was also the second auditor of Lucas county. He died in 1856. William Fitch Dewey was born in Oneida county, New York, in 1797. He was one of the early settlers of Sylyania township, where he became prominent in all affairs of a public nature. He served three terms as auditor of Lucas county, from 1845 until 1851. Andrew Young long resided in Lucas county, having been employed as a civil engineer on the Wabash & Erie canal during the construction of that work. He was an active member of the Democratic party and is said to have first suggested as the candidate of that party for Common Pleas Judge, in 1854, Thomas M. Cooley, then a resident of Toledo, but later an eminent jurist of Michigan and President of the United States Inter-State Railway Commission. Mr. Young died in Springfield township, Lucas county, July 23, 1863. Cyrus H. Coy removed with his parents to Gilead, at the head of the Rapids, in the winter of 1835, when a lad of fifteen years. The family stopped a while at the old stone tavern on the river bank, then owned by Edward Howard, and afterward moved into a house with Robert A. Howard, where they continued until spring. Cyrus H. secured a position in the store of P. B. Brown in the winter of 1836, and afterward, in 1844, was in the county auditor's office under Uriel Spencer. In 1846 he made the first general index to Lucas county records of deeds, in 1853 was elected county treasurer, and in 1855 county auditor. He commenced the banking business in 1865, and thereafter was interested in that line of endeavor. Michael J. Cooney served for two terms as alderman from the Second ward of Toledo and was president of the city council for three terms. By reason of an amendment to the law providing for the beginning of the county auditor's term of office, an interregnum of ten months occurred between the end of Mr. Vortriede's first term and the beginning of the second. Mr. Cooney was appointed to the vacancy and served from November, 1887, until September, 1888., Mr. Cooney was born in Monroe county, Michigan, Jan. 27, 1842, and remained on the old homestead until he was nineteen years of age, receiving a district-school education. In 1865 he came to Toledo and formed a partnership with M. Donovan, under the firm name of Donovan & Cooney. He purchased his partner's interest at the end of two years, and subsequently, in 1868, took into the business James D. Reed, under the style of M. J. Cooney & Company. Charles H. Jones was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Feb. 7, 1845, and his parents removing to Toledo, he was eudcated in the schools of that city. At the age of sixteen he entered the Toledo National Bank as messenger and remained there until 1863, when he enlisted in Company A, Fourteenth Infantry—General Steedman's regi- LEGISLATORS AND COUNTY OFFICIALS - 117 meat. He was mustered out at the close of the war and returned to Toledo, which place was his home during the remainder of his life. In 1872 he re-entered the Toledo National Bank as teller and for fifteen years was connected with that institution. The bank went into liquidation in 1888, and Mr. Jones then accepted an appointment to the office of deputy night collector of customs; serving two seasons. He served one year in the city council and in 1890 was elected to the office of county auditor. He assumed the duties of office in September, 1891, and so satisfactory were his services that he was re-elected in 1893 for a second term, which expired in October, 1897. In March, 1898, with Covington Worts and Charles R. Smith, he organized the Smith, Jones & Worts Company, wholesale dealers in hats, caps, straw goods, gloves, etc., and was made president of the company. William M. Godfrey, who succeeded Charles H. Jones to the office of county auditor, in October, 1897, enjoyed the distinction of being the youngest county auditor in the State, although Lucas is one of the largest counties. He was born in Jersey City, N. J. March 20, 1867, and attended the public schools in that city, and Hasbrook Institute. In 1880 his parents removed to Reed City, Mich., on a farm, and in 1882 he came to Toledo and secured a position in the Boody House as elevator boy. A year later he was employed by C. R. Messenger as shipping clerk in his tobacco factory, and there he remained one year. His next position was given him by H. S. Walbridge, as shipping clerk in the Maumee Rolling Mills. When the mills shut down he was appointed by J. M. Brown as chief clerk of the transfer registry department in the postoffice, a position which he held two years, when the mills resumed operation, and he was offered and accepted the position of assistant superintendent. In the depression of 1894 the mill again stopped, and Mr. Godfrey secured a place in the office of the Vulcan Iron Works Company, retaining it until he was elected county auditor. The duties of this office he assumed Oct. 18, 1897, and being re-elected in 1899 he continued in office until October, .1903. He was also elected a member of the Board of Education and represented the Fifth ward of Toledo from 1894 to 1896. During 1895-96 he was chairman of the building committee when plans for the High School building were adopted and the contract let, and also when three large ward schools were constructed. County Treasurers.-1835, Eli Hubbard ; 1835, Sanford L. Collins ; 1838, Daniel McBain ; 1839, John U. Pease ; 1843, Frederick E. Kirtland ; 1847, Lyman Parcher ; 1851, John E. Hunt ; 1853, Cyrus H. Coy ; 1855, Benjamin Joy ; 1857, Samuel .Blanchard ; 1859, Valentine Braun ; 1863, Ernst Greiner ; 1867, Andrew Stephan ; 1871, John S. Kountz 1873, Robert Cummings ; 1875, William Cummings : 1877, Elijah B. Hall ; 1879, John W. Toullerton 1881, Joel W. Kelsey ; 1883, Foster R. Warren ; 1885, Horace J. Potter ; 1889, Samuel A. Hunter ; 1893, William V. McMaken ; 1897, Joseph L. Yost ; 1901, Peter Parker ; 1905,, Thomas Biddle ; 1908, H. M. Barfield, present incumbent. Eli Hubbard came in a very early day from Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and settled first on the east half of what is now Wood- 148 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY lawn Cemetery (the land not then in market), on the line of the old Military Road, where he built his first cabin. His first entry of land was that of the northeast quarter of section 23, Washington township, and he settled on the north side of Ten-mile creek, now on Lagrange street. In 1836 he sold to John Knaggs and entered land in Sylvania. where he died in 1856, aged sixty-seven years. He was supervisor of Port Lawrence township when under Michigan control, after which he was county commissioner for Lucas county for two successive terms, besides serving as the first county treasurer. Sanford Langworthy Collins was born at Brownsville, Jefferson county, New York, April 4, 1805. In 1812, at the age of seven years, he went to reside with his mother's brother, at Bridgewater, where he remained until he was fifteen. His opportunities for education, meantime, were limited to a few terms at the district school during the winter months. On leaving Bridgewater he engaged with his brother-in-law in keeping a hotel in the village of Gaines. Orleans county, where he remained until after he was twenty-one, and subsequently followed the same occupation for two years at Lockport. In 1829 he engaged in mercantile business, connected with the lumber and stave trade at Pendleton, a small port on the Erie canal, at its junction with Tonawanda ;reek, and this business he carried on quite successfully for two years. Then disposing of his interests there, with his youngest brother, Morgan L. Collins, he left Lockport in July 1831, for Detroit. Procuring a couple of ponies and an outfit, they started for the interior, following the principal traveled road to Ann Arbor, from there by the "Washtenaw trail" to Jackson, and thence to Marshall, Kalamazoo, and White Pigeon. Pleased with the prospect at Jackson, Mr. Collins concluded to settle there, and accordingly entered a quarter-section of land situated in what is now the heart of the city, and he paid $1 00 to secure an interest in other village property, which, had he retained it, would have been an ample fortune. Owing to the decision of his brother to return to the State of New York, Mr. Collins left Jackson and returned to Detroit, where he entered the employ of Lewis Godard. In December, 1831, he came with a stock of goods to the site of the future Toledo, placing the goods in an old blockhouse which was located near what is now the corner of Summit and Jefferson streets, then surrounded by a second growth of timber of considerable size. He remained thus employed, as the agent of Mr. Godard, until about Feb. 1, 1833. when under instructions he sold his employer's interests, both goods and real estate, in Vistula, and returned to Detroit. In the fall of 1832, in connection with Stephen B. Comstock, he purchased the lands at Tremainesville, known as the "Burgess tract.' There he engaged in the sale of goods in November, 1833, and in 1834 his brothers, John W. and Morgan L.. became associated with him, under the firm name of S. L. Collins & Company, and the business was continued until 1837, when it was disp0sed of to Horace Thacher and Michael T. Whitney. Mr. Collins was postmaster at Tremainesville from 1834 to 1842, and at the first election held in the county was chosen county treasurer, being subsequently re-elected. In 1840 he participated in the formation and organ- LEGISLATORS AND COUNTY OFFICIALS - 149 ization of Washington township, and was chosen at various times to fill several of the township offices, as clerk, trustee, and justice of the peace, the last named position for nine years in succession. John Usher Pease was born at Parsonsfield, Me., Aug. 2, 1796. In his seventeenth year he "bought his time" (the remaining four years of his minority) of an uncle and enlisted as a drummer boy in the War of 1812. He was at the battle of Plattsburgh, Lake Champlain. With limited school privileges, he fitted himself to teach, which he did in Western New York, where he was married to his first wife, who soon died. His second wife was a daughter of Gen. David White, who, with Judge William Wilson. was the founder of the village of Sylyania, where Mr. Pease and family settled in 1835. He engaged in merchandise trade with William Bancroft, whose wife cooked the first meal of victuals prepared by a white woman at "the Forks," as Sylvania was then called, and the daughter of Mrs. Bancroft was the first white child born at that place. Mr. Pease soon became prominent in political affairs, acting with the Democratic party, and he held several public offices, including county treasurer, associate judge, and justice of the peace. Though too old for military service at the outbreak of the Civil war, he was the first one at Sylvania to give a bounty to an enlisted soldier. Mr. Pease died at Sylvania. Feb. 12, .1870. Benjamin Joy came to Sylvania from Genesee., N. Y., as agent for the lands of Messrs. Wadsworth, who were among the most enterprising and wealthy residents of the Genesee valley. Mr. Joy became a prominent citizen of Lucas county and served one term as treasurer. Samuel Blanchard was born in Great Valley, Cattaraugus county, New York, Sept. 20, 1823, and was but three months old when his father died. He remained with his mother until he was seven years old, when he was given to an aunt, the wife of Horace Thacher, with whom he made his home until he arrived at manhood. In June. 1834, the family came to Toledo, which was afterward Mr. Blanchard's home. His educational privileges were chiefly such as were found in log school houses, but they were so fully improved that he was enabled to qualify himself at an early date to teach school, which he did in the years 1843-44, in District No. 6, Bedford township, Monroe county, Michigan. For some time he served as a clerk for Horace Thacher, then county recorder, the office being in Maumee. Subsequently, he acted as deputy county auditor and in other capacities in the county offices at Maumee and Toledo. In 1857 he was appointed county treasurer, serving for a few months, and in October of the same year was elected to that office for two years. In 1861 he was appointed deputy postmaster at Toledo and continued as such until 1866. Thereafter his attention was chiefly directed to the management of his farm interests. John S. Kountz was born in Lucas county, Ohio, March 25. 1846, and at the age of fifteen years enlisted as a drummer boy in the Thirty-seventh Ohio infantry, serving with the regiment in all its marches and campaigns until the fall of 1863. At the memorable battle of Missionary Ridge, Nov. 25, 1863, when the drum corps was ordered to the rear, preparatory to the charge, the little drummer boy threw away