400 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS JOHN JOYCE. (RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) The life history of John Joyce is a notable illustration of the fact that "there is a path which leads from the lowest depths to the highest altitudes." At the starting point of his business career John Joyce had no external assistance, the foundation for his success being found in his inherent qualities of industry, perseverance and unfaltering integrity. In his later years he stood as one of the conspicuous figures in mercantile circles in Columbus-a genial, generous man, honored and respected by all. A native of Ireland, Mr. Joyce was born July 14, 1830, and remained a resident of hi native country until 1850, when at the age of nineteen years he started for America, making the voyage in a sailing vessel which was thirty-five days between the European harbor and New York. He came alone, attracted by the business chances of the new world and made his way direct to Columbus, Ohio, where his brother, James Joyce, had obtained for him a position as bookkeeper in the house of Kilbourne, Kuhns & Company. He reached this city with a cash capital of less than five dollars but he realized the fact that determination and industry constitute the very foundation upon which to build success and that he manifested these qualities in his new position is evidenced by the fact that he remained with the house for twelve wean; and was admitted to the firm as a junior partner. Throughout his entire life there was not a single esoteric phase in his career. He based his advancement upon diligence and determination, was never content to do his second best in any relation or to give a service that was not the expression of his utmost ability. On severing his connections with the Kilbourne-Kuhns Company he was appointed assistant postmaster of Columbus under his father-in-law, Thomas PAGE 401 - PICTURE OF JOHN JOYCE PAGE 402 - BLANK CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 403 Miller, and occupied that position for four years. The next step in his business career was the establishment, in 1866, of a wholesale dry goods house at the corner of High and Long streets under the firm name of Millers, Green & Joyce and thus he became a recognized factor in the commercial circles of the city. Two years later John Miller, the senior partner, withdrew and removed to Chicago, at which time the firm style of Miller, Green & Joyce was adopted and so continued until 1882, when it became Green, Joyce & Company. From the outset the enterprise figured among the prominent dry goods houses of Columbus and the business extended over Ohio and adjoining states. Mr. Joyce in a position of executive control directed his energies largely to organization, constructive effort and administrative direction. His was an active career in which he accomplished important and far-reaching results, contributing in no small degree to the expansion of the business, which was recognized as a factor in commercial progress in Columbus as well as a source of gratifying individual profit to the owners. Following the withdrawal of Mr. Miller and the death of Mr. Green, two of the original partners, the business was incorporated in 1902 as the Green-Joyce Company, with John Joyce as president; John Joyce, Jr., vice president and treasurer; and Albert G. Joyce is secretary. John Joyce remained at the head of the enterprise until his death. In the meantime a mammoth enterprise had been developed until the business of the house amounts to more than five million dollars annually, while thirty traveling salesmen represent it upon the road, the business covering a wide territory. The magnificent building at the corner of High and Chestnut streets is the material expression of the thought and well defined plans of John Joyce, who at his death turned over to his sons a most carefully organized commercial concern, having previously directed their business experience and training so that they were capable of taking up the great work which he laid down. His fertility of resource enabled Mr. Joyce to extend his efforts into other fields of business activity and he became a recognized factor in financial circles as one of the organizers and directors of the Commercial National Bank. He was likewise vice president of the Citizens Telephone Company and many other business concerns of Columbus profited by his financial assistance, active cooperation and wise counsel. In 1859 Mr. Joyce was united in marriage to Miss Eliza L. Miller a daughter of Thomas Miller, one of the pioneer citizens of Franklin county. She still survives him and is yet a resident of Columbus. They became the parents of ten children, of whom five are yet living: Mrs William J. Byrne, of this city; John, now president of the Green-Joyce Company; Albert G., director and assistant manager of the company; Williams J. vice president, and Mrs. James E. Hagerty. The death of Mr. Joyce occurred January 31, 1908, after a residence of almost fifty-eight years in Columbus. Throughout almost that entire period he was recognized as a man of affairs and one who wielded a wide influence. He early learned to correctly value his own powers and to understand hi, limitations and he realized also that the qualities which are deemed essential as factors in a successful business career are those which any one may cultivate. He studied the trade and the demands of public taste. introduced modern and 404 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS original ideas for the development of the business and in his later years had leisure to enjoy the fruits which his enterprise and labor had wrought. He was never so absorbed in money making that he did not feel a personal interest in the representatives of the house, maintaining at all times cordial, helpful relations with his employes, to whom he willingly gave assistance if the necessities of the case demanded. He was generous in the use of his wealth, responding readily to a call for charity and throughout his life remained one of the most genial of men. The recognition of his intrinsic worth caused his friendship to be most prized by those who knew him best a fact which indicated that his character would bear the scrutiny of close acquaintance. A strong minded, generous spirited man, he stood as a high type of American manhood and an embodient of that progress which in the last half century has drawn to this country the admiring gaze of all nations. JOHN WILLIAM JONES. The humanitarian work which Ohio is doing for her unfortunate children largely finds its center in Columbus where are located several of the institutions for the care' of those to whom an untoward fate has denied some of the gifts which nature bestows. Mr. Jones is numbered among those who are actively connected with the work for the aid and instruction of those who are enable to enjoy the benefits of public school instruction. for he is now superintendent of the State School for the Deaf. He was born in Meigs township, Adams county, Ohio, January 25, 1860. His father, Samuel Jones. also a native of this state, was a farmer by occupation and a prominent and useful man in his community. He took an active interest in educational work and in later years was local pension agent. He married Sophia Clark, of a well known family of that place. Her father, who was a native of Ireland, was a merchant and farmer. The mother was a school teacher, as were many other members of the father's family. The death of Samuel Jones occurred in April, 1904, when he had reached the venerable age of seventy-eight years. In the country schools John William Jones began his education and later attended a select school where he prepared for teaching. He also pursued a course at the National Normal University at Lebanon. Ohio, and was graduated therefrom in 1885 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He next pursued a post. graduate course at the Ohio University at Athens, where he was given a degree of Bachelor of Pedagogy in 1893. Subsequently in 1902, he received the degree of Master of Arts from Gallandet College in recognition of his work as superintendent of the State School for the Deaf. For several years, beginning at the age of eighteen years, he engaged in teaching in the country schools, was afterward principal of the school at Rome. Ohio. 1883-84, and was later appointed superintendent of the public schools at Manchester, Ohio, where he remained from 1885 until 1895, and in the latter year was elected by the board of trustees to his present CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 405 office, which he has since filled. While superintendent of schools at Manchester he lectured at the teachers' institutes throughout the state during the summer vacations and also engaged in teaching, normal schools, having as many as one hundred and sixty pupils. In 1898 he was granted a high school life certificate by the school examiners of the state. In his present position he has accomplished a work that has drawn to him world-wide attention, having instituted many new methods which have proven of marked value in educational work of this character. In all that he does he is actuated by a broad and enduring sympathy that prompts him to put forth his best service for the benefit of the unfortunate ones in his charge. Since coming to his present position he has been an active member of the National Educational Association, has served for one year as president of the department of special education of that association. He is also an active and leading member of the Convention of American Instructors of the Deaf and of the Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, and at different times he has held official positions in these organizations. In 1904 he was appointed international juror of awards in the department of education at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Mr. Jones' first work, upon assuming his present position, was to put the school upon a proper educational basis and to improve the conditions of its inmates. In 1898 he secured the appropriation for the erection of a fine school building, which was erected and completed under his supervision in 1899; at a cost of ninety-one thousand dollars. He also secured a hospital building in 1908, at a cost of thirty thousand dollars. He has greatly augmented the educational advantages by adding the departments of cooking, gymnastics, house painting, cabinetmaking and art. He has also greatly increased the facilities for teaching speech and lip reading, having now twenty teachers engaged in that work. He has added a high school department and has extended the time for which pupils may remain in school from ten to thirteen years. The number of pupils has increased thirty per cent in the past fourteen years. During his administration the buildings have been practically remodeled throughout, new steel ceilings, new plumbing, new furnishings and electric lights having been installed, while in other ways the buildings and equipment have been greatly improved. He is putting forth every possible effort through educational and manual training to equip the students with the means of living independent and useful lives. On the 26th of November, 1885, Mr. Jones was married to Miss Cora McPherson, of Mineral Springs, Adams county, a daughter of A. H. McPherson. a merchant and hotel man of that place. Mrs. Jones is also taking an active part in the work of the institution and has served as head matron during her husband's administration. Four children have been born unto them, of whom three are living: Marjorie McPherson; Carrie Louise, now a junior at the Ohio State University; and Pauline, a freshman at Smith College at Northampton, Massachusetts. The fourth, Helen, died at the age of one year. All three daughters are graduates of the Central high school. In his political views Mr. Jones has always been a republican. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and to the Central Ohio School Masters Club, 406 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS For many years he has been an elder in the Central Presbyterian church and is likewise its treasurer. Fond of reading, he gives his attention largely to the American Statesmen series and kindred works, being much interested in the lives of those who have molded the destiny of the nation and left their impress upon public thought and action. His own work places him in a prominent position among those whose services have made the world better. He has been a leader in the movement for the education of the deaf. continually studying out new plans and methods whereby they may be instructed to speak and to gain for themselves the pleasures that come from rich sources of knowledge. His methods of work have elicited universal attention and commendation and in many instances have been incorporated into the work of similar schools. FRANK C. EATON. Frank C. Eaton, treasurer of the Kilbourne & Jacobs Manufacturing Company, was born in Sullivan county, New York, on the 28th of June, 1851. His grandfather, David Eaton, whose birth occurred in Massachusetts. subsequently took up his abode in New York. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, was a civil engineer by profession and lived to attain the age of eighty-five years. The father of our subject, Darwin G. Eaton, who was born in Chautauqua, New York, in 1835, engaged in teaching and for thirty years was professor and principal of the Packer Institute at Brooklyn, 'New York. His demise occurred in Brooklyn in 1894. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Ann Collins, is a daughter of Mrs. Fannie «'. Collins and is still living in Brooklyn at the age of eighty years. She was for many years engaged in teaching in Albany, New York. Frank C. Eaton received his preliminary education in the Brooklyn Polytechnic School and later pursued a classic course at Williams College, winning the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1872. Subsequently he spent a year in European travel, incidentally giving his attention to the study of French and German. In 1873 he went to Indianapolis to engage in the wholesale book and stationery business, while in 1880 he became a member of the firm of Bowen, Stewart & Company, now the Bobbs-Merrill Company, in which connection he remained until 1882. In January of that year, at the time of the organization of the Kilbourne & Jacobs Manufacturing Company, he was elected to the office of treasurer of the corporation. His executive ability and superior business qualifications have proven important elements in the prosperity of this concern, which has steadily grown and developed until the original capital of one hundred thousand dollars has been increased until it is now two million dollars, while the company stands among the foremost establishments of this character in the United States. On the 11th of June, 1879, Mr. Eaton was united in marriage to Miss Alice Wright, a daughter of General George B. and Hetta A. Wright. Her father, who was a prominent citizen of this state, was railway commissioner of CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 407 Ohio for several years and was the receiver of the Indianapolis, Bloomington Western Railway at Indianapolis. For many years he was numbered among the influential and respected residents of Columbus. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Eaton have been born three children. Esther, who is a graduate of the Columbus high school and also of Vassar College, won high honors at the latter institution and was prominent in dramatic work. Jeannette, who is also a graduate of the Columbus high school and Vassar College, likewise took an especially active part in literary and dramatic societies. Webster is now a student in the Columbus high school. In his political views Mr. Eaton is independent, voting for men and measures that he believes will best conserve the general welfare, without regard to party affiliation. Throughout the period of his residence in Columbus he has been connected with the Congregational church, in which he has served for several terms as deacon and is also a member of the Men's Social Club. His wife also has been active in church and social circles and is identified with the Plant. Flower & Fruit Guild. Mr. Eaton has been treasurer of the Godman Guild Settlement House and was financial secretary of the Children's Hospital for ten years. He is a valued member of the Ohio Club and also belongs to the Phi Beta Kappa and the Sigma Phi, two college fraternities. The family home at No. 398 West Fifth avenue is the center of a cultured society circle and its inmates are well and favorably known throughout Columbus. JUDGE DEWITT C. BADGER. While reared amid the quiet environment of farm life with no indication in his youthful days that the future held anything unusual in store for him, Judge DeWitt C. Badger has nevertheless made continuous progress in professional lines since attaining manhood and the angle of his usefulness and activity has constantly widened until his influence has been felt as a potent and beneficial factor in legislative circles and even more strongly in municipal affairs. The old home farm in Madison county, Ohio, was his birthplace and his natal day was August 7. 1858. His parents were Benjamin and Martha (Willoughby) Badger, the former a native of Ohio, while the latter was of Virginia lineage. The ancestral record in the maternal line is characterized by a display of valor and loyalty when the war clouds have gathered over the country, the grandfather and father of Mrs. Badger having participated in the Revolutionary war and in the war of 1812 respectively. While devoting his life to general agricultural pursuits, Benjamin Badger has at different times been called to public office for, without desire on his part for political preferment, Ills fellow townsmen have recognized his worth and ability and demanded that he serve them in the discharge of certain official duties. He may have served unwillingly but always well. He still lives upon the old homestead farm in Madison county. 408 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS After leaving the grammar schools Judge Badger attended the Bloomingsburg Academy in Fayette county and Mount Union College, and between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one years he engaged in teaching in the district schools, while his leisure hours during that period were devoted to the study of law. Admitted to practice at Columbus in 1880, he opened a law office in London, where he remained until 1892, in which year he was called to the bench, being elected common pleas judge for the local subdivision of the fifth judicial district. He remained on the bench ten years and declined to become a third time a nominee for the office. His decisions were models of judicial soundness, being based upon the law and the equity of the case, and besides showing a thorough mastery of the questions involved, displayed also a rare simplicity of style and an admirable terseness and clearness in the statement of the principles upon which the cases rested. Judge Badger has not only been connected with the execution but also with the framing of the laws inasmuch as he was elected to congress from the twelfth district in 1902. Previously he had served as prosecuting attorney of Madison county. On M s retirement from congress he resumed his law practice and in 1895 he was elected mayor of Columbus, serving for one term. That his administration received popular endorsement and approval is indicated by the fact that he would have been again nominated had he not refused to stand for reelection. Preferring the private practice of law he again entered upon active work as counselor and adviser, and his ability has placed him in a prominent position among the lawyers of the capital city. He finds recreation, interest and profit in agricultural life, owning several large and productive farms in Madison county. In 1885 Judge Badger was married to Miss Sidney Slaughter, a native of Madison county. They have three interesting children, Minnie, Florence and Clinton Badger. Their home is attractive by reason of its cordial hospitality. The Judge's circle of friends also includes many of his associates in fraternal lines. When twenty-one years of age he became a Mason and has since taken the degrees of the commandery and the Scottish Rite, and has also crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is likewise connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with a college fraternity. In politics he has ever been a stalwart democrat and while holding stanchly to his political convictions and his opinions on other subjects of vital moment, he is always tolerant of the opinions and convictions of others. C. E. PFEIFER. M. D. Dr. C. E. Pfeifer is one of the more recent additions to the ranks of the medical fraternity in Columbus, beginning practice here in 1904, but already he has a business which is making heavy demands upon his time and energies. He was born in Galion. Ohio, August 29. 1874. CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 409 His father. Peter Pfeifer, was a native of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany and came to the United States in 1830, when five years of age, with his father and the family. In 1840 a removal was wade to Galion. Ohio, where for many years the Pfeifer family resided. Peter Pfeifer was a man of broad culture and education, who for some time engaged in teaching school while later he gave his attention to agricultural pursuits and subsequently engaged in merchandising. He married Miss Susannah Helfrich, who was born in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. The death of Mr. Peter Pfeifer occurred in 1901, when he was seventy-five years of age. He left the impress of his individuality for good upon the community where he resided, his worth being widely recognized. He had one brother. Fred Pfeifer, who served as a soldier of the Civil war. Dr. Pfeifer pursued his early education in the schools of Crawford county. Ohio, and when sixteen years of age, being an adventurous and vigorous boy and anxious to see the world, made his way to the Pacific coast. In 1897 he went to the Klondike where he remained for about three years. He prospected but did not strike gold in paying quantities and therefore turned his attention to the bakery and restaurant business in Dawson, conducting the enterprise with good success. He relates many interesting incidents about that city and the Klondike. He experienced all the hardships of packing over the Chilkoot Pass and roughed it in the mining camps of that country at a time when the work of civilization and improvement seemed scarcely begun there. The lack of transportation facilities made provisions very high and when he was engaged in business in Dawson a, fifty-pound sack of flour sold for one hundred and twenty-five dollars and a loaf of bread for a dollar and a half. while a piece of pie and a cup of coffee brought a dollar. Because of the high prices he made money rapidly but like the great m majority who are attracted by the gold discoveries put much of it lack in the ground in prospecting for the precious metal. When he first passed through Skaggway there was but one tent on the site of the town. Two years later when he revisited the place on the return trip it was a modern and well built city of five thousand inhabitants. He watched with interest the rapid growth and development and his description of life there is very entertaining, as he was a close observer and possesses a retentive memory. Following his return to "the States" in October, 1899. Dr. Pfeifer determined to study medicine and with this end in view spent one year in a private school. He was then enrolled as a. student in the Ohio 'Medical University. from which he was graduated in 1904. He began practice oil the 16th of June. of that year. opening an office in Columbus. where he has since remained, and the growth of his practice is indicative of his thorough understanding of all the principles of the medical science and his correct application of his knowledge to the needs of his patients. In December. 1904. Dr. Pfeifer was married to Miss Julia Taylor. a daughter of Harvey Taylor of Columbus. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and has served as master of Humboldt Lodge. F. & A. M.. while in the Scottish Rite he has attained the thirty-second degree. He is 410 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS a1so charter member to the Alpha Kappa Kappa. He has professional membership with the Academy of Medicine, and the Ohio State Medical Association. He has been for three years instructor in Dietetics in the Starling-Ohio Medical College and has been on the staff of the free dispensary since his graduation. His professional labor is regarded as of value by the general community and he enjoys the respect of his brethren of the medical fraternity by reason of his strict conformity to a high standard of professional ethics. He is a popular man, making steady progress in his profession and gaining; steadily in the friendship of those with whom he comes in contact. LOUIS G. ADDISON. Louis G. Addison came from among the deep valleys and lofty summits of southeastern Ohio, where he met nature face to face and learned many of her ways. He stands today as a prominent representative of the legal fraternity in the capital city and also as a valued factor in various business enterprises, being especially well known in financial circles. He was born in Perry county, Ohio, April 29, 1861, and is a son of Edward and Clara (Wisehart) Addison, who were married at Zanesville, Ohio. Mrs. Addison, however, was born in Franklinton, district of Columbus, and was related to General Charles C. Walcutt, of this city, one of Ohio's distinguished military officers. Edward Addison served as a soldier throughout the greater part of the Civil war, including the celebrated march with Sherman to the sea. His brother-in-law, John Wisehart, was also a member of the army, while three uncles of Mrs. Charles Addison were soldiers of the Civil war, two of whom were killed in action at Stone river. The survivor of the three was an officer who, after the close of the war, resided at Chillicothe, Ohio, and attained prominence in civil life. Louis G. Addison pursued his education in the country schools of Perry county and showed great aptitude in the assimilation of knowledge. He started out to make his own way in life when but twelve years of age, for the family numbered fourteen children and he proposed to save his father the burden of taking care of one member of the family. He sought service in various lines of business as opportunity offered and when still quite young engaged in teaching in the district schools, being accounted one of the most efficient public school teachers of his part of the state. He also sold books at different times and was steward of the college club when in the university, so that by various respectable and honest methods he paid his own way, not only providing the material things of life, but also meeting the demands of his nature for advancement in educational lines. He completed a course of philosophy in the Ohio State University in 1887 and then in preparation for the bar pursued a law course, winning his Bachelor of Law degree in 1891. During his college days be found a friend in Judge Nash, who promised him that after he had finished a course of study in law that he should enter the Judge's office. PAGE 411 - PICTURE OF LOUIS G. ADDISON PAGE 412 - BLANK CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 413 This promise was fulfilled and his early association in the practice of law proved of the utmost value to him. He is today at the head of the well known law firm of Addison, Sinks & Babcock, taking rank with the leading law firms of the city and numbering many of the important corporations of Columbus and central Ohio among its clients. From the beginning the law practice of Mr. Addison has witnessed phenomenal growth. As a corporation lawyer he has few equals in the middle west and in this connection he represents many of the largest business concerns of the capital city. He is in love with his profession and few men possess his indomitable energy so that as the years have passed, he has won notable success in the conduct of legitimate interests and has established himself in a prominent position at the Ohio bar. While Mr. Addison regards the practice of law as his real life work and gives to it the major part of his attention, he has yet extended his efforts into other lines and various business concerns, in which he is financially interested, have profited by his wise counsel and keen discrimination in the complexities of business life. He is a director of the Security Savings Bank, the Groveport Bank and the Reynoldsburg Bank and is also a. director of the New York Coal Company, the Buckeye Transfer & Storage Company and numerous others, while of the Columbus Gas & Fuel Company, he is general counsel. On the 18th of September. 1901, Mr. Addison was married to Miss Lida Kinsell. of Moscow. Ohio. and they have one child, Frances Ruth. Mr. Addison is a man of great affability combined with that quality which, for want of a better term. has been called, magnetic personality. His social nature finds expression in his membership in the Columbus, Ohio and Columbus Country Clubs and he is also a member of the Franklin County Bar Association. His life record indicates most clearly that force of circumstances, natural ability and well developed powers can carry an individual into important relations notwithstanding the fact that early environment and lack of opportunity seem to constitute a bar to progress. Strength of character can at any time overcome circumstances and merit in the end will win success. Mr. Addison is today in a prominent position in relation to business interests while without invidious distinction he may be termed one of the foremost corporation lawyers of the state. FRANK R. SHINN. A man of keen perception. of clear sagacity and undaunted enterprise, the .-access of Frank R. Shinn is also due to a great extent to that quality which has enabled him to successfully understand and control men and affairs. Through successive stages of development he has worked his way upward and is vice president and cashier of the Citizens Savings Bank and a prominent figure in financial circle- in Columbus. He was born in the capital city. July 20, 1861, his parents being W0. H. H. and Mary J. (Craver) Shinn. the former a, native of Hillsboro. Ohio. and the latter of 414 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS Lebanon, Ohio. The father was all agent of the Little Miami Railroad before it was leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and afterward was agent for the lines of the latter in Columbus. He was also one of the incorporators and one of the first directors of the Citizens Savings Bank. He died in 1874, but is still survived by his wife. Through grade after grade of the public schools Frank P. Shinn continued his educational progress until he completed the high-school course by graduation in June, 1878. In September of that year he entered the Citizens Savings Bank as messenger boy and has filled all of the various positions in the bank up to and including that of cashier, to which he was elected on the 1st of June, 1882. After twenty-one years in that capacity he was also chosen vice president on the 1st of July, 1903, and now gives his attention to the duties of the dual position. He was but a lad when he entered the bank and had no intention of remaining, accepting the position there merely as an expedient until he could get something better to do. He promptly and diligently performed every task assigned hint, however, and his services were soon recognized as of such value that he was promoted, and round by round he climbed the ladder to his present position. Aside from his duties in the bank he served on the loan committee of the clearing house with John G. Deshler and F. W. Prentiss during the financial panic of 1907. In 1904 Mr. Shinn was alternate to the republican national convention which met in Chicago, and has always given that party his support at the polls. He is a member of the Columbus, Arlington and Wyandotte Clubs, and is popular in these different organizations, being regarded by his many friends as a man, of worth who has by his own unaided efforts worked his way upward to a position of affluence. His life has been one of industry and perseverance and the systematic and honorable business methods which he has followed have won him the confidence of many. Without the aid and influence of wealth he has risen to a position among the leading figures of Columbus and his native genius and innate ability have constituted the key which has unlocked for him the portals of success. WILBUR TAYLOR ELDRIDGE. Wilbur Taylor Eldridge, who is well known as a valuator of and dealer in real estate in Columbus, his native city, has manifested in his business career those qualities of enterprise and diligence which are indispensable concomitants of all success. Born in the capital city, August 29, 1858, he is a son of Charles Eldridge, a native of Philadelphia. Pennsylvania, who came to Columbus in 1839 when a youth of sixteen years. In early life he learned the miller's trade and following his marriage in 1850 he engaged in the retail grocery business, becoming one of the prominent, valued and honored merchants of the city. He continued in active trade here until 1890, when a. handsome competence which he had acquired enabled him to CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 415 put aside further business cares and he lived retired until his death in 1901. He was a substantial, straightforward and successful business man. respected by all who knew him. He took a great interest in the Odd Fellows society and was an active and prominent member of the local lodge. The Eldridge family were originally Quakers and came from England with William Penn, settling in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In 1850 Charles Eldridge was married to Miss Catharine Nelson, who died in 1896. She was a representative of one of the oldest and most distinguished pioneer families of Ohio, tracing her ancestry back to Robert Nelson, a soldier and recognized patriot of the American Revolution, who lived in Juniata county, Pennsylvania, and contributed large sums of money to the cause of American liberty, serving at the same time as a member of the militia. of his county. His ancestry is a subject of dispute but family tradition has it that he was of English descent. He was born in 1725 and lived at Anderson Ferry, near Columbia, Pennsylvania. There he was married in 1751 to Martha Patterson, and their eldest child, David, was born there, November 30, 1752. Robert Nelson afterward removed with his wife and child to what is now Mifflin county, Pennsylvania. The earliest draft ever made of that tract of land was on a warrant, to Robert Nelson, dated February 3, 1755. He assisted in the establishment of the First Presbyterian church of that locality and was one of its officers until his removal from the Juniata valley in 1800. He was a member of Captain Minteer's Company of militia of the Juniata. valley, organized for the protection of the frontier and there is still extant a compact entered into by this company of militia, entitled, "Defense against Indians during the Revolution." Robert Nelson's house being of unusual size was the rendezvous and the storehouse for the supplies of all the patriots of that valley during the Revolution times and the troublesome period that preceded it. His zeal and .sympathy for the American cause and his devotion thereto finally resulted in the sacrifice and loss of his beautiful estate of Cedar Springs. His wife died at that home February 2F'). 1794, and in 1800 Robert Nelson left Juniata valley and went to visit his sons who had removed westward. He died at the home of his son John, at Bowling Green, Kentucky, in September, 1804, at the age of eighty year His eldest child, David Nelson, was only three or four years of age when his parents removed to the Cedar Springs estate and was only twenty-five years of age when he enlisted in the Continental army in the Revolutionary war. He was commissioned first lieutenant of the Eighth Company. Fourth Battalion of Associators and Militia of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. July 31. 1777, and was again commissioned May 14, 1778. in the same company under Captain John Lacey, Colonel Samuel Lyon and General Anthony Wayne. He was encamped at Valley Forge during the memorable winter of 1777-78. On the 11th of March, 1779, he married -Margaret. daughter of Rev. James Logan and the widow of John Jamison. She was born August 20. 1754, and was described as the prettiest woman in Lost Creek valley. David Nelson and his wife removed from Cedar Springs in 1798 to Ohio, settling near Chillicothe and afterward coming to what is now Columbus. He located a half section of land. built a log cabin and in 416 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS 1819 replaced the pioneer home by what is still known as the Nelson homestead on the Nelson Road. He was one of the founders and officers of the First Presbyterian church and in recent years there has been erected at the corner of Parkwood and Clifton avenues, upon a part of the original Nelson land what is known as the Nelson Memorial (Presbyterian) church. For nearly thirty-eight years David Nelson lived a life of peace, prosperity and uprightness in the Nelson homestead after a stormy youth spent in the service of his country in the American Revolution and a courageous manhood as a brave pioneer. He died in revered old age, October 9, 1829, while his wife died August 21, 1831. They had seven children, the youngest being David Nelson, father of Mrs. Eldridge. He was born January 30, 1793, and died April 27, 1847. He was married November 30, 1824, to Mary Taylor, who was born in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, July 15. 1803, and passed away January 21, 1850. They lived and died on the old Nelson homestead. They had nine children, the eldest of whom was Catharine Taylor Nelson, who was born November 23, 1825. On the 1st of August, 1850, she gave her hand in marriage to Charles Eldridge and for forty-six years they traveled life's journey together being then separated by the death of lira. Eldridge, October 22, 1896. Their children were four in number. John Nelson, born May 14, 1851, was married February 2, 1886. to Gertrude Day, who was born February 8, 1856. in Bowling Green, Ohio, Frank Harold, born July 14, 1852, was married December 5, 1883, to Lucy Ramsden, whose birth occurred in Bradford, England, July 5, 1853. He has been an officer of the United States navy for thirty-seven years, having . entered the Naval Academy at Annapolis, 1872. and is now holding the rank of captain, doing duty as inspector of engineering material at Hartford, Connecticut. Charles Delwyn, born October 30, 1853, died July 16, 1889. Wilbur Taylor Eldridge, the fourth member of the family, began his education at the usual age as a pupil in the public schools of Columbus, passing through consecutive grades until he was graduated from the high school with the class of 1877. After leaving school he entered the employ of Butler. Earhart & Company, wholesale grocers, in the capacity of shipping clerk and remained with that house until 1879, when he resigned to engage in the retail grocery business with his father at Goodale and High streets, where his father had purchased property several years before. The firm became known as C. Eldridge & Son, the junior partner remaining as a factor in the successful conduct of the business until 1887, when he withdrew to enter the field of real-estate operations. He became an employe of C. E. Markeson, a real-estate dealer, that he might learn the business . remaining with him until 1889, when he started in business on his own account. He :pent the .summer of that year abroad and returned to open his real-estate office. Since then he has handled all kinds of city and suburban real estate is considered an authority upon questions of realty and is thoroughly familiar with values. On the 3d of November. 1892. fir. Eldridge was united in marriage to Miss Eleanor Brown. who was born March 23. 1863, at Vinton Furnace in CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 417 Vinton county, Ohio. She died in Columbus. January 24. 1895, leaving a daughter, Dorothy Brown, whose birth occurred at Petoskey, Michigan, September 5, 1893. On the 31st of July, 1904, Mr. Eldridge was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Ida Coffman Graybill. Mr. Eldridge was among the patriotic sons of Ohio who enlisted for active service in the Spanish-American war. He became a private of Troop D, First Ohio Cavalry and afterwards was made a corporal, serving for six months. He is devoted to his home and family, finding his greatest happiness at his own fireside and yet he has many warm friends who esteem him for his genuine worth and devotion to duty. Since entering the field of real-estate operations he has made steady progress for he is a keen observer of the trend of the city's growth and development and a close student of all those questions which bear upon the real-estate business. His earnest purpose, laudable ambition and unfaltering industry have constituted the basis of his success. FREDERICK SHEDD. Frederick Shedd is prominent in the financial circles of Columbus as secretary and treasurer of the E. E. Shedd Mercantile Company, which was established here sixty-one years ago by his father, who is today the oldest merchant in the city and who has the honor of being the first business man in Columbus to send out a. commercial traveler. Frederick Shedd was born in this city in 1861. His ancestors have long been in this country, having originally settled in the New England states, and two of them who were among the first to answer the call to arms in Revolutionary days, participated in the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill. His father. Edmund E. Shedd, who is now senior member of the E. E. Shedd Mercantile Company, is a native of Bethel, Vermont, where his birth occurred in 1828, and where he was engaged in farming and general merchandising until 1846, when he came to this state, locating the following year in Columbus, where he entered the employ of J. & W. B. Brooks. wholesale grocers as a clerk, working for them for about two years, at the termination of which time he became connected with another wholesale grocery firm, known as Decker & Hibbs, and with this company he remained for three years. During this time he developed his business possibilities and had acquired a. reputation for the excellent judgment by which he had greatly added to the volume of trade of the firms in whose employ he had been and, feeling confident of his ability to conduct business for himself, in 1852 he organized what was known as the Shedd & Miller Company. continuing with this firm until 1856. His partners sold out their interests to Isaac Eberly, the firm name becoming Eberly & Shedd, the company having its place of business on the site where the Southern Hotel now stand-. Here the firm continued transacting business for nearly thirteen years under the same name, when the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Shedd organized the firm of E. E. 418 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS Shedd & Company, being known by this name for a number of years. Subsequently Mr. Shedd took his sons into partnership, and in 1894 the firm, known as E. E. Shedd & Sons, removed to their present location on Front street, the building having been especially constructed for the company's convenience. Upon settling in their new quarters the firm then became known as the E. E. Shedd Mercantile Company. At the usual age Frederick Shedd was enrolled as a pupil at the public schools, where he acquired his preliminary education, and subsequently, having taken a course of study preparatory to entering college, he was matriculated in the Ohio State University, where he completed his course in 1883. He then started in the wholesale drug business, affiliating himself with Kauffman, Latimer & Company. and remained in the employ of that firm for several years, when in 1890 he was taken into partnership with his father and eventually his business ability and executive judgment merited his promotion to the responsible. post of secretary and treasurer of the company, in which capacity he is now officiating. This is one of the pioneer business establishments of this city and since affiliating himself with the firm the younger Mr. Shedd has done much toward increasing its; volume of business and is a worthy partner of his father in the management of its affairs. Among other enterprises in which he is interested are The Ohio Trust Company and The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, of both of which he is a director. In 1898 Frederick Shedd was united in marriage to Agnes. daughter of J. A. Jeffrey, to which union have been born: Marion, who is in her ninth year; Joseph Jeffrey, who is six years of age; and Elizabeth, whose birth occurred in 1904. Mr. Shedd is prominent, in fraternal organizations, being worshipful master of Columbus Lodge No. 30, F. & A. M., a Knight Templar, and a thirty-second degree Mason. Mr. Shedd in addition to being a member of the Ohio and Columbus Country Clubs belongs to the Sons of the American Revolution, and holds membership in the First Congregational church. He is one of the most enterprising business men of the city, and his many interests place him in the foremost rank of its financial circles. CHARLES ENGELKE. The record of Charles Engelke is that of a. self-made man who as the architect of his own fortunes has built wisely and well. He is now living retired from business save for the supervision which he gives to his invested interests. He has made an excellent record as a citizen and in commercial circles, did splendid service as chief of police of Columbus in former years, while as proprietor of a. storage and transfer business he developed an enterprise which brought to him the competence which now enables him to rest from further labor. A native of Hanover, Germany, and a son of George Engelke, he Was brought to America in his boyhood days. the family settling at Long Island. CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 419 whence they removed to Columbus in 1858. The father engaged in the manufacture of vinegar, developing a good business, which at his death became the property of his sons, George and Charles, who continued the enterprise for some time. The mother bore the maiden name of Augusta Gisekekey and was also a native of Germany. She lived to the advanced age of eighty-five years and spent her last days in Columbus. In his early boyhood days Charles Engelke started out in life on his own account and worked his way upward by his strict honesty and uprightness. He was diligent, economic and persevering, and he regarded no work beneath him if it would yield an honest living. He was therefore employed in various ways but while he was willing to take any work that offered he was also constantly alert to secure opportunities that would promote his advancement in business life. In 1863 he was appointed a patrolman on the police force and acted in that capacity for two years, after which he was advanced in 18'65, being elected city marshal or chief of police. He continued at the head of the police system of the capital city under Mayors Meeker, Bull. Heitman and Collins and then retired with a most creditable record. While acting in that capacity he instituted the metropolitan police system of the present day and gave many other evidences of his loyalty to duty and his high ideals in service. His course in connection with the big railroad strike of 1877 was a notable one. All firemen on the various railroad lines of the country went on a strike and attempted to keep trains from running, holding up the switches and preventing other workmen from taking their places on the engines. Chief of Police Engelke realized that it was his duty to protect the railroad property from the mob and to assist in starting the trains. It was a dangerous undertaking to try to dispel this mob for, as is always the case in strikes, there are many lawless men who are ready and eager to join the strikers and show their dissatisfaction with the world at large by aiding in the destruction of property and often times of life. Realizing fully the danger that he must face, Mr. Engelke made his will and after otherwise arranging some of his personal affairs he got his men together to the number of twenty-eight and went to the railroad yards where the mob was collected. He then addressed the crowd and in a quiet talk told them what was his duty as chief of police and what he had to do. He asked them to listen to him and to listen as well to the voice of reason and he appealed in such a strong, forceful way to their common sense and their regard for the law that they left the switches and went quietly away so that traffic was at once resumed without the destruction of either life or property. After serving on the police force until 1880 Mr. Engelke retired with a most creditable record and turned his attention to private business interests. He established a transfer and storage business under the firm name of Engelke & Bigelow, erecting a large warehouse at No. 31 East Nefin street with stables at Wall street near State street. He then devoted all of his time and attention to this business and built up a large and successful enterprise, utilizing thirty teams and employing about fifty men. His business was so successful that with the intention of retiring to private life that he might have leisure 420 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS for the enjoyment of his well earned competence he sold out to Mr. Bigelow on the 1st of October, 1906, and is now giving his attention merely to his invested interests. He owns considerable property and other interests and has contributed in substantial measure to the improvement of the city in the erection of a large number of flat buildings. This is excellent income paying property and his realty holdings are the visible evidence of a life of well directed energy and business enterprise. In 1868 Mr. Engelke was married in Columbus to Miss Caroline Lehr, who was born in this city and is a daughter of Henry Lehr, an early settler here who was engaged in the butchering business. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Engelke have been born six children : George A., Albert and Clara. who have passed away, Harry, Ida and Laura now living. The daughter. Laura, is now the wife of Dwight Shannon. Mr. Engelke is a charter member of Harmonica Lodge. I. O. O. F., and also of the Knights of Pythias lodge. Those who have known him since his boyhood have witnessed with interest his progress and rise in the world and have rejoiced in the recognition which has come to his ability and genuine worth. His history is that of the man who resolutely faces the conditions of life, realizes what are the obstacles and difficulties as well as the opportunities and sets him diligently to the task of overcoming the former and improving the latter. NICHOLAS A. COURT. Nicholas A. Court, who since 1900 has been manager of the famous Chittenden Hotel of Columbus, while his long connection with this line of business makes him the dean of hotel managers in the capital city, was born in Tiffin, Ohio, September 13, 1857. His father, John Court, was a native of Luxemburg, Germany, and on coming to the United State when a young man located in Tiffin, where he learned the harnessmaker's trade, which he then followed up to the time of his death. In Tiffin he had wedded Elizabeth May, who was also a native of Luxemburg and came with her parents from Germany in her girlhood days. Nicholas A. Court was the third in order of birth in a family of ten children and attended the parochial schools of Tiffin to the age of thirteen years. It was then necessary that he put aside his text-books, so that his educational privileges were somewhat meager but in the school of experience he has learned many valuable lessons. Turning his hand to whatever he could find to do, he spent considerable tine about the leading hotel of Tiffin. the Shawhan House, and there gained his first ideas concerning the conduct of the modern caravansary. He did odd jobs there as his services were required and remained a resident of Tiffin until 1880. In 1882 he made his way to Columbus, where he obtained the position of night clerk in the old Exchange Hotel, since demolished to give way to the High street viaduct. There he continued PAGE 421 - PICTURE OF NICHOLAS A. COURT PAGE 422 - BLANK CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 423 for about six years, employed in various capacities and finally became day clerk and eventually steward. Mr. Court rose to the position of hotel proprietor by his purchase on the 1st of January, 1888, of a half interest in the Warren House at Athens, Ohio, where he remained for six months. He then disposed of his business interests there and returned to Columbus, where he was appointed steward of the Commercial Club, retaining the position until April, 1889. In that year he purchased an interest in the Exchange Hotel, where he continued until the concern went out of existence, which was in December, 1893. In the meantime the name of the hotel had been changed to the Powell House. Afterward Mr. Court engaged in the grocery business for a brief period but in January, 1895, he resumed active connection with hotel life, becoming steward in the Hotel Normandie for William Monypenny. In May of the same year he purchased a half interest in that hotel and was associated with its management and control until May, 1897, when he sold his interest to his partner, B. F. Green. He then took the management of Smith's European Hotel, there remaining until May, 1899, when he purchased the interest of Mr. Green in the Normandie and since 1900 this popular family hotel has been under the able management of Mrs. Court. In 1900 the management of the famous Chittenden Hotel was tendered Mr. Court and he has since continued in that responsible position to the satisfaction of the hotel owners and the general public. His identification with the hotel interests of Columbus covers a longer period than that of any other man and he has done much to promote a high standard in hotel service. In fact he has displayed much of the spirit of the pioneer in introducing new methods and originating new plans for the comfort of the guests and the management of the business. On the 13th of February, 1888, Mr. Court was married to Miss Mary J. Barry, who was born in Columbus in August, 1861, and is a daughter of James Barry. Six children have been born of this union : James Barry, who is deceased; Lillian; Loretta and Leo, twins; the latter being now deceased; one who died in infancy; and Grace Elizabeth. Mr. Court is a thorough believer in education and has therefore given his children excellent opportunities in that direction. Lillian and Loretta have been placed as students in St. Mary's of the Woods Academy in Indiana, while Grace Elizabeth is attending St. Joseph's Academy in Columbus. Mrs. Court has always taken an active interest and share in her husband's chosen vocation and has been of inestimable assistance in all his undertakings. To her he gives credit for his successes in his numerous hotel ventures and today he regards her as fully equal to himself in hotel management. As stated, she has been manager of the Hotel Normandie for the past eight years and has kept the reputation of this hostelry up to the highest standard. Mr. and Mrs. Court are members of and liberal contributors to St. Joseph's Cathedral. Mr. Court belongs to the Columbus Board of Trade and to the Ohio State Hotel Association, of which he was for a time president and also a member of its executive committee. He is likewise a member of the Hotel Men's Mutual Benefit Association and was its vice president for two years. Socially he is connected with the Columbus Country Club, the Arlington Country 424 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS Club and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He stands today as one of the most able and popular hotel men of the state and has prospered as the years have gone by. He made an early start in business life, unassisted by any advantages that come from wealth or family connections, but with a determined spirit and resolute purpose he has worked his way upward and that he selected a line of activity for which he was well adapted is indicated by his popularity in hotel circles, his success and the honors that have been conferred upon him by hotel men in the different organizations in which he has been called to office. CHARLES WILLIAM WALLACE, JR. Perhaps there is no stronger proof of the growing spirit of humanitarianism than the development of fraternal and insurance organizations, where men band themselves together for mutual assistance and helpfulness. It is in this line of work that Charles William Wallace, Jr., is engaged being now supreme secretary of the Knights of St. John. He started upon life's journey June 28, 1873. in Cincinnati. Ohio, a son of Charles William Wallace, Sr.. who was also born in Cincinnati and is a wood worker by trade. He served as a. valiant defender of the Union cause in the Civil war and is now drawing a. small pension from the government. The family is of Scotch lineage. being direct descendants of Sir William Wallace, the distinguished Scottish chief, whose story has thrilled the youth not only of the land of hills and heather but of every civilized country as well. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Caroline Barbara Centner and was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Charles William Wallace, Jr., as a public-school student, mastered the elementary branches of English learning and, passing through successive grades, eventually became a pupil in the Central high school of Cincinnati. Ohio, from which he was graduated with the class of 1889. His entrance into the business world was made as district messenger boy and subsequently he became connected with a retail carpet store. He has lived in Columbus since 1892, at which time he became connected with the D. C. Beggs Company, carpet merchants, with whom he continued for about ten years. At that time such was his ability and business reputation that he was chosen to act as manager of the wholesale department for the Krause, Butler & Benham Co., with 'whom he remained until his election to the position of supreme secretary of the Knights of St. John in 1906. He is now filling this office and is devoting his energies to the upbuilding of the order with good success. When Mr. Wallace was elected to his present position, the Knights of St. John had been deteriorating. The order was weak financially and had a growing debt. Mr Wallace, accepting position of supreme secretary, soon brought the organization out of financial troubles, and it is now rapidly growing in membership and has a large balance in the treasury. In 1895 occurred the marriage of Mr. Wallace and Miss Regina Meinert, a native of Columbus and a daughter of Peter Meinert, an iron molder of CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 425 this city. Their two children are: Marie, born in October, 1896; and Emma, whose birth occurred in March, 1898. Mr. Wallace is a member of the Knights of Columbus, of the United Commercial Travelers and the Ancient Mystic Order of Bagman. He is now serving as colonel in the Fourth Regiment of the Knights of St. John in this city. He is moreover editor of the monthly publication of the order, and through his efforts this organization has been placed upon a substantial basis, its activity greatly accelerated and its business greatly extended. He is thoroughly in sympathy with the fraternal spirit as manifest in organizations of this character and has the warm regard and unqualified confidence of his brethren of the fraternity. WILLIAM THOMAS WELLS. While William Thomas Wells has made steady progress in the business world and is now president of the Columbus Pharmacal Company, his labors have been by no means self-centered and in this city he is well known by reason of his active and effective service for the amelioration of hard conditions of life for the unfortunate and for the practical aid which he has given in solving economic and religious problems. He was born in Kansas, October 28, 1859, a son of Aaron and Eliza (Deck) Wells. The father, a native of Ohio, followed the occupation of farming as a life work and died in Delaware county, this state, in 1897. The mother has also passed away. In the district schools of Union county, Ohio, William T. Wells pursued his education and in 1886 came to Columbus, where he pursued a course of lectures in a medical college. Abandoning the idea of becoming a member of the medical profession, he then entered the employ of the firm of Cornell-Pheneger Brothers, wholesale and retail druggists, whom he represented as a traveling salesman. About 1890 the business was reorganized and incorporated as the Cornell-Pheneger Chemical Company, at which time Mr. Wells became one of the incorporators, although he continued upon the road. As a traveling salesman he contributed largely to the success of the house until 1895. In that year the name was changed to the Columbus Pharmacal Company, at which time Mr. Wells became general manager and has since had charge of the business. In 1900 he was also elected to the presidency and now acts as both president and general manager. At the outset the business was capitalized for twenty-five thousand dollars. This sum has been increased from time to time until the capital stock is now two hundred thousand dollars, while the company owns in Columbus two of the largest and best equipped retail drug stores in Ohio, while seventeen men are upon the road representing the wholesale department. Throughout the entire period of his connection with business life Mr. Fells has been associated with the drug trade and is today one of the foremost druggists of the state. A man of resourceful ability, he has also extended his efforts into other lines and was for five years general manager of the Hall-Wood Cash 426 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS Register Company, a large manufacturing concern, while later he acted as one of the receivers. He is likewise interested in various other enterprises of Columbus which profit by his sound judgment and keen discernment. On the 28th of October, 1900, in Montreal, Canada., Mr. Wells was married to Miss Louise Salter, a daughter of Archdeacon Salter of that city. She died three years later and on the 25th of March, 1905, in Columbus, Mr. Wells wedded Miss Alice Salter, a sister of his first. wife. Their attractive and commodious home stands in the midst of a ten-acre tract of land just outside the city limits and Mr. Wells obtains his chief enjoyment from country life. He is also very fond of books and possesses a fine library. While he has made a creditable record in business, he has never allowed commercial pursuits to so monopolize his time as to exclude active participation in movements for the benefit of his fellowmen and in fact has done much active and valuable service for humanity. He is now one of the trustees of the Associated Charities, also of the Young Women's Christian Association and of the Women's Educational Industrial Union. He belongs to St. Paul's Episcopal church and gives his allegiance to the republican party but is not aggressively partisan. A man of fine physique, of genial nature and social disposition, he is moreover modestly inclined and his good works are never heralded by his speech. His life has been an intensely busy and active one in the promotion of commercial interests and in the assistance which he has given to various organizations. He stands today strong in his honor and good name, strong in his ability to plan and perform and with the confidence and good will of all who know him. THADDEUS S. MARKS. There were few men in Columbus who had more friends than Thaddeus S. Marks, because of his genial manner, his affability, his approachableness and his ready recognition of good qualities in others. He was well known elsewhere as a traveling salesman, spending many years upon the road as a representative of various carriage-manufacturing houses of this city and he possessed many of the qualities which usually distinguish the commercial traveler, having the adaptability which enabled him to meet and place at ease all with whom he came in contact, displaying also a deference for the opinions of others that arose not only from a desire to be politic but also from his real appreciation for the worth and opinions of those whom he met. He became a resident of Columbus in 1874 and here spent his remaining days. Mr. Marks was a native of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, born February 7, 1836, his parents being Sheldon and Ann (Knight) Marks, natives of Connecticut and of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, respectively. Shortly after his marriage Sheldon Marks located in Pennsylvania and afterward removed to Delaware county, Ohio, where he purchased a large farm and became one of the extensive and successful agriculturists and stock-raisers of that CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 427 locality. Both he and his wife spent their remaining days there and the old homestead farm of the family is now owned by Captain Fisher and used as a summer home. Thaddeus S. Marks was but a young lad at the time of the removal to Delaware county and there he was reared upon the home farm to the age of nineteen years, working in the fields through the summer months, while in the district schools he acquired his education through the winter seasons. He was nineteen years when he accompanied his elder brother on an overland trip to California. They took with them all kinds of stock, including horses, sheep and cattle and were over six months in making the journey across the hot, sandy plains and over the mountains to the land of golden promise. They settled at Cambria, San Luis Obispo county, where they purchased a large ranch and there engaged in stock-raising and general ranching for about seven years or until 1863, when Thaddeus S. Marks sold his interest to his brother and returned to the old homestead farm in Delaware county. It was in the following year that Mr. Marks was married in that county to Miss Marcella Stanbery, a native of Newark, Ohio, and a daughter of Dr. Wellington and Rebecca (Hendren) Stanbery. Her father was a physician of Newark, Ohio, and also owned a large farm in Delaware county, dividing his time between agricultural interests and professional labors. He lived in that county for many years and was one of its most valued and respected citizens but eventually he removed to the town of Pataskala, Licking county, Ohio, where his remaining days were passed, his death there occurring May 18, 1888. His wife survived him for more than seven years, passing away on the 17th of February, 1895. There were three children born unto Mr. and Mrs. harks : Helen is the wife of Albert L. Neereamer, who for several years was interested in the street car business in Columbus but now resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he is likewise connected with street car interests. Arabella is the wife of Jacob C. Rehl, who was a prominent citizen of Zanesville, Ohio, being there engaged in banking and other line- of business activity. Recently Mr. Rehl took up his abode in Columbus, being now secretary of the Henry C. Werner Shoe Company of this city. They have become the parents of two children, John harks, six years of age, and Marcella Augusta, four years. W. Stanbery, living with his mother, is engaged in the printing business. He wedded Miss Bertha F. Scheif, and they have one child, Margaret Louise. Following his marriage Mr. Marks resided in Delaware county, giving his attention to general farming and stock-raising. He was always a lover of fine horses and raised many excellent specimens of the noble steed. He also devoted some time to the breeding and raising of fine sheep. On leaving the farm he took up his abode in Worthington, Ohio, where he lived for a short time and then removed to Pataskala, Licking county, from which point he went upon the road as a traveling salesman for a manufacturing house, which he represented for seven years. On the expiration of that period he came to Columbus in 1874 and became a traveling salesman for 428 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS the Buckeye Buggy Company. He was afterward engaged with other buggy manufacturing companies, continuing to represent such houses on the road throughout his remaining days. He was a most reliable business man and few commercial travelers were better known up to the time when his health compelled him to leave the road. He died May 28, 1903, and his death was deeply regretted by many friends. In politics he was a stanch democrat and took much interest in the questions of the day and their adoption. For many years he held membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and he was a consistent and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, his whole life being guided by high and honorable principles. Mrs. Marks and her family are members of the Central Presbyterian church of this city and she owns a nice residence at No. 552 East Long street, where she and her son and his family all now reside. GEORGE WILLIAM BOBB. In the past ages the history of a country was the record of wars and conquests; today it is the record of commercial activity and those whose names are foremost in its annals are the leaders in business circles. The conquests now made are those of mind over matter not of man over man and the victor is he who can successfully establish, control and operate extensive commercial interests. George William Bobb is one of the strong and influential men whose lives have become an essential part of the history of Columbus. Tireless energy, keen perception, honesty of purpose, genius for devising and executing the right thing at the right time joined to everyday common sense, guided by great will power, are the chief characteristics of the man. These qualities have gained him prestige in mercantile lines until he is now president and general manager of the G. W. Bobb Company, wholesale grocers of Columbus. A native son of the capital city he was born August 18, 1871. His father, George Bobb, who is still living, was born in 1836, while his mother, who in her maidenhood was Mary Kaetzel, was born on Fourth street in Columbus and is still living at the age of sixty-seven years. George William Bobb acquired his education in the Columbus public schools which he attended to the age of fifteen years while later he prepared for responsible duties in business life by attending a commercial college. He made his initial step in the business world as an employe in, his father's retail grocery store at No. 32 East Main street. He acted as bookkeeper, and on attaining his majority was admitted to a partnership under the firm name of George Bobb & Son. Two older brothers, R. H. and J. M. Bobb, also became partners in the business but when George W. Bobb was admitted they withdrew and started a. store of their own. This left the management of the older establishment upon the shoulders of George W. Bobb who proved competent to take up the work. His brothers opened their store on High and Vain streets but later dissolved partners hip. J. M. Bobb establishing an CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 429 independent venture as a grocery merchant in the Regalia, building on High street. There he conducted business for several years after which he decided to return to the old store and join his father and brother. In 189.5 the wholesale grocery firm of George Bobb & Sons was established, the partners being the father. George Bobb, and his two sons J. M. and G. W. This relation was maintained until August, 1903. George W. Bobb acting as general manager and buyer for the house. In 1903, however, he decided to start in business oil his own account again and located at 'North Third street. incorporating his interests under the name of the G. W. Bobb Company. The business enjoyed immediate success and has had a steady growth until it has assumed large proportions. His persistency of purpose, his comprehensive knowledge of the trade and the sound judgment which he displays in management are features in the building up of what is now one of the important mercantile enterprises of the city. In 1895 Mr. Bobb was married to Miss Nellie Pryce, of Columbus a daughter of Edward Pryce, who was a. pioneer railroad man in Columbus. He was born in 1833 and is now living retired and in good health. He has always been a. prominent resident. Mr. Bobb's fraternal relations are with the Independent. Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the board of trade and is interested in all of the progressive movements of that organization for the benefit. and upbuilding of the city. His time. however, is mostly given to his commercial interests and he today enjoys the reward of his painstaking and conscientious work. By his energy. perseverance and fine business ability he has been able to secure an ample fortune. Systematic and methodical, his sagacity, keen discrimination and sound judgment have made him one of the prosperous wholesale merchants of the city. FRANCIS JEROME MINCK. Francis Jerome Minck. living in Sharon township where he is now devoting his time and energies to general agricultural pursuits. was born at Council Bluffs, Iowa. February 28, 1868. His parents were Rudolph and Flora (Shuster) Minck, both of European birth. the former born in the city of Worms, Germany. and the latter in Darmstadt, Germany. Mrs. Minck was a little maiden of nine summers when brought to the United States, while Rudolph Minck was a young man of twenty-one years when he crossed the Atlantic. They lived near Portsmouth. in Scioto county. Ohio. for a number of year's. and Mr. Minck devoted the greater part of his life to farming. although he did a contracting business for a number of years. He died in Athens county. Ohio, February 6. 1902. in his eighty-first year. while his wife resides in Columbus at the age of eighty-one years. They were the parents of fifteen children. seven of whom are nov living. two sons and a daughter being residents of Columbus. When four years of age Francis J. Minck accompanied his parents on their removal to Jackson county. Ohio, and later to Athens county. Ohio. 430 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS where he was reared, spending twenty-nine years there upon the home farm. In 1902 he came to Columbus and entered into partnership with his brother William F., under the firm style of the W. F. Minck Company, dealers in pianos and musical merchandise. He is now engaged as a teacher in the Capital College of Oratory and music. In October, 1905, he bought his present farm and took up his abode thereon. having seventy-seven acres in Sharon township. It is a dairy farm, and in connection with the dairy business he also raises many hogs. On the 21st of April, 1904, Mr. Minck was married to Miss Mildred Alice Dennis. a native of Pickaway county, Ohio, and a daughter of Z. T. and Priscilla (Beavers) Dennis, who are now residing with Mr. and Mrs. Minck. Mrs. Minck was granted good educational privileges, supplementing her public-school course by study in the. Capital College of Oratory and Music in Columbus, completing the course in music by graduation in 1908. In his religious views Mr. Minck is a Methodist, holding membership in the church at Buchtel, Ohio. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is in hearty sympathy with the beneficent spirit which underlies these organizations. His life has been one of well directed effort and enterprise, resulting in the attainment of a creditable and gratifying measure of success. In all his relations he has enjoyed the respect- and confidence of his fellowmen because he is honest, upright, persistent and determined. AUGUSTUS NEWTON WHITING. The life work of Augustus Newton Whiting constitutes a most important chapter in the history of moral progress in Columbus. His widely extended influence, his frequently spoken words of helpful counsel and encouragement and more than all his splendid example were features which contributed to the work of the church, and especially noteworthy was his establishment of the mission among the colored people that developed into a church of rare power and constitutes a saving force among the negro residents of this city. Mr. Whiting was born in the capital, September 30, 1836, and was reared amid the refining influences of a. cultured, Christian home. His father, Isaac Newton Whiting, was a native of Westford, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, his birth having there occurred December 2, 1799. His parents were William and Lucy (Hildreth) Whiting. While spending his boyhood days in his father's home he pursued his education in the Westford schools. Early in life, after completing his education, he went to Philadelphia and while there became interested in the Episcopal church. This changed his life's plans and purposes and, deciding to enter the ministry, he went to Worthington, Ohio, where he matriculated in the Theological Seminary, which had there been founded by Bishop Chase. He entered the school in the fall of 1825 PAGE 431 - PICTURE OF AUGUSTUS N. WHITING PAGE 432 - BLANK CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 433 but was obliged to give up his studies on account of ill health. His interest in church work, however, did not cease and he devoted much time to organizing Sunday schools in Worthington, Delaware, Berkshire and Columbus, following a plan which he brought from Philadelphia. For several years he kept a general oversight of these schools, the usefulness and influence of which increased as the years passed. Necessity, however, obliged him to become a factor in the business world and about 1830 he established his home in the embryo city of Columbus. Here he became a bookseller and afterward took up the publishing business. An alert and discriminating mind found expression in the development of his business interests which, with the passing of the years, brought him substantial success. Mr. Whiting, however, did not cease to be deeply and actively interested in church work and in December, 1842, was numbered among those who organized the parish of St. Paul's. In fact he was one of the leading spirits in this work for his labors were always quietly and unostentatiously performed. He remained a factor in the business life of Columbus until his death, which occurred August 23, 1880, when he was almost eighty-one years of age. It was in 1841 that Isaac N. Whiting erected a residence at No. 66 South Third street, removing from his old home at High and Chapel streets. This residence remains today as it was built and is one of the old landmarks in that section of the city. There the spirit of hospitality reigned supreme and it was the resort of the many friends of the family. From that home Mr. Whiting went forth day by day to the duties which each day brought and was active in behalf of the moral progress of the community. He labored untiringly for the interest of his diocese, giving active aid to various church activities, serving for many years as treasurer of the missionary committee, while for a long period, up to the time of his death, he was treasurer of the Society for the Relief of Widows and Children of its clergymen. From 1860 until the division of the diocese he continuously acted as its treasurer and after the division the southern section required his services year by year as long as he lived. From the time when early in life he became a believer in the doctrines of the Episcopal church he remained one of its mast consistent and helpful members. Religion was to him not something apart but a factor in daily existence and his was manifest in his helpful spirit toward those with whom he came in contact, and at times in substantial aid or again in a word of encouragement. He believed fully in the principles of the brotherhood of man and if success is to be measured not by the good that comes to us but by the good that comes to the world through us, his was a most successful life. The memory of such a man as Isaac Newton Whiting can never die while living monuments remain upon which are imprinted the touch of his noble soul. The hearts of many who knew him bear the impress of his influence, while their lives embody at least in part the teachings which he desired to impress. He was well known in Columbus as a successful and prosperous business man but his record might well serve as an exemplification of the admonition. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you." 434 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS On, the 7th of September, 1835, Isaac Newton Whiting was married to Miss Orrell Kilbourne, a daughter of Colonel James Kilbourne of Worthington. They had one son only, the late Augustus Newton Whiting, who spent his youthful days under the parental roof and was afforded such advantages as his parents wisely regarded as elements for the best development of the boy. He was not only given good educational privileges but valuable lessons of life were impressed upon him in the home and bore rich fruit in later years. He early learned to discriminate between righteousness and evil not only in shunning the grosser things of life but in choosing and cultivating those qualities which beautify man's nature in accordance with the teachings of the Nazarene. Not only was he the soul of honor in all business transactions but there was in his nature nothing sordid or self-centered. After graduating from Kenyon College he engaged in the oil busing, becoming a member of the firm of Bottles & Whiting of Cleveland. Subsequently he returned to Columbus and became a, member of the firm of P. Rhoades & Company. owners of extensive oil refineries, which were important factors in industrial development in Columbus as well as a most gratifying source of revenue to the owners. On the 11th of May, 1864, Augustus Newton Whiting was married to Miss Ellen H. Gilbert, of Worthington, Ohio, and theirs was largely an ideal married life, their mutual love and confidence increasing as the years went by, while in the interests of the church and of charity they labored together, both being deeply concerned in work for humanity and for the advancement of religion among men. They held membership in Trinity Episcopal church, to which Mrs. Whiting still belongs, and in all of the work of the church were foremost, taking a most active and helpful interest in every measure tending to extend its influence. For over forty years Mr. Whiting was a vestryman of the church and for twelve years served as chairman of the finance committee. No worthy charity sought his aid in vain and the poor and needy found in him indeed a warm friend. In 1891 he and Mrs. Whiting founded what was known then as St. Phillip's Mission, constituting the nucleus of St. Phillip's church oil Lexington avenue. Thus was an Episcopal church organized among the colored people of the city and a house of worship was erected and consecrated in 1894. It was said that Mr. Whiting's father also had a great desire to start a religious work among the colored people of this city and made an effort to do so immediately after the Civil war. but never lived to see his cherished hope realized. The son, imbued with the father's wish and his own strong inclination, never rested until he took up the work left by his father and in the fall of 1891 set about to establish a mission for colored people. From the organization of the mission Mr. Whiting was untiring in promoting its work. He was not only the benefactor of the church, but teacher as well and attended all of the meetings of the executive committee and the men's club and entered actively into the spiritual, business and social phases of the work. He was superintendent of the Sunday school and taught a class of voting men and was the treasurer of both the Sunday school and of the chapel. Furthermore he saw that St. Phillips benefitted by the preaching of many of the eminent CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 435 divines that visited Trinity and when he died he left a bequest that continues as one of the elements of support in the church work. The death of Mr. Whiting occurred December 22, 1903. A man of the utmost dignity, whose carriage was circumspect and upright, he yet had a keen sense of humor and especially enjoyed a good story. He was widely recognized as a man of noble purpose, scrupulously exact in all of his business dealings, and put aside every opportunity that would have enabled him to take advantage of his fellowmen. In all of his personal, business and church relations his life was so correct and his demeanor so modest and unselfish that he won the respect and love of all, and when he passed away the press of the city paid a glowing tribute to his memory and the good work that he had done. Well might his friends and colleagues say of him: "He was a man; take him all in all I shall not look upon his like again." NORMAN DEWEY PERRY. While materialistic philosophy may exclaim: "Thou knowest 'tis common; all who live, must die, Passing through nature to eternity," it does not take into account the force of an example or the value of cherished memories that remain as a benediction to those who come into contact with au upright, honorable life. While Norman Dewey Perry did not register success, as some men measure it, by the accumulation of great wealth, he builded for himself an honorable character and all through his life drew to himself the respect, confidence and good will of his fellowmen. He had reached the age of eighty-five years ere he passed away on the 8th of January. 1899. being at that time with his son in Indianapolis. Indiana.. His race of life had been well run and there remains to his family and friends the memory of kindly counsel, of unfailing sympathy and his own unsullied honesty. The birth of Mr. Perry occurred November 26, 1813. He was of English descent. tracing his ancestry back to Edmund Perry who, about 1615. left England while Oliver Cromwell was ruling over Great Britain, and sought a home at Plymouth. Massachusetts. When, in the days of religious persecution. the Perrys, who were of the Quaker faith. could no longer endure to remain in Massachusetts, they removed to South Kingston on the waters of Narragansett bay. During the Revolutionary war Benjamin Perry, son of Freeman Perry and uncle of Oliver Hazard Perry. went to Connecticut and was married near Hartford to a Miss Jewett. They became the parents of two daughters and six sons, including William Perry, who was born in August, 1782. He wedded Martha Dewey whose birth occurred in 1785. while their marriage was celebrated in 1805. They became parents of three children-Emily, William and Susan while still living in Connecticut prior to the war of 1812. During the second period of hostilities 436 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS with Great Britain William Perry, who was one of the minute men, was ordered to New London, as the British were threatening to bombard the town, and it was during his absence that the subject of this review was born. In 1816 his parents with their children removed to Chautauqua county, New York, and in the wilderness built a log cabin and a sawmill on the Canadaway creek. A large number of the Catarraugus Indians were close by and all of the hardships of pioneer life had to be met. Between the ages of six and ten years Norman Dewey Perry had the privilege of attending school for six months each year but after that .spent only three months each year in school until fifteen years of age, the remainder of the time being devoted to work on the farm. Following the mother's death he went to his brother-in-law to learn the paper-making trade, at which he served a four years' apprenticeship, and when nineteen years of age, as the result of correspondence, he obtained a situation in a large paper mill at Toronto, Canada. He started on foot and alone, with but ten dollars in the world, working much of the way, for he had no money with which to pay stage fare. As he felt it necessary to hoard his little sum of money he at times was able to purchase but one meal in twenty-four hours. After a long and tedious journey, however, he reached his destination and began work at four dollars per week and board, receiving that wage for two and a half years. Many a week he put in eighteen hours a day, beginning at six o'clock Monday morning and working until midnight on Saturday. For fifty years he remained in active connection with the paper trade. His experiences in Canada were in some ways unique and interesting. When the mill was forced to shut down because of the hard winters, the headraces being frozen over, he attended parliament and listened to many of the able speakers of that day, being present also at the trial of William Lyon McKenzie. In the fall of 1835 Mr. Perry left Canada, expecting to stop at Dunkirk, near his old home, but a storm prevented the ship making that port and eventually they reached Detroit, Michigan. As he had a sister, Mrs. Emily Foster, living in that city and an uncle, Chester Perry, at Ypsilanti, he decided to visit them, and after so doing, took a boat bound for Buffalo. In due course of time he reached home and soon afterward started with his father for the west with a horse and open spring wagon. Their destination was Chicago but at Norwalk, Ohio, Mr. Perry was induced by his brother-in-law, Andrew Sprague, to take charge of a paper mill there, formerly managed by Mr. Sprague, who wished to give up the position in order to go to Michigan. At that time Mr. Perry had but three hundred dollars in his pocket which he gave to the mill owner in exchange for two lots. The venture, however, was not very profitable, for it was about this time that, president Jackson vetoed the United States bank bill and directed all state banks to issue largely to meet the public wants. The result was the "red dog" and "wild cat" bank bills and consequent hard times, for money was not good out of the neighborhood in which it was issued. It was in January, 1836, that Mr. Perry married Miss Sir: an Allen, and on the 27th of 'November of the same year a little daughter, Mary, afterward Mrs. Buell, was born. Feeling that the mill at Norwalk would CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 437 not give him a good living, in April, 1837, he secured a team and removed to Cuyahoga Falls, about one hundred and twenty miles distant. There he obtained a position in a paper mill and the following spring went to Zanesville, Ohio, to accept what he believed was a better position. He worked for twelve hours each week day for a dollar and a quarter per day and boarded himself, but after four months found this insufficient for the needs of himself and family and started to walk to Wheeling, West Virginia, seventy-five miles away. From that point he proceeded to his old home and there obtained a position at putting up a wrapping machine and operating it through the winter. In July, 1839, he was offered a position at Delaware, Ohio, where a mill was being built, and removed his family there, consisting of his wife, daughter and a son, the latter being Albert A. Perry, born at Cuyahoga Falls, March 6, 1838. At Delaware he assisted in installing and then in operating the mill machinery but in November, 1840, the mill was destroyed by fire. With characteristic energy, however, he assisted in its rebuilding and within one hundred days work was resumed. For many years they manufactured the printing paper for the state, for at that time there was no paper made in Columbus or Cleveland. Around the mill grew up a. little village which, on the 4th of July, 1842, was christened Stratford on the Olentangy. For a third of a century this village continued to flourish but following the financial panic in the '70s its manufactories were closed and its business enterprise became a thing of the past. Mr. Perry worked in the mill at a dollar and a quarter per day until 1847, when he took charge of the mill at a salary of ten dollars per week as much as was ever paid at that time. In January, 1850, he became partner in the mill, joining the firm of Williams & Andrews, who had been sole proprietors up to that time. He also became jointly interested in their store and real estate, the firm deeding to him a sixth of the whole, valued at forty thousand dollars. In April, 1849, Mr. Perry was called upon to mourn the loss of his first wife and had previously lost a little daughter. On the 1st of April, 1850, he wedded Mary A. Christ, who was born at Kutztown, Pennsylvania, November 17, 1825, and in 1831 had been taken by her parents to Delaware county, Ohio. In the spring of 1852 Mr. Perry traded his home for a dwelling opposite the stone mill. In the meantime his son, William R. Perry, was born January 19, 1851, and in the new home occurred the birth of W Irving Perry. August 31, 1852; Florence N. Perry, December 30, 1853; and Oliver Hazard Perry, February 23, 1855. For several years the paper mill in which Mr. Perry was a partner continued to flourish but on the 17th of February, 1857, the firm suffered the loss of twenty-five thousand dollars by fire, the print mill being destroyed. It was rebuilt, however, and operations were resumed. The task of getting good wash water was a difficult one until finally they bored for water and after going down in rock two hundred feet got a good supply of water running about one hundred gallons per minute. Business was carried on along the usual routine until 1863. While the war largely advanced prices in many other lines. there was no marked advance in paper or paper material until 438 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS 1863. Late in the fall of 1862 the firm took a contract for the state printing paper at a little less than eight cents per pound. The following year prices began to advance but the firm kept operating the mill until their losses amounted to five thousand dollars. Mr. Perry then went before the legislature and stated his case. It seemed that he would be successful in getting what he wished up to the time of the final reading of the bill, when a member from Franklin county brought up a bill to increase the price of printing and binding on state contracts. Other members felt that if there was to be an advance on all state contracts they would grant it on none. The Williams, Andrews & Perry Company then refused to make more paper and when sued for non-performance of contract won their suit. They continued paper manufacturing for several years, during which time prices were very good, at times thirty-one cents per pound being paid for state paper. In the meantime Mr. Perry had purchased a farm and the good sale of the mill products enabled him to clear his mill and his farm of all indebtedness. But in 1866 he was over-persuaded by his partner, James Andrews, to open a store in Columbus. That did not prove profitable, however, and paper continued to decline in value until at length the mill was disposed of at forced sale. Then, after fifty years' connection with the paper business, Mr. Perry turned his attention to other pursuits. It was in the fall of 1879 that he established a grocery at the corner of Hunt avenue and High street in Columbus, having in the meantime removed to this city in April, 1874, at which date he had erected a brick residence on East Fourth avenue. He continued in the grocery trade until 1881 when he sold out and took up the real-estate business in connection with John Walsh. In this he met with success and continued in the business until the fall of 1889, when, because of ill health, he went to Tucson, Arizona, and spent the winter, accompanied by his wife. Their winter months were spent there with their sons W. R. and W. I. Perry, and in the spring of 1890 they returned home by way of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Salt Lake City. The death of Mr. Perry occurred January 8, 1899, and it was after he had reached the age of eighty years that he wrote an extended account of his life almost entirely from memory. While he had closely applied himself to the conduct of business interests he had also shared in the work of public progress in various lines of usefulness and helpfulness. On the 19th of September, 1860, he was invited to Cleveland, Ohio, to share in the celebration held at the unveiling of a statue of Commodore Perry, this being the anniversary of Perry's victory on Lake Erie. He gave his political allegiance to the republican party after its organization and he was long a devoted and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, taking an active part in its work and contributing generously of his means to its support. He was a delegate to the first state Sunday-school convention held in Ohio, and attended other conventions of his church, doing all in his power to promote its progress and extend its influence. Death came to him when he was in his eighty-sixth year. He passed away at the home of his son in Indianapolis, Indiana., and the funeral services were held in the Third Avenue Methodist Episcopal church in Columbus, on the 11th of January, CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 439 his sons acting as his pall-bearers. Measured by eternity's standard, his life was a grand success and well might the words of the poet serve as his epitaph "Beautiful twilight at set of sun ; Beautiful goal with race well run Beautiful rest with work well done." OLIVER HAZZARD PERRY. Oliver Hazzard Perry is treasurer of the Columbus Buggy Company, and his position in business circles and in the regard of his fellow townsmen i5 indicated in the fact that he is now the president of the Columbus board of trade. He was born February 23, 18;6, at Stratford, Delaware county, Ohio. His father, Norman Dewey, a native of Hartford, Connecticut, was born -November 26, 1813, and extensive mention of him is made above. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Mary Ann Christ, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, and in 1831 was brought to Ohio by her parents. Her father was Jonathan Christ, who traveled with a wagon train and settled in Stratford. Delaware county. The death of Mrs. Perry occurred January 12, 1908. In the country .schools Oliver H. Perry began his education but ambitious for further opportunities in that direction, he attended the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware and the Ohio State University of Columbus. When his collegiate course was completed he took up the study of law and read for two years in the office and under the direction of the firm of Wood & .Jones of this city. In 1878, however, he abandoned his law study to accept a clerical position with the Columbus Buggy Company. There the business ability and enterprise which he displayed won him promotion and in time he was made cashier. When the business was incorporated in 1897 he was elected treasurer of the company and remains in that connection. When he first entered the business it was of small and inconsequential proportions but the trade has grown rapidly until it now extends to every :tate in the Union and to various foreign countries as well. The volume of business annually transacted is represented by a large figure and the success of the undertaking is attributable in no small degree to the efforts of Mr. Perry. It was on the 16th of .June, 1891, that Mr. Perry was united in marriage in Columbus to Miss Mary Eva Minor, a, daughter of Daniel and J. A. Minor of this city. 'Mrs. Perry is quite active in musical and club circles of Columbus and presides with gracious hospitality over their attractive home. Mr. Perry is also a lover of music and possesses not a little native talent in that direction. In early life he was for many years a member of the Republican Glee Club of this city. His political allegiance ha, always been given to the republican party and he was a delegate to the national convention which 440 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS met at Philadelphia in 1900 and nominated McKinley and Roosevelt. He has been active to some extent in county and local politics but never as an office holder, though frequently he has been tendered nominations. His social nature finds expression in his membership in the Ohio Club of Columbus and he is the vice president of the 'National Association of Agricultural Implement and Vehicle Manufacturers. He belongs to the Third Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a trustee and he is also a trustee of the Protestant. Hospital and of the Young Men's Christian Association. He is now the president of the Columbus heard of trade. having been elected for the fiscal year of 1908-9. While interested in all these different organizations and giving the weight of his influence as well as his service for their upbuilding and advancement, he has yet confined his attention largely to big business and through its development and growth has contributed to the material welfare of the city, while from hi work he has also personally received substantial benefits. DON MARQUIS OSBORNE. Although one of the more recent arrivals in Columbus, the record of Don Marquis Osborne, president of the Osborne & Sexton Machinery Company, is considered a valuable asset in the business circles of the city. From each experience which he has undergone in his life he has gained knowledge that is proving of present value. Many fail because of an inability to grasp, understand and utilize the lessons which are to be learned day by day in the actual affairs of life, but Mr. Osborne has made good use of his opportunities and has ever builded for the future upon his past experiences. A native of Circleville, Pickaway county, Ohio, he was born May 15, 1868, and traces his ancestry back to Corporal John Osborne, of the English army, who came to America to serve the mother country in the Revolutionary war. As he began to understand the conditions which here existed, however, he deserted and joined the colonists, participating in the long struggle which brought independence to the nation. He was gradually promoted through successive ranks until he became a general in the American army. Remaining as a resident of this country, he was the founder of the family to which D. M. Osborne belongs. Josiah Osborne, the father, was born in Delaware county, Ohio, and removed to Pickaway county after the Civil war, in which he had participated, serving as a private in the regular artillery. Later he was made commissary sergeant and went with Sherman on the celebrated march to the sea. Following the close of hostilities he engaged in the retail grocery business at Circleville, Ohio, for a number of years and in 1905 removed to Columbus, where he conducts the same line of business. He has now reached the age of seventy-two years and his life of intense and well directed activity should put to shame many a man of younger years, who, grown weary of the struggles and responsibilities of a business career. would relegate to others the burdens that he PAGE 441 - PICTURE OF DON MARQUIS OSBORNE PAGE 442 - BLANK CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 443 should bear. Josiah Osborne was married in early manhood to Miss Margaret Curtis, a lady of German and English lineage, who was born near Baltimore, Maryland. Her father belonged to a German family of excellent connections. During her early girlhood Mrs. Osborne came to Ohio with her mother and died in this state in 1876. D. M. Osborne was a student in the public and high schools of Circleville, Ohio, and for a period of four years, between the ages of nineteen and twenty-three, he was employed as a carriage woodworker. Thinking then to enter upon a professional career, he matriculated in the Normal school at Ada, Ohio, where he pursued a legal course and was then admitted to. the bar. In 1888 he became a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, where he continued in the practice of law for three years in the office of his cousin. J. A. Osborne, a prominent attorney, who was making a specialty of general civil and patent law. Mr. Osborne of this review, however, abandoned the active work of the profession in 1902 to enter the employ of Strong, Carlisle & Hammond, dealers in machinery. He represented that firm as a salesman with the object of fully mastering the business and remained in their employ until January, 1907. During the five years in which he was connected with the house he gradually increased in efficiency and ability until he became recognized as the best salesman representing that company. He thoroughly acquainted himself with the trade and the methods followed in business life, and on the expiration of that period he organized a partnership known as the Osborne & Sexton Machinery Company. In January, 1908, the business was incorporated with Mr. Osborne as president. The headquarters of the company are at Columbus, Ohio, and from this point they have controlled an extensive business which is growing rapidly along substantial lines. They carry a complete stock of machinery of all kinds, such as iron working, brass working and wood working tools and machinery. They also handle complete power plants with either steam or gas engines and deal in electrical equipments. They take contracts for machinery such as concrete mixers, graders, hoists, etc., and carry a full line of transmission supplies used in connection with heavy machinery equipments. They are sales agents in state of Ohio for the American Woodworking Machinery' Company of Rochester, New York, the largest house of the kind in the world, and they also represent many other concerns handling power and electrical equipments. The position of such a. house is gauged by the character of the concerns which it represents and the Osborne & Sexton Machinery Company handle only the output of the best known and most prominent machinery houses in the country. Since its inception the business has shown a remarkable growth and deals largely with Columbus buyers in their line. The business has met a long-felt want in this city, where a machinery supply house was needed, for previously it was necessary to trade with Cleveland or Cincinnati houses if the purchaser wished to secure tools and machinery of any description. They employ several salesmen at this point and also conduct a Cincinnati sales office. Mr. Osborne is a-lso president of the Century Manufacturing Company of Columbus, engaged in the manufacturing of drawing materials. In 1893 Mr. Osborne was married to Miss Agnes G. Long, of Sandusky, Ohio. and unto them have been born the following named: Margaret Irene, 444 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS James Thurman, Bryan Long, Kathryn Evelyn, Don M., Jr., and Agnes Gertrude. Mr. Osborne is fond of fishing and outdoor sports, being a devotee of nature in many of her forms. In politics he is a democrat with a citizen's interest in the political conditions of the country. He is always genial and approachable and at the same time is an alert, enterprising man, who has the ability to concentrate his attention and interests upon the one subject at issue. He has made each step in his life count for the utmost and has found that his mechanical knowledge and legal training and his experience as a salesman have all been essential and beneficial factors in the success which he is now enjoying. He possesses the determination that overcomes obstacles and seeks out new methods in securing a desired result, and his initiative spirit and his undaunted energy have made him one of the representative business men of Columbus. FREDERICK WILLIAM PRENTISS. Among the earnest men whose depth of character and strict adherence to principle command the respect of their townsmen Frederick William Prentiss is prominent. He stands today as one of the leading representatives of financial circles in Columbus, being president of the Hayden-Clinton National Bank. Throughout his entire career there has not been one esoteric phase. On the contrary his entire life has been characterized by strict adherence to the rules which govern unfaltering industry and commercial integrity and these qualities, combined with his undaunted enterprise, have enabled him to work his way upward from the position of bank messenger to bank president. A native of Columbus, Mr. Prentiss was born at No. 383 East Broad street, July 31, 1855. His father, William Stanton Valentine Prentiss, was a native of Massachusetts and in his boyhood days was brought to Ohio by his father, the family home being established in Marietta. Soon afterward W. S. V. Prentiss lost his father and went to live with his uncle, Royal Prentiss, who was one of the pioneer journalists of the state, having in company with Jensen Prentiss, father of WV. S. V. Prentiss, established the Marietta Gazette & Register about 1795. W. S. V. Prentiss supplemented his early educational privileges by a course in Marietta College and afterward took up the study of law. Admitted to the bar, he engaged in practice for a short time and then came to Columbus. He was a man of brilliant mind and scholarly attainments. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary E. Weaver, is a native of Rhode Island and still resides at Columbus. In the public schools of his native state Mr. Prentiss acquired his education and entered ,upon his banking career as a messenger boy in the P. W. Huntington Bank, where he remained for fourteen years, rising through successive promotions to the position of teller. For two years, from 1884 to 1886, he filled the office of cashier in the state treasury and after his retirement joined M. M. Green in the organization of the Clinton National CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 445 Bank in 1887. He became its vice president and cashier, so continuing until 1900, when the Clinton and Hayden banks were merged and Mr. Prentiss became president of the institution known as The Hayden-Clinton National Bank. He has since been the executive officer of what is today one of the leading financial concerns of the city. The banking business is conducted in a progressive manner and attended by a safe conservatism that receives the endorsement of the general public in a large and growing patronage. Mr. Prentiss is also a director and president of The Hayden Automatic Block Machine Company, is a director, secretary and treasurer of The Hayden Company and a director of The P. Hayden Saddlery Hardware Company. His business judgment is sound and reliable and, combined with energetic enterprise, has gained hint the creditable position which he today occupies in business circles of his native city, enjoying the respect of his colleagues and the admiration of all who know aught of his career. In 1882 Mr. Prentiss was married to Miss Martha Kinsman Greene, a daughter of M. M. Greene, his former associate in the Clinton National Bank. Her death occurred in 1888 and in 1893 Mr. Prentiss was married to Miss Belle Irving Hayden, a daughter of Charles H. Hayden. There is one son by the first marriage, Stanton Greene Prentiss, now paying teller in The Hayden-Clinton National Bank. Mr. Prentiss is a. member of the Episcopal church and gives practical support to various measures tending to promote the moral, intellectual and material welfare of the community. His social nature finds expression in his membership in the Columbus and Arlington Country clubs, in both of which he has for many years served as a director and treasurer. He takes no active part in politics but his citizenship is characterized by a patriotism and unfaltering devotion to those interests which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride. He has made good use of his talents and opportunities and stands as a high type of American manhood. GEORGE W. LATTIMER. George W. Lattimer is prominently known in Columbus as a prosperous manufacturer, being secretary and treasurer of the Kauffman-Lattimer Company, wholesale druggists, and president of the Lattimer Stove Company. While he has displayed marked business ability in the successful control of these enterprises, at the same time he has recognized the universal brotherhood of man and has done effective service for the unfortunate ones of the world through the avenues of charitable and benevolent work. His life has never been self centered but on the contrary is continually giving out, not only in the way of material things but in that helpful spirit, generous sympathy and word of encouragement that does so much to dissipate gloom with the sunshine of life. O. H. Lattimer, father of George W. Lattimer, was born in Norwich township, Franklin county. Ohio. in 1827. His wife, who bore the maiden 446 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS name of Sarah Ann Cox. was born in Delaware county, Ohio, in 1831. In early life they were both employed at the old insane asylum. and there formed the acquaintance which ripened into love and was consummated in marriage. Daniel Dodge Lattimer, the grandfather of our subject, resided on a farm bordering the Scioto river. He settled there in 1815. cleared the land of the timber which covered it and placed the field, tinder the plow. He and his wife left the state of Connecticut in the early part of the nineteenth century, made their way westward to Marietta., Ohio, afterward to Athens and subsequently settled upon the farm mentioned above. The wife bore the maiden name of Katherine Hyde, and both were of old New England stock. Their family numbered eleven children, of whom O. H. Lattimer was the third in order of birth. The maternal grandparents of George W. Lattimer were William and Ann (Atherton) Cox, who resided in Wyoming valley near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. In the old cemetery there is found a monument erected to the memory of Captain James Atherton, who was killed in the French and Indian war. Colonel Jacob Lattimer commanded a regiment in the Revolutionary war, and both were ancestors of our subject. Mrs. O. H. Lattimer, his mother, was educated in the academy of Westerville, which afterward became Otterbein University, later engaged in teaching school for a time and then accepted a position in the insane asylum. where Mr. Lattimer was also employed. After their marriage in 1852. he purchased the ground at the southeast corner of High and Cherry streets in Columbus, and opened a bakery and confectionery business, selling his products to the wholesale trade, making his delivery in large wagons. Also during the period of the Civil war he had a contract for furnishing the army with hard tack. His death occurred in April. 1865, after which time his business property was sold to Coleman & Felber, the latter having learned his trade of Mr. Lattimer, while Mr. Coleman commenced his business life with Mr. Lattimer when a boy of seventeen years. The first bakery in Columbus north of Broad street was established by Mr. Lattimer and was a branch of his other business. He was a well known, highly respected and successful business mail here during the middle portion of the nineteenth century. and is vet remembered by many of the older settlers. There were but two children in the family, and the daughter, Eva Jane, who became the wife of George D. Jones. all attorney, died in 1900. She left two daughters : Margaret Fuller Jones. a recent graduate of Wellesley College; and Grace Lattimer Jones, who is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College of Pennsylvania and one of the promoters and proprietors of the Columbus School for Girls, doing excellent work in this connection. George W. Lattimer, now the only surviving member of the family, was born in this county in December. 1856. He continued his education in Columbus until his graduation from the Central high school in 1874. after which he spent one year in school in Cleveland, and later was graduated from Amherst College in 1879 on the completion of the full four years, course, at which time the degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred upon him. He afterward studied law for six months, and then went to the Rocky mountains in Colorado, where he was connected with raining interests, remaining for about a year. CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 447 He then returned to Columbus on business. and while here entered into busing relations with the Nelsonville Coal & Coke Company, of which he was made secretary and treasurer. A year later, however, he sold out, and in 1882, in association with Professor George B. Kauffman and L. B. Kauffman, established a wholesale drug store as a member of the firm of Kauffman, Lattimer & Company. This was incorporated in 1888 as the Kauffman-Lattimer Company, Mr. Lattimer being its secretary and treasurer from the incorporation. In 1901 he also became connected with the Lattimer Stove Company, at which time he was elected president and still holds the office. The plant of this company covers about. three and a half acres, while their trade extends to all parts of the United States, their sales reaching about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars annually. The business of the drug company amounts to about one million dollars annually, this being one of the most extensive wholes ale drug enterprises of Ohio. In all his business connections Mr. Latinmer has displayed keen discernment, with a ready recognition and utilization of opportunity. In coordinating forces he has produced excellent results and throughout his entire career has made steady progress. In all of his business life Mr. Latimer has looked beyond the exigencies of the moment to the opportunities of the future and the usefulness of his labors has thus continued with the passing years. In many ways Columbus has benefited by his activity and enterprising spirit. He was a member of the first directorate of the board of trade in 1882, was president of the board in 1906. and has served for a number of years as chairman of the public improvement committee. He was also president of the park commission during Mayor Jeffrey's administration, has been treasurer of the Ohio Good Roads Association and president of the Franklin County Good Roads Association. He belongs to that class of far-sighted mien who recognize the advantage of public improvements. and with most enterprising spirit labor for the substantial development and material progress of the city. Neither is he oblivious of his opportunities to aid his fellowmen and has done much effective charitable and benevolent work. He was appointed by Governor Harris as one of the state delegates to the Civic Federation at Chicago. and received appointment from the same executive as a delegate to the 'National Good Roads Association at Buffalo. His work in behalf of good roads and the improvement and development of the park system of Ohio has been most effective. He was instrumental in securing the passage of the bill through the legislature whereby state aid was secured to the amount of fifty percent on all Ohio roads after the work is begun. The remaining fifty percent is paid as follows: twenty-five percent by the comity; fifteen percent by the township; and ten percent by the property owners. The bill also carried with it an appropriation of four hundred and forty thousand dollars from state funds for the care of the roads. Mr. Lattimer belongs to the Broad street Methodist Episcopal church. He has been vice president of the board of managers of the Associated Charities. is one of the directors of the Humane Society, one of the trustees of the Hannah Neil Mission and president of the board of trustees of the neighborhood guild association. which owns the property on which is located the Godman Guild settlement house. He is chairman of the joint committee on good roads 448 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS of the state board of commerce and Ohio State Grange, is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, a member of the Columbus Club, the Ohio Club and of the Columbus Country Club, of which he was also one of the founders. Mr. Lattimer has been married twice. He first wedded Miss Belle Gardner, a daughter of Andrew Gardner, a, former postmaster of Columbus, and unto them was born a son, Gardner. Mrs. Lattimer died in 1886, and for his second wife Mr. Lattimer chose Miss Minnie Williams, a granddaughter of Dr. Allen, one of the older settlers of Columbus, who was a Baptist minister, and later became interested in the Ohio Tool Company and in the shoe firm of Allen & Awl. By the second marriage there is one daughter, Miss Jane Lattimer. The son was educated in the high school and was graduated from Amherst College of Massachusetts in 1906. Such in brief is the life history of George W. Lattimer, a man remarkable in the breadth of his wisdom and in the scope of his activities. In his business career he has attained notable success, and yet his life has never been self centered, but has been actuated by a spirit of devotion to his fellowmen, cognizant at all times of the duties and obligations which devolve upon him in this connection. HARRY NATHAN BLAIR. Harry Nathan Blair, long well known as a representative of journalism in Ohio, was born in West Jefferson, Madison county, this state, June 23, 1861. His father, Nathan B. Blair, also a native of Ohio, was engaged in the furniture and undertaking business at West Jefferson and at London. Throughout his life he followed mercantile pursuits and was most highly respected. His death occurred at Harrisburg, Franklin county, June 11, 1888, when he had reached the age of sixty-five years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Eliza A. Burnham, made her home with her son, Harry N., after her husband's death until her own demise on the 30th of March, 1903. Harry N. Blair was educated in the common schools of West Jefferson and London. After his father's death, the support of the widowed mother largely devolved upon him. He therefore :ought employment, entering the office of the London Ohio Enterprise, a weekly paper, which he represented in a reportorial capacity. While in that employ in April, 1883, he was nominated for the position of township clerk on the republican ticket and received the endorsement of the public at the polls, not only in that year but again in 1884. In the following fall he was elected county clerk and filled the office for a term of three years. At that time the county was about evenly divided politically, not giving more than one hundred majority either way. Mr. Blair's official service justified the faith of his friends and constituents, for he proved a capable incumbent, prompt and reliable in the discharge of his duties. In 1888 he came to Columbus, where he engaged in newspaper work as reporter on the Ohio State Journal. Here he has CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 449 remained continuously since and has been political and legislative editor successively with the State Journal, the Columbus Dispatch, the Columbus Press-Post. and Columbus Citizen. For twenty years he has been a legislative reporter, covering the administrations of Governors James E. Campbell, William McKinley, Asa, A. Bushnell, George K. Nash, Myron T. Herrick, John M. Pattison, Andrew L. Harris and Judson Harmon. He attended every state convention of both parties during that period and also represented the papers with which he was connected at many national conventions. His work as legislative and political editor has given him an acquaintance probably as large as that of any man in the state. He has always enjoyed the confidence of the leaders of both parties in a very marked degree and he is now acting as legislative and political editor for the Columbus Citizen, which gives him connection with the Cincinnati Post, Cleveland Press, Toledo News Bee and Akron Press, constituting what is known as the Scripps-McRae League of Newspapers. Tie is also a deputy internal revenue collector for the eleventh district of Ohio, to which he was appointed October 1, 1907, by David H. Moore, the collector of the district. On the 1st of July, 1888, Mr. Blair was married in Columbus to hiss Emma Allen, of Athens county, Ohio, and unto them were born two children : Lizzie Gertrude twenty years of age ; and Harry N., a. youth of sixteen years. The mother died October 30, 1893, in Athens county,. and on the 4th of February, 1895, Mr. Blair was married in Columbus to Miss Abigail Jones, a daughter of M. R. Jones of this city. They have one son, Edwin Carson Blair, twelve years of age, who is with his parents at No. 297 South Ohio avenue. Mr. Blair is a member of the Third Street Methodist Episcopal church and in fraternal relations is connected with the Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. In his journalistic work he has manifested the same spirit of prog