Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 543 - Oxford Twp.

CONSTANTINE MARKT, M. D., president of the Eclectic Medical Society of the State of Ohio, is a native of Spaichingen, in the kingdom of Wirtemberg, Germany, where he was born on the 25th of February, 1832. His father, Karl Markt, was a dealer in clothing, and for sixteen years was one of the twelve associate judges of the district, to whom was confided the duty of sitting in judgment at the trial of offenders, two with the supreme judge constituting a quorum. His mother was named Mary. One of Dr. Markt's brothers had been forced to leave Germany on account of political troubles in 1848, and had settled in Thompson, Lake County, Ohio. He wrote repeatedly to his father to come over with his family, and settle here also. Constantine was opposed to this, but after the death of his mother, which happened in 1852, he abandoned opposition to the plan, and, with his father, one brother, and three sisters, embarked for America in 1854. What they should do in the New World he did not know. He had received his early education in the schools of his native town, and at the age of fourteen began attending a seminary, where he prepared himself for the university, and where he graduated three years later, having taken the classical course. He was then made a teacher under the government, remaining attentive to his duties until his departure for America.
     Upon their arrival, Mr. Markt found that the brother who had preceded him was not in a situation to render them much aid, and the young man determined that to his toil they should owe their subsistence. As yet he could not see his way clearly. The most imperative requisite for a livelihood is a knowledge of the language of the people among whom it is the lot of a stranger to be cast, and of English he as yet knew nothing. He soon, however, was in a way to remedy this defect, as a short time after he arrived he made the acquaintance of Postmaster Mead, an old and esteemed citizen of that town, with whom he exchanged lessons in music to his little girl for English. It was not long after he reached Thompson that his new friend perceived that he possessed musical attainments far beyond the common, and that as a performer upon the piano he much surpassed any one in the neighborhood. In truth, Mr. Markt had been thoroughly grounded in the principles of music in Germany, and. had been well known in the places in which he had lived as an amateur of promise. He had, however, never intended to become a professional musician, but the quick eye of Mr. Mead soon saw that here was the path that would lead him to a livelihood and competence. He took Mr. Markt to Painesville, sixteen miles distant, where he performed before the musical young ladies of the town, met for that purpose. From that time he had no fears of his future. He then removed to Painesville with the rest of the family, and there established himself. He taught assiduously during the day, and in the evening studied medicine, for which he had had an inclination from boyhood, with Dr. Carpender. He cared for his family as long as they needed it—his father until his death in 1865, and his sisters until their marriage.
     In 1856, having attained sufficient means and a competent knowledge of the English tongue, he began at­tending lectures at the Eclectic Medical College, in Cin­cinnati, under charge of Dr. Cleveland, who died in Nashville, Tennessee, during the war, and was graduated in 1858. He at once came to Hamilton, and entered upon practice, being married the same year. Here he was at once successful. His easy and agreeable manners his imperturbable coolness, his command of all the resources of the physician's art, at once made him a favorite. A year after coming here he was made brigade-surgeon of this district for the militia. During the war he was influential and active. He attended assiduously to his calling for many years, but finally, after a long attack of illness, became convinced that he had given too intense a devotion to his profession. He resolved to abandon the duties of a visiting physician, and bought the drugstore formerly owned by J. W. Baldridge, No. 13 Third Street, which had been established years before by John O. Brown. To propose, however, is one thing, and to do is another. Many of his old patients refused to leave him, and be found that he had, in addition to his medical practice, a drugstore on his hands. He had also, during his many years of residence here, acquired great skill as an operator in difficult cases of surgery, and in this respect his reputation has increased with time.
     He was married in 1858 to Miss Josephine C. Carpender, daughter of his old preceptor, Dr. Joseph Brown Carpender (who was a man of much prom­inence in the medical profession as well as in other ways). He was a native of Milton, Vermont, and the son of a physician. Mrs. Caroline Jackson Carpender was the mother. Dr. Carpender graduated at the Burlington Medical College about 1826. He came West in 1835, and settled in Wellsville, Erie County, Pennsylvania, but in 1843 went to Painesville, Ohio, where he practiced until his death, in 1861, at the age of fifty-five. He had been mayor of Painesville, and for several years president of the school board. He was a man of great probity of character, and for years exerted a marked in­fluence in the affairs of the town. Mrs. Carpender died in 1865. She was also a native of Milton, Vermont. Dr. and Mrs. Markt have had three children, two of whom are now living. Adelaide C. Markt was born July 25, 1869, and Karl Constantine, August 16, 1873. Mrs. Markt is a Presbyterian in religion, and a lady who enjoys the highest esteem of all who have the pleasure of her acquaintance, and is considered one of the most popular in the social circles of Hamilton. She is sec­retary of the Butler County Children's Home, and one of the managers. She is one of its founders, and a charter member.  She is active in Church and missionary work.  Besides what we have mentioned above, Dr. Markt has taken an active interest in every thing that benefits society.
     He is a member of the Miami Medical Society, the State Medical Association (of which he is president), the National Medical Society, president of the Physicians' Protective Association of Hamilton, and county examining physician of the Royal Arcanum and the Knights of Honor, and a contributor to various medical periodicals.  He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Knights of Honor, and the Royal Arcanum.  He was the leader of the Maennerchor in this city for several years, and brought it to a high stage of excellence.  Since entering upon medicine he has found but little leisure for this favorite pursuit.  He is a secretary of the board of health, and has been so for eighteen years; has been a member of the school board, and has filled other offices of prominence and responsibility.  In person Dr. Markt is tall and commanding, in manners courteous and obliging, and in business thorough and exact.  No man is better esteemed in Hamilton, and when a friend has once been made by him he is always kept.
Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 360 - Hamilton Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 544 - Oxford Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 608, Madison Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 542, Oxford Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 607, Madison Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 542, Oxford Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 499, Liberty Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 544, Oxford Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 544, Oxford Twp.

JOSEPH EWING McDONALD. Joseph E. McDonald, late Senator from Indiana, was born in Fairfield Township, on the 29th of Aug., 1819.  His father, John McDonald, was of Scotch extraction, a native of Pennsylvania, and by occupation a farmer.  He was a man of sterling worth, determined, industrious, and self-sacrificing.  He died when his son was still in infancy.  His mother, Eleanor (Piatt) McDonald, was a Pennsylvania.  Her ancestors were French Huguenots, who located first in New Jersey, and afterwards settled permanently in Ohio.  She was a woman of a superior order of intellect.  She was a woman of refined tastes, a pleasant writer, and, for the amusement and advancement of her children, wrote many sketches and scraps of song.  She and her husband were both earnest members of the United Presbyterian Church.
     Several years after the death of John McDonald she was married to John Kerr, of Fairfield Township.  Mr. Kerr was a native of Ireland, a frugal, industrious farmer always out of debt, a just and courteous neighbor, a firm but kind parent, and the father of seven children, four sons and three daughters.  He moved with his family to Montgomery County, Indiana, in the Fall of 1826, entered land and opened a farm.  He was a member of the Old School Presbyterian Church.  He died in 1856.
     Joseph was seven years of age when, in 1826, his parents located in Montgomery County, then an almost unbroken forest.  He remained on the place until the age of twelve, excepting two years spent at Crawfordsville attending school.  Such spare time as he could command from his labors on the farm was occupied in pursuing a course of study which aided much in laying the foundation for the eventful future in store for him.  At an early age he conceived a strong love for the law, and when ten years old he had determined upon making that profession his life work, at the cost of any personal hardship or sacrifice.  In his twelfth year the ambitious aspirant for future honors at the bar became an apprentice at the saddler's trade at Lafayette, Indiana.  In that capacity he served five years and nine months, except three months spent in attending school.  For fidelity to their interests his employers released him from the last three months of his apprenticeship, which time he spent in prosecuting his studies.
     Following the resolution made before going to learn a trade, he pursued his studies with vigor at such tiems as he could snatch from work or rest.  He had already become quite proficient in the English branches and rudiments of learning.  His favorite study was history, in which he became well versed.  During his apprenticeship he had access to the extensive and well selected library of Doctor Israel T. Canby who was then receiver of the public moneys of the land office at Crawfordsville, Indiana.  This opportunity was well improved, and he was prepared when leaving there, in 1838, to enter upon advanced fields of knowledge.
     At the age of eighteen he entered Wabash College, at Crawfordsville, and began the study of the higher branches of learning with success, supporting himself mainly by plying his trade at such times as it was possible to do so.  He continued his studies at college till the Spring of 1840, except for a short period in the Spring of 1839, when he acted with the engineer corps of the State of Indiana, who were then surveying the bed for the Wabash and Erie Canal.  In 1840 he entered Asbury University, at Greencastle, Indiana, and remained six months, returning to Crawfordsville, where he was the rest of the year, and taught school one term.  In the Spring of 1841, he went to Williamsport, Indiana, taking a position as clerk in the store of James McDonald, his brother, being there one year.
     In the Spring of 1842 he began the study of law at Lafayette, Indiana, with Zebulon Beard, one of the first lawyer in the State, as his preceptor.  He advanced with rapid strides, his quick and firm grasp of its principles being remarkable.  He was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court of Indiana, consisting of Judges Blackford, Dewey, and Sullivan, in the Spring of 1843.  He was nominated for the office of prosecuting attorney before he received his license to practice, and was elected to that position at the August election following, over Robert Jones, a Whig, and a prominent member of the Lafayette bar.  This was the first election of that class of officers by the people, they having formerly been chosen by the Legislature.
     On the 25th of December, 1844, he was married to Nancy Ruth Buell, at Williamsport, Indiana.  She was the daughter of Doctor Buell, a practicing physician and surgeon.  The issue of this union was Ezekiel M. , Malcolm A., Frank B., and Annie M. McDonald, afterwards Mrs. Caldwell who died June 2, 1877.
     He was re-elected prosecuting attorney over Robert Evans, a prominent lawyer and politician, in August, 1845, serving in all a period of four years.  In the Fall of 1847 he moved to Crawfordsville and entered on the practice of the law, where he lived until 1859.  He was elected to the Thirty-first Congress from the old Eighth District in August, 1849, and served one term.  In 1856 he was elected attorney-general in Indiana, being the first chosen to this office by the people, and was re-elected in 1858, serving in all four years.  He was not a candidate for a third term.
     In the Spring of 1859 he removed to Indianapolis, forming a partnership with Addison L. Roach, ex-judge of the Supreme Court of Indiana.  In 1864 McDonald was nominated for Governor of Indiana by the Democratic State Convention, and made a joint canvas with Oliver P. Morton, the Republican nominee.  At the election he received six thousand more vote for Governor than the Democratic State ticket did in 1862, when the entire Democratic State ticket, together with a majority in both branches of the General Assembly, was elected.  Mr. Morton was elected, however, by nearly twenty thousand votes.
     In 1868 E. M. McDonald became the law partner of his father, and the next year Addison L. Roach retired from the firm.  E. M. McDonald died Jan. 1, 1873.  Frank B. McDonald, his youngest son, ahs since become the law partner of Mr. McDonald.
     Senator McDonald's wife died on Sept. 7, 1872.  On the 15th of September, 1874, he married Araminta W. Vance, of Crawfordsville, who died Feb. 2, 1875.  He has lately been married for a third time.
     Throughout his entire life he has strictly adhered to his resolution to follow the law and make a success of his profession.  He has been engaged in some of the most important cases that have been tried in the State since his admission to the bar.  He was of counsel for the defendants in the celebrated case of the United States vs. Bowles, Milligan, and Horsey, tried for conspiracy and treason by a military commission at Indianapolis, and sentenced to be hung.  The case was taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, where several important constitutional questions arose as to the relation of the general government to the States, the war power of the government, and the rights of the citizens.  The defendants were leased by the Supreme Court.  He was of counsel for defendants in the noted case of Bebee vs. The State, in which the Supreme Court decided that the enactment which was known as the Maine liquor law was unconstitutional.  He was one of the attorneys for the parties who assailed the constitutionality of what was known as the Baxter liquor law.  In the Supreme Court of the State and the federal court he has taken an active part of many important cases, one of the most important being the case of the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and St. Louis Railroad Company vs. The Columbus, Chicago, and Indiana Central Railway Company, in which was involved a network of railroad interest and large sums of money, depending upon the validity and construction of a ninety-nine years' lease.  He made the principal argument for the objectors in the count of the electoral vote of Louisiana before the Electoral Commission appointed to determine the result of the Presidential election of 1876.  Mr. McDonald thinks that the creation of this commission was the exercise of a doubtful power in a case of apparent necessity.
     Joseph Ewing McDonald was elected to the United States Senate for six years, to succeed Daniel D. Pratt, and took his seat Mar. 5, 1875.  He was chairman of the Committee on Public Lands, and the second member of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate, and ranked as one of the best lawyers of that body.  He is, and has always been, a firm, consistent Democrat, of the Jefferson school, as personified in the political life of Andrew Jackson.  He was a member of the Senate committee which visited New Orleans to investigate the count of the vote of Louisiana in the contest of 1876.  He was also on the Teller-Wallace committee to investigate frauds in elections in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  He was chairman of the Democratic States Convention in 1868, and of the Democratic State Central Committee during the campaigns of 1858 and 1874.
     As an orator, both at the bar and on the hustings, he is cool, logical, and forcible; as a citizen, he has the confidence and respect of all who know him, regardless of political creeds.  He has traveled extensively in his own country, and is thoroughly acquainted with its institutions and people.  He is a member of the Episcopal Church.  He is regarded by all parties as a statesman of acknowledged merit.  His views are broad and comprehensive on all questions of public interest; not a man of expedients, but stating his views clearly and boldly, leaving the result to the candid judgment of the people.  The opinions of his most bitter opponents are never treated with disdain.  Few men have enjoyed the uniform confidence of their fellow-citizens to the extent that he has.
Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 476, Fairfield Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 546, Oxford Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 558, St. Clair Twp.

JOHN C. McKEMY, late judge of the common pleas court in Darke County, but now a resident of Hamilton, was born May 5, 1835, in Lexington, Virginia. His father and mother, William and Elizabeth (Kirkpatrick) McKemy, were both natives of Virginia, and descendants of the earliest settlers of that State. Both are now dead, the former having died April 8, 1882, aged seventy-nine, and the latter in December, 1878, at the age of sixty-nine. Farming was their life vocation, and they resided1 in their native State until death. W. D. McKemy, a brother of John C, who was educated by the latter, after serving in the rebel army throughout the Rebellion, and for a long time a prisoner, being captured at the battle of the Wilderness, is now judge- of probate at Dayton, and a lawyer of excellent ability.
     John C. McKemy remained at home upon his father's farm until 1855, when he came to Ohio and located in Darke County, where he labored on a farm during the Summer and attended school in the Winter. His circumstances were such as to deny him the privilege of a collegiate education, but he made the best of what opportunities he had, and gained a good, practical knowledge of books. In 1858 he entered the law office of Evan Baker, of Greenville, as a student, and after two years of arduous study, was admitted to the bar of Darke County in 1860. He immediately established himself in practice in Greenville, making his mark at once, and in 1865 formed a partnership with Mr. D. L. Meeker, of that place. This connection was continued up to 1866, when Mr. McKemy was elected probate judge of his county. His ability as a lawyer, and the judicial quality of his mind were soon, however, to elevate him to a higher position in his profession than he had previously held. In 1868 he was elected judge of the common pleas court, to accept which he resigned his position as probate judge.
     Judge McKemy remained on the bench till the Fall of 1872, when he resigned, with the determination to resume practice. He established himself at Dayton, where the firm of McKemy & Nauerth existed till 1876. He then removed to Hamilton, where he has since remained in successful professional pursuits. During the four years in which Judge McKemy presided as common pleas judge there were perpetrated within his circuit the greatest number of terrible murders and crimes ever known in the history of the county. The state of affairs was dreadful. Six months of the year were of necessity devoted to the trial of criminal cases. Judge McKemy did not shrink from the responsibility. Among those which came before him were the famous McGehean and Licklider murder cases, and many others of aggravated character. Substantial justice was attained,, and the purification of the community was largely owing to his strenuous efforts. There were also several very important civil actions tried before Judge McKemy, in which he did himself great honor. One . particularly worthy of mention, was tried in Dayton, involving the rights of the veterans in the Soldiers' Home of that city to vote. Judge McKemy decided that they had no right to exercise the elective franchise in that place, and his decision was sustained by the Supreme Court of Ohio.
     However, Congress subsequently passed a law granting to them that privilege, which they now enjoy.
Probably no other judge in the State within a period of equal length has been obliged to sit in judgment in so many cases of equal weight and importance as did Judge McKemy from 1868 to 1872, in the first subdivision of the Second Judicial District of Ohio trials in which public feeling ran high, and in which personal sympathies and prejudices placed the lives of men involved in them in actual jeopardy. Since his retirement from the bench Judge McKemy has been an attorney in nearly every important case tried in Hamilton and the neighboring cities. He was in the noted Dickey-Tytus breach-of-promise and seduction case, and also assisted in the trial of the State vs. John Francis, for murder, which was transferred from Montgomery County to Hamilton on a change of venue. He was also one of the attorneys in the settlement of the Beatty estate, the largest ever brought into the courts of Butler County.
     For years Judge McKemy has been a very active and influential Democrat, and up to within a few years was one of the leaders of his party in his own and surrounding counties. He served as chairman of several Democratic conventions, and in several presidential campaigns canvassed both Ohio and Indiana as a speaker. His life has been one of activity and industry, which, coupled with his native ability, has made him not only an excellent lawyer and able judge, but successful in pecuniary affairs. He is the possessor of considerable real estate in Hamilton and other places, besides having an interest in four silver mines in Colorado, two of which are in successful operation, and the others are under process of tunneling. He is a member of the Knights of Honor and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
     Judge McKemy was married December 6, 1861, to Miss Mary A. Wiley, of Darke County, daughter of Caleb and Elizabeth Wiley. Mr. and Mrs. Wiley were both natives of Virginia, though they removed to Ohio when young. They have lived on one farm for about sixty years. The former is eighty-three years of age, and the latter sixty-three. Of this union there are seven children now living. The oldest, Fannie Belle, born in 1865; Ella J., born 1866; Pearl C., born in 1868; William C., in 1875; Florence May, in 1876; Blanche, in 1880, and the youngest in 1882.
Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 558, St. Clair Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 587, Union Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 544, Oxford Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 619, Wayne Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 545, Oxford Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 468, Ross Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 608, Madison Twp.

Source: A History & Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio - Cincinnati, O. - 1882 - Page 608, Madison Twp.