BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio
edited by
Hon. Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater,
Frederick Schneider and Others To which is appended
A Comprehensive Compendium of Local Biography and Memoirs of Representative
Men and Women of the County.
Illustrated
Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers
1905
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DAVID BROOKS SANDERS
was born in Guilford county, North Carolina, Nov. 15, 1819. He was
the son of David and Elizabeth (Stafford) Sanders; the family was
in very poor circumstances and the son's early life was a series of
Struggles with poverty. At the age of ten years he walked the
entire distance from his birthplace to Richmond, Indiana, where his
mother then resided, and he was there bound out to a Mr. Holman.
Owing to the harshness of his employer young Sanders
unceremoniously departed. Barefooted and illclad, and facing the
blustering March wind, he walked to Oxford, Ohio, where a cousin,
Joseph Stafford, resided. Soon afterward young Sanders
learned the blacksmith trade with Frank Davis. In 1844 he
removed to Hamilton and engaged with Philip Berry who kept a
blacksmith shop at the northeast corner of Court and Reily street.
Four years later, in 1848, he opened a restaurant on a small scale at
what was then the head of the old Hamilton basin, where he also began
the manufacture of cigars. Subsequently Mr. Sanders removed
to No. 17 South Third street, where C. A. Stroble is now located,
and at this location he conducted a large business for about thirty
years. Being a man of unusually genial and affable disposition,
with always a kind word and a pleasant smile for everyone there was a
time when he was known by every man, woman and child in Hamilton.
He began business on a capital of but twenty-five dollars but
by close application to business and gentlemanly treatment of his
customers he amassed a fortune. His place of business was a
veritable curiosity shop. He dealt in an infinite variety of
articles and his oysters and lemonades - elephant's milk he called
the latter-were famous. In 1887 he retired from business.
Politically he was a Democrat, cast his first vote for James K. Polk
for President and as an independent candidate he was elected mayor of
Hamilton, commanding the Republican support. In 1885 he was
re-elected on the Democratic ticket and his administration was
creditable to himself and satisfactory to his constituents.
Socially he was a member of Hamilton Lodge, No. 17, of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and Canton Sanders, Patriarchs Militant, of
Hamilton, was named after him.
On Dec. 23, 1847, Mr. Sanders was married
to Nancy Ward, a daughter of John and Maria Reed Ward, and
who was born in this county July 22, 1819. Her father died when
she was quite young, and her mother was afterward married to Samuel
Hammond, by which union she had twelve children. Mrs.
Sanders died several years prior to the death of her husband.
Mr. Sanders was in every respect a self-made man, of fine
integrity of character and throughout his life an upright, honorable
citizen. He died Mar. 1, 1902, in the eighty-fourth year of his
age.
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen &
Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 965 |
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PIERSON
SAYRE was born Sept. 12, 1761, in the state of New
Jersey, in a small village then called Turkey, now known as Providence.
When seventeen years of age he entered the Continental army, as a
private soldier in the New Jersey division, then under the command of
General Lord Sterling. He remained in the army two years and a
half, during which time he participated in most of the battles fought in
the state of New Jersey during that period, among several others, the
battle of Springfield, fought June 23, 1780, under the command of Major
General Nathaniel Greene. During his service in the army he
consequently suffered all the privations and hardships to which the
Revolutionary soldiers were subjected.
After Mr. Sayre left the army he went to the
city of New York, where he learned the carpenter's trade. On June
29, 1786, he was married to Miss Catherine Lewis, of that city,
with whom he lived happily for upward of fifty-two years, until Dec. 25,
1838, when she died at Hamilton, Ohio, aged seventy-five years.
Mr. Sayre resided in New York city, and worked at his trade until
1790, when she removed to Uniontown, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where
he resided until 1809, when he removed to the state of Ohio, and
purchased a farm and tavern-stand in Butler county, seven miles from
Hamilton, on the road leading to Middletown. It was then known by
the sgn of the "Cross Keys." It had formerly been a celebrated
tavern-stand and place of public meetings during the early settlement of
the Miami valley, and had previously been kept by Andrew Christy.
It was subsequently known as Cummins' stand. Here Mr.
Sayre resided and kept a house of entertainment for a few years,
when he sold out to Abraham Miley, and removed to Cincinnati,
where he kept a tavern near the corner of Front and Walnut streets, at a
sign of the "Green Tree." The property then belonged to Isaac
Anderson, a pioneer resident of Butler county. Afterward
Mr. Sayre purchased a tract of land from Colonel James Clark,
in Lemon township, Butler county, where he resided until 1814, when he
sold out to John H. Piatt, of Cincinnati, who subsequently laid
out the town of Monroe on the same premises.
In 1814 Mr. Sayre purchased of John
Sutherland lot No. 120 on Front street, between Dayton and Stable
streets, in the town of Hamilton, with the house thereon, and in the
same year settled in Hamilton. He, however, resided but a few
months in this house, when he removed to the old Torrence
tavern-stand, situated on the corner of Dayton and Water streets.
This house is still standing, and until recently was occupied as a
resident by Henry S.
Earhart. Here Mr. Sayre lived and kept a tavern for
several years. In October, 1817, he was elected sheriff of Butler
county for two years, and was re-elected two years later for a second
term. He was succeeded in office by Samuel Millikin, who
served four years, after which, in October, 1825, Mr. Sayre was
again a candidate for sheriff and was elected by a large majority.
He served the further term of two years, making his whole term of office
six years. Mr. Sayre was appointed first collector of tolls
on the Miami canal. The office was then kept at the east end of
the Hamilton basin. He held the office from Mar. 1, 1828, until
Apr. 1, 1830. In 1835 he was appointed toll-gatherer for the
bridge across the Miami river at Hamilton. He attended faithfully
to the duties of that office from Apr. 1, 1835, until Apr. 1, 1839.
In 1820 Mr. Sayre contracted with the county commissioners to
furnish the materials and build two public offices on the public square,
one on the east and the other on the west side of the court house, which
he completed the ensuing year, according to contract. They were at
first built only one story high. An additional story was added
some years afterward, and the buildings continued to fulfill the
requirements of the county for many years, or until the completion of
the present court house in 1890, when they were torn away. Mr.
Sayre was also the contractor for building the Female Academy
situated on Water street, erected in 1834, and which is now employed by
the city of Hamilton as the city building. The father of
Pierson Sayre was Ezekiel Sayre. In the year 1788 he
lived at Stony Hill, New Jersey. In October, 1790, Ezekiel
Sayre removed to Cincinnati. He afterward lived near Reading,
Hamilton county, Ohio. His family consisted of himself and wife,
with four sons and two daughters, viz.: Levi, John, Hulda, Pierson
(the subject of this sketch), Benjamin (who was afterward sheriff
of Warren county, Ohio), and Rachel. Pierson Sayre
died Apr. 4, 1852, at his home in Hamilton, in the ninety-first year of
his age.
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio -
Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 890 |
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MRS. MARY ALMA SAWYER.
Little of interest can be said to biographical lovers of a woman
wholly devoted to the noble and humane work of teaching, and whose life
is a continuous consecration to duty faithfully and efficiently
performed. Only through the results of her labors as they affect
others, may glimpses here and there be obtained of the mind's struggles,
of the heart's desires, and of the soul's hopes, and it is to the future
alone that must decide her true worth and fix her proper place among the
noble and self-sacrificing, whose effort and influence have blessed the
world and made humanity wiser and better. Among the successful and
popular teachers of Butler county, Miss Mary Alma Sawyer, of
Oxford, occupied a conspicuous place and it is with no little
satisfaction that the biographer is permitted to present a brief outline
of her career in this connection and to pay a just tribute to her
professional and womanly worth. In the veins of Miss Sawyer
flows the blood of a long line of sterling New England ancestors, and it
was in the old historic commonwealth of Vermont that her birth occurred
on Nov. 26, 1854. Her father, O. S. Sawyer, also a native
of the Green Mountain state, was of English extraction and a creditable
representative of the sturdy Puritan element which figured so
prominently in the settlement and history of New England and bore such
an influential part in giving the people of that section of the
union the moral and intellectual fiber for which they have so long been
distinguished. The early life of Miss Sawyer was spent
among the beautiful and romantic scenery of her native place and during
her childhood and youth she attended the public schools, the training
thus received being afterwards supplemental by a course in a village
academy not far from the family homestead. In the latter
institution she prosecuted her studies with the object in view of
still more thorough intellectual discipline, and in searching the
same she entered Mt. Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, where
she was graduated with the class of 1879. Meanwhile, when but
sixteen years of age, she began teaching in the public schools and from
that time to the present her life has been devoted to educational work
either as a student or teacher. She has always been actuated by a
laudable ambition to excel in her profession and to this end has spared
neither time nor expense in availing herself of the best means at hand
for her improvement. A close and critical student, she has
taken advantage of every opportunity to add to her knowledge and broaden
her mind, and as a teacher she has been keenly alive to the exacting
demands of the times by keeping in touch with the trend of modern
educational thought, and by making every other consideration subordinate
to the one object of utilizing her attainments skillfully and
efficiently in her profession.
Miss Sawyer began her professional career in her
own state, but since that time has taught in various parts of the union
and in Canada. From 1882 to 1887, inclusive, she held a chair in
Demill College, Oshawa, Ontario, and from the latter year to the present
time has filled an important position in the Western College, at Oxford,
Ohio, being one of the most efficient and popular teachers in the latter
institution.
Miss Sawyer is a fine type of New
England womanhood and embodies many of the sterling qualities
which characterize the people of the Green Mountain state. By
energy and consecutive industry, as well as by long and thorough
intellectual and professional discipline, she has steadily forged to the
front in her chosen calling and now holds an honored
position among Ohio's successful educators. While perhaps best
known in the field of endeavor to which her abilities have been devoted,
she is also popular in social circles of the city in which she resides,
possessing as she does a sweet and beautiful moral nature and the happy
faculty of winning and retaining the war personal friendships of her
companions and associates. Reared in the Congregational church,
she has always remained loyal to the faith, and since coming to Oxford
has been interested in the different lines of religious and charitable
work under the auspices of the local church.
Source: Centennial History of Butler County,
Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 458 |
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SAMUEL
SHAFFER was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, May 4, 1816, his
parents being of Pennsylvania German stock. He received
common-school education and in youth was apprenticed to the trade of
chair-maker, at which he served three years. At the age of
nineteen years he started in life for him self, going to Pittsburg.
where he worked for time, then coming by boat to Cincinnati. In 1835 he
located in the village of Rossville. where he worked at his trade and
subsequently was employed in Dayton and Columbus. Subsequently he
started the chairmaking business for himself in Hamilton, his shop being
located in little building in the rear of the Rumple block on street. He
followed his trade several years and was then employed as clerk in the
hardware and gun store of R. L. Howard, where he remained several
years. He served two years as infirmary director and as member of
the Rossville fire department and was also member of the village council
from 1848 to 1852 and clerk of Rossville in 1854. Among other
public capacities in which he served was that of marshal of Rossville,
trustee of St. Clair township, the first real estate assessor of
Hamilton and collector of income tax for Hamilton and Fairfield
townships, continuing in the latter service until the office was
abolished. During the Civil war he was one of the commissioners
sent by Hamilton to Pittsburg Landing with supplies for the
relief of the Union soldiers. He was the oldest Odd Fellow in
Hamilton and one of the oldest in the United States. His death
occurred in October, 1896. He was twice married, first to Miss
Sarah Jane Mills, who survived the union but brief time, and later
he was married to Miss Mary Laird, several children being born to
the union.
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen
& Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 875 |
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AARON
L. SCHENCK was native of Butler county, Ohio, having been born in
Fairfield township in 1804, and here received his education in the
common schools. He followed farming as his vocation all through
his life and accumulated large estate. He early evinced deep
interest in public affairs and in 1849 was elect ed sheriff, serving one
term, his election being the result of fusion between bolting faction of
the Democratic party and-the Whigs. He was man of great force of
character and was considered as one who would scorn to do wrong to his
fellow men. His death occurred in March, I856.
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen
& Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 876 |
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CHARLES
K. SMITH was born February 15, 1799, in Cincinnati Ohio, and
after receiving preliminary common-school education he was sent in 1812
to grammar school in Oxford, where he remained for three years. He
then came to Hamilton to live and was employed by John Reily,
postmaster and clerk of the courts, and for two years the subject was
employed as deputy postmaster and clerk. In 1821 he was chosen as
recorder of Butler county and served in this capacity until I835.
During this interim, in 1827, he was also chosen treasurer of the
county. He later became cashier of the Bank of Hamilton and after
his retirement from the bank, upon its suspension in 1842, he entered
upon the practice of law, having been admitted to the bar in 1840 after
legal study under the preceptorship of John Woods.
In 1848 he was elected associate judge by the general assembly and
shortly afterwards, when the act creating the territory of Minnesota was
passed by congress, Mr. Smith was made secretary of the
territory, assuming his duties in May, 1849. He entered upon
his duties with energy and became one of the most prominent founders of
the empire of the Northwest. Upon his return from Minnesota he
bought his father's farm in St. Clair township, where he remained until
his death, which occurred in September, 1866. He was regular
attendant of the United Presbyterian church and donated the lot on which
the First Presbyterian church now stands. He was married November
21, 1827, to Miss Eleanor A. McMechan.
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen &
Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 876 |
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EDWARD SMITH
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ.
B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 727 |
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HARRY E.
SMITH. In no other
land on the face of the globe is there accorded so perfect and
consistent a recognition of individuality as in America, and here only
has it been possible to overcome the prejudicial animus against
admitting the ability and capacity of youth and to afford the individual
a full province in which to exercise the most potent functions of which
he is capable, regardless of the fact that over his head may not have
passed so many years as represent the ages of those with whom he comes
in competition in any of the fields of human endeavor. An
exemplification of the potentialities of youth has been given in the
successful career of the subject of this sketch, who is a member
of the bar of Butler county, though not an active practitioner, and who
has attained distinctive prestige in the educational work of this
section, having been engaged in teaching for a number of years and being
a man of high intellectual attainments and distinctive administrative
ability. He is now principal of the public schools of Jacksonboro,
and is one of the popular and highly esteemed citizens of the county.
Mr. Smith is a scion of sterling pioneer stock in the Buckeye
state, both in the agnatic and maternal lines, and his entire life has
been passed in this fine old commonwealth.
Harry E. Smith was born on the homestead farm,
in Warren county, Ohio, on the 17th of May, 1867, and is a son of
Robert T. and Sarah E. (Allen) Smith. The father was born in
Lawrenceburg, Indiana, in October, 1837, and devoted his life to
agricultural pursuits, having become one of the influential and
successful farmers of Warren county, Ohio, where his death occurred on
the 11h of August, 1901. His wife was born in the city of
Cincinnati, on the 11th of April, 1847, and was there reared and
educated. She survives here honored husband and still resides in
Loveland, Warren county. The father of our subject was educated in
Farmers' College, in Cincinnati, and was a man of high mentality and
sterling character, ever commanding the esteem and confidence of his
fellow men. He served for four years during the war of the
Rebellion, having been a member of the Fifty-second Indiana Volunteer
Infantry, and having made an enviable record as a loyal and valiant
soldier. His marriage to Miss Sarah E. Allen was solemnized
on the 8th of August, 1866, and of this union were born eight children,
all of whom are living while all save two remain with their mother on
the old homestead, a record concerning them being briefly entered, as
follows: Harry E. is the immediate subject of this sketch;
Araminta and Vessie E. remain with their mother; Retta
is the wife of Dr. Paul Fisher of Columbus, Ohio; Alvin
has the general management of the home farm; and Leota, Earl and
Wilson remain on the home place.
The subject of this review was reared to the sturdy
discipline of the farm and waxed strong in mind and body under
this grateful training, whose value is far too often unappreciated by
those who thus gain the basis of the strength which makes for success in
life, no matter what vocation may be chosen. After completing the
curriculum of the public schools he entered the state university, in
Columbus, continuing his studies in the literary department for one
year. He then spent two years in the Normal University, at
Lebanon, Ohio, where he was admitted to the bar in 1896. He began
teaching in 1887, and has followed the pedagogic profession for the
major portion of the time since, save for the intervals of college work.
After his marriage he was for two years employed in the public schools
of Warren county, and for the ensuing five years he was a teacher in
Mason, that county, while his success has been at all times pronounced
in his labors as an instructor. After leaving Mason he taught for
one year in Princeton, and since that time has been retained in his
present position at Jacksonboro. He is enthusiastic in his work
and an earnest and indefatigable student, while he has the power of
infusing enthusiasm in his pupils, leading them to do the most
effective work in their studies, and ever retaining their respect and
confidence. In politics Mr. Smith is an ardent advocate of
the principles of the Republican party, whose cause his father espoused
at the time of its organization, while his paternal grandfather was a
stalwart supporter of the Whig party. Mr. Smith became
affiliated with the lodge of Knights of Pythias at Loveland, Warren
county. Both he and his wife are zealous and valued members of the
Presbyterian church.
On the 24th of December, 1891, was solemnized the
marriage of Mr. Smith to Miss Rosabel Dunn, the nuptial
ceremony being performed in the home of the bride's parents, in Lebanon,
warren county. She is a daughter of Arthur M. and Belle F.
(Fowler) Dunn, well-known and honored residents of Warren county,
where they have maintained their homes for many years, while Mr. Dunn
has been a teacher in the public schools for the past thirty-five years.
He was born Oct. 28, 1845, and his wife on the 18th of June, 1849.
They now reide in Middletown, Butler county. Of the three children
of Mr. and Mrs. Smith only one is living. Stanford A.,
who was born on the 1st of December, 1892, died on the 11th of June,
1894; Robert A., who was born on the 20th March, 1895, died Apr.
7, 1896; and Stewart M. was born July 26, 1897.
Source: Centennial History of Butler
County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 368 |
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HARRY H.
SMITH, M. D. Source: Centennial History of
Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page
550 |
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JAMES SMITH, once sheriff
of Hamilton county, lived for a great portion of his life in St.
Clair township. He was born Dec. 22, 1763, in Cumberland county,
Pennsylvania, and emigrated to the West in the year 1792, in conjunction
with General James Findlay, with whom he formed a partnership
after his arrival, which lasted more than ten years, under the firm name
of Smith & Findlay. Their store was near the foot of
Broadway. Their store was near the foot of Broadway, on Front
street. A short time after his arrival he was appointed sheriff of
the county, and on the formation of the state of Ohio, he was elected to
that office by the people, being the first one thus honored. So
long did he hold the shrievalty that he was commonly known as "Sheriff
Smith." During a portion of this time he was collector of the
revenue of the government of the United States for the Northwestern
Territory and of the taxes for the county. Few men in the
Northwest had more influence in the affairs of the community than he,
and none, exercised it more wisely. He acted for a time as the
private secretary of General St. Clair, who was governor of the
territory, and enjoyed his confidence and esteem. He was captain
of the first light infantry company raised in Cincinnati, and when the
second war with Great Britain broke out, went to the front as paymaster
of the First Regiment, third detachment of the Ohio Militia, and was in
Fort Meigs when it was besieged by the British and Indians during that
war. About the year 1805 he came to Butler county, settling on the
place in section 21. St. Clair township, at the mouth of Four Mile
creek. Here he remained until his death, which occurred in 1834.
He was a man of much capacity, benevolence, and public spirit, and gave
his children the advantage of good educations. His widow and they
(except two of the younger ones, who died in infancy) survived him.
The late Charles K. and John C. Smith, both public men of
prominence, were his sons, and James Smith, who married a sister
of Almon Davis, of this county. They are now all dead.
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ.
B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 984 |
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MICHAEL E.
SMITH. Most of the
successful men of America have been the architects of their own
fortunes, and it is one of the glories of our great Republic that this
is true. It shows that here are afforded adequate opportunities
and that our citizens have possessed the courage, determination and
strength of purpose to make proper utilization of the advantages
offered. The subject of this sketch is one who deserves much
credit for what he has accomplished, for he has been dependent upon his
own exertions from his early youth and has built the ladder upon which
he has risen to the plane of definite success, while it has been his to
retain at all times the uniform confidence and esteem of those with whom
he has come in contact in the varied relations of life. He is a
native son of Butler county, and a representative of one of its sterling
and honored families, while he is known as a man of fine intellectuality
and marked business acumen. He is today one of the
influential farmers and stock growers of Lemon township and is devoting
special attention to the dairy department of his enterprise.
Mr. Smith was born in Liberty township, near
Woodsdale, this county, on the 2st of September, 1861, and is the
youngest of the four children of James and Margaret (Fitzpatrick)
Smith, the three older children having been born prior to the
immigration of the family to the United States. The parents of our
subject were born and reared in Ireland, where their marriage was
solemnized and where the father followed the vocation of farming until
1859, when they came with their three children to the United States,
landing at astle Garden, and forthwith continuin their westward journey
to Ohio, making Butler county their destination. They located near
Woodsdale, where the subject was born, and the father here devoted his
attention to farming until his death, which occurred in 1861, the
subject of this review being a child of too weeks at the time. The
family were left in somewhat straitened circumstances, but by strenuous
effort the devoted mother, with the aid of the older children, succeeded
in keeping the family together and in preserving and improving the
little property which her husband had purchased. She has continued
to make her home in Butler county to the present time. She is a
devoted member of the Catholic church, as was also her husband.
Michael Smith, to whom this sketch is dedicated,
passed his youthful years in Butler county, devoting himself to farm
work during the summer seasons while during the winter terms he
prosecuted his studies in the public schools of Woodsdale, thus
continuing until he had attained the age of twenty years, and having in
the meanwhile completed the curriculum of the normal school. He
then went to Kansas, where he attended the State National School
in 1881-2. At the expiration of his year of study in that
institution he returned to Ohio, and during the winter of 1883-4 was a
student in the Normal School at Ada. He had thus qualified himself
for effective pedagogic work, and he thereafter engaged in teaching
during the winter months and in farming during the summers for a period
of seventeen years, save for an interim of two years, during which he
was employed as clerk in a hardware establishment in the city of
Hamilton. In 1890 he was married, and in 1898 he purchased a
portion of the old homestead farm upon which his wife was born, while
she inherited a further share of the same, and this constitutes their
present place of abode. From August, 1900, to December, 1902,
Mr. Smith was employed as bookkeeper for the Otto Coke Company, of
Hamilton, and he then removed to his farm, where he has since resided.
The farm comprises one hundred and eight acres, is improved with
excellent buildings, including an attractive two-story frame dwelling,
and is one of the valuable places of this section of the county.
To the farm the subject now gives his undivided attention, raising the
cereals and other products best adapted to the soil and climate.
He is a man of marked executive and business ability, and his success is
certain to be cumulative, since he is familiar with all details of the
industry under whose discipline he was reared, and is unflagging in
energy and fertile in expedients. In politics he is a stanch
advocate of the principles and politics of the Democratic party, with
which he has been affiliated from the time of attaining his majority.
Though never animated with ambition for official preferment he has never
lent his aid in furthering the party cause, and is well fortified in his
political convictions, while he is essentially public spirited the
progressive.
On the 2d of July 1890, was solemnized the marriage of
Mr. Smith to Miss Minnie Long, who was born on the farm on
which they now reside, the date of her nativity having been February 15,
1871. She is a daughter of Edward and Sarah (Mulford) Long,
who are now deceased, both having been born in Butler county. Her
mother was a daughter of John and Mary Mulford, who were born and
reared in New jersey, where they continued to reside for some tie after
their marriage, finally coming to Ohio and numbering themselves among
the pioneers of Butler county. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have four
children, namely: Harry, who was born on the 20th of March, 1891;
Cecil, who was born on the 5th of June, 1895; Mary,
who was born on the 4th of February, 1898, and Charles, who was
born on the 18th of March, 1900.
Source: Centennial History of Butler
County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 719 |
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PHOTO |
TOM A. SMITH
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ.
B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 584 |
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WALTER J.
SMITH, M. D. Source: Centennial History of
Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page
556 |
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JOHN
W. SOHN was born in Windesheim, Germany, May 23, 18I5, the son of
Wilhelm Ludwig Sohn and Catherine
Daehmer Sohn. He received good education in Latin
school and gymnasium in his native land and at the age of seventeen
years became apprenticed to his father as cooper and brewer. When
nine teen years old he embarked for America, landing at Baltimore, from
whence he came west on foot, reaching Hamilton in November, 1834.
He assisted first in chopping wood at twenty-five cents cord, but later
went to work in a brewery and later in pork house. About year
later he went to Cincinnati and for three years was employed as brewer.
Returning to Hamilton in 1839, he bought brewery and through his
energetic efforts greatly extended the business until in 1846 he was
enabled also to embark in tanning. These enterprises were also
successful and he became owner of two large tanneries, one at Hamilton
and one at Waverly, in Pike county. In connection with these
businesses, he also opened a leather findings store, and was successful
in all his enterprises. He had the largest vine yard in Butler
county and had great success in the growing of native wines. He added
the packing of pork to his other enterprises and was also interested in
the manufacture of a wood working machine. Not satisfied with
these businesses, he engaged in farming quite extensively, owning large
tracts of land, and was also a member of the board of directors of the
First National Bank. Originally Mr. Sohn was stanch
Democrat until the time of the Civil war. when he transferred his
allegiance to the Republican party. His first public office was
that of member of the city council and he was also a member of the
school board that introduced the union-school sys tem in Hamilton.
In 1849 he was elected county commissioner and in 1872 was the nominee
of the Democratic party for congress, but was defeated. He was a
leader among his countrymen in Butler county and was instrumental in
organizing the first benevolent society of Germans in Cincinnati in
1836, which is still in existence. He was also president of the
United German Society. In 1840 Mr. Sohn was united
in marriage to Miss Catherine Rosenfeld, a native of Saxony,
Germany, and to them were born nine children.
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen
& Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 876 |
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GEORGE P. SOHNGEN
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen &
Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 581 |
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PAUL J. SORG
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen &
Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 911 |
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GEN. ARTHUR ST. CLAIR
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen &
Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 937 |
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FRANK P.
STEWART Source: Centennial History of Butler
County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 566 |
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JAMES E. B.
STEWART, D. D. S. Source: Centennial History
of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 -
Page 603 |
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SAMUEL
POTTER STEWART. The F.
P. Stewart Granite Company, of Hamilton, is one of the best known
business institutions in Butler county. It has been in continuous
existence since 1836, when the plant was established by the maternal
granduncle of the subject, Aaron Potter. From him it
descended by purchase to the Stewart family, F. P. Stewart, an
elder brother of the subject of this review, becoming the principal
stockholder and president of the company, a position he held until his
death, in 1893, at the age of forty years. Since then his wife,
Mrs. Martha J. Stewart, a practical business woman, has been
president of the company, under whose management it ha been eminently
successful. The business is incorporated with a
capitalization of thirteen thousand dollars, - a very insignificant sum
as compared with the annual output of business. They make a
specialty of monumental work in the states of Ohio and Indiana.
The hundreds of patrons in Hamilton are the best evidence of their home
standing. In addition to the cemetery work, however, the firm are
large contractors in cut stone work of all kinds, in which line they do
a good share of the special work in Hamilton and adjacent towns.
The F. P. Stewart Company were the successful bidders on the
construction of the Butler county soldiers, sailors and pioneers'
monument, on the site of old Fort Hamilton, and stands as a lasting
tribute to the memories of the silent heroes. This is a beautiful
work of art, and while it fittingly perpetuates the memories of the
departed, it also emphasizes the noble, generous spirit of the
promoters, and stands as a lasting testimonial to the skill and
efficiency of the builders. The entire outside structure is built
of the celebrated Bedford (Indiana) oolitc stone, the interior being
faced with marble, bearing the names of the many hundreds whose memories
it is intended to perpetuate. The extreme dimensions are forty
feet square, with two projections, extending eight feet on the north and
south fronts. The total height is one hundred feet.
The F. P. Stewart Company gives regular
employment to an average of forty men in the various departments, and is
fully equipped with all modern appliances for the successful operation
of their greatly diversified lines of business. These include
facilities for sawing, electric drilling, scientific lettering, etc.,
all operated by the most skilled workmen and every detail of the work is
carefully inspected by the most competent mechanics.
The annual output of business averages about forty
thousand dollars. Samuel P. Stewart, of this sketch, has
been connected with this institution continuously since 1880. In
his various capacities in connection with the business, past and
present, he has traveled extensively, visiting other establishments in
distant states, the marble and granite quarries of the East, and jobbing
houses throughout the country. It goes without saying that he has
been very useful attache of the business.
On leaving school he began work in the shops of the
concern, but after a brief experience he found that his health was being
injured and a change of employment became necessary. He then
learned the printer's trade, following the "art preservative" for two
years, and was one year with the Methodist Book Concern in Cincinnati.
He then returned to his first work in 1880, as stated.
Samuel Stewart was born in Cincinnati, Jan. 18,
1859. He is the only survivor of a family of four children born to
John C. and Elizabeth (Potter) Stewart. Both his parents
were natives of Butler county, Ohio, and both are deceased. His
father was a general contractor and builder and spent all his business
life in Cincinnati. He died from the result of disease incurred in
the army, being brought home in a helpless condition, and died in 1864.
He was captain of Company I, Fourth Ohio Cavalry, of which his eldest
son, Arthur J. was a member, being then but thirteen years of
age. He too incurred disease from which he died in 1865. The
only sister of the subject was Ella, who died in childhood, and
his mother died in 1861. Frank P., already mentioned,
completed the list of casualties in the family circle. Samuel
P. Stewart acquired a good education in the city schools of
Hamilton, having located in this city, with relatives, after the death
of his parents. From early youth he has been a member of the
Baptist church and has always taken an active interest in religious
work. He has been the chorister in the First Baptist church in
Hamilton for many years and served twelve years as superintendent of
Sunday school. He also served four years as secretary of the
Butler County Sunday School Association, and is now serving the second
year as president of that organization. He is a very useful and
popular man in all phases of religious life in Hamilton and is well and
favorably known in church circles everywhere in the county.
The marriage of Mr. Stewart occurred on the 28th
of February, 1888, when he chose for the life companion Miss Ella
Dean, a most charming and popular young lady of Hamilton. She
is related to some of the most prominent families in the city and is
highly regarded in the social circles of Hamilton. Miss Dean
was a popular and successful teacher in the public schools in her
girlhood days, being employed as such in the Hamilton schools at the
time of her marriage. She is a lady of many accomplishments, and
an active worker in the church and Sunday school, and was the organist
at the First Baptist church for four years, leaving that position with
the advent of domestic duties at home. This is a most happy union,
blessed with that degree of mutual love and confidence which renders
domestic life and home interests paramount to every other consideration.
Two bright and promising sons have come to add cheer and comfort to the
happy fireside and cement the affections of loving parents, while one
little blossom from the shores of paradise passed over with the angles.
Franklin Dean, the eldest of the trio, was born Nov. 28, 1888.
He is an exceptionally bright and studious boy, well-advanced in his
high school work, and destined to achieve distinguished honors in the
educational field. His brother, Stanley Potter, born on the
10th of December, 1891, is equally alert in his school work in a lower
department. Arthur J. lived to the age of eleven months,
when his little life went out, leaving parents and brothers to mourn the
early departure of a cherished flower, too delicate and fragile for an
earthly career. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart treat their sons as
companions and equals, according to them the position of young gentlemen
in the home and making of them confidents and companions around the
family fireside. It is a truly happy and contented family, where
love and confidence and filial regard reign supreme.
The subject is a Republican of the stalwart type,
well-versed on the current topics of the day, and an ardent and zealous
supporter of the doctrines of this time-honored and fire-tested
organization. He has never sought or held public office. He
is a member of various fraternal insurance organizations, among which ay
be mentioned the Independent Order of Foresters and the National Union.
Source: Centennial History of
Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page
523 |
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