BIOGRAPHIES

Source:
Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio
including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899.

* EDGERTON, Alfred P., Hon. * EISER, Andrew - See John P. Eiser * EISER, John P. * ENOS, Benjamin Franklin   HON. ALFRED P. EDGERTON.      This deceased gentleman was in his lifetime one of the most distinguished citizens of this section, and his able, faithful, and long-continued service in important official positions reflects honor upon the community in which he made his home.  His prominence in political affairs is indicated by his service as Congressman; member of the Ohio State Senate; president of the Civil Service Commission, and by his election as a delegate to four national Democratic conventions, while his name was associated with numerous undertakings which have been a permanent benefit to the business interests of the country.      Mr. Edgerton came of good old English ancestry, and traced his descent from Richard Edgerton, one of the original thirty-five proprietors of Norwich, Connecticut.  He was born January 11, 1813, at Plattsburg, New York, and received an academic education at Albany.  For a time after leaving school he edited a newspaper at his native place, but in 1833 he removed to New York City, and engaged in mercantile business.  In the spring of 1837 he came to Ohio, and assumed the management of the extensive interests of the American Land Company, and the Hicks Land Company in the northwestern part of the State, establishing his office and home at Hicksville, then in Williams county.  He ever afterward retained a residence there, his beautiful home being always kept ready for his occupancy, and he spent much of his time there; but in 1859 he removed to Fort Wayne, Indiana.  From that time until 1868 his attention was mainly devoted to the management of the Indiana State canals, which he leased in partnership with Hugh McCulloch and Pliny Hoogland, and at different times he was identified with various railroad interests in Indiana and Michigan, as promoter, stockholder, and director.      His abilities received early recognition among his fellow-workers in the Democratic party, and his fidelity to duty in every office fully justified their confidence in him.  In 1845 he was elected to the Ohio State Senate; in 1848 was a delegate-at-large to the National Democratic Convention; in 1850 was elected to the XXXIId Congress; in 1852 was re-elected, and as a member of the XXXIIId Congress he served as chairman of the Committee on Claims, and was one of its most active and conscientious members, blocking many false claims.  In 8153 he was appointed financial agent of the State of Ohio, with an office at New York City, and this position he held until May 1, 1856.  From 1852 to 1856 he was a member of the Democratic National Committee, and was chairman of the sub-committee which organized the national convention in the latter year.  In 1858 he was a member of a committee appointed to investigate certain frauds upon the Ohio State treasury, and he assisted in preparing an elaborate report disclosing the extent of the frauds and the names of the guilty parties.      In January, 1864, he was chosen delegate-at-large to the national convention of his party.  In 1868 he was a candidate for the post of lieutenant-governor of that State, but he declined to run.  In November, 1885, President Cleveland appointed him as a member of the United States Civil Service Commission, and for about four years he served as chairman of that body.  Throughout his life Mr. Edgerton was an earnest friend to educational progress, and for many years he served as a member of the school board at Fort Wayne, and as trustee of Purdue University at Lafayette, Indiana, and of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Indiana, which is endowed by the general government.       His unswerving integrity in financial matters is shown by the fact that he was not a very wealthy man, notwithstanding the opportunities for gain which is official positions gave him.  His business enterprises were profitable, and in the early '70's he was worth from eight hundred thousand to a million dollars, but, having made a verbal promise as security for his brother Lycurgus, who was in business in New York City, he felt compelled to meet all liabilities when the panic of 1873 brought on the failure of the latter.  This took the greater portion of Mr. Edgerton's fortune, and as he was not legally bound to pay the obligations, the incident illustrates in a striking way his high sense of honor.      On February 9, 1841, Mr. Edgerton was married at Columbus, Ohio, to Miss Charlotte Dixon, who was born June 1, 1816, at Portland Connecticut, a daughter of Charles and Lucy (Sage) Dixon, of Bethany, New York.  Son after their marriage Mr. Edgerton brought his bride to his home in Hicksville, which had just been completed for her reception, and the first gentleman to call and offer his congratulations on their arrival was Chief Justice Waite.  In this home many happy years were spent, the following children blessing the union:  Henry Hicks, born January 1, 1842; Cornelia Augusta, born February 4, 1843, died August 13, 1848; Frances DeLord, born September 1, 1844; Alfred P., Jr., born April 12, 1846; Charlotte Elizabeth, born October 1, 1847; Ann Eliza, born June 4, 1849; Arthur, born February 7, 1852, died March 28, 1856; and Dixon, born July 28, 1857.  On January 2, 1895, the beloved wife and mother passed to the unseen life, deeply mourned by a large circle of friends.  She was a member of the Episcopal Church and was prominent in its varied activities.      Even when well advanced in years, Mr. Edgerton displayed remarkable intellectual and physical vitality, and was still actively interested in various progressive movements of the day.  He died May 14, 1897, at Hicksville, Ohio, and was buried at Fort Wayne, Indiana, may 17, from Trinity Church. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.  Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899. ~ Page 31 J. P. Eiser JOHN P. EISER.  The present sheriff of Defiance county, John P. Eiser, is an able and faithful official, and his fearless discharge of his difficult and sometimes dangerous duties has won for him the esteem of the better element of the community, while his name has become a veritable "terror to evil doers." A long service as constable, deputy sheriff, and deputy United States marshal prepared him for his work, and it is seldom that a man is found so thoroughly equipped for the office.      Mr. Eiser was born October 1, 1859, in the city of Defiance, the son of Doctor ANDREW EISER, and his wife, Mary Eiser. Both parents were natives of Monheim, Germany, and they remained in the Fatherland for some years after their marriage. In 1840 they came to America with their family, which then consisted of three children, and located first at Perrysburg, Ohio, in 1843, removing to Defiance, where the father died in 1858. He had studied for the medical profession in Germany, and on coming to this country engaged in practice with marked success. His wife survives him, and for some time resided with our subject in Defiance, but in June, 1896, she went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to visit a daughter, and was stricken with paralysis from which she has not recovered. The family has always been identified with the Catholic Church, and both parents being devout members they reared their children carefully in the same faith. The three children born in Germany were Elizabeth, Andrew, and Emma, and the four born in Defiance were Sarah, Josephine, George Washington, and John P. (our subject).      John P. Eiser was educated in Defiance, attending the Union Schools, also the parochial schools of the German Catholic. Church, and at an early age he began to learn the tinner's trade, which he followed for seven or eight years. In 1884 he was elected to the office of constable, in which he served so faithfully and efficiently that he was retained in the position for thirteen years, resigning it only to take the oath of office as sheriff. During that period he served four years as deputy sheriff, being appointed in 1888, and four years as United States marshal under B. F. Wade, of Toledo, the appointment being made in 1890. His services in both positions were creditable to himself and satisfactory to his superior officers and the people at large, his prompt fulfillment of all official duties bringing him prominently and favorably before the public. His courage and determination were often put to severe tests, his duties being performed at times at the risk of his life when a desperate criminal was to be found and arrested. Altogether he has apprehended more than one hundred and fifty offenders who were convicted and sent to the penitentiary. Naturally he became familiar with the legal practice connected with the offices mentioned, and this is now of great advantage to him, all the details as to papers and forms of procedure being decided upon without fear of error.      In 1896, when he was nominated by the Democratic party to his present office, he was elected by a majority of nine hundred and thirty-seven, although his opponent was a most popular man, and had been elected two years previous by a handsome vote. Mr. Tuttle is the only Republican ever elected to the office of sheriff in Defiance county. Notwithstanding the pressure of his official duties, he has served for some years as a member of the fire department of Defiance. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, and he is prominent socially as a member of the Catholic Knights of Ohio and the German Aid Society. He earned his first money as a bill poster, and now owns all the bill boards in Defiance.      On October 2, 1886, Sheriff Eiser was united in marriage with Miss Fannie Partee, daughter of John and Nancy (Justice) Partee, the former of whom was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, and died in Camp Dennison in 1861, from a wound received in battle. His widow still resides in Evans-port, Defiance county, the birthplace of our subject's wife. To Sheriff and Mrs. Eiser have been born three children: Mabel, Bernadine, and John, Jr. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.  Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899. ~ Page 142 B. F. Enos BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ENOS.  One of the brainiest lawyers in this section is the gentleman whose name here appears, and when one considers the unusual high standard of ability which is shown by the members of the legal fraternity in northwestern Ohio, it is seen that a man who has worked his way in competition with older practitioners of such notable attainments, and reached a front rank in this most exacting profession most, in deeds, have rare gifts of mind.  These Mr. Enos unquestionably has, and sustained by the potent aid of a strong and commanding personality he has proved himself an exception to the rule that the prophet fares illy in his own county and among his own kin.      Born at Defiance, Oct. 1, 1851, Mr. Enos comes of a family which has been distinguished in previous generations for ability, courage and public spirit.  His grandfather, Orange Enos, a native of Scotland, was a soldier in the United States army in the war of 1812, and his father, the late Captain William E. Enos, practically shortened his life as a result of his gallant service in the Union cause during the Civil war.  An account of the life of this honored citizen will be of interest, and is most appropriate here.  Captain Enos was born in Rutland, New York, and as a young man came to Ohio, locating first at La Grange, where he married his first wife, Hannah Helm.  In 1844 they moved to Defiance, where Captain Enos engaged in business as a carpenter.  He was postmaster of that city under Buchanan's administration.  When the war broke out he raised a company of soldiers for the ninety-days service - Company --, Eighty-eighth Ohio Voluntary Infantry - and although more than fifty years old went to the front with them, serving as second lieutenant.  At the end of their term the entire company re-enlisted, and he was made captain, in which capacity he served until the exposure and privations of a soldier's life brought on a serious illness from which he never recovered, and which caused his honorable retirement upon a certificate of disability.  His death in December, 1879, ended a long period of invalidism borne with heroic self-restraint.  By his first wife he had three children, of whom the youngest, Emma, died in childhood.  The eldest, Louis, served four years in the Union army, in Company I, Fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, with the rank of sergeant.  He was disabled by a gunshot wound, in one of the last battles of the war, and died Apr. 22, 1865, at Washington, D. C.  Sarah, the second of the trio, married Charles P. Tittle, and now resides at Rapid City, South Dakota.  The mother of this family died in 1847, and on Sept. 2, 1849, the father married Mrs. Esther M. Wasson nee Southworth, a widow with one daughter, Mildred E. Wasson, who died at the age of seventeen.  The Southworth family was of English origin.  Mrs. Enos  was born in Addison county, Virginia, and her father, Epaphras Southworth, who was by occupation a farmer and carpenter, removed in 1836 to Defiance, where he made his permanent home.  Captain Enos would never apply for a pension, although clearly entitled to do so, but his widow has been awarded one.  She is still residing at Defiance at the age of seventy-seven, and is a devout and consistent member of the M. E. Church, to which her husband also belonged.      B. F. Enos was the only child of the second marriage.  His education was begun in the schools of his native city, and on completing his course there he entered the Jordan & Lypre Commercial College at Toledo, to prepare for a business career.  As is often the case his vocation was not at first apparent, and after graduating from the college at Toledo he learned the machinist's trade.  At eighteen he became an engineer on a tug engaged in lake traffic, and after two seasons in their position he entered the drug store of J. P. Buffington, as clerk.  Two years were thus spent, and in the meantime, having come to a clear perception of his proper calling, he began the study of law under the direction of Hon. W. D. Hill and Gilbert L. Myers, of Defiance.  After two years of preparation he was admitted, in 1873, at the Bar of the Circuit Court, and began practice at Defiance.  He formed a partnership with S. W. Rohn, which was interrupted in 1874 when Mr. Enos was appointed by Hon. W. D. Hill to the post of chief clerk of the Ohio State Insurance Department at Columbus.  He held this position three years under Mr. Hill, and one year under his success of his profession.  A partnership was formed with J. P. Cameron, which continued one year, Mr. Enos being then elected prosecuting attorney.  This office he held two terms, and he also served several terms as city solicitor.  He has been admitted to practice before the Federal courts, and has a large and lucrative business in general lines, although he is specially noted for his skill in criminal cases.  In the handling of witnesses and in addressing a jury he has few equals in this section, and his acceptance of a retainer in a case is considered almost equivalent to a verdict for his client.      Mr. Enos resides in Defiance at the corner of First and Jackson streets in a commodious house erected by himself, the lot being the one upon which the family residence stood at the time of his birth.  He was married, in 1874, to Miss Ollie S. Noll, of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, by whom he had three children:  Earl E., now twenty-one years old, is a student at the Ohio University at Columbus, Ohio; Helen, thirteen years old, is at home; and William died in 1886 at the age of three years.  Their mother passed to the unseen life in 1884, and in 1887 Mr. Enos formed a second matrimonial union, Vanda M., now eight years old.      Fraternally, Mr. Enos is connected with numerous orders, the Mason, the Elks, the National Union, the Red Cross, the Improved Order of Red Men and others, and he is a hearty supporter of various progressive movements in his locality.  Frank and outspoken, he is yet genial and courteous in manner, and makes and retains friends among all classes.  The contour of his face closely resembles that of Robert Ingersoll.  As a speaker, either on the stump or in the court room, he has won a high reputation, his sound and logical arguments being presented in a most eloquent and pleasing style.       A comparison of the sketch herein given of Mr. Enos with the one published in "The Bench and Bar of Ohio" reveals a striking contrast.  Mr. Enos authorizes the publishers of this volume to state that his biography in correct, while that in "The Bench and Bar of Ohio" is not. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.  Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899. ~ Page 302

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