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BIOGRAPHIES
 Source:
History of
Cincinnati and Hamilton Co., Ohio, Past & Present
- Illustrated -
Publ. Cincinnati, Ohio - S. B. Nelson & Co.,
Publishers -
1894
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EDWARD ALEXANDER
FERGUSON, attorney at law, was born in the city of
New York, Nov. 6, 1826. His education was obtained in
the common schools of Cincinnati and at Woodward College,
from which he graduated in 1843. He read law for five
years, was admitted to the Bar in December, 1848, and
commenced the practice of his profession. In May,
1852, he was elected by the city council to the position of
city solicitor. In 1859 he was elected by the city
council to the position of city solicitor. In 1859 he
was elected to the Ohio Senate. The late President
Garfield, the late Justice Woods, of the United States
supreme court, Gen. Jacob D. Cox, and others
afterward eminent in public life, were members of the same
Legislature. Of his career in the Senate, the late
W. D. Bickham, of the Dayton Journal, the
Columbus correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial,
under date of Mar. 27, 1860, says: "Hamilton county has been
ably represented this winter. Those who know Mr.
Ferguson will not be surprised to be informed that he
commanded respect and admiration. He spoke but seldom,
but his positions were always distinctly taken, clearly
stated and ably maintained." In politics Mr.
Ferguson is a Democrat of the liberal school.
Since his service in the Ohio Senate his name has several
times been mentioned for the United States Senate, and other
positions, but he has declined all political preferment and
devoted himself to his profession. As a lawyer he is
known as one of the ablest members of the Ohio Bar. He
was the projector of the plan upon which the Cincinnati
Southern railroad was built, and was the author of the act
passed by the Ohio Legislature May 4, 1869, known as the "Ferguson
Act," which provided that whenever the city council of a
city of the first class - Cincinnati then being the only
such city in Ohio - by a resolution duly passed, declared it
essential to the interests of such city, that a line of
railway should be provided between termini designated
therein, one of which should be such city, a board of
trustees to be appointed by the superior court of the city
should have a power to raise bonds, to the amount of ten
millions of dollars in the name of the city. Such
resolution was duly passed and a board of trustees, of whom
Mr. Ferguson is one, was appointed by the superior
court in June, 1869. The road was completed Dec. 10,
1879, and the board of trustees, on Oct. 11, 1881, leased it
for a term of twenty-five years at net annual rental of over
one million dollars. Up to the time of the completion
of this road Mr. Ferguson subordinated all other
interests to this, the great work of his life. He has
made corporation law his specialty, and has at one time or
another been connected with most of the leading corporations
of the city.
Mr. Ferguson married Agnes, daughter of
Adam Moore, a native of Maryland, who was one of the
early settlers of this county. Of the children born of
this marriage six survive, three sons and three daughters.
The eldest is Edward Cady Ferguson, an attorney,
practicing in this city. The next is Stanley
Ferguson, also an attorney; he is married to Mattie
daughter of the late Adam A. Lever a resident of
Loveland, Ohio, and one child, Alexina (named for her
grandfather), is the fruit of this marriage. The third
son, Dudley Ferguson, is engaged in business in
Detroit, Mich. The daughters are
Misses Nettie, Alice and Grace. All
of the children reside at the family residence, which is a
handsome mansion on the corner of Dayton street and Freeman
avenue.
Source: History of
Cincinnati and Hamilton Co., Ohio, Past & Present -
Illustrated - Publ. Cincinnati, Ohio - S. B. Nelson & Co.,
Publishers - 1894 - Page 553 |
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SAMUEL FIRST, secretary and
treasurer of the Mowry Car Wheel Works, was born Oct.
18, 1825, in Cumberland county, Penn., son of Peter and
Elizabeth (Kaufer) First. The father died in 1840,
and the mother in August, 1852. They were the parents
of nine children, of whom the living are: Samuel,
Nathan, Augustus, Abner, and Mary
Jane, wife of Moses Harris.
The subject of our sketch was reared and educated in
Pennsylvania, and came to Cincinnati in 1848. In 1852
he began service with the Mowry Car Wheel Works, and
gradually worked himself up to his present position of trust
and responsibility. It is rare to find a man who has
been in the employment of one firm for a period of over
forty years, and rarer still to find one who has worked
himself up from an humble position to that of secretary and
treasurer. Yet such is Mr. First’s
record with this manufacturing company, and it is a record
of which he has reason to feel proud. He was married,
May 26, 1866, to Miss Harriet E. Wilcox, who died in
Cincinnati in 1877, leaving no issue. He was again
married, in 1883, this time to Miss Paulina Atkinson,
whose father was born in Pennsylvania, and mother in Ohio.
They are Presbyterians in religious belief. Mr.
First is a past grand of the I. O. O. F., and
politically he is a Republican.
Source: History of
Cincinnati and Hamilton Co., Ohio, Past & Present -
Illustrated - Publ. Cincinnati, Ohio - S. B. Nelson & Co.,
Publishers - 1894 - Page 820 |
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WILLIAM FRANCIS FOX,
attorney at law, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sept. 5,
1865. His father, the late Bernard Fox, dealt
extensively in horses, and was one of the pioneers in that
business in Cincinnati. Our subject began his
schooling at St. Joseph’s College, and completed his
education at St. Xavier College, graduating from the latter
institution in 1885. He then entered the Cincinnati
Law School, and was graduated therefrom in 1886.
Pending the attainment of his majority, he accepted a
position in the office of the Cincinnati Post, where he
remained until 1890, when he entered upon the practice of
his profession with William W. Symmes, under the firm
name of Symmes & Fox. On Nov. 22, 1892, Mr.
Fox was married to Adelaide C., daughter of the late
B. G. Stall. Mrs. Fox died Oct. 4,
1893, leaving one child, Francis Joseph. Mr.
Fox resides on June street, Walnut Hills. He is
a member of St. Xavier’s Church.
Source: History of
Cincinnati and Hamilton Co., Ohio, Past & Present -
Illustrated - Publ. Cincinnati, Ohio - S. B. Nelson & Co.,
Publishers - 1894 - Page 620 |
W. M. Fridman |
WILLIAM M. FRIDMAN
received his early education in the public schools of
Clermont county, prepared for college at Clermont Academy,
entered the Ohio Wesleyan University (Delaware, Ohio), and
was graduated therefrom in 1884. He then began the
study of law under the preceptorship of Frank
Davis, now (1894) Judge of the Common Pleas Court
of Clermont county; was graduated from the Cincinnati Law
College in 1887, and entered upon the practice of law in New
Richmond, succeeding to the practice of Frank
Davis, who in that year took the judicial seat above
mentioned. In the same year, Mr. Fridman
became a director of the First National Bank of New
Richmond, with which he is still similarly identified.
In 1891 he came to Cincinnati and formed a law partnership
with Marshal Moreton; and the following year
he formed a partnership association with George G. Bright,
under the firm name of Bright & Fridman, which
firm was dissolved Jan. 1, 1894. On Mar. 14, 1894, he
was admitted to practice in the United States Circuit Court.
Politically Mr. Fridman is a Democrat;
socially he is a member of the Masonic Order, and of the
Knights of Pythias. He is unmarried, and resides on
Westminster avenue, East Walnut Hills.
Source: History of
Cincinnati and Hamilton Co., Ohio, Past & Present -
Illustrated - Publ. Cincinnati, Ohio - S. B. Nelson & Co.,
Publishers - 1894 - Page 623 |
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