BIOGRAPHIES

 Source:
Memoirs of Lucas County & City of Toledo
Harvey Scribner, Editor in Chief
Illustrated
Volumes I & II
Publ. Madison, Wisc. by Western Historical Association
1910
 

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Charles Kent	CHARLES KENT  Source: Memoirs of Lucas County & City of Toledo - Vol. II - Publ. 1910 - Page 113
	HARRY ELDRIDGE KING, a well known lawyer of Toledo, Ohio, was born near Cumberland, Allegany county, Maryland, May 12, 1857, the son of Capt. Alexander and Lavinia M. (Collins) King, both of whom were natives of the State of Virginia.  He is a descendant on both sides of families who were prominent, respectively, in the early history of the Old Dominion and of Maryland.  His paternal grandfather, Col. Alexander King, was a meml3er of the Virginia General Assembly in 1802-12, and his maternal great-grandfather, Benjamin Tomlinson, was first elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1791, and by subsequent elections served in that body during the sessions of 1786-7, 1801, 1804-5, 1807, 1811, 1819, and 1822.  Members of the Tomlinson family are frequently mentioned in the annals of Allegany county, and were active participants in all movements for the general welfare.  Capt. Alexander King, the father of the subject of this sketch, remained with his father at the Virginia homestead until shortly after reaching his majority, when he removed to Cumberland, Md., where for years he was engaged in the mercantile business.  After retirement, he passed the closing years of his life on a beautiful plantation about six miles north of Cumberland, near the present village of Ellerslie.  His superior ability, sterling integrity and independence of character were soon recognized by the citizens of Allegany county, and brought him into considerable prominence.  In 1837, he was elected one of the first trustees of the Presbyterian Church of Cumberland. Md.. with which he was always allied.  He served as a member of the Board of County Commissioners from 1843 to 1845, and was one of the judges of the Orphans' Court from 1856 to 1864.  He acquired the title of captain in a local military organization known as the "Cumberland Guards," which he commanded, and in which position he displayed signal courage when called upon to aid in the suppression of rioting near Cumberland, in 1843, during the construction of the Chesapeake & Ohio canal.  At the outbreak of the Civil war, though living in a community where sentiment was divided and the Southern cause had many sympathizers, he promptly arrayed himself upon the side of the Union and exerted all the influence at his command to preserve its integrity.  Captain King closed an honor-able career at his Maryland home, in 1873.  Harry E. King, whose name initiates this biographical review, received his preliminary education in the schools of Cumberland, Md.  Later he attended the State Normal School at Millersville, Pa., during the sessions of 1874-75; the Collegiate Institute at Ft. Edward, N. Y., in 1877; and Eastman's National Business College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in 1878.  His work as a student in these institutions was thorough and laid the foundation for practical and efficient service in after life.  His father's death, which occurred when the son was about sixteen years of age. obliged him to rely upon his own resources.  His Scotch-Irish ancestry had endowed him with a hardy courage which stood him in good stead at this time, and his struggles served to develop and mature his character, the while intensifying the underlying self-reliance of his nature.  From 1879 to 1881 he was employed as clerk in a large general store at Sulphur Springs, Tex., and with the money thus earned he was enabled to take the preliminary steps toward realizing his cherished ambition of entering the legal profession.  He had entertained a well defined predilection for the law from his youth, combined with a settled determination to adopt that occupation, and with this end in view his entire training and study had been carefully directed to acquiring a thoroughly practical knowledge of men and affairs.  After giving up his employment in Texas he entered the Law Department of the University of Michigan and remained a student in that institution during the sessions of 1881-82.  In March, 1882, he came to Toledo, and at once made arrangements to continue his legal studies in the office of Swayne, Swayne & Hayes, with whom he remained as a student until 1883, when he successfully passed the Ohio State Bar examination, and on Feb. 6 was admitted by the Supreme Court to practice in the courts of that commonwealth.  In 1885 he became a member of the firm of Swayne, Swayne & Hayes, and this association continued until Apr. 1, 1892.  He then formed a partnership with Thomas H. Tracy, under the firm name of King & Tracy, and together they acquired an extensive general practice and became and are counsel for a large number of prominent corporations and mercantile firms.  The firm has been exceptionally successful.  For some years they occupied offices in the Nasby Building, but in the spring of 1908, when their rapidly increasing business led to the admission of two additional members to the firm - Charles F. Chapman, Jr., and George D. Welles - suitably appointed offices were furnished for their especial use in the Ohio Building.  The name of the present firm is King. Tracy, Chapman & Welles.  As a corporation counsellor, Mr. King is recognized as one of the ablest members of the Toledo bar, and in the practice of his profession he is quick, careful and accurate, possessing a great faculty for details.  He is most industrious in the preparation of his cases and brings to the cause upon which he is engaged a clear head, a practical, sound, common sense and untiring energy.  One of the oldest and best known members of the bar in Toledo has said of him: "I have been intimately acquainted with Harry E. King since he first came to Toledo and have watched his life with unusual interest.  He is of a deeply religious nature, upright, honorable and conscientious.  In his professional work he is scrupulously exact.  He spares himself no pains to acquire the most complete and minute details of any case in which he is interested.  Indeed the facility with which he brings every point to light that has any bearing upon the matter in hand, no matter how involved it may be, is quite remarkable.  He does this apparently without extraordinary effort, and as he is possessed of great energy and vitality it is probably the power of concentrating these faculties that enables him to reach such results.  His sterling integrity, honesty and scrupulous care inspire the implicit confidence of all who become associated with him."  In his political affiliations Mr. King is a staunch Republican and was for five years secretary of the Toledo board of elections, to which responsible office he was appointed by Gov. Joseph B. Foraker, and which he resigned to accept appointment to membership in the same board, in which position he served four years.  On June 12, 1883, Mr. King was united in marriage, at Tenafly, N. J., to Miss Mary Elma Flaring, daughter of Dr. J. J. Haring, a physician of high standing in his community.  The marriage was blessed by the birth of four children: Harry Swayne, who is a graduate of Cornell University; Margaret Haring; James Ernest, who is now in his Junior year at Williams College; and Grace McAllister.  The family residence is pleasantly situated at No. 1 Bronson Place, in Toledo.  Source: Memoirs of Lucas County & City of Toledo - Vol. II - Publ. 1910 - Page 159
	JOSEPH KING, a venerable farmer of Sylvania township, one of the oldest in Lucas county, both in point of age and time engaged in agricultural pursuits, was born in Grange township, Medina county, Ohio, Dec. 7, 1836, a son of William and Anna (Peats) King, both of whom were natives of England.  William King, during the days of early manood, was a gallant soldier in the British army and served under the command of the Duke of Wellington, one of the greatest generals in England's history, in the memorable battle of Waterloo, wherein the world-empire aspirations of Napoleon Bonaparte were given their death blow.  The maternal ancestors of Joseph King, of this sketch, were noted for their long lives, several of them having lived to be over 100 years old, remaining in full possession of their physical and mental faculties up to the very last.  He is the youngest of three brothers, all of whom survive, the others being: Charles, the eldest, who at the advanced age of eighty is a resident of Cleveland, Ohio; and James B., who is living in Hillsdale county, Michigan.  The immediate subject of this review was reared on the old King homestead in his native county and his educational advantages were those of the common schools there.  He was in New Orleans, La., when the great Civil war broke out and was forced to join a Confederate military company, as a member of which he was compelled to perform drill duty at Eunice Landing, Ark., for two months, at the expiration of which he succeeded in making his escape therefrom, and, although narrowly escaping recapture on several occasions, he finally made his way through the confederate lines, and, July 1, 1861, enlisted as a private in Company I, Fortieth Illinois infantry, as a member of which he participated in several of the more important engagements during the earlier part of the war, including the battle of Shiloh and the siege of Corinth.  He continued in the service until Feb. 9, 1863, when, by reason of disablement, he was honorably discharged at Memphis, Tenn.  the war record of Mrs. King tells the story better than words of his gallantry and undying loyalty to the Stars and Stripes, and it is one which should prove a source of inspiration to all becoming familiar with it.  Upon returning from the army, Mr. King was for some time engaged in various forms of manual labor in the vicinity of the old homestead in Medina county and later removed to Sylvania, where he learned the cooper''s trade and worked at various odd jobs until along in the year 1864, when, through his great industry and frugality, having accumulated sufficient means, he purchased the productive and well cultivated farmstead, situated only a short distance from the village of Sylvania, and which he owns and operates.  when he came into possession of this place it was covered with the native timber, but he rapidly reclaimed the largest portion of it to cultivation and made many excellent improvements of a permanent nature, the thrifty, prosperous appearance of the farm today signifying how masterfully he has solved the problem which confronted him.  In his political views, Mr. King is an enthusiastic adherent of the Republican party, and he is also an active member of Page Post, No. 471, Grand Army of the Republic.  He was happily united in holy wedlock to "Lydia Dean, who had been previously married, and was a daughter of Jacob Van Alstine, for many years a resident of Lucas county.  No children were born of this marital union.  In 1890.  Mrs. King was struck by a train on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad and was instantly killed, her tragic death coming as an exceptionally severe blow to her beloved husband and her numerous friends and acquaintances.  Source: Memoirs of Lucas County & City of Toledo - Vol. II - Publ. 1910 - Page 576
	JOHN F. KUMLER was born on a farm in Butler, Ohio, Jan. 27, 1841, the son of John Kumler and Sarah Landis Kumler, who came to Ohio from Pennsylvania.  He is one of a family of eleven children, eight boys and three girls.  He enlisted in the Civil war at the age of eighteen, and served three years.  He graduated from the Ann Arbor Law School, in 1870, was admitted to the bar and came to Toledo in the same year.  He was appointed by Chester A. Arthur revenue collector for the Northern Ohio district, in 1883.  In January, 1907, he was appointed by Governor Harris Judge of the Common Pleas Court, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Julian Tyler  The following editorial, appearing in the "Toledo Blade" Jan. 11, 1907, will be endorsed by every citizen of the Northwest:  "After weeks of most intense rivalry among candidates for the judgeship made vacant by the resignation of Julian Tyler, Governor Harris wisely followed his own inclination, went outside of the list of applicants, and selected a man of his own choice.  While the announcement that John F. Kumler had been appointed created a surprise, because of his name had not been mentioned in connection therewith, it is an agreeable surprise, and sets well with his townsmen and with his colleagues of the bar.  Mr. Kumler has been a practitioner in Lucas county for a great many years, and in that time has participated in numerous important cases.  He has achieved more than a modest amount of success.  While not a profound student, he has always been a worker, and when he accepted a retainer it meant that his every energy would be employed in the case.  He is a born fighter.  He was a good solder during the war, and has been a good soldier ever with the enthusiasm that was inherent in him.  Moreover, he is one of Toledo's most loyal citizens, and has taken an active part in her upbuilding.  Judge Kumler will merit the confidence that Governor Harris has imposed in him.  With a thorough knowledge of the law, with a fine sense of discrimination, and with a tolerant respect for the opinion of others, he should fully sustain the splendid reputation enjoyed by the bench of his Common Pleas district."  Source: Memoirs of Lucas County & City of Toledo - Vol. II - Publ. 1910 - Page 351

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