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BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
Genealogical & Biographical Record
of Miami Co., Ohio
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
1900
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BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX of History Publ. 1900 >
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CHARLES KENDALL ADAMS,
one of the most talented and prominent educators this country has
known, was born Jan. 24, 1835, at Derby, Vermont. He received
an elementary education in the common schools, and studied two terms
in the Derby Academy. Mr. Adams moved with his parents
to Iowa in 1856. He was very anxious to pursue a collegiate
course, but this was impossible until he had attained the age of
twenty-one. In the autumn of 1856 he began the study of Latin
and Greek at Denmark Academy, and in September, 1857, he was
admitted to the University of Michigan. Mr. Adams
was wholly dependent upon himself for the means of his education.
During his third and fourth year he became deeply interested in
historical
studies, was assistant librarian of the university, and determined
to pursue a post graduate course. In 1864 he was appointed
instructor of history and Latin and was advanced to an assistant
professorship in 1865, and in 1867, on the resignation of
Professor White to accept the presidency of Cornell,
he was appointed to fill the chair of professor of history.
This he accepted on condition of his being allowed to spend a year
for special study in Germany, France and Italy. Mr.
Adams returned in 1868, and assumed the duties of his
professorship. He introduced the German system for the
instruction of advanced history classes, and his lectures were
largely attended. In 1885,
on the resignation of President White at Cornell, he
was elected his successor and held the office for seven years, and
on Jan. 17, 1893, he was inaugurated president of the University of
Wisconsin. President Adams was prominently connected
with numerous scientific and literary organizations
and a frequent contributor to the historical and educational data in
the periodicals and journals of the country. He was the author
of the following: "Democracy and Monarchy in France," " Manual of
Historical Literature," " A Plea for Scientific Agriculture," "
Higher Education in Germany."
Source: Genealogical & Biographical Record of Miami Co.,
Ohio - Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company - 1900 - Page 143 |
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JOHN
ADAMS, the second president of the United States, and one of
the most conspicuous figures in the early struggles of his country
for independence, was born in the present town of Quincy, then a
portion of Braintree, Massachusetts, Oct. 30, 1735. He
received a thorough education, graduating at Harvard College in
1755, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1758. He was
well adapted for this profession and after opening an office in his
native town rapidly grew in prominence and public favor and soon was
regarded as one of the leading lawyers of the country. His
attention was called to political affairs by the passage of the
Stamp Act, in 1765, and he drew up a set of resolutions on the
subject which were very popular. In 1768 he removed to Boston
and became one of the most courageous and prominent advocates of the
popular cause and was chosen a member of the Colonial legislature
from Boston. He was one of the delegates that represented
Massachusetts in the first Continental congress, which met in
September, 1774. In a letter written at this crisis he
uttered the famous words: "The die is now cast; I have passed the
Rubicon. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish with my
country, is my unalterable determination." He was a
prominent figure in congress and advocated the movement for
independence when a majority of the members were inclined to
temporize and to petition the King. In May, 1776, he presented
a resolution in congress that the colonies should assume the duty of
self-government, which was passed. In June, of the same year, a
resolution that the United States "are, and of right ought to be,
free and independent," was moved by Richard H. Lee, seconded
by Mr. Adams and adopted by a small majority.
Mr. Adams was a member of the committee of five appointed
June 11 to prepare a declaration of independence, in support of
which he made an eloquent speech. He was chairman of the Board
of War in 1776 and in 1778 was sent as commissioner to France, but
returned the following year. In 1780 he went to Europe, having
been appointed as minister to negotiate a treaty of peace and
commerce with Great Britain. Conjointly with Franklin
and Jay he negotiated a treaty in 1782. He was employed
as a minister to the Court of St. James from 1785 to 1788, and
during that period wrote his famous "Defence of the American
Constitutions." In 1789 he became vice-president of the United
States and was re-elected in 1792.
In 1796 Mr. Adams was chosen president of the
United States, his competitor being Thomas Jefferson,
who became vice president. In 1800 he was the Federal
candidate for president, but he was not cordially supported by
Gen. Hamilton, the favorite leader of his party, and was
defeated by Thomas Jefferson.
Mr. Adams then retired from public life to his
large estate at Quincy, Mass., where he died July 4, 1826, on the
same day that witnessed the death of Thomas Jefferson.
Though his physical frame began to give way many years before his
death, his mental powers retained their strength and vigor to the
last. In his ninetieth year he was gladdened by the elevation
of his son, John Quincy Adams, to the presidential office.
Source: Genealogical & Biographical Record of Miami Co., Ohio -
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company - 1900 - Page 25 |
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JOHN F. ADAMS,
one of the well known farmers of Staunton township, was born
in Troy on the 16th of July, 1833, a son of David Adams,
whose birth occurred in Iredell county, North Carolina, July
29, 1784. The father came with his family to Ohio,
locating in Preble county in 1816, and removed to Miami
county in 1817, settling in Concord township, where he took
up a tract of government land of one hundred and sixty
acres, for which he paid two dollars and a half per acre.
He was married, in North Carolina, to Miss Sallie Hall,
and they have a family of five children: Lewis J.,
Emeline and Elizabeth, all of whom are deceased,
and two who died in infancy. After the death of his
first wife the father was married, in 1828, to Elenor
Dugan, who was born Dec. 27, 1797, and they became
the parents of five children, as follows: Andrew,
now deceased; John F., of his review; David M.,
who resides with her brother, John F.; and Sarah
E., who married Robert Moffet and died in 1861.
The father made the trip westward from North Carolina by
team, and casting in his lot with the pioneer settlers he
lived in the true pioneer style. His first home was a
log cabin, erected in the midst of the dense cabin, erected
in the midst of the dense forest. For a time he
engaged in agricultural pursuits, but about 1827 went to
Troy, where he carried on his trade of wagonmaking.
His was a long, active and useful life, and he passed away
Mar. 26, 1875, when more than ninety years of age, respected
by all who knew him. His wife survived him until Feb.
18, 1879, when she was laid to rest.
John Finley Adams, whose name begins this
record, was reared in Troy, obtaining his education in the
public schools of that city, and during his boyhood began
work in a wagon shop with his father. At the age of
twenty years he filled the position chairman with the
engineers engaged on the construction of the Dayton &
Michigan Railroad, being thus employed from 1852 until the
spring of 1855, when he removed to Carver county, Minnesota.
There he took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres,
but in November of the same year he returned to Troy and the
following spring engaged in farming in Concord township.
He continued the operation of land there until 1883, when he
came to his present farm in Staunton township. Here he
has a rich tract of forty acres, pleasantly located about
three miles from Troy. He carries on general farming
and his land is under a high state of cultivation.
Like many of the residents of the neighborhood, Mr.
Adams went to the defense of his country in response to
the call for men to serve for one hundred days. He
enlisted on the 16th of May, 1864, becoming a member of
Company H, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Ohio Infantry.
The regiment was mustered in at Camp Dennison and
participated in the defense of Washington until Aug. 30,
1864, when the men received an honorable discharge.
Mr. Adams then returned to his home, and on the
1st of January, 1866, he married Miss Isabella G. Pence,
who passed away Oct. 9, 1897. In politic she is a
Prohibitionist, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church of Troy, his substantial support and encouragement
being given to temperance movements and to all measures
calculated to promote the advancement of the community along
educational, material and moral lines.
Source: Genealogical & Biographical Record
of Miami Co., Ohio - Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company - 1900 - Page
599 |
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JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,
sixth president of the United States, was born in Braintree,
Massachusetts, July 11, 1767, the son of John
Adams. At the age of eleven he was sent to school
at Paris, and two years later to Leyden, where he entered
that great university. He returned to the United
States in 1785, and graduated from Harvard in 1788. He
then studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1791.
His practice brought no income the first two years, but he
won distinction in literary fields, and was appointed
minister to The Hague in 1794. He married in 1797, and
went as minister to Berlin the same year, serving until
1801, when Jefferson became president. He was
elected to the senate in 1803 by the Federalists, but was
condemned by that party for advocating the Embargo Act and
other Anti-Federalist measures. He was appointed as
professor of rhetoric at Harvard in 1805, and in 1809 was
sent as minister to Russia. He assisted in negotiating
the treaty of peace with England in 1814, and became
minister to that power the next year. He served during
Monroe's administration two terms as secretary of state,
during which time party lines were obliterated, and in 1824
four candidates for president appeared, all of whom were
identified to some extent with the new "Democratic" party.
Mr. Adams received 84 electoral votes,
Jackson 99, Crawford 41, and Clay 37.
As no candidate had a majority of all votes, the election
went to the house of representatives, which elected Mr.
Adams. As Clay had thrown his influence
to Mr. Adams, Clay became secretary of
state, and this caused bitter feeling on the part of the
Jackson Democrats, who were joined by Mr. Crawford
and his following, and opposed every measure of the
administration. In the election of 1828 Jackson
was elected over Mr. Adams by a great
majority.
Mr. Adams entered the lower house of
congress in 1830, elected from the district in which he was
born and continued to represent it for seventeen years.
He was known as " the old man eloquent," and his work in
congress was independent of party. He opposed slavery
extension and insisted upon presenting to congress, one at a
time, the hundreds of petitions against the slave power.
One of these petitions, presented in 1842, was signed by
forty-five citizens of Massachusetts, and prayed congress
for a peaceful dissolution of the Union. His enemies
seized upon this as an opportunity to crush their powerful
foe, and in a caucus meeting determined upon his expulsion
from congress. Finding they would not be able to
command enough votes for this, they decided upon a course
that would bring equal disgrace. They formulated a
resolution to the effect that while he merited expulsion,
the house would, in great mercy, substitute its severest
censure. When it was read in the house the old man,
then in his seventy-fifth year, arose and demanded that the
first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence be read
as his defense. It embraced the famous sentence, "that
whenever any form of government becomes destructive to those
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it,
and to institute new government, etc., etc." After
eleven days of hard fighting his opponents were defeated.
On Feb. 21, 1848, he rose to address the speaker on the
Oregon question, when he suddenly fell from a stroke of
paralysis. He died soon after in the rotunda of the
capitol, where he had been conveyed by his colleagues.
Source: Genealogical & Biographical Record of Miami Co.,
Ohio - Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company - 1900 - Page
61 |
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P. D. ARMOUR |
PHILIP D. ARMOUR,
one of the most conspicuous figures in the mercantile
history of America, was born May 16, 1832, on a farm at
Stockbridge, Madison county, New York, and received his
early education in the common schools of that county.
He was apprenticed to a farmer and worked faithfully and
well, being very ambitious and desiring to start out for
himself. At the age of twenty he secured a release
from his indentures and set out overland for the gold fields
of California. After a great deal of hard work he
accumulated a little money and then came east and settled in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He went into the grain receiving
and warehouse business and was fairly successful, and later
on he formed a partnership with John Plankinton
in the pork packing line, the style of the firm being
Plankinton & Armour. Mr. Armour
made his first great "deal " in selling pork "short " on
the New York market in the anticipation of the fall of the
Confederacy, and Mr. Armour is said to have
made through this deal a million dollars. He then
established packing houses in Chicago and Kansas City, and
in 1875 he removed to Chicago. He increased his
Business by adding to it the shipment of dressed beef to the
European markets, and many other lines of trade and
manufacturing, and it rapidly assumed vast proportions,
employing an army of men in different lines of the business.
Mr. Armour successfully conducted a
great many speculative deals in pork and grain of immense
proportions and also erected many large warehouses for the
storage of grain. He became one of the representative
business men of Chicago, where he became closely identified
with all enterprises of a public nature, but his fame as a
great business man extended to all parts of the world.
He founded the "Armour Institute " at Chicago and also
contributed largely to benevolent and charitable
institutions.
Source: Genealogical & Biographical Record of Miami Co.,
Ohio - Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company - 1900 - Page
62 |
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CHARLES
EDGAR ASPINALL. Among the native sons of Miami
county now actively interested in its business affairs, and
well known as a reliable citizen of sterling worth, is
Charles E. Aspinall. He was born Apr. 1, 1869, on
the old homestead farm of the family in Newberry township
and traces his ancestry back to England. His
grandfather, William Aspinall, was a native of that
land and his wife and three children came to America about
1830, landing at New York city. He spent a short time
in Philadelphia after which he removed to Greene county,
Ohio, and subsequently settled on a farm of three hundred
and twenty acres in Newberry township, above Clayton.
He sold that tract three years later and purchased eighty
acres on section 21, Newberry township, and there
successfully carried on agricultural pursuits until his
death, in 1862. His wife, who bore the maiden name of
Miss Brown, survived him until 1895, passing away at
the advanced age of eighty-three years.
Richard Brown Aspinall, the father of our
subject was reared in the Buckeye state. He did not
manifest a very studious disposition in youth, preferring to
aid in the work of the farm. After the death of his
father he remained for one year on the old homestead with
his mother and then started out to make his own way in the
world, being employed as a farm hand in the neighborhood of
his home. On the 9th of August, 1862, prompted
by a spirit of patriotism, he offered his services to the
government and was enrolled among the "boys in blue" of
Company I, One Hundred and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
He served on detached duty most of the time and was ill in a
hospital for nine months, spending part of that time in
Cumberland, Maryland, after which he was sent to a
regimental hospital at Mooreville. He then was taken
in a wagon with the regiment until able to take his place in
the line of march. He participated in the battle of
Winchester and received an honorable discharge at Columbus,
July 25, 1865.
Returning to his home, Mr. Aspinall engaged in
farming on a tract of forty acres which he had purchased in
1864, while in the army. About 1895 he bought another
tract of forty acres and is now the owner of a valuable
farm, which adds materially to his income. Here he has
successfully carried on agricultural pursuits, and is now
recognized as one of the leading farmers of the community.
He married Miss Hattie E. Rain, a daughter of
Francis and Sarah (Roney) Rain. They had ten
children, namely: Frank, who died in infancy;
Sarah E., wife of Charles Helmich, of West
Milton; Charles E., of this review; Harry Brown,
who died at the age of twenty years; Cora Belle, wife
of Warren B. Crampton, of Covington; Benjamin Lee,
at home; George Luther Loren, who is a student in
school; Emma L., Carl and Bertha.
Mr. Aspinall, whose name introduces this review,
spent the days of his childhood and youth upon the old
homestead farm and early became familiar with the various
duties that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He
did not desire, however, to make farming his life work, and
in consequence, on attaining his majority, he left home and
began to learn telegraphy, in December, 1889, under the
instruction of William Sowers, the operator at
Summit. After mastering the business he was employed
as an extra man at different places along the Panhandle
line. His ability and faithfulness were soon
recognized and he was given the position of operator at
Covington, where he acceptably served until October, 1899,
when he was placed in charge of the Covington tower, his
present position. He is expert operator, very careful
and accurate, and well merits the confidence of the
corporation by which he is employed.
On Christmas day of 1894 Mr. Aspinall was united
in marriage to Miss Sarah C. Myers, of Washington
township, a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Brinkman) Myers.
One daughter now graces their union, Edith
Josephine. In politics Mr. Aspinall is a
stanch Republican and socially he is connected with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Royal
Encampment and the Sons of Veterans. A consistent
member of the Christian church, he is highly esteemed as a
young man of many excellent qualities, and both he and his
wife occupy an enviable position in social circles and enjoy
the war regard of many friends.
Source: Genealogical & Biographical Record
of Miami Co., Ohio - Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company - 1900 |
NOTES:
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