Arthur St. Clair, one of the most noted characters of our early colonial days, was a native of Scotland, being born at Edinburg in 1735.  Becoming a surgeon in the British army, he subsequently crossed the Atlantic with his regiment and thenceforward was identified with the history of this country until the day of his death.  Serving as a lieutenant with Wolfe in the memorable campaign against Quebec, St. Clair won sufficient reputation to obtain appointment as commander of Fort Ligonier, Pa., where a large tract of land was granted to him.  During the Revolutionary war he espoused the colonial cause, and before its close had risen to the rank of major-general. In 1875 he was elected a delegate to the Continental congress and afterward became its president.  After the passage of the ordinance of 1787, St. Clair was appointed first military governor of the Northwest territory, which then embraced the territory now comprised within the boundaries of the present state of Ohio, with headquarters at Fort Washington, now Cincinnati.  In 1791 he undertook an expedition against the northwestern Indians, which resulted in the great disaster known in western history as "St. Clair's defeat."  On November 4 the Indians surprised and routed his whole force of about 1,400 regulars and militia, in what is now Darke county, Ohio, killing over 900 men and capturing his artillery and camp equipage.  Gen. St. Clair held the office of territorial governor until 1802, when he was removed by President Jefferson.  He returned to Ligonier, Pa., poor, aged and infirm.  The state granted him an annuity which enabled him to pass the last years of his life in comfort.  He died near Greensburgh, Pa., August 31, 1818, leaving a family of one son and three daughters.

Charles Willing Byrd, who was secretary of the Northwest territory, and who succeeded Gov. St. Clair as governor, on the removal of the latter from office, was born in Virginia, received a liberal education and settled in Ohio.  While it is not practicable to find fully authentic material for a full biography of Gov. Byrd, it may be of interest to recite briefly the reasons for the removal of Gov. St. Clair, which are of course the reasons for Mr. Byrd becoming governor of the territory.  St. Clair's government was very unpopular, and when the people became desirous of forming a state government in 1801, and found themselves unable to secure a majority of the legislature, they sent Thomas Worthington to congress to obtain if possible a law under which a convention could be called to consider the expediency of forming a state, and framing a constitution therefor.  This convention met in Chillicothe in November, 1802, voted to form a state government and adopted a constitution, all this notwithstanding the fact that the territory did not then contain the 60,000 inhabitants required at that time.
     But this was a small difficulty compared with the prohibition in the ordinance of 1787 against slavery in the territory of the northwest.  This clause tended to prevent immigration to Ohio from Virginia and other southern states; and the attempt was made to so frame a constitution for the new state that slavery in somewhat modified form could be established.  When this clause was proposed it was discovered by the opponents of slavery that on the morrow there would be a majority of one in its favor, and thus, if it were adopted, the curse of slavery would be fixed upon the state.  Judge Ephraim Cutler, of Washington county, a delegate to the convention, and a son of one of the principal framers of the ordinance of 1787, was lying sick in bed, when this situation was revealed, and Gen. Putnam, hastening to his bedside, urged him to reach the convention hall at the earliest practicable moment the next morning.  Judge Cutler having next day reached the hall, made a impassioned appeal to the delegates in opposition to the proposed action of the convention, and won over the one delegate necessary to save the state from the blighting curse of slavery.
     Gov. St. Clair and his friends looked upon the convention as little short of revolutionary, the governor taking strong grounds against the formation of a state government, before convention began the labors of the day.  Their utter disregard of this advice filled him with irritation, and in the bitterness of his heart he declared, in the hearing of unfriendly listeners, that he no longer had confidence in republican institutions, and that in his opinion, without some stronger form of government, anarchy seemed inevitable.  These remarks were quickly reported to President Thomas Jefferson, who immediately removed St. Clair from his office, and the secretary of the territory, Charles W. Byrd, became acting governor, serving until the state government was formed under the constitution, which, as framed by the convention, was declared by that convention, without having been submitted to them people for their ratification, to be the fundamental law of the land.  After the expiration of his brief term as governor of the Northwest territory, Gov. Byrd was appointed by President Jefferson United States judge for the district of Ohio.

Edward Tiffin, first governor of Ohio upon the organization of the state, in 1803, was a native of England, born in the city of Carlisle on the 19th day of June, 1766.  After coming to the United States he studied medicine, located in Charlestown, W. Va., in 1784, and in 1789 received his degree from the university of Pennsylvania.  In the year last named he was united in marriage with Mary Worthington, sister of Gov. Thomas Worthington, and in 1790 united with the Methodist church, of which he soon afterward became a local preacher.  In 1796 Mr. Tiffin settled at Chillicothe, Ohio, where he preached and practiced medicine, and was instrumental in organizing a number of local congregations in that part of the state.  The same year he was elected to the legislature of the Northwest territory, became speaker of that body, and in 1802 was chosen president of the convention that formed the state constitution.  He proved to be a potential factor in political affairs, and in 1803 was elected first governor of the state under the constitution.  He was re-elected in 1805, and proved a most capable chief executive, but resigned in 1807 to become United States senator, having been elected to the latter body as successor to his brother-in-law, Hon. Thomas Worthington.  Gov. Tiffin's senatorial career was cut short on account of the death of his wife, by reason of which he resigned in March, 1809, and for a time lived a retired life.  Subsequently he married again, and afterward was elected to the lower house of the state legislature, in which he served two terms as speaker.
     At the expiration of his legislative experience, Gov. Tiffin resumed the practice of medicine at Chillicothe, and in 1812 was appointed by President Madison commissioner of the general land office, having been the first person to fill that position.  On assuming his official functions he removed to the national capital and organized the system that has obtained in the land office until the present time; in 1814 he was instrumental in having the papers of his office removed to Virginia, thus saving them from destruction when the public buildings in Washington were burned by the British.  Becoming dissatisfied with residing in Washington and wishing to return west, Gov. Tiffin succeeded in exchanging his position for that of surveyor of public lands northwest of the Ohio river, held by Josiah Meigs, the change being sanctioned by the president and senate, and he discharged the duties of the latter position until July, 1829, receiving while on his deathbed an order from President Jackson to deliver the office to a successor.  During his long period of public service, Gov. Tiffin maintained most scrupulously his ministerial relations, and preached the gospel whenever occasion would admit.  He was on familiar terms with Gen. Washington, who always spoke of him in terms of praise, and he will always be remembered as one of the leading spirits in the formative period of Ohio's history.  His death occurred at Chillicothe on the 9th day of August, 1829. 

Samuel Huntington, the second governor elected by the people of Ohio, was born at Norwich, Conn., in 1765, and graduated at Yale college in 1785, and graduated at Yale college in 1785.  He adopted the profession of law, in 1795 married a lady of his own name, and attended strictly to the duties of his profession in the town of his birth until the year 1800, when he resolved to visit that western country which was then attracting to it so many residents of the New England states.  First stopping at Youngstown, Ohio, he from there went to Marietta, where he spent the summer, and in the fall of that year returned to Norwich.  The following spring, taking his wife and children in an Ohio wagon (then so called), they arrived, after weeks of toilsome travel, at Cleveland, then a settlement of doubtful name as a healthy abode, as they found that many who had preceded them had vacated the cabins they had first built and had removed to the higher ground back of the town to escape the sickness so prevalent near the lake.  He erected a strongly-built house, as attacks by drunken and riotous Indians were not uncommon.  Mr. Huntington soon entered upon public life.  Gen. Saint Clair appointed him second in command of a regiment of Trumbull county militia, and he was shortly afterward elevated to the position of presiding judge in the first court in that part of the territory.  In 1802 he was a member of the constitutional convention, and by that body appointed state senator from Trumbull county, the name then borne by the territory now known as the northeastern portion of the state and which at present is divided into six counties.  For some time he was speaker or president of the state senate, and by the legislature elected to a seat on the supreme bench.  When Michigan was organized as a territory Judge Huntington was offered the position of judge of the district court of that territory, but this he declined as well as other important offices which were pressed upon him.  The prevailing unhealthiness of Cleveland finally induced him to remove his residence to Newburg, where he erected a grist-mill, then a very important construction and advantageous to the settlers.  In 1809 he purchased a mill, located on the eastern shore of Grand river, between Painesville and the lake, and erected a mansion - commodious, and, for those days, rather imposing in its style of architecture.  This house remains to attest by its position the good taste of him who built it.  A conflict of authority arose between the legislative and judicial departments of the state while Judge Huntington was on the supreme bench.  The legislature passed a law conferring certain rights upon justices of the peace which the judges of the supreme court declared to be unconstitutional.  Thereupon the whole house filed articles of impeachment against the judges, but in the midst of this confusion the people of Ohio had elected Judge Huntington governor of the state.  He, having resigned, was therefore not brought to trial, and it being impossible to obtain two-thirds of the legislate vote against the other two judges, they consequently escaped conviction.  Nothing of particular moment occurred the term he held office, but his prominence prevented his retiring to private life.  In 1812 he was, during the second war with Great Britain, a member of the Ohio legislature.  The destruction of life and property by the Indians during that year was such that Gov. Huntington, having with Gen. Cass visited Washington to represent to the authorities there the condition of affairs of Ohio, was appointed district paymaster, with the rank of colonel, and returned to the camp of Gen. Harrison with a supply of funds in the shape of government drafts.  He remained for many months in the army and until peace was declared, when he returned to his home, where he subsequently lived peacefully until 1817, during which year he died a comparatively young man, being but fifty-two years old.  His character for strict integrity, great executive ability and accomplished scholarship was second to that of no other governor.

Thomas Kirker, who succeeded Edward Tiffin as governor of Ohio, is one of the few governors of the state of whom but little can be learned.  In 1807 there was a remarkable contest for the governorship of the state.  The two opposing candidates were Return Jonathan Meigs and Nathaniel Massie.  The former received a majority of the votes, and therefore, so far as the people were concerned was elected governor of the state.  The general assembly, however, declared him to be ineligible to the office, on the ground that he was not a resident of the state, and as Mr. Massie had not received a sufficient number of votes, he had not been elected governor, and the election was therefore entirely void.  Hon. Thomas Kirker being then speaker of the state senate, became acting governor by virtue of his office as speaker, when Gov. Edward Tiffin resigned his office in order to take his seat in the United States senate.  Gov. Kirker remained in the office of governor until after the election, in 1808, of Samuel Huntington, who had been elected by the people.  At the time of serving as governor he was a resident of Adams county, and he served in the general assembly of the state for twenty-five years.

Return Jonathan Meigs

4th Ohio Governor
Born November 17, 1764
Died March 29, 1825
Buried at Mound Cemetery, Marietta, Washington Co., Ohio

Return Jonathan Meigs, who succeeded Samuel Huntington in the gubernatorial chair, was born in Middletown, Conn., in March, 1765, the son of Return J. Meigs, a distinguished American soldier, whose name is inseparably connected with the war of American independence.  Gov. Meigs was graduated from Yale college in 1785, after which he studied law and began the practice of the same at Marietta, Ohio, at which place his father had previously settled.  He entered the army at the breaking out of the Indian war, and was sent on a commission to the British commander at Detroit, by Gen. St. Clair, in 1790, and later took part in a number of battles with the savages.  He rose rapidly in his profession and in 1803-4 was chief justice of the Ohio supreme court; later he had charge of the Saint Charles circuit in Louisiana until 1806, with the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel in the United States army, being also judge of the supreme court of said district during the years of 1805 and 1806.  Mr. Meigs was further honored, in 1807, by being appointed judge of the United States district court of Michigan, in which capacity he continued until 1808, then he was elected to the United States senate from Ohio.  The honorable distinction acquired by Mr. Meigs as a jurist was not dimmed by his senatorial experience, and his record in the national legislature is replete with duty ably and conscientiously performed.  He served in the senate from January, 1809, till May 1810.
     In October, 1807, Mr. Meigs was the democratic candidate for governor of Ohio, and after the election, which went in his favor by a decided majority, his competitor, Nathaniel Massie, contested the same on the ground that Meigs had not been a resident of the state for the four years next preceding the election, as provided by the constitution.  The general assembly, in joint convention, decided that Meigs was not entitled to the office, but it does not appear that his competitor was allowed to assume the same; Thomas Kirker, acting governor, continued to discharge the duties of the office until December, 1808, when Samuel Huntington was inaugurated as his immediate successor.
     In 1810 Mr. Meigs was gain a candidate for governor, and at the ensuing election was victorious, defeating his competitor by a large majority.  He was triumphantly re-elected in 1812 and filled the office with distinguished ability during the trying years of the last war with England, his services in behalf of the national government throughout that struggle being far greater than those of any other governor, and of such a patriotic character as to elicit the warmest praise from the president and others high in authority.  He assisted in the organization of the state militia, garrisoned the forts on the border, thus securing safety to the exposed settlements, and did much toward strengthening the army under Gen. Harrison.  Near the expiration of his gubernatorial term, in 1814, Gov. Meigs resigned to accept the appointment of postmaster-general in the cabinet of President Madison, to fill the place made vacant by the death of Gideon Granger; he continued in officer under President Monroe until 1823, in December of which year he retired from active life and spent the remainder of his days at his home in Marietta, dying March 29, 1825.

Othniel Looker

     For many years the biographies that have appeared from time to time of Governor Othniel Looker have been far from satisfactory.  The text of the sketch which has appeared in many publications is reproduced in the note below.*  As will be seen, it is incorrect in almost every particular.  The editor recently learned that Governor Looker died in the village of Palestine, Illinois.  A very obliging correspondent was found in the person of Mrs. Manford E. Cox of Robinson, Illinois.  Through her assistance data has been gathered for a satisfactory biographical sketch.  An interesting and helpful letter has also been received from Mrs. Angeline Alexander, a great-granddaughter of Governor Looker who lives in Palestine, Illinois.  Among the papers and letters furnished is a copy of the Palestine Weekly Register of February 13, 1919, containing a sketch compiled by A. D. Gogin.  A mistake was made in regard to the service of Governor Looker in the New York Assembly.  This has been corrected by information furnished through the Legislative Reference Section of the New York State Library.  Following are the facts in regard to the life history of Governor Looker:
Othniel Looer was born in Hanover, Morris County, New Jersey, October 4, 1757.  He died at Palestine, Illinois, August 29, 1864**
     In 1777 at the age of twenty years he volunteered in the New Jersey militia, Obadiah Kitchel's company, Colonel Martin's regiment, and served through the Revolutionary War.  His services as a soldier, it is asserted by those associated with him, developed the high qualities that later gained him the confidence of his fellowmen.  In his long and useful life he was "guilty of no act which tarnished the high reputation thus early acquired."
     After the close of the war, he, in 1782, moved to New York where he became a member of the Assembly of that state in 1803 and 1804, serving in the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh sessions of that body as representative from Saratoga County.
     In 1804 he moved to Hamilton County, Ohio, which he served in the House of Representatives from 1807 - 1809.  He was a member of the state Senate from 1810 to 1811 and again from 1813 to 1816.  He was speaker of the Senate when Governor Meigs resigned in 1814 and thereupon became acting governor, a position which he filled from March 24, 1814, to December 8 of that year.  At the conclusion of his service he returned to his farm in Harrison Township, Hamilton County.  He was afterwards Associate Judge for seven years.
     In 1844 he went to Palestine, Illinois, to spend his remaining days with his daughter, Mrs. Rachel L. Kitchel.  Here he was highly honored by the citizens of the village.  On July 4, 1845, he delivered his last public address.  "Appearing in his continental uniform, bowed with the infirmities of age, his emotions almost overcame him as he contrasted the feeble beginnings of the Republic with the splendid destinies assured in the future."  In an obituary notice it is recorded that his last words were, "My life has been spared; I have tried to be useful; God calls and I obey the summons."  Governor Looker married Pamela Clark.  Their children were B. F., James Harvey, Pamela and Rachel L.  Rachel L. Looker married Joseph Kitchel who was the first receiver of the land office in Palestine, Illinois.
     Governor Looker  had a large number of grandchildren and many of his descendants are still living.  A grandson, Thomas H. Looker, entered the navy as midshipman November 6, 1846.  He served through the Mexican War and through the Civil War.   He was promoted to the position of pay director in the navy March 3, 1871, and in 1890 was living in Washington, D. C.

*Othniel Looker,  the fourth governor of Ohio, was born in the state of New York of humble parentage in 1757.  He enlisted as a private soldier in the Revolutionary Army; serving through the war.  In 1784, having received a grant of land in the wilderness of the Northwest, he crossed the Alleghenies, and locating his grant, built his cabin, and commenced his life labor as a hard working farmer.  He devoted himself strictly to the business of a farmer, and on the organization of the state was elected a member of the Legislature.  Here he availed himself of the advantages such a school afforded, and so rose in public esteem as to be sent to the Senate.  He became Speaker of that body, and when Governor Meigs resigned the Governorship in 1814, he became the fourth Governor of Ohio.  He served but eight months, returning to his farm, respected by all as a man of clear mind, much intelligence and peaceful disposition.  Strange to say, no records are available to make a more satisfactory sketch.  He died unmarried.

** This is the date on his tombstone at Palestine, Illinois.  Strange to say, however, the Cincinnati Gazette of July 31, 1845, contains an obituary notice with the statement that Governor Looker died July 23, 1845.  This difference of dates is yet to be reconciled.

(Source:  Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications - Volume XXXI. - 1922 - Publ. Columbus - page 215)

Thomas Worthington, fourth elected governor of Ohio, was born near Charlestown, Va., July 16, 1773.  He received a liberal education, but when a young man went to sea and continued before the mast for three years - from 1790 to 1793.  In 1797 he became a resident of Ross county, Ohio, served as a member of the territorial legislature in 1799-1801, and was chosen delegate to the state constitutional convention in the year 1802.  He was elected to the United States senate as a democrat immediately after the adoption of the state constitution and served in that body from October 17, 1803, till March 7, 1807; was again chosen to fill the unexpired term caused by the resignation of Return J. Meigs, Jr., and served from January 8, 1811, until his resignation in 1814.  Mr. Worthington was elected governor of Ohio in 1814 and served till 1818 - having been chosen his own successor in 1816.  After the expiration of his second gubernatorial term Gov. Worthington became canal commissioner, which position he held till his death.  He was a public-spirited man and to him is the great commonwealth not a little indebted for much of its development and prosperity.
     To Gov. Worthington belongs the unique distinction of being the only Ohio governor ever arrested and started to jail for debt.  In 1815 or 1816, Gov. Worthington contracted with Judge Jarvis Pike to grub and chop the timber off the present state-house square.  The governor was a non-resident of Franklin county, residing at Chillicothe.  Some misunderstanding arose as to the payment of Judge Pike for his labors, whereupon he sued a capias from the court of Squire King, and had the governor arrested and marched off to jail.  He was not locked up, however, the matter having been amicably adjusted.  Gov. Worthington departed this life in the city of New York, June 20, 1827.

Ethan Allen Brown, seventh governor and the fifth elected by the people of Ohio, was born on the shores of Long Island Sound in Fairfield county, Conn., July 4, 1766, and died at Indianapolis, Ind., February 24, 1852.  His father, Roger Brown, was an intelligent farmer of wealth, who, to secure the advantages of a liberal education for his children, employed a teacher of good ability to instruct them at home.  Under such tuition, Ethan's quickness of apprehension and extraordinary memory enabled him to acquire a knowledge of the Latin, Greek and French languages not inferior to that of most college graduates of the present day.  Having determined to adopt the profession of a lawyer, he then procured the necessary books and began the study of law at home, at the same time assisting in the labors of his father's farm.  After thus acquiring some legal knowledge he went to New York city and entered the law office of Alexander Hamilton, who, as a lawyer and statesman, had achieved at that time a national reputation.  Here he soon won the esteem and friendship of Mr. Hamilton, while also he was brought into contact with others of the ablest men of the day, and mingling with the most refined and cultivated society of the city, his mind was developed and stimulated and he acquired the elegance and polish of manners for which he was remarkable in after-life.  Diverted from the study of law at this time, he engaged in business, by which he obtained very considerable property, but subsequently he again entered upon his neglected study, and in 1802 he was admitted to practice.  Then, in 1802 he was admitted to practice, Then, urged by love of adventure and a desire to see the principal portion of that state which, in that year, had qualified for admission into the Union, he, with a cousin, Capt. John Brown, started on horseback and followed the Indian trails from east to west through middle and western Pennsylvania until they reached Brownsville on the Monogahela river.  Having brought a considerable sum of money with them they here purchased two flat-bottomed boats, loaded them with flour and placing crews upon them started for New Orleans, which city they reached in safety, but not being able to sell their cargoes to advantage they shipped the flour to Liverpool, England, and took passage themselves in the same vessel.  Having disposed of their flour at good prices, they returned to America, landing at Baltimore the same year.  Ten his father, whishing to secure a large tract of western land, eventually to make it his home, he empowered his son to select and purchase the same, which he proceeded to do, locating it near the present town of Rising Sun, Ind., that locality having attracted his attention on his flat-boat trip to New Orleans.  Hither his father removed from Connecticut, in 1814, when that part of the Northwest territory which subsequently became Indiana was canvassing delegates to hold a territorial convention.
     Ten years subsequently, however, and after securing the land mentioned, Ethan Allen Brown began the practice of law in Cincinnati, where he took a prominent position in the profession and secured a large income for his professional services.  In 1810 he was chosen by the Ohio legislature a judge of the supreme court of the state, a position he held with distinguished ability during the eight following years, and in 1818 was elected governor of the state.  His administration is marked for the prosecution and completion of important internal improvements, among the chief of which may be mentioned that important work, the "Ohio canal," and which was nicknamed "Brown's Folly."  In 1820 he was re-elected, and in 1821 elected to the United States senate and served one term with distinction.  In 1830 he was appointed minister to Brazil, remaining in that country four years and giving general satisfaction, when he resigned and came home.  A few months later, at the urgent request of President Andrew Jackson, he accepted the position of commissioner of public lands, held the office two years, and then retired finally from public life.  Gov. Brown never married, and the close of his life was spent among his relatives at Rising Sun.  After reaching the age of eighty-two years, with not more than a week's sickness during all the years of his long life, he died suddenly while attending a democratic convention at Indianapolis, and was buried at Rising Sun, near the grave of his venerated father, leaving an enduring record of a useful and well-spent life.

Allen Trimble, who filled out the unexpired term of Ethan Allen Brown as governor of Ohio, and also served as governor by election from 1827 to 1830, was born in Augusta county, Va., March 24, 1783.  He was the son of Capt. James Trimble, who removed in 1784 to Lexington, Ky., and who died in that state about the year 1804.  Later Allen Trimble came to Ohio, settling in the county of Highland, where he served in various official positions, including those of clerk of the courts and recording secretary, filling the last two offices for a period of about seven years.  He took part in the war of 1812 as commander of a regiment of mounted troops under Gen. William Henry Harrison, and in 1816 was chosen a member of the state legislature.   Subsequently, from 1817 to 1826, he served as state senator, and was also speaker of the house for several terms.  In 1821 he was appointed governor, and, as already stated, was elected to the office in 1826, and discharged the duties of the position in an eminently satisfactory manner until 1830.  In 1846, Gov. Trimble was chosen president of the state board of agriculture, being the first man honored with that office, and served as such until 1848.  While governor he was untiring in promoting the cause of education in Ohio, and the present excellent public school system is indebted to him for much of its efficiency; he also encouraged manufacturing and did much toward improving the penal institutions of the state.  Politically Gov. Trimble as a federalist; his death occurred at Hillsborough, Ohio, February 2, 1870.

Jeremiah Morrow

Born Oct. 6, 1771
Died Mar. 22, 1852
Buried at Union Cemetery
Loveland, Hamilton Co., Ohio
Old Section, Row 3

The sixth governor elected under the state constitution, was born in Gettysburg, Pa., October 6, 1771.  In early manhood he removed to the Northwest territory and in 1802 was chosen delegate to the convention that framed the constitution of Ohio.  Politically  he was an ardent democrat, and in 1803 was elected a representative in the congress of the United States, in which body he served for a period of ten years.  He did much toward promoting legislation in behalf of the western section of the United States, and for some time was chairman of the committee on public lands.  In 1814 he was commissioner to treat with the Indians west of the Miami river, and from 1813 till 1819 served with distinction in the United States senate.  In 1822 Mr. Morrow was elected governor of Ohio and served as such until 1826, having been re-elected in 1824.  From 1826 to 1828 he was state senator, later became canal commissioner, and for some time served as president of the Little Miami Railroad company.  In 1841 he was again elected to represent his district in the national house of representatives, in which capacity he served a single term.  Gov. Morrow left the impress of his character on the commonwealth and his is among the many illustrious names which have given Ohio so prominent a position among her sister states; his death occurred in the county of Warren, on the 22nd day of March, 1852. 

Duncan McArthur, distinguished as a soldier and statesman, and governor of Ohio from 1831 to 1832, was a native of the state of New York, born in the county of Dutchess, on the 14th day of June, 1772.  When he was a mere lad his parents emigrated to the western part of Pennsylvania, and at the age of eighteen he volunteered in Gen. Harmar's expedition against the Miami Indians, in which he distinguished himself by many acts of bravery.  Subsequently he acted as scout in the warfare with the Indians in Ohio and Kentucky, and after the cessation of hostilities, in 1794, settled near Chillicothe, Ohio, where he became the possessor of large tracts of real estate.  For some years after settling in Ohio Gov. McArthur followed the profession of civil engineer, later he became interested in political matters and in 1805 was elected to the lower house of the Ohio Legislature.  In 1808 he was appointed major-general of the territorial militia, and at the beginning of the war of 1812 was commissioned colonel of the First Ohio volunteers.  He was second in command at Detroit, when that ill-fated post was surrendered to the British by Gen. Hull, and it is stated that so great was his chagrin and anger at the capitulation that he tore off his epaulettes and broke his sword in the fit of indignation.  Gov. McArthur was commissioned brigadier-general in 1813, and upon the resignation of Gen. William Henry Harrison the year following, he succeeded to the command of the western army.  He planned the conquest of Canada, crossed the Saint Clair river in 1814 with a strong force, and after considerable maneuvering returned to Detroit by way of Saint Thomas, and discharged his force at Sandwich the latter part of the aforesaid year.  In the meantime, 1813, he had been elected by the democrats to a seat in the congress of the United States, but declined to leave the army, remaining with the command until honorably discharged June 15, 1815.  On leaving the army Gov. McArthur was returned to the state legislature, and during the years 1816-17 served as commissioner to negotiate treaties with the Indians, by which their lands in Ohio were ceded to the general government in 1818.  From 1817 to 1819 he was again a member of the lower house of the legislature, of which he was made speaker, and in 1822 was elected to congress on the democratic ticket and served as a member of that body from December 1, 1823, till March, 1825.  In 1830 he was elected governor of Ohio, which position he filled very acceptably for one term, and in 1832 was again a candidate for congress, but lost the election by a single ballot.
     The record of Gov. McArthur, both military and civil, is without a blemish, and he will ever be remembered as one of the leading soldiers and officers of the great commonwealth of Ohio.  While governor he suffered severe injuries from an accident, and never entirely recovered from the effects of the same.  He died near Chillicothe, on the 28th day of April, 1839.

Robert Lucas, the immediate successor of Duncan McArthur, was born in Shepherdstown, Va., April 1, 1781, and was a direct descendant of William Penn, the founder of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  His father bore a distinguished part in the war of the Revolution, serving throughout that struggle as captain in the American army, and was a trusted friend of Gen. Washington.  Robert Lucas spent his youthful years in his native state, and about the beginning of the present century removed to Ohio, where in due time he became major-general of the state militia.  Subsequently he was commissioned captain in the Nineteenth United States infantry, and in February, 1813, as such until June of the same year, when he resigned.  Immediately after leaving the government service Mr. Lucas was made brigadier-general of Ohio militia, and as such served from July, 1813, till the following September, in defense of the frontier.  In 1814 he was elected to the Ohio legislature, in the deliberations of which he took a prominent part, and in 1832 presided over the democratic national convention which nominated Andrew Jackson for a second term.  In 1832 General Lucas was elected governor of Ohio, was re-elected in 1834, and in 1838 was made first territorial governor of Iowa, at which time the now state of that name was erected into a territory, including Minnesota and the Dakotas, and December 28, 1846, as a state.  He was a man of marked ability, possession great energy, and was noted as a man of strong impulses and strict integrity.  He died February 7, 1853, in Iowa City, at the advanced age of nearly seventy-two years.

Joseph Vance, governor of Ohio for one term, 1837-38, was a native of Pennsylvania, born March 21, 1781, in the county of Washington, of Scotch-Irish descent.  While quite young he was taken by his parents to Kentucky, where he grew to manhood, after which he removed to Ohio, locating at Urbana, where he became a successful merchant and married Miss Mary Lemen, of that city.  Subsequently he turned his attention to farming and stock raising, in which he also met with success and financial profit, in the meantime becoming conversant with public affairs.  Gov. Vance, becoming quite popular, was elected to and served in the legislature in 1812-16, and in 1822 was elected to the congress of the United States, in which he served by successive re-elections until March, 1835.  Originally Gov. Vance was a democrat, and as such was elected to the aforesaid offices, but later he became a Whig, which party sent him to congress in 1842.  He served through two terms, during one of them as chairman of the committee on claims.  In the meantime, 1836, he was elected governor, and as chief executive of the commonwealth his record will compare favorably with those of his illustrious predecessors and successors.  He was a delegate to the whit national convention of 1848, and while attending the constitutional convention of 1850 was stricken with paralysis, from which he suffered extremely until his death, August 24, 1852, near the city of Urbana.

Wilson Shannon, the eleventh governor of Ohio whom the people elected, was born February 24, 1803, in Belmont county, and was the first white child born in Mount Olivet township, that county.  He was also the first governor of Ohio who was a native of the state.  His parents crossed the Alleghany mountains from Pennsylvania and settled in Belmont county, Ohio, in 1802.  In January of the next year the father of the future governor, whose name was George Shannon, and who had settled on a farm, upon his arrival in that county went out hunting.  Late in the day, while returning home, he lost his way, became bewildered and wandered round and round, finally sitting down by a large maple tree and freezing to death.  His tracks were plainly visible next morning in the deep snow that had fallen during the night.
     Upon the farm his father had selected young Wilson Shannon was reared.  When fifteen years old he attended the Ohio university at Athens, remaining one year, and for two years afterward was a student at the Transylvania university at Lexington, Ky.  Returning home, he began the study of law in the office of Charles Hammond and David Jennings, completing his studies with them in Saint Clairsville, which town became the county seat.  There he practiced for eight years.  In 1832 he was a democratic nominee for congress, but was defeated by a small majority.  In 1834 he was elected prosecuting attorney, and was so assiduous in the performance of his duties that his party elected him governor of the state in 1838 by a majority of 3,600.  At the close of his first term he was again a candidate, but was defeated by his opponent, Thomas Corwin, the Whig candidate, who was opposed to slavery, while Gov. Shannon, together with the entire democratic party, favored it.  The most remarkable thing about this election was that the democratic candidate for president carried the state by about 25,000 majority.  Gov. Shannon then returned to Belmont county to the practice of the law.  In 1842 he was again elected governor of the state over Gov. Corwin, both of whom during the campaign had thoroughly canvassed the entire state, as they had done in 1840.
     In the spring of 1843, President Tyler offered Gov. Shannon the appointment of minister to Mexico, which he accepted, resigning his governorship and going to the city of Mexico, where he remained two years, when he was compelled to return home, because Mexico, on account of difficulties between the two countries over the annexation of Texas to the Union, severed all diplomatic relations with the United States.  After being then engaged for several years in the practice of the law, Gov. Shannon was elected to congress by a majority of 1,300.  In congress, by the manner in which he performed his duties, he attracted the attention of President Pierce, and was appointed territorial governor of Kansas, the most difficult position he had tried to fill.  The contest on the soil of Kansas was more bitter and persistent than anywhere in the country, both pro-slavery and anti-slavery partisans being determined to carry out their own views in that state.  It was therefore impossible for any man to preserve peace within her borders, especially as the weight of the administration at Washington was in favor of the pro-slavery party.  Shannon, therefore, after fourteen months as governor in Kansas, was superseded by John W. Geary, who gave but little better satisfaction than had Gov. Shannon.  The following year Gov. Shannon removed his family to Lecompton, Kans., the capital, and began the practice of the law in that turbulent state.  His reputation soon gained for him a very large and profitable practice, as there was much litigation under the pre-emption laws of the United States.
     When Kansas was admitted to the Union, Topeka became the capital, Lecompton rapidly declined, and Gov. Shannon removed his office and residence to Lawrence, where he resided until his death, highly regarded by all who knew him as having been a faithful public servant, and as a most conscientious man.  His death occurred in September, 1877.  

Thomas Corwin, the twelfth governor of Ohio elected by the people, was born in Bourbon county, Ky., July 29, 1794.  In 1798 his father, Matthias Corwin, who subsequently became a judge, removed to what afterward became Lebanon, Warren county, Ohio, and there, in a log school-house, taught by a school teacher named Dunlevy, young Corwin obtained what was then considered a thorough English education.  When he was seventeen years old he drove a wagon-load of provisions for the army to the headquarters of Gen. Harrison, and this event had a potential influence upon his subsequent career.  In 1817, after having studied law one year, he was admitted to practice, and in March, 1818, was elected prosecuting attorney of his county.  In 1822 he was elected to the legislature, having become by this time a well-read lawyer and a fluent speaker.  Returning to his law practice he was again elected prosecuting attorney.  In 1829 he was again elected to the Ohio legislature, and the following year to congress on the Whig ticket.  By subsequent re-elections he was kept in congress for ten years.  In 1840 he was elected governor of Ohio, serving one term.  In 1845 he was elected to the United States senate, and discharged his duties there with great ability and faithfulness until 1850.  It is on his attitude while in this body that his memory will be perpetuated to posterity, for he showed the greatest courage imaginable, and took the true ground in reference to the war with Mexico, which is now generally recognized as a wholly unnecessary and unwarranted war, begun without proper authority from congress, and solely for the purpose of conquest, in order that slavery might be extended into free territory.  His speech against that war was bold, patriotic and high-toned, and it is probable that had he subsequently had been consistent in the attitude he then assumed his party would have made him its candidate for the presidency in 1852, but he became an advocate of the Wilmot proviso, which by many is believed to have sealed his political career, so far as national promotion is concerned.  For his action, however in connection with this proviso, he was appointed, by President Fillmore, secretary of the United States treasury, a position which he held until 1852, when he resigned, and returned to private life among the hills of Warren county.
     Not long afterward he opened a law office in Cincinnati, and was again elected to congress in 1858 and 1860.  By President Lincoln he was appointed minister to Mexico, and on April 11, 1861, he embarked for Vera Cruz, whence he went to the city of Mexico, where he served his country efficiently until the close of the war, returning to the United States in April, 1865, opening a law office in Washington, D. C., but had no more than settled down to practice there than he was stricken with apoplexy, and died after an illness of three days.
     While he was in congress he never rose unless he had something to say; hence he always commanded the attention of that branch in which he was serving.  His greatness in oratory is beyond question, his patriotism no one ever doubted, and in his private life, from boyhood until his death, every one recognized the integrity and purity of his character, which, during his whole public career, took on the form of the highest sense of honor, and through which he always maintained his reputation among his countrymen.
     November 13, 1822, he married Miss Sarah Ross, a sister of Hon. Thomas R. Ross, who served three terms in congress.  By his marriage he had no children, so that he left nothing to his country but his labor therefor and his great and his everlasting fame.

Thomas Welles Bartley, who succeeded Gov. Wilson Shannon as governor of Ohio, upon that gentleman's resignation, as mentioned in his life above inserted, was born February 11, 1812, at the home of his parents, in Jefferson county, Ohio.  His ancestry emigrated from Northumberland county, England, in 1724, and settled in Londoun county, Va., but subsequently removed to Fayette county, Pa., where his father, Mordecai Bartley, was born.  His mother was Elizabeth Welles, from her father Thomas Welles, of Brownsville, Pa.  Having received a liberal education under his father's care and guidance, and having graduated with the degree of bachelor of arts from Washington & Jefferson college, a Presbyterian institution of learning located at Washington Pa., and founded in 1802, Mr. Bartley studied law in Washington, D. C., and was licensed to practice at Mansfield, Ohio, in 1834.  The following year he had conferred upon him by his alma mater the honorary degree of master of arts.  Having taken a high position at the bar he was elected attorney-general of Ohio and served as such four years; being afterward appointed United States district attorney, he served in that position also four years.  Subsequently he was elected to the lower house of the general assembly of the state, served therein one term, and was then elected to the state senate, in which he served four years.  While president of senate of Ohio, in 1844, he became governor of the state, through the resignation of Gov. Shannon, who had been appointed, by President Tyler, minister to Mexico, and he administered the affairs of the office until he was succeeded therein by his father, Mordecai Bartley, in December of that year.
     In 1851 he was elected judge of the supreme court of the state, served two terms in this high position, and then resumed the practice of law, in Cincinnati, continuing there, thus engaged, for several years, when, owning to the ill health of his family, he removed, in 1869, to Washington D.C., where he followed his profession until his death.
     Gov. Bartley was a sound attorney, a faithful public official, a wise judge and a most courteous gentleman, and his removal to the capital of the nation placed him in a field where he enjoyed full scope for the exercise of his powers, untrammeled by local politics, for in that city, where the people have no vote, politics does not enter into their business and their profession as it does elsewhere in the United States.  Gov. Bartley is well remembered by many of the leading men of the state.

Mordecai Bartley, who succeeded his son Thomas W. Bartley as governor, was born in Fayette county, Pa., December 16, 1783.  He was reared to manhood on his father's farm, attended school at intervals during his minority, and in 1809 moved to Ohio.  He tendered his services to the government in the war of 1812, served as captain and adjutant under Gen. William Henry Harrison, and on leaving the army settled, in 1814, in Richland county, where he remained until his removal to the city of Mansfield in 1834.  For some years Mr. Bartley was engaged in mercantile pursuits in Mansfield, but previous to locating there, had served as a member of the Ohio state senate, to which he was elected in 1817.  In 1818 he was chosen, by the legislature, registrar of the land office of Virginia Military school-lands, which position he held until 1823, when he resigned in order to take his seat in the congress of the United States, to which he had been elected in the meantime.  He served in congress until March, 1831, and in 1844 was elected, on the Whig ticket, governor of the state, the functions of which office he discharged in a very creditable manner until 1846, declining a renomination and retiring to private life.  After the nomination by the Whigs for governor of Mordecai Bartley, the democrats in their convention, in the same year, came within one or two votes of placing his son Thomas once again in the field as his opponent.  Gov. Bartley was very decided in his opposition to the Mexican war, but when the president issued a call for troops, he promptly responded and superintended the organization of the Ohio forces in person.  Politically Gov. Bartley affiliated with the Whigs until the disruption of that party, after which he espoused the cause of the republican party.  He died in the city of Mansfield October 10, 1770.

William Bebb, lawyer and judge, the fourteenth governor elected by the people of Ohio, was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1804, and died at his home in Rock Rover county, Ill., October 23, 1873.  His father emigrated from Wales, Great Britain, in 1795, and first located in the Keystone state.  Traveling across the mountains to the valley of the Miami on foot, he purchased in the neighborhood of North Bend an extensive tract of land, returned to Pennsylvania and married Miss Robert, to whom he had been engaged in Wales, and, with his bride, riding in a suitable conveyance, again crossed the mountains and settled on his land in what was then but a wilderness.  He was a man of sound judgment, and, in common with many of his countrymen, of a joyous and ever hopeful disposition.  His wife was a lady of culture and refinement, and her home in the valley of the Miami, with few neighbors except the wild, unshorn, and half-naked savages, was a great change from her previous life.  There were of course no schools there to send her children to, and this was a matter of grave concern to the parents of our subject, who was in consequence taught to read at home.  In those years the Western Spy, then published in Cincinnati, and distributed by a private postrider, was taken by his father, and William read with avidity its contents, especially the achievements of Napoleon Bonaparte.  His education advanced no further until a peripatetic schoolmaster, passing that way, stopped and opened a school in the neighborhood, and under him our subject studied English, Latin and mathematics, working in vacation on his father's farm.  When twenty years old he himself opened a school at North Bend and resided in the home of Gen. Harrison.  In this employment he remained a year, during which he married Miss Shuck, the daughter of a wealthy German resident of the village.  Soon afterward he began the study of law while continuing his school, and as a teacher was eminently successful, and his school attracted pupils from the most distinguished families of Cincinnati.
     In 1831 he rode to Columbus on horseback where the supreme court judges examined him and placed him in the practice of the state.  He then removed to Hamilton, Butler county, and opened a law office, where he continued quietly and in successful practice fourteen years.  During this period he took an active interest in political affairs, and advocated during his first (called the "Hard Cider") campaign, the claims of Gen. Harrison, and no less distinguished himself during that "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," campaign, in which the persons indicated were successful, and the Whigs in 1840, for the first time, succeeded in electing their candidates.  Six years afterward he was elected governor of the state, and the war with Mexico placed him, has governor of Ohio, in a very trying position.  As a Whig he did not personally favor that war, and this feeling was greatly entertained by the party who made him their leader in the state, but he felt that the question was not one of party but of cordial support of the general government, and his earnest recognition of this fact eventually overcame the danger that had followed President Polk's proclamation of war.  His term of office (1846-48) was distinguished by good money, free schools, great activity in the construction of railroads and turnpikes; the arts and industry generally were well revived, and high prosperity characterized the whole state.
    In 1844 Gov. Bebb purchased 5,000 acres of land in Rock River county, Ill., of which the location was delightful and the soil rich; 500 acres were wooded and constituted a natural park, while the remainder was pasture of the best quality, with a stream of water fed by perpetual springs.  No man of moderate ambition could desire the possession of a more magnificent portion of the earth's surface.  Three years after making this purchase he removed to it, taking with him fine horses, and a number of the choicest breeds of cattle, and entered upon the cultivation of this fine property.  Five years afterward he visited Great Britain and the continent of Europe.  In the birth-place of his father he found many desirous to immigrate to America, and encouraging the enterprise a company was formed and a tract of 100,000 acres purchased for them in east Tennessee, where he agreed to preside over their arrangements in the settlement of this land.  In 1856 a party of the colonists arrived on the land and Gov. Bebb resided with them until the war of the Rebellion began, when he left the state with his family.  The emigrants, discouraged by the strong proslavery sentiment, scattered and settled in various parts of the northern states.
     On the inauguration of President Lincoln Gov. Bebb was appointed examiner in the pension department at Washington, and held this position until 1866, when he returned to his farm in Illinois and the peaceful pursuits of agriculture.  His scale of farming was the cultivation of 2,000 acres in a season, while another 1,000 formed his cattle pasture.  He took an active part in the election of Gen Grant, and the first sickness of any consequence he ever experienced was an attack of pneumonia following an exposed ride to his home from Pecatonica, where he had addressed the electors.  From this he never recovered, and although he spent the following winter in Washington, occupied mainly as a listener to the debates in the senate, he felt his vital forces declining.  Returning home the next summer, and feeling that he was no longer able to superintend his farm operations, he resided at Rockford until his death.

Seabury Ford, the fifteenth governor of Ohio elected by the people, was born in Cheshire, Conn., in 1802.
     John Ford, his father, was a native of New England, but of Scotch descent, while his mother, Esther Cook, was of English Puritan ancestry.  She was a sister of Nabbie Cook, the wife of Peter Hitchcock, the first chief justice of Ohio.  In 1805, John Ford explored the Western Reserve in search of lands and a home in the west, purchasing 2,000 acres in what is now the township of Burton, Geauga county, Ohio, and removing to this land in the fall of 1807.  Seabury was then but five years old, but even then gave indications of superior intelligence.  He prepared for college at the academy in Burton, entering Yale college in 1821, in company with another young Ohioan, named D. Witter, they two being the first young men from Ohio to enter Yale.  Graduating from Yale in 1825, he then began the study of the law in the office of Simon W. Phelps, of Painesville, completing his course in the office of his uncle, Judge Peter Hitchcock, in 1827.  Being admitted to practice he opened an office in Burton, and grew rapidly in popular favor.  He was always interested in military affairs, in agricultural pursuits and in politics, and was in 1835 elected by the Whigs to the legislature from Geauga county.  Being twice re-elected, he served three terms, during the latter term acting as speaker of the lower house.  In 1841 he was elected to the state senate from Cuyahoga and Geauga counties, and remained a member of that body until 1844, when he was again elected to the lower house.  In 1846 he was again elected to the senate and was chosen speaker of that body.  In 1848 he was elected governor by a small majority, retiring at the close of his term to his home in Burton, much broken in health.  On the Sunday after reaching his home he was stricken with paralysis, from which he never recovered.
     During twenty years of his life he was an honored member of the Congregational church, and was always a highly respected citizen.  As a representative of the people he was faithful to their interests, and was possessed of the most rigid integrity.  A private letter, published in a Cleveland, Ohio, paper, said of him, in 1839, that he was one of the most useful men in the legislature and that in a few years he had saved the state millions of dollars.
     September 10, 1828, he married Miss Harriet E. Cook, a daughter of John Cook, of Burton, by whom he had five children, three of whom reached mature age, as follows:  Seabury C., George H., and Robert N.   Gov. Ford died May 8, 1855.

Reuben Wood, the successor of Seabury Ford, was born in Rutland county, Vt., in the year 1792.  He was reared to manhood in his native state, served with distinction in the war of 1812 as captain of a company of Vermont volunteers, and afterward studied law and began the practice of his profession in Cleveland, Ohio.  From 1825 till 1828 Mr. Wood served in the state senate; in 1830 was appointed president-judge of the Third district, and in 1833 was elected associate judge of the state supreme court, which office he held until 1845.
     In 1848 Mr. Wood was a democratic nominee for the governorship, to which office he was elected by a handsome majority, and with such ability and satisfaction did he discharge his official functions that in 1850 he was chosen his own successor, being the first governor under the new constitution.  Gov. Wood was prominently spoken of in 1852 as an available presidential candidate, but the party, while admitting his fitness for the high position, finally united upon Franklin Pierce.  In addition to the honorable positions above mentioned, Gov. Wood served eighteen months as United States consul at Valparaiso, Chili, resigning at the end of that time and retiring to private life.  The death of this eminent jurist and statesman occurred in Rockport, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, October 2nd, 1864, in his seventy-second year.

William MeDill

22nd Governor Of Ohio from 1853 - 1856
Born 1802 - Died Sep. 2, 1865
Buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Lancaster, Fairfield Co., Ohio

The seventeenth governor of Ohio elected by the people, was born in New Castle county, Del., in 1801.  He graduated from Delaware college in 1825, and studied law with Judge Black, of New Castle city.  Removing to Lancaster, Ohio, in 1830, he began there the practice of the law, being regularly admitted to the bar by the supreme court in 1832.  In 1835 he was elected to the lower house of the general assembly from Fairfield county, and served several years with great ability.  In 1838 he was elected to congress from the counties of Fairfield, Perry, Morgan and Hocking, and was re-elected in 1840, serving to the satisfaction of his constituents.  In 1845 he was appointed by President Polk second assistant postmaster-general, performing his duties with marked ability.  The same year he was appointed commissioner of Indian affairs, and as such commissioner introduced many needed reforms.  Indeed, he was one of the few men holding office under the government of the United States who have treated the unfortunate sons of the forest with any semblance of justice.  Both these offices he held during President Polk's administration, at its close returning to Ohio and resuming the practice of the law.  In 1840 he was elected a member of the constitutional convention that gave us the present constitution of the state of Ohio, serving with impartial ability as presiding officer of that body.  In 1851 he was elected lieutenant-governor, and in 1853 as the second governor under the new constitution.  In 1857 he was appointed by President Buchanan first controller of the United States treasury, holding that office until March 4, 1861, when he retired to private life in Lancaster, Ohio, holding no office afterward.
     Gov. Medill was a man of great ability, a true patriot, of spotless character, a faithful friend and an incorruptible public servant.  He never married, and died at his residence in Lancaster, Ohio, September, 1865.

Salmon P. Chase

Born Jan. 13, 1808
Died May 7, 1873
Buried Spring Grove Cemetery,
Cincinnati, Hamilton Co., Ohio

The eighteenth governor of Ohio elected by the people, was born at Cornish, N. H., January 13, 1808.  His father, Ithaman Chase, was descended from English ancestry, while his mother was of scotch extraction.  Ithaman Chase was a farmer, was a brother of the celebrated Bishop Philander Chase, and died when his son, Salmon P., was yet a lad.  In 1815 his father removed his family to Keene, Cheshire county, N.H., where young Salmon received a good common-school education.  Bishop Chase, having removed to Ohio, invited his young nephew to the state, and in Worthington, Franklin county, he pursued his studies preparatory to entering college, becoming a student at Dartmouth in 1825, and graduating in 1826.  He then went to Washington, D.C., where for some time he taught a classical school, which did not prove successful.  For this reason he made application to an uncle of his, in the United States senate, to secure for him a position in one of the government offices, but was met with the reply from that uncle that he had already ruined two young men in that way, and did not intend to ruin another.  Young Chase then secured the patronage of Henry Clay, Samuel L. Southard and William Wirt, who placed their sons under his tuition, and he in the meantime studied law with William Wirt.
     In 1830, having been admitted to the bar, he settled down in Cincinnati to the practice of the law, but meeting for some years with indifferent success, he spent his leisure time in revising the statutes of Ohio, and introduced his compilation with a brief historical sketch of the state.  This work, known as Chase's Statutes, in three octavo volumes, proved of great service to the profession, and its sale was so great a success that his reputation as a lawyer of ability was at once established.
     In 1834 he became solicitor of the branch bank of the United States in the city of Cincinnati, and soon afterward of one of the city banks, and in 1837 he distinguished himself by defending a negro woman who had been brought by her master to Ohio, and who had escaped from his possession.  This gave him considerable prominence as a abolitionist, and by some it was thought he had ruined his prospects, especially when he enhanced that reputation in the defense of James G. Birney, whose newspaper, the Philanthropist, had been destroyed by the friends of slavery.  Mr. Chase had always looked upon things from the moral standpoint, believed ever in freedom, and that if Christ died for any man he died for all men, and hence Mr. Chase was always the friend of man.  The position he took in the defense of slaves who had escaped to or were brought to free soil, was that by that act alone, even under the constitution of the United States, they obtained their freedom.
     In 1846 Mr. Chase, in the supreme court of the United States, defended Van Zandt (who was the original of John Van Trompe, in "Uncle Tom's Cabin"), who was prosecuted for harboring fugitive slaves, taking the ground, as before, that, even though the constitution contained a provision for the return of such fugitives, no legislative power on the subject had been granted to congress, and that therefore the power to devise legislation thereon was left to the states themselves.  The bold statements and forcible arguments of Mr. Chase in his management of such cases, alarmed the southern states, and ultimately led to the enactment of the fugitive slave law in 1850, as a portion of the compromise measures of that period.
     In 1841 Mr. Chase united with others opposed to the further extension of slavery, in a convention for which he was the principal writer of the address to the people on that subject.  He also wrote the platform for the liberty party when it nominated James G. Birney as its candidate for the presidency.  In 1842 he projected a convention of the same party in Cincinnati, the result of which was the passage of a resolution declaring the urgent necessity for the organization of a party committed to the denationalization of slavery.  In 1848 Mr. Chase presided over the Buffalo free soil convention, which nominated Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams for president and vice-president.  On the 22d of February, 1849.  Mr. Chase was elected to the United States senate by a coalition of democrats and free soilers, who had declared slavery to be an evil, but when the Baltimore convention in 1852 approved of the compromise measures of 1850 he withdrew from their ranks, and advocated the formation of an independent democratic party, which should oppose the extension of slavery.  In 1855 Mr. Chase was elected governor of Ohio by the newly organized republican party by a majority of 15,651 over Gov. Medill, and in 1857 he was elected governor, the second time, over Henry B. Payne.
     At the national republican convention in 1860 Mr. Chase received on the first ballot forty-nine votes, in a total of 375, and immediately withdrew his name.  By President Lincoln he was appointed secretary of the treasury of the United States, holding this position until July, 1864, when he resigned.  His management of the nation's finance was marked with consummate ability, and contributed largely to the success of the government in its efforts to suppress the Rebellion.  In November, 1864, he was nominated by President Lincoln as chief justice of the United States, to succeed Chief Justice Taney, who had then recently died, and he filled this great office until his death.
     In 1868 he permitted his name to go before the democratic national convention as a candidate for the presidency, but received only four votes out of 663, Horatio Seymour of New York securing the nomination.  The most valuable public service rendered the nation by Mr. Chase, as secretary of the treasury, was the origination by him of the bill under which, in 1863, state and private banks became national banks, and under which the government of the United States became responsible for the circulation of national bank notes, the government being secured by a deposit of bonds equal in amount to the proposed circulation, plus ten per cent.  While this law was at first opposed by many public men, yet in time it won its way into their judgment long before Mr. Chase's death, and he had the satisfaction of realizing that its advantages were such that the people of the United States were more greatly benefited by this than by any previous monetary measure, as under it the money of the banks was made equally valuable in all parts of the United States.
     Mr. Chase was married three times, and of six children born to him, two accomplished daughters survived him at his death, which occurred of paralysis, May 7, 1873.

William Dennison, Jr., nineteenth governor of Ohio, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, November 23, 1815.  His father and mother emigrated from New Jersey to Ohio, settled in the Miami Valley about 1805, gave their son a liberal education, and he graduated from Miami university in 1835 with high honors in political science, belles letters and history.  After his graduation he became a law student in the office of Nathaniel C. Pendleton, father of Hon. George H. Pendleton, and was admitted to the bar in 1840.  The same year he married a daughter of William Neil, of Columbus, to which city he removed and applied himself with energy and diligence to the practice of the law.  In 1848 he was elected to the Ohio senate as a Whig for the district composed of Franklin and Delaware counties.  At that time the slavery question was a prominent one in politics, men taking positive positions on one side or the other, and a desperate struggle was made throughout the state for the control of the general assembly.  After failing by a small adverse majority to be elected president of the senate he was appointed to a leading position on a committee having in charge the revisal of the statutes, which had become in the opinion of most of the people a disgrace to the state, especially those laws which prohibited black men and mulattoes from gaining a permanent residence within the state, and from testifying in courts against white persons.  Mr. Dennison warmly advocated the repeal of these laws, and with complete success. He was equally opposed to the extension of slavery, with its blighting effects, into new territory.
     From 1850 to 1852 he was engaged in the practice of the law; and in the latter year, as a presidential elector, he cast his vote for Gen. Winfield Scott.  From this time on for some years he took great interest in the subject of railroads in the west, and was elected president of the Columbus & Xenia Railroad company, and was very active as a director of all railroads entering Columbus.  In 1856 he was a delegate to the republican national convention at Pittsburg, and voted for Gen. John C. Fremont for president.  In 1859 he was elected governor of Ohio by the republican party, and in his first message to the general assembly took the position that "The federal Union exists by solemn compact voluntarily entered into by the people of each state and thus they became the United States of America, e pluribus unum, and this being so, no state can claim the right to secede from or violate that compact."
     When the war was begun he exerted all the authority of his office to aid the general government to suppress the Rebellion, and as the first war governor of Ohio his name will go down to posterity as one of the most patriotic of men.  When Gov. Magoffin, of Kentucky, telegraphed to President Lincoln that Kentucky would furnish no troops for such a wicked purpose as the subduing of the sister southern states, Gov. Dennison telegraphed that if Kentucky would not fill her quota, Ohio would fill it for her, and in less than two weeks, under the influence of her patriotic governor, Ohio raised enough soldiers to fill the quota of three states, and it was not long before the attention of the entire country was directed to Ohio as the leading state in the suppression of the Rebellion, a position which she proudly maintained all through the war.  The people of West Virginia owe to Gov. Dennison the fact of their separate existence as a state, the story of which is well known and too long for publication here.
     At first Gov. Dennison opposed Sec. Chase's national banking system, but as its beneficial effects became apparent he gave it his unqualified support, and it is well known that Ohio took the lead in the establishment of national banks, a system of banking which, among its other features, has done much to cement toe union of the states since the war.  After his term of office as governor had expired he became a favorite speaker in defense of the Union.  As a delegate to the national republican convention, in 1864, he did much to secure the renomination of Abraham Lincoln, and succeeded Montgomery Blair as postmaster-general, but resigned his office when President Johnson had defined his "policy."  For several years after this Gov. Dennison lived in retirement, but was called on by President Grant, in 1875, to act as one of the commissioners of the District of Columbia, a position which he filled until 1878.
     By his marriage to Miss Neil he became the father of three children, the first-born dying in infancy, and the others being named Neil and Elizabeth.  He died June 15, 1882, respected by all people as an able, patriotic and good man.

David Tod, Ohio's twentieth elected governor, was born in Youngstown, Mahoning county, February 21, 1805, received a good literary education, and after studying for the legal profession was admitted to the bar in the year 1827.  He practiced about fifteen years at Warren, where his talents soon won him recognition among the leading lawyers of the northeastern part of the state, and while a resident of Warren was elected, in 1838, a member of the state senate.  Gov. Tod soon took high rank as a successful politician, made a brilliant canvass for Martin Van Buren in 1840, and in 1844 was nominated for governor, but was defeated by a small majority.  One of the issues of the gubernatorial campaign of 1844 was "hard" and "soft" money, the democrats representing the former and the Whigs the latter.  In a speech David Tod, the democratic candidate, said that sooner than adopt "soft" or paper money, it would be better to go back to the Spartan idea of finance and coin money from pot-metal.  His opponents seized upon this expression, dubbed him "pot-metal" Tod, and insisted that he was really in favor of coining pot-metal into currency.  Medallions of Mr. Tod about the size of a silver dollar were struck off by his opponents by the thousands, being composed of pot-metal and circulated throughout the state.  The "pot-metal" cry doubtless had much to do in bringing about his defeat by a slender margin, showing that small things are often effective in political campaigns, if the people happen to be in the humor to be influenced by them, which not infrequently happens to be the case.  In 1847 he was appointed, by President Polk, minister to Brazil, and represented his government until 1852, when he returned to the United States and took an active part in the campaign which resulted in the election of Franklin Pierce to the presidency.  In 1860 he was chosen delegate to the Charleston convention, of which he was made vice-president, and after the withdrawal of the southern wing of the democratic party, presided over that body until its adjournment.  Upon the breaking out of the Civil war, Gov. Tod was earnest in his advocacy of a compromise between the north and south, but with the commencement of hostilities he became a firm supporter of the Union and did much to arouse enthusiasm in the prosecution of the struggle.  In 1861 he was the republican nominee for governor, and at the ensuing election defeated his competitor by an overwhelming majority of 55,000 votes.  He proved a very popular and capable executive, and during his term of two years, greatly aided the national administration.

John Brough, the twenty-first governor of Ohio elected by the people of the state, was born at Marietta, Ohio, September 17, 1811.  His father, John Brough, was a companion and friend of Blennerhassett, both coming to the United States in the same ship in 1806.  They remained in close friendship for many years, but Mr. Brough was not connected with the unfortunate complications between Blennerhassett and Aaron Burr.  John Brough died in 1822, leaving his wife with five children, and with but small means of support.
     John Brough, who became governor of Ohio, was sent to learn the trade of printer in the office of the Athens Mirror before he was fourteen.  After a few months he entered the Ohio university at Athens, reciting with his class in the day time, and setting type mornings and evenings to support himself.  He was a good compositor and also a good student, and was distinguished for his skill in athletic games.  Having completed his education at the university he began the study of law, but soon afterward went to Petersburg, Va., to edit a newspaper.  Returning to Marietta, Ohio, in 1831, he became a proprietor of the Washington county Republican, a democratic paper, which he conducted until 1833, when he sold out, and in partnership with his brother, Charles H., purchased the Ohio Eagle, published at Lancaster, Ohio, and while he was a strong partisan, yet he had no patience for any kind of underhand work in either party.  In 1835 he was elected clerk of the Ohio senate, and retained this position until 1838.  He was chosen representative from Fairfield and Hocking counties in 1838, and the next year he was chosen by the legislature to fill the office of auditor of state.  To this latter office he was again elected and served six years.  Many evils then existed in the finances of the state, but, notwithstanding much opposition and many embarrassments, he succeeded in finding remedies therefor, and the pecuniary affairs of the state were placed on a solid foundation.  The reports he made upon the state's financial system are among the ablest and most valuable of our state papers.
     During his second term as auditor of state he purchased the Phoenix, a newspaper in Cincinnati, changed its name to the Enquirer and placed it in charge of his brother, Charles H., and at the close of that term removed to Cincinnati, opened a law office and wrote editorials for his paper.  He also became a powerful and effective public speaker, and while he was becoming a distinguished leader in the democratic party he was also becoming with equal rapidity thoroughly disgusted with party politics.  In 1848 he retired from partisan strife, sold half interest in the Enquirer, and devoted his attention to railroads.  Being elected president of the Madison & Indiana Railroad company, he removed to Madison, Ind., but later, at the invitation of one of his friends, Stillman Witt, of Cleveland, Ohio, he accepted the presidency of the Bellefontaine Railroad company, which, under his management, became one of the leading railroads of the country.  In 1861 he removed to Cleveland, and during the first two years of the war was untiring in the first two years of the war was untiring in his efforts to serve the government by the prompt transportation of troops to the front.
     In 1863, that portion of the democrats of Ohio that was opposed to the further prosecution of the war nominated C. L. Vallandigham for governor of the  state, and Stillman Witt, having urged Mr. Brough to take an active part in politics, generously offering to perform the duties of the president of the railroad, and permit Mr. Brough to draw the salary, Mr. Brough was at length nominated by the republican party as its candidate in opposition to Vallandigham.  The result of the election was that Mr. Brough was elected by a majority of 101,099, the total vote being 471, 643.  It was at the suggestion of Gov. Brough that an extra force of 100,000 men was raised to aid Gen. Grant in his arduous campaign of 1864, Ohio's quota of this 100,000, being 30,000.  Within ten days Ohio raised 38,000 men, the result being due largely to Gov. Brough's energetic action, which called out the warmest commendation from both President Lincoln and Gen. Grant.
     While Gov. Brough lived to see the war brought to a successful close, yet he died before the close of his term, on August 29, 1865.  He was of the honest men in politics, just in all his motives and acts.  Though not a member of any church, yet he took a deep interest in religion and died in the hope of an eternal life.  Gov. Brough was twice married - first to Miss Acsah P. Pruden, of Athens, Ohio, who died in 1838 at the age of twenty-five years, and second, to Miss Caroline A. Nelson, of Columbus, Ohio, whom he married in 1843 at Lewiston, Pa.  By this latter marriage he had two sons and two daughters.

Charles Anderson was put in nomination as lieutenant-governor of Ohio on the ticket in 1863, with John Brough for governor and elected.  The death of the latter transferred Col. Anderson to the office of governor in August of the same year.
     Charles Anderson was born June 1, 1814, at the residence of his father, called Soldiers' Retreat, or Fort Nelson, near the falls of the Ohio, and which locality is about nine miles from the city of Louisville, Ky.  His father, Col. Richard Clough Anderson, a gentleman of high character, who was an aid-de-camp to Lafayette, removed to Soldiers' Retreat from Virginia in 1793, and there, in the capacity of surveyor-general of the Virginia in 1793, and there, in the capacity of surveyor-general of the Virginia military land grant, made his residence three years before Kentucky was recognized as a territory.  His mother was a relative of Chief-Justice Marshall, and his eldest brother, Richard Clough Anderson, represented his district in congress, was the first United States minister to the republic of Columbia and commissioner in congress at Panama.  Robert Anderson, another brother of Gov. Anderson, was the Major Anderson commanding Fort Sumter in April, 1861.
     Charles Anderson graduated from Miami university at Oxford, Ohio, in 1833, began the study of law in Louisville in his twentieth year in the office of Pirtle & Anderson, and in 1835 was admitted to practice,  He then went to Dayton, Ohio, and September 16th married Miss Eliza J. Brown, a young lady of that place.  He remained a resident of Dayton, Ohio, varying his professional engagement by working the farm during the following ten years, having in that time been elected prosecuting attorney of the county, and in 1844 was elected to the state senate.  His vote in this body in favor of bills to give to the colored men the privilege of testifying in court caused him the enmity of all the pro-slavery element among his constituency, but of this he took no notice.  He resolved that at the close of his term he would recuperate his health by a protracted sea voyage, and, descending to New Orleans, he took a vessel for Havana, and there took passage on a vessel bound for Europe, and with much advantage to his health returned by the way of Paris and Liverpool.  Arriving in Cincinnati, he entered into a law partnership with Rufus King, Esq., and for eleven years practiced his profession.  Then his original love of farming still influencing his life, he went to Texas in 1859, and found the people greatly excited on account of the political condition of the country.  Demagogues had advocated dissolution of the Union there as elsewhere, and the establishment of a new southern states' government of a monarchical form, its foundation-stone human slavery, and under the protectorate of Great Britain, to which people their cotton would be exchanged for goods of British manufacture exclusively.  He soon saw that this treasonable project had taken deep root among the ignorant masses of the south.  There was no term that had been uttered that could be more opprobrious than abolitionist, and his well-known love of freedom prompting him to boldly address the people, he did so at a great gathering at San Antonio November 20, 1860, advocating, in the most stirring and patriotic language, the perpetuity of the national Union.  Though the recipient subsequently of letters threatening his life, he continued to reside in San Antonio in spite of the forty-day resident act passed by the Confederate congress at Montgomery, Ala., and was therefore confined as a political prisoner in the guard-tent of Maclin's battery of artillery.  By the assistance of two persons, who subsequently were maltreated for so assisting him, he escaped to the north.  It was not reasonable to suppose that Mr. Anderson, born in Kentucky, and from infancy surrounded by and breathing the atmosphere of slavery, could have regarded that institution as it was looked upon by the millions who had not been similarly situated.  Hence the original idea of the war, restoring the Union as it was, caused him to offer his services to Gov. Tod, and he was appointed colonel of the Ninety-third Ohio regiment, in command of which brave body of men he was seriously wounded in the battle of Stone River.  After his term of service as lieutenant-governor and governor of Ohio he removed to a large iron estate on the Cumberland river, in Lyon county, Ky., where he spent the remainder of his life.

Jacob Dolson Cox

Born Oct. 27, 1828
Died Aug. 4, 1900
Buried Spring Grove Cemetery
Cincinnati, Hamilton Co., Ohio

The twenty-second governor of Ohio elected by the people, was born in Montreal, Canada, October 27, 1828, to which city his parents, who were natives of the United States, and who were then residents of New York, had gone for a temporary purpose, Mr. Cox being a master builder, and having in charge in Montreal the erection of the frame work, roofing, etc., of the church of Notre Dame.  The following year they returned to New York, where were spent the childhood days of the subject of this sketch.  In 1846 he entered Oberlin college, from which he graduated in 1851, and in 1852 he removed to Warren, Ohio, where for three years he was superintendent of the high school.  In the meantime he studied law and was admitted to the bar, and in 1859 he was elected, from the Trumbull and Mahoning district, to the legislature, where throughout his term he was regarded as a "radical," not only on account of the section of the state from which he came, but also on account of his having married the daughter of President Finney of Oberlin college.  He took his seat in the senate on the first Monday in January, 1860.
     After the enactment of the fugitive slave law of 1850 the state of Ohio passed a law providing penalties for carrying free blacks out of the state without first having recourse to judicial proceedings.  The democrats in the legislature earnestly desired to repeal this law, and Mr. Cox, as chairman of the judiciary committee, made a minority report against its repeal, to which report the support of the entire republican party was given.  While Mr. Cox was not in favor of any unnecessarily harsh measures to grieve the southern states, yet he was always uncompromisingly in favor of supporting the government in its efforts to suppress the Rebellion.  Ten days after President Lincoln's first call for troops, Mr. Cox was commissioned, by Gov. Dennison, a brigadier-general of Ohio volunteers for the three months' service, and placed in command of Camp Jackson, which was established for the reception of troops.  A larger camp being necessary, President Lincoln commissioned him brigadier-general of volunteers, and with the assistance of Gen. Rosecrans he laid out Camp Dennison.  On the 6th of July, 1861, he was ordered by Gen. McClellan to take a position at the south of the Great Kanawha, whence he drove the reels under Gen. Wise out of the valley of that river, and took and repaired the bridge at Gauley, and other bridges; and it is owning to the success of these early military maneuvers that West Virginia became an independent state.  In August, 1862, he was assigned to the army of Virginia under Gen. Pope, and when Gen. Reno fell succeeded to his command, that of the Ninth corps, which he commanded at the battle of Antietam, in which battle his troops so distinguished themselves that he was appointed to a full major-generalship.  On April 16, 1863, Gen. Cox was in command of the district of Ohio, and also of a division of the Twenty-third army corps, with headquarters at Knoxville, Tenn.  In the Atlanta campaign he led the Third division of the Twenty-third army corps, and in the engagement at Columbus had entire command, as he had also at Franklin, November 30, where he felt the full force of Hood's attack.  On reaching Nashville Gen. Thomas assumed command of the army, Gen. Schofield of the Twenty-third corps, and Gen. Cox of his division - his division in this battle capturing an important rebel position and eight pieces of cannon.  In January, 1865, Gen. Cox, with his division, performed important service in North Carolina, aiding in the capture of Kingston, and then he united his forces with Sherman's army.  Gen. Cox had charge of the details connected with the surrender of Gen. Johnston's soldiers.  In July, 1865, he was placed in command of the district of Ohio soldiers was elected governor of the state, and was inaugurated Jan. 15, 1866.  Throughout the war Gen. Cox was steadily promoted, and won golden opinions from all patriots, but after the close of the struggle he supported President Johnson's "policy" which gave great dissatisfaction to loyal people.  In 1869 President Grant appointed him secretary of the interior, which position he resigned after a few months, and returned to Cincinnati, where he was appointed receiver of the Toledo, Wabash & Western railroad, and resided temporarily at Toledo, where, in 1875, he was elected to congress from the Sixth district.  He was appointed a member of the Potter committee, which investigated the manner in which the presidential election of 1876 had been conducted in the "disputed states," South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana.  Subsequently he removed to Cincinnati, where he died.

Rutherford B. Hayes, - For a sketch of the life of Rutherford B. Hayes, the twenty-third governor of Ohio elected by the people and elected to succeed himself, and also elected to succeed William Allen, the reader is referred to that portion of this work which is devoted to the live of the presidents of the United States.

Edward Follansbee Noyes

1832 - 1890
Buried in Spring Grove Cemetery,
Cincinnati, Hamilton Co., Ohio

Twenty-fourth governor of Ohio elected by the people, was born in Haverhill, Mass., Oct. 3, 1832.  His parents, Theodore and Hannah Noyes, both died before he was three years old, and he was reared by his grandparents, Edward and Hannah Stevens, who resided at East Kingston, Rockingham county, N. H.  His grandfather Stevens having died, he was taken when twelve years of age by his guardian, Joseph Hoyt, of Newton, N. H.  For two years he worked on his guardian's farm in summer and attended schools in winter, and at fourteen he was apprenticed to the printer's trade in the office of the Morning Star at Dover, N. H., the organ of the Free Will Baptist church.  In this office he remained four years.  Though his apprenticeship required him to remain until he was twenty-one, yet his employer released him at eighteen, in order that he might secure an education.  He prepared himself for college at the academy at Kingston, N. H., and entered Dartmouth college in 1853, graduating at that institution in 1857.  In the winter of his senior year he began to read law in the office of Stickney & Tuck at Exeter, N. H., and before leaving Dartmouth he had become really an abolitionist.  Being a good speaker, he was appointed by the republican state executive committee of New Hampshire to traverse the state in the interest of Gen. John C. Fremont for the presidency.  The next winter he entered the law office of Tilden, Raridan & Curwen, and attended lectures on law at the Cincinnati Law school during the winter of 1857-58, being admitted to the bar during the latter year, and not long afterward established himself in a profitable practice.  Giving attention to the political crises then impending, he became convinced the secession, if accomplished, would finally disrupt the Union, and on the 8th of July, 1861, converted his law office into a recruiting station, and was commissioned major of the Thirty-ninth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry.  On August 20, 1861, the Twenty-seventh and the Thirty-ninth regiments were transferred from the eastern to the western army, the latter being officered as follows:  John Groesbeck, colonel; A. W. Gilbert, lieut.-colonel, and, as stated above, Edward F. Noyes, major.  Early in 1862 this latter regiment joined the army of the Mississippi, then commanded by Gen. Pope, and took part in the capture of New Madrid and Island No. 10.  From that time until Gen. Pope was assigned to the command of the Potomac, Maj. Noyes was on that general's staff, and when the colonel and lieutenant-colonel of the Thirty-ninth, as named above, resigned, Maj. Noyes was commissioned colonel, and took command of his regiment in October, 1862.  In 1864 his regiment was one of those composing the First division of the Seventeenth army corps, and on July 4, of that year, took part in the assault on Ruff's Mill, in which he was shot in the leg, which had to be amputated in the field of battle.  The operation not proving successful, the colonel was taken to Cincinnati, and operated on by Dr. W. H. Mussey, and in the following October he reported for duty to Gen. Hooker, who assigned him to the command of Camp Dennison.  Upon the recommendation of Gen. Sherman he was promoted to the full rank of brigadier.
     He was soon afterward elected city solicitor of Cincinnati, and in 1871 was elected governor of Ohio by a majority of 20, 000, while at the election of 1873, when he was again a candidate, he was defeated by an adverse majority of 800.  In the presidential campaign of 1876 he was an active participant, and was later appointed by his old friend, President Hayes, minister to France.  He remained in Paris four years, in the meantime, however, making an extensive tour through the countries along the Mediterranean sea for the purpose of investigating the condition of the laboring classes, making an able report to the government.  He resigned in 1881 and resumed his law practice in Cincinnati.  He was very enthusiastic and cheerful in his disposition, and kindly in his manner.  In February, 1863, on a leave of absence, he married Miss Margaret W. Proctor, at Kingston, N. H., with whom he became acquainted while in the academy in his youthful days.  He died September 4, 1890, nearly fifty-eight years of age.

William Allen, twenty-fifth governor of Ohio elected by the people, was born in Edenton, Chowan county, N. C., in 1807.  His parents both died within a few months of each other before he was one year old, and he was cared for by an only sister, who soon afterward removed with her husband to Lynchburg, Va., taking young William with her.  This sister was the wife of an itinerant Methodist minister and the mother of Hon. Allen G. Thurman.  She was a very superior woman, and was well fitted for the task of rearing two of Ohio's distinguished statesmen, whose names are given above.  About 1821 Mrs. Thurman, with her husband and family, removed to Chillicothe, Ohio, leaving her brother to attend an academy at Lynchburg, Va., but he rejoined her two years later, and attended the academy in Chillicothe, and later read law in the office of Edward King, the most gifted son of Rufus King, of Revolutionary fame, and a popular statesman for many years.  Having been admitted to the bar in his twentieth year, he became a partner of his preceptor, and early in his career manifested that forensic ability to which he was mainly indebted for his success.  This, together with his tall, commanding figure and powerful, penetrating voice, attracted people to him, the latter giving him the name of the "Ohio Gong," and all together secured his nomination to congress, he being elected by the democrats in 1832, in a Whig district, by a majority of one vote.  While he was the youngest man in the Twenty-third congress, yet he was recognized as a leading orator, taking part in the most important discussions in that body.
     In January, 1837, on what was called "Saint Jackson's Day," at a supper given in Columbus, Ohio, he made a speech which unexpectedly led to his election to the United States senate, to succeed Hon. Thomas Ewing.  He remained in the senate twelve years, or until 1849, during which time he was at the full measure of his powers.
     In 1845 Senator Allen married Mrs. Effie (McArthur) Coons, a daughter of ex-Gov. McArthur, who had been, in 1830, elected governor of Ohio.  She inherited from her father the old homestead, "Fruit Hill" farm, upon which Gov. Allen resided with his only daughter, Mrs. Scott, his wife having died in Washington soon after the birth of her daughter.  In August, 1873, Mr. Allen was elected governor of Ohio, being the only man on the democratic ticket not defeated.  As governor he recommended the reduction of taxation and economy in state affairs.  He was the first democratic governor of Ohio after the war, and though his administration gave general satisfaction, he was defeated with the rest of the democratic ticket in 1875.  It has been said of him that he originated the political catch-word, "Fifty-four forty, or fight," in reference to the boundary question between the United States and the British dominions, from which position the democratic party so ignominiously backed down.  Gov. Allen died at Fruit Hill farm in 1879.  He was a man of high character, cordial manners, and above all political chicanery of every kind, and his name will long be an honored one in American history.

Thomas L. Young, ex-officio governor of Ohio, succeeding to the office by the election of Gov. R. B. Hayes to the presidency of the United States, taking possession of the office in Feb., 1877, was born Dec. 14, 1832, on the estate of Lord Dufferin in the north of Ireland.  Of Lord Dufferin it may perhaps be permissible, parenthetically, to remark that as governor-general of Canada, in 1874, he made a remarkable report on the loyalty of the people of Canada to the British government, which appeared to him so "wholesome and satisfactory." This estate of Lord Dufferin was in Down county, Ireland.  When Mr. Young was twelve years old his parents brought him to this country, and he was educated in the common schools of New York city.  When he was sixteen years old he enlisted in the regular army, serving in all ten years.  AT the expiration of his enlistment he visited the home of his parents, in the northern part of Pennsylvania, on one of the upper tributaries of the Susquehanna river, where he engaged in the business of country merchant until 1859, when he removed to Cincinnati, and took charge of the house of refuge, a youths' reformatory institution, which position he retained until the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion.  Having, while in the regular army, spent several years among the people of the south, he knew that they had determined upon war, and in March, 1861, he wrote to Gen. Scott, whom he personally knew, offering to assist in organizing volunteers for the defense of the government.  Gen. Scott thanked him for his loyalty, but expressed his incredulity as to the southern people entertaining any such purpose.
     In August, 1861, Mr. Young was commissioned a captain in Gen. Fremont's bodyguard, serving in that capacity until the following January, when that organization was disbanded by Gen. Halleck.  For some months afterward Capt. Young was engaged in editing a democratic paper in Sidney, Ohio, in which he severely condemned the indecision manifested in the conduct of the war.  In August, 1862, he was appointed to raise the company for the One Hundred and Eighteenth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, and became the first major of the regiment.  In February, 1863, he was promoted to lientenant-colonel, and commanded his regiment in the Tennessee campaign.  In April, 1864, he was commissioned colonel of his regiment and served as such until the 4th of September following, when he was honorably discharged on account of physical disability resulting from his services and exposures in the field.  At the battle of Resaca, Ga., Col. Young led the first charge on the enemy's works, the severity of the contest being indicated by the fact that he lost 116 men out of 270 engaged.  For this and other acts of bravery the president brevetted him brigadier-general of volunteers, Mar. 13, 1865.
     Upon leaving the service he engaged in the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in Apr. 1865, being in the same month appointed assistant city auditor of Cincinnati.  In October, 1865, he was elected to the Ohio house of representatives for Hamilton county, and in Dec., 1868, was appointed, by President Johnson, supervisor of internal revenue for the southern district of Ohio.  This position he resigned at the end of one year.  For some time afterward he was engaged in the purchase and sale of real estate, and in 1871 was the only republican elected to the state senate from Hamilton county.  In 1873 he formed a law partnership with Gen. H. B. Banning and Jacob McGarry, and in 1875 he was elected lieutenant-governor.  Upon the resignation of Gov. Hayes he became governor, serving the remainder of the term.  In 1878 he was elected to congress by the republicans of the second district, and died July 19, 1888, thoroughly admired for his integrity of character and manliness.

Richard M. Bishop

Ohio Governor, 1878 - 1880
Born Nov. 4, 1812
Died Mar. 2, 1893
Buried at Spring Grove Cemetery
Cincinnati, Hamilton Co., Ohio

The twenty-sixth governor of Ohio, was born November 4, 1812, in Fleming county, Ky.  His parents, who were of German and English lineage, removed from Virginia in 1800.  They were members of the regular Baptist church, of which he also became a member in 1828.
     At this time the Baptist churches in Kentucky were greatly excited in consequence of the criticisms made by Mr. Campbell, and his co-laborers, upon the religious corruption of the age.  This excitement continued to increase in the immediate neighborhood of the Bishop family until 1832 when they and others were excluded from the Baptist church on account of "Campbellite heresy."  Since then Mr. Bishop has been associated with the church of the Disciples or Christians.  Mr. Bishop began his business career in Fleming county, Ky., at the age of seventeen, and before he was twenty-one he became a partner in the store which he had entered as a clerk.  From 1838 to 1841 he was engaged with his brother in the pork business, which proved unfortunate in consequence of the sudden depression in prices, and the failure of the Mississippi banks, in which state they sold largely.  They were compelled to suspend largely.  They were compelled to suspend, but this temporary embarrassment did not discourage him, for he soon resumed business in the same place, where he continued until 1847.  He then removed to Mount Sterling, Kentucky, where he established a branch house, his brother remaining at the old stand.  In 1848 he removed to Cincinnati and commenced the wholesale grocery business under the style of Bishop, Wells & Co.  This firm continued until 1855, when the business was reorganized and conducted under the firm name of R. M. Bishop & Co.  The was composed of himself and three sons, and at one time did the largest business in the city, the sales amounting in some years to nearly $5,000,000.  In April, 1857, he was nominated for council in the Second ward and was elected by a large majority.  At the end of the second year he was elected presiding officer.  In 1859 he was elected by a large majority.  At the end of the second year he was elected presiding officer.  In 1859 he was elected mayor of Cincinnati by a handsome majority, holding the same office until 1861, when he declined the renomination tendered him by each of the political parties.  In January, 1860, when the Union was threatened by the leaders of the Rebellion, the legislatures of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee visited Cincinnati to encourage each other to stand by the old flag.  At a grand reception given them at Pike's opera house, Mayor Bishop delivered an address of welcome amid a storm of applause.  In the September ensuing his Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, visited Cincinnati at the invitation of the mayor and received from him a cordial welcome.  In February, 1861, when President Lincoln was passing on his way to his inauguration through Cincinnati, he was received in a speech by the mayor.  During his administration the laws were rigidly enforced, of which the Sunday ordinance, and those against gambling houses, were notable examples.  Liquor selling and various other forms of Sabbath desecration were in the main suppressed.  He inaugurated, amid much opposition, most important reforms in the management of the city prison, work-house and the police.
     Mr. Bishop has become widely known for his liberality and devotion to the Christian church.  From 1859 to 1867 he was president of the Ohio State Missionary society, and was the successor of the late Dr. Alexander Campbell in the presidency of the general Christian Missionary conference, which office he held until 1875.  He was president of the board of curators of Kentucky university from its organization until 1880, when he declined a reelection; he was also one of the curators of Bethany college; also for many years trustee of the McMicken university.  He was director of the First National bank for many years, and of several other business enterprises, as well as philanthropic institutions.  He was a member of the Ohio state constitutional convention held in 1873 and 1874, and was president of the great national commercial convention held in Baltimore in 1871.  He was one of the prime movers in that great enterprise, the Southern railway, the building of which he so successfully managed, having been a trustee from the beginning, and the laborious work of obtaining charters for the road is largely his.
     In 1877 he was elected governor of Ohio by a majority of nearly 23,000 over the dominant party and served two years with entire satisfaction to all parties.  His first annual message was well received and complimented by the press generally.  Upon his return to Cincinnati he was given a cordial and enthusiastic reception at Lytle hall, where a large number of ladies and gentlemen had assembled to welcome him home.  Since the expiration of his term as governor he has been urged by his friends to accept the nomination for various important offices, but always declined.
     Few men in the state can point to so many substantial benefits conferred upon society as the results of their single labors.  Prompt decision, constant industry, sound judgment, and a desire to benefit his fellow-men, are his chief characteristics.

Charles Foster, twenty-seventh governor of Ohio elected by the people, was born in Seneca county, Ohio, April 12, 1828.  His parents, Charles W. Foster and wife, the latter of whom was a daughter of John Crocker, were from Massachusetts, reaching Seneca county, Ohio, in 1827.
     Charles Foster received only a common-school education, and went to Rome, now Fostoria, Ohio, when he was fourteen years old, where he was compelled to take charge of his father's store, and thus failed to secure a liberal education, which his father intended he should receive, and for which he had prepared himself at the Norwalk seminary.  His success in the management of the store was very marked, and he soon became sole manager.  The town of Fostoria, named from the Foster family, was the result of the consolidation of Rome and Risdon, which lay but a mile or two apart.  In 1870 Mr. Foster was induced to accept the nomination for congress at the hands of the republicans of his district, and he was elected by a majority of 776 over Hon. E. F. Dickinson.  In 1872 he was again elected to congress by a majority of 726 over Rush R. Sloane.  In 1874 he was elected by a majority of 159 over Hon. George E. Seney, and in 1876 he was elected by a majority of 271.  In 1878, the democratic party having secured a majority of the state legislature, in order to defeat Mr. Foster most outrageously gerrymandered his district, and he was defeated by a majority of 1,255.  In 1879 he was elected governor of Ohio over Hon. Thomas Ewing, by a plurality of 17,129, and in 1881 he was again elected, by a plurality of 24,309, over John W. Buchwalter.
     Upon the death of the secretary of the United States treasury, William Windome, Mr. Foster was appointed his successor by President Harrison, February 27, 1891, and served until the close of the Harrison administration, March 4, 1893.  The successful adjustment of the four and one-half per cent. loan was one of the notable events of his first year's administration of the treasury department of the government.  Of the $50,869,200 of the four and one-half per cent. bonds, July 1, 1891, $25,364,500 were presented for continuance at two per cent., the rest being called in for redemption.  No other financial officer of the general government has ever negotiated a public loan at so low rate of interest.  Since retiring from the national treasury, Mr. Foster has been engaged in arranging his own financial affairs, which were thrown into confusion, while he was in public office by those whom he had trusted.

George Hoadly, who was the twenty-eighth governor of Ohio, was born in New Haven, Conn., July 31, 1826.  He is the only son of George and Mary Ann (Woolsey) Hoadly.  Mary Ann Woolsey was a daughter of William Walton and Elizabeth (Dwight) Woolsey of New York, and she was a great-granddaughter of Jonathan Edwards, the famous New England theologian.  She was a niece of President Dwight of Yale college, and the eldest daughter in the family containing among its members President Woolsey of Yale college.  Theodore Winthrop was her nephew and Sarah Woolsey, known in literature as "Susan Coolidge," her niece.  George Hoadly, Sr., was at one time mayor of New Haven, Conn., removed in 1830 to Cleveland, Ohio, and resided there the remainder of his life, serving as mayor of that city five terms, from 1832 to 1837, and again one term, 1846-47.
     George Hoadly the subject of this sketch, received his preliminary education in Cleveland, and when fourteen years old was sent to the Western Reserve college at Hudson, Ohio, where he was graduated in 1844.  He then spent one year in the Harvard law school under the tuition of Judge Story and Prof. Simon Greenleaf, and after studied a year with Charles C. Convers, of Zanesville, Ohio, then removed to Cincinnati and entered the office of Chase & Ball as a student.  He was admitted to practice in 1847 and in 1849 became a member of the firm of Chase, Ball & Hoadly, the senior member of which was Salmon P. Chase.  In 1851 he was elected judge of the supreme court of Cincinnati, and in 1853 formed a co-partnership with Edward Mills.  In 1855-56 he was city solicitor of Cincinnati, and in 1859 succeeded Judge W. Y. Gholson as judge of the new superior court, holding this office until 1866, when he resigned, in order to form the firm of Hoadly, Jackson & Johnson.  He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1873-74, and served as chairman of the committee on municipal corporations.  For eighteen years he was professor in the law school at Cincinnati, trustee of the university, and of the Cincinnati museum.  He was one of the counsel in behalf of the board of education in its famous case of resistance to the attempt to compel Bible reading in the public schools, in which the victory was with the board.
     Originally a democrat, he left that party and became a republican on the question of slavery, but during the campaign of 1876 supported Tilden as against Hayes.  In 1877 he appeared as counsel before the electoral commission and argued in favor of the democratic electors from Florida and Oregon.  In 1880 he was temporary chairman of the democratic national convention which nominated W. S. Hancock for president.  In 1883 he was elected governor of Ohio, and in March, 1887, he removed to New York city, became the head of a law firm there, and has resided there ever since.
     In 1851 he married Mary Burnet Perry, third daughter of Capt. Samuel Perry, one of wife have had three children, viz:  George, Laura and Edward Mills.

Joseph Benson Foraker, ex-governor of Ohio and United States senator, elect, was born near Rainsborough, Highland county, Ohio, July 5, 1846.  His parents, who are still living, represent the agricultural class of the population of this country, and upon their farm he spent his earlier years.
     When the war of the Rebellion broke out young Foraker enlisted in company A, Eighty-ninth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, being then but sixteen years of age.  With this regiment he served until after the fall of Atlanta, at which time, by successive promotions, he had risen to the rank of first lieutenant.  Immediately after the fall of Atlanta, he was detailed for service in the signal corps as a signal officer on the staff of Maj. Gen. Slocum, commanding the left wing of the army of Georgia.  After the marches through Georgia and the Carolinas he was promoted brevet captain of United States volunteers, and assigned to duty as aid-de-camp on the staff of Gen. Slocum, holding this position until he was mustered out of service at the close of the war.
     Returning home and resuming his studies, he graduated from Cornell university, Ithaca, N. Y., in 1869.  To gain time lost while in the service of his country in the army he read law while attending the university, and was admitted to the bar in Cincinnati, October 14, 1869, and he at once began in that city the practice of his profession.  He was married October  4, 1870, to Miss Bulia Bundy, a daughter of Hon. H. S. Bundy, of Wellston, Ohio, and they have five children, two sons and three daughters.
     In April, 1879, he was elected judge of the superior court of Cincinnati, Ohio, and held this position until May 1, 1882, when he resigned on account of ill health.  Recovering his health he resumed the practice of the law in Cincinnati, and the 1883 was nominated for governor of Ohio, but was defeated by his opponent, Judge George Hoadly.  In 1884 he was a delegate to the national convention of the republicans which met in Chicago, and as chairman of the Ohio delegation, placed Hon.   John Sherman in nomination before the convention for the presidency.  In 1885 he was again a candidate for governor of Ohio, and this time was elected, defeating his former opponent, Judge Hoadly, and in 1887 he was re-elected governor of the state.  In 1888 he was re-elected governor of the state.  In 1888 he was again a delegate to the republican national convention and was again chairman of the Ohio delegation, placing Hon. John Sherman again in nomination before the convention for the presidency of the United States.  In 1889 he was again nominated for governor of Ohio, but through the persistent cry of "third termism" he was defeated by James E. Campbell.
     In January, 1892, he was a candidate for United States senator, receiving thirty-eight votes, but was defeated by Senator John Sherman.  This year he was a delegate at large to the National republican convention, which met at Minneapolis, serving in that body as chairman of the committee on resolutions.  The state convention held at Zanesville, May 28, 1895, unanimously endorsed him as the republican candidate for United States senator to succeed Hon. Calvin S. Brice, whose term of office will expire March 4, 1897, and at the November election, 1895, a republican legislature was chosen by a majority of nearly 100,000, which was practically instructed by the people to elect Mr. Foraker to the position named above.  In obedience to these instructions the legislature of the state, on January 14, 1896, elected Mr. Foraker United States senator from Ohio, for six years from March 4, 1897, by a majority in the senate being twenty-three, and in the house of representatives being sixty-two, the entire legislative majority being, as stated, eighty-five.  Mr. Foraker is, therefore, the people's choice for this high position, in which it is confidently predicted he will confer honor on his native state, even as he has had honor conferred upon him.  In his speech accepting the office Mr. Foraker used the following language:
     "I go there (to the United States senate) as a republican.  I belong to that party.  I believe in that party.  I believe in its past; I believe in its present; I believe in its future.  I believe it the most acceptable agency we can command in the administration of national affairs.  I believe it is better calculated than any other political organization to contribute to the strength, power, dignity, happiness and glory of the American people."  After speaking in favor of the American marine interests and of the construction of the Nicaragua canal he then referred to financial questions as follows:  "I believe in bi-metallism.  I believe the world made a mistake when it demonetized silver.  I sincerely hope some safe way may be found for the restoration of silver to its rightful place alongside of gold as a money of ultimate redemption.  I shall favor every measure calculated in my judgment to bring about that result, subject always, however, to the condition that it provides for the maintenance of the parity of the two metals.

James Edwin Campbell, ex-governor of Ohio, was born in Middletown, Ohio, July 7, 1843.  He is a son of Dr. Andrew and Laura P. (Reynolds) Campbell, the former of Scotch and the latter of English descent.  John P. Reynolds, the father of Mrs. Laura P. Campbell, was at one time a publisher of the state of New York, but later a resident of Madison, Ohio.  The Reynolds family dame originally from Devonshire, England.  Jonathan Reynolds emigrated from Plympton Earl, in that country, in 1645, to America, taking up his residence near Plympton, in the colony of Massachusetts bay, and from Jonathan Reynolds Mr. Campbell is of the sixth generation.  By another branch of his family on his mother's side he is a descendant of John Parker, who commanded the American troops at the battle of Lexington, the first battle of the American Revolution.  Both his grandfathers were in the war of 1812.
     Upon reaching his maturity Mr. Campbell began reading law.  In the summer of 1863 he became a master's mate on the gunboats Elk and Naiad, and took apart in several engagements, but on account of ill health he was discharged at the end of one year's services.  During the winter of 1864-65 he was a law student in the office of Doty & Gunckel at Middletown, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in 1865.  Beginning practice in 1867, he was elected prosecuting attorney of Butler county in 1875 and again in 1877.  In 1879 he was defeated for the state senate by twelve votes.  Up to 1872 he was a republican, but then voted for Greeley, and has since acted with the democrats.  He was elected to the Forty-eighth, Forty-ninth and Fiftieth congresses, and in 1889 was elected governor of Ohio.  In 1891 he was again a candidate, but was defeated by Maj. McKinley.  In 1895 he was  again a candidate, but was defeated by Maj. McKinley.  In 1895 he was the third time a candidate, but was defeated by the present incumbent of the office, Hon. Asa S. Bushnell, by a plurality of 92,622 votes. 
     On January 4, 1870, Mr. Campbell was married to Miss Libbie Owens, a daughter of Job E. and Mary A. (Price) Owens, the former of whom was a native of Wales, and the latter of Welsh descent.

Hon. William McKinley,

Jan. 29, 1843, Niles, OH
Sep. 14, 1901, Buffalo, N.Y.

William & Ida McKinley

Hon. William McKinley, who has recently retired from the governorship of Ohio, is one of the most distinguished politicians of the state and nation.  His ancestry lived in western Pennsylvania, his father, William McKinley, who died recently at the age of eighty-five years, having been born on a farm in Pine township, Mercer county, that state - a farm which was recently and may be to-day in the possession of the Rose family, which is related to Mr. McKinley, and of which ex-mayor W. G .Rose of Cleveland, Ohio, is a member.  William McKinley, Sr., was in the iron business all his life, as was also his father before him.
     Gov. William McKinley was born at Niles, Trumbull county, Ohio, January 29, 1843.  He was educated in the common schools, in the academy at Poland, Ohio, and in the fall of 1860 he entered Allegheny college at Meadville, Pa., with the view of taking a full college course; but owning to sickness he was obliged to return home before the winter came on.  During the winter of 1860-61 he taught a district school, and intended to return to Allegheny college, but April, 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon by the rebels, and the spirit of patriotism in young McKinley's heart was so strong that he enlisted in Company E, Twenty-third Ohio volunteer infantry, as a private soldier, and in that company and regiment he marched and fought in the ranks for fourteen months.  His regiment was with Rosecrans and McClellan in Virginia and West Virginia.  His first battle was that of Carnifax Ferry.  After this he joined the army of the Potomac and fought with McClellan.  Subsequently Private McKinley was promoted, first to second Lieutenant September 24, 1862; then to first lieutenant, February 7, 1863, and then to captain, July 25, 1864.  Then he served on the staff of Gen. R. B. Hayes and was afterward detailed to act as assistant adjutant-general on the staff of Gen. George Crook.  He was with Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley, in the battles of Winchester, Cedar Creek, Fisher's Hill, Opequan, Kernstown, Cloyd Mountain and Berryville.  For meritorious conduct he was brevetted major by President Lincoln, and after Gen. Crook's capture, in Maryland, he served on the staff of Major Gen. Hancock, and later on that of Gen. S. S. Carroll, commander of the veteran reserve corps at Washington, D. C.  He was present at the surrender of Gen. Lee, April 9, 1865, was with his regiment all through its campaigns and battles, and was mustered out of service July 26, 1865, having been in the army four years and one month.
     Returning to Ohio Maj. McKinley studied law with Hon. Charles S. Glidden and David Wilson of Mahoning county, and then attended the law school at Albany, N. Y.  In 1867 he was admitted to the bar, and in May of that year located in Canton, Ohio, where he formed a law partnership with Judge Belden, practicing in that relationship for two years.  In 1869 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Stark county, notwithstanding that county was democratic usually by a reliable majority but in 1871 he was defeated for reelection by an adverse majority of forty-five.  In 1876 he ran for congress, and to the surprise of the older politicians was elected, and was then continuously in congress, from his district (notwithstanding several gerrymanders made for the sake of defeating him), for fourteen consecutive years, with the exception of a part of his fourth term, when he was unseated by a democratic majority in congress and his place given to his competitor.  He was a candidate for re-election to congress in 1890, but on account of fictitious alarm awakened by his political enemies as to the effect, and the probable effect, if the "McKinley tariff bill," which went into effect about October 1, 1890, a little more than one month before the election, he was defeated, the majority against him and in favor of his competitor, Lieut. - Gov. Warwick, being 303 votes.  The year before the counties composing this district, which had been most outrageously gerrymandered for the sake of accomplishing his defeat, gave a majority to James E. Campbell for governor of 2,900.  But while this defeat retired him from congress it at the same time made him governor in 1891, when he was elected over his opponent by a plurality of 21,511.  In 1893 he was again elected governor by the phenomenal plurality of 80,995, his opponent this time being the Hon. Lawrence T. Neal.
     In 1884 Maj. McKinley was a delegate at large to the republican national convention which nominated Hon. James G. Blaine.  In 1888 he was again a delegate at large to the republican national convention, and this time was in favor of the Hon. John Sherman for the party's candidate, but the complications then were numerous and difficult of solution, because of Mr. Baline's refusal to be again the nominee.  Many thought the nomination of Maj. McKinley would solve all problems and harmonize all factions, but in spite of all arguments and all persuasions he remained true to his state and to himself by steadfastly refusing to permit his name to be used as a presidential candidate.  Again, in 1892, Maj. McKinley was a delegate at large to the Minneapolis convention which renominated President Harrison, and in this convention, in spite of all remonstrances that he could make, he received within a fraction of as many votes as were given to the idol of the republican party, James G. Blaine, the latter receiving 182 5-6 votes, while McKinley received 182 1-6 votes.  President Harrison was, however, renominated only to be defeated by the present incumbent of the presidential chair, Grover Cleveland.
     In his political campaigns he has manifested brilliant qualities as an orator.  It is probably true that more people have heard him discuss political questions than have ever listened to any other campaign speaker in the United States.  Thousands of people assemble to hear him; he always commands the rapt attention of his hearers, and he frequently elicits at least hearty applause.  One of his most notable addresses was that delivered at the Atlanta Chautauqua in 1888, upon the invitation of the late Henry W. Grady, the subject selected for discussion being protection to American industries.  Although the weather was threatening in the morning, and notwithstanding that the people had to ride on the cars about thirty-five miles out from Atlanta to reach the Chautauqua, yet there were assembled about 4,000 Georgians; and despite the deprecatory manner in which the subject of protection was referred to by the introductory speaker, yet Maj. McKinley completely carried the day with his audience, a fact which indicates that the people of that state are interested in the subject.
     His great tour in the fall of 1894 is probably without a parallel in the history of the United States.  Everywhere thousands greeted him.  For more than eight weeks he averaged seven speeches a day, and it is estimated that during that time 2,000,000 people listened to him.  It is altogether likely that the secret of his power over an audience lies in his sincerity, as he employs no adventitious methods and is not amusing, his simple and single aim being apparently to convince by argument fairly and squarely.
     Gov. McKinley was married January 25, 1871, to Miss Ida Saxton, daughter of James A. Saxton, of Canton, Ohio, who is an accomplished lady, but through illness is compelled to remain at home much of the time.  When health will permit she accompanies her husband on his travels.  They have had born to them two children, both of whom died in infancy.  In religion both Gov. McKinley and his wife are Methodists, as were his father and mother, and he has placed a memorial window to his father in the little Methodist church at Poland, Ohio.  His grandfather, however, was a Presbyterian, and was a member of the Lisbon Presbyterian church from 1822 to 1836 during the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Vallandigham, father of Clement L. Vanlandigham.  Gov. McKinley's father died recently at the age of eighty-five, but his mother is still living, aged eighty-seven years.

Asa S. Bushnell, governor of Ohio at the present time, is, without doubt and without qualification, one of the ablest men in the state.  In many respects his career has been an exceptional one.  His education and training have been those of a practical man of affairs, and to-day, at the age of sixty-two, having been born at Rome, Oneida county, N. Y., in 1834, he is one of the most clear-headed business men in the country.
     At the age of eleven he left his home in the Empire state to begin his career in the Buckeye state, reaching Cincinnati in 1845, where he spent six years in the public schools, paying his own expenses by working out of school hours and in vacation seasons.  At the end of the six yeas spent in Cincinnati he removed, in 1851, to Springfield, Ohio, in which city he has since lived and in which city he has acquired a princely fortune.  His first three years in the "Champion City" were spent as a dry-goods clerk, during which time he became a thoroughly practical book-keeper, and at their expiration he was given a position as book-keeper with the old and well-known water-wheel firm of Leffel, Cook & Blakeney, which was even then doing an extensive business.  This position he retained until 1857, when he formed a partnership with Dr. John Ludlow in the drug business, a partnership which lasted ten years, or until 1867.  The only break in the continuity of his labors here was while he was engaged as captain of company E, One Hundred and Fifty-second Ohio volunteer infantry, in 1864, in the Shenandoah valley.  Here his bravery and his kindly manner won for him the admiration of and made him very popular among his fellow-soldiers of the entire regiment.  While he was in the army he was somewhat slight in build and light in weight, and he was not much given to physical exercise, while at the present time he is unusually active and weighs fully 200 pounds.
     In 1867 Capt. Bushnell purchased an interest in the large manufacturing firm of what is now known as the Warder, Busnell & Glessner Co., of which the late Benjamin F. Warder was then the head, and of which the junior member was j. J. Glessher, now a prominent capitalist of Chicago.  And it is in connection with this concern, which Mr. Bushnell has so long and so successfully managed, that he has made the fortune which he to-day possesses.
     Hon. Asa S. Bushnell has long been closely identified with the republican party in Ohio, though his attempt to become governor of the state was the first he ever made to secure public office.  He became chairman of the republican state executive committee in 1885, and from 1886 to 1890, he served the state as quartermaster-general, having been appointed by Gov. Foraker, who was largely instrumental in securing for him the nomination for governor in 1895, at Zanesville.  In the fall of 1888 he was assaulted in the streets of Springfield by political enemies, and through that assault came near losing his life.  This assault still remains a mystery, and no one has been brought to punishment.  He was chosen as a delegate at large to the republican national convention which met at Minneapolis in 1892, and which nominated President Harrison for re-election, and on November 2, 1895, he was elected governor of Ohio by a plurality of 92,622, over Hon. James E. Campbell, the democratic candidate, this plurality being the largest ever given to a governor with the exception of that given Gov. John Brough, during the progress of the Civil war, when the soldiers at the front voted almost unanimously for Brough as against Vallandigham.  He was inaugurated governor on January 13, 1896.
     In the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic, Gov. Bushnell has long been a prominent participant, being a member of Mitchell post, of Springfield, Ohio.  He is also an ardent Free Mason.  Among other of Gov. Bushnell's benefactions may be mentioned the Ohio Masonic Home, which was in all probability preserved to Springfield by his unsolicited contribution of $10,000, at a time, too, when he was not a Mason.
     Dr. John Ludlow, with whom Bushnell as a young man, found employment, has at that time a pretty daughter named Ellen, and these two young people were eventually married.  Several children blessed the union, three of whom survive, as follows;  Mrs. J. F. McGrew; Mrs. H. C. Dimond, and John Ludlow Bushnell, the latter of whom graduated with honors from Princeton in 1894.  Mrs. Bushnell is an ideal woman in every relation.  While she is a society woman, yet she is not so in the ordinary sense of the phrase, her principal strength lying in her domestic qualities.  Her two daughters are as happily married as is she herself.  Mrs. McGrew is the wife of one of Springfield's most promising young attorneys, and is the mother of two children, Ellen and Fanny; while Mrs. Dimond is the wife of a prominent young physician and also the mother of two children, Asa Bushnell and Douglas Marquand Dimond.
     Brief reference can be made to the inaugural address of Gov. Bushnell.  Among other things he commended was the proposition of home rule or local option in matters pertaining to taxation - which means that counties should provide their own systems of taxation for their necessary expenses; that double taxation should be avoided, and that such taxation as is necessary should be distributed as to lighten the burden of government, and so as to retain and attract capital to the state.  He also favored a purchasing board for state institutions, and the providing of some means by which the state could supply employment to such of its prisoners as are now compelled to remain perpetually idle.  He also favored the limitation by statute of local indebtedness to ten per cent of the tax duplicate, and in closing said: "Time only can tell how much or how little I shall merit your commendation, but it will be my constant aim and purpose to serve you as faithfully and as wisely as there is light given me to show the path of right, and I shall ever remember that I am the servant of the people."