Butler County, Ohio - Chapter 6, 1905 (part 18 of 18)

William H. Todhunter received his early educational discipline in the common schools of his native town and in the Presbyterian Academy at the same place, while in 1863 he matriculated in the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1867, receiving the usual degrees. Thereafter he was for a time employed as an instructor in Warrenton College, Missouri, after which he returned to Ohio and took up the study of law under the preceptorship of the firm of Doty & Gunckel, of Middletown, Ohio. Later he prosecuted his professional studies by attending lectures in the Chicago Law School, being admitted to the bar of Ohio by the supreme court of the state in 1871. He settled in Middletown and initiated the active practice of his profession, which he has steadily and thoughtfully pursued to the present time. Mr. Todhunter has been from his youth a man of studious habits, deeply interested in scientific, moral and social questions and has been an extensive and appreciative general reader, aside from his unceasing devotion to the literature of his profession, keeping in close touch with all the modern phases of public thought. He has given much time to the study of the theory of evolution, biology, plant life, economics, the origin of the books of the Bible, their canonical selection and placing, and influence of the Book upon the world. All this labor and thought have conspired to make him a man of liberal views and safe judgment. Mr. Todhunter is imbued with the true spirit of humanitarianism and has given much time to the elevation of his home city, the cause of education, both through the energies of the church and the civic righteousness of good citizenship. In his professional life he has been plain, earnest and devoted, realizing the supreme majesty of the law, and striving always to uphold it in the interests of justice, humanity and good government. In the early seventies Mr. Todhunter was associated with Capt. D. V. Bonnell in the enterprise of transporting freight by canal from Middletown to Cincinnati, being identified with this undertaking for several years. He was one of the promoters of the Middletown Journal, which was founded in 1858 by the Brock Brothers, later becoming one of its owners ; and was concerned in the initial steps for the establishment of the Daily Journal and the equipment of a large printing establishment, tinder the firm name of W. H. Todhunter & Company. In 1899 ^ie disposed of his interests in this enterprise to its present owner.

In politics, Mr. Todhunter has given an unwavering allegiance to the Republican party from the time of attaining his legal majority, and, while he has been an earnest worker in the promotion of its principles, he has not sought nor desired the honors or emoluments of public office; he has, however, manifested his deep civic pride and interest in public affairs by consenting to serve his city in offices not political in their significance, having been a member of the city board of education for the long period of twelve years, while for fifteen years he has been a member of the board of school examiners. Mr. Todhunter was unanimously chosen as secretary of the industrial commission of his city, which commission had in hand the expenditure of one hundred thousand dollars, voted by the people a few years ago for its promotion of new industries in Middletown. With the same unanimity, he was chosen as president of the commission having in charge the erection of the soldiers and sailors' monument, which unique but striking shaft now stands in Monument Place in Woodside cemetery. To his efforts was mainly due the securing of this beautiful and silent teacher of patriotism for this city. He is an easy and graceful public speaker, drawing upon his wide storehouse of knowledge for illustrations and precept, utilizing a diction classical in its precision, felicity and directness, and is recognized as an easy and facile writer on subjects in his field of thought. He has been for several years a member of the board of health of his home city, and in this connection he rendered no nominal service, but has given the same attention and care to his official duties that he does to all other work. Mr. Todhunter is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of several literary clubs in the city, and has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church since 1858, having held official preferment in the same for the past thirty years. He was one of the members of the building committee which had in charge the erection of the large stone church which was built in his home city in 1891, at a cost of fifty thousand dollars, and was secretary of the committee. His aim, and that of his colleagues, was to secure the ultimate freedom of the church from the burden of debt, and to this end he gave much time, effort and money. This end was finally attained only a few months ago. He has been prominent in all departments of the church work, and for twelve years served as the very efficient superintendent of its Sunday school.

On the 19th of April. 1871, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Todhunter to Miss Jennie C. Wilson, daughter of Thomas Wilson, a representative of one of the old and leading families of Middletown. Mrs. Todhunter graduated in the Rodgers Female College, at Springfield, Ohio. Thomas Wilson was one of Middletown's best men, prominent in business and social circles and leaving a distinct impress upon the life of the community. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Lefferson, was a daughter of Arthur Lefferson, one of the honored pioneers of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Todhunter have two sons and four daughters, concerning whom vve incorporate the following brief word in conclusion of this sketch : Mr. Todhunter s second son, Wirt, was a member of Company B, Seventeenth United States Regulars, and a participant in the Philippine campaign in the island of Luzon, for the term of three years, and was with the first soldiers sent to that new and far-away province, sailing with General Lawton from New York in 1898. on the famous transport "General Grant," on her first trip to the eastern seas, making the passage bv the Suez canal. After a sojourn of three years in Luzon and Mindanao, he returned by way of Japan and San Francisco to the States, having participated in fifteen engagements with the fighting islanders; he is now a sufferer from malaria absorbed while near the equator in the island of Mindanao. Mr. Todhunter's oldest daughter is the wife of Dr. W. M. Kendal, at Dayton. Ohio, his other daughters are at the Middletown home, while the oldest son is working out a career on the Pacific slope.

Prof. Orlando B. Finch

Few school men in the state of Ohio have achieved a more honorable record than the distinguished educator whose name furnishes the caption of this review. For many years identified with the public schools of Butler county, he strove zealously and successfully to raise the standard of the teacher's profession in this part of the state and since 1892 his labors have been

Professor Finch is a native of Butler county and a son of William J. and Abigail (Wilkinson) Finch, both parents of Ohio birth. He was born on a farm about two miles south of Oxford, February 9, i860, and spent his youthful years pretty much after the manner of country lads in general, working in the fields in the summer time and of winter seasons attending the district schools. After finishing the common branches he was prepared for college at the Miami Classical and Scientific Training School for Boys, where he prosecuted his studies from 1877 to 1879, inclusive, the meantime, in September, 1878, taking charge of a school in Oxford township which he taught with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of pupils and patrons, this being his first experience as an educator. Mr. Finch entered the freshmen class of Miami University in 1885 and was graduated from that institution four years later, after which he devoted his attention exclusively to educational work, teaching during the several following years in. schools of Reily, Ross and Fairfield townships. From 1890 to 1892 he was principal of the public schools of Stockholm, this state, and in the summer of the latter year was elected assistant in the preparatory department of Miami University. Shortly after entering upon his duties as assistant teacher Professor Finch was made assistant librarian, which office he filled for a period of six years, resigning in 1899. At the present time the Professor is instructor in mathematics in the academy of the Miami University, a responsible and exacting position. As a teacher he is painstaking and thorough, clear and lucid in his explanations and requires from his students the best mental efforts of which they are capable. His record from the beginning presents a series of advancements in his particular lines of work *, his success has been creditable to himself and an honor to the institution with which he is identified and he easily ranks with its most capable and popular instructors. In addition to his scholastic duties he attends regularly all the meetings of the Oxford school board, of which he has been a member since 1895, serving two years of the interim as president of the body and three years as clerk. His interest in education has led him to suggest many valuable improvements for the schools of the city and to introduce a number of reforms; the standard of efficiency has been raised, the services of professionally qualified teachers secured and it is not too much to claim for him the credit of making the educational system of Oxford equal to that of any other city in the state and far superior to the majority.

Religiously, Professor Finch subscribes to the Methodist creed. He united with the Oxford Methodist church on probation December 30, 1894, was admitted to full membership June 30, 1895, and since the former year has been a member of the official board, and since 1901 treasurer of the congregation. The Professor is deeply interested in secret fraternal and benevolent work and is an active member of several organizations by which these principles are disseminated. He has been identified with Oxford Lodge, No. 187, Knights of Pythias, ever since it was instituted, in June, 1884, and in 1890 was honored by being chosen its representative to the grand lodge of the state. He was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in Oxford Lodge, No. 67, Free and Accepted Masons, in January, 1895, represented the order in the grand lodge during the sessions of 1899 and 1900, and in February of the year 1901 was initiated into Lodge No. 93, Tribe of Ben Hur.

The domestic chapter in the biography of Professor Finch bears date of August 22, 1895, at which time was solemnized his marriage with Miss Mary Darrell, who was bom at Areola, Illinois, on the 20th day of May, 1874. This union has been blessed with three children, namely: Wilbur William, bom September 16, 1876; Charles Elmer, September 23, 1897, and Marian, whose birth occurred on March 8, 1899.

Professor Finch may be properly regarded as a fair type of a class that unobtrusively carries forward the grandest and noblest work which in the aggregate makes the progress of society and the elevation of the human race. In such lives there are no startling incidents, no eccentricities, but rather the steady, placid flow which denote depth of character, strength of will and loftiness of purpose. Such men in their work, their walk, and their conversation and in their ambitions seek the ta lands of life where if there are no dizzy elevations of thought and fancy, there are, as a compensation, no depressions o m fidelity and deceit. The true teacher of the class to which the subject belongs ives in an atmosphere free from the ma aria which breeds intellectual distemper and, pursuing the even tenor of his way mte only upon the developing of character, enlarging his life work, and fitting for orable stations and careers of usefu ness, those for a while confided to his charge, is to society what the fixed stars are to the navigator. To such men as Professor Finch, society, the state and the nation are largely indebted not only for intellectual and material progress, but also for those ideas of order and security which form the chief guarantee of prosperity and enterprise in every laudable field of endeavor.

Joseph Barratt

"Uncle Joe" was born in a very humble home in Bedfordshire, England, February 28, 1815. He was not able to go to school in his boyhood, but learned the alphabet from his boy associates, who named them to him on the signboards over the business houses, and by close attention to such help he learned to read and to write. In the year 1836, with some other acquaintances, he came to America and settled in Rahway, New Jersey, where he found a few relatives. There he lived for nine years, and in 1842 he married Miss Mary Gibby, and in 1845 they, with a little daughter, now Mrs. Henry Scholler, came to Middletown by way of the Ohio river to Cincinnati, thence by canal to Middletown on November 26th. He relates that when he came to Middletown it was a village of fourteen hundred people, and that the next day after his arrival the canal was frozen over, and was closed to navigation until the following April.

He joined the Methodist Episcopal church at Middletown in 1851, and ever since he has been an irreproachable member and held in the highest esteem by his associates and his fellow citizens. He rarely misses the Sunday morning services, and is usually at Sunday school in the afternoon. Mr. Barratt walks about the' city in good weather, selling spices, coffees and teas, and his good friends await his coming for their supplies. He yet hears well and has good eyesight, enjoys calls from his friends and hears his pastor talk with ease, and holds in his memory scores of the old-time hymns.

Oglesby, Gardner Phipps, I. V. Curtis and others in the porkpacking trade, and always attended to and cared for the lard products. He once had considerable property, but is now without means, and he and his son John live together in a small home on Holbrock street.

exemplary Christian life and character, his patience, his industry, his uncomplaining manner and his implicit faith in the verities of the Christian faith make him a marked character.

His wife died some years ago, but not until after they had celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. If "Uncle Joe" lives until February 28, 1905, he will have reached his ninetieth birthday, a very hale, hearty and honored old man. He has seen many changes here since 1845.

Alexander F. Hume

Alexander F. Hume is one of Butler county's most prominent and influential citizens. He is the oldest practicing attorney in the county and is still actively engaged in his profession. In 1859 he was elected judge of the court of common pleas, in which capacity he served for five years, then refusing renomination. He then devoted himself to the practice of law, in which he acquired an extensive and increasing praptice, and finally, in 1875, accepted the position in which he had proved himself so efficient in former years. After acting as judge for twelve and a half years he again declined further candidacy. In 1878 he was the nominee of the Democratic party for judge of the supreme court of Ohio, carried his county by an unprecedented majority and came within three thousand votes of being elected. During the war, and subsequently, he made quite a reputation as a stump speaker, his arguments being forcible and always to the point.

county, New York, April 20, 1831. His parents were John and Elizabeth (Clark) Hume, who were natives of Scotland and New York state, respectively. The father of the former, Robert Hume, came from Scotland with his family, settling upon a farm in Saratoga county, New York. Later he removed to Delaware county, where he passed the remainder of his life, dying at the advanced age of ninety-nine years. He had four sons and two daughters: John, Robert, James and George, who were all farmers ; Margaret, Mrs. James Bunyon, and Elizabeth, Mrs. James Kedzie.

John Hume was a boy of eight years when he arrived in the United States. On reaching maturity he was married in New York, and in 1838 came to Ohio, settling upon a farm, where he died. His wife, after surviving him some five years, also passed away in Clark county.

John Hume was the owner of a wellimproved farm comprising three hundred and fifty acres which he had acquired through his own industrious habits. He was careful, prudent and temperate, and for many years was an elder in the United Pres byterian church. Of his five sons and one daughter who grew to manhood and womanhood. Robert was a farmer and gram dealer in Cayuga county, New York, and a Republican member of the state legislature; Thomas resided in Cayuga county, where he carried on a farm ; William was a wealthy farmer of Henry county, Indiana, where he died a few months ago; Alison W. resides in Henry county and is well-to-do in her own right; the subject is the next in order of birth, and John is a capitalist county, Ohio, and received his higher education in the high school at Springfield, Miami University, and at the college at Danville, Kentucky, from which latter he graduated in 1850. On taking up law he studied in the offices of Judge William A. Rogers and Judge William White, of Springfield. In 1852 he was admitted to the bar and soon afterward came to Hamilton, where he formed a partnership with a young man, one of his fellow students, who died when a few years had elapsed. Since that time Judge Hume has continued practice alone, and has met with enviable success in his chosen profession. Judge Hume possesses much valuable real estate, was one of the organizers of the Hamilton Gas Company and was the first president of the Second National Bank.

Edwin J. Baldwin

Edwin J. Baldwin, generally known as Lucky' Baldwin, was born in Reily township, Butler county, Ohio, in the year 1828. His grandfather Baldwin was a pioneer of Butler county, having emigrated from Virginia to Ohio early in 1800. He carried the mails between Cincinnati and Hamilton when the two cities were mere settlements in comparison to their present size. The Baldwins were among the first settlers of Reily township, and established their homestead near the present site of Bunkerhill,' on the farm now owned and occupied by William Cochran, and on this farm the parents of E. J. Baldwin lie buried in a private graveyard. At the time the Baldwins located there the county north of Hamilton and west of the Miami river was principally under the control of the Indians. The house in which E. J. Baldwin was born was erected in 1806. It was framed in Virginia and was brought to Ohio by his grandfather. Here E. J. Baldwin spent a portion of his childhood days ; but in his early youth he removed with his parents to Ross township and resided on a farm near Millville. Later he went to Dayton, Ohio, where he engaged successfully in the mercantile business, and which he left in 1849 to seekfortune in the golden West. He was captain of the emigrant train in the journey over the plains to California and participated in several encounters with the Indians, in which affrays he took command and exhibited the same intrepid spirit of daring that has since characterized his personal and financial operations. During his first year's residence there mercantile pursuits for the most part occupied his attention. He wa$ fairly successful, but the greater part of his vast fortune came to him after the opening of the Comstock lode in Nevada in the early 'sixties. He began operating in stocks in a small way an,d his successes were so marvelous that he abandoned everything else to speculate in the fluctuating shares of the Comstock mines, and when finally the operations ceased, Baldwin retired the possessor of over thirteen millions of dollars in profits. This success won for him the sobriquet of "Lucky" Baldwin, which has clung to him with such persistency that not one in ten now knows him by any other name.

Francisco real estate. He is the owner of some of the choicest property in Market street. The site of the Baldwin hotel and theater belongs to him. Among Mr. Baldwin's other possessions is the famous Santa Anita ranch, near Los Angeles, comprising thirty thousand acres of the choicest land in southern California. On this princely estate "Lucky" Baldwin has raised some of the greatest running horses known to the turf. Four times his colts have won the great American Derby, the first time with Volante in 1885, with Silver Cloud in 1886, then with Emperor of Norfolk in 1888, and the last time, which was in 1894, with Rey El Santa Anita. For a time he withdrew from the turf but in recent years his Maltese Cross has often glimmered in the lead past the wire. Associated with him in the horse business in Budd Doble, the trotting horse driver of olden days.

"Lucky" Baldwin has been married four times. He has two daughters, both of them married, and a host of nephews and nieces and other near relatives in whose comfort and welfare he always manifests the greatest concern.

"Lucky" Baldwin has never forgotten his old home in Butler county and to it during recent years he has made frequent visits. There is somewhat of sentiment in "Lucky" Baldwin, so much of it that upon his last visit to Butler county he arranged to have the old house in which he was born moved to his Santa Anita ranch in California. During the past year his wishes have been carried out and every movable part of the old house has been transported to his far western ranch, where it has been set up in its original form and where, it is hoped, he may have his wish to die in the house in which he was born.

Walter Laurence Tobey By Stephen D. Cone

The subject was born on November 27, 1870, in Upshur, Preble county, Ohio. He received the rudiments of an education in the schools of Winchester, Ohio, and in 1886, at the age of fifteen years, he was matriculated at Miami University, graduating from that famous institution among the first in his class and with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1891. During his college career he took a leading part in the various forms of college life, was a member of the Miami Union Literary Society and of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and soon after his entrance into the university, with two or three others he established the Miami Journal, which afterward became the Miami Student, and of which publication Mr. Tobey was editor and general manager for three years. The publication was conducted with sound judgment and enterprise. The managing editor had 'clear and correct views of the aims and nature of a college magazine and carried them out successfully. The publication gave a lively and faithful picture of college life at Miami and the invaluable contributions it contained from alumni from time to time enduringly preserved many interesting facts connected with the earlier days and history of the university which would otherwise have been irretrievably lost.

Mr. Tobey began work on a catalogue of the alumni of Miami University before he was graduated. In 1891 the board of trustees decided to publish a triennial catalogue and Mr. Tobey was one of a committee appointed to prepare it. The catalogue, as published, was full and accurate. It was the work of Walter L. Tobey.

fession in life and entered upon the field of his choice immediately. His natural talents and ability, reinforced by his thorough training at Miami University, enabled him to rise rapidly in his profession. His first employment was on the Dayton (Ohio) Evening Herald and soon after he became editor of the Dayton Sunday Herald. A year after his graduation he was elected editor of the Hamilton Daily Republican, a stanch Republican paper launched in a stronghold of Democracy. It was a daily and weekly publication and owed its origin and inception to the unanimous adoption of the following resolution by the Republicans of Butler county in mass convention assembled, April 13, 1892:

We recognize the right of the 4,500 Republican voters of Butler county to be represented by a Republican organ to be published in the county seat and we deny the right of any private interest to stand in the way of their just demand. We pledge ourselves and the Republican voters of Butler county to the support of such an organ to be established in this city, which shall be devoted not to the political fortunes of any individual, but to the advocacy of Republican principles and the promotion of Republican success.

At this time and for several years previous the Republican vote in Butler county had been extremely nominal and at a standstill. The party had no representative organ in the city of Hamilton and no active advocate of its principles, men and measures in the county.

The first issue of the Republican appeared July 19, 1892. Its influence under the editorship of Mr. Tobey began to be felt from the first. Eighteen months later he was made general manager, in addition to editor-in-chief, and under his control and broad, vigorous and sagacious policy the Republican party in Butler county was rapidly placed upon a footing and accomplished results unknown to its previous record in the county. On March 21, 1898, the Republican Publishing Company bought out the News and Telegraph Publishing Company, then issuing the Hamilton Daily News and Hamilton Telegraph, and consolidated the two daily papers under the name of the Daily Republican-News, with Walter L. Tobey as editor and general manager. The weekly edition was and has been continued under the name of the Hamilton Telegraph. In the conduct of these publications Mr. Tobey has made them among the best recognized newspapers in Ohio and has placed them in the front rank. As a journalist he has firmly established himself in the profession as a clear, lucid and forcible writer, keen and alert as to the progress of events, a Republican in practice and principle, an advocate of economy and right and progressive development in city, county, state and national affairs and an uncompromising denunciator of whatever tends to defeat the will of the people or place unwarranted and undeserved burdens upon them.

The founding of the Hamilton Daily Republican was actively accomplished through an organization of private individuals who capitalized the paper and who constitute the Republican Publishing Company. It was decided at the outset to operate a job printing plant in connection with the paper and immediately after the merger and absorption of the News and Telegraph Publishing Company the business of the company in this direction began to rapidly expand and to increase in volume. It grew to such proportions under the energetic management of Mr. Tobey, who, upon April 1, 1898, was placed in sole control, that its business far outran its capacity. Accord- ingly, in 1903, the company erected an addition to its main building at Third and Market streets, Hamilton, Ohio, of the same height, four stories (exclusive of basement), and one hundred and twenty by fifty-five feet in dimensions. The building was constructed upon solid concrete foundations, largely under the personal supervision of Mr. Tobey and in a large measure according to suggestions by him, was made fireproof in every particular, and equipped with the best printing presses and material in the market and calculated in every particular to answer the purposes for which it was designed. The plant now has a floor space of fifty-five thousand square feet and turned out over one hundred and seventyfive thousand dollars' worth of work in 1904. The company employs its own artists, engravers, designers, binders, etc., and its product is not excelled and is equaled by few of the publishing houses in the same line of work in this country. A specialty is made of high grade catalogue work, illustrating and printing machinery catalogues, and high grade advertising pamphlets and circulars. The wonderful development and success of the enterprise is due in the largest measure to the untiring energy, push and business acumen and ability of Walter L. Tobey and from its modest beginning the plant with its largely increased facilities is now taxed to its utmost capacity.

In November, 1904, in connection with four others, Mr. Tobey purchased the Dayton Journal, of Dayton, Ohio. He was elected secretary and treasurer of the company and upon him fell the responsibility of thoroughly reorganizing the business, and of building anew the plant from a physical standpoint. Within two months the old equipment had been entirely supplanted with the latest and most modern presses and typesetting machines, and no paper in a city of one hundred thousand has an equipment superior to that of the Dayton Journal. In that time there has been installed capable men and the paper is today the leading morning Republican paper in the Miami valley.

Socially Mr. Tobey is a member of Washington Lodge, No. 17, Free and Accepted Masons, Hamilton Chapter, No. 21, Royal Arch Masons, Hamilton Council, No. 19. Royal and Select Masters, and Hamilton Commandery, No. 41, Knights Templar, Hamilton Lodge, No. 93, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and Lone Star Lodge, No. 39, Knights of Pythias. He was appointed trustee of Miami University by Governor McKinley in December, 1895; and in 1901 he was reappointed by Governor Nash. In June, 1903, he was elected vicepresident of the board of trustees, which position he still occupies. He was a member of the board of directors of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity for three years, 1893-96. Mr. Tobey is kind and benevolent in disposition and his presence and social ways are a great pleasure to his many friends.

Major John W. Rue

Major John W. Rue is a native of the old Blue Grass state, having been born in Harrodsburg, Mercer county, Kentucky, June 18, 1828, and is descended from New

Jersey parentage. He was educated in the common schools of his neighborhood, and for the greater part of his life followed farming, though during his latter years he engaged as a contractor and builder and in the insurance business. The Major's military' career was a most creditable one. In 1846 he enlisted in the Second Kentucky Infantry, with which command he served for one year, and during the war of the Rebellion he took an active part. He rose to the rank of major in the Ninth Kentucky Cavalry and acquired considerable note as the captor of the famous rebel cavalry leader, General Morgan. The Major became a member of Wetzel-Compton Post, No. 96, Grand Army of the Republic. His first wife was Miss Elizabeth Brower, whom he married in 1853, but who died one year later. His second wife was Miss Amanda Kline, of Butler county, Ohio, whom he married in 1855, an<3 to them were born four children, Isaac, Cornelia, Mary and George.

Benjamin W. Baker

One of the ablest memb6rs of the bar of Butler county and a leading citizen of Hamilton is he whose name heads this sketch. He is a native of this county, having been born near Somerville, Milford township, January 2, 1859. He was reared amid the environments of rural life and received the rudiments of an education in the schools of his township. At the age of fourteen years he entered a classical institution at Oxford, Ohio, taught by Robert Bishop and Professor Lowes and having completed his course of study there he entered the sophomore class at Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, in 1877. Subsequently he became a student in Wooster University, at Wooster, Ohio, entering the junior class upon examination and graduating from this institution in 1879. In the fall of the same year he carried out a longtreasured purpose and began the study of law in Hamilton under the preceptorship of Hon. Israel Williams and one year later entered the Cincinnati Law School. In 1881 he was admitted to the Butler county bar and has practiced continuously in Hamilton ever since. He has also been admitted to practice in the state and federal courts and has acquired a high reputation as a lawyer. During President Harrison's administration Mr. Baker was appointed United States commissioner for the southern district of Ohio and performed the duties of this office to the eminent satisfaction of both government and people. As a lawyer Mr. Baker evinces a familiarity with legal principles and a ready perception of facts, together with the ability to apply the one to the other, which has won him the reputation of a sound and safe practitioner. By a straight-forward, honorable course he has built up a large and lucrative legal business and in all the important litigations with which he has been connected no one has ever charged him with anything calculated to bring discredit upon himself or caused a reflection upon his character.

On July 3, 1884, Mr. Baker was united in marriage to Miss Jennie L. Mee, to which union has been bom three children, namely : John Calvin, aged nineteen years; Isaac Christian, aged sixteen years, and Benjamin W., an infant. Fraternally Mr. Baker is a member of the time-honored order of Free and Accepted Masons, belonging to the local lodge at Camden, this state, and in his dailv life has exemplified the beneficent principles of this order.

Frederick Schneider

Frederick Schneider was born in the city of Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, on the 20th day of March, 1850. His father was William Schneider and his mother Margaret Dingfelder Schneider. His father died during the cholera epidemic in Cincinnati in 1849.

Frederick Schneider received a good common-school education, and when he was twelve years of age and had just entered the high school, he went to Cincinnati and worked for seven months in Greenwood's foundry, where his brother-in-law, C. M. Laue, was a foreman. In April, 1863, he entered the printing office of the Hamilton (weekly) Telegraph, owned by Fred Egry, and learned the printing trade, at which he has worked as journeyman and foreman, having held the latter position from his eighteenth year on up. In 1889 he, with Charles Zwick and Albert Dix, purchased from C. M. Campbell the Hamilton Daily News and the Hamilton Telegraph. He sold his interest in this business a few years later. He was married to Miss Anna Christena Sippel, May 9, 1871. She bore him four children, Bertha Wilhelmina Jeannette, born October 25, 1872; Frederick Leroy, born October 10, 1875, who is married and resides in Dayton, Ohio; Edgar Bertram, born July 4, 1877, and Carl Aquila, born October 2, t88i. His wife died October 20.

1884, aged thirty-five years and six months, she having been born February 27, 1849. Her disease was a long and lingering oneconsumption. Mr. Schneider was married again on December 10, 1885, to Miss Louisa Wilhelmina Holle, daughter of Mr. William Holle and Sophia, his wife (now deceased), at Mt. Healthy, Hamilton county, Ohio. She bore him four children, Bertha Louise, who died on the anniversary of her birth, October 6, 1877; Mabel Louisa, bom March 4, 1890, and died June 5, 1890; Ruth Marguerite, born November 3, 1891, and Holle Herbert, born December 10, 1895. Mr. Schneider joined the German Methodist Episcopal church at the age of eleven years and he has held every office in the gift of the church. He was elected superintendent of the Sunday school at the age of nineteen and has held that office, off and on, for perhaps a quarter of a century. About the same time he was licensed an exhorter, and a few years later licensed to be a local preacher. In the latter capacity he served the church, in the city of his birth as well as in Richmond, Indiana, and at Mt. Healthy, Ohio, when the two places at different times were connected with the Hamilton charge. In 1884? after the death of his first wife, he received an urgent invitation from a number of very prominent German citizens of Connersville, Indiana, to take charge of the only German Protestant church in that city, but which, after prayer ful consideration, he felt it his duty to de cline. Shortly after his appointment as a local preacher he was examined by his presiding elder, Rev. Jacob Rothweiler, w o intended sending him out to work in t e conference. This also he was compelled to decline, owing to the reluctance of Mrs.

Schneider to accept the work of an itinerant's wife. He has used the talents given him for the furthering of the interests of his Master's kingdom as far as he was able in his home circle and wherever else he has been asked and privileged to speak for his God's glory. His license as a local preacher has been renewed annually since his first appointment, and almost every time it has been done by a unanimous vote of his brethren who are members of the quarterly conference, which, as one presiding elder put it. was an almost unusual occurrence in other places where he presided.

William C. Miller

William C. Miller was bom in the Schwartzwald (Black Forest) district, in the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, July 31, 1847. H is father, John Martin Miller, and grandfather, John George Miller, and ancestors for generations before were millwrights. His paternal grandfather, however, was for seven years sheriff of his district and a member of the town council for twenty years. He was a soldier in Napoleon's grand army in 1812 and saw Moscow in flames, and was one of the few survivors of that terrible campaign. The boys of that district for forty years after, of which the subject of this sketch was one, were taught that when a veteran of the Napoleonic wars passed by they must cease their play, stand erect with hats off until the veteran passed by. Dr. Miller's maternal grandfather was an ally of Napoleon's in his early wars and when the dukedom of Wurtemberg was made a kingdom by Napoleon

Christian Kempf was made one of the counsellors of state for life. He was a man of influence and standing in his community, and an adviser and promulgator of all *public affairs, and of inflexible rectitude. Besides his state position, he served his town as magistrate and burgomeister (mayor) for a number of years. He died in 1836. In 1837 Dr. Miller's father entered the army and became first lieutenant in the First Wurtemberg Cavalry, and was honorably discharged May 9, 1843. He had, on the 24th of June, 1836, received his degree in the Technical School at Tubingen as fellow craftsman in the art of millwright and on the 1 6th of June, 1844, received his diploma as master mechanic at the same university. He married, July 9, 1844, Fredericka, youngest daughter of Hon. Christian and Maria Dingier Kempf. In 1848 he took an active part in the South German revolution, and when it was crushed left his native land for the asylum of all oppressed, the United States of America, with his wife and two children, arriving in New York November 1st, and at Hamilton, Ohio, November 4, 1854, after a fifty-days voyage on the Atlantic. He continued at his trade as millwright until his death, August 18, 1872. Dr. Miller, upon his arrival in Hamilton at seven years of age, at once entered the public schools, and for his education in German attended the then parochial school of St. John's church, held during the summer months and presided over successively by Revs. Gerwig, Goehring and Ileinisch. In May, 1864, he entered the drug store of Peter Jacobs as an apprentice at seventv-five cents a week. He continued in his employ until January, 1870, when Dr. Markt called him at a salary quite in ex- cess of what he was then getting. He served him until July 31, 1871, when he entered business for himself with William B. Falconer, under the firm name of Falconer & Miller. In September, 1874, he sold out to Mr. Falconer, determined on the study of medicine. He matriculated at the Miami Medical College October 1. 1874. and graduated therefrom March 2/, 1877* His vacations were spent in the meantime in the drug store of A. T. Wittich, Dayton, Ohio, and after graduating he was taken in as partner by William Weusthoff in the same store under the firm name of Weusthoff & Miller. His desire to return home to his widowed mother caused him to sell out in Dayton and on the 29th of March, 1879. he purchased the drug store of Barton S. James, recently elected clerk of the court. In January. 1867, he became a member of the United Presbyterian church, the church with which he had been identified since a child of ten years, and this was accomplished linger that most divine and upright man, the pastor of the congregation. Dr. Wm. Davidson, and his Sabbath school teacher, Mrs. David Crawford. In February, 1874, he became a member of the Masonic order, and for five years, from 1893 to 1899. was its treasurer. In 1895 he was chosen deacon of the United Presbyterian church, but resigned the charge in 1898. In 1892 he was elected a member of the tnistees of Lane Free Library, and chosen forty- four years of age, Mrs. Erin Corwin Miller was called to eternal rest. She was a woman of the highest culture and refinement; a teacher in the public schools for twelve years, honored and respected by all ; of a gentle disposition; poetically inclined; a lover of her home, her church and her family above all. September 2, 1896, Dr. Miller married Mary Symmes Hunter, youngest daughter of William N. and Esther Symmes Hunter. Mrs. Hunter was a niece of President William H. Harrison, daughter of Judge Symmes, a nephew of John Cleves Symmes, purchaser of the Miami valley in 1788, and closely connected with Benjamin Harrison, late President of the United States. This last union has been a most happy one - as happy as the one before it - to Dr. Miller. At this writing. December, 1904, he is still at his business. He is a man historically and politically inclined; has written many articles for the press on these topics, and is deeply interested in these subjects as well as medicine and religion His recent paper read before the Butler County Medical Society on the "Trials and Triumphs of Medicine," was a masterpiece, and his recent deductions as to "Who Crucified Christ?" and "The Republics of the World." have never been excelled.

Albert Shaw

September 9, 1880, Dr. Miller married Erin A. Corwin, daughter of Hon. Jesse and Jane H. Corwin. Three children were born of this union, William Corwin, Jesse Blaine and Warren Martin. At just

Albert Shaw was born in Shandon, rgan township, Butler county, Ohio. July 1857. He is a son of Griffin and Susan nv. He was graduated from Iowa Cole in 1879. He was part owner of the innell Herald while taking a post-gradu- ate course in constitutional history and economic science; took a course in history and political science at Johns Hopkins College, gaining the degree of Ph. D. in 1884. He was married in 1893 to Elizabeth Bacon, of Reading, Pennsylvania. He was an editorial writer on the Minneapolis Tribune from 1883 to 1888, and 1889 and 1890; studied in Europe. 1888-89. He established the American Review of Reviews in 1891, and has ever since conducted it, as editor and publisher. He is a member of many learned societies and has lectured in many universities and colleges. He is a member of the Aldine, Ardsley County, Authors, Barnard, Century, City, Congregational, Minnesota (president), National Arts, New York Alumni Association Johns Hopkins University, Nineteenth Century, Ohio and the Quill Clubs. Author of "Icaria - A Chapter in the History of Communism," 1884; "Local Government in Illinois," 1883; "Cooperation in the Northwest," 1883; "Municipal Government in Great Britain," 1895; "Municipal Government in Continental Europe," 1885; Editor of National Revenues, 1888; also many articles on political science and economics, and particularly on municipal governments, in magazines, etc. His home is at Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, and his office at 13 Astor Place, New York City.

James Edwin Campbell

James Edwin Campbell was born at Middletown, Ohio, July 7, 1843. He is the son of Dr. Andrew Campbell and Laura P. Reynolds, daughter of John P. Reynolds, once a publisher in New York state and afterwards a leading titizen of Middletown. Mr. Campbeirs father was of Scotch extraction and his mother of English. The family of Mr. Reynolds was originally settled in Devonshire, Jonathan Reynolds emigrating from Plympton Earl, in that country, in 1645, and on his arrival in America taking up his dwelling near Plympton colony, now a part of Massachusetts. Mr. Campbell is sixth in descent from Jonathan Reynolds. By another branch of his maternal family he is descended from John Parker, who commanded the American troops at the heroic struggle at Lexington, which began the Revolutionary war. His paternal great-grandfather, Andrew Small, at the age of eighteen, went with Montgomery bn the fatal expedition to Quebec, suffering untold miseries on his return through Canada. Both of his grandfathers were soldiers in the war of 1812.

James E. Campbell was educated in the free schools of his native town, and in later years he received instruction from the Rev. John B. Morton, an early and successful teacher, who was for many years the pastor of the Presbyterian church. When approaching maturity he began the reading of law, and taught school. In the summer of 1863 he became a master's mate on the gunboats "Elk" and "Naiad," serving on the Mississippi and Red river flotillas, and taking part in several engagements. The unhealthiness of the climate seriously affected him, and after a year, being surveyed by a lx)ard of surgeons, he was discharged, returning home a mere skeleton. As soon as he had sufficiently recovered his health he resumed the study of law, being, admitted to the bar in 1865. In the spring of 1867 he began the practice of his profession in Ham- ilton. During* the 'interval he was bookkeeper of the First National Bank of Middletown, and was also a deputy collector in the internal revenue service of the third district, under General Ferdinand Van Derveer, collector. He was elected prosecuting attorney of Butler county in 1875 and 1877, holding that position for four years, and filling the duties most acceptably. From 1867 to 1869 he was United States commissioner. In 1879 he made a very close race for the Ohio state senate, being defeated by only twelve votes. During the war he was a Republican and so continued until the Greeley campaign, when, in common with thousands of others, he cast off the party yoke and voted for Greeley and Brown. Since that time he has been an unswerving Democrat. Mr. Campbell is a Knight Templar, a member of the Knights of Pythias, Elks, and the Grand Army of the Republic. He married Miss Libbie Owens, daughter of Job E. Owens and Mary A. Price, on the 4th of January, 1870. Her father was a native of Wales, and her mother of Welsh descent. They have four children. Mr. Campbell is a remarkably hard worker. He attends the Presbyterian church. Socially, no man stands higher. He is courteous in manner, thorough in his acquisition of detail and of the highest integrity of character. As a lawyer he has few superiors at his age, possessing great skill in ascertaining the true points of a case. He is a good, clear, logical speaker, and well informed on all questions. At the Democratic convention, held at Lebanon, August 16, 1882, he was nominated unanimously for the position of congressman, and elected in October. He was subsequently elected to congress in 1884 and 1886, the last time receiving a plurality of two votes in a total of more than thirty-two thousand. The district was heavily Republican. In congress he was noted for sincere friendship to the soldiers, consistent action as a real tariff reformer and was industrious and painstaking in the discharge of his duties.

In 1889 he was elected governor of Ohio by a plurality of nearly eleven thousand votes over Joseph B. Foraker. He discharged the functions of that office with great ability and credit. In 1891 he was renominated for that office, but was defeated by Hon. William McKinley. Again, in 1895 he was nominated for governor and was defeated by Hon. Asa Bushnell. Since retiring from active political life he has been residing in New York city, where he is interested in several commercial enterprises. He retains his legal residence in Hamilton.

Ira S. Million

Among the pioneer business men and early-established families in Butler coun y none stand higher in the estimation o e people than the Millikins. Almost from the birth of the state this family has been prominent factor in the business, professional and social affairs of Hamilton, name of Millikin in Butler county stands for a high class of citizenship and, among the males, almost invariably for a professional career. The first of the atnl J ;1 take up a residence on Butler cou" J was Dr. Dan Millikin, who was t physician in Hamilton, and his Samuel, who was also the first to e a regular drug store in the embry

Hon. James E. Campbell

These brothers left their parental home in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and arrived in Hamilton on the 7th of May, 1807. Six years later, or in the spring of 1813, they were joined here by their younger brother, Robert B. Millikin, who was the paternal grandfather of Ira S., of this review, who was also a physician, and had a drug store on Main street a few doors west of the old bridge. These were sons of James and Dolly (McFarland) Millikin, the former the founder of the family in America, and who came from County Antrim, Ireland, in 1771. He was born on the 5th of January, 1752, and married Miss McFarland, a native of Massachusetts, on the first of March, 1778. They located in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and as far as is known, ended their lives there. They reared a family of nine children, as follows: Daniel, James, John H., Samuel; William Robert B., Andrew, Abel and Mary. At the time his brothers Daniel and Samuel left for the West Robert B. was a lad of fourteen years, hence he remained under the parental roof for six years following their departure, and joined them here in 1813. He took up his home in the family of Dr. Dan and remained there hntil his marriage, on the 6th of December, 1816, when he wedded Miss Sarah Gray, a representative of a numerous relationship of early pioneers.

Robert B. Millikin took up the study of medicine under the tutorship of his elder brother and in 1817 was licensed to practice that profession. He thus became one of the very early pioneer doctors, whose only conveyance was a saddle horse and the limit of whose circuit was only bounded himself closely to his profession for many years, and his genial, cheery presence is still remembered by some of the older residents of the county. Dr. R. B. Millikin was successful in his profession, both in the relief of distress and in the accumulation of property. But as he approached the age of middle life he relaxed his professional efforts somewhat, though he continued to practice medicine as long as he lived. Being a man of great intelligence and resourceful mind, he readily adapted himself to other lines of human effort, and held many positions of honored trust. He was for years a brigadier general of the Ohio militia. He served for a time as county treasurer and was a member of the board of trustees of Miami University for many years. He was also one of the commissioners for the selection of canal land belonging to the state, and was a member of the Ohio legislature. Dr. Millikin died on the 28th of June, i860, in his sixty-seventh year. His wife died in young womanhood, and he subsequently remarried, his second wife, who survived him, being Mrs. Ann Eliza Yeaman. By his first wife three children were born, who attained years of maturity. The eldest of these was Samuel, who resided in Hamilton for many years, but subsequently removed to Missouri, where he ended his days. Thomas was the second bom and the father of Ira S., of this sketch. Elizabeth, the youngest of this trio, became the wife of William A. Elliott, a prosperous farmer in this county, who died in 1881.

ber, 1819. No man ever lived in Hamilton who contributed more to the growth and progress of the city or who maintained a higher standard of citizenship than Thomas Millikin. He was abreast of the times in everything, and the later years of his long and illustrious life were as fertile as the earlier years. His life career was devoted to professional work, and he never sought, nor would he accept, a purely political office. He was a man of broad culture and liberal education. He began his educational career in the classics under the tutorship of the Rev. Joseph Monfort, in Rossville, in 1832. After two years in this preparatory work he entered Miami University, and was graduated with the class of 1838. In the autumn of the same year he became a student in the law office of Judge Elijah Vance, and was admitted to the bar on the 20th of December, 1840. He at once engaged in active practice in his native city and so continued for nearly sixty years. In 1843 he was appointed prosecuting attorney and served one year under this appointment, but never during his long professional career do we find his name announced as a candidate for any office not purely professional. But throughout all of these years he held the post of honor at the Butler county bar. He was a lawyer, and desired to be nothing more. He was an orator of ability, and whether it was an appeal to the court and jury in defense of a criminal or an extemporaneous speech at a banquet table, his utterances were always tempered with moderation and were pleasing and convincing in tone and character. Mr. Millikin was always selected as one of the principal orators on occasions of state, and his auditors were never disappointed. He was a man of pure life and character. Mr. Millikin was an ardent supporter of the Union during the Civil war, and sent two stalwart sons to the front in its preservation. But he favored peaceful arbitration of national difficulties, and recognized the "power of right" only as a last resort. All of his public utterances breathed an ardent desire for the suppression of the rebellion and preservation of the national union at any cost. Mr. Millikin was the president of the Hamilton Gas Company and also of the Lindenwald Electric Transit Company. He was chosen the first president of the latter corporation and remained in that po sition until the day of his death. The subject of this sketch, who was the originator and promoter of the Transit Company, was chosen secretary and manager of the same and therein was closely associated with his father in this beneficent enterprise lor many years. Assuredly no other public development would or could have done as much to further the growth and prospen y of Hamilton' as the introduction of gas lights and electric railways. The corporation invested three hundred and thirty thousand dollars in the electric street car enterprise, and thus encouraged- a phenomena growth and expansion of the city in a rections traversed by this line. But e en terprise was in advance of the require ments and the lines were operated at a average annual loss of seventy-five, un dollars for nine years. During this pen the president died, and while the management of Secretary and Manager Ira S. M likin was careful and conservative, the patronage was not sufficient to meet the expense. Then the panic of the early nine came upon the country, and the mi factories were shut down, and the patronage of the working people was entirely shut off. In this dilemma Mr. Millikin found it necessary to do something and the most just and proper course for him under the distressing circumstances which confronted him was to make an assignment for the benefit of the creditors. The affairs of the corporation were amicably settled by F. W. Whitaker as assignee, and Mr. Millikin turned his attention to the real-estate busi- . ness. He has recovered his losses, and is again on terra firma in the financial world. As promoters of these two beneficent enterprises, without which the city could scarcely exist today, Thomas and Ira S. Millikin proved themselves men of public spirit and advanced ideas. Thomas Millikin was the attorney for the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad from 1852 until the day of his death. He was also the attorney for the Big Four Railroad for many years. In 1874 he was tendered an appointment as one of the supreme judges of Ohio, an honor which he declined. There are many of Thomas Millikin's public addresses now in print, but probably the master-piece of his lifetime is the address delivered on the hundredth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, on July 4, 1876. His address on the occasion of laying the corner-stone of the new court house in Hamilton is another of his master-pieces. It is tempered throughout with a spirit of love and justice between man and man, the sentiments of which could not have been uttered by any one save a pre-eminently good man. Thomas Millikin achieved his most brilliant success and highest honors as a lawyer. His name is held in great reverence by the profession, and he is universally spoken of as the "Nestor of the Butler county bar." For more than a quarter of a century there was scarcely an important case brought to trial in Butler county that Mr. Millikin did not appear on one side or the other. He also carried many complicated cases through the higher courts of the state and nation, where his ability and sterling integrity were always recognized. He was a lover of history and delighted to dwell on reminiscences of the past, especially during the period of the seventy years of local history with which he was so familiar. He was exceptionally well informed on the history of Butler county, and took special pleasure in discussing the events of early days. His death occurred in Hamilton where his long and useful life was spent, on the 10th of November, 1899.

Thomas Millikin was married . at Columbus, Ohio, November 4, 1841, the lady qf his choice being Miss Mary, daughter of the late William B. Van Hook, who served in the Ohio legislature. A peculiar coincidence in connection with this marriage is the fact that the ceremony was performed in the Ohio penitentiary. William B. Van Hook was warden of the penitentiary, hence the celebration of his daughter's wedding occurred "under the parental roof." But the ceremony was said in the East parlor and was far removed from the environments of prison life or anything akin to it. There were many distinguished guests present, including the state officers, and Governor Bebb acted as "best man." Mrs. Millikin was born in 1824 and proved a most exemplary wife and mother. Their union was a very happy one, and after traveling side by side for fifty-two years, it was terminated on the 13th of January, 1894, when Mrs. Millikin was called to her final earthly rest. She died at her daughter's residence in Peoria, Illinois. Seven children were born to bless this union, namely : William B., Robert B., Sarah G., Murray G., Mary M., Ira S., and Julia M. William, Murray and Mary are deceased. Three are residents of their native city and Julia (Mrs. Harrison) is in Chicago. William and Robert were soldiers during the Civil war.

Ira S. Millikin was born in Hamilton on the 2d of February, 1852. He was educated in the public schools of his native city and at the Western Military Academy of Dayton, Ohio, which institution has since been discontinued. Leaving the academy after three years devoted to study there, he spent the succeeding three years in travel, principally in the western states and territories. Returning to his home, he joined with his father and brother, Robert B., in the manufacture of plows and farm implements. He was associated with Hon. James E. Campbell in the insurance business for twelve years, and during the construction of the Hamilton water-works plant, and for two years subsequently, he was secretary of the company, resigning that position in July, 1886. He then took another trip, partly for recreation, through the western states, particularly on the Pacific coast, and becoming interested in the future prospects of Los Angeles, California, made some investments there. Returning home, he continued to deal extensively in real estate at home and abroad for several years or until the organization of the Electric Transit Company, in 1889, of which he was made secretary and manager, as previously mentioned. However, he did not retire from the real-estate business, though that became subordinate to other interests for the time. For some time past and at the present he has given and is giving his exclusive attention to the real-estate business, and is considered a safe counsellor and judicious and careful investor. Mr. Millikin has been an extensive traveler and a careful observer. He is well posted on all features of his business career and has made a success of his efforts.

Mr. Millikin was married, in 1882, to Miss Lucy A. Bakewell, of Louisville, Kentucky. She is descended from one of the prominent southern families, her father, William G. Bakewell, being a well-known capitalist and railroad owner in the south. He was tendered a commissary generalship under the Confederate government during the Civil war, but declined the honor because of his strong Union sentiments. He was tolerated in the South, however, because of his usefulness as a railroad promoter. His wife, who was Maria Dillingham, was also a representative of a very prominent southern family, being a descendant of the noted naturalist, John James Audubon. Mrs. Millikin was bom in Shelbyville, Kentucky, and died in Hamilton, April 1, 1886. Her two children both died in infancy. On the 29th of November, 1889, Mr. Millikin was united in marriage with Miss Zenaide C. Schenck, who is descended from pioneer ancestors in Butler county. Her paternal grandfather, Aaron L. Schenck, was sheriff of Butler county from 1849 *0 I^5I- ^er maternal grandfather, Charles K. Smith, was a prominent attorney of Butler count) and filled numerous county offices during his life, among them being those of probate judge and county treasurer. He was the last secretary of the territory of Minnesota. He was cashier of the old Hamilton Bank. He was prominent in Masonic circles, and organized the first lodge of that order in the territory of Minnesota, of which he was the first worshipful master. He died in Hamilton, Ohio, on September 28, 18 66. Mr. and Mrs. Millikin have an interesting family of two children, Florence and Julia. Mr. Millikin, like his illustrious ancestors, adheres to the doctrines of the Democratic party. He has never been an office seeker in any sense, and is content with assisting his friends and, incidentally, in furthering the interests of the party. He has never united with any church or secret society.