Dayton City (part 21 of 50)

Dr. Edmond E. Bohlender, having fully prepared himself in the public and high schools of Miami county, passed six months in the Ada normal college, and then entered the office of Dr. Bohlender of Cincinnati, studied medicine under his preceptorship for one year and next placed himself under the tuition of Dr. W. J. Thomson of Union, Montgomery county. Following his course of instruction under this able physician, he entered the Ohio Medical college at Cincinnati, from which he graduated in 1894. He also took a special course in ophthalmic treatment, and after practicing for six months in Piqua, Ohio, finally located, February 1, 1895, in Dayton, at the old stand of Dr. Albaugh, now deceased, and where he has already achieved a deserved success in the practice of his profession.

Dr. Bohlender was united in marriage, February 21, 1895, with Miss Clara B. Dinsmore, daughter of William Dinsmore, of Bethel township, Miami county, Ohio, by whom he has one child, William Elmore, born September 25, 1896. Since hissettlement in Dayton Dr. Bohlender has won a host of friends both in his social relations and in his professional practice.

aOL. JOHN BOTHAST, of No. 520 Richard street, Dayton, Ohio, is a native of this city and was born October 22, 1845. He was fairly educated in the public schools, and when about fifteen years of age enlisted in company B, Second battalion, Eighteenth United States infantry, but, in order to secure enrollment in this service, it was necessary to overstate his age, and consequently the records show him to have been nineteen years old. His was the first regiment to occupy Camp Thomas, at

Columbus, Ohio, at which point it remained about three months, guarding the Ohio penitentiary, Mr. Bothast being posted at the main entrance. From Columbus the regiment was ordered to Kentucky, where it took part in the battle of Mill Spring, in the fall of 1861, soon after which Mr. Bothast was taken sick and was sent to hospital at Lebanon, Ky., where his disease, typhoid fever, came very near proving fatal, and he attributes his convalescence wholly to the tender care and skillful nursing of the Sisters of Charity. May 9, 1862, he was discharged from the service by reason of disability, and on returning to Dayton was some months under treatment in this city. October 28, 1863, Mr. Bothast enlisted in company I, Sixty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, and now his actual war service began. He was assigned to the Eleventh army corps, which afterward was merged into the Twentieth. He was in the army of the Potomac until the transfer of Gen. Joe Hooker to the southwest, his first engagements under this enlistment being at Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, the top of the mountain being scaled by the Sixty-first Ohio. Mr. Bothast was also all through the Atlanta campaign, taking part in the battles of Buzzard Roost, Kingston (Ga.), Resaca, Dallas, Ringgold, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, and the siege of Atlanta. At the latter point Mr. Bothast was left on garrison duty while Sherman returned with his army to confront Hood at Nashville. In the spring of 1864, Mr. Bothast took up the line of march under Sherman for Savannah, Ga. , and thence on to Washington, D. C., the last fight taking place at Bentonville, N. C. Passing through Richmond, Va., the regiment reached the capital city, and, after taking part in the grand review in May, 1865, was then sent to Louisville, Ky., and was there mustered out July 29, 1865, after nearly four years' service.

On returning to Dayton, Col. Bothast engaged in the manufacture of horse-collars, which has been his principal business since the close of the war, although he receives a fair pension from the government, in recognition of the disabilities he sustained while in the service.

The marriage of Col. Bothast took place in Dayton, May 14, 1868, to Miss Anna Adams, a native of Germany, but a resident of Dayton since two years of age. Five children have been born to this happy marriage, of whom John died in early infancy; Ida Christina is the wife of Albert Tiffany, a machinist, residing in Dayton; Frederick Lewis and Catherine are still under the parental roof, and Tillie died in her twelfth year.

Col. Bothast is very active in ex-soldier organizations. He is a member of Old Guard post, No. 23, G. A. R. , and of John A. Logan command, No. 7, Union Veteran Union, of which he is the present colonel. The conditions on which membership in the association is based are enlistment, actual participation in battle and honorable discharge from the army or navy. Col. Bothast is also a prominent member of the order known as the Knights of Honor. In his politics Col. Bothast is an uncompromising republican. In matters religious, he and his wife are ardent and consistent members of the Baptist church. Col. Bothast was one of the original volunteer firemen of Dayton, having been for six years a member of Independent company, No. 1.

ANIEL G. BREIDENBACH is a native of Germany, and was born July 6, 1826. When twenty years old he determined to seek his fortune in America, and on May 13, 1846, landed at Philadelphia. After remaining two months in that city, he came to Dayton and engaged in the trade of shoemaking, afterward opening a retail shoe store, in which business he continued and was well known for many years. In June, 1848, in Dayton, he was married to Miss Anna E. Trieschman, a native of Germany, and to them were born eleven children, as follows: Elias, prominently known in Dayton as the president of the Trades & Labor assembly; Conrad,- an organ builder of Piqua, Ohio; Catherine, wife of J. W. Fouts, of Eaton, Ohio; Mary, who married Lawrence Kirschner, and died in March, 1894; J. W. , a printer, of Dayton; Emma (Mrs. P. M. Weaver), of Dayton; C. H.; Anna (Mrs. Samuel Monneman), of Dayton, and three who died in infancy. Mr. Breidenbach served his adopted country in the Civil war, enlisting in the One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, for the hundred days' service, and being stationed at Baltimore. Politically he is a democrat, and was a member of the Dayton board of education from 1875 t° 1881. He has served as assessor of his ward since 1883, a period of fourteen years. He is a member of the G. A. R. and a charter member of the German Pioneer society. His wife died in 1892. They were both members of the German Evangelical association, with which Mr. Breidenbach is still prominently identified. A host has risen up to bless his latter days, he having twenty-six living grandchildren.

C. H. Breidenbach, the youngest son, is one of Dayton's best known and most enterprising young business men. He was educated in the excellent public schools of his native city, served an apprenticeship in the drug business under Dr. J. C. Reeve, Jr., and graduated from the Philadelphia college of pharmacy in 1888. He is at present pursuing the study of medicine at the Miami Medical college of Cincinnati, from which institution he will graduate in April, 1898, when he expects to abandon the drug business for the practice of medicine and chemistry. In 1890 he established his present prosperous business at the corner of Fifth and Jefferson streets. He is recognized as one of the most efficient chemists in this section of the state, and is not infrequently called upon as an expert scientific witness, to give the courts the benefit of his extensive research.

On April 3, 1893, Mr. Breidenbach was married to Miss Anna Danner, a favorite teacher in the Fifth District school, in which capacity she served most acceptably for seven years. She is the daughter of George Danner, of Dayton. One child, Isabel, has been born to this union. Both Mr. and Mrs. Breidenbach are members of the Miami street Lutheran church, and he is a member of the Masonic fraternity, of the Knights of Pythias, and of the P. O. S. of A. He is an ardent republican and takes an active part in local politics.

UTHER MORAL BRYANT, superintendent of the Montgomery county infirmary, is a native of Portland, Me., born March 22, 1850. His father, William Bryant, was a native of Maine, of English and Scotch parentage, and a cousin of William Cullen Bryant. His wife, Elizabeth Bates, was a daughter of a sea captain, and of Scotch descent. William Bryant and his family removed from Portland, Me., to Urbana, Ohio, in 1853, and to Dayton, Ohio, in the fall of 1858. In the fall of 1861 Mr. Bryant enlisted in company H, Fourth Ohio cavalry, in which he served about one year, when he was discharged from the service on account of having broken his ankle. In 1864 he re-entered the service, as a member of the Second Ohio heavy artillery, and in this organization served until the close of the war. He then returned to Dayton, and resided there until the fall of 1869, when he removed to Brookville, Montgomery county, Ohio, but returned to Dayton in 1872 and there died in 1875. His widow still resides in Dayton.

William Bryant and his wife were the parents of eight children, five of whom are still living, three of these being triplets. The triplets are Luther Moral, Laraby and Mrs. Henry Showalter, all of Dayton. The other children living are Mrs. Helen M. Reiszer, a teacher in the public schools of Dayton, and Mrs. Henry Gillespie, now of North Baltimore, Ohio. The latter was a teacher in the Dayton public schools for twenty-two years, was for five years assistant principal and was offered the position of principal, which she declined.

Luther Moral Bryant was reared principally in Dayton, and was educated there in the public schools. On account of his father having enlisted in the army he was compelled to leave school at an early age and to contribute his share to the support of the family and to the education of the other children. One year was spent in learning the molder's trade, and ten years at the cooper's trade. From the end of this time to 1894 he was engaged in farming, and was then appointed superintendent of the Montgomery county infirmary, was re-appointed in 1895 and again in January, 1896. This responsible position he has filled with general satisfaction, not only to the inmates but also to the people at large.

Mr. Bryant was married in 1870 to Minerva Baker, who was born in Clay township, Montgomery county, in 1855. She is a daughter of Benjamin Baker, who was born in the same township in 1810, his father, Michael Baker, having come from Pennsylvania to Ohio and settled in Montgomery county in the beginning of the century. It was his intention to locate where Dayton now stands, but by reason of the swampy character of the land he changed his plans and settled in Clay township. The mother of Mrs. Bryant was Frances Neiswonger, who was born in Clay township, Montgomery county, Ohio, her parents having been natives of Virginia. Both are now deceased, the mother dying April 11, 1890, and the father in March, 1891, the former in her seventyseventh year, the latter in his seventy-eighth.

Mrs. Bryant received a common-school education and now holds the position of matron of the infirmary, taking great interest in the work. At the convention of the infirmary officials and superintendents, held at Columbus, Ohio, in January, 1896, Mrs. Bryant read a paper On the Matron in the Infirmary, which received marked expressions of approval. To Mr. and Mrs. Bryant there have been born three sons, as follows: Scott Elliott, who died September 30, 1895, in his twenty-fourth year; Forest Baker, nineteen years old, and a graduate of Brookville high school, and now attending college, and Willian Benjamin. Mr. and Mrs. Bryant have been members of the United Brethren church for nineteen years, and Mr. Bryant is a member of the Garfield club, which is a sufficient indication of his politics.

eDWIN F. BURKERT, M. D., of Dayton, traces his lineage back to German origin. He is a native of the old Keystone state, having been born at Rebersburg, Pa., on the 27th of February, 1856, the son of Jacob and Elizabeth Burkert, the former of whom was a cabinetmaker by trade. In the Burkert family there were eleven children, as follows: George died while in the service during the late war of the rebellion; Rev. Cyrus J. is presiding elder of the Miami conference of the United Brethren church, Cincinnati district, and maintains his home at Germantown, Montgomery county; Miltoti is a resident of Germantown; John C.

resides at Oskaloosa, Kan., being probate judge of Jefferson county; Emma is the wife of George B. Haines, of Pennsylvania; Effinger is deceased, as is also Charles; Edwin F. is the immediate subject of this review; Clayton is a resident of Valley Falls, and two children died in infancy. The parents were consistent and devoted members of the German Reformed church, being industrious, intelligent and Godfearing people, who ordered their lives according to the highest principles.

Edwin F. Burkert pursued his studies in the district and subscription schools of his native state, and after thus acquiring a fundamental education he entered the normal college in his native county, and there completed two distinct courses, after which he put his acquirements to practical test by engaging in schoolleaching for two terms in Pennsylvania. He then came west, in 1874, and located at Germantown, Ohio, where he attended the Twin Valley college, later supplementing this discipline by a course of study in the Southwestern Ohio normal school, thus thoroughly fortifying himself for successful pedagogic labors. He thereafter devoted his attention to teaching for the period of six years. During the last three years of his school work he had devoted his leisure to the reading of medicine, having determined to adopt that profession as his vocation in life. His preceptor was Dr. J. W. Cline, now of Dayton, and under his effective direction Mr. Burkert continued his studies for some time, after which he entered the Ohio Medical college, at Cincinnati, where he graduated as a member of the class of 1884. He began the practice of his profession in Trenton, Butler county, Ohio, where he remained for a time, after which he located at Collinsville, where he was in successful practice for three years. He then came to Dayton, in the year 1887, and has since been established in practice here, his thorough learning in his pro- fession and his devotion and industry in its pursuit having gained for him the respect and confidence of the public and a full measure of professional success.

In the year 1878 the doctor was united in marriage to Miss Anna M. Carney, daughter of A. D. Carney, who is a well-known resident in the vicinity of Sunbury, Delaware county, this state. They became the parents of three children: Bertie C., Stanley L. , and Edna,

HLBERT H. POOCK, deceased, was one of the most popular and promising of Dayton's young business men. He was born in Dayton, June 27, 1863, and was the eldest son of Louis H. Poock, one of Dayton's leading citizens, of whom a biographical sketch appears above. Albert H. Poock was reared and educated in Dayton. He was assistant cashier of the Dayton Savings bank, of which institution his father was president. He held the position of secretary of the New Franklin Building association, and was also identified with the Germania Building association. He was a member of the uniform rank, Knights of Pythias, of the Dayton Gymnastic club, of the German Lutheran Saint Paul's Beneficiary society, and of several musical clubs, in all of which he was prominent and active. His untimely death occurred on January 13, 1889.

He was a young man of more than ordinary ability and of fine traits of character, which, had he been permitted to live to develop them, would have made him a useful and valuable citizen. He was peculiarly adapted to the occupations in which he was engaged during his brief business career, and would no doubt have achieved a merited success. Of strong moral characteristics, lovable disposition, kind and generous to a fault, he was devoted to his parents and brothers and sisters, and to his large circle of warm friends.

BRANK S. BREENE, member of the Dayton bar, was born in Dayton, Ohio, on November 20, i860, and is a son of William G. and Margaret Breene, old and well-known citizens of Dayton. Frank S. Breene was educated in the Dayton public schools, and was graduated from the Central high school in 1879. He read law in the office of the firm of Marshall & Gottschall, and was admitted to the bar in May, 1883. Mr. Breene has been practicing alone for a number of years, during which time he has demonstrated his talents and fitness for his chosen profession. His success has been gratifying both to himself and to his many friends, and bids fair to grow to larger proportions in the future.

a APT. NEWTON R. BUNKER, the well-known grocer of No. 451 North Main street, Dayton, Ohio, was born in Hollidaysburg, Blair county, Pa., February 25, 1843, and is a son of Isaiah and Isabella (Maize) Bunker. His paternal grandfather was a native of Wales and his grandmother a native of Scotland, and both came to America prior to the war of the Revolution.

Isaiah Bunker was a native of Delaware and a blacksmith by trade, was a soldier in the war for the preservation of the Union, and diecl in Milwaukee, Wis. , in October, 1884; his wife, Isabella (Maize) Bunker, was born in Huntingdon county, Pa., and died in Altoona, Pa., January 8, 1853. To these parents were born six children: William B., the eldest, months in the Union army, is now a traveling salesman, and resides in Philadelphia; Capt. N. R. is the second-born ; Henry L. served three years with the Eighty-fourth Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, and died in January, 1897; Benjamin M. is a contractor and builder in Altoona, Pa. ; Julia and Isabella died in infancy.

Newton R. Bunker lived in his native town until 1857, when he went to Philadelphia and became an apprentice to a blacksmith. While thus employed he enlisted, December 17, 1861, in company D, Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, and had been but two weeks in the service when he was promoted sergeant. He was first sent to Camp Roxboro and then to Camp Curtin for drill and equipment, remained in Philadelphia until March, 1862, and then went to Fortress Monroe, under command of Gen. Wool. His first war experience was in the capture of Norfolk, Va. , then, in the fall of 1862, New Berne, where he was on outpost duty about nine months; next, for a year, was at Little Washington, N. C. , where he fought guerrillas and other rebel soldiers who were endeavoring to recruit for the Confederate army. In the winter of 1 863-64 the regiment veteranized, and an effort was made to hold it in continuous service; but it was finally decided that the enlistment would be void unless its terms were fully concurred in. This included a thirtydays' furlough, but this was not granted until nearly six months later, when the veterans were allowed to leave the trenches in front of Petersburg and to return home in July for the stipulated term of thirty days. In the meantime, however, after veteranizing, the regiment had been ordered back from North Carolina to Virginia in the spring of 1864, and placed under the command of Gen. Butler at Bermuda Hundred; it took part in various battles in the vicinity of Petersburg and Richmond, and in June, 1864, joined the army of the Potomac, and for fourteen days was engaged at Cold

Returning from furlough, the regiment joined the army of the James, but Sergeant Bunker, who had been detailed on recruiting service, did not rejoin his regiment until October, 1864, when he found his command at Chapin's farm, or Deep Bottom. Although ranking as sergeant, he had been placed in command of his company at the battle of Cold Harbor (June, 1864), and held command until his final muster-out - being commissioned first lieutenant December 24, 1864, and captain January 24, 1865. His regiment formed a part of the first brigade to enter Richmond (April 3, 1865), and for the five months following lay at Manchester, on the opposite side of the James river. It was then transferred to Staunton, Va., and apportioned among fourteen counties, for the purpose of relieving troops in various localities. Capt. Bunker was placed in charge in Rockbridge county, with headquarters at Lexington, and then in Fluvanna county, with headquarters at Columbia, being chiefly connected with the Freedmen's bureau, or provost duty. He was finally mustered out at City Point, Va., January 24, 1866, having served at the front four years and six weeks, when he returned to Philadelphia, and thence came to Dayton, Ohio, March 1, 1866. Here he worked at his trade until 1893, when failing health warned him that the time had come when he must relinquish mechanical pursuits. He rested nearly three years, and then, in April, 1896, engaged in his present business, and now owns one of the leading grocery stores in Riverdale.

The marriage of Capt. Bunker took place in Dayton, May 12, 1870, to Miss Laura Wollaston, a native of this city and a daughter of Jeremiah Wollaston, who was also born in Dayton. To the captain and his wife has been born one daughter - Estelle - who is a teacher of music and has her home with her parents. The family are all members of the First Baptist church of Dayton and enjoy the esteem of a large circle of devoted friends.

Capt. Bunker is prominent as a Grand Army man and has been senior vice-commander of Old Guard post, No. 23. July 4, 1867, he became a member of Wayne lodge, I. O. O. F., a year later became a member of the encampment, and has passed all the chairs in both branches of this order. In politics he is an uncompromising republican and cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. In every position in life that the captain has held he has performed his duty with unswerving faithfulness, and well deserves the high respect in which he is universally held.

BRANK J. BURKHARDT, secretary of the Burkhardt Furniture company of Dayton, Ohio, was born in this city April 1, i860, a son of Frank Joseph and Gertrude Burkhardt, natives of Gissigheim, Germany, who both came to America shortly before 1850, and were married in Dayton, February 2, 1857.

F. J. Burkhardt, the father of Frank J., was an orphan and was bound as an apprentice to the cabinetmaking trade in his native land. On arriving in Dayton he was first employed by a Mr. Doup, a sash and blind manfacturer, and later by Beaver & Butt, remaining with the latter for some thirty years as foreman of the sash-making department, and while in this employment his death took place May 5, 1883. He was a quiet, unassuming man, and a devout member of Emanuel Catholic church. To him and his wife were born five children, viz: Mary H., wife of

Charles E. Rotterman, of Dayton; Frank J. ; Theresa, who died at two years of age; Louisa M., now residing with her mother; and Richard Vincent, president of the Burkhardt Furniture company.

Frank J. Burkhardt, after having received a good common-school education, at the age of fourteen years entered the employ of the Barney & Smith Car company, in whose shops he worked for fourteen years as cabinetmaker; he was next employed for upward of four years by John Stengel & Co., furniture manufacturers, when the Burkhardt Furniture Manufacturing company was formed, of which he was one of the incorporators. In politics Mr. Burkhardt is a democrat, and for one year served as assistant deputy recorder of Montgomery county. Fraternally, he is a Knight of Saint John. He was married May 9, 1886, to Miss Emma J. Hochwalt, daughter of George Hochwalt, of Dayton, and to this union have been born two children: Clarence

Richard V. Burkhardt was born in Dayton April 5, 1868, was educated in the Emanuel parochial school and at Saint Mary's institute, and then, at the age of fifteen years, was employed by Stengel & Co. as packer; he was then made shipping clerk and later promoted to be bookkeeper, and finally, when about nineteen years old, was employed as traveling salesman. After having served this company for about ten years he resigned to become an incorporator of the Burkhardt Furniture company, of which he is the president and also traveling salesman. He is still unmarried. Fraternally Mr. Burkhardt is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters, the American Sons of Columbus, the Catholic Gesellen Verein, the Dayton Gymnastic club, and of the Saint Joseph's Orphan society. In religion he is a Roman Catholic.

corporated March 13, 1893, by R. P. Burkhardt, Sr., F. J. Burkhardt, R. P. Burkhardt, Henry Hambrecht and Aug. Zwiesler, and, with the exception of R. P. Burkhardt, who withdrew soon after the incorporation, these gentlemen still constitute the company. The present officers are R. V. Burkhardt, president and treasurer; H. Hambrecht, vice-president; F. J. Burkhardt, secretary, and Aug. Zwiesler, superintendent. The capital stock of the company is $50,000, and employment is given to over thirty men. Its output is distributed throughout Pennyslvania, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana and New York and the East generally. The company makes a specialty of parlor and library tables, and its members are all practical mechanics and furniture men. Although the concern was established at the time when business in general was at almost a standstill, it has prospered wonderfully and is now one of the strongest in its line in the state of Ohio, and this result is owing to the practical ability, skill and sound business tact and integrity of its individual members.

IGNAL R. BUTT, prominent as a contractor and builder, of the city of Dayton, and a son of John W. and Lydia Ann (Carlisle) Butt, was born in Dayton, Ohio, September 3, 1848. His father was a native of Virginia and his mother of Maryland. They were the parents of five children - three of whom are still living, as follows : Volney H. , Rignal R. and Hettie K. , the wife of John Hacking.

John W. Butt was about nine years of age when brought to Dayton by his parents. Here he was educated, grew to manhood and learned his trade, that of a carpenter and contractor. Here he became a most useful and well-known citizen, and was honored by election to the city council, as a member of which he served several terms. He was also a member of the board of trustees of the water works for several years, holding this office at the time of his death. His wife died April 24, 1855, when she was but thirty-two years old, and for his second wife he married Mrs. Kittie Ann Fair, widow of John F. Fair. By this second marriage he had two children, viz: Lydia, the wife of Charles W. Gillis, and Walter L. Mrs. Fair by her first marriage had two children, Charles B., and Kittie V., the wife of Albert Smith.

Rignal Butt, the paternal grandfather of Rignal R. , located in Dayton about 1830. He lived in Dayton until near the close of his life, his death occurring in Indiana while he was on a vis^t to that state. The maternal grandfather was a native of Maryland, descended from Scotch ancestry, and located in Dayton in the early days, dying there in 1873 when upward of eighty years of age, a well-known and highly respected citizen.

Rignal R. Butt was reared and educated in Dayton, and when about fifteen years of age began to learn the carpenter's trade. He remained at home until he was twenty years old and followed his trade until 1872, when he began taking contracts on his own account. Many of the substantial residences and other buildings in Dayton were erected by him. In his business he has been unusually successful, and he maintains an excellent standing in the business community. On the 14th of November, 1871, he was married to Miss Matilda Ray, a daughter of John Ray. By this marriage he had two children, viz: Lydia A. and

Glenna, the latter dying in infancy. Lydia A. married John Utzinger, of Dayton. The mother of these children died in 1881, an excellent woman and a member of the Catholic church. Mr. Butt married for his second wife Mrs. Emma E. Deubner, the marriage taking place July 21, 1883. She was the daughter of John C. and Catherine (Zerbe) Deubner, the former of Germany, the latter of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Butt, by her first husband, Albert Patton, had one daughter, Birdie, who is now the wife of Charles Osgood. Mr. and Mrs. Osgood have one son, named Bail. Mrs. Butt is a member of the United Brethren church. Mr. Butt is a member of Dayton lodge, No. 273, I. O. O. F., of Dayton, and is a member of the order of Daughters of Rebekah, as is also his wife. Politically he is a republican, but cares nothing for office. Mr. Butt is one of the substantial and highly esteemed citizens of Dayton and a useful member of the community.

aM. HASSLER, clerk of the courts of Montgomery county, and a representative citizen of Dayton, was born on December 6, 1841, in St. Thomas, Franklin county, Pa. The boyhood days of Mr. Hassler were spent in Mercersburg, Franklin county, Pa., where he attended the common schools. While yet a boy he entered a general store in Mercersburg as a clerk, and in this and similar establishments in Chambersburg and Carlisle he was employed until 1861, when he returned to St. Thomas and there enlisted in the Thirty-fifth Pennsylvania regiment, known as the Sixth Pennsylvania reserve volunteer corps. He served gallantly in the ranks, and at Fredericksburgh was recommended for promotion and commissioned to a second-lieutenancy in recognition of his services. But this promotion he declined, preferring to serve his country as an enlisted man. Mr. Hassler was mustered out of service on June 14th, 1864, at Harrisburg, Pa., and on the first of the following month re-enlisted in the regular army, and was assigned to duty in the office of the adjutant-general in the war

Leaving the service, Mr. Hassler engaged in merchandising in Pennsylvania and was thus engaged until the fall of 1868, when he came to Dayton and engaged in the dry-goods business, being connected with the firms of A. C. Van Doren & Co., G. G. Prugh & Co., and M. B. Parmely for a period of over twelve years. Following this he became register and money-order clerk in the Dayton post-office under the late Fielding Loury, and in this capacity he served for nine years, when he resigned to become bookkeeper for the firm of Reynolds & Reynolds, of Dayton. In the latter position he remained until March, 1889, and in September, 1889, became assistant postmaster of Dayton, and continued in that capacity through two administrations, going out of office with the incoming of the democratic administration at Washington. In 1893 Mr. Hassler was nominated by the republican party for the office of clerk of the courts of Montgomery county, and at the general election of that year was elected by the handsome majority of 1,143 votes. In 1896 he w?s renominated and re-elected, his majority being more than double that of the previous election, reaching 2,314 votes. When the previous democratic majority obtaining in the county, amounting to 1,400, is considered, it will be understood that the triumph of Mr. Hassler, and of his associates upon the ticket, was one that they and the party in general may well contemplate with pride, and the large increase of Mr. Hassler's second over his first majority stands as a strong endorsement of the manner in which he has administered the affairs of his office.

AMES J. BUTTLER, superintendent of the Metropolitan Life Insurance company, at Dayton, Ohio, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 1 6, 1864. He is a son of Columbus and Ann (Troy) Buttler, the former of whom is now deceased. They were respectively of English and Irish ancestry. The father was engaged in the shoe business* for a number -of years, having previously, however, been a contractor on railroad work, and engaged principally on the Louisville & Nashville railroad. He died in 1889, leaving a widow and five children, as follows: John, a resident of Cincinnati and a commercial traveler for a shoe manufacturing firm; Mary, a resident of Brown county, Ohio; Elizabeth, a resident of Cincinnati; James J., and Joseph, a bookkeeper of Cincinnati.

James J. Buttler grew to manhood in Cincinnati, and there received his education in the public schools, graduating from the high school in 1881. He was then engaged as a cutter in a shoe manufactory for a short time, and in 1885 accepted a position with the Metropolitan Life Insurance company as agent in Covington, Ky. , remaining there some two and a half years. Afterward he took an agency at Covington, Ky. , holding this position two years, was then transferred to Akron, Ohio, then to Canton, Ohio, and finally, in 1893, to Dayton. Here he has been, since 1893, superintendent of the office of the company, which is located in rooms 40 and 41, Lewis block. While in the service of this company he has built up a comparatively small business to an extensive and paying one, so that it now stands far in advance of that of any other company writing the same lines within the city of

Dayton. The Metropolitan writes industrial insurance from $15 up to $1,000, at ages from one year up to seventy, ordinary, or old lines, from $1,000 up to $50,000, and from twenty to sixty-five years of age. To give a synopsis of the company's business and an idea of its magnitude, it may be stated that it pays in death claims at the rate of $15 per minute of banking hours, for each day in the year. It has assets amounting to $30,000,000, and has 5,000,000 policies in force. The company has been operating in Dayton for fourteen years, and has paid out to its policy-holders hundreds of thousands of dollars. Mr. Buttler has increased the working force connected with the Dayton office, and now has sixty men soliciting in the field. There are more than 20,000 policy-holders in the city of Dayton alone.

Mr. Buttler was married in Cincinnati, Ohio, December 8, 1857, to Miss Anna Jones, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Seider) Jones. She was born in Newport, Ky. , and is the mother of three children, viz: Clifford,

Mabel and Virginia. Mr. Buttler is a young man of energy and of devotion to the business whose present proportions are so largely due to his well-directed efforts.

aOL. JOHN WHITEHEAD BYRON, inspector of the Central branch, N. H. D. V. S., was born on the 23rd of November, 1840, in the historic town of Cahir, situated in the " Golden Vale," county of Tipperary, Ireland. The greater part of his boyhood was spent at the home of his paternal grandfather, John Byron, in the country, about two miles from Cahir. Here he remained until in his fifteenth year, when he joined his parents in New York city, whither they had preceded him and settled over a decade before. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he was a law student in the of- fice of Charles H. Smith, a prominent lawyer of New York city. Possessing in large degree the martial and patriotic spirit for which the Celtic race is so justly famed, he promptly responded to President Lincoln's first call for troops and enlisted in company K, Sixtyninth regiment of New York state militia, beknown as " Meagher's Zouaves," after its eloquent and heroic commander, Thomas Francis Meagher. Having served the three months' term of this first enlistment, during which he took part in the fights at Blackburn's Ford and Bull Run, he was mustered out with his company in New York city on the 3rd of August, 1861. Within a week thereafter he was tendered - but declined - authority to recruit a company for the Eighty-eighth New York volunteers, which was being organized by his whilom captain, Thomas Francis Meagher. He, however, accepted a lieutenancy, and was one of two detailed to visit various cities and towns of the state to issue transportation to recruits, and to guarantee line officers' commissions in any regiment of the Irish brigade then being organized, to such persons as would recruit the required number of men, and were otherwise qualified. The young lieutenant passed through all the intermediate grades of rank till he reached that of lieutenant-colonel of his regiment, and was twice brevetted for gallant and meritorious service during the war, upon the recommendation of Gen. Hancock. During the terms of his second and third enlistments (his regiment veteranizing in 1863) he participated in most of the campaigns of the army of the Potomac, was present at the siege of Yorktown and the battle of Fair Oaks, in which he was wounded, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna and South Anna. At Petersburg, Strawberry Plains, Deep Bottom and Ream's Station he commanded the remnant of the Irish brigade, which at the time was consolidated into a provisional regiment. In the last named battle, fought August 25, 1864, he was wounded and captured by the enemy. He was held a prisoner of war for nearly six months in Libby and Danville, Va., and Salisbury, N. C. At Salisbury he conspired with a number of his fellow-prisoners to effect their escape, but the scheme. was frustrated through treachery. Another attempt to regain his liberty was made at Danville, but this also resulted in failure owing to the vigilance of the rebel guards. In this attempt Col. Ralston, of the Twenty-fourth New York cavalry, was mortally wounded. - In the latter part of February, 1865, Col. Byron was exchanged, sent to Annapolis, Md., and thence given a thirty days' leave of absence to recuperate at his home in New York city. He was finally mustered out July 14, 1865, after giving to his adopted country over four years of faithful service in the field. As a private soldier and commissioned officer, Col. Byron always had the respect and esteem of his superiors, being an especial favorite with the superb Hancock, on whose staff he served for a period as ordnance officer. He was frequently detailed for special duties, and at the close of the war was inspector of the First division of the famous Second corps.

On July 21, 1865, Col. Byron set sail for Ireland with a view to aid in throwing off the yoke of England and establishing a free government on Irish soil. He was arrested there five times, the last time under the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, and was kept in confinement fourteen months. Shortly after his arrest he was offered his liberty on condition that he would consent to go under guard from prison to the ship and return to America. He, however, refused to accept freedom on such conditions, until convinced that he could be of no service to the Irish cause while in captivity. He, therefore, returned to New York in May, 1867, became assistant adjutant-general of the Fenian Brotherhood, and subsequently inspector of that order. In June, 1869, he was appointed chief of staff to Gen. Guicoria, the Cuban patriot and martyr, and took an active part in fitting out the " Catherine Whiting expedition," which came to naught on account of the intervention of the United States authorities. In July, 1869, Col. Byron was appointed assistant assessor of legacies and successions to -real estate for the Third New York district, and, after two-years' service, voluntarily resigned upon the removal of his chief from office. Within a short period thereafter he was appointed an officer of customs and served as such for many years.

His health having become greatly impaired, he became a member of the Central branch home in July, 1881, and within a week after admission was detailed as clerk in the adjutant's office, promoted to chief clerk, and in 1893 was appointed inspector of the branch by the honorable board of managers of the home, much to the satisfaction of the officers and men, with whom the colonel has always been deservedly popular.

Col. Byron is actively prominent in the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic, was the junior vice-department-commander of Ohio in 1887-8, and delegate to many national and department encampments; he is a companion of the military order of the Loyal Legion, and a member of the Present Day club, of Dayton, Ohio.

ACOB CLEMENS, a native of the palatinate of Rhenish Bavaria, was born on the 19th of December, 1S28, being the son of Adam and Catherine Clemens, who were born in Germany, where they passed their entire lives, being people of intelligence, industry and honest worth. They became the parents of eight children, five of whom are still living. Two of the sons, Peter and Nicholas, were the first of the family to emigrate to America. They left their native land in the year 1846, and upon arriving in this country came westward to Ohio, locating in Defiance county, where they still reside, both being farmers. Two years later, in 1848, three other members of the family also came from the fatherland to try their fortunes in the United States. These three were Jacob, his brother Adam and his sister Caroline, who was then the wife of Peter Leonhardt. They landed in New York city on the 30th of May. Another sister, Philopena, became the wife of John Schaun, whom she accompanied to Brazil in 1847. Elizabeth and Catherine never severed the ties which bound them to the old home, and both died in Germany.

Jacob Clemens secured his educational discipline in the excellent schools of his native land, and also prepared himself for the practical duties of life by devoting his attention for some time to work at the carpenter's trade, with which he had become quite familiar at the time of his emigration to America. Upon his arrival he came direct to Montgomery county, Ohio, and his first stay was at Hole's Creek, six miles south of Dayton, where he remained about two months. He then went to Miamisburg, in the same county, and there remained until 1849, when he came to Dayton, where he has ever since resided. After his arrival here he worked at his trade until 1866, when he engaged in general contracting. This line of enterprise held his attention for six years, and his careful business methods and capable management insured success to his efforts. His next business venture was the building of a planing mill, at the corner of P'ifth and Mad River streets, and this industry he prosecuted with excellent results for twelve years, when he disposed of the business to Philip E. Gil-

Mr. Clemens, in 1851, married Miss Elizabeth Reisberger, who, like himself, was born in the picturesque Rhine district of the province of Bavaria, the year of her birth having been 1829. Their home life has been one of great happiness and the marriage has been blessed by the birth of twelve children, all save four of whom are deceased. The four survivors are: Martin, now a resident of Cincinnati; Clara, the wife of Thomas Selz, of the Pearl laundry, in Dayton; Annie and Mary, twins, the former of whom is the wife of Joseph Schneble and the latter of Theodore Schneble, of Dayton. Mr. and Mrs. Clemens have long been zealous and devoted members of Trinity Roman Catholic church, in which they have been communicants for many years.

Mr. Clemens has always taken a lively and public-spirited interest in the questions of the hour and in the political issues involved. He has been a stalwart supporter of the democratic party and a firm advocate of the essential principles which underlie its organization. In 1884 he was honored by the citizens of the county through election as a member of the board of directors of the Montgomery county infirmary, which office he retained for three years, giving to its duties that careful attention and unflagging interest which had ever been characteristic of his efforts in private business affairs. In 1891 he was a member of the decennial board of equalization of Dayton.

Mr. Clemens is a man of marked individuality, of pleasing address, and strong intellectual grasp, and his life has been so lived as to gain to him the merited reward of the respect and esteem of his fellow men. The city of his home has ever called forth his hearty interest, and he has done all in his power to further its progress and insure its stable prosperity. He well deserves consideration in this connection as one of the representative men of the city of Dayton.

He was the son of Obadiah B. and Sarah (Miller) Conover, and was of Dutch extraction, his paternal ancestors having come from Holland to this country in the seventeenth century.

Mr. Conover was married in 1849 to Miss Elizabeth Walker Dickson, a daughter of John W. and Lucretia Dickson, born in Philadelphia in 1828, and who died at Dayton September 27, 1868. The children of this marriage were as follows : Mary, the eldest, who in 1883 married Dr. W. H. Grundy, of Dayton, and died in 1887, leaving one child, a daughter, Suzette K. Grundy ; Frank ; John Dickson, who died in 1859, at the age of two years ; Hugh Dickson, who died in 1891 in his thirty-second year ; and Hiram Strong, who died in 1868 in his second year.

Wilbur Conover grew to manhood in his native town, and in 1837, after a course for preparation for college under the tuition of E. E. Barney, at the Dayton academy, he entered the sophomore class at the Miami university, Oxford, Ohio, and graduated from that institution in 1840. He at once entered upon the study of law with the firm of Odlin & Schenck, and was admitted to the bar in 1842. From 1844 to 1850 he practiced law in partnership with Robert C. Schenck, his former preceptor. Almost immediately upon the termination of this partnership by reason of the entrance of General Schenck into public life, Mr. Conover formed a partnership with

Wilbur Conover

Samuel Craighead in 1857, and this firm continued until 1877, when it was dissolved by the retirement of Mr. Conover, caused by broken health.

The firm of Conover & Craighead was, at the date of its termination, the oldest law firm in continuous existence in Ohio. It had become prominent at the Ohio bar, having established a large and important practice. Mr. Conover was peculiarly adapted to the laborious work of the office, involving the preparation of cases and the determination of legal questions; while Mr. Craighead was one of the most eloquent and successful trial advocates ever known at the local bar. The union of the differing qualities and professional gifts of the two men resulted in a harmonious and successful association.

Mr. Conover was devoted to his profession, steadily refusing to enter public office, excepting that for a number of years he served upon the board of education of Dayton and gave especial attention to the upbuilding of the public library, which was during that period under the control of the board. This work had a peculiar attraction for him, his interest in the library having been early manifested through his connection with the Dayton Library association, the forerunner of the public library, and of which he was one of the founders and an active officer from its inception until it was merged into the public institution.

Mr. Conover's mental endowments and his personal characteristics cannot better be described than by repeating here a part of the tribute to his name adopted by the members of his profession at the time of his death. The memorial of the Dayton bar said in part:

"Mr. Conover possessed all the qualifications of an excellent lawyer, and was peculiarly fitted for the high office of judge. He was diligent, painstaking and strictly conscientious, accurate and clear in his perceptive faculties.

He was too independent and candid, and, one may add, too modest, to be a successful aspirant for popular favor. He never concealed his honest convictions on any subject, and never sacrificed or compromised them for the sake of popularity. His opinions as a lawyer were regarded with deserved confidence, as well by the community as by the profession; and his business life seemed to illustrate the lofty sense of duty united with a sincere devotion to his profession. So long as he lived he never tarnished the achievement of professional success by personal self-seeking, or that unworthy rivalry that finds its own advancement in the depreciation of others. He esteemed that professional eminence only as worthy of attainment which is deserved by an honorable, judicious, intelligent, truthful devotion to the interests and cause of a client.''

From the appreciative analysis of Mr. Conover's character contributed to the press at the time of his death, by his life-long friend, Robert W. Steele, we quote the following as an expression of the estimation in which he was held by one who knew him intimately from early boyhood until his death. Mr. Steele says:

"Mr. Conover was endowed with an unusually clear, analytical mind, which, with his love of study and industry, made him the best scholar in his class. So great was his proficiency in Greek, that the professor of that language, in justice to him, used to read with him, privately, additional Greek authors which the majority of the class were unwilling or unable to master. Thoroughness was his distinguishing quality as a student, and he never left a subject until he reached the bottom of it. Truthfulness and purity characterized him throughout his college course, and in all of my intercourse with him, I never heard him utter an unworthy or impure word.

the bright promise of his college days. He occupied no official positions, because he never sought nor would accept them. He devoted himself wholly to his profession and worthily won the high position he attained as a lawyer. "

Brancis Marion Clemans.D. D.

BRANCIS MARION CLEMANS.D. D., pastor of the Broadway Methodist Episcopal church, Dayton, Ohio, was born in Greene county, June 28, 1835, a son of William T. and Elizabeth (Dalby) Clemans. The father was a native of Loudoun county, Va., of Scotch-Irish descent, born in 1810, and was brought to Ohio in 1813 by his parents, who settled in Greene county.

Hezekiah Clemans, father of William T. , and also a native of Virginia, was a soldier under Gen. Anthony Wayne, and while in the service had, in 1812, come with the troops to Ohio, where he made his home immediately upon his discharge from the army, and died in Van Wert, at the age of ninety-two years. The father of Hezekiah Clemens was one of seven brothers who came from Ireland to America prior to the Revolutionary war, and all united with the patriot army, the last battle in which the great-grandfather of Francis M. took part being that of the Cowpens, which was a bayonet, hand to-hand contest with the Hessians. The Dalby family was of Welsh descent, and largely given to yrofessional pursuits - ministers predominating. Both the grandfathers of Elizabeth Dalby (mother of subject) were clergymen; the paternal grandfather being a Presbyterian, but after coming to America the family became Methodists.

The children born to William T. and Elizabeth Clemans were nine in number - four sons and five daughters - of whom four are still living, viz: Francis M., the eldest born; Mrs.

Leroy S., a minister of the Quaker, or Friends' church of Van Wert, and Mrs. Charlotte Grove, also a resident of that city. The deceased children, who all reached mature years, were Mrs. Angeline Keys, a teacher, whose death took place in Van Wert; Mrs. Sarah Sheley, who died in Iowa; Mrs. Martha Moorman, who died in Jamestown, Ohio; Orange Scott, who died in Van Wert in early manhood, and whose remains are interred beside those of his wife and two children. The parents of Francis M. also died in Van Wert - the mother at seventy-seven and the father at eighty-four.

Francis Marion Clemans was reared to manhood in Greene county, attended the public schools, and when about nineteen years old engaged in teaching, which vocation he followed for eleven years, studying, in the meantime, the course required in the Latin scientific department of the East Tennessee Wesleyan university - now known as the Grant Memorial university. From this institution he graduated in 1880, then took a post-graduate course, and completed this in 1882, receiving the degree of Ph. D., and receiving at the same time the degree of A. M. from the Ohio Wesleyan university. He had been converted to Christ in his eighteenth year, or in 1853, and immediately began to shape his course with a view to entering the ministry. But he was wholly self-dependent, and his struggle for an education was a severe one. During the last four of the eleven years of his career as a teacher he was superintendent of the union schools of Jamestown, Ohio, and it was while thus employed that he was recommended to the Cincinnati conference by his home church, and of that body he has been a member since September, 1866; under its jurisdiction all his ministerial work has been performed, and during his thirty years of itinerant service he has never missed more than six appointments from any near Xenia, three years; Fairfield, three years; Middletown, three years; King's Creek circuit, two years; Mechanicsburg station, three years; Miamisburg, three years; Ripley, two years; Jamestown, three years; Franklin, five years (the limit having been changed) ; and, in the fall of 1893, the Broadway church in Dayton. While at Franklin, having completed a postgraduate course in the National university of Chicago, he received the degree of D. D. The Broadway church has a membership of 800, and the church property and parsonage are valued at $ 1 5,000. The Sunday-school comprises 550 scholars, the Epworth league 183, and the Junior Epworth league 140. Dr. Clemans has been blessed in his work as a revivalist and has made it a point to conduct one or more revivals in each of his charges; the one in which he is now engaged has resulted in the conversion of 112 souls, and during his thirty years in the ministry he has brought nearly 3,000 persons into the church.

The first marriage of Dr. Clemans was solemnized near Jamestown, Ohio, in 1859, with Miss Sarah I. Chaffin, a native of Fayette county, Ohio, and a teacher at the time of her marriage. Of the four children born to this union, William Leroy is a bank cashier at Cedarville, Ohio, and is about thirty years of age, married, and the father of two children; Frederick Marion is cashier of the Farmers & Traders' bank of Mechanicsburg, Ohio, is married, and has had born to him three children, two still living; Lillie Viola died in Jamestown at the age of two years, and Nellie Grace died at Mechanicsburg when four years old. Mrs. Clemans was called from earth November 5, 1885, under peculiarly sad circumstances. Being president of the missionary society of Jamestown, she had just closed a meeting with prayer, and the "Amen" which closed this supplication was the last word she ever uttered, as death followed almost instantly.

July 25, 1888, Dr. Clemans was married to Mrs. Clara (Chaffin) Clarke, widow of Max Clarke, and a cousin to the first Mrs. Clemans. This lady is a graduate of Xenia college, of which she was preceptress for some time after her first husband's death, and continued her educational work up to her present marriage. She had borne to her first husband two sons - the elder of whom died in childhood; the younger, Max Guy Clarke, graduated from the Ohio Wesleyan university at Delaware, standing at the head of his class - having completed the classical course at the age of nineteen. He began the study of law, but died at twentytwo years of age, a thorough linguist and a young man of great promise.

Dr. Clemans is a charter member of the Masonic lodge at Jamestown, Ohio, and is also an Odd Fellow. As to politics, the Clemans family have long been noted as radical abolitionists and have been identified with the republican party ever since its organization; and the doctor, in addition to his adherence to the principles of the last-named party, is an earnest advocate of prohibition, steadily advocating this policy both in public and in private.

D., physician and surgeon of 402 Xenia avenue, Dayton, is a native of Kingston, Ross county, Ohio, born December 30, 1869. When he was two years old his father removed his family to Tarlton, Pickaway county, Ohio, and there lived six years, going thence to Delaware, Ohio, where they lived for three years. The family then

Claude N. Chrisman is a son of William and Nancy (North) Chrisman, both of whom are still living, the father being a railroad contractor. The subject of this sketch was educated primarily in the public schools and at the high schools of Dayton, and finished his education by attending the Ohio Wesleyan university at Delaware, Ohio, being a student there three years. In order to qualify himself for the practice of the medical profession, he then became a student in the office of Dr. J. M. Weaver, of Dayton, where he studied for some time, afterward entering the Miami Medical college, and graduating from that institution in 1895. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession in Dayton, and is meeting with most gratifying success, having already become well known as a progressive young physician. Dr. Chrisman is assistant on the staff at Saint Elizabeth Medical & Surgical hospital of Dayton. He is a member of the Phi Gamma Delta society, and of the Broadway Methodist Episcopal church of Dayton, recently organized. He follows the general practice of medicine, though he is giving special attention to surgery, which science is sufficiently broad to take in all classes of medical practitioners and to have no "schools." It is surgery that Dr. Chrisman prefers, and which he has in view as a special form of practice.

eMILE COBLENTZ, aged fifty-eight years, enlisted April, 1861, in the Twelfth New York state militia for three months, first call; re-enlisted for three years in company L, Third Pennsylvania heavy artillery; and was discharged November 8, 1865, at expiration of service, the war having long before come to a close.

BRANK CONOVER, attorney, of Dayton, Ohio, was born in that city May 29, 1853. He is the son of Wilbur and Elizabeth W. (Dickson) Conover. His father, of whom a sketch appears elsewhere in this volume, was of Dutch ancestry, and his mother of Irish extraction.

Frank Conover was educated in the public schools of his birthplace, graduating from the Central high school in the year 1872. He then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Boston, taking a special course of three years in civil engineering. Returning to Dayton in 1875, he was employed in the engineering corps upon the construction of the Dayton & South Eastern railroad until the summer of 1876. Mr. Conover then determined to begin the study of the law, and entered the office of Conover & Craighead, of which firm his father was the senior member. Completing his preparatory course of study, he was admitted to the bar in 1878. For about two years thereafter he remained in the office of Craighead & Craighead, which firm had succeeded that of Conover & Craighead in 1877. He then entered upon and has ever since continued the practice of law alone.

Mr. Conover served as assistant city solicitor of Dayton from the spring of 1891 to 1894. He has for over five years past been a member of the Dayton library board, and has taken an active interest in the extension of the usefulness of the public library. He has been especially concerned in effecting closer relations between that institution and the public schools, having delivered a number of public addresses upon that subject.

In 1879 Mr. Conover married Charlotte Elizabeth Reeve, eldest daughter of Dr. J. C. and Emma G. Reeve, of Dayton. To this marriage have been born four children: Elizabeth Dickson, John Charles Reeve, Wilbur and Charlotte Mary.

BRANK C. CLEMENS, ol the firm of McDermont & Clemens, plumbers, gas and steam fitters, etc., Dayton, Ohio, is a native of this city, and was born November I, 1871. He is the son of Nicholas J. and Anna (Brown) Clemens, both of whom were born in Germany, but were brought to America when young by their parents, who settled in Dayton, and there passed the remainder of their lives. Nicholas J. and his wife, Anna, are still living in Dayton, where Nicholas J. is now retired. Their family was composed of seven children, of whom one is deceased; Frank C. is the eldest of the survivors; James is a student in France and is being prepared for the Catholic ministry; Rose is a sister in St. Francis order, of Dayton, and the remaining three, Joseph, Harry and Mary, are students in the city schools.

Frank C. Clemens was also educated in Dayton - partly in the public schools and partly in the Catholic parochial schools. His first independent effort in life was in the business in which he is still engaged ; he having first worked at this trade for five years under F. J. McCormick, and then becoming a partner with S. B. McDermont in the present extensive business at No. 13 East Second street. This firm gives almost constant employment to thirty men and certainly does the largest business in this line in Dayton, both partners being thorough masters of their trade.

Besides being a member of the Emanuel Roman Catholic church, Mr. Clemens is connected with several religious and social orders, among which may be named the Knights of St. George, the American Sons of Columbus, the Catholic Gesellen Verein, the Catholic Orphan's society, and the Harmonia society. Mr. Clemens is a young man of excellent tact and practical judgment, and has won a place of prominence among Dayton's many successful young business men.

OHN COLLINS, official stenographer f for the courts of Montgomery county, /§ 1 Ohio, and superintendent of the stenographic department of Beck's Commercial college, of Dayton, Ohio, was born at Angelica, Allegany county, N. Y. , September 14, 1849. He attended the public schools of Wellsville, in the county of his birth, and also the academy at Angelica, receiving additional instruction in Latin and other branches from his father.

Charles Collins, his father, was born in Geneva, Ontario county, N. Y. , January 2, 1813. He received his education at Geneva college, now Hobart college, situated at Geneva, N. Y. - a Protestant Episcopal institution established in 1822. He graduated from that institution in 1834, and is, with one exception, the oldest alumnus of that college now living. Having afterward studied law, he practiced that profession for some time in Detroit, Mich., from which city he removed to Angelica, N. Y. , where his parents were then living, and practiced law at Angelica and at Wellsville, N. Y. , for sometime. His father was one of the distinguished men of that county, being county judge for several years. In 1866 Mr. Collins removed to Northumberland, Northumberland county, Pa., and thereengaged in fruit farming, having retired from the active practice of the law. After living at Northumberland, engaged as above noted, until 1882, he removed to Dayton, Ohio, and is now residing in that city with his son. His wife was Elizabeth Hyde Cardell, daughter of William S. Cardell, of Lancaster, Pa., the author of several school books, among them Jack Halyard, a work well-known in the east. William S. Cardell was a half-brother of Chancellor Walworth, of New York state. Mrs. Collins died in 1873, at Northumberland, Pa.

the ordinary English letters. He remained on the farm with his father until 1875. He then went to Delaware, Ohio, where he purchased and operated a book bindery for three years, giving more or less attention to shorthand during that time. He reported the proceedings of the first convention of the Music Teachers' National association, held at Delaware in that year, and afterward did occasional work of this kind in Delaware until 1878, when he went to Columbus, Ohio, and there spent one year with the official stenographers at the capitol. In the spring of 1879 he removed to Dayton and received the appointment as official stenographer for the courts of Montgomery county, a position he has held continuously up to the present time, eighteen years.

Mr. Collins was married in the spring of 1877 to Sarah J. Leighoux, of Northumberland, Pa., and to them have been born three daughters - Helen, Bertha and Lucy, all of whom are attending the Steele high school, in Dayton.

Mr. Collins has achieved a high reputation for accuracy and reliability in the duties of his official position, and the excellence of his work is fully appreciated by the members of the legal profession who constitute the Montgomery county bar. He is a writer of no mean literary attainments, and has produced a number of articles, both in prose and verse, of a high degree of merit.

aHARLES JUDSON COFFMAN, vice-president of the Gem Shirt company of Dayton, is a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Montgomery county. The first of the family to locate in this county was Jacob Coffman, who, in company with his wife and one child, came here from Virginia in the early part of the present century. He purchased a considerable tract of land, a portion of which is now embraced in the precincts of the national soldiers' home. This land he reclaimed and improved, making it his residence until his death, and, having devoted his entire attention to his farming interests, became a man of prominence in the community. He became the father of five children, each of whom lived to an advanced age, their names in order of birth being as follows: John; Jacob, father of Charles

J. ; Catherine, better known as Kittie, who married Jacob Neibert, who lived to the age of nearly ninety years; Rachael, deceased, and Hannah, deceased.

Jacob Coffman, the father of Charles J.; was born on the old homestead near Dayton in December, 1819, and remained on the farm until he had attained the age of nineteen years, when he came to Dayton and secured clerical employment in the dry-goods establishment of Daniel Kiefer, with whom he remained for some time. He then turned his attention to what was a very important line of enterprise in the pioneer days, that of peddling notions by wagon, thus traversing a large territory in the neighborhood of Dayton. He sold to the retail dealers in the various towns, which he visited at regular intervals, and continued this now almost forgotten industry for a number of years. In 1855 he established the first wholesale notion house in Dayton, being associated with John Beaver, under the firm name of Coffman & Beaver. In about a year Mr. Beaver died, after which Mr. Coffman conducted the business individually for some time, and eventually formed the firm of Coffman, Osborn & Coffman, which continued with success until the close of the Civil war. Mr. Coffman then disposed of his interest and purchased the interest of Edward Stilwell as a member of Crawford & Stilwell, who were engaged in the manufacture of lasts and pegs for boots and shoes. This industry was continued, under the firm name of Crawford & Coffman, until about the year 1885, when Mr. Coffman sold out his share and purchased the business which is now conducted by his son, Charles J. Coffman, it being then of the same character as that with which he had formerly been identified, namely, the wholesale notion business. The father, however, practically retired from active pursuits at the time of purchasing this establishment, chiefly by reason of the deplorable infirmity of blindness, which afflicted him for a period of about six years prior to his death, which occurred in April, 1892. The enterprise noted was, in 1887, merged into the Gem Shirt company, and upon the organization of this stock company, Jacob Coffman became vice-president of the corporation and was connected with it until his death. He was a man of unassuming manners, of unbending integrity and honor, and of marked business ability. He commanded the confidence and esteem of all with whom he came in contact. In his religious views he held the faith of the Baptist church and was a zealous worker in its cause. He was radical and uncompromising in his opposition to the institution of slavery and rendered a stanch allegiance to the republican party from the time of its organization. His tastes were essentialy domestic and in his home were centered the chief attractions and interterests of his life.

Jacob Coffman was united in marriage, in December, 1841, to Miss Sarah Ann Miller, a daughter of Samuel and Sarah Miller, who were among the pioneers of Montgomery county, coming hither from Lancaster, Pa., where the mother of Charles J. was born. Her death occurred in 1889, at the age of sixty-five years. Jacob and Sarah Ann Coffman became the parents of a large family of children, of whom seven are living.

reared in Dayton, receiving his education in the public schools. At the age of sixteen he entered the last and peg factory operated by his father, and there remained employed for the period of three years, after which he accepted a position as traveling salesman for the wholesale millinery establishment of Fahnley & McCrea, Indianapolis, Ind., with whom he remained for sgmewhat more than three years. He then returned to Dayton and became commercial traveler for the wholesale notion house of Osborn, Satcamp & Co. for five years, after which he established a wholesale business of the same character, under the firm name of C. J. Coffman & Co., conducting the same for seven years, at the expiration of which time he was succeeded by his father. He then became a traveling salesman in the handling of shirts, and has ever since been associated with this business, having been one of the organizers of the Gem Shirt company. In addition to his own private concerns he handled his father's business for six years prior to the latter's death. Mr. Coffman is known as one of the progressive and thoroughly representative business men of Dayton, and has a sincere interest in all that tends to conserve the prosperity of the city. In his political adherency he is identified with the republican party, and fraternally is a member of the Royal Arcanum and of the United Commercial Travelers' association, in which he holds official preferment as senior counselor.

aHARLES F. CORNS, member of the Dayton city council from the Sixth ward, and foreman of Kuhns Bros.' foundry, was born in Prussia, Germany, December 4, 1835. Receiving his education in his native country, he came to America in company with his mother in 1849, a brother and sister also accompanying them. At first they located in Waterloo county, Upper Canada, where Mr. Corns learned the trade of foundryman, which trade he has since followed almost continuously. In 1852 he came to the United States, locating in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked at his trade until 1854, and in 1855 returned to Canada. In 1856 he was married in Canada to Susan Mclntire, and in 1859 returned to. the United States, locating at Cleveland, Ohio, where he continued to reside until 1861. During this latter year he came to Dayton, Ohio, where he has lived ever since.

During the war of the Rebellion Mr. Corns aided in recruiting company Iv, Seventh regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, and also company I of the One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio volunteer infantry. He worked in the government arsenal at Troy, N. Y. , for about four months during the year 1862, going there from Dayton. For a number of years Mr.' Corns was employed as a molder in the stove foundry of Brown & Irwin, of Dayton, and afterward was with the firm of Greer & King for about ten years. He was afterward a molder in the employ of John W. Stoddard for about three years, and for about eleven years was foreman of the foundry of the Farmers' Friend Manufacturing company. He was one of the originators of the Marley-Craig Foundry company, being a partner in the concern, from which came the Craig-Reynolds company. In 1892 he became foreman at the Kuhns Bros.' foundry, which position he has since continuously held.

Mr. Corns has long been identified with the republican party, and has been prominent in the public affairs of the city of Dayton. In 1886 he was elected to the city council from the Ninth ward. In 1888 he was re-elected from the same ward, and again in 1890 and 1892, thus serving eight successive years from this ward. In 1894 he was elected to the council from the Third ward, which has since been changed to the Sixth. Mr. Corns is the oldest member of the city council, not only in point of age, but also in years of service.

Mr. Corns is a member of the Harugari lodge of the German-American Pioneer society, and of the A. O. U. W. To Mr. Corns and his wife there have been born four children, as follows: Edwin; Estella, wife of

Fremont Dodds, of London, Madison county, Ohio; Charles M., dental student; and Murrel, wife of Vallington Tippy, of Dayton, assistant bookkeeper for the dry-goods house of Elder & Johnston. Mrs. Corns is a member of the United Brethren church.

The most marked characteristic of Mr. Corns as a city official is his fearlessness in the expression of his views upon all matters of public moment which come before the body in which he has rendered so long a service.

LI FASOLD, general agent for the Singer Manufacturing company at Dayton, Ohio, was born in Sunbury, Northumberland county, Pa., February 22, 1838, his parents being also natives of that county. In 1844 the family removed to Richmond, Ind., where Eli attended the public schools and learned the carriage-ironing trade under Peter Crocker & Co. April 20, 1861, he enlisted in the Eighth regiment, Indiana volunteer infantry, for three months, at the end of which time he entered the employment of the Singer Manufacturing company, and for five years had his headquarters at Indianapolis, and for more than thirty years has been stationed at Dayton. For eight years he has been connected with the Troup Manufacturing company of Dayton, as vicepresident, but is now closing out the business of this concern. For five years he was a director of the Southern Ohio Fair association, and

Fraternally, Mr. Fasold is eminent in Freemasonry and in the order of the Knights of Honor, having been a member of the former for nearly thirty and of the latter for twentyseven years. He was initiated in Mystic lodge, No. 405, F. & A. M., Dayton, June 12, 1869; passed July 24, 1869, and raised, September 11, 1869; was elected trustee December 12, 1879, and so remained until 1896; elected senior warden December 4, 1880; worshipful master, December 9, 1884, for one year. In Unity chapter, No. 16, R. A. M., marked November 4, 1869; passed January 6,

No. 9, he received the royal and select master's degree September 2, 1870. In Reed commandery, No. 6, K. T. , was dubbed and created Knight of Red Cross June 21, 1870; K. T., July 19, 1870; K. of M., July 19, 1870; sword bearer, November, 1871, to November, 1873; senior warden, November, 1873, to November, 1875; captain general, November, 1875, to November, 1876; eminent commander, 1876 to 1880; trustee, 1880 to 1895. In the grand commandery K. T. of Ohio, was grand senior warden in 1877 and 1878; grand senior warden in 1879 and 1880; grand generalissimo, 1881 and 1882; deputy grand commander, 1883, and right eminent grand commander in 1884; was representative of the grand commandery of Nebraska in 1886-89, 1892-95-98. In the ancient accepted Scottish rite, he received the ineffable degrees March 14, 1872, in Giblum grand lodge of Perfection at Cincinnati; received the ancient traditional grades March 15, 1872, in the Dalcho grand council, P. J., Cincinnati; received philosophical and doctrinal grades in Cincinnati grand chapter of Rose-Croix, same date and place, and the modern historic and chivalric grades March 16, 1872; in Ohio grand consistory, S. P. R. S., thirty-second degree; was created sovereign grand inspector general, thirty-third degree, at Detroit, Mich., September 23, 1884. Mr. Fasold is a charter member of Gabriel grand lodge of perfection, Dayton; was appointed grand orator for 1881 - 82, and served as trustee from January, 1881, to 1896; is a charter member of Miami council, and charter member of Rose-Croix grand chapter, Dayton; was appointed M. E. and P. K., S. W., in April, 1880-81, and elected M. W. and P. M. in May, 1881-83.

Mr. Fasold has for twelve years been president of the Scottish rite K. T. and Master Mason's Aid association, and has been president of the Homestead Aid association for five years, and a director in the same eight years; he was one of the founders of the Freemasons' Mutual Benefit association, and has been a director and treasurer for twenty-two years.

Mr. Fasold was united in marriage, October 5, 1861, with Miss Louisa Smith, of Richmond, Ind., and to this union have been born two children - a daughter, Mary F. , and a son, William S., who is now cashier of the Big Four Railroad company at Dayton. The parents have been members of the Third street Presbyterian church for the past thirty years. In politics Mr. Fasold is a republican.

Hlbert Clayton Carney, M.D.

HLBERT CLAYTON CARNEY, M.D., physician and surgeon of Dayton, Ohio, with office at 715 Washington street, was born in Butler county, southwest of and near Germantown, Montgomery county, December 9, 1868. He is a son of Walter and Catherine (Garrison) Carney, who are still residing on their home farm in

Butler county, where Mr. Carney has followed agricultural pursuits for many years. The Carney family is of mixed nationality, Walter Carney having descended from Scotch, Irish and German ancestry. He and his wife are parents of four children.

Albert C. Carney was reared on his father's farm, and thus inured to labor in his early days. His education was received in the common schools, and later he attended Otterbein university. However, while in college he was reading medicine with Dr. J. W. Cline, of Dayton, Ohio, as his preceptor, having early in life chosen medicine as his profession. He afterward read with Dr. J. W. Jones, of Westerville, Ohio, and attended the Ohio Medical college at Cincinnati, graduating from that institution in the class of 1889. At first he was located in Greenville, Ohio, practicing there six months, and then removed co Germantown, where he was engaged in practice until 1892. In this year he removed to Dayton, where he has been ever since, and where he has built up a good practice. He is the most successful of the young physicians of the city, and a rising young man in every way.

He is a member of Friendship lodge, No. 21, I. O. O. F. , of Germantown, Ohio, and of the Germantown encampment, No. 77, Patriarchs Militant. He was married March 1, 1888, in Germantown, Ohio, to Miss Etta B. Swain, a daughter of Rev. J. L. Swain. Dr. and Mrs. Carney are the parents of one child, Homer Eugene. They are leading members of the United Brethren church and highly regarded by all who know them.

aHARLES A. COOPER, senior member of the firm of Charles A. Cooper & Co., wholesale dealers in saddlery and carriage goods, Dayton, Ohio, was born in Springfield, Ohio, May 13, 1851,

David Cooper was born in Pennsylvania January 9, 1826, a son of William and Jane (Murphy) Cooper, and died in Dayton, Ohio, November 11, 1888. When nineteen years of age he came to Ohio and engaged in the drygoods business at Springfield, but sold out in 1849, and established the business which Charles A. Cooper, his son, now conducts in Dayton, and of which further mention will be made. January 9, 1849, he was married in Springfield to Miss LouisaS. Runyon, daughter of William and Harriet (Silvers) Runyon, the former of New Jersey and the latter of England. Mrs. Louisa S. Cooper was born in Newburg, Pa., and was a babe when taken to Kentucky by her parents. Her father was a railroad contractor and constructed the first railroad west of the Alleghany mountains, and constructed the first railroad at Lexington, Ky. , which was one of the first in that state. About 1835 the Runyon family came to Columbus, Ohio, where Mr. Runyon was engaged in the hardware business until 1841, when he removed to Springfield, where he was engaged in the same industry until his death. To Mr. and Mrs. Runyon were born five children, of whom two died in infancy; Louisa S. is the widow of David Cooper; Mary, now deceased, was the wife of Pliny Newhall, and Ellen is married to Albert E. Shearer, of Cleveland. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. David Cooper were born six children, viz: George, now a traveling salesman; Charles A.; Edward F. , of Dayton; Hattie E. , wife of W. B. Anderson; David W. , and Mary L. , wife of Charles F. Snyder - all of Dayton. The mother and her sons, Charles A. and David W., now make their home at No. 351 West First street.

sale and retail dealer in general hardware, saddlery and carriage materials. In 1869 he came to Dayton, opened his store at No. 140 East Third street, and conducted a wholesale and retail trade in the same line as that he had carried on in Springfield; but in 1876 disposed of his general hardware business and confined himself to the wholesale saddlery and carriage goods trade, selling chiefly throughout Ohio and Indiana. At his death, in 1888, his son, Charles A., assumed the management of the business in conjunction with his brother, Edward F. Cooper, under the firm name of David Cooper's Sons. January 1, 1890, the firm removed to the present quarters, No. 123 East Third street, in the Huffman block, and August 1, 1893, Charles A. purchased the interest of his brother, Edward F., and January 1, 1894, changed the firm name to that of Charles A. Cooper & Co. - the firm being now composed of Louisa S. Cooper and Charles A. Cooper. Two men are constantly employed by the firm as salesmen on the road, and they cover the territory embraced by the states of Ohio and Indiana, throughout which states the firm is well known, it being the largest concern in its line in western Ohio.

Charles A. Cooper was reared in Springfield, and received his education in the schools of that city and at Wittenberg college. At the age of eighteen years he came to Dayton to assist his father in the store, and in 1873 went on the road as salesman, representing the house for sixteen years. He then returned to the store and assumed the management of the business, having been admitted as a partner a year previously.

Mr. Cooper has been very successful in his management, and is looked upon as one of the ablest of the young business men of Dayton. He is a member of the Third street Presbyterian church, and in politics affiliates with the republican party.

aOL. ROBERT COWDEN, of Dayton, Ohio, is descended from an old Scotch family, who came to America, many years ago, from Cowden Knolls, twenty-five miles north of Edinburg. His parents, David and Elizabeth (Kitch) Cowden, were natives of Pennsylvania, and early settlers in Ohio, where the father died when Robert was but five years of age.

Robert Cowden was born May 24, 1833, near Leesville Cross Roads, Ohio, and although his opportunities for securing an education were meager, he succeeded, by dint of close application to study, in acquiring a fair amount of knowledge and became a school teacher at the age of eighteen years, following that calling in the winter and working during the summer at any paying employment he could find, for several consecutive years. At the age of nineteen he was converted to Christ and at once entered upon a career of religious work in the interest of the United Brethren church and humanity, and to-day, as an organizer and teacher of Sunday schools, he probably has no superior. Persistent in his studies, he early developed himself as a scholar of much learning, especially in the field of theology, and was thus fully qualified for Sabbath-school work, and for nearly thirty years he has been closely identified with that branch of religious activity in this country, and has filled many positions of honor in connection with it. Coupled with his well-earned reputation for usefulness in civil life, Col. Cowden has a military record for patriotism and valor, and the scars upon his person bear substantial wkness to the fact that he not only loved his country but helped to fight her battles. Robert Cowden enlisted September 9, 1861, in company B, Fifty-sixth Illinois volunteer infantry, but was transferred to company H, and between the date of his enlistment and January 28, 1862, was promoted to be corporal, was next advanced to the posi- tion of sergeant, and still later was commissioned first lieutenant of company H. Because of defective enlistment or organization of the Fifty-sixth, that regiment was mustered out of service January 28, 1862, and on the same day Lieut. Cowden entered battery I, First Illinois light artillery, as a private. During his service of eighteen months in this bod}' he was promoted through the intermediate grades from private to second lieutenant, receiving his commission for meritorious conduct on the battle field of Shiloh. July 29, 1863, Lieut. Cowden was discharged to receive promotion, and was mustered in as major of the Fifty-ninth United States colored infantry, and May 1, 1864, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, with which rank he served until his final muster out, January 31, 1866. At this time, to save the men, who in most cases had been recruited from the illiterate plantation hands, from the self-constituted bounty and claim agents, a meeting of the officers of the regiment was held at Memphis, Tenn., where it was decided that Col. Cowden should receive authority to act for the discharged men. As a consequence 5 30 soldiers entrusted their discharge papers to him, the result being that he subsequently collected all back pay, bounty, etc., due to the men and placed the proceeds into the hands of those to whom they rightfully belonged. The colonel was also instrumental in establishing a school for the instruction of unlettered men of his regiment, and in this school 250 colored men were taught to read and write.

Among the many engagements in which Col. Cowden participated may be enumerated that of Shiloh, both days; the siege of Corinth and the engagement at the Russell house, lying between Pittsburg Landing and Corinth; the siege and capture of Vicksburg; the second capture of Jackson, Miss.; the engagement at Guntown, Miss., where, June 10, 1864, he received a severe wound in the right hip; and finally the battles of Tupelo and Pontotoc, Miss., in July, 1 864.

To revert to the life of Col. Cowden as a civilian, it may be stated that, prior to the Civil war, he resided in Kansas for three years and was there during the "border", troubles, and was the first county clerk elected in Franklin county. He again resided in that state from 1885 until 1891, in Cheyenne county; in the interim, however, he lived in Gabon, Crawford county, Ohio, where he was postmaster during the administration of President Hayes. He is at present a member of the military order known as the Loyal Legion, commandery of Ohio; for twenty-six years has been a member of the general board of the Ohio Sundayschool association, in which he served one year as president, six years as general secretary, and the remainder of the period as a member of the executive committee; for years he has been general secretary of the Sabbathschool board of the United Brethren in Christ and general Sabbath-school missionary and organizer for that denomination; he is also secretary of the normal department of the Ohio State Sabbath-school association and is its statistician; from 1875 until 1890 he was a member of the executive committee of the International Sabbath-school association, and has been a delegate to all its triennial conventions, held in London, and to the first and second world's conventions; also the convention held at Saint Louis, Mo., in 1893. He travels about 20,000 miles annually in the prosecution of his work. He has contributed many valuable articles to the religious press, and, wielding a facile pen, has written a history of his regiment.

The first marriage of Col. Cowden was solemnized, in 1854, with Miss Lydia T. Miller, which union was blessed with four children, viz: Daniel Webster, now a wholesale merchant of Salina, Kans. ; John C. Milton, a farmer of Cheyenne county, in the same state; Jacob K. R., a farmer of Eagle county, Colo., and Mrs. Zoe E. M. Chipperfield, whose husband is also a farmer of Cheyenne county, Kans., and descended from these children there are now twelve living grandchildren of Col. Cowden. After a happy union of over thirty-six years, Mrs. Cowden died in December, 1890, and in November, 1891, Col. Cowden was united in matrimony with Mrs. Joanna McGinnis, of Wichita, Kans.

a APT. THOMAS J. CROOKS was born in Cleveland, Ohio, May 3, 1845. His parents were John C. and Sarah J. (Beatty) Crooks, the father a native of north Ireland and the mother born in the highlands of Scotland; they were married in Ireland, and, about the year 1842, immigrated to the United States, settling in Cleveland, Ohio, where John C. Crooks was for some time a member of the police force. In his native country he learned the trade of carpet weaving, but did not follow his calling very long after becoming a citizen of the United States; he died at Cleveland in 1878, aged sixty years. Mrs. Crooks still lives in that city. John C. and Sarah Crooks were the parents of eight children, four sons and four daughters, three of the sons having served gallantly in the late war of the Rebellion; Samuel was killed in December, 1864, at Fort McAlister; John E. was wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg, Va.; he is now a resident of Benicia, Cal., where he is engaged in the banking business and of which city he has also served as mayor at different times; William L. , a telegrapher, resides at Los Angeles, Cal. ; Elizabeth married a Mr. Lewis and lives in Kansas; Elizabeth Cabins makes her home in Cleveland, and the two youngest members of

Thomas J. Crooks grew to early manhood in Cleveland, where he attended school until his seventeenth year, at which time he laid aside his studies and entered the army, enlisting in what was known as the Cleveland Grays, a company which formed part of the Eighty-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, and with which he served for a period of four months in Virginia under Gen. Kelley. During his first enlistment Capt. Crooks saw some active service and took part in several engagements of minor importance, chief among which was the fight at New Creek, Va. At the expiration of his period of service, he re-enlisted, October 9, 1862, for three years, in company H, One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Ohio infantry, receiving the rank of corporal, and, a little later, was made first sergeant of his company. He was wounded September 19, 1863, at Chickamauga, and for six months thereafter remained in a hospital, the nature of his disability necessitating his retirement from active service for the greater part of a year. On being discharged from the hospital Capt. Crooks was transferred, March, 1864, to the One Hundred and Fifty-second battalion veteran reserve corps, with which he served until mustered out July 26, 1865, at Nashville,

Tenn. During this period he participated in the battles of Thompson's Station, Tenn., where the entire brigade, with the exception of the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Ohio, was captured; Triune, Tenn.; Chickamauga; two-days' fight at Nashville, and other engagements, in all of which his conduct was that of a faithful and gallant soldier. Returning to Cleveland after the war, Capt. Crooks accepted a clerical position in the mayor's office of that city and was thus employed for one year, when he embarked in the grocery business, conduct- ing the same until 1867. In the latter year he entered the United States service, enlisting in the Twenty-eighth infantry for three years, during the greater part of which time he was stationed at Governor's Island, N. Y., and for over one year was drillmaster on Hart's Island. The Twenty-eighth was consolidated with the Nineteenth U. S. infantry in 1869, from which time until the expiration of his term of enlistment Capt. Crooks was stationed at Little Rock, Ark., Baton Rouge and New Orleans, La. He was honorably discharged at Fort Pike, La., June, 1870, and in September of the same year he re-enlisted for a term of five years in the Seventeenth U. S. infantry, company I, of which he was made sergeant. This service was principally at Fort Sully, Cheyenne agency, Forts Rice and Stevenson, and he was discharged in September, 1875. In December following he again entered the army, enlisting in company A, Twenty-second U. S. infantry, with which he served one year at Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., three years at Fort Wayne, Mich., and the last year at Fort Griffin, Tex., receiving his discharge at the last named place, December, 1880.