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OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS
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Hamilton County, Ohio
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BIOGRAPHIES
(Transcribed by Sharon Wick)
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PROFESSOR
GEORGE W. HARPER, for many years principal of
the Woodward high school, in Cincinnati, was born in
Franklin, Warren county, Ohio, August 21, 1832. He is
son of the Rev. Daniel Harper and Sarah (Sims) Harper,
both of old Quaker stock, residing originally near
Philadelphia, but emigrating thence and settling in Warren
county in 1825. They removed to Cincinnati in 1843,
where the elder Harper engaged in the grocery and
commission business, at first on Ninth street, and
afterwards at No. 12 East Columbia (Second) street, where
the business is still carried on under the firm name of
Harper & Winall.
George received the rudiments of education in
the country schools of his native place, and was not
introduced to the graded system until he was fifteen years
old. From his eleventh to his fifteenth year, after
the removal to the city, he assisted his father in his
business, and considers the practical training then received
an invaluable part of his preparation for active life.
He was then for two years a member of the Tenth district
intermediate school, taught then, among others, by the
lamented Aaron P. Rickoff and the Hon. Alexander
Ferguson, the latter now an eminent lawyer and
railway man. He then entered the old Central high
school, the first of the grade in the city, and after two
years more in that institution entered Woodward college, in
which he took the usual collegiate course, giving especial
attention to the mathematics under the teaching of the late
Dr. Joseph Ray, then head of the school. Upon
graduation (taking the valedictory honor) in 1853, he read a
partial course in law; but, through the personal efforts and
solicitation of Dr. Ray, he became a teacher instead
of a lawyer. He seemed, indeed, to be born to the
former vocation. While yet a student he was placed in
charge of a room from which two teachers had retired
discomfited and discouraged, and managed it with great
success to the end of the school year. Taking a
certificate of qualification in order to entitle him to pay
for services rendered, and subsequently receiving, without
the least solicitation on his part, an appointment as third
assistant in the Woodward high school, he was easily induced
to see that the path of duty and probable success lay for
him in the pedagogic profession. He had rapid
promotion, in a few years became first assistant in the
school, and in 1866 principal, which position he has since
retained, with distinguished honor and success. By
1869 his devoted service had abundantly earned him the leave
of absence which was granted him by the board of education,
and for about four months he enjoyed the advantages of a
tour in Europe, during which he made special inquiry into
the school systems of Great Britain and the continent, from
Scotland to southern Italy, and as far eastward as Vienna.
The observations then made have been of service to him
since, not only in his regular work, but in the papers he
has read and the discussions in which he has engaged in the
teacher' institutes and associations he often attends.
He is an active member of the State Teachers' association.
In 1873 the trustees of the McMicken fund resolved to
try the experiment of organizing a university. The
effort was entrusted to Mr. Harper, aided by his
principal male teachers. The hours from 2 to 5 p.m. in
the Woodward building were fixed, and Mr. Harper and
five other teachers were selected to organize and run the
school for one year, and if it proved successful the
trustees determined to enter upon a permanent organization.
After examining one hundred and eighty-six applicants
fifty-six were admitted and organized into classes in Latin,
Greek, German, French, higher mathematics, physics, and
chemistry. The experiment proved successful, and at
the close of the year a permanent organization was effected,
under the name of the Cincinnati university.
Professor Harper has frequently delivered with
much acceptance his scholarly course of lecture on geology,
in the preparation of which he has been aided by his fine
collection of fossils from the Silurian and other
formations. He has made no less than five extended
trips through the South, gathering for his cabinet of
freshwater and land shells, of which he published a useful
check-list some years ago. He is prominent member of
the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, one of its board
of council, and one of the editors of its Journal. In
1855 he began a series of meteorological observations in
this region, under the direction of the Smithsonian
institution, which have been continued for twenty-six years.
These have supplied invaluable data (from the rain records)
for the establishment of the sewerage system of this city
and other important purposes, and in some cases heavy
lawsuits against the city of damages have been decided by
the aid of these records.
In 1865 Professor Harper was elected a trustee
of the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery; was
elected president of the college in 1868, and again in 1875,
and still holds that position. In this service he has
been useful in many ways, but perhaps in none more so than
in the capacity of peacemaker. So highly have his
services been esteemed by the authorities of that
institution that, some years ago, they surprised him by the
presentation of the handsome gold watch and massive chain,
bearing the inscription: "Presented to George W. Harper,
March 20, 1873, by the Faculty of the Cincinnati College of
Medicine and Surgery."
In 1861 Professor Harper had conferred upon him
the honorary degree of Master of Arts, by Denison
university.
Mr. Harper became a member of the Trinity
Methodist Episcopal church in this city in 1847, at the age
of fifteen, and was a most efficient and useful member until
1860, when he removed his membership to the Asbury church,
where he has since been a most active worker. Two
years after his admission to Trinity, he became a teacher in
the Sabbath-school, and in 1869 he was elected
superintendent of the school. Six years before this,
when scarcely yet of age, he was made an official member,
and has since served steadily in that relation.
July 8, 1858, Mr. Harper was united in marriage
to Miss Charity Ann, daughter of Frederick and
Eveline (Dial) Durrell. She is also a native of
Franklin, in Warren county, but was brought to this city
when an infant. They have had two sons and three
daughters born to them, of whom the sons and one daughter
still survive. The oldest son, E. Ambler Harper,
after graduating from the Woodward high school, entered the
Cincinnati university, where he has just completed his third
year.
(Submitted by Sharon Wick) |
GENERAL
HICKENLOOPER was born in Hudson, Ohio, August 30, 1837.
His youth was mostly spent at school till in 1854 he entered
the office of A. W. Gilbert, city engineer of Cincinnati. With
Mr. Gilbert he remained three years, being admitted into the
partnership. In 1859 he became the city surveyor, in which
position he confirmed the good opinions which has been formed
concerning his efficiency and energy as an engineer. In 1861,
under the auspices of General Fremont, Mr. Hickenlooper
recruited "Hickenlooper's battery of Cincinnati," afterwards
known as the Fifth Ohio independent battery, with which, soon
after, he went to Jefferson City, Missouri, where he was
appointed commandant of artillery at the post.
In March, 1862, Captain Hickenlooper returned to the command
of his battery, and was transferred to Grant's army at
Pittsburgh Landing. Three days after the bloody battle there,
in which he participated, General McKean appointed him
division commandant of artillery. In this capacity he served
until after the battles of Iuka and Corinth, when, upon the
complimentary reports of his superiors, he was ordered by
General Grant, October 26, 1862, to report for staff duty to
General McPherson. The connection thus began which was only
terminated by the untimely death of his chief. McPherson made
him chief of ordnance and artillery, and instructed him to
complete the fortifications at Bolivar, and still later he was
made, by General McPherson, chief engineer of the Seventeenth
army corps.
Throughout the siege of Vicksburgh, Captain Hickenlooper had charge of the engineer operations on the
front of the corps, and conducted them so well as to elicit
the warm approval of McPherson. The approaches were pushed up
until some of the enemy's guns were silenced, and a mine—the
first important one of the war —was run under the rebel works.
In his honor, General McPherson named one of the forts
"Battery Hickenlooper," and made special mention of him in his
official reports. In a letter to Halleck, General McPherson
says: "Captain A. Hickenlooper deserves special mention for
his ability, untiring energy, and skill in making
reconnaissance's and maps of the routes passed over,
superintending the repairs and construction of bridges, etc.,
constantly exposing himself day and night. He merits some
substantial recognition of his services." And again: "I write,
without solicitation, to urge the claims for promotion, by
brevet or otherwise, of one of the best, and, at the same
time, one of the most modest officers on my staff, Captain
Andrew Hickenlooper, Fifth Ohio battery. I first made his
acquaintance at Jefferson city, in 1861-2, and was most
favorably impressed with his intelligence and military
bearing. . . On assuming command at Bolivar, Tennessee, in
October, 1862, I was very much in need of an engineer officer,
and, knowing his qualifications, I applied to Major General
Grant, and had Captain Hickenlooper assigned to me as chief of
artillery and engineer officer. He has made a reputation
commensurate with the reputation of the corps. As all the Ohio
batteries of light artillery are independent batteries,'
there is no chance for him to obtain promotion in that branch
of the service, and I think it but due that the general
commanding should give him some token of his appreciation,
cheering to the heart of a soldier. I therefore respectfully
request that you will present his name for a brevet commission
of colonel or lieutenant colonel." After the fall of Vicksburgh, the board of honor of the seventeenth corps
awarded him a gold medal, on which was inscribed: "Pittsburgh
Landing, siege of Corinth, Iuka, Corinth, Port Gibson,
Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hills, Vicksburgh."
When McPherson took command of the army of the
Tennessee, Captain Hickenlooper was made judge-advocate on his
staff, and a little later chief of artillery for the
department and army of the Tennessee. In this position he
accompanied his chief through the Atlanta campaign. After
McPherson's death, when General Howard took command of the
army, Captain Hickenlooper was returned to his former position
of judge advocate, and was made assistant chief of artillery.
From this position he was relieved at the request of General
F. P. Blair, to accept the position of assistant inspector
general Seventeenth army corps, which appointment carried with
it the promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel. After the
campaign of the Carolinas was nearly over, he was recommended
for a brigadier generalship, —General Howard indorsing that he
"knew of no officer in the service whom he would more
cordially recommend." General Sherman saying: "He served long
and faithfully near General McPherson, and enjoyed his marked
confidence; is young, vigorous and well educated, and can fill
any commission with honor and credit to the service." And
General Grant saying: "He has proved himself one of the ablest
and most energetic volunteer officers, no one having the
confidence of his superiors in a higher degree." Captain
Hickenlooper was appointed a brevet brigadier general of
volunteers, May 20, 1865, and assigned to the command of a
brigade composed of the Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth, and
Sixteenth Iowa veteran volunteers. After the muster out of the
troops, he was warmly recommended by Blair, Logan, Howard,
Sherman, and Grant, for a commission as major of artillery in
the regular army, or for the office of United States marshal
for the southern district of Ohio. He was appointed to the
latter position, was soon confirmed, and at once entered upon
its duties, being at the time still under thirty years of age.
In this position he remained four years, when he resumed the
duties of city engineer. In 1872 the Cincinnati Gas Light &
Coke company solicited his services, and in order to secure
them a new office, that of vice-president, was created. After
a few years, Mr. Hickenlooper was made president of the
company, the office of vice-president having been abolished.
The duties of this position General Hickenlooper discharged
well—to the satisfaction of the company and the citizens. In
1879, General Hickenlooper was elected lieutenant governor of
Ohio, on the Republican ticket with Mr. Foster. At the time of
his nomination for lieutenant governor, one of his neighbors
said: " General Hickenlooper is the most industrious man I
ever knew. He is never idle. His popularity in Cincinnati is
great. His courtesy to everybody is proverbial, and applicants
to him for assistance are never turned away empty-handed. He
is liberal in his ideas of life, and full of charity, but in
his own habits is temperate. He has always taken an active
part in our local politics, not for fame, honor, or office,
but because he deemed it his duty as a citizen." His
nomination to the candidacy of lieutenant governor was without
his seeking or knowledge. He hesitated to accept, but once
decided, he went in to win, and, during his term of office
thus far, has fulfilled the expectations of his friends, and
confirmed the high opinion formed as to his executive and
administrative abilities.
(Submitted by Sharon Wick) |
COLONEL
C. B. HUNT was born in 1833, at Somerset, in the State
of Vermont, and soon after, his parents, Manson and
Johanna Hunt, moved to Pontiac, Michigan. In the common schools of the
neighborhood the son received the first rudiments of a plain
education. In the year 1847, when but fourteen years of age,
he volunteered in the First Michigan regiment, company C, and
went to Mexico. Here he was employed principally in escort and
guard duty between Vera Cruz and Cordova, until the cessation
of hostilities. For his services the “boy soldier” drew the
pay of a private together with a warrant for one hundred and
sixty acres of land. In 1850 Private Hunt came to Cincinnati;
but there were attractions yet remaining in the Lake State,
and returning in 1853 he was married at Royal Oak, to Miss
Ann Eliza Durkee, with whom he lived happily twenty-seven years.
The short service between Vera Cruz and Cordova was long
enough to fix Mr. Hunt's inclinations, and in 1861 he was one
of the first to respond to the call for troops, and with Captain
Burdsall got up the Independent cavalry, which was
also known as Burdsall's dragoons. Going into camp at
Carthage, near Cincinnati, the men paid all expenses,
perfected their organization, and in quick time rode away to
Buchanan, Virginia, where General McClellan was in command.
After the battle of Rich Mountain, in which he actively
participated, Colonel Hunt was designated to scout duty, he
having thirty men. He continued in this sort of service until
the expiration of his time, when he returned to Cincinnati
and, in ten days, made up a cavalry company of a hundred men.
These were for the three-years service, and went immediately
to St. Louis, where they were made a part of what is known as
“Merrill's Horse,” or Second Missouri cavalry. While in this
department of the west, Colonel Hunt served under
Generals Fremont, Sherman and Stele; and having shown a peculiar
aptness in scouting, was almost constantly in the saddle. In
1862 he was specially appointed to select his men, find the
rebel Poindexter, and “bushwhack him out of the country.” This
duty was satisfactorily done, Poindexter being constantly
harassed, thrashed unexpectedly and out-scouted and
bushwhacked, till nothing remained of him. For seven months
Colonel Hunt was in charge of the post at Glasgow, Missouri,
after which he went through the Red River campaign, in which,
as he says, he became experienced in the good, bad and
indifferent features of the cavalry service.
Colonel Hunt worked his way steadily from a private's place, a lieutenantcy, captaincy, majorship, to the position of
lieutenant-colonel. He was mustered out in 1865 at Nashville,
Tennessee, his last service being performed when the “ten
thousand rebels” surrendered at Kingston, Georgia. In 1876 he
was commissioned as colonel of the First regiment Ohio
national guards, which command he has ever since held. In 1877
this regiment was called to Columbus and Newark, where the
colonel was on duty for three weeks, while Governor Thomas L.
Young and Colonel Hunt were highly commended for their courage
and wisdom in so managing the military forces as to protect
the property and thoroughly suppress the rioters.
Colonel C. B. Hunt is now an unmarried man, his wife having
died in 1880. He is the well-known proprietor of Hunt's hotel,
on Vine street, and is a popular citizen, easy in address,
affable with all who have any business with him, and enjoys a
good reputation. The colonel is now forty-eight years of age,
trim-built, of dark complexion, and modest in his bearing and
conversation.
(Submitted by Sharon Wick) |
SAMUEL F.
HUNT.
The subject of this sketch was born at Springdale, Hamilton
county, Ohio, on the twenty-second day of October, 1845. His
parents were Dr. John Randolph Hunt and Amanda Baird Hunt,
both from New Jersey. The following is copied from the tablet
in the cemetery of Springdale:
"Doctor John Randolph Hunt, born at Cherry Hill, near
Princeton, New Jersey, July 3, 1793. Died August i, 1863. A
student of the university of New Jersey, and a graduate of the
College of Medicine and Surgery of New York, and for more than
forty years a practicing physician in the Miami valley. In his
death his family lost an indulgent husband and father, the
profession a faithful practitioner, and the community an
estimable friend and fellow citizen."
Samuel F. Hunt, son of Dr. Hunt, was early led in the paths of
learning by his parents, both of whom were persons of culture
and refinement, and under competent private instruction laid
the foundation for after eminence in scholarly pursuits. His
family connections were such as to give advantages
which he failed not to improve, and even in boyhood he became
known for the variety and extent of his information,
excellency of speech and polished address. In i860 Samuel F.
entered Miami university, at Oxford, where he remained for
nearly four years, going thence to Union college, New York,
where he completed his course and graduated under the
venerable Dr. Nott. Four years later the college conferred
upon him the degree A. M., and about the same time Miami
university awarded him a diploma as to a regular graduate of
the class of 1864, and also the honorary degree of master of
arts. After this, Mr. Hunt read law in the office of the Hon.
Stanley Matthews, and graduated from the Cincinnati Law
school in 1867.
In May of that year he started upon a European tour, visiting
the continent and thence beyond Greece, Palestine, Egypt and
Arabia. During his travels abroad, his letters were published
in the Cincinnati Enquirer and largely copied into the other
papers. Upon his return Mr. Hunt was frequently solicited and
made addresses upon his travels, which were put in permanent
form at the request of numerous auditors.
In 1867 he was nominated for the house of representatives, and in 1869 was in the senate, where, by a
vote decidedly complimentary, he was made president pro
tent, and acting lieutenant-governor. He was a member of the judiciary committee and committee on
common schools, and was the author of the university bill, the
park bill, and other measures affecting the interests of Cincinnati. When at home he was an industrious
member of the board of education. Previous to
these years, even in boyhood, his powers of oratory were
known and acknowledged, and at the outbreak of the
Rebellion his speeches were those of an uncompromising patriot, and were enthusiastically applauded. In his
own neighborhood his services are remembered in the
work of recruiting the Eighty-third and other Ohio regiments. In 1862 he went to Shiloh to care for the sick
and wounded; and afterwards, in 1865, went with General Weitzel's
advance into Richmond, where he remained several weeks, having charge of the supplies
which were furnished to sufferers in the city.
While in college Mr. Hunt was honored frequently by being
called upon to make the annual and other addresses before the
literary societies and upon great occasions, and since his
graduation he has been constantly in receipt of invitations
to make addresses, both at home and abroad. Among the
addresses which gave Mr. Hunt prominence in scholarly and
oratorical way, mention may be made of those before the Miami
literary societies during the year 1864, also before the
literary societies at Marietta college, Kenyon college,
Georgetown college (Kentucky), Williams college
(Massachusetts), the annual address before the largest
assembly of recent years in the university of Virginia, his
address with Governors Hayes and Allen at the unveiling of
the soldiers' monument, Findlay, Ohio, and that at the Grant
banquet in 1880.
In 1874, Mr. Hunt was appointed by Governor Noyes a trustee of
Miami university, and at the same time was made a director of
Cincinnati university, at Cincinnati. From that time up to the
present he has been either director or president in these
university boards, by re-appointment and re-election. Besides
serving as secretary of the agricultural society of the
county, and making speeches at the harvest home festivals in
different townships, Mr. Hunt has found some time to recreate
in politics; and since his entry therein, in 1867, he has been
known as the "Pride of the Democracy" of Hamilton county.
Although defeated in the race for representative in the year
last-named, he was elected to the State senate; his abilities
were at once recognized, and he was made president pro tern,
of that body, being the youngest man that ever occupied that
position. He was a participant in the Democratic State
convention of 1869, and served two years on the State Central
committee. In 1873 he was president of the convention
that nominated Governor Allen, and in 1874 made a speech on
the veto power, in the Ohio Constitutional convention. This
was one of Mr. Hunt's best efforts, and he refers to it, and
justly, with some pride as a good speech. In 1869 Mr. Hunt
was, while president of the senate, acting
lieutenant-governor; and ten years later was
judge-advocate-general, with the rank of brigadier general.
From the commencement of his profession with the Hon. Henry
Stanberry to the present time, Mr. Hunt has been an
industrious worker in the law, and now enjoys a lucrative and
constantly increasing practice. Still in the prime of life, of
good appearance and pleasant address, Mr. Hunt is one of the
foremost at the Cincinnati bar; and being rarely gifted with
social qualities, his home is the frequent resort of personal
friends of both political parties. Mrs. Hunt, the mother of
Samuel F., is an estimable lady, whose graces and
hospitalities will be remembered kindly by every visitor at
the old home mansion. With her son she still resides in the
comfortable "home of fifty years ago," across the street from
the academy where Governor Oliver P. Morton received part of
his early education. Here, also, under the shadeshadetreestrees of Mrs.
Hunt's home may be seen the first classical academy in this
neighborhood, and near by the little church, from which, as
Mrs. Hunt relates, the first missionary was sent from the
west to the far east. On the brow of a hill on the outskirts
of the village, may be seen the spot where Elliott was killed
by the Indians in 1794. The ancestors of Hon. Samuel F. Hunt,
whose sketch is thus hurriedly written, were related to the
active patriots of the Revolution, the grand-sires on part of
both father and mother having fought in the battles at
Princeton and Monmouth Court House; and when the pioneer days
of Hamilton county are recalled, and reminiscences verge on
the history of noble fathers on Revolutionary fields, the
conversational powers of Mrs. Hunt are displayed in the best
light, and in the charm of personal narration one may easily
perceive that the honorable eminence of the son is largely due
to the rare mental qualities and superior culture of the
mother.
(Submitted by Sharon Wick) |
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