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CHARLES P. WICKHAM,
who by the consensus of public opinion is regarded as a high type of
American manhood and citizenship, has for many years been engaged in the
practice of law in Norwalk and throughout the entire period has been
numbered among the representative members of the Huron county bar. His
birth occurred in this city, Sept. 15, 1836. He is the oldest of the
thirteen children of Judge Frederick and Lucy (Preston) Wickham,
both of whom were descended from Puritan ancestry. In the paternal
line was Governor Winthrop, an early colonial governor of
Massachusetts. The first representative of the Wickham family in the
middle west was William Wickham, a native of Rhode Island,
who with an instinctive love of the sea, settled on the shores of Lake
Ontario at Sodus Point. His four sons, John, Thomas,
Frederick and Samuel Wickham, were there
reared and when they had attained their majority, all except Thomas removed
to Huron, situated on one of Lake Erie's natural harbors. Samuel
Wickham sailed on the lakes, being thus engaged up to the time of
his death. John Wickham engaged in lake commerce and
was also the owner of one of the largest fish packing establishments on the
lake. Frederick Wickham removed to Norwalk and later
became proprietor of the Norwalk Reflector, a paper which had been
established as the Huron Reflector by Samuel Preston, whose
daughter Lucy he had married. In the roomy, old-fashioned house in the
center of the town, the upper floor of which was used as a printing office,
were born the six sons and seven daughters of this marriage.
The number included Charles P. Wickham who, after acquiring
his early education in the public schools, attended the Norwalk Academy.
He longed for a college education, but the expense attending, the support of
a large family, prevented the father from enabling the son to carry out his
wishes in this direction. He prepared for a professional career by
attending the Cincinnati Law School, from which he was graduated in April,
1858. He then entered upon the active practice of his profession in
his native state and, with the exception of the period spent at the front
during the Civil war, has been a continuous representative of the Huron
county bar to the present time. He is widely recognized as one of the
most important, best known and highly respected lawyers in this part of the
state, confining his attention to the active practice of his profession.
He is the president and director of the A. B. Chase
Company, of Norwalk, manufactures of pianos.
In
August, 1860, Mr. Wickham was united in marriage to
Miss Emma J. Wildman, a daughter of Frederic A. and
Mariette (Patch) Wildman, natives of Danbury, Connecticut. By
this union there are six living children, four sons and two daughters,
namely: Charles P., Jr., who is a general life insurance
agent at Norwalk; Grace W., the wife of C. C.
Curran, a well known artist of New York city; Louis W.,
an attorney at law and late prosecuting attorney of Huron county.
Winthrop H., a mining engineer and merchandise broker, now
residing in Denver, Colorado; Romeyn D., a practicing
attorney, who is now in partnership with his father; and Mary G.,
at home.
In September, 1861, Mr. Wickham
bade adieu to his young wife and with patriotic ardor, offered his
services to the government, enlisting as a member of the Fifty-fifth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for four years. He rose from
private through the ranks of first lieutenant, captain and major to that of
lieutenant colonel, receiving in addition thereto a brevet commission direct
from the president, "for gallant and meritorious services in Georgia and the
Carolinas." He participated in a number of important engagements,
including the second battle of Bull Run, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg,
Mission Ridge, Resaca, Peach Tree Creek and all of the campaign from
Chattanooga to Atlanta, including the siege and surrender of the latter
place, followed by the march to the sea, which exposed the weakness of the
southern Confederacy. He inspired the soldiers under him with much of
his own valor and bravery and made a most creditable record throughout his
long military experience. He is a valued member of the Grand Army of
the Republic and the Loyal Legion.
At the close
of the war Colonel Wickham returned to Norwalk and entered
upon the private practice of his profession. In 1866, he was elected
prosecuting attorney of the county and two years later was re-elected, so
that his incumbency continued until 1871. In 1880, he was elected
judge of the common pleas court of the fourth judicial district, was
re-elected in 1885, and sat upon the bench until 1886, when he resigned to
become a candidate for congress from the fourteenth district. He was
elected in that year and re-elected in 1888, proving an active working
member in the national halls of legislation. It is a notable fact that
to each office to which he has been called, he has also been re-elected -
proof positive of his ability and fidelity in the discharge of his duties.
His entire official service has been in the direct path of his profession
and the record is an untarnished one. Since his retirement from
office, he has continuously and successfully practiced in Norwalk and has
ever maintained a foremost place i the ranks of her leading attorneys.
He is a man of broad scholarly attainments, an able speaker at the bar, in
congress and on public occasions on which he has been called to address the
people at large. He stands as a splendid representative of American
manhood and citizenship, a high type of the Christian gentleman who is
actuated in all that he does by lofty purposes and principles.
SOURCE #2
- History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. II - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago -
The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page 11 (Photo available) |
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F.
E. WILCOX, who was born December 4, 1843, in Peru township, is a
grandson of Daniel Wilcox. Asahel Wilcox, father of
subject, was born September 2, 1805, at Gorham, Ontario Co., N. Y., and
migrated to Ohio in 1820.
On March 28, 1832, he married Emily Adams, and
they located in Peru township, Huron county, where, with the exception of a
short time passed in Crawford county, Ohio, he resided until his death,
which occurred during the cholera epidemic of 1849. His widow lives
with her son, F. E. Wilcox, on the home farm.
Mrs. Emily Adams Wilcox was born September 27,
1814, at Rowe, Franklin Co., Mass.; her father, Henry Adams, was born
in 1790 in Marlboro town, Windham Co., Vt., an was, while still a youth, a
school teacher in that place. On October 14, 1813, he married Annis,
daughter of Simeon Barr, who was also born at Rowe, Mass., and a year
later set out for that portion of Ohio known as the "Firelands," leaving his
young wife and infant daughter Emily at Rowe, until he could
prepare a home for them in the wilderness. He took with him, on this
long journey, a load of tinware, which he sold on his arrival in Cleveland,
and then proceeded to what is now Peru township, Huron Co., Ohio, where he
laid the foundation of his western home on a part of the farm now occupied
by his grandson, F. E. Wilcox, and was the earliest pioneer of this
division of Huron county. Some time later his wife and child and a
party of relatives arrived. They journeyed on a wagon from
Massachusetts to Buffalo, N. Y., where the team "gave out," compelling the
young mother and the adults of the party to walk to the Adams settlement in
Peru. The original home was constructed with poles and bark, but later
a substantial log cabin was built, near the site of the present Wilcox
residence. The children born to Henry and Annis (Barr) Adams,
were Emily, who married Asahel Wilcox; Caroline, born in Peru
township February 27, 1818, married S. D. Seymour, and died in Taylor
county, Tex.; Levi, born December 27, 1820, died when seven months
old; Simeon F., born October 28, 1821, died in infancy; Franklin
L. C., born June 5, 1823, died in 1840; Jane, born April 6, 1825,
married Eliphalet Adams, and died at Norwalk, Huron county; Levi,
born July 20, 1827, died in 1829; and Alonzo and Melissa (twins),
born April 15, 1830, the former of whom died May 29, 1865.
Mr. Adams resided here until his death from
paralysis, May 24, 1881. He settled in the forest when there was only
one house at Norwalk and one at Sandusky, endured all the trials and
privations common to the pioneer, and yet, beyond the ordinary "chills and
fever" which attacked strong and weak without distinction, he never suffered
from illness until paralysis came to carry him off. He was not only a
pioneer in name but also in fact. He encouraged improvements in
agricultural methods, and was the first to introduce mowers, reapers and
other implements of husbandry into Peru township. He set out the first
seed for fruit trees, ordering the seeds from Vermont. A consignment
of seeds went down in Lake Erie with the vessel on which they were shipped,
but a day later the wreckers rescued the freight and everything which
escaped dissolution in the waters was sent to its destination. From a
bag of seeds recovered at that time, the fruit trees on the present Wilcox
farm sprung. Mr. Adams was a Democrat in early years; but about 1856
he joined the Whig party, and afterward became a strong Abolitionist.
He was a conductor on the "Underground Railroad, " and had his own depot for
concealing refugee slaves. He taught the first school in Peru
township, assembling the pupils in his own log cabin. He was one of
the earliest adherents of Methodism, and helped to establish and sustain the
house of worship in Peru village, from 1824 until he joined the new
denomination, in which he remained to the period of his death.
F. E. Wilcox, whose name appears at the head of
this sketch, received his primary education in the schools of Peru township.
When he was six years old his father died, and the lad was reared at the
home of his grandfather. On November 6, 1873, he married Dorcas A.
Perry, who was born October 15, 1848, in Peru township, a daughter of
Daniel and Elizabeth (Tillson) Perry. The children
born to this marriage are named as follows: Frank T., born
September 9, 1874; Charles N., born October 6, 1876; John N.,
born January 27,1879; Perry E., born March 3, 1881 (died August 5,
1882); Fred E., born February 27, 1883; Bert O., born March
14, 1885, and Fanny E., born April 17, 1887. Since 1849 Mr.
Wilcox has lived on the old Adams homestead, giving close attention to
agricultural affairs. Politically he is Republican, and is actively
interested in the success of his party. In church connection he is a
leading member and officer in the Methodist Episcopal Society, in which he
is class-leader, steward and trustee. A descendant of the pioneers of
Peru township, and successful in all his undertakings, he is a man of
influence here, one whose good citizenship has never been questioned in any
particular. He is a great reader, and is thoroughly posted on all
matters relating to the United States. |
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