REV. WILLIAM JOHN SHUEY, [pages 188-189] financial agent of the United Brethren Publishing House, and a representative citizen of Dayton, Ohio, was born at Miamisburg, Montgomery county, Ohio, February 9, 1827, and is the son of Adam and Hannah (Aley) Shuey. The father was born in Pennsylvania and in 1805, when six years of age, came with his father, Martin Shuey, to Montgomery county. His death occurred in Dayton in 1881. The mother was born in Maryland, and in 1805, at the age of six years, came to Montgomery county with her father, Isaac Aley, who settled near Dayton.

Rev. William J. Shuey was educated in the common schools, and at an academy in Springfield, Ohio, near which city he subsequently taught school for a time. He was converted, and became a member of the United Brethren church in 1843, received license to preach from the Miami conference in 1848, and was ordained in 1851 by Bishop Erb. He was pastor at Lewisburg, Ohio, from 1849 to 1851; at Cincinnati from 1851 to 1859, and at Dayton from 1860 to 1862. From 1862 to 1864 he was presiding elder. In 1854 he was appointed the first missionary of the church to Africa; and in 1855, in company with Rev. D. K. Flickinger and Dr. D. C. Kumler, he made a voyage to the "Dark Continent" for the purpose of selecting a site for a mission.

In 1864 Mr. Shuey was appointed assistant agent of the publishing house at Dayton, Ohio, and in 1865 was elected senior agent, and by the successive resignations of two assistant agents, became sole agent in 1866, a position he has since occupied. Rev. Shuey has been a delegate to seven general conferences and the secretary of one; a member of the board of missions twenty-six years; one of the first directors of the church erection society; for twelve years from its organization, the superintendent of the General Sabbath-School association, and, since 1880, has been its treasurer. For four years he was a member of the board of education; for fourteen years a trustee of Otterbein university; a member of the executive committee of Union Biblical seminary; a member of the church commission, and since 1889 one of the newly incorporated board of trustees of the church. He has been a trustee of the First United Brethren church of Dayton for many years, a member of the Montgomery county Bible society and a president of the Dayton United Brethren Minister's association.

In 1859 Rev. Mr. Shuey became the joint author, with Rev. D. K. Flickinger, of a volume entitled "' Discourses on Doctrinal and Practical Subjects." He has been the editor of the year books of the church, with the exception of a few numbers, since their first publication in 1867, and of the general conference minutes since 1865.  He has contributed an article on the United Brethren church to McClintock & Strong's Cyclopedia, has issued a number of pamphlets, and has written constantly for the Religious Telescope. In 1880 the title of doctor of divinity was conferred upon him by Hartville university, but was declined.

Rev. Mr. Shuey has served as a member of the Dayton board of education and on the board of trade for a number of years. He is a director of the Fourth National bank, and vice-president of the Union Safe Deposit & Trust company, of Dayton, and has occupied other positions of trust in the city. In 1848 Mr. Shuey was married to Miss Sarah Berger, of Springfield. Those of their children who are still living are Edwin L., who has charge of the book department of the United Brethren Publishing company, and William A., who is editor of book literature of the same establishment. Mr. Shuey's prominence and usefulness in the community of which he is an honored citizen cannot be estimated from the mere recital of the official positions he has filled, either in the church, in business circles, or in public life.  He is an active power for good in every educational and philanthropic movement in Dayton, and his integrity of character, his wise judgment, his strong common sense, inspire the confidence and win the sincere respect of good citizens of every class and creed.

WILLIAM P. CALLAHAN, [pages 190-193] banker and manufacturer, of Dayton, Ohio, was born in county Armagh, Ireland, on February 10, 1833, and is the son of James and Jane Callahan. The Callahan family came to the United States in 1848, and settled at Shippensburg, Pa., where the parents resided for many years. Before leaving Ireland, William P. Callahan had acquired the foundation of a common-school education, and to this he added by attending the common schools of Shippensburg. Before completing his schooling, however, he left school to serve an apprenticeship at the trade of cabinetmaking, which trade he mastered. Before attaining his majority, young Callahan began to dream of what he might accomplish in the west, and in 1853 he left his home in Pennsylvania, coming to Ohio, and settled in Dayton, then considered a western town by the people of the east. Here he found employment in the furniture factory of M. Ohmer, where for a time he and Judge Dennis Dwyer worked together at the same bench. In 1854 these two young men—Callahan and Dwyer— went west to Iowa, where they worked at their trade for about eight months, when they returned to Dayton. Mr. Callahan then entered the shops of Chapman & Edgar, of Dayton, where he learned the trade of pattern-making. He left that firm in 1855 to accept the foremanship of the pattern shops of Thompson, McGregor & Co., on Third street, by which firm he was employed for two years. In 1857 he became a member of the above firm by the purchase of John Clary's interest therein. In 1862 the senior member of the firm died, and in 1868 Mr. Callahan bought out the interest of McGregor and became sole proprietor of the works. In 1876 Mr. Callahan admitted as a partner Thomas DeArmon, and the firm became that of W. P. Callahan & Co. In 1885 William K. Callahan, son of W. P. Callahan, was admitted to the firm, the firm name remaining as above. This business was originally founded in 1841 on Shawnee street, between Wayne and Wyandotte streets, on a very small scale, and gradually grew into its present large proportions. In 1856 it was removed to its present location on East Third street, where the company has one of the largest and most important manufacturing plants in Dayton or the state of Ohio. In February, 1865, Mr. Callahan made a second business venture, becoming one of a party of five gentlemen who established the Miami Valley Boiler & Sheet-Iron works, under the firm name of McGregor, Callahan & Co. A few years later Mr. Callahan purchased the interest of Mr. McGregor, but later sold his own interest and retired from the firm.

In 1873 W. P. Lewis and Mr. Callahan built what is known as the Lewis paper-mill, on Monument avenue, which has been a success, and is now owned by Mr. Callahan. In 1883 Mr. Callahan bought a controlling interest in the Ohio Paper company, at Miamisburg, Ohio, which has been running successfully ever since. He has been a stockholder and director of the Cooper Insurance company since its organization, and since the death of Col. D. E. Mead has been its president.  He has also served as a director in the Dayton Gas Light & Coke company for twenty years.

For many years Mr. Callahan has been identified with many of the leading financial institutions and insurance companies of Dayton, either as an officer, director or stockholder. He was for some years a director and large stockholder of the Dayton National bank, which position he resigned a few years since, becoming associated with the City National bank, with which he had been identified since its organization, and on January 10, 1894, he became its president.  For many years Mr. Callahan has been a holder of valuable city real estate, improved and unimproved.  His first notable purchase of real estate was that of the Main street business and office property, on Main street between Second and Third streets.   In 1890 he began the erection of the Callahan bank building on the corner of Third and Main streets, which was completed in 1891, and is today one of the most conspicuous business buildings in the city.  In 1859 Mr. Callahan was married to Elizabeth Keifer, who was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1834, and is the daughter of Philip Keifer. Her father is one of the oldest living pioneers of Dayton.  He was born in Maryland in 1801, and came to Dayton at a very early date in the history of the city.

To Mr. and Mrs. Callahan the following children have been born: Will K., Charles, Lillie and Cora, the latter daughter deceased. The business career of Mr. Callahan is one most worthy of record and is a marvel in its way. Greater fortunes have been accumulated, but few lives furnish so striking an example of the wise application of sound principles and safe conservatism as does that of W. P. Callahan. The story of his success is short and simple.: It contains no exciting chapters, but in it lies one of the most valuable secrets of the prosperity which it records.  Beginning with no capital save brains, energy, integrity and rugged health, and building up the great business which bears his name, his business life is pregnant with interest to the public.   He is truly a self-made man in the broadest sense of that often misapplied term. When he came to Dayton forty-three years ago he was only a young, inexperienced cabinet-maker, with no money and few friends. Yet he has in that it time built up one large and successful manufactory, and has contributed to the success of a dozen other enterprises. Today he is the head and controlling spirit in one of the leading; manufacturing plants in the state, and president of one of the leading and most substantial banking houses in the city, and is prominently identified with other important concerns, all of which have been of great benefit to Dayton in a material and lasting way. Mr. Callahan's life has been a most active and busy one, but he has not permitted business to interfere with his duties as a citizen.  He has always been found on the right side of public questions having for their aim and object the building up and beautifying of his adopted city. His views on public matters have always been broad and liberal, tempered with conservatism. While progressive, he is prudent, ambitious, yet cautious. As a man, Mr. Callahan possesses characteristics which have won for him the friendship of the leading citizens of Dayton, and the admiration of all who know him.  Personally he is pleasant, agreeable and always approachable, fond of humor, and with a desire to make life enjoyable for himself and all with whom he comes in contact. Though in his sixty-third year, and after a life of activity and constant business occupation, Mr. Callahan is in the enjoyment of all his physical and mental faculties, and is a striking example of the well-preserved, progressive and representative men of Dayton.

JOHN A. McMAHON, [pages 193-195] one of the leading members of the Dayton bar, and ex-member of congress from the Third Ohio district, was born in Frederick county, Md., on February 19, 1833.  His father, John V. L. McMahon, of Baltimore, was a distinguished lawyer, ranking among the leaders of the Maryland bar. John A. McMahon, at an early age, was sent to St. Xavier's college, Cincinnati, where he graduated in 1849, after a full collegiate course.  He remained at that Institution as a teacher until June, 1850. In 1852 he came to Dayton and became a law student in the office of the Hon. C. L. .Vallandigham, who married the sister of his father. He was admitted to the bar in 1854, and immediately formed a partnership with Mr. Vallandigham. Thorough preparations and diligence as a student enabled him at once to achieve a high position at the bar, and a general reputation in the community that secured a large and important practice.   He was not infrequently, before he was twenty-five years of age, opposed in the trial of causes to some of the most able lawyers of the state; upon one occasion, in the year 1859, trying an important case at Dayton in opposition to Judge Thurman, then in the zenith of his reputation at the Ohio bar, in which Mr. McMahon was successful.   After Mr. Vallandigham's entrance into official political life, Mr. McMahon practiced alone for a time, and in 1861 formed a partnership with the late George W. Houk, which continued until January, 1880. On the 23d of January, 1861, Mr. McMahon married Miss Mollie R. Sprigg, of Cumberland, Md., a lady belonging to one of the oldest families in that state.

Mr. McMahon persistently declined all political preferment up to the year 1872, when he was elected a delegate at large by the democratic state convention of Ohio to attend the democratic national convention held at Baltimore in that year. He several times refused a nomination for congress from the Dayton district, but in 1874, after he had been nominated in spite of his declination, his acceptance was so strongly insisted upon that he consented to make the canvass. The district at that time was largely republican, but he was elected by a majority of nearly eleven hundred votes. In the first session of the first term (Forty-fourth congress) he was one of the managers of the Belknap impeachment proceedings, and upon the organization of the management of the conduct of the trial Mr. McMahon was selected chairman of the sub-committee to try the case. During the same session he was appointed upon a special committee to investigate the St. Louis whisky frauds.  He was afterward appointed by the house one of the committee of fifteen to investigate the presidential election in the state of Louisiana prior to the counting of the electoral vote, of which committee Mr. Morrison, of Illinois, was chairman.

Mr. McMahon was renominated without opposition for a second term by the democratic party, and was re-elected to the Forty-fifth congress. Upon the organization of the session Mr. McMahon was, assigned to a position upon the judiciary committee on accounts. During the session he was also selected as one of the Potter investigation committee. During the congress the undetermined questions connected with a distribution of a remainder of the Geneva award fund, amounting to nearly ten millions of dollars, were referred to the house judiciary committee.  It soon became apparent that there would be so wide a difference of opinion in the committee as to necessitate two reports, one from the majority and one from the minority.  The minority report was drawn and reported by Mr. McMahon, and was signed by Fry, of Maine; Butler, of Massachusetts; Conger, of Michigan; and Lapham, of New York. It was adopted by the house, and the principle of this report was subsequently enacted into a law.

In 1878, though desirous of retiring from public life, Mr. McMahon was again unanimously renominated and elected to the Forty-sixth congress. During his third term he was a member of the committee on apportionment. At the expiration of his last term, in 1881, he resumed his practice in Dayton, at which he has been continuously engaged ever since. After the election of a democratic state legislature in 1889, Mr. McMahon was a candidate for the nomination, by a caucus of his party, for United States senator, receiving the vote next highest to that of Hon. Calvin S. Brice, who was chosen and elected.

Mr. McMahon's political service was characterized by ability and a broad scope of usefulness, reflecting credit upon himself and honor upon his constituents. As a lawyer his career has been abundantly successful. The secret of his prominence in the profession does not lie alone in his strong natural endowments, his breadth of mental grasp and intellectual vigor. It may be found in the fact that he has always been a close and conscientious student, not only of text books, but of the reported decisions of both English and American courts, so that he is today familiar, in a marked degree, with case-law, as well as the underlying legal principles. Industry, method, thoroughness, intense application—these are the habits which Mr. McMahon has brought to the practice of the law, and which, exerted upon the operations of a keen and alert intellect, have placed him in the front ranks of the lawyers of Ohio.

JOHN C. REEVE, M. D., [page 195] the oldest and most prominent physicians and surgeons of Dayton, Ohio, was born in England, June 5, 1826. When six years of age he came with his father's family to America, their residence being taken up in Cleveland, Ohio. At the age of twelve years young Reeve was thrown upon his own resources by the death of his mother, and by financial reverses to the family.  Up to this time he had enjoyed good school privileges in the common schools of Cleveland. Following the death of his mother he apprenticed himself to become a printer, and spent several years in the office of the Cleveland Advertiser and Herald. While thus employed he fitted himself for teaching school, which occupation he followed for a time as the means of improvement and education. He read medicine with Dr. John Delamater, professor of obstetrics in the medical department of Western Reserve college, Cleveland, from which institution he graduated. In 1849 Dr. Reeve began the practice of medicine in Dodge county, Wis. Some years later he visited Europe for the purpose of further study of his profession, and after passing the winter in London and a summer at the university of Gottingen, Germany, he returned to this country, and in the fall of 1854 located in Dayton, where he has since practiced.   Dr. Reeve is a member of the Montgomery Medical society, of which he has several times been president. He is also a member of the Ohio State Medical society, the American Medical association and the American Gynecological society, of which he was one of the founders. He has made numerous reports of important professional cases, and has been a frequent contributor to the leading medical journals of the country. On August 10, 1849, Dr. Reeve was married to Emma J. Barlow, of Cleveland, Ohio. To this union two sons and two daughters have been born, namely: Charlotte E., now the wife of Frank Conover, attorney, of Dayton; John C., Jr., practicing physician and surgeon, of Dayton; Mary S., now the wife of Robert E. Dexter, architect, of Dayton; and Sidney A., professor of mechanical engineering in Worcester Polytechnic school, Worcester, Mass.

HON. LEWIS B. GUNCKEL, [pages 195-196] lawyer and ex-member of congress, was born in Germantown, Montgomery county, Ohio, October 15, 1826. His grandfather, Judge Philip Gunckel, and his father, Colonel Michael Gunckel, were among the first settlers of Montgomery county. Mr. Gunckel graduated at Farmers college in 1848, and from the Cincinnati Law school in 1851, and in the same year was admitted to practice. In his early professional life he was associated with Hiram Strong, and laid the foundation of a practice which, through his fidelity, industry. and ability, has grown to be as important as any ever enjoyed at the Dayton bar. In 1862, Mr. Gunckel was elected to the Ohio state senate.  He served there during the years of the war, was chairman of the judiciary committee, and during the entire period especially distinguished himself in furthering legislation favorable to the soldiers and their families. He introduced a bill for the establishment of a state soldiers' home, another for a bureau of military statistics, and in all that concerned the welfare of the soldiers in the field he was especially conspicuous and efficient.  In 1864, he was a presidential elector, and canvassed the state for Mr. Lincoln.  He was influential in the inauguration of measures for the establishment of the soldiers' home in Dayton, and was appointed one of its first board of twelve managers. He held this position for twelve years, during ten of which he was secretary of the board and local manager.

In 1871, Mr. Gunckel was appointed by President Grant special commissioner to investigate frauds upon the Cherokee, Creek and Chickasaw Indians, upon which subject he made a valuable report, which led not only to the detection and punishment of the guilty parties, but to important reforms in the Indian service.  In 1872 he was elected to congress, served on the military committee, voted to repeal the salary-grab law of the preceding congress, and declined to accept the increased pay to which he was entitled under that law. Since Mr. Gunckel's retirement from congress he has been more especially identified with his profession and devoted to its practice.  He was for three successive years a delegate from the Ohio state bar to the National Bar association, and was for the same period treasurer and member of the executive committee of the latter. In 1884 he was nominated by his party for congress, but persisted in his refusal to accept the nomination, thus making another convention and nomination necessary.

Mr. Gunckel's public services have been varied and important; and those most highly appreciated by the community, as well as most satisfactory to himself, were rendered in connection with the soldiers' home. He has been long known as one of the leading members of the Dayton bar, and so recognized throughout the state.

In his latter years, as he has gradually become less absorbed in the routine of professional work, he has given much thought and study to the improvement of municipal conditions in Dayton, and to the moral and material advancement of the city. He is prominent in all movements looking to the public good, and in these activities is rounding out a most useful public career.

Mr. Gunckel was married in 1860 to Kate, daughter of Valentine Winters, a prominent capitalist and banker of Dayton.

WILLIAM HAVELOCK CRAWFORD [pages 196-199] president of the Dayton Last works, and one of the city's representative manufacturers, was born on West Second street, Dayton, November 22, 1863. His father was the late Charles H. Crawford, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work, and his mother was Sarah (Thresher) Crawford, a daughter of the late Ebenezer Thresher, and a sister to E. M. Thresher, of Dayton. Mrs. Crawford's death occurred in 1880. She was one of Dayton's well-known and beloved women, and her death was universally regretted.

William H. Crawford was reared in Dayton, and received his preliminary education at the Second district school. Subsequently he attended the Cooper academy, and later took a course at the Miami commercial college. In 1883 he began working in the last factory of Crawford, Coffman & Company. During the first four years of his service in the factory, he filled various positions, working in all the departments of the factory and acquiring a general knowledge of the business.  Having become thoroughly familiar with all details of the work in the factory, young Crawford was taken into the office of the company as book-keeper. While employed in this capacity he had charge of the sales of the goods to a considerable extent. Later he traveled in the interest of the firm.  Upon the death of the father, in 1887, Mr. Crawford succeeded to his interests and took general charge of the business, which during the past nine years has increased some ten-fold, a fact which indicates clearly the possession of fine business ability by Mr. Crawford.

In 1886 the firm of Crawford, Coffman & Company sold out to the firm of Crawford, McGregor & Canby, which partnership continued until April, 1896, when the company was incorporated under the firm name of the Crawford, McGregor & Canby company, consisting of W. H. Crawford, as president; John McGregor, vice-president and general manager, and W. J. Blakeney as secretary and treasurer. The other members are Edward Canby, W. H. Kemper, and 0. A. Woodruff. In 1884 Mr. Crawford was instrumental in organizing the Last Makers' National association, consisting of thirty-seven members, and of this association he was the first president and was three times re-elected to that position.  Mr. Crawford is a director of the Dayton Computing Scales company, is a director of the Dayton board of trade, and a director of the Homestead Aid association.   He is a member of the Y. M. C. A., and of the First Baptist church. Mr. Crawford was married on November 4, 1886, to Mary A., daughter of D. 0. Cunningham, a prominent glass manufacturer of Pittsburg, Pa., and to their union the following children have been born: Marie Madeleine, Charles Henry, and William Harelock.

W. H. Crawford is recognized as one of Dayton's most successful manufacturers and most useful citizens. The enterprise of which he is the head and guiding spirit, is one of the city's most important industries, as well as the largest plant of its kind in the United States, and is well known wherever the manufacture of shoes is carried on. Though comparatively a young man Mr. Crawford has demonstrated that he is a man of more than ordinary business ability, the best evidence of which is the uniform success that has been enjoyed by the Dayton Last works under his management. As a citizen Mr. Crawford is active, liberal minded, and public spirited. He is to be found always on the side of progress, and always ready to do his full share towards the building up and development of the Gem City and the advancement of its welfare.

CAPT. EPHRAIM MORGAN WOOD, [pages 199-200] a prominent business man of Dayton, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, January 24, 1838. His father was Dr. William Wood, an eminent member of the medical profession, a writer upon professional and general subjects and a distinguished educator, occupying a chair in the Cincinnati Medical college. Capt. Wood's mother was the daughter of Ephraim Morgan, a well-known citizen of Cincinnati, one of the originators of the Cincinnati Gazette, and a lineal descendant of Capt. Miles Morgan, one of the founders of Springfield; Mass., in 1636, and a brave officer in the Indian wars, to whom a statue has been erected in the most prominent square of Springfield.

Capt. Wood graduated from Yale college when nineteen years of age.  He studied law with the late Justice Stanley Matthews, of the U. S. supreme court. Soon after his admission to the bar, he was appointed by President Lincoln a captain in the Fifteenth United States infantry and served in the war of the Rebellion on the Mississippi until the breaking down of his health compelled his resignation from the army. He married Miss Victoria H. Clegg, of Dayton, Ohio, and after his retirement from the army returned to this city, with which he has since been prominently identified in business and public affairs.

For six years Capt. Wood was president of the board of education, and for seven years occupied a similar position in the city council. Upon the reorganization of the municipal government he accepted the office of president of the board of police directors. During his term in the board of education, in conjunction with Robert W. Steele and other leading members, he introduced the office of superintendent of schools and established the Normal school.

Capt. Wood is a director of the Winters National bank and of several large manufacturing corporations. He holds a number of the most prominent offices in the Episcopal church in the diocese of southern Ohio; is an officer in the Ohio Society of Colonial Wars and of the Sons of the Revolution, and is a Companion of the Loyal Legion.

In every official relation sustained toward the city of Dayton, Capt. Wood's services have been marked by sound judgment, strong business sagacity and a broad and public-spirited conception of official duty.  His services upon the board of police directors, of recent date, were most valuable in the reorganization of that most important municipal department ; while his earlier labors upon the board of education and in the city council reflected great honor upon himself and were of most marked benefit to the community.  He is actively interested in every movement looking to the betterment of municipal conditions, and is recognized as one of Dayton's most influential citizens. Capt. Wood is an able and accomplished public speaker. Many of his addresses, delivered in this city and elsewhere, have been published and widely circulated.

JUDGE JOHN ALLEN SHAUCK, [pages 200-201] of Dayton, Ohio, is a native of the Buckeye state, and was born in Richland county, March 26, 1841. His parents, Elah and Barbara (Halderman) Shauck, were born in Pennsylvania—the father in York county in 1806, and the mother in Lancaster in 1802, and both were children when brought to Ohio by their respective parents, who settled in Richland county, in that particular portion which was afterward selected, in 1848, to become a component part of Morrow county. The marriage of these parents took place in Richland county in 1829, when they at once settled on a farm, on which they passed the remainder of their days, the death of the mother occurring in January, 1862, and that of the father in October, 1875. The six children born to this marriage were named, in order of birth, as follows: Jacob, who is now a merchant of Kendallville, Ind.; Mrs. Rebecca Coe, of Morrow county, Ohio; Moses, in the insurance business at Newark, Ohio; John A., the subject of this memoir; Sarah, who died after reaching the years of maturity, and Martha Johnstone, of Ringgold county, Iowa.  In politics, the father was a strong republican, was utterly inimical to the institution of slavery, and died an honored and respected city Zen, his philanthropic principles having gained for him the esteem of the most enlightened residents of Morrow county, which was, in its early days, a cradle of abolition.

The early education of John Allen Shauck was acquired in the common schools of Johnsville, Morrow county, and was supplemented by a classical course of five years at Otterbein university. In 1865 he entered the law department of the university of Michigan at Ann Arbor, from which he graduated in April, 1867. Soon thereafter he located in Dayton and for two years practiced law on his own account, establishing in this brief period an enviable reputation in his profession. He then formed a partnership with Judge Samuel Boltin, and this firm, which long stood in the front rank of the legal profession, continued until February 8, 1885, when Judge Shauck was called upon to assume his duties on the bench of the circuit court. Here he served with eminent ability until February, 1895, when his strong judicial qualifications and fine reputation were recognized and rewarded by his elevation to the office of judge of the supreme court of the state of Ohio.

Judge. Shauck was most happily united in wedlock, at Centralia, Ill., June 1, 1876, with Miss Ada May Phillips, who was born in Bond county, Ill., May 26, 1855, a daughter of Charles W. and Eliza D. (Marshall) Phillips, natives of Fayette county, Pa. To this union two children have been born, of whom one, Helen C., still lives to bless the home of her parents, but Perie, the younger of the two, is deceased.

Politically, Judge Shauck is a republican. As an attorney and as a jurist he has few equals in the state of Ohio, and as a man his life has been so pure, simple and unostentatious as to win the respect of all who have ever met him. In the short term of his service, up to this time, upon the supreme bench, the strength, clearness and courage of his decisions have won him the admiration of the entire bar of Ohio. They give evidence of a broad and safe knowledge of legal principles and of a fine discrimination in their application. The characteristic style of Judge Shauck's opinions, their virile, nervous English, the absence of doubt or compromise in their conclusions, mark their author as one of the ablest judges known to the history of Ohio's highest tribunal.

BENJAMIN B. CHILDS, [pages 201-202] member of the board of water-works trustees of Dayton and general foreman of the Barney-Smith Car works of the same city, was born in Livermore, Androscoggin county, Me., August 29, 1825 . He is a son of Godney and Mary (Marsh) Childs, both of whom are now deceased. Receiving his early education in the district schools, he left home when ten years old and hired out to work on a farm. In 1841 he left his home in Maine and went to Worcester, Mass., where he again was employed on a farm, and there he remained thus engaged, working on different farms, for two years, and then began to learn the carpenter trade in Worcester. In 1845 he began working at car building, and in 1856 removed to Dayton, Ohio, where he became employed in the car shops of Barney & Parker, now the Barney & Smith Car Co. From that time up to the present day, a period of forty years, he has been continuously in the employ of this same company. At first he was made foreman of the freight car department, being subsequently promoted to the position of foreman of the passenger car department, and for the past twenty-five years he has been general foreman of the shops.

Mr. Childs was married at Worcester, Mass., January 12, 1851, to Annis E. Howe, a native of Leicester, Mass., who died in June, 1894, leaving three children, as follows: Edward E., who is engaged in railroading; Adaline M., who married Will D. Huber, of Dayton, and Charles, draughtsman in the car shops of the Barney & Smith Car Co.

Mr. Childs was elected to the water-works board of Dayton in April, 1890, was re-elected in 1893, and again in 1896, and during his last term has served as president of the board. He is a member of the Knights of Honor, and is in every way a man worthy of the highest, regard and esteem.

JOHN W. STODDARD, [pages 202-205] a prominent citizen and president of the Stoddard Manufacturing company, of Dayton, Ohio, was born in this city on the first day of October, 1837, and is the son of the late Henry Stoddard, a pioneer citizen and distinguished lawyer of Dayton, of whom a sketch appears on another page of this volume.

John W. Stoddard was prepared for college in the private schools of Dayton, and spent his freshman and sophomore years at Miami university. He next entered the junior class at Princeton college, where he was graduated in the class of '58. Determining to adopt the legal profession as a calling, Mr. Stoddard entered the Cincinnati Law school, from which he was graduated in 1860. He practiced law in Dayton for two years, with every probability of success, after which he decided to abandon the legal profession for a business career, and in 1862 began the manufacture of linseed oil in partnership with his brother Henry, and Charles G. Grimes, under the firm name of Stoddard & Grimes. That business was continued for three or four years when it was enlarged, and the manufacture of varnishes was added, the firm also dealing by wholesale in paints, oils, window glass, etc., under the name of Stoddard & Company (which business is continued at the present time by the Lowe Brothers' company). Mr. Stoddard retired from connection with the above business in 1869, disposing of his interest to his brothers, Henry and E. Fowler Stoddard, and in the same year began the manufacture of agricultural implements in partnership with John Dodds, under the firm name of John Dodds & Company. This firm continued business for five. years, and was succeeded by that of J. W. Stoddard & Company, the other members of which were E. Fowler Stoddard and William A. Scott. This firm was followed, in 1884, by the incorporation of the Stoddard Manufacturing company, of which Mr. Stoddard became, and has ever since been, the president and principal stockholder. This is one of the principal manufacturing plants of Dayton, and one of the largest in its line in the world. Mr. Stoddard is also president of the American Stoker company, of Dayton; president of the Milburn & Stoddard company, of Minneapolis; vice-president of .the Milburn Wagon company, of Toledo; and vice-president and acting president of the Pasteur Filter company, of Dayton. He holds a directorship in the following corporations: The Fourth National bank, the National Improvement company, of which he is president; the American Carbon company, the Davis Sewing Machine company, all of Dayton, and in the Indiana Iron company, of Muncie, Ind. He is also president of the Dayton club, the leading social organization of the city.

Mr. Stoddard was married in May, 1861, to Susan, daughter of Daniel Keifer, one of the old citizens of Dayton, and to this marriage the following children have been born: Charles G., vice-president and superintendent of the Stoddard Manufacturing company; Mrs. Charles M. Nash and Misses Alice and Florence.

John Williams Stoddard was named for his grandfather, John Williams, a pioneer of Dayton.  His ancestry comprises a long line of prominent names, in many instances distinguished in the history of this country.

As a business man Mr. Stoddard has been cautious, conservative, but courageous.   He possesses to a marked degree what is known in the commercial world as "nerve." This element in his character has been wisely tempered with sagacity, and most excellent judgment. He commenced his business life most admirably equipped. Educated in the best school of this country, and with that further legal training which so thoroughly disciplines the mind, few men have enjoyed better preparation. Today the sixtieth milestone is nearly passed and the period of retrospect has arrived. The future in Mr. Stoddard's business life is assured, and the pages of the past disclose a career of unvarying success.   President and principal stockholder of one of the largest manufactories of its kind in the world, and identified with the management of many of Dayton's largest industries and financial institutions, .he may indeed view the present and review the past with feelings of becoming pride.

Socially those who know Mr. Stoddard well know him with ever increased attachment, His long, assiduous attention to business left little time for him to cultivate extended social relations. The formation of the Dayton club within the last few years has brought Mr. Stoddard more prominently in contact with his fellow citizens and he has become one of its most popular members.  His social qualities have thus become more generally known and recognized. Strong in his attachments, firm, decided and sincere in character, he well deserves his position of prominence; and influence in his native city.

He enjoys a beautiful home on a hillside of Dayton, from which is presented a kaleidoscopic view of progress and development, in which he is and has been a prominent factor.

WILLIAM M. MILLS, [pages 205-206] vice-president and general manager of the Globe Iron Works Co., of Dayton, Ohio, is one among the old and well-known citizens of the Gem City.  Mr. Mills was .born in Wythe county, Va., of French-Welsh origin, and is of the fourth generation since the first of his ancestors settled in Albemarle county, Va.  His grandfather, Menan Mills, was an ensign during the Revolutionary war, and was with his regiment at the surrender of Yorktown, Va.  He lived to reach the age of eighty-nine years, and during the last year of his life rode horseback from Lexington, Ky., to the western part of Montgomery county, Ohio, intending to remain in this county during the winter. But about three months after his arrival he was taken sick, and after a few days' illness died.

The father of William M. was the Rev. John I. T. Mills, who married Maria Galladay, daughter of Maj. Galladay, of Augusta county, Va., and a few years later removed to Lexington, Ky., whither he had been preceded a few years by his father and two brothers. Rev. Mills began the realities of life as a minister of the M. E. church and a teacher, in both of which callings he became one of the most successful in Kentucky. He was a man of fine physique, and exceedingly fond of athletic sports, taking part with his pupils at play during recess. Although very strict during study hours, he was the idol of his students.  During the cholera epidemic of 1833 he suffered from a very severe attack of that disease, from which he never fully recovered, and died eighteen months afterward, at the age of forty-six years, in the full promise of his manhood. At the time of his death and for several years prior thereto, he was professor of Greek and Hebrew in the seminary at Harrodsburg, Ky., a school which he had founded on his own account. Rev. Mills was considered one of the leading educators in the state of Kentucky. He was a natural orator, a doss student, a fine instructor, and withal a true type of the Christian gentleman. After the death of Rev. Mills his widow, with her five children, two sons and three daughters, removed to Jackson township, Montgomery county, Ohio, where she purchased a farm and began farming, although her eldest son, Jewette M. Mills, was but seventeen years of age, and her youngest, William M., was not yet fourteen. These two boys took charge of the farm, and so successfully did they manage it that they greatly surprised the neighbors. Fortunately for his family, Rev. Mills was very fond of farm life, and had for many years owned and cultivated a good farm, so his boys were no strangers to their new duties.

W. M. Mills remained with his mother until he reached his eighteenth year, and having by that time made up his mind that farming was not his choice of business, with the consent of his mother and brother, he went to learn the carpentering trade with a neighbor.   After working as an apprentice for about two years young Mills concluded that he would be something more than a country carpenter, and consequently came to Dayton to finish his trade. After completing his apprenticeship and working as a carpenter for a few years Mr. Mills determined to seek employment in some branch of manufacturing, where there would be an opportunity of advancement, and so obtained a place as pattern-maker. A few years later he purchased an interest in an iron foundry and machine business, forming what afterward became the firm of Stout, Mills & Temple, the successor to which firm is now the Dayton Globe Iron Works Co., which was formed in 1890, at which time Mr. Mills was made secretary. In 1891 he was made vice-president and general manager. Mr. Mills was made an elder in the Presbyterian church when he was thirty-five years of age. He is now one of the ruling elders of the Third street Presbyterian church.

Mr. Mills was married on October 28, 1845, to Margaret Bowersock, daughter of David Bowersock, who was of German descent, born in Northumberland county, Pa., and settled in Miami county, Ohio, at an early date. Mrs. Mills was born in Miami county in December, 1822, and Mr. and Mrs. Mills have lived to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.  To Mr. and Mrs. Mills the following children have been born: Annie M., widow of Samuel Steele, son of the late Dr. Steele, of Dayton ; David T., now engaged in the wood pulp manufacturing business in the state of Maine; Belle W.; William H., who died in his thirteenth year ; Edna L., now Mrs. E. P. Matthews, of Dayton, and Gussie L.

When Cincinnati was menaced by Gen. Kirby Smith, Mr. Mills organized a company of 103 men, two lieutenants and a drum corps, was commissioned captain by Gov. Tod, and assisted in repelling the rebel invader. In about 1870 Mr. Mills was elected to the Dayton city council, and was chosen president of that body. He has also served a number of times as chairman of county conventions.

ALVAN A. SIMONDS, [pages 206-207] manufacturer of machine knives, Dayton, was born at Fitchburg, Mass., January 28, 1841. His father was Abel Simonds, a scythe manufacturer of that place. Alvan grew to manhood in his native state, and when sixteen years of age, learned the trade upon which his present business is based.   He worked at it for four years, and then, in company with his brother, George F., opened a shop at home, remaining in business there for ten years. The firm was known as Simonds Brothers, and subsequently was organized into a joint-stock company, under the name of the Simonds Manufacturing company, of which Mr. Simonds became the trusted and efficient treasurer.

The firm of Simonds Brothers commenced business with ten men in their employ, and in 1874, when Mr. Simonds resigned his position as treasurer of the company, the force had been increased to 125 employees, and the amount of business to $200,000 annually. In the year last named Mr. Simonds came west, seeking a location for the establishment of a new plant of the same character.   On his arrival at Dayton, he was so impressed with the industrial outlook that he determined to locate himself in this city. He erected his present shops in Dayton View, and his success has fully justified his decision.

In 1861, Mr. Simonds enlisted in company B, Fifteenth regiment Massachusetts volunteer infantry, and served in the Second corps, army of the Potomac. After a term of three years in defense of the Union, he was honorably discharged and returned home. He is a member of the Old Guard post, G. A. R., of Dayton.

Mr. Simonds was married, in 1865, to Miss Marcella C. Willard, a native of Leominster, Mass. Of the five children born to them, four are living—Caroline J., Cora B., Herbert R., and Ethel G.; Bessie E. being deceased.

Mr. Simonds, in starting, upon a modest scale, the knife manufacturing plant which has grown into a large and prosperous industry, introduced a new feature into the business activities of Dayton. To every detail of its development he gave the most watchful care and judicious direction, and in a few years of residence here, he took place among the sound and reliable business men of the city. At the time of his retirement, by reason of ill health, from the personal and active management of his business, he was recognized in the community not only as a prominent and influential factor in the industrial life of Dayton, but as one of her most useful and liberal citizens. The establishment of the Deaconess hospital was largely due to the untiring labors of Mr. Simonds, who was the first president of the board of trustees and so continued until 1896, when the failure of his health precluded his further service. He has been identified with very many of the charitable and benevolent movements in Dayton, wherein his good judgment and his generosity have been equally appreciated.

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