WIILLIAM J. BLAKENEY. [pages 280-283] Among the representative business men and manufacturers of Dayton is William J. Blakeney, secretary and treasurer of the Crawford, McGregor & Canby company, manufacturers of lasts.   Mr. Blakeney is a native of Canada, having been born in Toronto, Ontario, February 9, 1851, in which city his parents were temporarily residing, his father at that time being a member of the firm of Mason, Cook & Blakeney, iron founders, who had gone from Springfield, Ohio, to establish their business in Toronto.  In 1853 or 1854 the parents returned to Springfield, Ohio, where the James Blakeney Foundry company was a well-known establishment, and it was in that city that William J. Blakeney was reared and partially educated, he attending both private and public schools.

At the age of seventeen Mr. Blakeney left. school and went to Rochester, N. Y., joining; an uncle in business in that city. Subsequently he became a partner in the business and finally purchased the interest of his uncle and became sole proprietor.  He met with success, and, but for a strong desire to be nearer his. parents and his old home, that would probably have been his life work.  Mr. Blakeney remained in business in Rochester until the fall of 1878, and then disposing of his interest he returned to Ohio.  Locating in Columbus he embarked in business, but a year later left that city and went to Chicago, where he formed a partnership for the sale of church supplies. In. 1886 he removed to Dayton and accepted a position with the company then doing business as Crawford, McGregor & Canby.  Mr. Blakeney's first efforts with this company were devoted to the planning and putting into effect of an entirely new system of records.  He shortly after became the financial and credit manager of this concern, and upon its incorporation, in 1884, was made a director and secretary and treasurer, which position he has since held.   To Mr. Blakeney is due, in a great measure, the admirable system which is found in the numerous records and general methods in use by his company.  The system of accounting, with its vast number of statistics ever ready at hand in the general offices at Dayton, is also the system in use at the mills of the company in Michigan, where there is a large interest, and is original.  The entire business. is made historical, and comparisons with former years, months or days, are easily effected. This concern is one of the principal industries of Dayton, and one of the largest of its line in the world, and Mr. Blakeney, as secretary and treasurer of the same, has demonstrated that he is possessed of more than ordinary administrative talent.   He is progressive, energetic and enterprising, both as a business man and as a citizen, and in both capacities he takes rank with the influential and representative men of Dayton, where he has a large circle of friends and acquaintances.  He is a member of the Present Day club, in the meetings of which he takes a deep interest.

Mr. Blakeney was married, in 1879, to Margaret A., the daughter of Virginia A. Sanford, of Dayton.  To this marriage two children have been born—Virginia and Sanford.

COL. JEROME B. THOMAS, [pages 283-284] who at present occupies the distinguished position of governor of the central branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Dayton, Ohio, was born in Luzerne county, Pa., March 26, 1835, and is a son of Isaac and Lydia A. (Beers) Thomas, the former of whom was born in Vermont in January, 1809, and the latter in Washington county, N. Y., in 1816. These parents, after a married life of over sixty years, died in Wyoming, Stark county, Ill., in 1895. having removed there from the Keystone state in 1844.

Isaac Thomas was of Welsh extraction and descended from a family who established a colony in New England in the early colonial days.  His early life was passed on a farm, but his maturer years were devoted to merchandizing. To his marriage were born five sons and four daughters, the eldest of whom is our subject; Charles C. and Lewis W. were gallant soldiers in the late Civil war, and now reside in Illinois and Colorado, respectively; William D. is a resident of Missouri; Allen E. is president of the Ohio Rake company, with his home in Dayton, Ohio; Mary W. is the wife of Dr. A. M. Pierce, an ex-surgeon of the late war and a practicing physician of Wyoming, Ill.; Fanny W. is married to Rev. W. W. Woolley, of the Methodist Episcopal church, Rock Island, Ill. district; Olive E. resides in Boston, Mass., and Kate A. lives in Wyoming, Ill.—the last two named being unmarried.

Col. Jerome B. Thomas is an educated physician, having first studied medicine in the office of Dr. William Chamberlain, of Toulon, Ill.; he afterward graduated from the Jefferson Medical college, of Philadelphia, Pa., and in the same year, 1858, entered upon the active practice of his profession in Wyoming, Ill., where success attended him until, at the opening of the Civil war, he was, on the 3d of March, 1862, appointed assistant surgeon of the Twenty-fourth regiment, Illinois volunteer infantry, and served in the army of the Ohio and the army of the Cumberland throughout the war.  After the first year he was detached from his regiment to serve in the responsible position of surgeon in charge of government hospitals in Bowling Green. Ky., and in Gallatin, Tenn., where he also served as acting medical director on the staff of Gen. Paine; later, he was appointed chief executive officer of the Cumberland United States army general hospital, at Nashville, Tenn.  At the close of hostilities he engaged in the practice of his profession in Wyandotte, Kas., until the fall of 1867, when he was appointed treasurer of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, at Dayton, Ohio, which position he held until the death of Gen. M. R. Patrick, governor, in July, 1888, when he succeeded to his present important office of governor of that institution. Col. Thomas was most happily married, in Illinois, in 1860, to Miss Harriet N. R. Tasker, a native of New Bedford, Mass., and this union has been blessed with three children, viz: Jerome B., Jr., a physician of New York city; Alice and Carlotta W., both at home and both liberally educated. The son received his literary education in the university of Michigan, from which famous institution of learning he graduated with the degree of A. B.; his professional education was acquired at Long Island (N. Y.) College hospital, where he became so proficient that he is still retained as an instructor therein.

Col. Thomas stands high in the Masonic fraternity, having attained the thirty-second degree, beyond which very few Masons advance: he is also a member of the military order of the Loyal Legion, of the United States, and a charter member of post No. 5, Grand Army of the Republic, at the home. In this connection it may not be improper to add a brief historical sketch of this noble institution. The central branch national home for D. V. S. was first located at Columbus, Ohio, in March, 1867, and in the fall of the same year was removed to the present location near Dayton. It was the second home established under the provisions of the revised statutes, section 4830, approved March 21. 1866.  Previous to its becoming a national home, it was operated for a short time at Columbus under the jurisdiction of the state of Ohio, as a state soldiers' home.  We believe the only officer now connected with the home who assisted in the original organization and who was transferred to Dayton with it, is Mrs. E. L. Miller, the matron, who has spent the greater part of her life in ministering to the wants of the disabled soldiers, having been during the entire war, 1861-5, connected with hospital and sanitary commission work.

In 1867 the home grounds comprised 355.25 acres—costing $45,700.  In 1869, 30 acres were added, at a cost of $3,600; in 1873, 101.07 acres were added at a cost of $19,190; in 1879, 44.45 acres were added, at a cost of $8,000; in 1880, 31.94 acres were added at a cost of $4,791; in 1881, 13.41 acres were added at a cost of $3,084.30; and in 1886, 1.35 acres were added, at a cost of $1,080.

The citizens of Dayton contributed $20,000 as part payment for land, which money was applied to general purposes. The total cost to the United States, of 577.47 acres, was $85,445.30. The buildings are valued at $1,339,862.17. The average cost per capita, for maintenance in the various branches, for the year ending June 30, 1894, was $127.45.

The present official staff of the central branch is as follows: Governor, Col. J. B. Thomas; treasurer, Maj. Milton McCoy; quartermaster, Capt. James C. Michie; commissary of subsistence, Maj. Alvin S. Galbreath; assistant adjutant-general, Maj. Carl Berlin; inspector, Col. John W. Byron; surgeon, Dr. D. C. Huffman; matron, Mrs. E. L. Miller; Protestant chaplain, Rev. Ezekiel Light, D. D.; Catholic chaplain, Rev. C. S. Kemper, D. D.

The former governors of the central branch were as follows: Maj. E. E. Tracy, first governor, appointed April 12, 1867; Gen. Timothy Ingraham, appointed December 6, 1867; Col. E. F. Brown, appointed Octobers, 1868, now inspector-general of the national homes for D. V. S.; Gen. M. R. Patrick, appointed September 23, 1880, and died in office, in 1888; Col. Jerome B. Thomas now being in command as his successor.

HERBERT A. CRANDALL, [pages 284-285] business manager of the Brownell & Company, and member of the board of education of the city of Dayton, was born in western New York, July 3, 1844. .He is a son of Joseph and Marcella (Putnam) Crandall, the former of whom was a native of the state Of New York and the latter of Vermont. The Crandall family were originally from England, the first of the name to come to America reaching here late in the seventeenth century and locating in Rhode Island. One branch of the family went from Rhode Island into New York and another into New Jersey. The branch to which Herbert A. belongs were manufacturers and merchants.

The early years of Joseph Crandall were spent in the woolen manufacturing business, but later in life he embarked in merchandizing, continuing to reside in the state of New York all his life, and dying in that state in 1872. His wife, Marcella Putnam, was a direct descendant of Gen. Putnam of Revolutionary fame.  Her ancestors went from Vermont to New York.  She is still living, and at this time, April, 1896, is visiting her son, Herbert, in Dayton.

Herbert A. Crandall first attended the public schools, and afterward received a collegiate education. At the age of twenty-two, in 1866, he left his home in the state of New York and went to Illinois, where he spent two years in the newspaper business. Returning to New York, he remained in that state for about four years, part of the time being employed in teaching school, and the remainder in mercantile pursuits.   Locating in Dayton, Ohio, in 1872, he there engaged in railroading and continued thus engaged for five years, since which time he has been engaged in manufacturing, For fourteen years he was with the Stoddard Manufacturing company, and in October, 1895, became business manager of the Brownell & Co., and a stockholder and director of that corporation.

Mr. Crandall was appointed to the board of education in October, 1895, to fill a vacancy, and was elected to the same place in 1896. He is a member of the Present Day club and of the Garfield club, the latter an association of republicans.  He was married, in 1869, to Miss Alice J. Phillips, of New York. To their marriage there have been born two daughters, Ella and Jessie.  Mr. Crandall is interested with several other gentlemen in growing coffee in Mexico, they together owning a plantation of about 100,000 trees, which began bearing in the season of 1896.  Mr. Crandall and his family are members of the Third, formerly the Park, Presbyterian church, and stand high not only in religious but also in social circles.   

Mr. Crandall is recognized as one of the most progressive and thoroughly qualified members of the board of education. His services on behalf of the Dayton schools have been laborious and fruitful of good results, and their value is appreciated by all citizens concerned in the advancement of the educational interests of the community.

JOHN S. BECK, M. D., [pages 285-287] one of the prominent physicians of Dayton, was born May 19, 1842, on a farm three miles west of Lancaster, Ohio, of German parentage. His father, Jacob Beck, was but eighteen months old when he was brought to this country by his parents. He was born in .1804, and is still living, at the great age of ninety-three. In his early life he was a blacksmith, and served two terms as treasurer of Fairfield county, Ohio. After retiring from this position he engaged in farming three miles west of Lancaster, where he has spent the rest of his life, and where he has become the owner of 700 acres of land in one body. He has always been regarded as one of the most honest and capable men of his county, and has been called on to act as administrator in the settlement of many estates.

Jacob Beck married Miss Susan Kerns, a daughter of Jacob Kerns, an old settler of the county, and to this marriage there were born seven, children, as follows: Mary A., wife of Zebulon Peters, who lives two miles west of Lancaster; George W., farmer, living three miles west of Lancaster; Jacob K., a farmer, living three miles west of Lancaster; Henry S., president of Pierce National bank, of Pierce, Neb.; Joseph, a Lutheran minister of Richmond, Ind.; John S.; and Clara, deceased wife of William Huges, who lives three miles west of Lancaster, Ohio. John S. Beck, M. D., worked on his father’s farm in the summer time until he was sixteen years of age, and parts of the fall and spring seasons, attending school in the winter months. When sixteen years of age his father sent him, with his brother, Joseph, now Rev; Joseph Beck, of Richmond, Ind., to the Capital university at Columbus, Ohio, where he became a member of the freshman class. Remaining in the university in regular attendance in his classes, he was in the senior class in 1862, when the war fever so took possession of him that he left school, returned to his father's home at Lancaster, and there, on the 20th of August, enlisted in company D, Ninetieth Ohio volunteer infantry, then being organized at Circleville, Ohio. This regiment was assigned to the army of the Cumberland, and in this department of the service it remained throughout the war, participating in all the battles that were fought by that organization from August, 1862, to June, 1865, from Louisville, Ky., to Atlanta, Ga. He was mustered out at Nashville, Tenn., June 13, 1865, having in the meantime been promoted to the position of first lieutenant.

Returning to peaceful pursuits, he studied medicine, beginning in August, 1865, and graduating from the medical department of the university of Pennsylvania in the spring of 1868, and locating in Miamisburg, Montgomery county, in the spring of 1869. Not being satisfied with his location in Miamisburg, he removed to Dayton in December, 1870, and has now practiced his profession there for more than a quarter of a century, his office during all that period being on Fifth street, somewhere between Jefferson and Ludlow streets.  For fourteen years he was a member of the board of United States. pension surgeons, serving through President Cleveland's first term by the endorsement and courtesy of the influential democrats of the county.  He has served a term as a member of the board of health, has twice been chosen physician to the county jail, is a member of the county Medical society, and has been twice elected to the presidency of that body.  He is a member of the Ohio state Medical association, of the Mississippi valley Medical society, and was a delegate from Montgomery county to the ninth international medical convention, which met in Washington, D. C., in 1887. For five years he served as visiting physician to Saint Elizabeth hospital, but resigned this position on account pf his own very large private practice. After this he was given a position on the consulting staff. Dr. Beck was one of the building committee in the erection of the Deaconess hospital of Dayton, and has put forth every energy in forwarding the success of the institution, which is one of the great benevolences of the city in which the entire community takes pride. To Dr. Beck much credit is due for its being how in existence. He is at present the chief of staff of this hospital, and is also supreme medical director of the supreme council of the Fraternal Censer of Dayton.

Dr. Beck was married to Miss Sarah A. Work, daughter of John and Mary (Webb) Work, of Lancaster, Ohio, she being of English and Irish descent. Dr. Beck and his wife are the parents of two daughters, Clara Lusetta and Mary. His family is one among the best in Dayton, its members moving in the refined and cultivated circles of society.  They are highly esteemed and respected for their personal and social qualities, and have many warm friends among all classes of people.

WILLARD D. CHAMBERLIN, [page 287] vice-president of the Beaver Soap company, of Dayton, Ohio, was born at Ketchumville, Tioga county, N. Y., August 13, 1858. He is a son of Samuel and Caroline (Swan) Chamberlin, the former of whom was born in 1827, and lived at Vestal Center, Broome county, N. Y., for some thirty years. He was an academic scholar, and taught school for twenty-one terms, two or three years of which time was in the Titus district at Middletown, Ohio, after which he returned to the east. He was otherwise a farmer by occupation, and in politics a prominent republican, especially in local affairs. He was asked to become a candidate for the general assembly of the state, but declined. For some thirty years he was a deacon in the Baptist church, and died in 1892. The family, as the name may indicate, is of English origin, and is, beside, one of the oldest in this country, the great-great-grandfather, William Chamberlin, coming from England previous to and being a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The mother of Willard D. is now living in Waverly, Iowa, with a daughter. She and her husband were the parents of four children, as follows: Willard D., Alma M., wife of Dr. Osment, of Waverly, Iowa; Samuel S., a manufacturer of table slides, of Dayton, Ohio; and Carrie L., the latter dying in early childhood.

Willard D. Chamberlin was educated in the district schools of the state of New York, and afterward attended the high schools of Binghamton, N. Y., where he received a liberal education, being also assisted by his father, who was not only well educated himself, but strongly believed in educating the young. After his school days were over he removed west in 1877, and located in Dayton, taking a clerkship in the office of the Great Western Dispatch, where, he remained until 1881, when he accepted a position as traveling salesman for Thresher & Co. This position he retained until 1885, when he became associated with Mr. Beaver in the manufacture of soap, the name adopted by the company being Beaver & Co. Mr. Chamberlin took charge of the office business and also acted as traveling salesman. In 1893 this firm was incorporated under the name of the Beaver Soap company, and Mr. Chamberlin became the vice-president of the company, which position he still holds. He has shown himself to be one of the most progressive young business men of Dayton, and in politics is a stanch republican, though never a seeker after office.

Mr. Chamberlin was married September 5, 1888, to Miss Mary Hinkley Sumner, daughter of Dr. E. G. Sumner, of Mansfield Center, Tolland county, Conn., and to this marriage there have been born two children, viz: Mary Louise, born September 14, 1889, and Edwin Sumner, born November 1, 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlin are members of the First Baptist church of Dayton, which was organized in 1829, and he is one of its deacons. Mr. Chamberlin’s residence is at No, 110 Central avenue, Dayton, where he and his family are surrounded by a great number of friends, all of whom entertain for them the highest regard.

A. LINCOLN BOWERSOX, [pages 287-289] art photographer, of Dayton, Ohio, with his studio in the Canby building, was born in Snyder county, Pa., 'March 1861. He is a son of Isaac and Mary Anna (Yeisley) Bowersox, both of whom were of German descent.  His great-grandfather, George Adam Bowersox, came from Saxony to this country, locating in Snyder county, Pa., where the family has since lived, following agriculture in the main, although some of them have adopted the learned professions, as the ministry, school-teaching and the law.  Isaac and Mary A. Bowersox were the parents of seven children, as follows: Sabilla, wife of William Knapp, of Centerville, Snyder county, Pa.; Serenus, a merchant of Centerville ; A. Lincoln, the subject of this sketch ; Jennie, wife of Kiefer Trautman, of Mifflinburg, Union county, Pa.; Henrietta, wife of James Spangler, a teacher, of New Berlin, Pa.; Emma Charilla, wife of John Bolig, of Shamokin, Pa., and Clara Verdilla, wife of G. Edward Mohn, telegraph operator at Muncy Valley, Pa.

A. Lincoln Bowersox was reared to farm life until he was fifteen years of age. In the meantime he had attended the public schools. At fifteen he entered the boarding school at Selin's Grove, Pa., remained there one year, and then attended high school one year at Centerville.  When seventeen years old he came to Ohio, locating at Fremont, and there learned photography. After thus spending some eighteen months, he visited various cities in Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as in the eastern states.  He then spent some time in Europe, gaining knowledge pertaining to his profession, and in 1884 located in Dayton, Ohio, opening a studio at the corner of Main and Second streets, where he remained until 1894, when he removed to his present location. His studio occupies the entire sixth floor of the Canby building, and is one of the most complete anywhere to be found.

Mr. Bowersox was one of the organizers of the Ohio Fruit Land company, located in Ft. Valley, Ga., the farm containing 1,850 acres and being the largest orchard in the country at the time the company was formed. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Dayton Canning and Packing company, having been one of the organizers of this concern. He is a director of the Dayton Building and Loan association. In 1894 Mr. Bowersox served as secretary of the Photographers' association of Ohio, in 1895 was its president, and is at present secretary of the Photographers' association of America. He is in possession of medals earned in competing with others in photography, one given in Germany in 1894, also one in 1896, and had medals awarded him at the semi-centennial of photography held in Boston in 1889. He also has a prize medal won at Columbus, Ohio, in 1894, and another awarded at Saint Louis, Mo., by the National association.  He is recognized as among the leading artists of America, his work being reproduced in journals and periodicals throughout the United States and Europe, as specimens of masterpieces in the photographic art.

Since 1884 Mr. Bowersox has given much attention to music, both vocal and instrumental.  He is a member of the Philharmonic society, and as such attended the world's fair at Chicago in 1893. Fraternally he is a past chancellor of lola lodge No. 83, Knights of Pythias, and also belongs to the Royal Arcanum, of which he has lately been honored with the collectorship. He has served in the Fourth regiment, 0.. N. G., Hamilton light artillery. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and maintains himself in good standing in all the societies and organizations to which he belongs.

Mr. Bowersox was married April 19, 1893, to Miss Lizzie Gazell Stern, daughter of Sumner S. Stern, of Cleveland, Ohio. He and his wife are members of the First Baptist church, of Dayton. For a period of two years he was president of the Berean bible class, and has served as superintendent of the Browntown Sunday-school, and also of a Sunday-school in North Dayton.  In the Young Men's Christian association he is a most active worker, being on the committee of the junior department.

HORACE A. IRVIN, [pages 289-290] secretary of the Lowe Bros. company, of Dayton, Ohio, was born in Morrow, Warren county, February 17, 1855, and is a son of James B. and Ellen (Monfort) Irvin.

Andrew Irvin, grandfather of Horace A., came from Londonderry, Ireland, and settled in the state of Pennsylvania, where he married a lady of German descent, and to this union were born thirteen children.  By calling he was in his early years a farmer, but in later life established an inn, or hotel, in which enterprise he prospered.  He was a soldier in the war of 1812, did good and faithful service, and eventually came to Ohio and settled in Ross county, where he died at the advanced age of eighty-nine years, his wife living to be over ninety years old.

James B. Irvin, father of Horace A., was born in Kingston, Ross county, Ohio, in April, 1827, and there grew to manhood; but, as his earlier years were passed in hard toil on the home farm, his education was somewhat neglected until after he had reached his majority, when he attended subscription schools and academies, and qualified himself for school-teaching, having earned the requisite means for the payment of his instruction fees through his daily labor. He began to follow this profession at Morrow, Ohio, and taught also at other points in the state until 1856, when he came to Dayton, and for six years was principal of one of the city schools.  He then entered the employ of Winthrop B. Smith & Co., of Cincinnati, as general agent .for the sale of their school books in Ohio, and with this firm he remained, throughout its various changes, until his death, which occurred in February, 1885.  Mr. Irvin had filled during his very useful life the office of county school-examiner of applicants for the position of school-teacher, having been appointed, year after year, by both the republican and democratic county officials. He was a knight templar in the Masonic order, was a member of. Saint John's lodge (third degree), and also a member of the I. 0. 0. F. His wife, Ellen (Monfort) Irvin, died in 1875, at the age of forty-five years, in the faith of the Presbyterian church. To Mr. and Mrs. James B. Irvin were born four children, viz: Julia, wife of William T. Wuichet, of Dayton; Horace A.; Obed W., probate judge of Montgomery, county, Ohio, and James M., traveling salesman for the Lowe Bros. company.

Horace A. Irvin graduated from the Dayton high school at the .age of sixteen years, and entered Miami university, at Oxford, Ohio, with the sophomore class; he then taught school for a short time, and in the fall of 1873 went to Chicago, where he was employed as bookkeeper for Charles A. Gump & Co.; in the spring of 1874 he returned to Dayton and entered the service of Lowe Bros. as assistant bookkeeper, passed through various stages of employment, as general bookkeeper, traveling salesman, special partner, and, December 15, 1887, became a general partner, attending to the correspondence of the firm, its advertising, etc.  On the incorporation of the company, in. 1893, he was elected and has ever since been its secretary. In 1896 he was appointed by Gov. Bushnell as a trustee of Miami university.

In his fraternal relations, Mr. Irvin, in 1878, was made a member of Mystic lodge No. 405, F. & A. M., of Unity chapter No. 16, Reese council No. 9, and in January, 1879, he became a member of Reed commandery, K. T., No. 6; the same year he took all the Scottish rite degrees at Cincinnati, and is a charter member of all Scottish rite bodies in Dayton. He is now thrice potent grand master of Gabriel lodge of Perfection, and at Buffalo, N. Y., in September, 1895, was elected inspector-general, thirty-third degree (the highest), by the supreme council of northern jurisdiction.

Mr. Irvin has been twice married, his first marriage having taken place, in 1878, to Miss Ella K. Jewell, who died in April, 1880, the mother of one child—Ella Marian. His second marriage, which occurred in 1883, was with Miss Carrie K. Kneisley, and this union also has been blessed by the birth of one child —Martha Monfort.  Mr. and Mrs. Irvin are members of the Third street Presbyterian church, of which he is a trustee, and have their home at No 213 North boulevard.

CHARLES EDWARD PEASE, [pages 290-293] president of the Buckeye Iron and Brassy works, of Dayton, was born at Carrollton, Montgomery .county, Ohio, on August 20, 1836, and is the son of the late Horace and Sarah L. (Belville) Pease. Horace Pease was born in Connecticut in 1791, and came to Ohio in 1816, locating first at Cincinnati. In 1823 he came to Montgomery county, locating on Hole's creek, where he established a fruit distillery, making peach and apple brandy. Subsequently he removed to Carrollton, where he carried on the distillery and milling business for a number of years, and in 1838 he came to Dayton. Upon locating in the city he built the Pease mill on the corner of Third and Canal streets, which is now owned by Joseph R. Gebhart, and for about thirty years the firm of H. & P. Pease, of which he was the head, conducted the largest distillery and milling business in Ohio. He was one of the prominent business men of Dayton during his time, and was connected with a number of enterprises, among them being the old State bank, of which he was a director from the time of its organization until it was merged into the Dayton National bank, and of the latter he was a director up. to the time of his death. Horace Pease took an active interest in public affairs, both of the county and state, and represented Montgomery county in the Ohio legislature for a term of years.  He also served on the board of county commissioners, and was a member of that board when the old stone court house was erected, the designs for which he made, and in the building of which he took a deep interest. He was a member of the Old School Presbyterian church. He retired from active business in about 1854, and died at his residence in this city in 1875.  His wife, who was born at St. George's, Del., in 1810, was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. Her death occurred in 1862. Six children were born to the parents : as follows: Walter B. Pease, deceased, who served during the Civil war and was a captain in the regular army; Charles Edward Frank, who died young; Josephine, who married James Stockstill, of Dayton; Nannie, who married Horace Phillips, of Dayton, and Hattie, deceased, who married Charles B. Clegg; of Dayton.

Charles E. Pease grew up in Dayton, his parents having removed here when he was but two years of age. His boyhood days were spent in a manner common to youths of his time and station of life.   He attended the private schools! of the late E. E. Barney and was also a pupil of the Second district public school, when that school was taught by Thomas Hood, and of the high school when James Campbell was principal and John W. Hall, assistant principal.  During the years 1855 and 1856 he attended the university of Wisconsin at Madison, leaving college, however, in his senior year.  During the years 1853-54 and part of 1855, young Pease worked in the machine shops at the trade of a machinist, leaving the shops for college. In 1857 he made his first venture in a business way by engaging in milling at Fulton, on Rock river, Wisconsin, where he continued with varying success for two years, coming thence to Dayton to pursue a similar business. In 1861 he entered the firm of W. B. Pease & Co. of which the Buckeye Iron and Brass works are the successors, and took charge of the business of that firm when his brother, Walter B., reported with his company to Columbus at the beginning of the: late Civil war. The following year, however, he himself entered the service of his country and was assigned to duty in the quartermaster department at Nashville, Tenn., under Capt. Charles T. Wing, with whom he remained until the close of the war. In 1865 Mr. Pease located to Memphis, Tenn., where he engaged in the wholesale grocery business, and so continued for three years.  In 1868 he was appointed to a position as gauger in the United States revenue department with headquarters at Cincinnati. He remained in the government service for about two years, and in 1870, returned to Dayton and purchased the interest of S. D. Grafflin in the firm of Hoglen & Grafflin, the firm becoming Hoglen & Pease, builders of machinery, especially of tobacco machinery. In June, 1876, Mr. Pease purchased the business interests of his partner and organized the Buckeye Iron and Brass Works, which company was incorporated with himself as president. The other officers of the company at the present time are Edward G. Pease, vice-president, and William B. Andersen, secretary.  The business operations of the company are in the line of the manufacture of brass goods for engine builders and steam fitters, tobacco cutting machinery and linseed oil and cotton seed oil machinery, all of which are manufactured under patents controlled by the company. The Buckeye Iron and Brass works rank among the largest and most prosperous industries of Dayton, and of the enterprise Mr. Pease has become an important component part. Under his skillful management and guiding hand, the works have grown and expanded from year to year from a small and unpretentious machine shop into one of the largest and most successful manufacturing plants in a city noted for its manufacturing and industrial interests. Mr. Pease is also a director and stockholder in the Dayton Natural Gas company, and has other business interests of importance.

Mr. Pease was married in Cleveland; Ohio, on October 3, 1855, to Laura G., daughter of John Erwin, one of the pioneer citizens of the Forest city, and to this union two sons have been born—Calvin E. and Edward G.

In 1882 Mr. Pease was elected to the city council of Dayton, and was again elected to that body in 1896.  Mr. Pease is a Mason and is quite prominent in Masonic circles.  He is a Master Mason, a Knight Templar, a Scottish Rite and a Mystic Shriner.

The life of Mr. Pease has been an active one, and merited success has crowned his efforts. Early in life he manifested those traits of character which have, colored his whole career—perseverance, sagacity, foresight and pluck—and he has steadily progressed along those lines of business which have not only brought to him success, but have also aided materially, in advancing the interests of the community.  His concern in the welfare, growth and prosperity of Dayton, his generous contributions of both time and money in behalf of all movements looking toward the benefit of the city, have placed him in the front rank of her representative and progressive citizens, while his liberal views, broad mindedness, genial personality and sterling characteristics have won for him a wide circle of warm and admiring friends.

REV. JAMES ROWLAND HUGHES, [pages 294-295] the venerable pastor of the Memorial Presbyterian church of Dayton, Ohio, is a native of Darlington, Beaver county, Pa., and was born March 17, 1819. His father, Rev. Thomas Edgar Hughes, was born in Washington county, Pa., April 7, 1769, and on May 2, 1799, married Mary Donahey, also a native of that county, born August 22, 1770, and of Scotch-Irish descent. The Hughes family was probably established in America by William Hughes, who was born in Wales in 1728, was an early settler in Pennsylvania, and died at the patriarchal age of 100 years. His son, Rowland, grandfather of Rev. James R., was a tanner by occupation, and passed nearly his whole life in York county, Pa. The children born to Rev. Thomas E. Hughes and wife were ten in number, of whom a brief mention is made as follows: John D., the eldest, born July 27, 1800, was a minister of the Presbyterian church of northern Ohio, where he passed his life and died March 3, 1870; William, born May 28, 1802, was also a Presbyterian minister, and died July 1, 1880; Watson, born September 7, 1804, was likewise reared to the ministry of the Presbyterian church, and died March 25, 1870; Anne, born October 8, 1806, became the wife of Rev. Samuel A. McLean, a Presbyterian minister, and died near Chillicothe, Ohio, leaving a large family; Eliza was born September 16, 1808, was married to William McKee, a merchant, and died at mature years in Mount Pleasant, Jefferson county, Ohio; Joseph, born August 16, 1810, was called away at the early age of fifteen years; Mary Barr, born August 13, 1812, became the wife of Samuel Wells, and at her death left several children; Robert Smiley, born December 29, 1814, was a farmer of Iowa, in which state he died, after middle life; Thomas, born July 14, 1816, also a farmer, died in Fairfield, Iowa, June 28, 1879; Rev. James R., the youngest, it will be perceived, being the only survivor of this large family. The father of these children was called to his final rest May 2, 1838, his widow surviving him until February 23, 1852.

Rev. James Rowland Hughes received his elementary education in his native town of Darlington, and later became a student in Washington (now Washington and Jefferson) college, at Washington, Pa., where he attended a full course in the classics.  Having in the beginning determined to make the ministry his life work, he immediately after his graduation entered Western Theological seminary, at Allegheny City, Pa., completing the course in 1848, when he began his career as a minister of the gospel. The first eighteen months of his ministerial life he served as a representative of the Presbyterian board of education, and traveled in central and western Pennsylvania in the interest of the board; in 1850, he was installed pastor of the Rehobeth church near Belle Vernon, Pa., of which he had charge for fully fifteen years. Toward the end of his pastorate he became principal, in 1864, of a young ladies' seminary at Blairsville, Pa., where he taught the senior class, in conjunction with his ministerial duties, for nearly three years, when he was reluctantly compelled to sever his relations with the seminary by reason of the protracted illness and death of his wife.  In 1869 Mr. Hughes came to Ohio, and was in the same year installed pastor of the East Presbyterian church of Dayton. The name of this church has since been changed to the Memorial, of which he is still the pastor; and that he has been a vigorous, capable and efficient pastor is evidenced by the fact that during this long period he has not lost more than seven weeks of service, through sickness or any other bodily or mental disability.

The marriage of Rev. James Rowland Hughes took place October 16, 1851, to Miss Ann Caroline Stewart, a native of Huntingdon county, Pa., born March 8, 1828, and whose death occurred at Blairsville, Pa., May 16, 1869. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hughes are Mary Wilson, who married James Caldwell, and now resides in Urbana, Ohio; Catherine Walker, who died in infancy; Elizabeth Walker, who is now the companion of her father; Sarah Stewart, who is the wife of Charles J. McKee, of Dayton; Fannie Speer, born April 6, 1863, and who died July 5, 1866; and James Rowland, who married Miss Eva Kenaga, of Urbana, where he now resides. These children were all born in the parsonage of the Rehobeth church, near Belle Vernon, Pa.

Rev. Thomas E. Hughes, father of James R., was the founder of Greersburg academy, one of the earliest educational institutions of western Pennsylvania.  In this academy some afterward very distinguished men received their early training, and among these may be noted the names of Rev. Robert Dilworth, D. D., the eminent minister and reformer; Gen. John W. Geary, ex-governor of Pennsylvania and renowned as a Union soldier; William H. McGuffey, D. D., of school-book fame, and one of Ohio's most successful educators, and also John Brown (Ossawatomie), the anti-slavery agitator, of Harper's Ferry fame, who was a recognized member of the Hughes family for several years.

The long residence of Rev. J. R. Hughes in Dayton has made his name a household word, and he is thoroughly identified with the religious and educational interests of the city. In politics he was formerly a whig, as was his father, but since the organization of the republican party he has sustained it with unabated zeal. He is also a strong and earnest advocate of prohibition as the principal auxiliary of temperance, and has devoted all his long life to the promotion of morality by every means within his power.

DANIEL W. ALLAMAN, [pages 295-296] practicing attorney of Dayton, Ohio, was born in Butler township, Montgomery county, Ohio, August 5, 1861. He is a son of David and Catherine (Zimmerman) Allaman, who removed from Franklin county, Pa., to Montgomery county, Ohio, in the early forties. They settled in the vicinity in which Daniel was born, where his mother died in January, 1863, when he was eighteen months old, and the father resided there until December, 1889, when he died at the age of seventy-five. David Allaman was a republican in politics, held many of the minor township offices, and was one of the oldest Masons in Montgomery county.

After his mother's death Daniel W. Allaman was taken into the home of an uncle who lived on a farm near Brookville, Montgomery county. He received his early education in the common schools and afterward attended the National normal school at Lebanon, Ohio, and still later the college at Oberlin, in the meantime teaching schools a number of terms, and being principal of the schools at Johnsville, and at Trotwood, Ohio. In 1886 he began reading law in the office of S. H. Carr, and was admitted to the bar in March, 1888, since which time he has practiced law with Mr. Carr, with the exception of one year, during which he was in partnership with F. M. Compton, under the firm name of Compton & Allaman. In 1892 he formed his present partnership with Mr. Carr and Mr. Kennedy, under the firm name of Carr, Allaman & Kennedy.                 

Mr. Allaman has always been a republican in politics, and was one of the incorporators of the Garfield club, in which he served as a director for a number of years.  In 1891 he was elected as a representative in the legislature of Ohio, being the first republican member of that body from Montgomery county in fifteen years, with one exception.   In this office he served two years, was secretary of the committee on finance, and also served on the committee on public works.

Mr. Allaman is a Mason and still a member of the Garfield club. He was married, in 1885, to Miss Iva Cupp, a daughter of Louis and Kate H. Cupp, the former of whom is now deceased.  Mr. and Mrs. Allaman have two children, Mary Katherine, aged eleven years, and Mildred Louise, aged three years.

OSCAR M. GOTTSCHALL [page 296-299] is head of the firm of Gottschall, Brown & Crawford. He was born at Newark, Ohio, on the 14th day of August, 1843, but was brought up in Dayton, to which city his parents removed when he was but two years old.  His parents were John and Abigail Jane Conklin Gottschall, the former of German and the latter of Dutch descent.  His paternal grandfather was a native of Germany, who came to America in the early part of this century and settled in Pennsylvania.  His father removed in early manhood to Ohio, and has since continued to live in that state.  Mr. Gottschall's mother is descended from Dutch stock which settled in New York state in colonial times.  Her grandfather took an honorable part in the war for independence, fighting in the continental army during that memorable struggle.

Oscar M. Gottschall's early education was obtained in the public schools of Dayton, where he graduated from the high school in the class of 1861.  He at once commenced the study of law in the office of the late Edmond S. Young, one of the most conspicuous members of the Dayton bar, with whom he continued for about one year.   In August, 1862, he laid aside his text-books and his personal aspirations to take up arms in the defense of his country. He enlisted in company K, Ninety-third Ohio volunteer infantry. Shortly afterward he was promoted to quartermaster-sergeant of his company. In January, 1863, he was made sergeant-major of his regiment, and in 1864 was raised to the position of adjutant, which place he held until his muster-out, June 25, 1865.  His regiment was first attached to Gen. Gilbert's brigade in Kentucky, and later to McCook's corps in the army of the Cumberland.  He participated with his regiment in all the hard fighting of that army, from Stone river to Atlanta, and later, under Gen. Thomas, in the final defeat of Hood in Tennessee. He was twice wounded, first at the battle of Chickamauga, and again at the battle of Mission Ridge. His promotion to the adjutancy of his regiment was the result of the recommendation of his superior officer for gallantry and meritorious conduct on the battlefield of Chickamauga.

After the close of the war Mr. Gottschall resumed his studies in the office of Mr. Young at Dayton, and was admitted to the bar on May 12, 1866. He at once entered upon the' practice of law in partnership with his preceptor, under the firm name of Young & Gottschall. In the year 1878 George R. Young was admitted into the firm, which became Young, Gottschall & Young, and continued until 1879, when Mr. Gottschall withdrew.  He then formed a partnership with R. D. Marshall, the firm being Marshall & Gottschall. This association continued until September, 1883, when the firm was dissolved, Mr. Gottschall continuing in practice alone until February, 1881; when the firm of Gottschall & Brown was formed by the admission of 0. B. Brown. In 1893 Ira Crawford was admitted to the firm, which became and is now Gottschall, Brown & Crawford.

Mr. Gottschall, by untiring industry and constant application in the practice of his profession, has become one of the most prominent and widely-known members of the Dayton bar.  His special field of work embraces commercial and corporation law, and in these he has gained a large and important clientage. His success has been achieved through eminent personal fitness for the exacting duties of his profession, and he has brought to the care of the weighty and varied interests entrusted to him the qualities of clear judgment and practical common sense as well as strong intellectual endowment.

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