EMIL C. HAESELER, [pages 590-594] the well known dealer in furniture, carpets, mattresses, oil-cloths, etc., at No. 137 East Fifth street, Dayton, was born in Cincinnati August 16, 1850, a son of Ernest and Louisa (Gross) Haeseler, who were of German birth, but came from Paris to America in 1848.
Ernest Haeseler was a cabinetmaker of the highest class, and had followed his calling in Paris for seventeen years prior to his coming to the United States, and here, in 1850, he made for J. M. Brunswick & Bro. the first billiard table manufactured in Cincinnati, and probably the first one made in any part of the west. He came to Dayton in 1880, resigning his position with the Brunswick Bros., and accepted employment at the Barney & Smith Car works, as an expert cabinetmaker, executing all the fine veneer work done in the shops. His wife died in 1882, in the faith of the Lutheran church. They had a family of four children, born in the following order: Emil C., whose name opens this biography; Anthony, superintendent of repairs at the Amos Whitelv Machine company, Springfield, Ohio; August, of the firm of Irwin & Haeseler, dry-goods merchants on West Third street, Miami City (Dayton); and one child that died in infancy. The father had been a member of the I. 0. 0. F. since 1850; he was also a member of the order of Druids, and in religion had been born and reared a Catholic. His death was caused by an accident which betel him in the car works at Dayton, March 2, 1894, and in him Dayton lost one of the most artistic wood-workers that ever entered her borders.
Emile C. Haeseler received his education in the common and intermediate schools of Cincinnati, and in 1862, when twelve years of age, began his first wage-earning in the laboratory of Dr. Roback, on Hammond street, during his vacation from school. The following vacation, 1863, he worked for John D. Sparks, and in 1864 entered the employ of Carroll & Co., booksellers and stationers, with whom he remained until the great fire of 1865. He next tried wood-carving, but disliked the employment, and eight months afterward, in 1866, entered upon an apprenticeship at upholstering, requiring a service of four years, with A. C. Richards, No. 12 East Fourth street, Cincinnati. Emile worked one year as a journeyman, and in May, 1871, went to Fort Wayne, Ind.; thence to Chicago, where he worked for Thayer & Tobey, and after the great fire visited some of the western towns, returning to Chicago in 1872. In 1874 he returned to Cincinnati and worked for the Robert Mitchell Furniture company until July, 1875, and then came to Dayton and entered the Barney & Smith car shops for a two weeks' stay. He was prevailed upon to return, after an absence of six weeks, and was given charge of the upholstering department, which position he retained for upward of twenty years, making many advances and improvements in the class of work under his charge, and being the patentee of the spring-edge cushion, now , universally adopted by railroad companies. In 1895 he left the employ of the Barney & Smith company and engaged in the hardware business on his own account; but, not liking this, he three months later, November 1, 1895. embarked in upholstering at Nos. 1129 and 1131 South Wayne avenue. February 15, 1896. he placed a large and varied stock of furniture at No. 137 East Fifth street, occupying three floors. At his factory he turns out every style and shape of upholstery, including sofas, couches, lounges, mattresses, etc.
Mr. Haeseler is a stockholder and director in the Tivoli Fruit & Land company. He is a member of Saint John lodge, F. &. A. M.; Unity chapter, Rose Croix, No. 18, and is past chancellor, K. of P., and member of Humboldt lodge, No. 58, and Humboldt division, No. 12, uniform rank, K. of P., and was the representative of his lodge in the grand lodge in 1893 and 1894. He is also vice-president of the Dayton Gymnastic club, and a great admirer of all athletic and field sports. He is public-spirited in a high degree, is a tireless and energetic worker for the good of the community, and it is largely due to his exertions as a member of the South Park Improvement association, that this part of the city has been so much benefited by recent progressive measures. In politics Mr. Haeseler is a sound republican.
Mr. Haeseler was united in marriage, in June, 1878, with Miss Jennie Cramer, of South Wayne avenue, and this union has been blessed with two children—Charles and Edward. Of these, Charles, the elder son, was born February 12, 1879, was educated in the Dayton public schools, and also graduated from Wilt's business college in November, 1895; he is now bookkeeper for his father. Edward, the younger son, was born September 20, 1880, and is a student at Saint Mary's college, of Dayton. The family have their home at No. 108 South Bonner street, and are among the most respected of the residents of Dayton. Mrs. Haeseler is a consistent member of the First Baptist church.
JOSEPH E. HIMES, [pages 594-595] assistant in the wound-dressing department of the national military home, Dayton, Ohio, was born in Chester county, Pa,, March 28, 1837, his parents, Benjamin and Eliza (Townsend) Himes, being natives of the same county. The father was a soldier in the late Civil war, and died of disease contracted while in the service, and the mother, who had been a nurse in the hospital at Philadelphia during the same turbulent period, passed away at her peaceful home in Chester county. Of their family of six children, a son and daughter are deceased; of the living, beside Joseph E., his brother, Eleazer, served eight years in the marine corps of the United States and fought through the whole of the Civil war; James was in the volunteer army and served also through the entire Rebellion; Townsend was an emergency man at the time of the rebel invasion under Gen. Lee.
Joseph E. Himes learned the carpenter's trade in youth, and worked at the trade many years afterward. He first enlisted April 18, 1861, for three months, in company G, Twenty-second Pennsylvania infantry, served out his term on guard duty in Baltimore, Md., and was honorably discharged August 7, 1861. Three days later he enlisted, for three years, in company C, Seventy-second Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, and served the entire term in the army of the Potomac. He was on the Peninsula, under Gen. McClellan, and fought at Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862, and at Seven Pines, June 1. At the battle of Savage Station, June 29, he was wounded in the head. Joining Pope, the regiment took part in the second battle of Bull Run; then followed South Mountain, Antietam and first and second Fredericksburg; the regiment then started on the Gettysburg campaign, where it participated in the second and third days' battles. It was the corps to which Mr. Himes was attached that received the historical charge of Pickett's men at the Bloody Angle. The winter of 1863 was spent at Brandy Station, and in the Spring of 1864 the memorable Wilderness campaign was begun, in which Mr. Himes fought in the battle of the Wilderness proper, at Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg. At the latter point the term of enlistment expired, and the Seventy-second left the trenches and started for home.
After his return from the field, Mr. Himes resumed his trade in Schuylkill county, Pa., and this he followed, in its various branches and in different parts of the country, until 1891, being thirteen years of this time employed in the Baldwin locomotive works, of Philadelphia. In 1878 he was sent, with thirteen others, to Russia, to set up and start forty locomotives that had been sold to the government of that country, and was absent about four months.
Mr. Himes was married in Schuylkill county, Pa., in 1866, to Miss Sarah A. Bausman, who died in Philadelphia in 1880, leaving three sons—Pierson G., Townsend J. and Charles— all machinists and all residents of Philadelphia. In May, 1891, Mr. Himes came to the soldiers' home, where he was first employed in the carpenter shops, but for the past two years has been in the hospital service. He is a member of encampment N0.82, Union Veteran League, of which he has been officer of the day for three years, and is also an Odd Fellow. In politics he is a life-long republican, and was an ardent supporter of McKinley and the sound money platform; and his father and brothers were members of the same political party. In religion he is liberal in his views, and while he was reared a Baptist, his parents were of Quaker stock. Mr. Himes by his good qualities, has made many personal friends since he has been an inmate of the disabled soldiers' home.
ALBERT F. HOCHWALT, [page 595] secretary and treasurer of the A. H. Grim Co., is one of the well-known young business men of Dayton. He was born in this city December 24, 1869, and is the son of George and Theresa (Lothammer) Hochwalt. George Hochwalt was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, in 1823, and died in Dayton in 1894 after an honorable business career, at the ripe age of seventy-one years. He came to America with his parents. Henry and Eva Hochwalt, in 1833, and his parents, after a short stay in Baltimore, came to Dayton, where they spent the remainder of their lives, dying at an advanced age. Their son George remained in Baltimore and learned the shoe-maker's trade. After completing his apprenticeship he came to Dayton in 1840 and opened up a shop. His business prospered, and in 1844 he was the first to put in a stock of eastern factory shoes, thus establishing the first shoe store in the city. He was in the shoe business for fifty years, and for forty-six years conducted the leading shoe stores of Dayton, retiring from active business in 1890, and dying four years later. The deceased was always a devout Catholic, and was a trustee of Emanuel congregation, with which he affiliated during his residence in Dayton. His wife, who is still living, is sixty-four years of age. She was born in Canton, Ohio, and is the second wife of George Hochwalt. To his first marriage five children were born, as follows: Henry, of Dayton, a traveling shoe salesman; Mary, wife of Joseph Krebs, of Dayton; George W., in the insurance business in Dayton; John, a shoe dealer in Chicago; Miss Josephine, residence in Dayton. From the second marriage there were also five children, viz: Edward A., secretary of the Schwind Brewing company, of Dayton; Emma J., wife of F. J. Burkhardt, of Dayton; Charles C., shoe dealer, Cleveland, Ohio; Albert F. and Dr. Gustave A. Hochwalt, of Dayton.
Albert F. Hochwalt was reared in this city and received his early education in the parochial schools. When he was thirteen years old he entered Saint Mary's institute, where he graduated at the age of seventeen. He then associated himself with his father in the. shoe business until 1890. After this he was with D. C- Arnold, shoedealer, until 1893, when he became connected with the A. H. Grim company, and in 1894 became one of the members of the company, to whose business he has since given his entire attention. Albert F. Hochwalt is well known in society circles, being a member of Herman court, I. 0. F., No. 1311; also of A. S. C. colony, No. 4. He was married September 7, 1892, to Miss Adele Butz, daughter of Charles and Tillie Butz. They have two children, Bert G. and Cyril E. All are members of Emanuel Catholic congregation.
THEODORE HOLLENKAMP, [pages 595-596] one of the founders of the Dayton Ale brewery, was born in Hanover, Germany, November 2, 1834, a son of Henry H. and Kate (Gerling) Hollenkamp, and was reared on a farm. At the age of twenty-four years he came to America, and for thirteen years lived in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here, after working for some time at any available employment, he found permanent occupation in the breweries of the city and thoroughly learned the business. He then went to Xenia, where he associated himself with an uncle in a brewery, continuing there in business for eleven years. The uncle died in 1871, and then Mr. Hollenkamp came to Dayton and has ever since lived here.
In 1885 Mr. Hollenkamp, with John Aleschleger as partner, established the Dayton Ale brewery, but the partnership lasted two years only, when Mr. Aleschleger was succeeded by Henry Kramer, and this association was continued until July, 1895, since when Mr. Hollenkamp has been the sole owner. The output of the plant, which is located at the corner of Brown and Hickory streets, consists exclusively of ale and porter, with a production of about 5,000 barrels annually, mostly consumed in Dayton.
The marriage of Mr. Hollenkamp took place in Cincinnati, November 22, 1870, to Miss Anna Tepe, a native of Hanover, Germany, the union resulting in the birth of six children, viz: Anna, Elizabeth, Lena, Katie, Theodore and Benjamin. The family are members of the Emanuel Catholic church of Dayton, and stand well in the esteem of the community in which they live. Mr. Hollenkamp has achieved a creditable success in business, having begun his life in Cincinnati without a dollar, and being now one of the solid capitalists of Dayton. He is broad-minded and open-hearted, ever ready to give assistance to the needy and to aid all enterprises for the public good. In politics he is a stanch democrat, but has never been a seeker of public office.
WARREN E. HOOVEN, M. D., [pages 596-597] No. 1601 East Fifth street, Dayton, is one of the most experienced physicians and surgeons of the Gem City. He was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, May 12, 1838, a son of John and Hooven (McCahan) Hooven, both now deceased.
John Hooven and his wife were natives of Juniata county, Pa., and when newly married came overland to Ohio, to find Dayton a small hamlet of but few houses, a store and a blacksmith shop. Mr. Hooven purchased a tract of 160 acres of land near Brookville, Clay township, Montgomery county, and this he converted into a productive farm, on which he and wife spent the remainder of their life. He became one of the solid men of Clay township, was a local leader in public affairs, and for sixteen years was township assessor. Of Scotch-Irish extraction, he possessed all the hardihood of physique and mental tenacity of purpose of the combined races, and having been, in his early days, a school-teacher, he was ever an advocate of free and universal education. He and his wife were parents of children as follows: Elliott and Eliza Ann died in early child-hood; John, a coal-dealer, died in Dayton about the year 1890; Susan, now deceased, was the wife of W. B. Marshall, who was killed at the battle of Shiloh; Frank M. is a resident of Marshall county, Iowa; Hannah is the wife of B. H. Reed, of Union City, Ind., and the youngest is Warren E., whose name opens this biography.
Warren E. Hooven was educated in the common schools, and for five years was himself a school-teacher. He read medicine under Dr. Robert Toby, at that time a resident of West Baltimore, Montgomery county; he next attended the Cincinnati college of Medicine and Surgery in 1859-60, then practiced with his preceptor until 1865, when he located in Ansonia, Darke county—in the meantime attending the Miami Medical college of Cincinnati, from which he graduated in 1871. In 1883 he left Ansonia and came to Dayton, where his professional skill has gained for him a large list of patients.
Dr. Hooven has been a member of the local board of United States pension examiners since August, 1893, and is now its president.
He is also a member of the medical societies of Darke and Preble counties; of the Dayton lodge of Free & Accepted Masons; of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Dayton lodge; of the Greenville chapter, F. & A. M., and of Linden lodge, Knights of Pythias. In politics, he is one of the leaders of the democratic party, and in 1890 was appointed a member of the Dayton board of civil affairs, which office he filled for two years, during which period he was largely instrumental in bringing about much of the paving and sewer construction of the city, being both patriotic and progressive, and desirous of seeing Dayton improved by modern thoroughfares and better sanitation.
The marriage of Dr. Hooven took place in Montgomery county, in 1860, to Miss Marietta R. Riley, a native of the county, a daughter of George W. H. Riley and a second cousin of the poet. James Whitcomb Riley. To the marriage of the doctor have been born six children, of whom but two survive, namely: Edith, now the wife of Dr. E. B. Bayliss, of Parkers, W. Va., and Clement W., agent for the "Big 4" Railroad company at Anderson, Ind., and. one of the company's most trusted employees. Mrs. Marietta R. Hooven is a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the doctor, who has made a thorough success professionally and financially, is one of the most highly respected citizens of Dayton.
WILLIAM P. HUFFMAN, [pages 597-598] deceased, who was one of Dayton's foremost citizens and bankers, was born in this city on October 18, 1813, and was the son of William and Lydia (Knott) Huffman. His grandfather, William, who was of German descent, and his grandmother, who was of English descent, emigrated to America from Holland, some time in the decade following 1730, and settled in Monmouth county, N. J., where their son, William, father of William P., was born on May 24, 1769, and where, on June 14, 1801, he married Lydia Knott, who was born in the same county on January 19, 1779. One son and four daughters were born to their union. The family came west and settled in Dayton, where both parents died, the father January 23, 1866, and the mother March 21, 1865.
William P. Huffman received a fair English education, and read law for a time, not with the idea of adopting that profession, but solely to acquire a more thorough business equipment. Early in 1837 he left this city and for ten years was occupied in farming; but in 1848 he returned to Dayton and for many years was extensively engaged in banking, real-estate and building operations. He was prominently identified with a number of enterprises, among which were the Third street railway, Dayton & Springfield pike, Cooper Hydraulic company, and the Second National bank, of the last of which he was the organizer and president up to his death. For fifteen years Mr. Huffman was a member of the board of trustees of Dennison university, at Granville. He was a member of the Linden avenue Baptist church. A man of clear, sound, practical judgment, and exceedingly conservative and reliable in all transactions, the name of William P. Huffman stood as a synonym for wisdom and safety in the business circles of Dayton. As a man of integrity and moral worth, he was a strong factor in molding the Christian sentiment of the community of which he was so long a worthy and honored citizen. On October 18, 1837, Mr. Huffman married Anna M., daughter of Samuel Tate, of this county, and to this union the following children were born: William, deceased; Martha Bell, wife of E. J. Barney, of Dayton; Lydia H., wife of James R. Hedges, of Dayton; Charles T., deceased; Lizzie H., widow of Charles E. Drury, of Dayton; Samuel, who died in childhood; Torrence, of Dayton; Frank T., of Dayton; George P. and Anna M.
WILLIAM HUFFMAN, [pages 598-599] late of the firm of Huffman & Co., of Dayton and Piqua, limestone dealers, was born in Mad River township, Montgomery county, Ohio, September 5, 1838, a son of William P. and Anna M. (Tate) Huffman, natives of the same county. William P. Huffman and his wife were the parents of ten children, as follows: William; Martha Bell, wife of E. J. Barney, president of the Barney & Smith Manufacturing company, of Dayton; Lydia, wife of J. R. Hedges; Charles, deceased; Lizzie, widow of Charles E. Drury; Samuel, who died in childhood; Torrence; Frank T.; George P., and Anna M., the latter of whom lives with her mother.
William P. Huffman was a banker and real-estate dealer. He assisted to organize the Second National bank, and afterward the Third National bank, being president of each in succession, until he retired, in 1886. He was a trustee of Dennison university from 1867 until his death, which occurred July 2, 1888, when he was seventy-five years of age. Politically Mr. Huffman was a war democrat, and was, as his widow is, a member of the Baptist church.
William Huffman, the father of William P. Huffman, was born in New Jersey, May 24, 1769. His ancestry were of German descent, but came to this country from Holland, somewhere between the years of 1730 and 1740. He was married June 14, 1801, to Miss Lydia Knott, a native of New Jersey. Mr. Huffman came to Ohio in 1812, and was long engaged in business in Dayton. He built the first stone house in the place, either on the present site of the Third National bank or on that of the Beckel house. He was a volunteer in the war of 1812, and marched to Fort Piqua for active duty, but, the services of the company of which he was a member were not required. He had one son, William P., and four daughters. He died January 23, 1866, in his ninety-seventh year.
Samuel Tate, the maternal grandfather of the second William Huffman, came to Ohio from Pennsylvania in 1818, settled near Dayton, and lived there until his death at eighty-three years of age. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, his ancestry coming from the north of Ireland. He was a distiller and a miller, and retired from business in the 'fifties.
William Huffman, the subject of this sketch, lived on the farm in Greene county until he was ten years old. Then coming to Dayton he attended the common schools for a time. Going back to the farm he operated the same, also .a sawmill for some years, and then returning to Dayton he engaged in quarrying and selling limestone, and was thus engaged until June 6, 1896, when his death occurred.
Mr. Huffman was married January30, 1862, to Miss Emily Huston, daughter of Israel and Elizabeth (Harshman) Huston. To this marriage were born fourteen children, nine of whom are living, as follows: Harriet, Emily, Daniel A., Elizabeth, Susan, W. P., McCurdy K., Eugene B., and Otto V. Harriet married R. M. Wickersham, of Cincinnati, and has one child. Emily married Whitney H. Brown, now of Webb City, Jasper county, Mo., and has one child. Elizabeth married L. P. Hazen, of Cincinnati, and has one child. Susan married Frederick T. Darst, of Dayton.
Mrs. William Huffman died April 25, 1885. She and her husband were members of Linden avenue Baptist church. Fraternally, Mr. Huff-man was a Mason, a Knight of Pythias, an Odd Fellow, and a Knight of Honor. He was in Masonry a Scottish-rite Mason, a Knight Templar and a Shriner. Politically he was a democrat, and as such served two terms as a member of the city council, and as president of that body for one term. He was a member of the Dayton board of education for three years, and also served on the school board in the country district in which he lived for a number of years. He was police commissioner in Dayton four years, and for three years a trustee of the water works, and during his incumbency of the latter office was largely instrumental in placing this department of the city's business upon a paying basis. Under the new law creating a board of city commissioners, he was one of the first members of that body, and was actively concerned in securing sewerage and street paving. These improvements are among the most important in any city, and Dayton's rapid and extensive adoption of them is in great measure due to William Huffman's energy, public spirit and determination, Mr. Huffman held various offices connected with business concerns. At the time of his death he was manager of the Cooper Hydraulic company, and of the National Improvement company. He was a director in the City National bank, and in the Davis Sewing Machine company, and was president of the Miami Building & Loan association.
Mr. Huffman established his limestone business in 1873, and in busy seasons gave employment to about 150 men, getting out builders and contractors' stone. He was not only successful in his business, but exerted a great influence in the political and public affairs of the city. He never lost interest in his early occupation as a farmer, and throughout his life owned and cultivated large tracts of land. Mr. Huffman was of a pleasant and genial disposition, and drew about him a large circle of loyal friends. He lived his entire life in Montgomery and Greene counties, most of the time in Dayton, and aided largely in the development of both county and city.
A. H. IDDINGS, M. D., [pages 599-600] a leading medical practitioner of Dayton, Ohio, was born at Pleasant Hill, Miami county, Ohio, January 1, 1840. When eighteen years of age he graduated from the Friends' academy, a local educational institution. He pursued the study of medicine while working on his father's farm, and during the winter of 1860 attended his first course of lectures in the Cincinnati college of Medicine. Subsequently he took a course in Bellevue Hospital Medical college, of New York city, graduating there in 1866. After practicing five years in Arcanum, Darke county, Ohio, he located in Dayton, where he has since been engaged in the continuous practice of his profession, a period of twenty-five years. He was appointed United States pension examiner at Dayton, serving in that capacity from 1884 until 1888. Beside a number of other local offices which he has filled, he has been health officer of the city of Dayton for eight years, and is occupying that position at the present time.
Dr. Iddings is a member of the Montgomery county Medical society and of the state Medical association. He is a member of Saint John's lodge, F. & A. M., and also of Reed commandery, No. 6, and is a Knight Templar. Dr. Iddings has succeeded in a marked degree financially, being possessed of much valuable property. His residence, No. 344 South Main street, is among the desirable homes in the city, and was erected by himself. His office is No. 136 South Ludlow street. Politically Dr. Iddings is a stanch democrat. He has been a member of the school board for several years, and was president thereof for two years. For five years he was connected with Saint Elizabeth's hospital as physician, and for several years he has been physician at the jail. He is recognized as being among the most successful physicians of the city of Dayton, following general practice. Dr. Iddings is of Scotch descent, and belongs to a family of great longevity.
Davis Iddings, his father, is still living at Pleasant Hill, and is eighty-four years old. Mrs. Sarah Iddings, (nee Hill), his mother, died January 11, 1896, at the age of seventy-eight, having lived upward of fifty-seven years in the house in which she died. They were both members of the Christian church.
A. H. Iddings, the subject of this sketch, was married at Pleasant Hill, Miami county, Ohio, June 8, 1859, to Miss C. A. DeBra, a native of that county and a daughter of Daniel DeBra, and to this marriage there has been born one child, Vinnia Velantia. Mrs. Iddings is a member of the Grace Methodist Episcopal church, and both are members of a large and pleasant social circle.
OLIVER PERRY HUTCHINS, [page 600] superintendent of the Dayton infirmary, was born in Vinton county, Ohio, May 8, 1856. He is a son of Americus and Elizabeth (Tremain) Hutchins, the former of whom was the son of a Scotch-Irishman, 0. P. Hutchins, was reared on a farm in Vinton county, Ohio, and was educated in the public schools of his county. For the past eighteen years he has been a machine worker. From Vinton county he removed to Miami county in 1876, and in 1886 he came to Dayton. For the past six or seven years he has been employed in the Barney-Smith Manufacturing company's works in Dayton; that is, up to April, 1895, when he was appointed superintendent of the Dayton infirmary, which position he now occupies.
Mr. Hutchins was married October 14, 1884, to Miss Irene Oilman, of Indiana, and a daughter of Aaron Oilman. Mr. Hutchins is a member of lola lodge, No. 83, Knights of Pythias, and in politics is a republican. He is a man well qualified for the position he holds, or for any place requiring expert mechanical knowledge and skill.
JOHN HILLER, [pages 600-604] now living in retirement at No. 601 North Main street, Dayton, Ohio, was born in Lancaster county, Pa., February 6, 1836, a son of John and Annie (Rush; Hiller, natives of the same county.
Mr. Hiller's great-grandfather, John Hiller, was the founder of the American branch of the family, having come in 1682 from the Palatinate of Germany. The father of the present John Hiller was born in 1788 and died in his native county in 1864; his mother was born in 1795 and died in 1858. Of their family of eight children all are living, and were born in the following order: Caspar, in the nursery business, at Conestoga, Pa., is married and has a family; Catherine is the widow of Jacob Myers and resides in Montgomery county, Ohio; Fannie is the wife of Michael Benedict, of Conestoga, Pa.; Annie is married to Godfred Peifer, of Galena, Ill.; Barbara is the widow of Martin Whitmore, and lives in Lancaster county, Pa.; Jacob is a carpenter of the same county; John, the seventh born, is the subject of this biography; Mary is the widow of a Mr. Eschleman, and has her home in the city of Lancaster, Pa.
John Hiller was educated in the common schools of Lancaster county. Pa., and came to Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1854, being then eighteen years old. He here began school-teaching and followed that profession until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he enlisted at Dayton, in May, 1861, and spent three months, within the borders of the state, in the Eleventh Ohio volunteer infantry. September 5, 1861, he enlisted in company C, Forty-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, and served one year in Crook's brigade, in West Virginia, where he shared in the engagement at Lewisburg, May 23, 1862, which was an open-field fight between the Thirty-sixth and Forty-fourth Ohio regiments on the one side, and five regiments of Confederates on the other —the result being the killing and capturing of 381 rebels. In the fall of 1862, the Forty-fourth Ohio was sent to Kentucky, where Col. S. A. Gilbert had an independent command, and the regiment was mounted for about a year, and took part in the battle of Somerset. About September, 1862, it was placed in the Twenty-third army corps, which, in conjunction with the Ninth army corps, captured Knoxville, under command of Gen. Burnside, and in the fall of 1863 was besieged in the same city by Gen. Longstreet.
In January, 1864, the Forty-fourth Ohio re-enlisted as veterans, and was thereafter known as the Eighth Ohio volunteer cavalry. For some time Mr. Hiller was in the quartermaster's department, where he did efficient detail duty, as shown by testimonials still in his possession. One of the conditions on which the Forty-fourth re-enlisted was that the men should have the privilege of electing their officers, staff and. line, and this condition was accepted by Sec. of War E. M. Stanton, who sent out a general order to that effect. Upon this arrangement Mr. Hiller was elected captain of his company, and served as such from January until June, 1864, but was not yet mustered in with that rank, as an arbitrary ruling by the governor of Ohio nullified the action of the secretary of war, though this ruling was not generally made known until June. Mr. Hiller, finding that he could not be mustered in with his proper rank, asked to be reinstated in the quartermaster's department, and while so serving was captured by the enemy at Winchester, Va., was imprisoned at Richmond, and afterward at Salisbury, N. C., but made his escape in December, 1864, and for this act was granted a furlough by Gen. Grant. After a service lasting through four years and three months, Mr. Hiller was honorably discharged, and returned to his former home in Montgomery county.
He now resumed his profession as teacher, serving as principal of graded schools, and, in vacation, conducting normal training schools, in which he prepared young men for entering upon professions, and many of his pupils in these vacation classes are today successful physicians, lawyers and teachers. He was especially noted for his skill in teaching the higher mathematics, having but few equals in the state, many pupils coming to him to take special courses in mathematics after they had graduated from colleges. In 1879 he was elected county surveyor, and ably filled the office until 1881. At this time he was a candidate for the state legislature, but sickness prevented his making a systematic canvass of his district, and defeat was the result. Since 1891 he has lived a retired life, not being in the enjoyment of good health, and is a pensioner for disabilities incurred in the army.
The marriage of Mr. Hiller was solemnized October 19, 1866, with Miss Elizabeth P. Zufall, who was born in Washington county, Ohio, June 18, 1848. Her parents, Moses and Eliza (Hannold) Zufall, were natives of Pennsylvania, and of French and English descent. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hiller has been blessed with five children, viz: Annie, married to James Nolan, of Dayton, and now on a visit to Ireland; John A., who married Miss Mary E. Redmond, daughter of Col. Joseph H. Redmond, a civil engineer, re-riding at Walnut Hills, Cincinnati; Mary E., wife of David E. Heeter, a farmer of Perry township, Montgomery county, Ohio; Charles, and Lily Heeter, who died in infancy.
In politics Mr. Hiller was a democrat after leaving the army until 1892, when he became a republican, and has since been stanch in his support of the latter party. He, and his wife are liberal in their religious views and are not connected with any church organization. Fraternally Mr. Hiller is a member of the Union Veteran Legion. Mr. Hiller, as has been indicated, is a man of liberal education, and is a constant reader and student. He has been successful in life, and enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who know him.
HERMAN ISRAEL, [page 604] dealer in coal and kindling, at No. 19 Dutoit street, Dayton, Ohio, was born in Germany March 30, 1868, a son of Benjamin and Bertha Israel, also natives of Germany, who came to America in 1882, and now reside in Dayton. Of their eight children all are residents of Dayton with the exception of one son and one daughter, who live in Chicago. They are named in order of birth, as follows: Herman, Mrs. Dora Lewin, Max. David, Minnie, Rose, Willie and Harry. Mrs. Lewin and David make their home in Chicago, while all the others still live with their parents.
Herman Israel was fourteen years of age when he accompanied his parents to America in 1882, and with them located in Dayton. Although he had availed himself, as far as his youth permitted, of the excellent school advantages afforded by his own government before leaving Europe, he nevertheless supplemented this education by an attendance, for a few years, in the common schools of his adopted city of Dayton, after which he turned his attention to the performance of any honorable labor which might furnish him a livelihood. In 1891 he united with his father in conducting the coal and kindling business, handling various sorts of fuel, and this business they continued for about four years, when the elder Mr. Israel withdrew, leaving the younger man to prosecute the enterprise alone. About this time Herman Israel removed his stock and office from Third street, where the business had heretofore been carried on, to his more convenient quarters at No. 19 Dutoit street, where he has since commanded a nourishing and profitable trade. Being a young man of fine business attainments and being genial, prompt and reliable, his efforts have met deserved success.
In his political views Mr. Israel is republican. He attends the Jefferson street synagogue, and in the social and fraternal societies of the city he takes a profound interest, as is evidenced by his numerous connections with them. He is a member of Gem City lodge, No. 795, I. 0. 0. F.; of Linden lodge, No. .412, K. of P.; of Columbia lodge, No. 1280, K. & L. of H., and of Dayton lodge, No. 183, 0. K. S. B., being president of the last named, and having held various official positions in each of the other orders. He has formed some very pleasant social relations and connections since making his home in Dayton, and is esteemed for his individual character, as well as for his strict integrity as a business man.
FRANK E. JAMES, [pages 604-605] one of the youngest members of the Dayton bar, was born in Greene county, Ohio, August 27, 1860. William James, his father, was also born in Greene county, and died there in 1890. The James family is of Welsh origin, and its earliest American members settled in New Jersey. On the mother's side, Mr. James is of Quaker descent. The James family were among the earliest settlers of Greene county, where there still reside many of the name.
Frank E. James was reared on his father's farm in Greene county, and received his early education in the country schools. Afterward he took a course of study at Xenia college, and still later he took a five years' course at Antioch college, at Yellow Springs, Ohio. During four years of this time he was a member of the faculty at Antioch, pursuing his studies at the same time he was engaged in teaching.
Mr. James began reading law in the office of the Hon. John Little, of Xenia, during the winter of 1887, and was thus engaged for four months. He then came to Dayton and pursued his law studies under the direction of Hon. R. M. Nevin, being admitted to the bar through an examination before the supreme court of the state, at Columbus, Ohio, in 1891. Since that time Mr. James has been actively engaged in practice in Dayton. He has also been quite prominent in local politics, though he has never held office of any kind. In the spring of 1895 he was mentioned as a candidate for common pleas judge on the republican ticket, but did not submit his name to the convention.
For three years Mr. James has been a member of the faculty at Beck's Commercial college, of Dayton, as a lecturer on law and political economy. He was married May 10, 1894, to Miss Ida M, Kimmell, of Montgomery county. While yet a young man in the practice of his profession, his close attention to its demands has been rewarded by a gratifying measure of success.
A. E. & H. G. JENNER, [pages 605-606] father and son, physicians of Dayton, Ohio, with offices at No. 1913 East Third street, are among the most prominent and successful practitioners in the city. Alexander Ewell Jenner was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1830. He is a son of Abraham and Julia (McLaughlin) Jenner, the former of English and the latter of Scotch-Irish descent. When Alexander Ewell was but a small boy his parents located near Mansfield, and there he grew to manhood on a farm. His ancestry have been to a considerable extent members of the medical profession,, his father and grandfather both having been physicians of note, so that he has a decided natural aptitude for the profession, if there is any truth in the doctrine of heredity.
Abraham Jenner, his father, was a prominent physician, first in Philadelphia, Pa., and later, for many years, in central Ohio, where he continued to practice up to the time of his death, which occurred January 31, 1869. Beside his standing as a successful physician he was prominent in many other ways, being a politician of note, a representative of the people of his district in the Ohio state general assembly. In politics he was a democrat, and was a most useful man in his section of the state as a pioneer settler. He reared a family of ten children, to all of whom he gave a good education, as he was a firm believer in the cultivation of the intellectual powers. Two of his sons adopted the medical profession, Alexander E. and Charles W. Jenner, the latter of whom located in Denver, Colo., and became one of the leading physicians of that progressive city. Another brother, John W. Jenner, adopted the legal profession, and has just retired from the circuit judgeship of the Fifth district of Ohio, after having served in that position for twelve years. He is now living in Mansfield. Another brother, Samuel Eberly Jenner, is at the present time a prominent member of the bar in Mansfield, Ohio, and is also a leader in local politics. The other children were daughters. Mary, now deceased, was the wife of Rev. Mr. Douglas, a minister of the Lutheran church; Sarah is the widow of 0. D. Harris, of Washington, D. C.; Emily is the wife of Judge Amherst Franklin, of Ottawa, Kan.; Hattie is the widow of William Franklin, of Kansas; Martha is the widow of H. Burrows, of Delta county, Colo., and Anna F., now deceased, was the wife of Dr. Alban, of Walla Walla, Wash.
Alexander E. Jenner was reared near Mansfield, Ohio, was educated first in the public schools and received his advanced education in Oberlin college. He then began the study of medicine with his father, and later attended Bellevue Hospital Medical college, New York, which institution was founded in 1861, Dr. Jenner being among its first students. After graduating from this institution he located at Crestline, where he remained until 1873, when he received the appointment of superintendent of the Soldiers & Sailors' Orphan asylum at Xenia, Ohio. This position he held until 1874, when he removed to Dayton, Ohio, and has been located here ever since, engaged in the practice of his profession. For a short time he was connected with the Dayton Leader, a weekly paper, and was also interested in the drug business with his son. His practice in Dayton is both extensive and lucrative. He has taken an active part in political affairs and has been state senator two terms. His affiliation has been with the democratic party, and in the interest of this party he has been quite prominent in local politics. He is a member of the Montgomery county Medical society, and also of the Ohio state Medical association.
Dr. Jenner married Miss Anna Andrew, a daughter of John and Rhoda Andrew. She is a native of Washington county. Pa., and is the mother of five children, as follows: Frances, wife of W. M. McCully, of Newark, Ohio, engaged as a manufacturer of oil tank wagons, etc.; Albert N., deceased, who was in business for some time as a druggist, and later became a locomotive engineer, dying at the age of thirty-one; Harry Garrabrant, now in the practice of medicine in partnership with his father; Robert Austin, a physician and surgeon located at Kingston, Ohio, who graduated from the Miami Medical college, of Cincinnati, Ohio, in the class of 1895; and Emily May, wife of Kneisley Jewell, dealer in paints and oils, of Dayton, Ohio.
Harry G. Jenner, M. D., was born September 1, 1866, was educated in the public schools of Dayton, Ohio, and later attended Yale college, graduating in the class of 1888, with the degree of bachelor of philosophy. He at once began the study of medicine with his father, afterward attending Bellevue Hospital Medical college, graduating therefrom in the class of 1890. Then in the further prosecution of his studies he took a trip abroad, traveling through England, Scotland and Germany, consuming some eight or ten months in this way, and then returned to Dayton, and became his father's partner in the practice of medicine. He has been thus successfully engaged ever since. He is a member of the Montgomery county Medical society, of the order of Odd Fellows, of the Knights of Pythias, and of the Independent Order of Foresters. Politically he is a democrat, and was called on by his party friends to make the race for the position of county coroner. While he is yet a young man yet he has made an unusually creditable record, both in the way of preparation for one of the most honorable and useful of the professions, and also in the success with which he has met in that profession. The Jenner family are all members of the Presbyterian church.
In closing this sketch of the lives of the Doctors Jenner, it is proper to add that Dr. A. E. Jenner was during the war appointed assistant surgeon of the Twenty-eighth Ohio regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, and, soon afterward, was appointed surgeon of the Fifth Ohio, with which he served until the close of the war.
HENRY HOLLENCAMP, [page 609] merchant tailor, of Dayton, Ohio, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, October 31, 1850, and is a son of Herman Henry and Mary T. (Wellmeyer) Hollencamp, natives of Hanover, Germany.
Herman Henry Hollencamp, father of our subject, was a molder by trade, came to America about the year 1840, located in Cincinnati, and in 1851 came to Dayton, where he followed his trade until his death. Here he lost his wife, who died in 1874, at the age of sixty years, and here his own death occurred, in 1889, at the age of seventy-two years. Their three children, in the order of birth, were: Henry; Mary S., deceased wife of William Popplemeyer, and Philomena, who is now Mrs. Henry Weber, of Dayton.
Henry Hollencamp, who was an infant of twelve months when brought to Dayton by his parents, suffered from poor health in his childhood, and was thereby debarred from acquiring more than an ordinary common-school education; but as years passed, and with them he gained strength, he became, through self-instruction, capable of transacting the affairs of an ordinary business life. For two years, in his boyhood days, he worked in a foundry for McGregor & Callahan, now W. P. Callahan & Co. At the age of fifteen years he entered the tailoring establishment of Col. Henry Miller, a well-known merchant tailor, as an apprentice, worked with his needle on the bench, learned the business in all its branches, and early demonstrated his ability to manage employees and to control the workings of the shop. At the age of twenty-two years he was able to engage in business for himself, succeeding Toban & Breene in the long-established business of William Breene.
In 1873 Mr. Hollencamp formed a partnership with Christ Edelmann in the merchant-tailoring business in Dayton, but, 1873 being a year of financial panic, the partnership lasted for two years only, when Mr. Hollencamp assumed the entire indebtedness of the firm, and, with indomitable will, overcame all obstacles, conquered failure with success, and is today among the leaders in his branch of industry in Dayton. He employs a large number of cutters and salesmen for the disposition of ready-made wearing apparel. Until 1888, Mr. Hollencamp occupied the premises at No. 7 South Jefferson street, Odd Fellows temple, when, having met with abundant success, he purchased the ground at the corner of Jefferson and Market streets, in 1888, and erected the fine four-story stone and brick building, known as the Hollencamp block, 60x50 feet, to which he added, in 1894, another building, fifty feet deep, which is used for his stores and for office purposes. He believes in furnishing employment to home people, and at present has in his employ at least seventy-five hands.
Mr. Hollencamp was married, May 16, 1876, to Miss Kate Grenlich, and this union has been blessed with six children, of whom Emma Kate and Barbara died in their infancy; those living are named Charlie H., Frank Andrew, Mary Theresa and Henry Herman. Mr. and Mrs. Hollencamp now reside at 415 West Second street, are dutiful members of the Catholic church, and stand high in their social relationship. Mr. Hollencamp, who has made his own fortune, is recognized as one of the keen and shrewd business men of Dayton, solid in his finances, competent in his management, and honorable in all his transactions.
