The regiment was ordered to West Virginia to take part in the campaign to be opened there. Colonel Tyler had gone in advance, and Lieutenant Colonel Creighton took the regiment to Clarksburg, where he turned it over to his commanding officer. At Glenville he again took command, drilling the men daily when in camp, and bringing them into a high state of proficiency. Hard marching and many privations were endured until the regiment reached Cross Lanes.

On the 21st of August orders were received to join General Cox, at Gauley Bridge. The regiment, then under command of Colonel Tyler, had reached Twenty-mile Creek when word was received that the rebels, four thousand strong, were preparing to cross the river at Cross Lanes, which the Seventh had so recently left. A counter-march was ordered. About six miles from Cross Lanes the regiment was attacked by an overwhelming force, and after a desperate fight was broken, and compelled to retreat in two different directions, with a loss of a hundred and twenty men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. Creighton was among those who escaped.

The scattered companies re-united at Charleston, West Virginia, where they remained waiting orders, and were in the meantime thoroughly drilled by Lieutenant Colonel Creighton, who was in fact, if not in title, the commanding officer of the regiment. An order coming for five hundred picked men of the regiment to join in the pursuit of Floyd, he was sent in command of the detachment, was given the advance in the pursuit, and followed Floyd's trail hotly for several days, marching on foot at the head of his men. Soon after this Tyler became Brigadier General and Creighton was made Colonel of his regiment, which was ordered to the East.

At Winchester, Creighton led his regiment, the first in the famous charge of the Third Brigade, having a horse shot under him, and then fighting on foot with a musket, among his men, until the time came to assume the position of commanding officer again. In the march to Fredricksburgh and the return to the Valley he shared every privation and hardship the men were obliged to encounter, always refuse to take advantage of his privileges as an officer. He endeavored to procure every needful comfort for his men, but when they were barefooted and hungry he shared his stores with them, and fought and marched on foot with them. At Port Republic he headed his regiment in five desperate charges, in each of them driving the enemy. In the battle of Cedar Mountain Creighton handled his regiment with a dexterity that told fearfully on the ranks of the enemy. He was finally severely wounded, and compelled to leave the field. In doing so, he kept his face to the foe, saying that "no rebel ever saw his back in battle; and never would." He was taken to Washington, where the bullet was extracted from his side, which was an exceedingly painful operation. Soon after this he came to his home; but while still carrying his arm in a sling, he reported to his regiment. While at home the battle of Antietam was fought, which was the only one in which he failed to participate. Soon after his return, the affair at Dumfries occurred, where, through his ingenuity and skill, Hampton's cavalry command was defeated by a mere handful of men. For this he was publicly thanked by Generals Slocum and Geary. He took part in the battle of Chancellorsville, where he won new laurels. It is said that being ordered by General Hooker to fall back, he refused to do so until able to bring Knapp's Battery safely to the rear; for which disobedience of orders he was recommended for promotion. This battery was from his native city, and in it he had many friends. Next he was at Gettysburg, where he fought with his accustomed valor. He was also at Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, in "Hooker's battle above the clouds."

After this battle came the pursuit of Bragg, whose rear-guard was overtaken at Ringgold, Georgia, where it was securely posted on the top of Taylor's Ridge—a naked eminence. It was madness to undertake to drive them from this hill, without the use of artillery to cover the assault; but in the excitement of the moment the order was given. In this assault Creighton commanded a brigade. Forming his command he made a speech. "Boys," said he, "we are ordered to take that hill. I want to see you walk right up it." After this characteristic speech, he led his men up the hill. It soon became impossible to advance against the terrible fire by which they were met; he therefore led them into a ravine, but the rebels poured such a fire into it from all sides, that the command was driven back. Reaching a fence, Creighton stopped, and facing the foe, waited for his command to reach the opposite side. While in this position he fell, pierced through the body with a rifle bullet. His last words were: "Oh, my dear wife!" and he expired almost immediately. The brigade now fell rapidly back, carrying the remains of its idolized commander with it.

Lieutenant Colonel Crane fell in the same fight and but just after Creighton fell.

The bodies were taken to the rear and sent to Cleveland, where they were given such a reception and funeral as had never been witnessed in Cleveland before, or after. The whole city was in mourning, and after lying in state in Council Hall, to be visited by thousands, the mortal remains of the dead heroes were borne, amid the firing of minute guns, the tolling of bells, and the solemn dirges of the band, to their last resting place in Woodland cemetery.

Colonel Creighton was killed on November 27th, 1863, in the twenty-seventh year of his age.



Lieutenant Colonel Orrin J. Crane.



Orrin J. Crane was born in Troy, New York, in 1829. When he was three years old his parents removed to Vermont, where his father died soon after, leaving his wife and children poorly provided for. Young Crane was taken, whilst still a small boy, by an uncle, and about the year 1852, he came in charge of his relative to Conneaut, where he worked as a mechanic. He left Conneaut at one time for the Isthmus of Panama, where he spent a year, and on returning found work as a ship carpenter in Cleveland, where he became connected with one of the military organizations of the city.

At the fall of Sumter he entered the service as first-lieutenant in Captain Creighton's company; and on his promotion, was made captain. He early devoted himself to the instruction of his company; and it can be said that it lost nothing of the efficiency it acquired under the leadership of Creighton.

After the regiment entered the field, his services were invaluable. If a bridge was to be constructed, or a road repaired, he was sent for to superintend it. If the commissary department became reduced, he was the one to procure supplies. No undertaking was too arduous for his iron-will to brave. All relied on him with the utmost confidence, and no one was ever disappointed in him.

At the affair at Cross Lanes, where he first came under fire, he behaved with great valor, and inspired his men with true courage. They stood like a wall, and fell back only when ordered by their leader, then dashed through the strong lines of the enemy, and were brought off with safety out of what was seemingly certain destruction. He kept his men well together during the long march to Gauley Bridge.

After his arrival at that point he was sent out to the front, up New River, where he rendered valuable service. He was in every march and skirmish in both Western and Eastern Virginia, until the battle of Winchester. In this engagement he showed the same indomitable courage. He held his men to the work of carnage so fearfully, that the enemy's slain almost equalled his command.

He shared in every battle in which his regiment was engaged in the East; Port Republic, Cedar Mountain (where he was slightly wounded), Antietam, Dumfries, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. In all of these he never sent his men forward; he led them on.

At the battle of Antietam, he commanded the regiment, and during the latter part of the engagement, a brigade. Before the regiment left for the West, he was made lieutenant-colonel; a position which his ability and long, as well as faithful, service of his country rendered him eminently qualified to fill.

Arriving at the West, he commanded the regiment in the battles of Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, where he added new laurels to his already imperishable name. At fatal Ringgold, he again commanded the regiment. He led it up the steep ascent, where the whistling of bullets made the air musical; and where men dropped so quietly that they were scarcely missed, except in the thinned ranks of the command. The regiment had not recovered from the shock produced by the announcement of the death of Creighton, when Crane himself fell dead at the feet of his comrades, pierced through the forhead by a rifle bullet. He fell so far in the advance, that his men were driven back before possessing themselves of his body but it was soon after recovered, and shared with the remains of Colonel Creighton the honors of a public funeral.



Other Military Men of Cleveland.



In selecting the five subjects for the foregoing military biographical sketches it was not intended to single them out as all that were worthy of mention for their services. There are numerous others deserving a place, but the materials for full biographical sketches were wanting for most of them, and it was thought best, therefore, to confine the separate sketches to those military men who, for one reason or another, have come to be considered the representative men in the military history of the city. We add here brief mention of a few others, from such material as is in our posession, and must then, doubtless, omit many equally worthy a place.

Brevet Brigadier Russell Hastings, though not entering the army from Cleveland, is now a resident of the city and holds the position of United States Marshal. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 23rd Ohio Infantry, commanded at first by Major-General Rosecrans and subsequently by General Hayes, rose by regular promotion to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy, and was subsequently made Brevet Brigadier General "for gallant and meretorious services at the battle of Opequan, Virginia." General Hastings was permanently disabled by a bullet wound in the leg.

Brevet Brigadier Robert L. Kimberly was on the editorial staff of the Cleveland Herald when he joined the 41st Ohio Infantry, as Second Lieutenant under Colonel Hazen, was rapidly promoted to Major, in which rank he had charge of his regiment during the greater part of the time, and sometimes acting as brigade commander. He was made Lieutenant Colonel January 1, 1865, and Colonel of the 191st Ohio Infantry in the succeeding March. He participated with distinction in several engagements, and for these services was breveted Brigadier General.

Brigadier General Oliver H. Payne was commissioned Colonel of the 124th Ohio Infantry January 1, 1863. His regiment was distinguished for its discipline and for the care taken of the men by Colonel Payne and Lieutenant Colonel James Pickands, and also for its gallant services under those leaders. At Chickamauga Colonel Payne was wounded and, being unable to rejoin his regiment, resigned his position in November, 1864. He was subsequently breveted Brigadier General for meritorious services.

Among those who distinguished themselves in the service, but who stopped short of null rank of those mentioned above, may be mentioned Major James B. Hampson, who commanded the Cleveland Grays in the three years' organization of the 1st Ohio Infantry, and subsequently was Major of the 124th Ohio. Lieutenant Colonel James T. Sterling, who commenced his military career as company commander in the 7th Ohio Infantry and subsequently became Lieutenant Colonel of the 103rd Ohio, from which position he was appointed null General on the staff of General Cox. Captain Joseph B. Molyneaux, who served with gallantry in the 7th Ohio Infantry. Captain Mervin Clark, the fearless "boy officer" of the same regiment, who braved death on every occasion, and fell, colors in hand, when leading a forlorn hope over a rebel work at Franklin. Lieutenant Colonel Frank Lynch, of the 27th Ohio Infantry. Lieutenant Colonel G. S. Mygatt, of the 41st Ohio Infantry, who died of disease contracted in serving his country. Major J. H. Williston, of the same regiment. Captains G. L. Childs, Alfred P. Girty, and G. L. Heaton, of the 67th Ohio Infantry. Lieutenant Colonel John N. Frazee, of the 84th and 150th Ohio Infantry. Lieutenant Colonel H. S. Pickands, of the 103rd Ohio Infantry, and Colonel James Pickands, of the 124th Ohio, who reached their positions by active service in various ranks throughout the war. Captain Isaac C. Vail, of the 103rd Ohio Infantry, who died in service. Major George Arnold of the 107th Ohio Infantry, (German,) who fought with great gallantry. Surgeon C. A. Hartman, whose skill as a surgeon was fully equalled by his valor as a soldier, and who, unable to content himself as a non-combatant, engaged in the thickest of the fight at Winchester and was killed in the terrible slaughter the regiment experienced. Captain Wm. C. Bunts, of the 125th Ohio Infantry. Lieutenant Colonel E. A. Scovill, of the 128th Ohio Infantry, rendered important service in charge of the null affairs of the great prison for the rebels on Johnson's Island. Major Junius R. Sanford was in service in this regiment. Lieutenant Colonel George L. Hayward, of the 129th Ohio Infantry, had seen active service as company commander in the 1st Ohio Infantry. In the Cavalry service Cleveland furnished among other leading regimental officers Colonel Charles Doubleday, Lieutenant Colonel G. G. Minor, Major Albert Barnitz, now in the United States service, Major L. C. Thayer, who died soon after his leaving the service, and Major J. F. Herrick. To the Artillery service, in addition to General Barnett and Lieutenant Colonel Hayward, Cleveland contributed Lieutenant Colonel Walter E. Lawrence, who declined promotion and died deeply regretted by his comrades in arms and by a host of warm friends at home. Major Seymour Race, who ably assisted in the organization of the regiment and left Camp Dennison January 10, 1862, with two batteries and reported to General Buell at Louisville; had command of the camp at the Fair Grounds, composed of seven batteries from Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin; left Louisville February 10, with three batteries on steamers, and reported to General Nelson at the mouth of Salt River accompanying him to Nashville; was Chief of Artillery of General T. J. Wood's Division at Pittsburgh Landing and the siege of Corinth and continued in that position in the division through Northern Alabama and back to Louisville; participated in the battles of Perryville and Stone River; was highly commended by his Division commander for valuable services in all these actions; and was also in command of the fortifications at Nashville for about five months; Major Warren P. Edgerton, Major W. F. Goodspeed, Assistant Surgeon Charles E. Ames, Captains Wm. A. Standart, Louis Heckman, Norman A. Baldwin, Joseph C. Shields, Frank Wilson, Louis Smithnight, William Backus, and a long list of Lieutenants. From the fact that the Cleveland Light Artillery organization was the origin of the Light Artillery service of the State, and that the Artillery had long been popular in the city, the Ohio Light Artillery service in the war was very largely officered and heavily recruited from Cleveland. In the 5th U. S. Colored Infantry, officered by white soldiers of Ohio, Gustave W. Fahrion, who had done good service in an Ohio regiment, was appointed Captain, and did hard service with his men in Virginia and North Carolina.



Journalism



It would require more space than can be given here to merely enumerate the different newspaper ventures that have been set afloat in Cleveland, some to disappear almost as soon as launched, others to buffet the waves for a few months, or even years, and then to pass away and be forgotten. In the days when nothing more was required to start a newspaper than a few pounds of type and a hand press, or credit with the owner of a press, new journals appeared and disappeared with great rapidity. Even now, when it is hopeless to think of attempting the establishment of a journal without first sinking a large capital, there are people venturesome enough to try the experiment of starting a newspaper upon little or nothing. The end of such experiments is always the same.

The first newspaper issued in Cleveland was the Cleveland Gazette and Commercial Register, commenced July 31, 1818. It was ostensibly a weekly publication, but the difficulty of procuring paper with the desired regularity, and other untoward circumstances, sometimes caused a lapse of ten, fourteen, and even more days between each issue. In October, 1819, the Cleveland Herald was started as a weekly, by Z. Willes & Co.

In the Summer of 1836, the Daily Gazette was issued. This ran until March 22, 1837, when its owner, Charles Whittlesey, united it with the Herald, under the name of the Daily Herald and Gazette, the new firm being Whittlesey & Hull, and after a few days Whittlesey & J. A. Harris. The Gazette title was subsequently dropped, and that of the Herald preserved, Mr. Harris being the sole proprietor and editor. Messrs. W. J. May, A. W. Fairbanks, G. A. Benedict and John Coon were at different times added to the firm, Mr. May and Coon afterwards retiring, and being followed after some years by Mr. Harris, who was the veteran editor of the city. The Herald is now the oldest paper in the city, and the oldest daily in Northern Ohio. It was always Whig or Republican in politics.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer was the natural successor of the Cleveland Daily Advertiser, a Democratic paper published about a third of a century since, by Canfield & Spencer. The Plain Dealer was owned and edited from its start by J. W. Gray, who made it a sharp and spicy journal. His declining health compelled him to take less interest in his paper, which soon lost prestige, and having gone into incompetent hands after Mr. Gray's death, it was before long compelled to suspend. Being purchased, after a short suspension, by Mr. Armstrong, it was resuscitated, and is at present, under the ownership and management of Messrs. Armstrong & Green, a successful enterprise.

The Leader dates its origin on one side to the True Democrat, an Independent Free Soil paper, dating back over twenty years, and on the other to the Daily Forest City, a "Silver Gray Whig," started about 1852, by Joseph and James Medill. After some coquetting an alliance was formed between the two papers, and the name of Forest City Democrat adopted for the Consolidated paper which was afterwards changed to the Leader. None of those connected with either of the original papers are now connected with the Leader. Of those who became the publishers of the latter paper Mr. E. Cowles retains his connection and is the largest proprietor.

The German Wachter am Erie completes the list of regular daily papers now published in Cleveland. The Herald is published morning and evening, there being two editions of the evening issue. The Leader is issued in the morning with an evening edition under the name of the News. The Plain Dealer publishes two editions in the afternoon, and the Wachter am Erie one afternoon edition.



A. W. Fairbanks.



A. W. Fairbanks, the senior proprietor of the Cleveland Herald, was born March 4, 1817, in Cornish, now Claremont, Sullivan county, New Hampshire. When twelve years old he entered a printing office in Waterford, Saratoga county, New York, with the purpose of learning the business. In those days it was held necessary to serve a regular apprenticeship as a preliminary to becoming a journeyman printer, and the apprentice had to pass through an ordeal to which the learner of the present day is a total stranger. There were then no machine presses out of the city of New York, nor rollers for inking. The types were inked by dabbing with buckskin balls, as had been done since the invention of printing. Rollers were, however, introduced within a short time of our young apprentice entering on his course of education as a printer.

The office in which he worked, owned by a man named Johnson, was for book and job printing, thus affording the apprentice an opportunity of acquiring a more extensive and varied knowledge of the business than could have been acquired in a newspaper office. He had a taste for the life on which he had entered, and soon made rapid headway in obtaining a knowledge of the "art preservative of all arts." He remained in the same office until it was discontinued. He afterwards went to Schenectady, Ballston, Spa, and Troy, following the fortunes of the man he was apprenticed to, before finishing his trade. His first situation, as a journeyman, was in Rochester, New York.

In 1836, he removed from Rochester to Michigan, then a territory, and assumed charge of the job department of the Detroit Advertiser. In this position he remained for a year, when he was induced to remove to Toledo.

Some time previously an attempt had been made to establish the Toledo Blade as a newspaper. The town was young, and though giving promise of vigorous growth, was yet unable to make such a newspaper enterprise an assured success. About fifty numbers were issued, under several ownerships, and then the enterprise sank, apparently to rise no more. Mr. Fairbanks saw his opportunity and availed himself of it. Possessing himself of what remained of the Blade establishment, he announced its revival, got up and got out the first number himself, working it off on a hand press, and announced to the public that the Blade had this time "come to stay." In spite of difficulties and discouragements he persisted in the work he had undertaken, and in a short time had secured for the paper a good circulation. There was in the office scarcely enough type to get out a single issue; there was no imposing stone on which to make up the forms, and but one press to do all the work of the office. Mr. Fairbanks worked diligently with brain and hands, wrote matter for the Blade, managed its mechanical details, and at the same time spent time, labor, and money in enlarging the capabilities of the office and building up a valuable job-printing business. In fourteen years he built up out of nothing, or next to nothing, a newspaper with a profitable circulation and a wide reputation, a job office admitted to be one of the most complete in the State, having five presses and material abundant in quantity and unsurpassed in quality. The office had made money every year since his connection with it, except in 1840, when he gave all his labor to the Harrison campaign.

In 1850, Mr. Fairbanks left Toledo for Cleveland, and became connected with the Cleveland Herald, then edited by J. A. Harris and W. J. May. He found the establishment without a press, the newspaper being printed on the press of M. C. Younglove, under a contract, giving him twelve and a half cents per token, Mr. Younglove having the only steam press in the city. Land was purchased on Bank street and the present Herald building erected. The entire book and job office of Mr. Younglove was purchased, a Hoe cylinder press for working the Herald purchased, and the establishment placed on a footing for doing a greatly enlarged and constantly increasing business. Additional and improved facilities were furnished yearly, to keep pace with the rapidly increasing demands, the single cylinder newspaper press was changed for a double cylinder, and that had been running but a short time when it proved insufficient for the rapid increase of circulation, and its place was taken by a four cylinder, which remains the only press of the kind in Ohio outside of Cincinnati, and which is capable of running off ten thousand impressions per hour. From a small part of the building this establishment grew until it crowded out all other occupants; then the building itself was altered so as to economise room, and finally additions made, doubling its size, the whole of the space being immediately filled with material, presses and machinery containing the latest improvements. From an entire valuation of six thousand dollars the establishment has reached an inventory value of about a hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and from a newspaper without a press it has grown to an office with ten steam presses, a mammoth four-cylinder, and a large building crowded full with the best machinery and material required in a first-class printing office, giving employment to ninety-five men, women and boys, and sending out the Morning Herald and two regular editions of the Daily Herald, every day, except Sunday, besides a Tri-Weekly Herald and Weekly Herald.

The entire mechanical details of the establishment have, from his first connection with the office, been under the control of Mr. Fairbanks, and he feels a just pride in the perfection to which these details have been brought. His heart is in his profession, and it is his constant study. No improvement in it escapes his observation, and he is ever on the alert to avail himself of everything promising to increase the efficiency of his establishment. It is a noticeable fact, that the Herald has never missed a daily issue, although at times during the war the scarcity of paper was so great that the issue of the Morning Herald, then but a recent venture, had to be suspended for a day or two.

The firm, which, when Mr. Fairbanks became connected with it, was Harris, Fairbanks & Co., is now Fairbanks, Benedict & Co., Mr. Fairbanks being the only member of the original firm yet connected with the concern.



J. W. Gray.



J. W. Gray was born in the village of Bradport, Addison county, Vermont, on the 5th of August, 1813. When only two years of age his parents removed to Madrid, St. Lawrence county, New York, where his early life was passed, receiving such meagre education as those early days afforded, during the Winter months, to farmer lads. He afterwards became a pupil in the Institutes at Potsdam and Governeur, founded by the New York State Association for Teachers, where he made rapid progress, his mind, naturally fond of study grasping knowledge intuitively. His scholastic career terminated here, the pecuniary means being wanting to enable him to prosecute a collegiate course, and he was soon after launched upon the world to carve, with nothing but his own right arm and resolute will, the future high public and social position he subsequently attained.

In 1836, he came to Cleveland, then, though recently incorporated as a city, in reality but a flourishing village, and was soon engaged as a teacher in one of the public schools, the old Academy, on St. Clair street, being the scene of his first labors. He continued here but two or three terms, when a more advantageous position was offered him as instructor of a district school in Geauga county, to which he repaired and where he continued about a year. On his return to the city, having fitted himself in part previously, he entered the null of Hon. H. B. Payne and U. S. Judge Willson, who were then associated under the law firm of Payne & Willson, and after a little over a year under their preceptorship, during which time his remarkable talents attracted the attention of many, he was admitted to the bar, and almost immediately after receiving his diploma commenced the practice of his profession. He soon formed a law connection which led him to the State of Michigan, where, however he remained but a short time.

On January 1st, 1842, in connection with his brother, A. N. Gray, he purchased the Cleveland Advertiser, which he converted into the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

In July, 1845, the firm of A. N. & J. W. Gray was dissolved, the latter becoming sole proprietor and editor. The bold, poignant and dashing talents he brought to bear, soon made the Plain Dealer widely known as a political journal and placed its editor among the foremost men of his party in the State. In 1853, he received the appointment of post master of Cleveland from President Pierce, which position he continued to hold till the Summer of 1858, when, owing to his refusal to advocate the infamous Lecompton constitution of Mr. Buchanan, he was beheaded with the scores of other martyrs who remained true to Senator Douglas and the constitutional rights and liberties of the people.

In 1858, he received the Democratic nomination for Congress against Hon. B. F. Wade, his successful competitor. In 1860, he was chosen, with Hon. H. B. Payne, delegate from this district to the Charleston-Baltimore convention where he labored with untiring devotion for the nomination of Judge Douglas. When the revolt was raised by the traitorous South, he rallied at once to the support of the constitution and Union, and, following the example of Douglas buried the partizan in the noble struggle of the patriot for the preservation of the liberties of the country.

Of the Silas Wright school of politics, he labored during his editorial career of over twenty years, for his cherished principles. The friend of Mr. Pierce, he was the beloved and confidential exponent of the great Douglas. No man possessed the friendship and esteem of the Illinois statesman in a larger degree than did Mr. Gray. The Plain Dealer was Mr. Douglas' recognized organ—more so than any other paper published in the country, and the close intimacy which existed between them was never interrupted, and continued to the hour of that statesman's death.

Mr. Gray died May 26, 1862. He had been feeble for a few days previously, and for a day or two before his death had not left the house, yet nothing serious was apprehended by his family or physicians, and though the nature of his illness was such as to have long made him an invalid, the hope was firmly entertained that he would regain his general health. On the morning of the day of his death, however, paralysis seized his heart and lungs, soon depriving him of speech, and under which he rapidly, but gently, sank away and died at fifteen minutes past two of the same day.

His life affords another example to the rising young men of the day, of the power of will to triumph over all obstacles, when to indefatigable industry are added those exemplary virtues, strict integrity and temperance.



George A. Benedict.



George A. Benedict, of the printing and publishing firm of Fairbanks, Benedict & Co., and editor-in-chief of the Cleveland Herald, is a native of Jefferson county, New York, having been born in Watertown, August 5, 1813. Mr. Benedict was well educated and in due course entered Yale College, from which he has received the degree of A. B.

When eighteen years old he commenced the study of law with Judge Robert Lansing, in Watertown, finishing his legal education in the office of Sterling & Bronson. He was admitted to practice in New York, and immediately thereafter, in 1835, removed to Ohio, taking up his residence in Cleveland. Here he entered the office of Andrews & Foot and subsequently of that of John W. Allen, being admitted to practice in the Ohio Courts in the year 1836.

As soon as admitted to the Ohio Bar a partnership was formed with John Erwin, under the name of Erwin & Benedict; this arrangement continued three years. On its dissolution Mr. Benedict formed a partnership with James K. Hitchcock, the firm of Benedict & Hitchcock continuing until 1848, when Mr. Benedict was appointed Clerk of the Superior Court, Judge Andrews being the Judge. With the adoption of the new constitution of the State this court became extinct.

Immediately after the termination of his duties as Clerk of the Superior Court, Mr. Benedict purchased an interest in the Herald establishment, and became co-partner with Messrs. J. A. Harris and A. W. Fairbanks. The subsequent retirement of Mr. Harris from editorial life left Mr. Benedict as editor-in-chief of that paper, a position he has from that time retained.

In 1843, Mr. Benedict was a member of the City Council, and president of that body. For one term previous to that time Mr. Benedict was city attorney.

In August, 1865, Postmaster General Dennison, of Ohio, tendered to Mr. Benedict the office of Postmaster of Cleveland. The appointment was accepted, and at this writing, 1869, he still holds the office.

Mr. Benedict is impulsive in temperament, but his impulses are more of a friendly than unkindly character. He is warm-hearted, quick to forgive a wrong atoned for, and still quicker to apologize for and atone an injury done to others. In nearly a score of years editing a newspaper he has never intentionally done injustice to any man, no matter what differences of opinion might exist, and has never knowingly allowed the columns of his newspaper to be the vehicle of private spite. Nor has he ever refused any one, fancying himself aggrieved, the privilege of setting himself right in a proper manner in the same columns in which the alleged injury was inflicted. He has the genuine and unforced respect and esteem of those employed by him, for his treatment of them has always been kind and considerate, and although no newspaper conductor can possibly avoid creating prejudice and temporary ill-feeling. Mr. Benedict has probably no real enemy, whilst among those who best know him he has none but warm friends.

In addition to his editorial abilities, Mr. Benedict is one of the few really good writers of an occasional newspaper letter, and in his journeyings from home his letters to the Herald are looked for with interest and read with keen relish.

Mr. Benedict was married June, 1839, to Miss Sarah R. Rathbone, of Brownsville, Jefferson county, New York, and has three children, the oldest, George S. Benedict, being one of the proprietors and in the active business management of the Herald.



J. H. A. Bone



John H. A. Bone is a native of Cornwall, England, having been born in that county October 31, 1830. He received a good education, being first intended for the army, but an accident having permanently crippled his right arm, that purpose had to be abandoned. He resided awhile in London and Liverpool, during which time he was connected with the press of those cities, and contributed to periodicals. Having married in his native place, he left England in the Autumn of 1851, for the United States, and after a brief stay in New York, arrived in Cleveland in October of that year.

Early in the Spring of 1857, he joined the editorial staff of the Cleveland Herald, to the columns of which he had for some years previous been a frequent contributor. At the same time he had contributed to the pages of the Knickerbocker Magazine, Godey, Peterson's, the Boston Carpet Bag, then conducted by B. P. Shillaber ("Mrs. Partington,") and G. C. Halpine ("Miles O'Reilly,") and other literary papers of Boston, New York and Philadelphia, as well as to a Cleveland magazine, the New American Monthly, and was a regular contributor to the Cincinnati Pen and Pencil, a handsome weekly magazine of more than ordinary merit that was run for some time under the editorship of W. W. Warden.

Mr. Bone, on joining the Herald, took charge of its commercial, local, amusements and literary departments. As the business of the paper increased he resigned those departments, one after another, to others, and on the retirement of Mr. Harris, transferred his labors to the leading editorial department, retaining charge of the literary department also.

In addition to his daily duties on the Herald, Mr. Bone has found time to furnish papers to the Atlantic Monthly on matters of scholarly interest and historical importance, has for the past three years been on the regular staff of Our Young Folks, contributing to it a number of historical articles, prepared with much care and research, and is an occasional contributor to other periodicals.

Mr. Bone published, about sixteen years ago, a small volume of poems, mostly written in boyhood. His after verses, of various characters, are scattered through newspapers and magazines and have never been collected. With the exception of a few political squibs, he has for some years abandoned verse. A work on the oil regions was issued in 1864, and a second, enlarged edition, was published in Philadelphia, in 1865.

Aside from his professional duties as a journalist and the fulfilment of his engagements as a magazine writer, Mr. Bone's literary tastes are chiefly with the older works of English literature. He is a close student of what is known as Early English, delighting in his intervals of leisure to pick from the quaint and curious relics of the earliest English literature bits of evidence that serve to throw some light on the actual social and intellectual condition of our English ancestors four or five centuries ago. He has been for years, and still is, connected with English literary societies for the bringing to light and publishing for the use of the members, unpublished documents of historical and literary value. Of what is know as Elizabethean literature he has been a diligent student. At present he is connected with the management of the Cleveland Library Association and Western Reserve Historical Society.



William W. Armstrong.



William W. Armstrong, one of the present proprietors of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, is a native Buckeye, having been born in New Lisbon, Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1833. In his fifteenth year he removed to Tiffin, Seneca county, with the purpose of learning the printing business. In 1852-3, he was appointed to the position of Registrar of the Bank Department in the State Treasurer's office at Columbus. In 1854, he returned to Tiffin and purchased the Seneca County Advertiser, which he made noticeable among the Democratic papers of the State for its vigor and ability. He was recognized among the Democrats of the State as one of their rising men, and in 1862, he was chosen as the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State, and was elected.

In 1865, having completed his term of office and returned to editorial life, he purchased the material and good will of the Plain Dealer, which had suspended publication, and set about bringing it back to its old prosperity and position among the journals of the State. His efforts were crowned with success. The reputation of the paper for boldness and ability, which had been affected by the death of its founder, was restored, and the business knowledge and tact which Mr. Armstrong brought to bear upon its management before long put its affairs in a healthy state and established the journal on a good paying basis. Although a strong partisan in politics, Mr. Armstrong recognizes the importance of fairness and courtesy, and hence he has the personal good will of his professional and business rivals as well as associates.

In 1868, Mr. Armstrong was elected delegate at large to the Democratic National Convention which nominated Horatio Seymour for the Presidency.



Frederick W. Green.



Frederick W. Green, the associate of Mr. Armstrong in the proprietorship and editorship of the Plain Dealer, was born in Fredericktown, Frederick county, Maryland, in 1816. In 1833, he removed to Tiffin, Seneca county, Ohio. Becoming identified with the Democratic party he was elected by that party Auditor of Seneca county, and retained that position six years. In 1851, he was elected to Congress from the Seneca district, and in 1853, was re-elected. At the close of his term he was appointed Clerk of the newly organized United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. In this position he remained twelve years.

In 1867, he purchased an interest in the Plain Dealer, and at once entered upon editorial duties on that paper in connection with Mr. Armstrong. Their joint labors have made the paper the Democratic organ of Northern Ohio. Mr. Green, during his fourteen years residence in Cleveland, has been reckoned among its most respectable citizens, and possesses many warm friends irrespective of political differences of opinion.



Index.



Historical and Statistical.

History of Cleveland Trade and Commerce Ship Building The Bench and Bar Educational Railroading The Coal Interest Religious Medical Manufacturing Telegraphy City Improvements Military Journalism



Biographical Sketches.

Those marked with an asterisk (*) are illustrated with portraits.

*Aiken, S. C. Adams, S. W. *Allen, J. W. *Andrews, S. J. *Abbey, G. N. Alcott, Leverett. Armstrong. W. W. Blair, John. Barnett, Melancthon. Baldwin, Dudley. Baldwin, Norman C. *Bradburn, Charles. Beardsley, D. H. *Bradley, Alva. Barr, John. Bingham, Wm. Beckwith, T. S. *Baldwin, E. I. Brayton, H. F. *Bolton, Thomas. Backus, F. T. *Bishop, J. P. *Beckwith, D. H. *Bousfield, John. *Buhrer, S. Barnett, James. Benedict, G. A. *Bone, J. H. A. Cutter, Orlando. *Chapin, H. M. *Crittenden, N. E. *Cooke, W. P. Cobb. J. B. Colwell, A. G. *Cannon, A. V. Childs, O. A. Coe, S. S. Coe, C. W. *Case, Leonard. *Coffinberry, J. M. *Collins, W. *Case, William. *Crawford, L. Cross, D. W. Cassels, J. L. Castle, W. B. *Chisholm. H. *Clark, M. B. Creighton, W. R. *Dangler, David A. *Dodge, H. H. Dickman, F. J. Delamater, John Edwards, Wm. *Ely, George B. Errett, Isaac *Freese, Andrew *Farmer, James *Fairbanks, A. W. Garretson, Hiram Gordon, W. J. *Goodrich, W. H. *Garlick, Theodatus Green, F. W. Hilliard, Richard Hickox, Charles *Handy, T. P. Hanna, Robert Hurlbut, H. B. *Hoyt, J. M. *Humiston, R. F. *Hart, William *Hussey, J. G. Haldeman. L. Hayward, W. H. *Johnson, Levi *Jenness, B. W. *Johnson, S. W. *Jones, James M. *Kelley, Alfred *Kelly, Moses *Kirtland, J. P. Lyon, Richard T. Lester, S. F. Long, David Lowman, Jacob Merwin, Noble H. *Mygatt, George Morgan, E. P. *McDermott, James *Martin, John *Morris, David *Myers, R. P. McNairy, A. C. Morley, J. H. *Newberry, J. S. Otis, William A. Otis, W. S. C. Other Military Men Perkins, Joseph *Peck, E. M. *Palmer, C. W. *Perkins, Jacob Philpot, William *Price, W. I. *Quayle, Thomas *Robison, J. P. Raymond, S. Redington, J. A. Ranney, R. P. *Rice, Harvey *Rhodes, D. P. Rouse, Benjamin Rockefeller, J. D. Scovill, Philo Scranton, Joel *Sheldon, S. H. Sackett, Alexander Scott, M. B. *Sims, Elias Severance, J. L. *Sanford, D. Strong, S. M. Starkweather, Samuel *Sherman, C. T. *Spalding, R. P. *Smyth, Anson *Stone, Amasa, Jr. *Streator, W. S. *Seelye, T. T. *Stone, A. B. *Scofield, W. C. *Stager, Anson *Stevens, H. S. Scowden, T. R. *Sargent, J. H. Townsend, Amos Tilden, D. R. Thome, J. A. *Thatcher, Peter Weddell, P. M. Winslow, Richard White, Moses Walton, T. A. *Worthington, George Wick, Henry Warner, J. F. Wood, Reuben Willey, John W. *Willson, H. V. *Witt, Stillman Woolson, C. J. Westlake, G. *Wilson, W. G. *Wade, J. H. *Whittlesey, C. Younglove, M. C.

THE END