History of Butler County Ohio United States of America

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Biographies:

Joseph Ewing McDonald, senator, was born in Butler county, Ohio, Aug. 29, 1819. His father died in 1820 and he received his early training from his mother, who removed to Indiana in 1826. He was an apprentice to a saddler, 1831-37; a student in Wabash college, Crawfordsville, Ind., 1838-39; taught school and attended Asbury university, 1840-42, and studied law, 1842-44. He was admitted to the bar in 1843 and practised in Crawfordsville, 1843-59, serving as prosecuticg attorney for the county, 1844-47; representative in the 31st congress, 1849-57, and attorney-general, 1856-60. He removed to Indianapolis in 1859, where he continued the practice of his profession; was the unsuccessful candidate for governor of the state against Oliver P. Morton in 1864; chairman of the Democratic state convention, 1872-76, and U.S. senator, 1875-81. He was a member of the select committee appointed to visit Louisiana in 1877, and he made the principal argument before the electoral commission in opposition to the count of the electoral vote as returned. He was a member of the committee on the judiciary and supported hard money and a protective tariff. At the close of his senatorial term he resumed the practice of law in Indianapolis, Ind., where he died, June 21, 1891.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Henry Lee Morey, representative, was born in Butler county, Ohio, April 8, 1841; son of William and Derexa (Whitcomb) Mercy. He matriculated at Miami university, Oxford, Ohio, in the class of 1862, but left at the outbreak of the civil war and joined the University Rifles for three months' service in the 20th Ohio regiment. He then enlisted in the 75th Ohio regiment for three years. He served under General Schenck in West Virginia, General Sigel in the Shenandoah valley, Generals Pope and Hatch in Florida and General Gillmore at the siege of Charleston, S. C. He rose to the rank of captain and after the close of the war engaged in business for a short time. He was graduated at the Indianapolis Law school in 1867, and was admitted to the bar in Hamilton, Ohio, where he settled in practice. He was city solicitor, 1871-73; prosecuting attorney for Butler county, 1873-74; was defeated for the state senate in 1875, and was a Republican representative from the seventh Ohio district in the 47th and 48th congresses, 1881-85, and in the 51st congress, 1889-91. He was married April 25, 1865, to Mary, daughter of the Hon. William L. Campbell of Hamilton, Ohio, and on Feb. 23, 1873, to her sister, Ella R. Campbell.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

William Cunningham Gray, editor, was born in Butler county, Ohio, Oct. 17, 1830; son of Jonathan and Mary (Woods) Gray; grandson of Robert Gray, a soldier in the American Revolution, and Mary Gray of the English Grays; and of Scotch-Irish descent. He was graduated from Belmont college in 1849 and was admitted to the bar in 1852, but never practised. He was the editor of the Miami Democrat in 1851, and of the Scott Battery for the campaign of 1852. He established the Tribune at Tiffin, Ohio, in 1853, and was an editorial writer on the Cleveland Herald, 1862-63, and editor of the Newark American, 1863-71. He became editor of The Interior, a religious paper, in 1871. He received the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Wooster, Ohio, in 1874, and the degree of LL.D. from Knox college, Illinois, in 1896. He is the author of Campfire Musings (1894), Dreams Without Sleep, and of many magazine articles. He died in Oak Park, Ill., Sept. 28, 1901.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Murat Halstead, journalist, was born in Butler county, Ohio, Sept. 2, 1829; son of Griffin and Clarissa (Willitts) Halstead and grandson of John and Ruth (Richardson) Halstead and of James and Amy (Allison) Willitts. He attended the district schools, taught school for a time, and was graduated from Farmer's college, near Cincinnati, in 1851. He was then employed as assistant local editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer; later as news editor of the Atlas and literary editor of the Columbian and Great West; became a local reporter on the Cincinnati Commercial in 1853; and in 1856 purchased an interest in that paper. He became sole owner in 1867, and when the Commercial and the Gazette were combined in 1883, he owned a controlling interest in the consolidation, and became editor-in-chief of the Commercial Gazette. He also engaged as correspondent or editor with other newspapers, including the Brooklyn Standard Union, of which he became editor in 1890. He made a visit to Cuba as special correspondent of the New York Journal in 1897, and closely studied and largely wrote of the situation there. He was married, March 2, 1857, to Mary, daughter of Hiram and Elizabeth Jane (Cones) Banks, and had twelve children of whom nine were sons. Two sons died early: Clarence, Albert and Robert became journalists; Marshall was appointed U.S. consul to Birmingham, England; Frank, as 1st lieutenant, U.S.A., was stationed at Manila, P.I., in 1900; Griffin engaged in business in Washington, D.C., and Willit was educated at the Miami military academy. He published: The Story of Cuba (1896); Our Country in War (1898); The Story of the Philippines (1898); The Official Historyof Our War with Spain (1899); Illustrated History of Our New Possessions (1899); The Life and Achievements of Admiral Dewey (1899) and is the author of many contributions to periodicals.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Butler County Ohio

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