History of Bellefontaine, (Logan County) Ohio United States of America

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Biographies:

Robert Patterson Kennedy, representative, was born at Bellefontaine, Ohio, Jan. 23, 1840; son of William O. and Mary E. (Patterson) Kennedy; grandson of James Kennedy and of Robert Patterson, and a descendant of Jonathan Edwards. He attended the public schools of Bellefontaine and served in the civil war in the armies of West Virginia, the Potomac, the Cumberland and the Shenandoah, entering as a private and receiving promotion to the rank of colonel of volunteers. He was brevetted brigadier-general, March 18, 1865. On being mustered out of the volunteer service in September, 1865, he returned to his home, was admitted to the bar and established himself iu the practice at Bellefontaine. He was collector of internal revenue, 1878-88, and lieutenant-governor of Ohio, 1886-87, resigning in 1887, upon his election as Republican representative from the 8th Ohio district to the 50th congress. He was re-elected to the 51st congress, serving 1887-91, and was chairman of the committee on enrolled bills and a member of the committee on militia. He was appointed by President McKinley a member of the insular commission, Feb. 23, 1899, and was made president of the commission.

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

Julius Chambers, editor, was born in Bellefontaine, Ohio, Nov. 21, 1850; son of Joseph and Sarabella Chambers. He attended the Ohio Wesleyan university from 1866 to 1868, was graduated at Cornell university in 1870, and accepted a position as reporter on the New York Tribune. In 1873 he became connected with the Herald, and served on this paper as reporter, special correspondent, city editor, foreign editor during the Turco-Russian war, and as night editor, accomplishing feats in journalism which gained him a national reputation. During 1878-79 he attended Columbia law school. In 1886 he was made managing editor of the Herald, and in May, 1887, established in Paris the only successful European edition of the Herald. In 1889 he accepted the same position with the New York World, on which paper he repeated his former success. He is the author of A Mad World and its Inhabitants (1877), the experiences of the author who, feigning insanity, was confined in an insane asylum in New York; On a Margin: The Story of a Hopeless Patriot (1884); Lovers Four and Maidens Five (1886); Missing, A Tale of the Sargasso Sea (1896); and The Rascal Club (1897). Mr. Chambers was the discoverer (1872) of Elk lake, south of Lake Itasca, which he claimed to be the source of the Mississippi river.

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

Merrill Miller, naval officer, was born in Bellefontaine, Ohio, Sept. 13, 1847; son of Henry and Mary Miller. He was appointed to the U.S. Naval academy, Nov. 28, 1859; was attached to the frigate Potomac, 1861-62, and was promoted ensign, Oct. 13, 1862. He served with the Mississippi squadron, 1862-63; took part in the battles of Arkansas Post, Oct. 13, 1863, and Haines's Bluff in 1863, and had charge of the mortar-boats at the siege of Vicksburg for twenty-three days in 1863. He was promoted lieutenant, Feb. 22, 1864; served on the North Atlantic blockading squadron, 1864-65, in the expedition up the James River in 1864, and in both attacks on Fort Fisher, 1864 and 1865. He was attached to the iron-clad Monadnock, in 1866; promoted lieutenant-commander, July 25, 1866; was at the Naval academy, 1867-69, and attached to the Lancaster, flagship of the Atlantic squadron, 1869-72, and to the Worcester, flagship of the North Atlantic station, 1872-74. He was again at the Naval academy, 1875-79; promoted commander, Nov. 25, 1877, and commanded the Yantic on the North Atlantic station in 1880. He was light-house inspector, 1881-84; commanded the Marion on the Asiatic station. 1885-88; was at the Portsmouth navy yard, 1888-89, and at the Philadelphia Naval home, 1888-93. He was light-house inspector, 1892-93; was promoted captain, Feb. 25, 1893, commanded the receiving-ship Franklin, 1893-97, and the receiving-ship Vermont, 1897-1900. He was promoted rear-admiral and assigned to the command of the navy yard at Mare Island, Cal., July 1, 1900, his date for retirement for age limit being Sept. 13, 1904.

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