History of Franklin, (Warren County) Ohio United States of America

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Biographies:

Lewis Davis Campbell, diplomatist, was born at Franklin, Warren county, Ohio, Aug. 9, 1811. When quite young he became assistant editor of the Cincinnati Gazette. In 1831 he removed to Hamilton, Ohio, where he edited a political paper. In 1836 he was admitted to the bar, and established himself in the practice of his profession at Hamilton. In 1848 he was elected a representative to the 31st Congress, and was three times re-elected. He claimed to have been again elected to the 35th Congress, but his seat was contested, and the house of representatives decided in favor of his opponent, C. L. Vallandigham. At the outbreak of the civil war he volunteered in the Federal army, and served one year with the rank of colonel, resigning on account of ill-health. He was appointed U. S. minister to Mexico by President Johnson, May 4, 1866, but he did not reach that country until November, remaining in the United States to attend the union convention, Philadelphia, and the soldiers' convention in Cleveland. In 1868 he returned from Mexico, and in 1870 was elected a representative to the 42nd Congress. He died Nov. 28, 1882.

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

William Perry Stratton, ex-Journalist, etc., second son of William Stratton and Mary (Perry) Stratton, was born in Franklin, Warren county, Ohio, December 12th, 1807. His parents emigrated from New Jersey in 1805, and were married in July of the same year, on their arrival in Cincinnati, his father having accompanied the parents of his affianced for that purpose. The marriage ceremony was performed in a house made of the flat-boat in which the party had descended the Ohio river. December 24th, 1807, soon after settling at Franklin, his mother's decease occurred, and on the following day--Christmas--he was taken by his grandmother to Cincinnati, who was to him as a loving and careful mother. This relative, Martha Perry, was a Quakeress, and the daughter of Captain Joshua Huddy, a brave soldier of the Revolution; also mother of Joshua H. Perry and William Perry, both enterprising and influential men during the earlier days of Cincinnati. His great-grandfather, Joshua Huddy, a native of New Jersey, was one of those Revolutionary patriots who sacrificed for the welfare of their country not only the comforts of family and home, but life as well. Falling into the hands of the British, the soldiers, who were incensed at his bold and stubborn opposition to the home authority and British aggressions, hanged him while he was under escort to be exchanged for an officer of his rank. His early religious training was conducted after the fashion of the Friends. At the early age of thirteen, however, he became a teacher in a Methodist Sunday-school, and at this time began the change in his religious feelings. In 1823 he commenced to attend the preachings of Elder James Challen, of Enon Baptist Church, now Court Street Baptist Church; and in 1826, while the church was temporarily under the care of Elder James Ranoldson, was by baptism admitted to regular membership. He was present during the memorable debate on the Evidences of Christianity, between Alexander Campbell and Robert Dale Owen, in 1828. About this time also he attended the preachings of various eminent ministers of the denomination of Disciples, among whom were John Smith and the Creaths of Kentucky. These and other influences induced him, with other Baptists, in 1830, to reject the merely written creeds and take the Bible only as the rule of life. He was then a teacher in the first school in Cincinnati for the education of the colored people of the city. At the age of fourteen he had been apprenticed to the printing business in the office of the old Liberty Hall and Cincinnati Gazette, then controlled partly by Ephraim Morgan and Charles Hammond, the editor, and for a period of twenty years was occupied as a printer. In 1832, in connection with John H. Wood, he published the Cincinnati Mirror and Ladies' Repository. The poet, William D. Gallagher, was the editor of the journal. This author has written several works of merit, and once enjoyed the distinction of having one of William Cullen Bryant's poems dedicated to him. Elder Stratton has for many years been a prime mover and energetic worker in the cause of public education in Cincinnati, for fifteen years was a member of the Board of Education, and officiated for several years as its Vice-President. He has always been an advocate of physical exercise and training in the schools as a portion of the regular school course, and through his influence the gymnastic facilities now presented in a limited degree in the schools have been secured. He was one of the earliest movers in establishing the present uniform system of penmanship in the public schools, and also in the establishment of the "Intermediate Department." For many years he was Trustee of the First Intermediate, and Delegate to the Union Board of High Schools. He was a member of the City Council for nine years, and for one year acted as President of that body. In company with two other members of Council, he located the present city buildings. The site chosen was then thought to be improper, to be unreasonably far from the town centre; but with the lapse of time has come the vindication of the course pursued. He was also one of the committee who selected the site for the House of Refuge, and under whose directions this institution was erected. He was one of its first Board of Directors, and also acted with its Committee of Indentures for several years. During his connection with the Council, the Fire Department was changed from a volunteer to a regularly organized paid department; and to him, with Charles Thomas and Louis Broadwell, the city is mainly indebted for the admirable and needed change. This was a bold piece of work, as the Fire Department had become a great power in the city, unfortunately, on the side of corruption. Only by conquering the determined opposition of the firemen and their first chief, Niles Greenwood, were they able to succeed in this unpopular but absolutely necessary innovation. He had been himself for fourteen years a member of the old volunteer organization. With the exception of five years, he has spent all his time in Cincinnati. During those years he was pastor of the Christian Church in Petersburg and Burlington, Kentucky, and in Rising Sun, Indiana. While residing in the latter place he was Editor and Publisher of the Rising Sun Journal. In 1850 he accepted the Surveyorship of the City Insurance Company, and held this position for sixteen years. When that establishment was merged into the Enterprise Insurance Company, he retained his office, and still acts as Surveyor. For over forty years he has been a prominent Odd Fellow, and thirty-eight years ago was elected Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Ohio. He has also been Chaplain of the Cincinnati Association of Pioneers since 1864. In 1866-67 he was Vice-President of this association, and from 1858 to 1864 acted as its Corresponding Secretary. Although he has been for over forty years a public teacher and preacher among his brethren, he has always sustained himself and his family by secular pursuits. He has baptized over one thousand persons and married over fifteen hundred couples, and is known over a wide extent of country as "the marrying parson." He remembers distinctly the days when the boundaries of Cincinnati were East Row (Broadway), Western Row (Central avenue), Seventh street, and the Ohio river; has seen Indian encampments on the present grounds of Hughes' High School, and recalls minutely the time when the fields west of Central avenue were the mustering grounds of the militia. He is now one of the wealthy and most prominent men of Cincinnati, and, notwithstanding his sixty-eight years, is hale and vigorous. He was married on July 2d, 1829, to Catherine Eliza Stibbs, second daughter of Samuel Stibbs, the first chair manufacturer of Cincinnati.

From: The Biographical Encyclopedia of Ohio of the Nineteenth Century. Columbus, OH, USA: Galaxy Publishing Co., 1876.

Moses Fleming Wilson, Lawyer, was born on the 10th of September, 1839, in Franklin, Warren county, Ohio. He is of Irish descent, his ancestors having come to this country from county Antrim, Ireland. His maternal grandfather, Colonel John Bigger, was one of the earliest settlers of Warren county, Ohio, while his paternal ancestors settled in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. His father removed from Pennsylvania to Warren county in 1830. In 1847, when Moses was eight years old, he removed with his parents to Cincinnati. Here he went through the course of study at the common schools of the city, and in due time entered the Hughes High School, of that city, from which institution he graduated in 1857. He then engaged in teaching in the Twelfth District School in Cincinnati, and continued in that occupation until 1860. In that year he entered the freshman class in Princeton College. After a year passed at Princeton he entered the Miami University, where he remained another year. In the month of August, 1862, he entered the land office of Taft & Perry, and in the month of October following he matriculated at the Law School of the Cincinnati College. He graduated LL. B. in April, 1864, and in the succeeding month of May he was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of law in Cincinnati. In November, 1866, he was appointed Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Hamilton County, which position he held until January, 1869. In the month of April in that year he was a candidate on the Independent ticket for the position of Prosecuting Attorney of the Police Court. He was successful in the contest, and achieved the position, which he held until April, 1871. After leaving the office he devoted his whole time and attention to his private practice. On the 1st of November, 1871, he associated in partnership with Hon. Ozra J. Dodds, under the firm-name of Dodds & Wilson. In the month of April, 1872, he was elected a member of the Board of Education from the Twentieth Ward, and held the position for two years. In June, 1873, he was elected one of the Board of Managers of the Public Library of Cincinnati for a term of three years. Several times he has been appointed by the mayor of the city to fill temporarily the office of Police Judge. Altogether his life, thus far, has been an actively busy one, characterized by energy, industry, labor well directed and prosperity well earned.

From: The Biographical Encyclopedia of Ohio of the Nineteenth Century. Columbus, OH, USA: Galaxy Publishing Co., 1876.