OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - HISTORY: Chapter 16(1) [HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY Chicago, 1884) 
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                     Chapter XVI.
			
            Biographical Sketches of Portsmouth.

  Mary A. Allmann, teacher of vocal and instrumental music, Portsmouth, is the daughter 
of Lawrence and Dorothea (Wopschall) Allmann, natives of Germany. At the age of nine 
years she commenced the study of music and has since pursued it diligently, first learning 
it in German and then in English, and for the past fourteen years has been engaged in 
teaching. Her father was born in 1810 and came to America in 1833. Her mother was 
born in 1816 and came to America about 1838. They were married in New York City, 
and came to Portsmouth in 1848, where Mr. Allmann died Jan. 4, 1865. Their family 
consisted of ten children, five of whom are still living – Mary, our subject; Frank, a 
saddler in Portsmouth; Margaret, widow of Theodore Lehmann; Katie, widow of Frank 
Kricker, and George, a frescoe painter in New Haven, Conn. Elizabeth, Joseph, and three 
children named John are deceased.
  Charles E. Amann was born in Baden, Germany, in 1836, and in 1848 came with his 
father to the United States and located in Portsmouth in 1859. He has been identified with 
the drug business of Portsmouth since 1863. In 1879, with Daniel R. Spry, he bought the 
drug store of H. Kantzleben. They were together about a year and half, when the store fell 
into the hands of its present owners, Charles E. and Frank Amann, the firm name being 
Amann Brothers. Mr. Amann was married Jan. 4, 1857, to R. Winet, a native of 
Bethlehem, Ohio. They have but two children – Charles E., born March 3, 1858, and 
Frank, March 13, 1860.
  Benjamin Ball was born April 27, 1814, in Schenectady County, N. Y., a son of John 
Ball, also a native of New York. His father came to Scioto County with his family in 
1824, and about 1830 he moved to Lawrence County, where he died in 1837. Our subject 
began to work for himself when eight years of age by helping farmers, etc., and at the age 
of nineteen came to Portsmouth, where he has since resided. He has been engaged in 
various pursuits, but for many years has been teaming, doing a general transfer and job 
business. He was married Feb. 28, 1836, to Susan, daughter of William and Frances 
Barbee. She was born in Zanesville, Ohio, in 1816. They had a family of twelve children, 
all living except one, who died in infancy – Mary Frances, a clerk in Akron; George 
William, a carpenter in Pennsylvania; Elizabeth Ann, of Akron; John Claudius, a 
carpenter and engineer, married and living in Fredonia, N. Y.; Emma Jane, of Akron; 
Juliet, now Mrs. Theodore Burkhart, of Missouri; Charles H., married, a bricklayer of 
Portsmouth; Benjamin F., Sarah Ellen, Florence May, and Albert. Mrs. Ball died Nov. 2, 
1876, aged nearly sixty-one years. She was a woman of great strength of character.
  William Henry Ball was born near Ironton, Ohio, July 14, 1828, where he lived till he 
was seventeen years old. He then went to Iowa and engaged in farming, etc., two years, 
since which time he has resided in Portsmouth, with the exception of two years, and has 
been engaged in farming to some extent, and teaming ever since he came to the place. He 
was married in 1850, to Sarah Ann Barbee, who died July 23, 1862. They were the 
parents of six children – William, who died in 1853, aged eighteen months; Emily, a 
graduate of Portsmouth High School, and at present Principal of the Union Street School; 
Lucy Jane, born in 1856, and died in 1873; Charles Wesley, born in 1858, and died when 
eighteen months old; Albert H. and Harry (twins), the former in the C., W. & B. express 
office, and the latter a graduate, now engaged in teaching and studying law under N. J. 
Dever. Mr. Ball was again married March 16, 1865, to Jane St. Clair, a native of 
Pennsylvania, who has borne him four children – Fred S., born Feb. 14, 1866; Anna, aged 
sixteen years; William H., aged fourteen years, and Arthur C., aged eight years, all 
attending school, at present. Mr. Ball was a member of the Home Guards during the war. 
In politics he is a Republican.
  P. G. Balmert, manufacturer of cigars, Chillicothe street, opposite Market place, was 
born in Germany, March 2, 1846, and came with his father, Samuel Balmert, to the 
United States in 1854. His father died in Portsmouth in 1876, aged fifty-six years. Mr. 
Balmert was married in 1869 to Mary A. Schafer. They have had eleven children, nine 
now living – Charles, Lucy, Bertha, Flora, George, Simon, William, Ida, and Mary. Mr. 
Balmert purchased his present place of business in 1876. He keeps a full line of chewing 
and smoking tobacco, plug and fine cut, and cigars of all grades. He employs eight hands, 
doing a large and lucrative business.
  S. P. Balmert, junior member of the firm of Stanton & Balmert, wholesale liquor 
dealers, 161 and 163 West Front street, was born in Germany, in 1848, and came with his 
father, Simon Balmert, to the United States in 1854, locating at Franklin Furnace, Ohio, 
and four years later came to Portsmouth. His first work was in a cigar store, where he 
remained three years. He then clerked in a grocery store three years, in a hardware store 
three years, and on the river steamers nine years, as Captain and Clerk, and in 1877 
became associated with Mr. Stanton in the wholesale liquor business. He is a stockholder 
of the Portsmouth and Pomeroy Packet Company, and a director and stockholder in the 
Portsmouth Wagon Stock Company. He was married in May, 1880, to Louise Kricker. 
They have two daughters – Emma and Margaret. Mr. Balmert is a member of the German 
Benevolent Society.
  Robert Baker, contactor and builder, Chillicothe street, between Second and Third 
streets, Portsmouth, was born in Kent, England, in 1831, a son of Robert Baker, Sr. He 
came to the United States in 1848, locating in Portsmouth, and at once began working at 
the carpenter's trade. In 1856 he began contracting, and during the busy season employs 
from twenty to twenty-five hands. He has built over 100 houses in Portsmouth, including 
residences of Mr. G. Davis, L. C. Damaim, and S. Reid, the Fourth Street Schoolhouse, 
postoffice, and block of stores occupied by Davis & Thompson. He was married in 1856 
to Cornelia Wilson. They have six children – John, a traveling salesman for a New York 
silk house; William, assistant bookkeeper at Scioto car shops; Robert, working with his 
father; Nettie, Jennie and Mary.
  John C. Barber, son of John Barber, is a native of Portsmouth. His grandfather, Uriah 
Barber, came from Pennsylvania to Portsmouth in 1796, and died in 1848, aged ninety 
years. He was twice married, and had a family of twelve children – John, Isaac, Samuel, 
Washington, Michael, Polly (Mrs. William Raynor), Jane (Mrs. Laqua), Joseph, William, 
Louisa (Mrs. Samuel Briggs), Miranda (married Mr. Briggs after her sister's death), 
Amanda (Mrs. Ezra Noel). John, the eldest son, married Vealet Swords who came with 
her father, William Swords, from Virginia, and located in Alexandria in 1803. They had a 
family of twelve children – Uriah, Nathaniel, William, Archibald, Marian, John C., 
Samuel, Mary (Mrs. Wm. Warren, of Virginia), Barbara (deceased), Missouri (Mrs. 
James Tritch), Catherine (deceased), and Emma. John Barber died July 16, 1849, aged 
sixty-nine years. John C. Barber was married in May, 1867, to Grace Kidd, of Kentucky. 
They have one child – Edna, aged seven years. Mr. Barber enlisted April 16, 1861, in the 
First Ohio Infantry, and participated in the first battle at Bull's Run. He has been an 
engineer on the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad twenty years, and for the past thirteen 
years has run Engine No. 50. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
  Agnes I. Barklow is a daughter of Stout and Sarah Jane (Jeffords) Barklow, her mother 
being a member of one of the oldest families in Portsmouth. She was educated in the 
High School of Portsmouth, from which she graduated in 1874, and the two years after 
graduation she spent in recreation. Since then she has been constantly employed in 
teaching in the Portsmouth school, where her ability as a scholar and disciplinarian is 
recognized as among the first in the county. As a teacher she is peculiarly competent. 
Being complete mistress over herself, she has power over her scholars, which insures 
perfect order and consequent improvement.
  Josiah Barlow was born Sept. 26, 1843, in Banesville, Belmont Co., Ohio, and lived 
with his father, Charles Barlow, until Dec. 22, 1865, when he was married to Anna 
Barbee, daughter of Eli Barbee, an early settler of Portsmouth. Mrs. Barlow died April 5, 
1883, at the age of thirty-seven, leaving a family of four children – Charlie, Floyd, 
Mollie, and Earl. She was a member of the Sixth Street Methodist Church. After his 
marriage Mr. Barlow engaged in farming for five years, in the Scioto bottoms, after 
which he moved back to Portsmouth, and formed a partnership with John Geggory, in 
grading and filling streets. They graded a number of streets in Portsmouth, and the same 
years built the mile race track. He then worked on the Lake Shore & Tuscarawas Railroad 
in Stark County, and he, in connection with Wm. McGeowns, built the first three miles of 
the Scioto Valley Railroad as sub-contractor under Mr. Geggory, 1880. He was then 
elected Street Commissioner, which position he now fills. He owns the Biggs House 
Hack and Omnibus Line. Mr. Barlow's father was born in England, and came to the 
United States at the age of eleven years. He came to Portsmouth in 1849, and was by 
occupation a teamster and contractor. He built the schoolhouse on the corner of Second 
and Chillicothe streets, and graded the principal streets of Portsmouth. He also followed 
farming for many years. He died July 6, 1870, aged forty-nine years. Josiah Barlow is a 
member of the Knights of Pythias, and is also a member of an Independent Order of 
Mechanics.
  John Baron was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Aug. 27, 1842, a son of John V. Baron. His 
father was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1811, and came to the United States in 1837. He 
spent the first two years in New York City and Buffalo, and then came to Ohio, where he 
worked on the Ohio Canal two years. In 1841 he was married, in Piketon, to Helen Geng, 
a native Germany, and the same year removed to Portsmouth, where he died Dec. 7, 
1875. His wife is still living. They had a family of six children, five now living – John, 
Kate, Barbara, Elizabeth (now Mrs. Anton Matter), Mary. Margaret is deceased. John 
Baron began to learn the tinner's trade when fifteen years of age, and worked at it five 
years. He then with his father engaged in the stove and tinware business, manufacturing 
the latter. After his father's death he carried on the business in his own name till 1879, 
when he began diminishing his stock of stoves, and purchased a stock of hardware. He 
keeps a complete stock of choice goods, occupying three floors. His salesroom is 19 x 50 
feet. Mr. Baron is a member of the St. Mary's German Catholic Church.
  Adam Bauer was born in Prussia, Feb. 2, 1834, a son of Henry Bauer, who came to the 
United States in 1850, landing in Portsmouth, Aug. 3. He located in Bloomfield, now 
Webster, Scioto Co., Ohio, where he still resides, aged seventy-five years. He had three 
sons – Adam, John W. and John Nicholas. Adam commenced life in America by digging 
ore. He attended school but a half day in America, but by hard study is now a well-
educated man. In 1851 he began to work on a farm. He was afterward employed in 
repairing the railroad, and had worked but eighteen months when he was appointed 
foreman, and the following August was appointed to take charge of a construction train. 
He left his position to enlist in Company C, One Hundred and Sixth Ohio Infantry, and 
after serving three years was again appointed to the same position. In March, 1868, he 
was appointed Roadmaster of the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad. He was married Nov. 
28, 1858, to Minnie Kalbow, a native of Germany. Of seven children born to them but 
three are living – George David, mail agent on the S. V. R. R.; Charles F. and Minnie 
Dora. Mr. Bauer is a member of the Odd Fellow Lodge and Encampment and for three 
years has been Representative of this district. His brother, John W., was Roadmaster in 
Eastern Kentucky, and was killed by falling material in a tunnel, Christmas night, 1875. 
He was about forty years of age, and left a widow and eight children, now residing in 
Portsmouth. His brother, John Nicholas, was born Feb. 25, 1843, and is a farmer of 
Scioto County.
  Homer Bedell, deceased, was born at Fredericktown, Knox Co., Ohio, Oct. 15, 1836, a 
son of Henry Bedell, of New Jersey. He learned the machinist's trade in Norwalk, Ohio. 
In 1861 he came to Portsmouth, and worked a short time for Murray & Moore. He then 
made gun-barrels a short time, and subsequently worked for Murray & Moore nine years. 
In 1872 he was employed as second engineer at the water-works, remaining eighteen 
months, when he was taken with tumor of the brain. He gradually lost his sight, and for 
eight months was blind. He died Nov. 12, 1874. He was married Sept. 6, 1864, to Sarah, 
daughter of Alfred R. Prowitt. They had a family of four children. Mr. Bedell was a 
master mason. He was a natural mechanic, and a man honored by all who knew him.
  Elias Benzing was born in Schwenningen, Koenigreich, Wuertemberg, Germany, July 5, 
1835. He received a good education, and was reared by Christian parents. Nov. 10, 1852, 
he located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was one of the original members of the First German 
Presbyterian Church. Immediately after his conversion he felt an especial love for the 
cause, and felt that he was called to preach the gospel. He declined a good business 
position, and entered Lane Theological Seminary, from which he graduated. He was 
licensed to preach May 8, 1863, and ordained April 7, 1864. H went to Cleveland and 
organized the Second German Reform Church, which has had a steady and healthful 
growth. In 1866 they built a house of worship, and in 1868 a parsonage. Dec. 5, 1871, he 
was received a member of the Cleveland Presbytery. He left the church there in 1872, 
with a property of $10,000. Too constant labor as a pastor, missionary and teacher of 
parochial school had brought on a serious throat trouble, and by the advise of his 
physician he gave up preaching nearly a year, but after a few months rest was employed 
as a City Missionary, with a salary of $900 a year. Oct. 18, 1873, he received a call from 
the First German Presbyterian Church, Portsmouth, and Nov. 4, 1873, entered his present 
field of labor. He also serves a church in Buena Vista and one in Green Brier, Adams 
County. From the beginning of his ministry to July 1, 1883, Mr. Benzing baptized 387 
children, confirmed 197, received 407 members into the church, solemnized 105 
marriages, attended 158 funerals, made 6,000 missionary visits, and traveled 18,500 
miles. He has reason to believe that his work has not been in vain, but that souls have 
been save through his ministrations. Four young men have entered the ministry under his 
administration.
  Charles F. Best was born Feb. 24, 1853, in Cincinnati, Ohio, a son of Karl Best, who 
was born in Germany. He came to Portsmouth in 1857, and attended school till he began 
clerking for J. L. Hibbs & Co., in the hardware store, with whom he remained from 1867 
until 1874. From 1874 till 1878 he was Assistant Postmaster, after which he was in the 
employ of the R. R. Mail Service running from Columbus to Portsmouth the first two 
years, and from Ashland, Ky., to Columbus, Ohio, the next two years. From April, 1882, 
till the following April he was Assistant Postmaster with L. C. Damarin. He was married 
Nov. 5, 1879, to Mary. A., daughter of Frederick Walter, of Portsmouth. They have one 
child – Rosa.
  Henry Beumler, boarding house and saloon, was born in Hanover, Germany, July 5, 
1828, a son of Stephen Beumler. He came to the United States in 1854, stopping first in 
Wheeling, W. Va., where he worked in the coal mines three months, and then removed to 
Greenup, Ky., and remained ten years. In 1865 he came to Portsmouth and opened his 
boarding house on Front street. He was married in Wheeling, in 1854, to Catharina 
Kilborn, a native of Germany. She died in 1880, at the age of forty-six years. They had a 
family of eight children – Sady, Augustus, George, Henry, Sophia, Charles, Mary, Kate. 
Mr. Beumler is a member of the Harugari German Society.
  Stephen D. Bishop was born in New Haven, Conn., Feb. 23, 1813, and came to 
Portsmouth in 1829. He was by trade a tailor, and had a clothing store in connection with 
working at his trade. He died July 13, 1874, and his memory is dear to many who were 
his friends during the many years he was in business in Portsmouth. He was married in 
1860 to Mrs. Serena Lalendorff, widow of Charles Lalendorff, and daughter Samuel 
Kidd. She had two children by her first husband – James Henry and Oliver. Mr. Bishop's 
children are – Stephen D., Mary Ann, Charles A., and William Nelson.
  John H. Blankemeyer, merchant tailor, Chillicothe street, between Sixth and Seventh, 
Portsmouth, Ohio, was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1825, and came to the United 
States in 1845, locating first in St. Louis, where he remained two years. He then went to 
New Orleans, and remained eighteen months. In the fall of 1848 he went to Cincinnati, 
and in 1852 came to Portsmouth. He learned the tailor's trade in Germany, and worked as 
a journeyman eighteen years. After coming to Portsmouth he opened his present place of 
business. He keeps a full line of cloths, cassimeres and gents' furnishing goods. He 
employs three workmen in the shop and five outside. He was married in 1848 to Anna A. 
Shlademan, of Oldenburg, Germany. They have five children – John, Lizzie, William, 
Herman and Anna. They lost five children in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Blankenmeyer are 
members of the German Evangelical church. He is a member of the Harugari Lodge.
  Louis Blomeyer, son of Louis Blomeyer, was born in 1829 in Hanover, Germany. He 
learned the shoemaker's trade, at which he worked till 1847, when he came to America. 
He worked in Portsmouth, Cincinnati and Ashland, Ky., a short time and then returned to 
Portsmouth, where he has resided about twenty-eight years. When he came to Portsmouth 
he was engaged as a hand in the rolling mill, and is at present foreman of the mill. He 
was married in 1851 to Mary Kiefer, a native of Germany. They have eight children – 
Hannah Mary, wife of Henry A. Brodbeck, of Portsmouth; Adolph Louis, a street car 
conductor in Chicago; Louisa, wife of William G. Reimenschneider, Principal of the 
Portsmouth public schools; Mary A., wife of Charles Locker; Allie, Clara, Hattie and 
Verena. Mr. Blomeyer is a member of the German Methodist church, of which he has 
been Trustee for the past twenty years. He has been a Class-Leader for the twenty-two 
years, and Sabbath-school Superintendent seventeen years.
  Alfred Boyer, Treasurer of Scioto County, Ohio, was born near McConnellsville, 
Fayette Co., Pa., Oct. 16, 1833, the some of Jonathan and Jemima (Tipton) Boyer. When 
he was a year old his parents came to Ohio and settled at Scioto Furnace, and when he 
was ten years old they removed to a farm in Harrison Township. When he was twenty-
one years of age, in 1854, his father gave him an ox team and wagon, and he went to 
work at the Harrison Furnace. In 1855 he worked at the Scioto Furnace, and in the spring 
of 1856 went to the Jackson Furnace, Jackson County. During the season of 1857 he was 
at the Bloom Furnace in Scioto County, and in the spring of 1858 was employed as 
collier by Allen Cole and John Paul, remaining with them five years. He then worked at 
the Empire Furnace a year, and in the fall of 1865 removed to a farm he had purchased in 
Harrison Township, where he still resides. He has 152 acres of fine land. In 1880 he was 
elected Treasurer of Scioto County, and re-elected in 1882, his term expiring in 
September, 1884. April 11, 1856 he married Temperance, daughter of Allen and Hettie 
(Burt) Purdy. Their children are – Alice, Amanda, Isabelle, William, Duncan, Viola, 
Jonathan, Luella, Wilson, Halley and Oren. Mr. Boyer is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, of Western Sun Lodge, No. 91, Wheelersburg; Mount Vernon Chapter, No. 23, 
and Calvary Commandery, No. 13, Portsmouth, and Sovereign Consistory, S. P. R. S., 
Cincinnati. He is also a member of Scioto Lodge, No. 5, I. O. M.
  Vincent Brodbeck was born in Germany, Jan. 17, 1817, a son of Anthony Brodbeck. 
When he was eight years of age his mother died and he was bound to an uncle, where he 
had very little school advantages, and by hard work and ill treatment he lost his health. 
When he was fourteen years of age he hired out by the season. In 1835, when his father 
and family, he came to the United States. They were fifty days at sea on the sailing vessel 
Bolivar. They landed at New Orleans in November, where Vincent worked at the 
carpenter's trade for $1.75 a day. March 1, 1836, they moved to Natchez, and he worked 
for the railroad a month. They then started for Troy, N.Y., where an elder brother, who 
had preceded them to America by eighteen months, resided, but the canal being broken 
they were obliged to stop at Portsmouth, and through the advice of Vincent concluded to 
remain. The latter worked two weeks for McDowell, Davis & Co., and then went to 
Gaylord's Rolling Mill and remained till August when his father persuaded him to take 
charge of the boarding house. In 1838 he opened a grocery store, which he carried on 
over forty years, retiring from business in June, 1881, where he sold out to J. M. 
Wendlekin. He was married Nov. 2, 1838, to Ottillia Mees, a native of Germany. They 
have three children – Elizabeth B., wife of Joseph Hornung; Rosa Ellen, wife of Herman 
Herms; Ottillia, wife of J. M. Wendlekin. Mr. Brodbeck has been a member of the 
German Methodist church thirty-eight years.
  Stephen Brodbeck, deceased, was born in Baden, Germany, in 1811, and in 1835 came 
to the United States. He spent the first year in New Orleans, then, coming up the river, 
spent a short time in Quincy, Ill., and subsequently came to Portsmouth, where he died in 
1874, aged sixty-three years. He was married after coming to this country to Rosa Legler. 
They reared a family of five children, and lost two in infancy. Mrs. Brodbeck died in 
1858, and the following year Mr. Brodbeck married Miss Otstott, of Columbus, Ohio. 
They had no children. She died in the spring of 1883. In 1850 Mr. Brodbeck, in company 
with M. Kraus, opened a dry goods store, but two years later Mr. Kraus withdrew, and 
Mr. Brodbeck afterward carried on the business alone. He was for several years Infirmary 
Director. Of his children, George W., the eldest son, is a resident of Pike County; Ellen 
married John Booth, and died in 1875, aged thirty-one years; Peter Stephen died in 1863, 
aged seventeen years; Frederic is a merchant of Portsmouth, and Mary is a resident of this 
city. Frederic was born Sept. 20, 1849. He was his father's assistant in the store, and at 
his death succeeded him in business. He was married in 1874, to Malinda Leese, a native 
of Maryland. They have two children – Stephen and Oscar Frederic. A daughter, Minnie 
Garfield, died at the age of two years. Mr. Brodbeck is Infirmary Director and Carnal 
Collector.
  George Brown was born in Bavaria, Germany, April 3, 1818. He came to the United 
States in 1848, locating first in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a year later removed to Junior 
Furnace, where he worked three and a half years. He came to Portsmouth in 1852, where 
he was worked at the carpenter's trade, which he learned in the old country. He was 
married in 1848 to Anna Ruhs, a native of Germany. She died in 1863 leaving six 
children – Mary, wife of Ernest Klein, of Ironton; John; Margaret, wife of John Mentel; 
Anna, widow of Jacob Wagner, of Ironton; Catherine, Barbara (deceased). Mr. Brown 
was married in 1864 to Malinda Hoffman, widow of John Hoffman, who was killed in 
battle in the Rebellion, and left a family of four children – Lizzie, now Mrs. Joseph 
Denzer; Margaret, now Mrs. John Brown; John, of Virginia, and Nicholas. Mr. and Mrs. 
Brown have three children – George, now learning telegraphy; Caroline and Henry. 
George lost his right arm by the discharge of a gun, in his own hands, in 1881. Mr. 
Brown is a member of the German Catholic church.
  Charles N. Brombacher was born in Baden, Germany, in 1843, and in 1866 came to the 
United States, locating in Portsmouth, Ohio. He was employed in a furniture factory and 
as house carpenter, and in 1870, in company with Charles Seiffer, opened the Harmonia 
Beer Gardens. In the spring of 1872 he sold out to Seiffer and opened a beer hall on 
Chillicothe street. A year later he became affiliated with Peter Oelchlaeger in the 
manufacture of boxes. In 1877 he sold his interest and opened his present saloon and 
billiard hall. Mr. Brombacher was married in 1866 to Mary Barbara Baeckert, of Baden, 
Germany. They came to the United States on the same steamer, and were married a few 
days after landing. They have three children – Emily, Bertha and Mary Barbara.
  A. Brunner, successor to R. Brunner, dry goods, corner of Market and Second streets, 
Portsmouth, was born in Switzerland, in 1838. The business was established in 1852 by 
his brother, R. Brunner, who died in 1877, in his fifty-sixth year, when his brother, our 
subject, succeeded him. He keeps a full line of dry goods, carpets, oil cloths, matting and 
notions, and has a large and increasing trade. His clerks are gentlemanly, and every 
attention is shown his customers. Mr. Brunner was married in 1863 to Frederica Wirtz. 
They have a family of nine children.
  John F. Brushart, jobber in groceries, provisions and produce, corner of Fifth and 
Chillicothe streets, Portsmouth, Ohio. This house was established in 1877, by Richardson 
& Brushart, John F. Brushart clerking for them. At the expiration of five years he 
purchased the entire stock. This building is crowded with goods, the cellar containing 
sugars, syrups, lard, bacon, cheese, fish, stoneware and potatoes; the first floor, a general 
line of groceries; the second floor, coffee, wooden-ware, flour and soaps. He delivers all 
goods, free of charge, to any part of the city. His annual sales amounting from $50,000 to 
$60,000. Jno. F. Brushart was born in Jackson County, Ohio, Oct. 25, 1856.
  Adam Burkel, son of Adam Burkel, Sr., was born in Nov. 9, 1830, in Rhine Falls, 
Bavaria, Germany, and came to America in 1855, since which time he has resided in 
Portsmouth. He learned the tailor's trade in the old country, which he has followed 
through life, and for the past fifteen years, has been engaged in cutting altogether. He is 
at present working for Miller, Cissna & Co., with whom he has been connected for eleven 
years. He was married May 25, 1858, to Christina Young, a native of Germany, where 
she was born in 1838. She came to America in 1844, and made her home in Pike County, 
Ohio. They have had thirteen children, ten of whom are living – Valentine, Christina, 
Katie, Philip, John, Adam, Edna, Evaline, Willie, Harry; Barbara and two by the name of 
Minna died young. Mr. Burkel belongs to the Republican party.
  William Burt, plumber, was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Oct. 14, 1829, a son of Thomas 
Burt, shoemaker, who was also a native of Scioto County, and died in 1872, aged 
seventy-five years. When fourteen years of age he went to work for William Maddocks to 
learn the trade of a machinist, remaining with him seven years. He then ran a sawmill 
engine two years, after which he was employed on packet boats two years. He brought 
the first steam ferry-boat to Portsmouth, and ran it across the river to the Kentucky side 
fourteen months. The next year he ran a flat-boat across the river. In 1852 he began to 
work on the Portsmouth Branch of the M. & C. R. R. as a fireman; was soon promoted to 
engineer and ran the first engine in Jackson. He was master mechanic of the road three 
years. In 1864 he returned to the river and, owning an interest in a boat, became a 
member of the Portsmouth & Big Sandy Packet Company. In 1870 he went to Ashland, 
Ky., and took charge of the rolling stock of the Lexington & Big Sandy Railroad a year. 
In 1871 he returned to Portsmouth and became associated with John Jones in the 
plumbing business. The following year they dissolved the partnership, and for a time Mr. 
Burt was associated with Mr. Claff, but is now doing business alone. He is serving his 
second term as Trustee of the water-works, and is President of the board. He was married 
in 1851 to Rebecca Davis. They have a family of three sons and four daughters. Mr. Burt 
is a member of the I. O. O. F. fraternity.
  D. F. Connell was born in Brooke County, W. Va., then Virginia, Nov. 12, 1827. In 
1842 he accompanied his father to Richland County, Ohio, thence to Upper Sandusky, 
and in 1844 returned to Brooke County, Va., now W. Va., where he remained till 1846, 
when he went to Columbiana County, Ohio. In 1851 he went to Hancock County, W. 
Va., and engaged in the mercantile business, adding fire brick to it in 1866. In 1868 he 
removed to Portsmouth and took charge of the fire-brick works. The business was started 
in 1865 by Taylor & Thomas, but in 1866 Mr. Connell bought an interest and the firm 
was changed to Taylor, Thomas & Co. In February, 1868, Mr. Connell bought Mr. 
Thomas's interest and changed the firm name to Taylor and Connell. They began in a 
small way in an old saw-mill, making at first about 4,000 per day. The first year they 
doubled their capacity and extended their trade. They have furnished brick for most of the 
furnaces of Chicago, Detroit, Joliet and Milwaukee. Mr. Connell became interested in the 
Cincinnati Retort and Tile Works, and was in Cincinnati two years, a member of the firm 
of Connell & Taylor, same business. He was the first to introduce the calcine fire brick in 
the Sciotoville works, which has proved a great success. They employed a traveling 
salesman., R. Jenkins, of Chicago, who worked up a large trade throughout the 
Northwest. In 1870 the Scioto Fire Brick Company, Towne & McConnell Brick 
Company and Salamander Brick Company consolidated, forming the Scioto Brick 
Company, with a joint stock company. In 1872 Mr. Connell retired from the management 
of this company and for several years gave his attention to his West Virginia land. In 
1880 he became associated with D. Hale, of Charleston, and George Straughn in the coal 
business, but soon after bought his partners' interests. The company now consists of John 
D. Carter and Mr. Connell and his sons, George and James, the two latter residing in 
Peabody. They own 400 acres of coal land and lease 200 acres. They have two banks 
opened and four other workable seams. They employ 300 men and run their coal directly 
into their boats on the Kanawha River. Their capacity at present is from 6,000 to 8,000 
bushels per day. The coal is of superior quality, well adapted for domestic purposes, and 
especially valuable for gas. Mr. Connell is one of the most prominent business men of 
Southern Ohio. He was married in 1850 to Catherine Wilhelm, of Hancock County, W. 
Va. They have nine children – Julia, the wife of A. C. Davis; George, James, Anna, 
Sarah, William, Mary, Daniel, and Arthur. Mr. Connell is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity.
  W. A. Connolley, proprietor of one of the oldest established business houses of 
Portsmouth, Ohio, is a son of the late James Connolley. The business was established by 
his father in 1855, and in 1860 he was admitted as a partner, and on the death of his 
father, in 1868, he succeeded to the business. He did an exclusive retail business until 
1874, when he enlarged the building situated on the corner of Fifth and Chillicothe 
streets, and with increased accommodations started a jobbing business in connection with 
the retail. The first floor of the building is divided into two large and commodious rooms 
which accommodate the retail trade, one devoted to dry-goods and notions, the other to 
boots and shoes. The upper floors are devoted exclusively to the wholesale trade. Both 
wholesale and retail departments are kept well-stocked with such goods as meet the 
demands of the people, and strict attention is paid to the style of goods that suit the 
different seasons of the year. This house has for many years held a leading position in 
this city, and as years roll by it loses none of its former energy and push.
  Henry Cook was born in Germany, Oct. 20, 1827, a son of Henry Cook who came from 
the United States with his family in 1840 and located in Portsmouth, where he remained 
till his death in 1870, at the age of sixty-nine years, his wife having died several years 
previous. They had six children – Caroline, who was married to Adam Mitzger and died 
in 1873, aged forty-eight years; Henry, our subject; Louisa, wife of Charles Kearher, of 
Portsmouth; John Frederick, of Jackson, Ohio; William and Augustus (twins). Henry 
learned the shoemaker's trade of his father and has since been engaged in that business, 
ten years of the time working in a shoe factory. He was married in 1852 to Lucy Neil, a 
native of Germany. They had a family of four children – Ellen, wife of Theodore Pfeiffer, 
of Huntington, Ohio; John H., William Cromwell and Charles Edward. Mrs. Cook died, 
and in 1862 he married Mary Neil, a sister of his first wife. They have had two children – 
Louis F. and Grace. Louis died at the age of fifteen months.
  John Cooley was born in Pennsylvania in 1821, a son of Matthew Cooley, who came to 
Portsmouth in 1828. His parents both died when he was twelve years of age, and he was 
thus early thrown on his own resources. When fourteen years of age he went to work for 
James Solsbury, of Portsmouth, to learn the trade of a harness-maker. When he was 
twenty-one years of age he opened a shop of his own, and although at that time there 
were three other shops, and since then there has been five others in town, still he has had 
a good trade and is now considered the leading harness-maker of Portsmouth. He 
employs only first-class workmen and uses only the choicest stock, guaranteeing all his 
work. Mr. Cooley was married in 1853 to Mary Montgomery, daughter of Robert 
Montgomery. Three children have been born to them, only two now living – Hattie and 
Callie. William died when five years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Cooley are members of the 
Methodist church.
  C. W. Cotton, Vice-President and Superintendent of Portsmouth Wagon Stock 
Company, was born in Massachusetts in 1829, a son of Ward M. Cotton, a machinist, of 
Leominister, Mass. He worked as an apprentice till twenty-one years of age. He 
established the first manufactory for Cook's patent bit, at Shelburne Falls, Mass., and 
subsequently began the manufacture of carriage wheels. He was afterward foreman in the 
Royal Wheel Company's works at Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 1867 came to Portsmouth, 
where he was the prime mover in the erection of the hub and spoke factory of Johnston & 
Son, working there fifteen years. He was married in 1852 to Ellen M. Graham, of 
Massachusetts. They have two daughters – Mary Ellen and Lizzie J. Mr. Cotton is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity. 
  George Daum, butcher, corner of Gallia and Chillicothe streets, is the oldest meatmarket 
man in Portsmouth. He keeps all kinds of meat, doing his own killing, salting, and 
otherwise preparing his meat. He employs two hands, and delivers to customers in any 
part of the city. He was born in Germany, Aug. 14, 1826, and came to the United States 
in 1848. In 1852 he came to Portsmouth, and was here married to Lizzie Bender, a native 
of Germany. They have six children – Philip, a dry-goods merchant of Kaufman, Texas; 
Mary, Louisa, William, Charles and Katie.
  T. F. Davidson, M. D., was born in Greenup, Greenup Co., Ky., Sept. 4, 1845, the fifth 
son of Jeremiah and Eliza Davidson, his father being a prominent lawyer of that county. 
He attended school, a portion of his education being under the tutelage of J. M. Robb, 
now of Grayson, Ky., and editor of the News, to whose friendly advice the Doctor 
acknowledges that much of his success is due. He early formed a strong liking for the 
medical profession, and as he grew older his mind settled upon that profession. In 1861, 
without means to carry out his earnest wish, and debating upon what course to pursue to 
secure the means to accomplish his heart's desire, he was happily relieved from his 
unfortunate dilemma by the offer of an old friend and physician, Dr. Samuel Ellis, who 
proffered him the use of his extensive library, office, and such advice and instruction as 
his time would permit him, free of charge. It was a noble act, and the offer was gratefully 
accepted by him. He studied for three years under the Doctor's preceptorship, and at the 
end of that time his father gave him means to carry him through a full course of lectures. 
In the fall of 1864 he left his home to take his course, and matriculated at the Cincinnati 
College of Medicine and Surgery, never missing a lecture at college or hospital, or 
attending a place of amusement during his whole term. At the close of his term several of 
the professors at the college presented him with a certificate of his studious habits, 
application and aptitude for his chose profession. The Doctor retains and highly prizes 
this unsolicited tribute to his character and ability. He returned to his home somewhat 
exercised as to his future, for, like his start, he was without means to put in practice what 
he had so laboriously learned. An opening was held out to him at Liberty, Ky., but as he 
had neither horse, saddle and bridle, nor money to any very large amount, things seemed 
rather dark to his aspiring nature. But again fortune did not desert him, and when a friend 
was needed he appeared. This time Judge John Seaton hearing of the young doctor's 
trouble, came over with a fine saddle horse, fully equipped, and offered it to him without 
charge until he was able to provide for himself. The Doctor's heart almost stood still at 
this clearing away of the somber clouds and the appearance of a brighter dawn, and the 
words came from the depth of his heart when he thanked the liberal and kind-hearted 
judge for his generous act. To-day the act still lives green in the Doctor's memory. He 
soon started for Liberty, Ky., and there opened his office, and while doubts might now 
and then cross his mind as to his success his sanguine spirits did not allow it long to stay, 
and his hope was soon crowned with success, for his first year's practice proved 
remunerative. The Doctor was married to Annie E., daughter of Asbury and S. C. Ware, 
of Greenup Co., Ky. They have seven children – Samuel Ellis, born Aug. 31, 1867; 
William Henry, Sept. 4, 1869; Carrie Eunice, June 22, 1871; Asbury Ware, Dec. 11, 
1873; Theodore Frelinghuysen, Aug. 4, 1875; Reed Miller, Nov. 5, 1877; Herbert 
Holland, July 15, 1881. The Doctor lived a short time after his marriage at Quincy, Ky., 
and in the winter of 1869 he took another course of lectures, which he fully completed, 
and then returned with his family for a short time to his father-in-law's, near Springfield, 
Ky. At the solicitation of Dr. W. T. Falliaferro, of Cincinnati, and his wife, he was 
induced to visit Portsmouth for a permanent location for the practice of his profession. 
Through this visit, and the acquaintance and friendship of Charles Ammon, Sr., he made 
Portsmouth his home, moving his family here in the spring of 1873. His first year, as a 
stranger, was a hard struggle, but his genial qualities, his undoubted abilities, and 
generous and warm heart for the poor and afflicted, soon won him the esteem of not only 
the citizens of the city and country, but of his professional brethren. He was appointed 
City Physician in 1877 and 1878, which was a stepping-stone to a more extensive 
practice. He was elected Physician of the Board of Health, which made him, practically, 
almost responsible for the city's health. While the small-pox was raging in other cities the 
Doctor's watchfulness, decisive administrative actions, and untiring ability, kept the 
dread pest from becoming epidemic in this city. He was elected several years ago as State 
Surgeon of the order of United Workmen, and for three successive years he filled the 
position of Physician and Surgeon of the city hospital; holds the position of President of 
the United States Examining Board of Surgeons, President of the Hempstead Memorial 
Academy of Medicine, and of several other societies, and served two terms on the City 
Board of Education. The Doctor has a sufficiency of this world's goods; has proved 
himself an upright and public-spirited citizen; in his calling, attentive to rich and poor 
alike, and stands in his profession and as a citizen upon the highest round, with his 
escutcheon untarnished.
  George Davis, President of the Farmers National Bank, Portsmouth, was born near 
Chillicothe, Ohio, Oct. 9, 1833, a son of Charles and Elizabeth (Hays) Davis. When he 
was eight years old his father died. When he was thirteen years of age he and his brother 
James rented the homestead. He followed farming until 1860. In the latter part of 1859 
he, with L. N. Robinson, bought the Scioto Distillery and Flouring Mills, near 
Portsmouth. In 1861, Mr. Robinson retired from the firm. In 1867 Stout Morris and 
Stephen Morrow became associated with him, but since 1880 Mr. Davis has been 
carrying on the business alone. At the organization of the Farmers Nation Bank, he was 
one of the stockholders, and was chosen one of the Directors, and since 1871 he has been 
President. In 18—he became a stockholder in the Burgess Steel and Iron Works, 
Portsmouth, and since 18—has been President and Director. He is a Director of the Hub 
and Spoke Factory, Portsmouth, and was one of the organizers of the company. In 1873, 
he became a stockholder of the Scioto Fire-Brick Company, and has been a Director 
since 1877. He also owns and superintends a farm of 1,600 acres, 1,200 acres being under 
cultivation. Mr. Davis has been twice married. His first wife was Sarah, daughter of 
Wesley Claypool, of Ross County, Ohio. She died in Clay Township, Scioto County, 
leaving two children – Charles, of Los Angeles, Cal., and Emma D., relict of the late F. 
D. Connolley, of Portsmouth. His present wife is Martha, daughter of Thomas Lewis, of 
Portsmouth. They have two children – George W. and Edna. Mr. Davis is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church.
  A. C. Davis & Co., coal dealers, corner Chillicothe and Second streets, commenced 
business in March, 1880. The firm consists of Arthur C. Davis and Eustace H. Ball. This 
is one of the most extensive and enterprising coal firms in Portsmouth, in not in the 
Lower Scioto Valley, handling at wholesale and retail nearly a million bushels of coal 
annually. They deal in the best grades of Kanawha and Ohio River coals; also the famous 
Lehigh Valley anthracite coal. Chief among their specialties is the celebrated Peabody 
coal of Kanawha, being a great domestic and gas coal. They yard a sufficient quantity of 
coal to avoid coal famines, occasioned by law water and ice. They are well equipped to 
do business, their office, coal yards, teams, barges and coal floats all denoting thrift and 
enterprise. Arthur C. Davis was born in Portsmouth, Jan. 20, 1850, and is a son of A. C. 
Davis, who was a native of Virginia, and died in the year 1863, at the age of sixty-three. 
Young Davis received his business education in Portsmouth, being for a number of years 
head bookkeeper in the Portsmouth National Bank, which accounts for the thoroughness 
of the management of his own business. He was married in 1871 to Miss Julia A., 
daughter of D. F. Connell, Esq. They have three children – Dan, Arthur and an infant son. 
Eustace H. Ball was born in Haverhill, Mass., April 23, 1841, and came to Portsmouth in 
1857, with Robert Bell, Esq., who was the principal of the house of R. Bell & Co., and 
was connected with said firm until 1873 (with the exception of three years that he was in 
the Federal army, at which time they went out the business). In 1861 he received a 
recruiting commission from the Governor of the State of Ohio, and assisted in raising 
men for the Fifty-third Ohio Infantry. Soon after entering the field he was detailed as 
Aid-de-camp to J. R. Cockerill, who commanded the Third Brigade, Fourth Division, 
Fifteenth Army Corps. Mr. Ball was married in 1865 to Miss Alice R. Davis, a sister of 
his present partner. 
  Charles P. Dennis, dentist, was born in Batavia, Clermont Co., Ohio, in 1833, a son of 
James Dennis. He commenced the study of his profession in Oxford, Ohio, in 1858, and 
studied in connection with teaching school till 1861, when he enlisted in Company D, 
Forty-seventh Ohio Infantry, as a private. He was promoted to Orderly Sergeant, 
Sergeant-Major, Second and First Lieutenant. He served on General Hugh Ewing's staff 
as Inspector of the Second Brigade, Second Division, Fifteenth Army Corps, and 
subsequently was Assistant Inspector of the division under General Morgan L. Smith. He 
participated in the battles of Reseca, Carnifax Ferry, Vicksburg, Jackson, Mission Ridge, 
Kennesaw Mountain, in front of Atlanta, and several others. At Vicksburg, May 22, 
1863, he was slightly wounded, but was never off duty a day during the whole campaign. 
He was discharged in November, 1864. After his return home he engaged in selling dry-
goods in Cincinnati and New Richmond, Ind., till 1868, when he resumed his studies, and 
graduated at the Ohio Dental College, of Cincinnati, in March, 1873, and in October, 
1873, came to Portsmouth and opened his present dental rooms. He was married Dec. 12, 
1861, to Sallie M. Lane, of Oxford, Ohio. They have one son, George J., born Oct. 4, 
1865. Dr. Dennis is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. ----
  Noah J. Dever, Prosecuting Attorney of Scioto County, was born in Madison Township, 
Scioto County, Aug. 17, 1850, the only son and eldest of nine children of William and 
Louisa (McDowell) Dever, both natives of Ohio. He was reared on a farm and attended 
the public school during the winter months till his fifteenth year, when he was sent by his 
parents to Jackson, Ohio, and attended the High School there at intervals for two years. 
He attended the Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, a year, and in the spring of 1871 took a 
course at the Iron City College, Pittsburg, Pa., previous to this having taught several 
terms. In October, 1871, he began reading law in the office of Harper & Searl; was with 
them eighteen months, and in the meantime took a course at the Cincinnati Law School, 
graduating in the class of 1872-'73, and was admitted to the bar by the District Court of 
Cincinnati. He then became associated with F. C. Searl, Mr. Harper retiring to accept the 
office of Judge of the Common Pleas Court. Jan., 1, 1879, the firm was dissolved by 
consent of both parties, and Mr. Dever became associated with D. J. Ryan. In the fall of 
1879 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of the county, and in February, 1881, he 
withdrew from the firm of Dever & Ryan. He was re-elected in 1881. At his first election, 
owing to prejudice against him on account of his temperance proclivities, his majority 
was only 144, but at the second election it was 1,250. He was been School Examiner of 
Scioto County since 1873. July 27, 1876, he married Lydia Austin, of Ironton, Ohio. She 
only lived a short time, and July 4, 1878, he married Mattie Gilliland, of Jackson County, 
Ohio. They have one child – Louisa.
  John Dice, livery, sale and feed stable, Market, between Third and Fourth streets, 
Portsmouth, was born in Germany in 1841, and in 1845 came with his parents to the 
United States. His father, George Dice, located in Hamilton County, Ohio, where he still 
resided. John Dice became a citizen of Portsmouth in 1864, and opened a carriage shop 
on Second street, between Jefferson and Market streets. He built his factory 30 x 124, in 
1868. He still carries on that business, employing from ten to twenty-five hands. In 1870, 
in company with T. T. Yager, he purchased the livery stable of R. S. Maklem. This 
business was established in 1830 by Mitchell and Maklem, and in 1854 Mr. Maklem 
purchased Mr. Mitchell's interest. In 1876 Mr. Dice purchased his partner's interest and 
formed a partnership with John Lewis, remaining with him six years, and since then has 
been alone. He keeps from fourteen to twenty-five horses, and carriages, hacks, buggies, 
etc.
  Eli Dickinson was born Dec. 25, 1825, at Hamton, in Gloucestershire, England, and 
came to America and landed in Boston, March, 1849, and lived near Providence, R. I., for 
one year, and then went to Pittsburg, Pa., where he worked at his trade of boiler-making 
one year, and then went to Brownsville, Pa., where he worked at his trade about two 
years for Herbitson. He then went back to Pittsburg in July, 1853, where he worked one 
year, when he went to Chillicothe, Ohio, in July, 1854, and opened a boiler shop for Mr. 
Welsh, working for him until March, 1864. He then went to Portsmouth, Ohio, and 
worked for Murray, Moore & Co. till June, 1882, since which time he has not been in any 
particular business, only attending to his real estate in houses and lots for a living, and in 
buying and selling, and other trading, up to this time. In 1848 he married Jane Charlton in 
England, who died in Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1861, leaving three children – Jane, wife of 
William Ringwauld, of Chillicothe, Ohio, Mary and Charley. Dec. 25, 1866 he was 
married again to Elizabeth Streets, in Chillicothe, Ohio. She was born Nov. 6, 1838, in 
Chillicothe, Ohio. They have one son living – George, who was born Feb. 12, 1872, and 
three children deceased – one son, who died when three years old, and two daughters, 
who died in infancy. Mrs. Dickinson is a member of the Episcopal church. George 
Dickinson, the father of Eli Dickinson, was a weaver by trade, and of English birth, born 
in 1801 and died in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, in 1844, aged forty-three years. His 
mother's name was Sarah Dickinson, born in England in 1803, and died in Leeds, 
Yorkshire, England, in 1846.
  J. V. Doerr was born in Germany, Sept. 2, 1831, and came to the United States in 1847, 
landing in New York, June 27. In July he came to Portsmouth and worked at the wagon-
maker's trade three years. Feb. 15, 1851, he and his brother Fred became associated 
together in the manufacture of cigars, plug and smoking tobacco. May 12, 1876, they 
divided the stock and J. V. removed to his present stand on Second street, between 
Market and Court streets. He employs eight men, and four or five boys, selling both at 
wholesale and retail. His 5-cent cigar is one of the finest in the market. Dec. 15, 1852, 
Mr. Doerr married Mary A. Lesser, of Pittsburg, Pa. They have six children – Anna, now 
Mrs. Peter Lant, William Hl, Charles A., Alfred J., Callie A., and Frank. A. H. Mr. and 
Mrs. Doerr are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
  Daniel Dotson was born in Piqua County, Ohio, Aug. 11, 1835, and when nine years of 
age moved to Allen County, Ohio, with his parents, with whom he resided on the farm till 
he attained his majority. He then worked two years in a saw-mil as sawyer and engineer, 
after which he spent eighteen months in Dayton, Ohio. He then ran a saw-mill three years 
in Piqua County, when he came to Portsmouth and was engineer on the river six years. 
He bought a farm near Portsmouth, where he lived ten years, and in 1871 built a saw and 
grist mill, which he ran till 1878, when he sold it and his farm and returned to 
Portsmouth, and was engineer in a planing mill one year. He was employed as carpenter 
on the repair work in the Scioto Valley Car Shops until 1881, when he was appointed car 
inspector at the Portsmouth depot. He was married in 1860 to Clarissa Ebert, who died in 
1874 at the age of forty years, leaving four children – Elmira, who is next to the foreman 
in the shoe factory; Reuben, a machinist in the Scioto Valley Car Shops; Mary and Frank. 
Mr. Dotson married Elizabeth Koch, his present wife, in 1881. His father, Charles 
Dotson, was a native of Pennsylvania, and a farmer by occupation. He died in Lima, 
Ohio, July 4, 1861.
  E. F. Draper was born in Erie County, N. Y., March 23, 1846, a son of A. E. and 
Lorenda (Hodge) Draper, natives of New York, his father born in June, 1808, and his 
mother in 1812. They were married in 1831 and were the parents of twelve children, 
eight living to man and womanhood. His mother died Sept. 12, 1876. His father still lives 
on the old farm. He has been Justice of the Peace many years, but was obliged to rescind 
the office a year ago on account of his age. Mr. Draper spent his early life on the farm 
where he was born, attending the district school two terms a year between the ages of 
four and twelve years, and afterward attended school winters and worked on the farm 
summers till fifteen. His father owned a life scholarship in Genesee College, Lima, N. Y., 
and when sixteen he entered that school, remaining two years with the exception of two 
winter terms when he taught a country school. Nov. 4, 1864, he came to Portsmouth 
where his eldest brother was already located. He worked at the M. & C. R. R. office 
gratuitously till the following February, and was then appointed agent at Jackson; 
remained there a year, and the returned to Portsmouth to take the place of ticket agent and 
assist his brother in the freight department. In 1873 the telegraph line was erected along 
the branch railroad and he was required to learn telegraphy, and in five months had 
acquired sufficient skill to be pronounced by the superintendent capable of assuming the 
duties of the office. In 1875 he formed a class of ten and procured a teacher, and 
commenced the study of the German language, but at the end of ten months he was the 
only one paying any attention to the study, and at the end of a year he mastered the 
language. In 1877 he was elected a member of the Board of Education from the Second 
Ward, and has been re-elected three times, each time without an opponent; was President 
of the Board from April, 1878, till April, 1879. During the first three years of his service 
he made the school work a study, and was able at any time to tell what each of the forty-
one schools was at work at, and could call the names of probably 1,500 children if met on 
the street and tell which school they attended. He assisted the late Colonel J. E. Wharton 
in framing the bill that was passed by the Legislature, and introduced the matter to the 
board which organized the Wharton Library, corner of Court and Fifth streets. He became 
a member of the Board of Trade soon after attaining his majority, and is now serving the 
second year as its President. He is serving his third year as Treasurer of the Ohio Valley 
Agricultural Society. He was Treasurer of the First Presbyterian Church four years. The 
church was $400 in debt when he took the financial management, and when he left it 
there was a surplus of $100 in the treasury. He has been President of the Bric-a-brac 
Circle three years, and was Secretary of the Harmonic Society, when in existence. While 
not a bitter partisan his sympathies are Republican, and he likes to be able to say that his 
father and six brothers voted for Grant, Hayes and Garfield for the presidency. He has 
been a member of several State conventions and many lesser ones. He has been a 
correspondent of the Cincinnati, now Commercial, Gazette since 1875. He was married 
June 16, 1869, to Mary E. Adams, who came to Portsmouth in 1864 to take the position 
of organist in the First Presbyterian Church, which she has held nineteen years. They 
have no children of their own, but adopted a little girl, seven years of age who now been 
with them eleven years, and two years ago they adopted the son of an older brother – 
Egbert M. Draper, fifteen years of age, and now learning the railroad business. The 
daughter's name is Henrietta.
  Misses A. and M. E. Eaves, millinery and fancy goods, Chillicothe street, between Third 
and Fourth streets, Portsmouth, are daughters of George Eaves, and natives of England. 
They came to the United States with their parents in 1866, locating first in Indiana, where 
they remained a year. They then removed to Maryland, and subsequently to Virginia, 
Ohio, Kentucky, and in 1872 to Ohio again, settling in Portsmouth. Mr. Eaves is a blast-
furnace builder by occupation. His family consists of six daughters and two sons – 
Agnes, Mary E., Emma, Bessie, Lydia, Hattie, Cyrus and William. The two eldest 
daughters established the millinery and fancy-goods store in 1873. They are doing a good 
business, and merit the patronage of the public.
  H. Eberhardt was born in Germany, March 19, 1819, and in 1842 came to the United 
States, locating in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained ten years engaged in molding 
stoves, a trade he learned in the old country. In 1853 he removed to Portsmouth, and in 
company with Mr. Neil started a foundry. They remained together fourteen years, when 
Mr. Eberhardt bought Mr. Neil's interest. He has been twice married, the first time in 
1846 in Cincinnati. He was married the second time in 1869 to Margaret Starschk. They 
have two children – William Henry, born Jan. 4, 1870, and Minnie E., July 14, 1873.
  Leonard Eck, son of John and Margaret (Schafur) Eck, was born Dec. 19, 1845, in 
Chillicothe, Ross Co., Ohio. He was first engaged in the restaurant business which he 
followed for six years; since then has followed engineering. When young he spent two 
years on the river as cabin boy. At present he is engaged with the Ohio Stove Company. 
He was married Nov. 29, 1866, to Alice Hacquard. They have five children – Cornelius, 
Rudolph, John Gertrude and Maggie. Mr. Eck is a member of the Catholic Church. His 
father was born in 1804 and his mother in 1811. They came from Germany to America 
with four children in 1840 and located at Chillicothe. After living there five years they 
removed to Portsmouth, where the father died in 1869. They had a family of ten children, 
three of whom are deceased. Their names are – Joseph; Kate, wife of Frederick 
Winterfield, of Columbus; Margaret, wife of Adolph Reisley; Mary (deceased), wife of 
Christian Stanam; John; Leonard; Elizabeth, wife of John Kell; Ellen, died in 1880, aged 
twenty-nine years, was the wife of Joseph Schlurt; Adam, and Frank, who died in 1866, 
aged nine years.
  Stephen Edmunds, grocer, Second street, between Madison and Massie streets, was born 
in Massachusetts, Nov. 13, 1815, a son of John Edmunds, and cousin of Senator 
Edmunds. He came to Ohio in 1842, locating in Portsmouth in 1848, where he was a 
boatman eight years. He then went into the old National Hotel and remained on that 
corner twenty years, keeping hotel, grocery and broom factory. He enlisted in 1861 in 
Battery L, First Ohio Artillery, and served two years. He participated in the battles of 
Winchester, Fort Republic, Bull Run, Antietam and Fredericksburg; was discharged on 
account of disability. His son ran away from home to join him in the army, and was with 
him in all the engagements. At Chancellorsville, in 1863, he was wounded and lost his 
left leg. Mr. Edmunds was reared a Democrat, but at the time of the war changed his 
views. He was married in 1842 to Paulina Darby, a native of New York. She died in 
1865. They had eight children, five of whom are living. In 1872 he married Sarah Garlic, 
a native of Baltimore, Md.
  L. Eisman & Brother, wholesale clothing and woolen merchants, are natives of Bavaria, 
Germany, and sons of Schmey Eisman. L. was born in 1834, and John in 1839. The elder 
came to the United States in 1860, and his brother in 1861. They located first in New 
York City, then removed to New Brunswick, then to Parkersburg, Va., and subsequently 
to Portsmouth. In 1863 Freedman, Eisman & Co. established a wholesale house, but six 
months later Mr. Freedman withdrew, and Mr. Eisman carried on the business under the 
name L. Eisman & Co. till 1867, when his brother John became associated with him, 
changing the firm name to L. Eisman & Brother. They do an annual business of 
$160,000, their trade extending through Ohio, Kentucky, East and West Virginia. They 
employ four traveling salesmen and sixteen in the store. In their tailoring department they 
employ from 100 to 140 hands. They occupy three floors, and carry a full line of cloths, 
ready-made clothing and gents' furnishing goods. L. Eisman was married Jan. 1, 1865 to 
Fannie Rousleim. J. Eisman married Fannie Meyer, who died one year after, and he then 
married his present wife, Eliza Dryfus.
  Joseph Emnett, contractor and builder, Chillicothe street, between Tenth and Eleventh 
streets, Portsmouth, was born in Bavaria, Germany, May 3, 1838, and came to the United 
States Dec. 24, 1853, locating at Portsmouth, Ohio. He began learning the carpenter's 
trade when seventeen years of age, and subsequently worked as a journeyman fifteen 
years. He then began contracting. His work is chiefly building dwelling-houses, repairing 
and roof work. April 23, 1878, he married Mary Miller, who was a native of Pittsburg, 
Pa. They had two children, Mary and Joseph, both deceased. Mrs. Emnett died Jan. 31, 
1882. Mr. Emnett is a member of the Catholic church.
  Nelson W. Evans, son of Edward Patton and Amanda Jane (King) Evans, was born June 
4, 1842, in Sardinia, Brown Co., Ohio. He attended school till June, 1863, and graduated 
from the Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in the class of 1864. He was in the Union army 
from June, 1863, till June, 1865, and during that time was First Lieutenant of Company 
G, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Ohio Infantry, Adjutant of Ohio Hundred and 
Seventy-third Ohio Infantry and Captain of Company K, of same regiment. He was in 
Burnside's campaign in East Tennessee, and at the battle of Nashville. He was married 
Sept. 9, 1868, to Lizzie Henderson, of Middletown, Ohio. During the winter of 1865-'66 
he studied law in the Cincinnati Law School, and was admitted to the bar April, 1866, 
and Aug. 1 of the same year located in Portsmouth, where he has since practiced his 
profession. He was City Solicitor from 1871 till 1875, and from 1870 till 1878 was 
Register in Bankruptcy of the Eleventh Congressional District. He is Vice Regent Grand 
Council, Royal Arcanum of Ohio, and is a member of Portsmouth Lodge, No. 395, A. F. 
& A. M. In politics he is a Republican.
  Elmore Ellis Ewing, wholesale dealer in queen's-ware, china, and glassware, 
Portsmouth, Ohio, was born at Ewington, Gallia Co., Ohio, Feb. 16, 1840, and is the 
youngest son of George and Ann (Knox) Ewing. He was educated at the Ewington 
Academy until he was nineteen, and at the age of seventeen began teaching in Gallia 
County during vacations until he left the academy, thus defraying the expenses of his 
education. When nineteen years old he left his native place and commenced teaching in 
Scioto and Lawrence counties. In 1860 he entered the Ohio University at Athens, where 
he remained two years, and in July, 1862, he assisted in enlisting Company A, Ninety-
first Ohio Infantry, under Capt. L. Z. Cadot. He enlisted in this company as Orderly 
Sergeant, but was promoted to Second Lieutenant in June, 1863, and to First Lieutenant, 
June, 1864. At the battle of Winchester, Va., July 24, 1864, he was severely wounded, on 
account of which he was discharged from the service Dec. 4, 1864. He then was 
appointed clerk in the Provost Marshal's department at Portsmouth, under Captain B. F. 
Cory. Oct. 1, 1865, the office was discontinued, and he received the appointment of 
Principal of the High School department in the public schools at Portsmouth, but owing 
to ill health he was obliged to resign his position in November, 1865. He then accepted 
the position of bookkeeper in the wholesale crockery business of T. J. Pursell & Co., and 
in January, 1867, he became associated with the firm, changing the name to Pursell, 
Ewing & Co. In January, 1876, the other members retired from the firm, when he 
succeeded to the business as E. E. Ewing. Sept. 21, 1865, he was married to Minerva, 
daughter of James S. Folsom, by whom he has had one child – Jessie Folsom. He and 
wife and daughter a