OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List ----------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List January 28, 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 53 Today's Topics: #1 JOSEPH SULLIVANT [LeaAnn ] #2 LYNE STARLING [LeaAnn ] #3 JOHN KERR [LeaAnn ] #4 ALEXANDER McLAUGHLIN [LeaAnn ] #5 JAMES JOHNSTON [LeaAnn ] #6 R.W. McCOY [LeaAnn ] #7 DR. S. PARSONS [LeaAnn ] ------------------------------ X-Message: #1 Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 00:09:14 -0600 From: LeaAnn Subject: JOSEPH SULLIVANT History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio Pub by Williams Bros, 1880 Joseph Sullivant, the youngest and only surviving son of Lucas Sullivant and Sarah Starling, was born in Franklinton, in 1809. In his early years he was distinguished by an ardent love of books, and like most boys having this passion, devoured everything which came in his way. Having a retentive memory, he mastered the ordinary school tasks of his time with little difficulty, and after attending the first two classical schools which his father was active in establishing in Columbus, he was sent to the boys boarding school in Worthington, under the management of Rev. Philander Chase, bishop of Ohio. From this school he carried away, and retained in later life, added, it is believed, to steady progress in book lore, a keen appreciation of the motherly kindness of "that most estimable woman", the wife of the bishop. From Worthington, he was transferred to Ohio University, and from thence, about a year after his fathers death, in 1823, and at the early age of fifteen, he entered Center College, Danville, Kentucky, where his course of study was completed. Having, as he says of himself, at an early age imbibed a taste for, and an interest in the natural sciences from his father, who was a "dear lover of nature" he devoted himself to their study, and before the age of twenty-one, was appointed by the legislature, one of the corporators of the Philosophical and Historical Society of Ohio, and was corresponding secretary and curator thereof for several years. The limits of our article do not permit the indulgence of our wish in the free use of the abundant material for an extended biographical sketch of Mr. Sullivant; suffice it to say, that he has been for the last forty years one of the leading spirits in all of the scientific and literary enterprises which have given the city of Columbus its present enviable standing among the centers of intelligence and culture in the west. For many years he devoted much time and attention to the public schools of the city, being first a member, and for several years president of the board of education. Since his final retirement from that position, as a token of the esteem and regard of the large body of teachers connected with the schools, a bust of Mr. Sullivant has been placed in the hall of the beautiful high school building, and later, his old colleagues have erected the largest and finest ward school building in the city, and in recognition of his long, gratuitous and efficient services, have named it Sullivant School, an acknowledgment and at the same time, a monument, of which anyone might justly feel proud. Many years ago elected a member of the American Scientific Association, a member and treasurer of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture; a trustee of Starling Medical College; and serving a second term as trustee and secretary of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Ohio; a member of the executive committee, giving valuable service in the late re-organization of that institution under its present charter as the Ohio State University, he has held various positions of honor and trust, some involving much time and labor, but none of emolument. Nor have the labors of Mr. Sullivant been confined to merely scientific and literary enterprises, a pamphlet prepared by him on "A Water Supply for the City of Columbus," being greatly influential in arousing attention to this important matter. He was also the projector of Greenlawn Cemetery, selected its site, was a member of its first board of trustees, and for several years, president of the corporation. With all these evidences of the high estimation of the community in which his life has been spent, no honor is so dear to him (according to his own affectionate confession) as the remembrance of the community of tastes and pursuits which rendered especially close the chain linking him with his distinguished brother, whose fame will increase in proportion as knowledge and culture are increased. Mr. Sullivant has been thrice married, and has a family of several children ------------------------------ X-Message: #2 Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 00:42:49 -0600 From: LeaAnn Subject: LYNE STARLING History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio Pub by Williams Bros, 1880 LYNE STARLING Lyne Starling was born in Mecklenburgh County, Virginia, in the year 1784; removed to Kentucky in 1794, and came to Franklinton in 1806. Through the influence of his brother-in-law, Lucas Sullivant, he was placed in the clerks office for Franklin County, a position for which, though young, he was well qualified by previous training. Subsequently he was appointed clerk of the circuit and district courts of the United States, and also of the supreme and common pleas courts of Franklin county. Mr. Sullivant afterward furnished the means and formed a partnership with his young relative in the mercantile business, and he became a successful merchant and enterprising trader, being the first one who ventured cargoes of produce down the Scioto, and thence to New Orleans in decked flat-boats. This venture, proving remunerative, was of great advantage, not only to himself, but to others. He was a commissary and large contractor for supplies to the Northwestern army under General Harrison, which assembled at Franklinton and Urbana during the war of 1812. Mr. Starling was all his life a sagacious business man, and was one of the original proprietors of Columbus, the present central portion of the city having been laid out on land owned by him. A short extract from a letter to his sister in Kentucky, dated Franklinton, July, 1809, may be of interest, as fixing the date of the purchase of this land: "I have lately purchased an elegant seat and tract of land opposite town, on the other side of the river, which I have an idea of improving." evidently as a gentleman's country seat, in the suburbs of the capital, Franklinton. Judge Gustavus Swan, who had known Mr. Starling for forty years, speaks thus of him in an obituary, written with great apparent fairness: "The deceased was, by nature, emphatically a great man. He had a quick and clear perception, a retentive memory, and a sound unerring judgment. He possessed the rare faculty of annihilating, in an instant, the space between cause and effect. He arrived at conclusions, and was acting upon them, while ordinary minds were contemplating the premises. It was this peculiar intellectual superiority which rendered his efforts in business so uniformly successful, and which enabled him, before reaching the meridian of life, to amass one of the largest fortunes which have been accumulated in the West." His health failing, he traveled extensively, both in this country and abroad. Being a man of quick perceptions, and a close observer both of men and things, he gained much practical knowledge and from intercourse with the best society, was much improved by his travels; his experience, during these years of leisure, compensating for his early and exclusive devotion to business. Mr. Starling never held any political office, though an unsuccessful candidate for congress, his wealth and apparently exclusive manner being against him with the masses, who considered him an aristocrat. He finally made Columbus his permanent place of residence, where he returned to take charge, as administrator, of the large and valuable landed estate of Mr. Lucas Sullivant. Not long before his death, to show his regard for the city whose first houses he built, and in which his fortune had been amassed, he donated thirty-five thousand dollars to establish a medical school, named after him, Starling Medical College. As he was never married, at his death, which occurred in 1848, his large estate was distributed, by will, among his relatives. At his own request, he was buried in the old graveyard at Franklinton, near his sister, Mrs. Sullivant, and other friends. When the Green Lawn cemetery was established, the remains were removed, and a fine monument marks the last resting place of one of the founders of the city of Columbus. ------------------------------ X-Message: #3 Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 02:15:50 -0600 From: LeaAnn Subject: JOHN KERR History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio Pub by Williams Bros., 1880 JOHN KERR John M. Kerr, one of the four proprietors of the original town plat of Columbus, was born about the year 1778, in County Tyrone, Ireland, and was educated at the University of Dublin. He came to this country early in the century, and settled in Franklinton, about 1810. His connection with the company entering into compact with the legislature in 1812, has already been given. Mr. Kerr was appointed, in 1813, the first agent of the associates, and continued until 1815, when he declined longer service. He was also a member of the first board of councilmen, elected in 1816, for the "borough of Columbus." He died in 1823, in the same year with Mr. Lucas Sullivant. Mr. Kerr left a large fortune, at his death, which was soon dissipated. Mr. John M. Kerr Jr., now nearly sixty-two years old, is the only son living; but a sister (MRS. Mary F. Heffner, now a widow), resides in Fremont, Ohio. There is also a grandson, a boy of ten years, bearing the family name, John M. Kerr. Mr. Kerr was buried in the old North graveyard, and as a result of the neglect into which the place has fallen, the headstone placed at his grave has been destroyed, and his children are not able to identify the grave of their father, and he a man whose active business life was so intimately associated with the early history of the city! The son of Mr. Kerr, mentioned above, is now living in Columbus, with his wife and child, the latter a promising boy of about ten years. Mr. Kerr is a man of much intelligence and literary culture, who made many business ventures with the great wealth which his father left, but failed in them all. And now, at the advanced age of sixty-one, he finds himself in great affliction from the almost total loss of sight by a painful disease of the eyes, and from the pinchings of absolute poverty. ------------------------------ X-Message: #4 Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 02:21:25 -0600 From: LeaAnn Subject: ALEXANDER McLAUGHLIN History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio Pub by Williams Bros., 1880 Alexander McLaughlin, another of the "original proprietors," though at one time looked upon as one of the wealthiest men in the State, through the depreciation of real estate occurring about the year 1820, and having entered so deeply into speculation, failed in business, and his large landed estate was sacrificed under the hammer. Though a man of no mean endowment, and with a fine business education and qualifications, he was never able to retrieve his fallen fortunes, and supported himself, in later life, by teaching a common country school. He died in 1832. ------------------------------ X-Message: #5 Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 02:26:26 -0600 From: LeaAnn Subject: JAMES JOHNSTON History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio Pub by Williams Bros., 1880 JAMES JOHNSTON James Johnston, one of the parties to the contract to "lay out a town" and "erect and complete a State house, offices, and penitentiary," failed about the same time, and from the same cause as Mr. McLaughlin. He returned to Pittsburg, where he had been connected in business with Kerr, previous to their venture, where he spent the remainder of his life. He died in 1842, at an advanced age, six years prior to the death of Lyne Starling, who was several years younger than the other members of the company. ------------------------------ X-Message: #6 Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 02:48:41 -0600 From: LeaAnn Subject: R.W. McCOY History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio Pub by Williams Bros., 1880 R.W. McCOY R.W. McCoy was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1787. He was brought up, from early boyhood, to the business of a merchant. In the year 1811, he removed from Mercersburg, in his native State, where he had been engaged in business, to Franklinton, bringing with him a small stock of goods, with which he opened a store. Here he continued prosperously for about five years, when he sought a larger field for his increasing business, in the new town of Columbus. During a period of forty years he followed the same occupation in this city, accumulating a handsome property. He died, January 16, 1856, in the seventieth year of his age, respected by all classes in the community, as an active, useful, and public spirited citizen. He succeeded Mr. Buttles as president of the City bank of Columbus an office which he held at the time of his death. He was the uncle and foster-father of William A. McCOY, who died in Columbus, on the thirteenth of October, 1879, aged about sixty-eight. He (William) was born in Butler County, in this State, where his mother died in his early childhood. A few years later, his father, having removed to Portsmouth, died there, leaving William to the care of the boys uncle (and his own brother), in this city. This was in 1818. Though but seven years old, William was taken at once into his uncles store, at the corner os State and High Streets. He received a good substantial business education, partly in the school room and partly behind the counter; and on arriving at his majority, in 1832, he was taken in as a partner in the business. Ten years after this the uncle retired from active participation in the business, although he still maintained a pecuniary interest in it. Colonel James C. McCoy, son of another brother of Robert, was taken into the concern, and the firm name was changed to that of W.A. McCoy and Co. This arrangement continued till the death of the uncle, as above stated, in 1856, when the business was closed up and the goods sold at auction. Colonel James C. McCoy joined the army for the suppression of the Rebellion, and was a member of General Sherman's staff when he died in Washington, June, 1874. His remains were brought to this city, and were buried from Trinity church, with military honors, General Sherman and staff attending the funeral. When the partnership was dissolved by the death of the uncle, William A. McCoy was made trustee of the estate, and allowed ten years for settling up the business. Having accomplished this work to the satisfaction of all concerned, he spent the remainder of his life in comparative leisure, occupying himself only with his books and papers, and the safe investment of the handsome moneyed capital which an honorable and prosperous business career had enabled him to accumulate. ------------------------------ X-Message: #7 Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 03:00:53 -0600 From: LeaAnn Subject: DR. S. PARSONS History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio Pub by Williams Bros., 1880 DR. S. PARSONS from whom Parsons Avenue, in the city of Columbus, was named, was born in Reading, Connecticut, in the year 1786. Having acquired a thorough knowledge of the science of medicine in his native State, he came west, still young and unmarried, and arrived in Franklinton on the first day of the year 1811. Here he located, and commenced the practice of his profession. In 1816, seeking a wider field for the exercise of his talents, he removed to the growing town across the river, where he continued to practice till his sixty-fourth year, when he retired from the active duties of his profession. He acquired a high reputation as a physician, and as a citizen, was universally respected. In 1843 he received the unsolicited honor of being elected as a representative of Franklin County in the State Legislature, in which capacity he exhibited his usual ability. He also, for a number of years, held the important office of president of the Franklin branch of the State bank of Ohio. He died on the thirtieth of December, 1857, in the seventy-second year of his age. -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V99 Issue #53 *******************************************