The biographical encyclopœdia of Ohio of the nineteenth century:

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
and tireless efforts in his beautiful home located in the suburbs of Columbus. He was married in 1848 to Lydia A.
Snyder, of Tiffin, Ohio...
from the date of its establishment- down to the present time
During the -war of the rebellion, by appointment of the gov
ernor, he was occupied as a member of the County Militar
Committee. He was also for a number of years a member
of the Board of Examiners of Public Schools, and in I87I-72
served as a member of the City Council from the Fourth Ward.
III I872-75 he was a member of the'General Assembly of
Ohio (LX. and LXI.) In the spring of I875he was elected
on the Republican ticket Mayor of Toledo. The story of his
career, both as a man of business and as a public functionary
and official, has in it no element of baseness or disloyalty;
his record is wholly honorable. He was married in February, I853, to Elizabeth Brehm, lay whom he has had eleven
children, of whom nine are now living.
a SHBURN, THOMAS QUIN, Attorney-at-Law,
In 872\7 Judge of the Common Pleas Court of the First
ohio'L aISubdivision of thie Fifth Judicial District of Ohio,
otn, t l k was born at East Walnut Hills, Hamilton county,
ccbt s f aOhio, February 9th, I1820. He was the oldest
; child in a family of seven children whose parents
- were Richard Ashburn and Mary (Williams) Ashburn.
Hit father, a native of.Lancashire, England, came to Amer ica when but nine years of age in company with his father's
family. At the termination of the voyage, during which his
mother had died, he moved with his people to Cincinnati,
Ohio, about the year I797. He has followed through life,
at the outset, the trade of brick-mason, and at a later period
agricultural pursuits. His grandfather settled in New Rich mond, Clermont county, Ohio, at a later date than I797,
and there laid out the town of Susanna, thus named in
honor of his wife, and was one of the original proprietors of
New Richmond. He resided there until his demise. His
mother, a native of Hamilton county, Ohio, was a daughter
of Thomas Williams, an early settler of this section of the
State. His boyhood was passed in laboring on the paternal
farm, while his early education, up to the age of eighteen,
was limited in degree and kind. He was about this time
afflicted so severely by rheumatism, that for two years lihe
was entirely incapacitated for manual labor, and consequently turned his attention toward increasing his store of
learning. In I838 he entered Miami University, and there
pursued a course of study for about eighteen months. In
I839 he temporarily adopted the vocation of educator in a
school at New Richmond, Clermont county,,wbere he taught
during two winters, occupying his leisure time through
the summer by farming lal)ors. In I841 he became an inmate of Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, where
he remained for three terms, completing half the junior
year. He then returned to Clermont county, and again enI gaged in teaching school for two terms, at a salary of twelve
dollars per month. While thus employed lie commenced
the study of law, under the guidance of Shields & Howardl,
prominent attorneys of Batavia, and eventually was admitted to the bar. In May, I846, he removed to Batavia,
and entered upon the career which has since been uniformly
attended with fair success. Fromt I848 to I852 be was
Prosecuting Attorney of Clermont county, having been twice
elected to fill this important office, and in I855 was a candlidate for the Legislature, but on account of the " KnowNothing" opposition failed to secure an election. In the
fall of I86I he was elected Judge of the Common Pleas
Court of the First Subdivision of the Fifth Judicial District
of Ohio, and has since filled this office continuously. In
x875 he was a candidate on the Democratic ticket for Judge
ERSHISER, WILLIAM A., Contractor, Builder
and Lumber Merchant, was born in Bedford
county, Pennsylvania, February I8th, 1823. His
parents, Henry Hershiser and Maria (Barbara
Kegg) Hershiser, belonged to th e class of thrifty
peop le known as Pen nsylvania Germans. He
lived on.the f arm un til his t enth year weas r eached, wh e n he
moved with the family to Seneca county, Ohio. There,
until I838, he rema ined at his hom e, engaged in assisting
his father on e fr ai idtfo the farm, and in atteding the public school.
Il e wa s then pla ced to learn the brick laying business, a t
which he subsequently worked for about four years. In
I842 he became disalbledl, and consequlently returned to
school, and afterward, unti l 845, was alternately enmployed
in study ing a nd teaching. During th is year, he moved to
Tiffin, Senec a c o unty, Ohio, and took a position as Clerk in
a dlry-goods store. T here he remaisned until De cember IJt,
1855, at which date he received the appointment of Chief
Clerk in the State Treasury Office at Columbus, under Wil liam H. Gibson. That position he retained, under different
treasurers elected from time to time, until January, I873.
Then, having engaged in 1863 with R. B. Adamsq, in the
lumber b)usiness, it became necessary for him to give to its
conduct his undivided attention. Eventually the relations
of this business assuming large and successful proportions,
it w-as extended so as to include contracting and building.
The firm as now existing is known under the style of Hershiser & Gibson, and has an extended and favorable reputation as a reliable and enterprising house. He was for
twelve years a prominent member of the First Congregational Church of Columbus, Ohio, and in I87I, in connection with others, organized the High Street Congregational
Church. To the support of this church, and to the relief of
.the poor in various guises, he gives a large portion of his
means. Having started in life without capital or influential
friends, he owes his success to his own unaided energy and
ability, and now deservedly enjoys the fruits of his industry
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