The biographical encyclopœdia of Ohio of the nineteenth century:

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPA, DIA.
conmand of the left wing of the army at the taking of Fort
Ilindman, ill Arkansas. In I863, on account of ill health,
he resigned, left the army and returned to his home. In
politics, he is a Democrat, and in 1865 he was candidate
for Governor of Ohio, but was unsuccessful. He was
elected, on the Democratic ticket, to the Fortieth Congress,
and his seat was contested by Honl. C. Delano. He was
re-elected to the Forty-first and again to the Forty-second
Congress, where the record he made was a record of good
abilities and strict integrity. After leaving Congress he returned again to Mount Vernon, where he has since resided
in the successful practice of his profession. Hle was married on the 7th of October, 185I, to Sarah H. hall, of
Zanesville.
were devoted to providing comforts for his mother. In the
year last mentioned he was employed as a carpenter on the
"Bedford," at a salary of forty-five dollars per month. This
vessel was unfor tunate, sinking in the Mis so uri ri ver on
March 2oth, I840. Mr. Ehler worke ed as carpenter on
various vessels until I849, when, in company with Mr.
Horsley, he started in th a carpenter- and s teamboat-joiner
business, and ha s ever since carried it on s uccess fully, adding to it, after i t h ad run some years, a lumber department.
In I865 he purchased his partner's interest, and it now sole
pr opr ietor of an enterprise which has secured to hi e ample
meanis and an extended reputa tion as a boat-builder. His
busines s has bee n inte rrupte d by mis fortunes, woich, however, l he gallantly surmounted. Du ring the thirty yea r s he
ha s carried it on he has been burned out seven ti mes; and
lost more, perhaps, by the rise of the r iver in I847 than h e
did by the flames. During eighteen years, when h e suffere d
mainly from fire, he carried no insurance; but now is amply
c overed w i th policies o n hi s establ ishme nt as well as Upo8
hii Hs own life. His life insurance is $I5,OOO, and that of his
wife $IO,OOO. He relies entirely upon his own judgment
in the management of h is affairs, and believes that i f he had
always pursued this course he would have enjoyed a greater
measure of success. He is now fifty-five years of age and
in the possession of a strong and vigorous constitution.
He is now the only steaml)oat-joiner in business in Cincinnati, and looks out for a happier termination of his active
career than that of the builders and joiners who once surrounded him. He is a substantial citizen, liberal in his
opinions and generous in his impulses, and has taon the
respect of the entire community. He was married in I842
to Mary J. DuLnn, who died ill I849. Ite afterwards married Fannie A. Perdum, who died in I86O. In I865 he
was again married, his wife being Harriet L. Dumont,
daughter of John J. Dumont.
eiHLER, ELIAS ANNAWALD, Steamlboat-joiner,
2here hE as born, March ioth, I82 m, at Aurora, Dear
d ollaborn county, Indiana. His mother was Eliza beth Ann awald, of Pennsylvania, and both his
c pa rent s a e-a e of German origin. He wa s edu cate d in the district schools o f his nativ e State, at
a time when pioneer settlements were forming, and when
the facilities for anything beyond rudimentary instruction
were not obtainable i n the Wsem estern Reserve. These were
the days whe n the cou rs e of study, usually pursued in a
backwoods scho ol, was covered by " Dellworth's Arithmetic," " Webster's Spe ller" and the " Testament." He
left A urora wh en a young man and w ent to Kenitucky,
where lie workied ill various capacities, bout main-ly as an
employ6 in a tobacco factory. III I832 he went to Cincinnati, and was enga ged in a tobacco factory at the corner of
Fourth an d M a in streets, where " Invisibl e Green," latterly
of the Timspes, was his coympanion. In I834 he became
second cook i n the steamer " Chamnplain," at a salary of five
dbollars a month. Up to I835 h e served in this culinary
capacity, and o also as cabin boy on karious boats. His
ve nture in business on his own account occurred in the
same year. IHe bough t three gallons of whiskey for th i rtyseveni cents and opened a bar on the steamer "Lady
Byr o n," and net ted on thes re three gallons twenty-six dollars, afte r giving t he colored steward, who acted as abettor
and backer to this enterprise, eleven dollars. The boat
went e ighty miles up the Ohio and laid up for the win ter,
and Mr. Ehler was obliged to buy a skiff in order to reach
Cincinnati, which he safely did after rowing the entire distance. In the spring of I836 he was employed in a blind
and sash factory. He accompanied the proprietor of the
business to Rising Sun, where they got out the timber for
the boat " Renown," finished the joiner worlk and brought
the vessel to Cincinnati in I837. During the yellow fever
epidemic, in the same year, he made a trip to New Orleans
on the " Renown," and upon his return to Cincinnati he
worked as an apprentice in carpentering, at which he continued until I839. His surplus earnings during these years
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ATHEWS, REV. JOSEPH McDOWELL, D. D.,
President of Hillsborough Female College, High. land county, Ohio, was borii iii Augusta. county,
Virginia, December Stb"1804. His father, John
Mathews, also a native of Augusta county, Vir ginia, followed through life mainly agricultural
pursuits; he moved to Ken tricky in i8l4 and settled in
Favette county, where he resided until his demise, Decembei- istb, I814. His mother, Sarah (McDowell) Mathews,
a native of Burle county, North Carolina, was -,t daughter
of Major Joseph McDowell, who served valiantly and
efficiently,ts an officer iii the Revolutionary army, was a
member of Congress during the Presidencies of Adams and
Jefferson, and ",as general of the old-time militia of Nort] i
Carolina; he died in Burke county, North Carolina, iii
isoi. The oldest child in a family'of four children, his
earlier years, up to the age of eighteen, were passed alter