The biographical encyclopœdia of Ohio of the nineteenth century:

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
promised to accomplish the greater good. The principles
of the Republican party are more thoroughly in harmony
with his sentiments and ideas than are those of any of the
other political organizations. His religious opinions are expressed in the doctrines of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
lie was married in April, I844, to Elizabeth J. Robbins,
daughter of Daniel and Rebecca Robbins, of Adams county,
Ohio, who died in August, i868. He was again married,
in January, I870, to Elizabeth F. Thompson, a native of
Washington county, Pennsylvania, a graduate of Olome
Institute, Carinonsburg, Pennsylvania. He is the father
of seven living children by his first marriage, four sons and
three daughters.
home at l odi, Medina county, he was made Postmaster of
the place, and also engaged in general merchandising business. He continued in this business until the spring of
I873, when he gave it up. In that year, 1873, he was
elected on the Republican ticket as a member of the HIouse
of Representatives of the Sixty-first General Assembly,
from Medina county, and was placed on the Committees on
Claims, Retrenchment, and Blind, Deaf and Dumb, and
Imbecile Asylums, being secretary of the two latter. He
proved himself an admirable committeeman, and as good a
legislator as he had been a soldier, which is saying that, as
a legislator, he left little to be desired. He has been twice
mnarried. In November, 1862, he married Nellie G. Slater,
of Wayne county, Ohio. She d(lied in October, 1863, and
on the toth of January, I865, he married Catherine C. Killmer, of Brooklyn, New York, by whom he has one child, a
son, born March I6th, I87I. In September, I875, he
purchased property in Medina, the county-seat of his native
county, where he removed with his family soon after, and
.where he now resides.
HOMAS, DAVID W., Attorney-at-Law, was b~orn
I< r M in Loudon county, Virginia, August 11th, 1833.
He was the fourth child in a family of six children
whose parents were Joseph Thomas and Sallie
e (Worthington) Thomas, also natives of Louclon
county, Virginia, and descendants of families
whose members had been participants in the stirring events
of the Revolution. His father followed through life the
business of wagon and carriage-maker, and moved to Ohio
in 1836, settling at Mount Vernon, Knox county, where he
remained during the ensuing three years. He then removed to Adams county, near Mount Leigh, where he resided until his decease in 1870. He was noted for his
ability as a master-mechanic, and esteemed for his sterling
integrity of character. He was of Welsh extraction. His
earlier years were passed in various employments, in the
carriage-shop and on the farm. His early education,
limited in degree and kind, was acquired by his own exertions. While in his twentieth year, his literary attainments
having been improved by diligent study and observation, he
assumed the role of educator in a school at Locust Grove,
Adams county, where he taught during two winters, while
the summer months were devoted to field labor. In those
years he also began the study of law. Ini the winter of
I86o he removed to West Union, and resumed his law
studies under the supervision of Colonel Joseph R. Cockerill.
In May, I86I, he entered the Union service as a private of
Company D, of the 24th Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. With that body he served actively for three years,
and while connected with it was a participant in the battles
of Shiloh, Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga, Lookout
Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and in numerous other
minor engagements. On the second day of the battle of
Shiloh he was wounded in the thigh by a Minie-ball. This
casualty incapacitated him for service for about two months.
After the battle of Stone River he was promoted to a First
Lieuttenancy, and subsequently was raised to the rank of
Captain. In June, i864, he received an honorable discharge from the army, his term of service having expired,
and returned to - West Union. There he continued the
ELIS, HON. JACOB M., Attorney-at-Law, was
born in Clermont county, Ohio, June 8th, I821.
l ie was the oldest child in a f ami ly of thirteen
cr hildren, whose parents were Eli Wells and Eliza
?e (Mahan) Wells. His father, a native of Mason
count y, Kentu cky, followed through life principally agricultural pursu its. He mov ed to Oh io in 1803,
settling in Cl erm on t county, where he has sinc e permane ntly
resid ed. His mother, a native of Bethel, Cler mont county,
Ohio, was a daughter of Jacob Mahan, early pioneer and
preacher of tha t county. The sire s of the Wells family
were active participants in the stirring events of revolutionary days, a nde n the oMah ans took part in the subsequent
war of I812. Until his twentiethyear was reached his days
were spe n t alternately in a t tending school through the
winter months, and in laboring on a farm during the summer
seasons. The year I841 saw him in possession of a liberal
education, and he then assumed the role of teacher in a
school of Brown county, Ohio. During the ensuing eight
years of his experience as an educator he applied himself
with more or less regularity to the study of law. In the
spring of I853 he settled in West Union, Adams county,
and taught school there for one year. Upton his admission
to the bar in I854 he immediately entered upon the practice
of his profession in West Union, and has down to the
present time continued to prosecute his professional labors
with notable success. He has been twice elected Justice of
the Peace, the first time about the year 1847, and for two
years he acted as Surveyor for Adams county. Also, for one
term, he officiated as Prosecuting Attorney of Adams county.
He has never descended into the political arena as a partisan office-seeker, but in the movements of the hour has
uniformly supported the man and cause that, in his views,
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