The biographical encyclopœdia of Ohio of the nineteenth century:

ENCVCLOPJEI)IzA.
tibiUCHANAN, ROBERT, Merchant, was born, on
(dut aY rfthe I5th of January, 1797, in western Pennsyl aDhwi II vania, of Scotch-Irish parentage-of Revolution K arywar stock. The rudiments of an English educa o tion were obtained at a country school; but learn aing'in his case, as in every other, did not come
unsought, for the nearest school was two miles away, and
that distance the young student was obliged to walk each
day that he sought knowledge firom this source. In I8o8
he removed with his father to Meadville, Pennsylvania, and
there his educational advantages were greatly increased.
He commenced attending the Meadville Academy, and in a
year from the time he entered the school- he was made as sistant teacher. Shortly after this his father died, and in
consequence of this bereavement he left school and entered
a store in Pittsburgh. In the year i8i I, when only fourteen
years of age, he was sent by his employers to East Liverpool,
Ohio, to assist in a branch store they had established there.
His stay there was made memorable by a sight of the first
steamboat ("the Orleans" ) built on the Ohio river. He
returned to Pittsburgh the same year, and his return is also
made memorable by the fact that it was on the *day before
the great earthquake. In I8i6 he entered into business for
himself-in partnership with his former employers-and
carried it on with varying success in West Union, Ohio,
until I821. lie was the first Ohio merchant who shipped
grain to Europe. He had his grain conveyed on flatboats
to New Orleans, where it was loaded on ships for Liverpool.
In the year 1821 he was employed as Captain of the steam boat " Marysville." He continued in this position until
I 823. In that year he entered into a partnership with
Charles MacAllister, of Philadelphia, in the wholesale
- grocery business in Cincinnati. The firm for several years
was largely engaged in the pork-packing business, in addi tion to the grocery and commission business. In I825, in
connection with his partner, he established the Phcenix Cot ton Factory in Cincinnati, and in the year I828 he built the
Covington Cotton Factory. About I825 he and his partner
formed a business connection with William Tift, and estab- lished the first manufactory for producing steam engines and
sugar mills for the Southern sugar plantations. The busi ness was carried on under his superintendence from 1827
to 1832, when it was discontinued. During this time he
was also part owner in four or five steamboats. When the
sugar mill manufactory was closed he commenced the com. mission business in his own name. It did not suffice for
. him, however, and in I844 he bought a fourth interest in
- the Cooper Cotton Factory, at Dayton, Ohio. In I86o, in
1 connection with William Manser, he leased the Covington
l Rail Mills, and continued his interest in them until 1872.
- In addition to all these enterprises, he has, with his various
; partners, built no less than thirteen dwelling-houses and
st stores in different parts of the city. Moreover, he was Presi, dent of the Commercial Bank fr-om I831 to 1835; was
. Secretary of the Little Miami Railroad Board of Directors
tant and responsible office, an3d brings to the discharge of its
duties a ripe knowledge of financial affairs. His political
affiliations are Democratic, and his first vote was cast for
James K. Polk for the Presidency. He is liberal in religious
opinion, and generous in impulse, and his career is that of
an energetic and prosperous business man, whose conduct,
th ough without ostentation, has won the great respect of
his fellow-citizens. He was married on February 23d, I842,
to Sarah Bray, a native of Hamilton county, and is the
father of four children.
62
AVLOR, EZRA B., Lawyer, was born, July gtb,
1823, ill Portage county, Ohio, and is a son of
Elislia and Theresa (Couch) Taylor. The family
on, both sides are of New -England birth, they
havin, removed from Berkshire county, Mass-'
ch.usetts, iii IS13, and settled in Portage county.
Mrs. Taylor was a relative of the celebrated General D.. N.
Couch of Massachusetts.. The family were only in moderate
circumstances, and Ezra was only able'to attend school
dariiig the winter months, the balance of the year being devoted to labor and toil. He went to the common school,
however, up to the age of seventeen years, but the greater
part of his education was obtained by his own iiidefati,able
exertions. Every momei-it, that be.-could snatch from his
daily task and the eveiiin, hours were devoted-to study, and
all this without the aid of -an instructor. I-Ie commenced
rea(lin, law under the direction of jud,e Robert F. Payne
of Cleveland, and was admitted to the bar in I845, and lie
at once commenced the practice of his -profession. In i 862
be removed to Warren, Trumbull county, where be has
since continued to reside, and in I854 was elected Prosecuting Attorney of P,)i,ta,e county (this was, of course before be went to Warreii). His practice has been very large
and widely extend,,-d; he is among the best-known lawyers
in the State, and though regarded as most excellent in. all
the different branches of his profession, be is particularly
distinguished as an advocate. His name occurs on the
docket of nearly every court in northern Ohio, and few -It-.
torneys in the State have appeared in as great a number of
cases as he. During the late war of the rebellion be was
a private in the Home Guard, and when Governor Brou,,b
called. out the niilitia during the invasion of Ohio by the
guei-illas, instead of hiring a substitute, he shouldered his
musket and marched to the defence of the southern ])order.
The force NA-as captured by the celebrated and notorious
John Morgan, after a bard battle, who took them to Cynthiana, Kentucky, where they were released on parole and
returned home. Durin the construction of the Atlantic &
Great We-,tern Railway he served as a I)ii-ectoi- of that corn-pany; and's.in.ce the completion of the line be has!)eeii its
attorrey and counsel. lie was mari-ied in 1849 iO Hai-i-iet
M., daughter of Colonel Wi.11i,-iiii Fi-aziei-, of Ravenna,
and is the father of two children.'