Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-07-18
A SPLENDID CAREER.
THE LIFE STORY OF CALVIN /
III BlsICE, OF LIMA. u "
A Tribute to the Democratic Leader
From General 8. r. Hunt.
They Were Classmates Together in
Miami University. +
Energy and His Talents Raised Hin
From Poor Preachers Son 20 a
Millionaire Railroad King.
[Rrom the Enquirer. j

| HlOOu ny dn enquirer GcpOEIeE the Otntl
evening. ,.e. ~ ea t.sF.at
al have been having a jolly good
time with gentleman" said the genial
attorney.
"How, where, when?n was asked.
"Oh, / have just been making a trip
with Calvin s. Brice In his private cal
over his lines of railway. We were out
several days" l' ~
"You know Mr.. Brice well, then?" hi,
"Indeed | do. j want to say that
there are few public men whose names
are more generally known, and yet ol
whose personal history and home life
so little is known, than Calvin S. Brce
the millionaire of Lima, Ohio"
"Mr. Brice is one Of the railroad kings
of to-day. He is
A STANCH DEMOCRAT,
Too, ard won lasting fame by his
skillful management, as chairman Oi
the last National Democratic campaign
committee.
"The canvass he made in the inter-
ests of his party was one of the bOldest
and most magnanimous in the history
OF American politics, and to 1t must be
ascribed In a great measure the total
absence of all mud-throwing and those
dirty campaign methods Of the can
vass of four years ago.
"Mr. Brice is not only a gentleman,
but cultured and generous man, aud
he brought into the political arena with
him all the characteristics Of gentle
man. g. Ie s-r1. r.r.
"Mr. Brice and / were classmates to-
gether in the sixties In Miami Univexs
sity. Oxford, and the friendship W
arose then has continued and intei ~
fled with the passing years, until now!
"Calvin s. Brice is in every sense of
the word
A sELF-MADE MAN.
He began life the son of poor Presbv-
terian minister, and he is to-day ac-
credited with possessing fortune vari.
ously estimated at between $8,000,O
and ST., 100000. 4
HE was born in the little village of
Denmark, Ohio, on September II, 1845,
and he is therefore, still in the prime
of life, scarcely A years of age. His
father was Rev. William Fitzpatrick
Brice, of a distinguished Maryland fam
lily.
"Calvin's education as boy was ac-
quired in the schools Of Denmark and
from the lessons taught him by his
father. Naturally of bright and apt
nature he learned rapidly, and at the
early age of 13 was ready to enter upon
a collegiate course. He began at once
in Miami University at Oxford, only a
short distance from his birthplace. He
remained but two years, and the war
breaking out, the ambitious youth vol
unteered his services, young as he was.
He entered private in Captain Dodd's
company Of university students, and in
1862 was enrolled In Company A,
Eighty-sixth Ohio Volunteers. Prof,
Mcfarland, of the university, was his
captain.
HE SERVED IN THE WEST VIRGINIA
.. 4. CAMPAIGN.
All that year, when, at the earnest soli-
citation of his friends and his captain,
he returned to Oxford and re-entered
the University. Despite the years break
in his course of study, he graduated
with honor in the following year.
ut was during this last year of COL
lege life that knew him best, and I
never knew a brighter scholar than
Brice. He was very quick of appre-
hension and stood well up In all his
classes, and was general favorite. He
was prominent member, at the close
of his college life, of the Delta Kappa
Epsilon fraternity, and still takes
lively interest in all their doings, never
missing reunion. .,...
THE yearning for military life was
still strong in the young man, and i'm
mediately after he graduated, he re-
cruited a company Of volunteers, was
elected captain, and went to the front
with his men, as a part of the One
Hundred and Eightieth Ohio Volun-
teer Infantry. He served with distinct
ion in the campaigns in Tennessee,
Georgia and the CarOlinas, and was
promoted to Lieutenant Colonel for
meritorious services.
He returned to civil life in July,
1866, and began, or rather resumed, the
study of law, taking a course at the
University of Michigan. 0f.s s8l
In 1866 the State and Federal courts
.admittedhim to practice, after an ex-
animation in this city. A
His talents were soon recognized,
and his shingle, which was first flung to
the breeze at Lima. 1g
DID NOT LONG FLAP IN IDLENESS. ~
Charley Foster, subsequently governor
and himself a rising young attorney at
that time, was early attrached to Brice,
and associated the young lawyer with
himself in a number of railroad cases.
I "One of the first railroad cases for
which Mr.. Brice was associated with
Ex- Governor Foster as counsel was the
Lake Erie and Western. 1t was early
in the '7Os, and the young attorney was
held such esteem and worth by both
hisassoeiate and the railroad company
that he was sent to London, Eng, and
intrusted with the disposition of large
quantity Of the campany's bonds.
W nFrom this time dates Mr.. Brice's
connection with railroads. He saw the
opportunity that comes to every one
but once, and he seized it, and, entered
upon the sea Of railroad enterprise and
speculation. is''. XII, II
"His thorough Knowledge of law was
Of vast benefitFt0 him, and his quick
PERCEPTION had full play III the great
game If railrOading, in which the best
minds of the country are pitted one
againstsan0ther
He rose rapidly, and from. the COM
neutrality-suspicious. position as counsel
he is now
PRESIDENT OF THE LAKE ERIE AND
80 ,3e wEsrERN sM Isf1Te
Railroad Company. He has also been
connected with all the following COM
49, ,sar = a., A