The Portland daily press., 1890-03-08
MANY SUCCESSFUL MEN
who were Born In Ashland County
Ohio.
Correspondence Of the Press.l

Correspondence OF the Press
WASHINGTON, March GA group of
members of congress and government
officials were sitting in the easy chairs of
a hotel parlor few nights ago, talking
about the Astors and their wealth, the
| growth OF the money power, the rise of
trusts, and the probabilities of the future
as to the Capitalization of capital. A ma
| jority of the gentlemen present took a
| gloomy view of the situation. They con-
| tended that in the new order Of things a
| poor man, even in the United States, has
| not fair start in the race CT life, and
| that the tendency of the times is to make
the rich richer and the poor poorer. Fl
nally one gentleman, a prominent figure
in congress and in national politics, with
| a good deal of seriousness stood against
what seemed to be the prevailing opinion,
and argued that as wealth is so much
more conspicuous than poverty, its dis
play always exaggerates its relation to
the average condition of things.
"Let me tell you story from actual
life to illustrate my position" said he.
81 think l can show you from remark
able incident, or, rather, series of in
cidents, of coincidents, that in the United
States man needs neither the prestige
of wealth nor family to enable him to
win conspicuous success in business or
| professional life.
Fifty years ago was barefooted
boy living with my parents on farm in
Ashland county, o. The country was
comparatively new, the markets were
not good, and the agricultural people
were hard pressed to get a living out of
the soil. Money was scarce, nearly every
one was in debt, and no one was pros
porous or content. At the cross roads
in Green township, near which we lived,
there used to be an old blacksmith of the
name of Studebaker. He was a good
old man, who worked pretty hard at his
anvil, but for all that had a constitu-
tional tendency to financial prostration.
He had some boys who were active
young fellows and who tried to help their
, father out, but in spite of all they could
do, ana ali The old man could do, the
blacksmith found himself more than
once every year, sued for debt before
| justice of the peaSe known in the neigh
borhood as Squire &lis6HH. It was IN
derstood in the neighborhood t fisat the
old gentleman Studebaker owed nearly
every one in that part of the country,
and every merchant in the county seat
whom he could induce to trust him. In
the same way about half the farmers in
the township owed him bills for sharp
ening pillow shares, for repairing wagons
and implements and shoeing their horses.
The farmers were too poor to pay, and
Studebaker was therefore unable to pay
the merchants who had sold Kim supplies.
Zone day, to the surprise of every one,
old man Studebaker loaded his family
and few household goods into a covered
| wagon and started west. All the neigh
bors had confidence in his honesty, and
were sorry to see him go. The next we
heard of him was that he had located at
South Bend, Ind, where he and his lusty
boys had made first one wagon and then
another and sold them at fair prices to
the prosperous farmers of the st. Joseph
valley. 1t wasn't long before he had
made wagons enough to enable him to
start an extensive wagon shop, and in a
year or two he came back to Green town.
ship, Ashland county, O., and paid every
debt which he had left behind him.
remember how proud the old man was of
his ability to do this, and how glad his
former neighbors were to see him pros.
pering. Well, you all know the rest.
You know how that wagon shop grew
and grew till it became the largest insti-
tuition Of its kind in the world. You
know that his sons are immensely
wealthy and highly respected men.
"The Squire Allison whom have
mentioned was poor man, too He
had son, Bill, who was fond of chew
ing tobacco and playing ball and of
Sinking his work on the farm. Bill and
] were chums, barefoot boys together,
and l remember that he often said he
was going to leave the farm at the first
opportunity. Finally he got chance to
go to Ashland, the county seat, and
study law with firm there who knew
his father, and in time he was admitted
to the bar and hung out his single. He
didn't have many clients, and for time
had to go through the process of starva-
ton and insolvency which is the fate of
all young lawyers in a country town.
He naturally turned toward politics.
and when the Republican party was
born enrolled himself as one of its mem
bers and stood for county attorney on
the Republican ticket. Ashland was
then and still is stanch Democratic
county, and young Allison was showed
under. He took this as hint that that
nelghborhood was not congenial for him,
and started west He went to DUBUQUE.
Ia, and within five years his abilities
and his popularity as a man had won
for him nomination and election tn
congress. You all know the remainder
of the story-how he served a number
OF years in the house, and then stepped
up to the senate, where he has been for
seventeen years. Senator Allison has
never been a success financially, though
you will often see his name in the papers
as one of the millionaires of the senate
The truth is he is not worth $50 900. and
the entire devotion of his time to public
affairs has left him without the inclina.
ton or the ability to take hand in the
money grabbing enterprises of the times.
But his life has been great success.
nevertheless
"By some strange dispensation of fate |
that neighborhood Of Ashland county.
O., has given large number of famous
men to the state Of Iowa. Old Samuel
j. Kirkwood, the war governor of Iowa.
was poor boy in Ashland county. who
also studied law and for time practiced
before Squire Allison and other Justices
of the peace. Those who recollect him
Say that even then he had the same
qualities Of rugged honesty, eloouence
and shrewdness which have since made
him so successful as popular leader.
The first public Office which he held was
that of township clerk of Vernilion
township, to which he was elected in
1S41. He, too, drifted west, and became
governor, senator and member of the
cabinet.
Judge Reed, now a member of con-
gress from Iowa, was near neighbor of
the Kirkwoods and Allisons in Ashland
county before they all went west The
judge says he got his ambition to study
law by hearing Kirkwood pettifogging a
damage case before his father, Squire
Reed, who for many years was Justice
Of the peace for Green township. It ap-
pears that young Reed ran away from
school to be present on that momentous