Calvin S . Brice Calvin Stewart Brice ( September 17 , 1845 – December 15 , 1898 ) was a Democratic politician from Ohio . Born in Denmark , Morrow County , Ohio , Brice dropped out of Miami University in 1861 to join the Union Army . After a short stint in the Army , he returned to Miami University and earned his undergraduate degree from there in 1863 . After the Civil War , Brice studied law at the University of Michigan and then started a business career where he amassed a fortune , largely in railroads . In 1879 , he became president of the Lake Erie and Western Railroad and built the Nickel Plate Road in 1882 . A Democrat , Brice was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1889 until 1892 and won elected to the Senate in 1890 , serving a single term in office . Early life . Calvin Brice was born on September 17 , 1845 in the small town of Denmark , Ohio , to Elizabeth Stewart and William Kirkpatrick Brice , a Presbyterian minister of no great wealth . Originally home - schooled , he later entered the Columbus Grove public school system in Putnam County . Showing some promise as a student , Brice began preparations for higher education and in 1859 gained admission to Miami University . After graduating in 1863 with high honors , he would become a devoted alumnus later in life . His efforts in 1885 and 1888 to provide funding for the University were largely responsible for its survival , and a science building , Brice Hall ( now demolished ) was named in his honor . Military and early legal career . Brice ' s first attempt to join the army in 1861 met with little success , after being turned down because of his young age . In the summer of 1862 , however , Brice enlisted and served three months in the 86th Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry , seeing action in West Virginia . In 1863 he returned to and graduated from Miami University and worked as a schoolmaster , before he joined the army again in 1864 , this time serving as captain to a company of volunteers he recruited for the 180th Ohio Infantry . Brice rose rapidly through the ranks of the Union Army and , by the end of the war , attained the position of Lieutenant - Colonel . With " no desire for an army career , " according to historian Thomas Mach , Brice ended his military career soon after to pursue a career in law . He earned his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School , Ann Arbor , in 1865 and passed the Ohio bar in 1866 . Business career . Brice found his break into both the business and political worlds under unusual circumstances . Around 1880 , when his law practice was proving unsuccessful and his mother ’ s home was at risk of foreclosure , Brice wrote to the holder of the mortgage , the then governor Charles Foster , and offered to attend to any legal interests he needed help with . Foster declined the legal help , but offered instead to pay Brice five hundred dollars to negotiate a business deal on Wall Street on his behalf . Brice accepted , and proved a shrewd businessman ; Foster would later name Brice “ the most remarkable man [ he ] ever met [ … ] the most successful borrower [ he ] ever saw . ” Ignoring Foster ’ s explicit instructions for his work on the business proceedings in New York and instead following his instincts , Brice returned with a shocking profit of $ 40 , 000 , and earned the trust and friendship of the governor . After working as a private lawyer , Brice joined the Lake Erie and Louisville Railroad law department , where he gained his initial experience with the railroad industry , learning how to operate , fund , and expand its lines . Foster became impressed with Brice after he unveiled a plan to save a foundering rail project running from Toledo to Ohio ’ s coal fields . With Foster ’ s support , Brice managed to guide the railroad through the Panic of 1873 and expand it into Lima and other areas . Brice eventually rose to president of the company in 1887 , which by then had become known as the Lake Erie and Western Railroad . Over time , Brice netted a great fortune , laying claim to ten different railroads while spreading into numerous other businesses , including the National Telegraph Company and the Chase National Bank of New York . Perhaps his most marked achievement came with his role in the construction of the Nickel Plate Road in 1882 , which ran from New York to St . Louis . He later sold this road for a generous profit to William Henry Vanderbilt , who recognized it as a dangerous competitor . Later in life , Brice became involved with railroad projects in China . He was a founding member of the American Asiatic Association , an organization responsible for pursuing American trade interests in China under the Open Door Policy . In the late 1890s , he began an attempt to build a railroad between Canton and Hankou on Mainland China . However , he died before the project was completed . Throughout his business career , two overlying themes appeared dominant - Brice ’ s ability to take a failing or fledgling business and restructure it to make profit , and his involvement with Charles Foster , whose support was crucial to Brice ’ s success . The mining town of Briceville , Tennessee , which he proved instrumental in helping to connect to railroad service , is named for him . At the same time , however , Brice remained selfless in his aims and frugal in his desires , unlike most of the so - called robber baron s of his day . According to historian James White , Brice did not accept much compensation for his services during a business transaction and often held himself accountable to the public by " stripping a proposition of every incumbrance and laying it bare for inspection . " Political career . In addition to his business career , Brice played an ongoing role in state and national politics . A Bourbon Democrat , he was an electoral candidate for Samuel J . Tilden in 1876 and later worked for the 1884 presidential campaign of Grover Cleveland . As time passed , Brice became more active in the Democratic Party and was elected as a delegate - at - large to the national convention . In 1889 , Brice was chosen to replace the late William H . Barnum as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee , and served in that capacity until 1892 . In 1890 Brice won nomination as his party ' s candidate to succeed George H . Payne , the outgoing U . S . Senator from Ohio . Heavy campaign spending secured the election of a Democratic majority to the Ohio General Assembly , enabling Brice ' s selection . Because of suspicious circumstances deriving from Payne ’ s initial selection , though , Brice was scrutinized by the Senate before assuming office . Although Brice enacted few memorable measures as Senator , he gained a reputation as one of the most hard - working and intelligent members of Congress , serving on the Democratic Steering Committee , Committee on Appropriations , and as Chairman of the Committee on Pacific Railroads . Brice ' s reversal on the critical issue of tariff reform , however , cost him the support of many in his Democratic base . Though Brice fended off a censure motion at the 1894 Democratic party state convention , he lost his bid for reelection to Republican Joseph B . Foraker three years later . After his defeat , Brice dropped out of Ohio politics . He died suddenly and unexpectedly in New York City of an acute attack of pneumonia in 1898 .