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Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



the advantages and luxuries of the present day were unknown to 

 him in his early life. At the age of 13, his father's home, with its 

 contents, was destroyed by fire, and he then came with his father 

 to Cincinnati, and by driving a cart, assisted in digging the Miami 

 Canal. In 1832 he learned the trade of brickmaking, and afterward 

 became a contracting bricklayer, his last building being the old 

 post-office, southwest corner of Fourth and Vine ; after which, for 

 forty years, he was measurer of stonework, brickwork and plaster- 

 ing. In 1836 he joined the L O. O. F.; October 24, 1840, he was 

 married to Rebecca Jane Hemphill, who survives him; 185 1 to 

 1858, he represented the old Sixth Ward in the City Council, and 

 afterward represented the old Eighth Ward for many years. 



During the war he was an active member of the Sanitary Com- 

 mission, and made several trips in charge of boats, distributing sani- 

 tary supplies. From 1858 to 1879, he was President of the Cincin- 

 nati Relief Union. He was one of the first members of the Cincinnati 

 Society of Natural History; was President of the Society in 1878, 

 and was one of the three Trustees of the Society, uninterruptedly, 

 for many years, to the time of his death. 



He early developed a remarkable taste for study, and frequently, 

 before he was 13 years of age, walked barefooted, to Richmond 

 and back, a distance of over 10 miles, to borrow a book. During 

 the last 25 years, he devoted much time and study to geology, and 

 the collection of fossils and specimens of natural history, of which 

 he leaves a large cabinet, and also a valuable library of scientific 

 works. During the last five years he gave special attention to the 

 study of astronomical measurements and calculations, which he 

 connected with the measurements of the pyramids of Gizah. 



His early privations imbued his whole life with sympathy for the 

 poor and unfortunate ; his early necessities inured him to hard 

 labor, and taught him the sure road to success ; his business brought 

 him constantly in contact with the laboring classes and the poor, 

 and with their sufferings and misfortunes ; united to these, his un- 

 bounded enthusiasm and untiring energy made him a most efficient 

 promoter of the interests of the laboring class, and a protector and 

 supporter of the poor and unfortunate. . These qualities have 

 received public recognition in his prolonged service in the various 



