I was welcomed into the world on March 12, 1825 by my parents on their farm near Greenfield, Ohio; barely even a speck on the map in those days, but we were equidistant between Columbus and Cincinnati which were both large cities in my day as well. My half-brother being a Miami graduate and a citizen of Oxford, I decided this would be a favorable place to pursue my education, and it was. I was enrolled at Old Miami for five years, where I was introduced to our great Brotherhood. I was even asked to give a commencement address on “French Republicanism.”

I was granted admission to the Bar in the great states of Tennessee and Illinois. I was even fortunate to practice law with a distinguished fellow named Stephen A. Douglas and a powerfully sharp man by the name of Abraham Lincoln. When it became apparent there was going to be trouble with those boys down South, I enlisted in the 81st Illinois Volunteers. I figured it was my duty since my grandfather served under General George Washington in the Continental Army. I was eventually appointed to the post of lieutenant colonel when we laid siege to Vicksburg in 1863. I was also proud to serve the great state of Missouri as a state representative for a time. Old Father Time finally caught up with me in February of 1901. I died of an affliction of the heart, and was laid to rest in Warrensburg, Missouri, a bit south of Kansas City.