James M. Comly

James Munroe Stuart Comly was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, as well as a journalist, attorney, newspaper editor and owner, historian and diplomat. He was instrumental in advancing the political career of his friend Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th President of the United States.

Comly was born on a farm near the small village of New Lexington, Ohio. He was descended from a family of Quakers who had moved to Perry County from Philadelphia and established a series of sawmills. When his father died when Comly was only ten years old, he moved to Columbus and worked in a printing shop as a messenger, before becoming an apprentice and journeyman printer. He studied law and served as the chief law clerk for the Ohio Secretary of State, which exposed him to politics. He began writing articles for newspapers and joined the fledgling Republican Party, supporting John C. Frmont for president in 1856 and Abraham Lincoln in 1860. He was the editor of the leading Republican newspaper, the Ohio State Journal.

Source: Wikipedia