Charles Dresbach
Charles Dresbach, B.S., Ll.B., of Circleville, was born in Fairfield County, seven miles from this city, where he now makes his home, the date of his birth being August 15, 1859. He belongs to an old Pennsylvania family of Saxon descent. His grandfather, Jonathan Dresbach, was born in Berks County, Pa., and removed to Ohio in his young manhood, settling in Fairfield County, where he improved a large tract of Government land.
The father of our subject, Benjamin Dresbach, followed agricultural pursuits on the old homestead, where he was born and where his entire life was passed. His marriage united him with Miss Emily Roby, a native of Pickaway County, Ohio, who died in Circleville in 1889. Her father, who was born in Maryland, was a pioneer of Tarlton, this State, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. Later, he moved to Bainbridge, Ross County, where he followed merchandising until he retired from active business life. Benjamin Dresbach and his estimable wife became the parents of seven children, all of whom still survive. The father died at the old homestead in 1883, when fifty-seven years old.
The fourth in the family is the subject of this sketch, and commenced his literary education in the district schools, and afterward entered the Normal University of Lebanon, Ohio, from which he graduated in both the Business and Classical departments. In 1884, he was graduated from the scientific department of the University, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science, with the honor of being the Valedictorian and Commencement Orator of his class. In the fall of the same year, he entered the department of law in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and was graduated in 1886, when the degree of Bachelor of Laws was conferred upon him. During his University life, he was a member of, and filled all the oflices in, the Phi Delta Phi, the only exclusively legal fraternity in the United States. He was also a prominent member of the Webster Literary Society, in which he was honored with various olficcs, including that of President.
Mr. Dresbach was admitted to practice at the Bar of the State of Michigan soon after going to Ann Arbor, and, while in that city, besides carrying on his university studies, spent three months in the office of Judge Thomas M. Cooley, who was at that time revising his work on "Taxation." While in the University of Michigan, he was actively identified with the School of Political Science, and also devoted considerable attention to the studies of the regular medical department. In 1885, he was admitted to the Ohio Bar, and in June of the following year, opened an office in Circleville, where he has since carried on an extensive practice.
Mr. Dresbach was united in marriage June 2, 1892, with Miss Maud N. Kerrick, of St. Louis, Mo.
In his social relations, Mr. Dresbach is a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight Templar, and also a Thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, belonging to the Ohio Consistory at Cincinnati. He is also a member of Syrian Temple of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Cincinnati, Ohio. He is Past Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, and one of the founders of the Elk Lodge of Circleville. Politically, he is an active member of the Republican party, the principles of which he considers best calculated to advance the interests of the people. He is conceded to be the best-posted and best-read man in Circleville, his knowledge covering a broad range of ancient, medæval and modern history, and classical and general literature. To the wisdom acquired from books, Mr. Dresbach has added the culture imparted by travel and observation of tiie customs of various peoples and nations. In 1891, he made a tour of Europe, visiting the principal points of interest in England, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland and Italy, spending five months abroad. Having previously gained a thorough knowledge of the history of Great Britain and the Continent, he studied every object of interest with the eye of the student and the scholar, rather than the superficial glance of the ordinary tourist. His fine library is not only large, but contains many rare and valuable books upon a wide range of subjects, and in this he constantly keeps up his classic and literary studies.
As an orator, Mr. Dresbach ranks among the most brilliant and ready speakers of this part of the State. As a lawyer, he has met with phenomenal success, and, in a few years after commencing practice, he had acquired not only a large and lucrative probate practice, but had obtained the reputation of being one of the best trial lawyers in the city. The friends of Mr. Dresbach know him to be more than a successful lawyer; they know him to be one who is earnestly striving in all honorable ways to advance the material and social interests of the community in which he lives, and to conduct the practice of the law according to the strictest code of professional ethics. There is probably no one of the public-spirited citizens of Circleville who is more in touch with that principle which has advanced the city along the lines of general culture than Charles Dresbach, and as such, he is honored wherever known.
From PORTRAIT & BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF FAYETTE, PICKAWAY AND MADISON COUNTIES, OHIO - Chapman Bros. [Chicago, 1892]