Jacob D. (Jacob Dolson) Cox

Born in Montreal in 1828, he moved with his family to the United States and studied at Oberlin College. He first leaned toward ministry and teaching, then turned to law, building a career in Ohio just as the country was heading toward crisis.

During the Civil War, he became one of the Union Army's notable "citizen" generals, rising to the rank of major general. After the war, he served as governor of Ohio, later joined President Ulysses S. Grant's cabinet as secretary of the interior, and also spent time in Congress and in university leadership.

He remained deeply interested in ideas and scholarship throughout his life. In later years he became especially well known for writing clear, influential histories of the Civil War, drawing on both his own experience and a careful historian's eye.