Born in Rainsboro, Ohio, Joseph B. Foraker (1846–1917) served as the governor of Ohio from 1885–89 and as a United States Senator from 1897–1909. At age 16, he joined the 89th Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Army, fighting in West Virginia and Tennessee during the Civil War and earning the rank of brevet captain. After leaving the army, Foraker studied law. He graduated from Cornell University in 1869, gaining admittance to the Cincinnati bar in the same year. A successful attorney, Foraker was elected judge of the superior court of Cincinnati in 1879. He won the race for governor in 1885 after a failed initial run in 1883 and served for two terms. During his tenure as a senator, Foraker was a supporter of the Spanish-American War and served as the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. After retiring from political office, Foraker returned to his law practice in Cincinnati. He spent the last few years of his life writing his autobiography, Notes of a Busy Life.