600 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY him, Social features are offered the students for their entertainment, and the college provides a reading room with musical instruments, a well selected library, current magazines and daily and weekly papers. The Elyria Business College is the only school in this part of Ohio employing a teacher whose entire time is devoted to teaching touch typewriting and correct office forms. The college supplies all the leading makes of machines, including the Wahl Adding Machine, filing devices and card systems, in the use of which the student is carefully instructed, and that excellent work is done by the graduates is shown by the important positions they are holding in the business world. Special attention is given to training teachers for business colleges and the commercial department of high schools, The diploma from this school has been accepted, without further examination, by schools in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Always alert to any advance in business methods, the college showed its progressive spirit by being the first school in Northern Ohio to install the stenotype, the fastest writing machine in the world as a part of the equipment in the shorthand department. A number of young students who had mastered its mechanism, at a shorthand contest held in Cleveland on October 22, 1914, astonished all who attended by their speed records. The Elyria Business College is justly proud of the achievements of several of these students, William Henke, whose remarkable record was a net speed of 138 words a minute, carrying away state honors, and Edward Feron, who won second place with a net speed of 121 words a minute. The Graham System of Shorthand is also taught in the shorthand department, and the fact that every graduate from this department is employed should convince all who are interested that it pays to attend a school where the teachers have had actual office experience, This department is under the direct supervision of Miss Johnston, who by writing and teaching shorthand, has become thoroughly familiar with the demands of business men who want first-class stenographers. This department is also equipped with every modern device, including a complete multigraph outfit, upon which instructions are given and most of the school literature is printed, This part of the work includes actual office practice, where outside work is taken and prepared by the students who are about ready for positions. This not only gives the student experience in doing real work before he leaves school, but it enables many of the students to earn considerable sums with which to pay their expenses while in school. In the bookkeeping department, is taught the famous Rowe Bookkeeping and Accountancy, which system is approved by leading accountants through the United States, and includes a course in banking, according to the lines prescribed by the American National Bankers Association. The Burroughs Adding Machine and other office devices used in, the large business offices are found in this department and the student is given thorough instruction not only in bookkeeping, but in arithmetic, penmanship, commercial law, business English. banking, and all forms of actual office practice, The Accredited Schools Association, of which the Elyria Business College is a member, is a national body of high standing among educators, President Johnston was elected second vice president of the National Commercial Teachers Federation in 1914 and first vice president at the annual convention held in Chicago in 1915, and is one of the best known commercial educators in the country, The high standard she has ever maintained and the wisdom and good judgment with which she has managed her business have brought her universal respect and have HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 601 proved valuable assets for her enterprise, She occupies a somewhat unique position in that she owns the only private school in Ohio housed in the owner's building unoccupied by other tenants and additionally is the only woman in the United States who owns and manages a business college. It is the proud boast of the faculty of the Elyria Business College that every graduate is employed, and one of its slogans is, "A position the day you complete the course," THOMAS HENRY ARTRESS. Among the men who have been most closely identified with the business life of the City of Lorain during the last thirty or forty years a place of special prominence belongs to Thomas H, Artress, who now has many active relations with business affairs and has held a number of civic responsibilities. The success of his career is accentuated by the fact that as a boy he endured many privations, and depended upon hard work and honest efficiency to win him a place in the world. A native of England, he was born in Gloucestershire, April 21, 1859, a son of William and Mary Artress. In 1868, when he was nine years of age, the family emigrated to the United States and located on a farm in Lorain County, where the parents spent the rest of their days. It was a limited education that was assigned to Thomas Henry Artress as a preparation for life, When only thirteen years of age he was regularly employed at farm labor, and four years later began an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade. Having completed this apprenticeship at the age of twenty, he set up a shop in the little town of Grafton, and from there in 1880 moved to Lorain, where he was a workman in the shops of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and also in the Brass Works. Thus by means of a mechanical trade Mr, Artress laid the foundation for his present substantial means and influence, In 1893 he engaged in the hardware business at Lorain, and made that the object of his principal endeavors for ten years, At the same time his investments had been more widely directed. In 1912 he built at 2147 Broadway a large concrete block garage and automobile sales barn, 30 by 75 feet in dimensions. He is the owner of this garage, and acts as agent for the Paige car, He is also a director of the Wood Lumber Company and a director of the Central Bank of Lorain, He has a number of other interests in real estate and business affairs. In a public way he has been closely identified with the life of Lorain for the past. quarter of a century. For three years he was on the board of trustees for public works in Lorain and in 1903 was appointed trustee of Black River Township and held that office for a number of years by election, Fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order in the lodge and council and Royal Arch Chapter, and is also a Knight of Pythias. He is a member of the Lorain Board of Commerce and also has membership in the Elks Club. He married Miss Ida Ackley, who was born at Grafton, Lorain County, daughter of Henry and Mary Ackley, REV. CHAUNCEY N. POND, Among the citizens of Oberlin whose activities have lent additional dignity to that college town and whose careers may well be represented in this publication is Rev. Mr. Pond, a retired minister, member of a prominent family and a man whose life has done much to enrich the influence of the church and many charitable organizations. He was born at Medina, Ohio, October 23, 1841, a son of Henry N. and Mary (Castle) Pond. His grandfather was Isaac J. Pond, a native 602 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY of Connecticut, where he was married and not long afterward settled in Medina County, Ohio, The maternal grandfather, Samuel L. Castle, was a music teacher and composer and was a prominent factor in church singing circles in the early days. Henry N, Pond was born in Medina, Ohio, in 1819, and died in 1846, at the age of twenty-eight. He was a prosperous farmer, having bought the interests of the other heirs in the old farm, and his death was the result of an accident from a falling tree. He was a member of the Congregational Church, and a Whig in politics. His wife, Miss Castle, was born near Cazenovia, New York, in 1821, and died in January, 1906. They were married in Medina County in 1840, Rev. Mr, Pond was the oldest of their three children, His brother, Chester Pond, served with the rank of colonel in the Union army during, the Civil war, but for the most part was employed as a Government telegrapher, After the war he located in the South, started a large plantation, a school and other activities which made up the Town of Moorhead, Mississippi, For a number of years he served as a trustee of Oberlin College, and gave about twenty thousand dollars worth of property to that institution, His death occurred in 1912. He was also distinguished as the inventor of the self-winding electric clock, After the death of her first husband Mrs. Mary Pond married Caleb A. Bowen, and the one son of that marriage, William A, Bowen. lived at Honolulu for a number of years and was a generous giver to the college and other public institutions, Mrs. Bowen married for her third husband Uriah Thompson, who also served as a trustee of Oberlin College nearly forty years. Chauncey N. Pond spent his early life in Medina, and was graduated from Oberlin College in 1864. He graduated from the Theological Seminary in 1868, He did his first work as a preacher in 1864, was licensed to preach in April, 1865, and was regularly ordained in October. 1866. His first work as a minister was done in the country districts in Medina. County, in the same church which he had joined when twelve years of age. Not long ago he celebrated his sixtieth anniversary as a communicant of the church, For upwards of a half a century Rev. Mr. Pond kept up the active work of the ministry and filled many pulpits until two years ago. For several years now he has employed his time chiefly in organizing Sunday schools, He is also secretary for the State of Ohio of the extension work carried on by the organized charities, and has for fifteen years been identified with this work, It is said that no one in Ohio has done more for organized charity and Christian service than. Rev, Mr, Pond, On August 24, 1864, he married Harriet Pennelia Perkins. She was born August 3, 1837, and they have lived together in the quiet harmony of spirit and work for more than half a century, To their union were born three children, Jennie Evelyn, who died in 1896. married E, R. Atwater, by whom she had four children, Mr. Atwater married a second wife, and the entire family were murdered during the Boxer rebellion in China, in 1900, Mr, Atwater having been a Chinese missionary. The son Henry T, died when three years of age. Percy M. has for a number of years been a very successful business man in the Hawaiian Islands and for a. number of years furnished high grade milk to the City of Honolulu, his dairy herd and outfit but recently sold for 4::32,50-, he has also developed some large land interests in those islands. Rev. Mr. Pond, while by the very nature of his calling he has never acquired or aspired to great wealth, has been sufficiently prospered. He started life with only 4,380 as capital, and in spite of his own generosity in giving to church and charity, has managed to acquire a competence out of his long service for the church and other employment. He owns beautiful home in Oberlin and has two others residential properties. HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 603 In politics he is a republican, and for many years has been quite active in affairs and has written many articles during campaigns, For a number of years he served in the office of school examiner in Medina County. GEORGE E. CRISP, The record of a sterling citizen, a soldier, business man, public administrator, and one who played all the varied parts in his life wortbily and faithfully, came to a close in the death of George E, Crisp at Amherst, Lorain County, Ohio, July 27, 1912, He had been a. resident of Lorain County nearly all of the sixty-eight years of his life. Probably the work for which he most deserved the gratitude of his fellow citizens was his long service in connection with the Elyria Water Works. Upon him devolved the responsibility of superintending the construction of that magnificent plant by which the city is now supplied with pure water from Lake Erie, Perhaps the characteristic by which he was best known among his fellow men was his quiet efficiency, and wherever the path of duty led him, in war or in peace, in business or in public office, at home or in those varied relations which exist between man and man, he was guided by a firm sense of responsibility and proved himself faithful in all those manifold small duties which make up the sum of a life's achievement. A native of England, he was born in the City of Northampton, May 25, 1844, being one of seven children. His brother William died in Elyria only a short time before the death of George E. Crisp, and the latter was survived by his sister, Mrs. William Henson of Elyria, and his brother, j. A. Crisp of Jefferson. A short time after his birth, his parents considering well their own circumstances and the needs of their rising family, set out from England to get the better opportunities of Amelia, They engaged passage on a vessel, but their mother, on coming to the docks, refused to embark, considering that the ship was unseaworthy, and her judgment was well founded since the boat was never heard of after it left England. The following day the little family went on board another vessel, which was buffeted by adverse winds so that the voyage required nearly twice the usual time for making such a trip. They fimally landed at New York three months after leaving England. From New York City they came to Lorain County, settling in Avon Township, where the father engaged in farming. Six years later he 'died of typhoid fever, leaving his widow to face the world alone with her young children, She succeeded in keeping her family together and reared them to lives of usefulness and high ideals, From these circumstances it can be understood that the early life of George E, Crisp was one of considerable hardship, He worked as soon as his young strength permitted and gained his education by somewhat irregular attendance at the country schools. At the age of seventeen he moved to Elyria and became an apprentice in the firm of John Topliff, and after completing his term was given credentials as an efficient blacksmith. He subsequently had to leave that line of work since it affected his eyesight, During the Civil war Mr, Crisp enlisted May 2, 1864, in Company K of the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and continued in service with his regiment until mustered out with the rank of corporal at Camp Chase, Columbus, September 1, 1864. He was with his regiment in the engagements at Bolivar, Marye Heights, Harpers Ferry and under General Sigel against General Early on July 4-7, 1864; was one of those who charged the enemy at John Brown's Schoolhouse; was in the skirmishes at Opequan Creek Bridge, at Harpers Ferry and Marye Heights, and was engaged in guarding the Baltimore & Ohio Vol. II-4 604 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY Railroad, While on the latter duty a portion of his regiment was surrounded at North Mountain and 250 men were captured, half of whom subsequently died in Confederate prisons. Mr. Crisp was with his company every day during the term of service, which, though brief, was characterized by that fidelity which was a mark of his every undertaking in public life, In May, 1868, at Montezuma, Iowa, Mr. Crisp married Miss Mary L. Wyman and three months later they returned to Elyria, and thereafter that city was continuously his home until his death, From this union four children were born : Albert B,, Harry E., Herbert G., and Ernest J. After his marriage and permanent settlement at Elyria, Mr. Crisp engaged in the wholesale notion business. He dealt with merchants in the territory south and east of Cleveland and his route even extended into Western Pennsylvania. He called on his trade, carrying his stock with him in a large wagon, known as a "Peddling Wagon." He kept up the stock in the wagon by having goods shipped to him, in advance, along the route. He was then known as a "Yankee Notion Peddler" but soon this method became too slow, the wagon was discarded, and selling was done entirely by samples carried in a ease. Thus Mr, Crisp was one of the pioneer traveling salesmen of this section. This business gave him a wide acquaintance and then as always he relied upon those solid, old time-tried commercial rules which have ever been the foundation of true success, and thus he developed an important jobbing business for himself, and continued traveling in its interest until 1899. In the latter year Mr, Crisp succeeded Mr, D. M, Clark as superintendent of the Elyria Gas & Water Company, the plant being then owned by the Berry Brothers of Detroit. For fourteen years he filled that position, and during the last four years was in the employ of the city. An indication of his thorough public spirit is found in the fact that, while in the employ of private interests, he was one of the strong advocates of the city-owned plant, and was always a firm believer in municipally owned public utilities. During the construction of the lake water system, he was superintendent and gave constant and careful supervision to the work which has made Elyria's waterworks one of the best in the country, Those who are most familiar with his work in that position realize that every user and patron of the local water system is a debtor to the man who exercised such vigilance during the constructive period of that important utility, On retiring from the office of superintendent of the waterworks in 1904, Mr. Crisp gave his time to the interests of the Crisp Paper Company, the jobbing business developed by him prior to 1889 and was its business representative until his death. The late Mr, Crisp was held in high regard for his excellent judgment and the studious care which he gave to every duty, and these qualities, combined with his absolute integrity, enabled him to render important service to his community, He served four years as a member of the city council and two years on the board of public service, and was also for sixteen years a member of the board of education, being chairman of its building committee. Through his efforts the extensive grounds of the Fifteenth Street and Jefferson Street buildings were purchased, Aside from his business and public duties, Mr, Crisp was devoted to his church and home, He joined the Methodist Episcopal Church at Elyria in 1874, and from 1882 until his death, gave faithful service as one of its trustees, He was also a member of Richard Allen Post, G, A, R,, which had charge of a part of the funeral services following his death. Mr. Crisp was survived by his wife and two sons, Albert B., and Ernest J, Crisp, his sons Herbert G, and Harry E, Crisp, having died in 1910, HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 605 ERNEST J, CRISP, C. E. Until Mr. Crisp took the active management and presidency of the Peerless Laundry and Dry Cleaning Company at Elyria, he was a recognized authority as a civil engineer in the construction of waterworks plants, sewerage systems and sewage disposal plants in many localities of Ohio and adjoining states, His first important work in the profession was as engineer in charge during the construction of the splendid system by which the City of Elyria draws its water supply from Lake Erie. Born at Elyria, Ohio, December 18, 1877, his home has been in that city ever since, except from 1904 to 1910, during which time he made his home in Canton, Ohio, His father was the late George E. Crisp, whose career as a progressive citizen and business man of Elyria has been told on other pages. His mother is Mary (Wyman) Crisp, daughter of John Wyman and still occupying the old home on West Avenue. The early experiences of Ernest J, Crisp were chiefly found in home and school. After graduating from the Elyria High School in June, 1897, he spent a year in Oberlin College and then four years in Case School of Applied Science at Cleveland, where he specialized in civil engineering. He was graduated Bachelor of Sciences in June, 1902. In May, 1910, having presented to Case School a thesis entitled "A Sewage Disposal Plant for Jefferson, Ohio," he was awarded the degree Civil Engineer, About the time of his graduation in 1902 he became assistant engineer to L. E. Chapin, C, E., of Canton, and it was as Mr, Chapin's representative that he served from 1902 to 1904 as engineer in charge of the construction of the Elyria Waterworks pumping station on Lake Erie and the pipe line connecting the station with the distribution mains of the city. Among public improvements the citizens of Elyria probably take more pride and satisfaction in this than any other. During the next six years he was almost constantly employed in connection with waterworks surveys and construction in different parts of the country, Ile assisted in making a report on the valuation of Tiffin Waterworks in 1904, and constructed the Vermillion Waterworks in the same year ; he had charge of construction of waterworks at Barnesville, Ohio, in 1904-05 ; was in charge of construction of Beach City, Ohio, Waterworks and of filtration plant at Benwood, West Virginia, in 1906; for the General Water Company he built at Republic and Aaronsburg, Pennsylvania, the high pressure pumping station, pipe line and reservoir; constructed the waterworks at Jefferson, Ohio, in 1908, and at Huron, Ohio, in 1909. During 1909 and up to April, 1910, he made the preliminary surveys for the Commercial Water Company reservoir at Youngstown, Ohio ; and from April to August, 1910, was Lorain County bridge engineer'. After the death of his brother, Harry E, Crisp, in August, 1910, he assumed the duties of manager of The Peerless Laundry and Dry Cleaning Company, then located at 117-119 West Avenue in Elyria. During the past five years he has greatly expanded the business which is the leading one of its kind in Lorain County, his experience and skill as an engineer have been instrumental in giving the company a model plant for its work, He designed and had charge of the construction of the building now occupied by the company at 336 Second Street, and also did all the engineering and designing for the Peerless Plant at the same location. Besides the- active management of the business, Mr. Crisp is also director and president of The Peerless Laundry & Dry Cleaning Company, is a director of The Elyria Savings and Banking Company, and a director of the Retail Merchants Association. He was a director of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce in 1913, was a director and member of The American Society of Civil Engineers from 1904 to 1912, 606 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY In 1904 he was raised to Master Mason in King Solomon Lodge No, 56, Free and Accepted Masons, and ill 1914 became affiliated with Marshall Chapter No. 47, Royal Arch Masons. He also belongs to the Ohio Rho Chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon, is a member of H. P. Chapman Camp No, 6, Sons of Veterans. and a member of the official board of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Elyria. At Barnesville. Ohio, ;June 12, 1907, Mr, Crisp married Miss Laura M. Dobbins, daughter of Charles P. and Amanda (Blakemore) Dobbins. D. W, DAVIES, The record of years well lived, with a creditable performance of all those duties which come to a man of high principles and integrity of character, belongs to Mr. D. 'W. Davies of Wellington, Mr. Davies has earned his success by application to varied activities. At One time he operated a sawmill, has been in the lumber business and mercantile affairs but his chief success is founded on farming, and he now resides on a splendidly equipped dairy farm near the Village of Wellington. His birth occurred in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, March 30, 1848, and he is a son of David find Marilla Smith Davies. His father was born in Pana Wales, in 1807, came to America from that country in 1815, and landed at Cleveland with 25 cents in his pocket. he hail the faculty of a Welshman for hard and thorough work, and he was not long. in getting started in the New World. He worked at different lines until 1850. when Ile moved to Pittsfield Township in Lorain County. and lived on his farm there until his death in 1864, He was married at North Amherst, Ohio, to Marilla L. Smith, who was born at Schuylkill, New York, in 1823, and survived him many years, passing away in January, 1901. There were three children, James F., one of the sons, died during the Civil war. Those living are D. W. Davies and John E., the latter a prospering farmer in South Alberta, Canada.. David Davies was a membcr of the Episcopal Church and in politics a republican, and was honored with several town offices. D. W, Davies grew up in the. country districts of Northern Ohio, attended country school in Pittsfield, and after graduating from Oberlin Business College took up serious pursuits as a farmer. . He has been owner of a farm since he was fourteen years of age. For fifteen years he was in the lumber business and spent three years in Indiana where he managed a sawmill and hoop factory. In 1890 Mr. Davies moved to. Wellington and bought his present place near that village in 1901. The farm had been allowed to deteriorate through bad managcment. but has restored its fertility and has placed many improvements which now make it a model place of eighty-five acres, and he and his family now enjoy the comforts of a beautiful home. Mr. Davies makes a specialty of dairying, and he also does considerable contracting and building. For fifteen years he operated quite extensively in breeding, and handling thoroughbred cattle,. the Hereford, and a large part of his stock was 'shipped to Chicago markets. In 1870 he married Miss Phoebe A. West, a member of an old family of Lorain County. To their marriage were born five children, arid those living are: Charles H., who is associated in business with his father: James Monroe, who is doing well as a fruit farmer in Southern Colorado: and Dell M,, who finished the high school and the Oberlin Business College, was a teacher for several years, and is now manager of the retail credit department for George H. Bowman Company. The two deceased children are Frank W. and Cora M. The mother of these children passed away April 2, 1910, about forty years after her marriage, She was an active member of the Congregational Church. On August HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 607 22. 1914, Mr. Davies married Mrs. Allie O. Rood of Lorain, who is also a member of the Congregational Church. Mr. Davies is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees. In politics he is a republican and in past years has acquitted himself creditably in the performance of various public positions, He was town clerk of Pittsfield Township five years, and served as justice of the peace there, In 1890 he was real estate appraiser of Pittsfield Township. For two years he was on the Wellington Council, and in 1900 was made city appraiser of Wellington and also of Wellington Township. In 1910 he was elected real estate appraiser for the Village of Wellington. DENNIS W. SEWARD. When Dennis W. Seward was elevated from his position as a city mail carrier to postmaster at Elyria, the incident was so nearly unprecedented that it attracted great attention among postal circles all over the country, While the organization of the postal department does not permit of the highest opportunities in the service as a profession, it is true that no other department of government work offers the same possibilities of a career with regular promotion for merit and efficiency, Mr. Seward began when a boy as a. special delivery man, and has earned his advancement by the qualities of thoroughness, accuracy and reliability. He is one of the very few men who have been taken out of the ranks of delivery men and made heads of postoffices. Dennis W. Seward was born in Elyria, Lorain County, Ohio, August 16, 1872, a son of Thomas and Etta (Colgan) Seward: Both parents were natives of Ireland, but grew up in that country with no knowledge of each other. The father came to the United States when about twenty years of age and the mother when about sixteen. Both located in Cleveland, Ohio, where destiny brought them together and where their affection was ripened and matured in the bonds of wedlock, About 1851, a year or so after their marriage, they came to Elyria, when that was a. small town, Thomas Seward was a railway workman, and was employed in laying the tracks through Elyria for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Road. He was identified with the service of that company for more than half a century and was esteemed for his hard working qualities, bis faithfulness,, and his value as a member of the community. He only retired from railroad work after much persuasion from his sons, who were all established in business and were eager for him to spend his last clays in comfort and leisure. Thomas Seward died at Elyria, March 25, 1910, at the age of eighty-two, and his wife is still living at thc age of seventy-eight. They became the parents of eleven children, five sons and six daughters, and this circle remained unbroken until the death of Frank E,, the fourth in the family, on November 17, 1914. In order of age the children are : Catherine, who married J. M. McVey, was born in Cleveland, while all the other children were born in Lorain County, The McVey children are Florence, Fannie, John and Esther, Mary married Robert Gamble of Elyria, and their four children are Thomas, Madeline, William and Walter, Thomas, Jr., of Elyria, married Anna Donahue, and they have one child living, Albert, Frank E,, deceased, married Mary McDermott, of Brownhelm, Ohio, and left four children, Thomas, Mildred, Vivian and Helen, Anna is at home ; William H. married Agnes Myers, of Monroeville, Ohio, and they have one child, Stanley; Etta is also at home; James B., cashier of the Savings Deposit Bank & Trust Company of Elyria, married Mollie Farrell, of Elyria, Ohio, and their four children are Mary, Frank, Edward and Catherine: Dennis W.: Helen married Robert B. Lersch, a prominent merchant of Elyria, and they have two children, Dorothy 608 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY and Jean ; Jennie Louise is at home, All the children attended the Elyria parochial schools and the high school. Dennis W. Seward after getting his education at Elyria was employed in carrying special delivery letters for the Elyria postoffice. This was when he was sixteen years of age, and he was later engaged in transferring the mail to the trains. For the last twenty-two years of his subordinate service in the postoffice he was a city letter carrier, delivering mail through the business district of Elyria, On April 1, 1915, his appointment as postmaster of Elyria by President Woodrow Wilson was confirmed by the Senate, and seldom does an appointive political honor come more justly to one who has already been long identified with and thoroughly familiar with the details of the service. Mr. Seward is a democrat, He has taken a prominent part in the Knights of Columbus, has been through all the chairs of Elyria Lodge No, 774 of that order, and for three years was district deputy with jurisdiction over the counties of Lorain, Huron, Erie and Cuyahoga, He is also affiliated with Elyria Lodge No. 465 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce. His church is St. Mary's Catholic, where he was married November 7, 1899, to Miss Helen Shafer, daughter of Mrs. Pauline Shafer of Elyria, Mrs, Seward was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and comes of a German family. She was educated in the Elyria parochial and high schools, To their marriage have been born four children, two sons and two daughters: Robert Arthur, Theodore Edward, Winifred Pauline and Margaret Gertrude. Mr, Seward has all his life been a busy man and his forms of recreation have been largely in the direction of outdoor sports, both tennis and baseball being among his favorite diversions. JOHN JOHNSON POLLOCK. Among the greatest benefactors of -mankind are those public officials who realize in full their duty to the people and do it faithfully and unflinchingly. To this class belongs John J, Pollock, a former mayor of the City of Lorain, who, after assuming the chair as presiding officer of the city government, did some most useful work greatly benefitting the community. Mr, Pollock was born in Stark County, Ohio, June 14, 1868, a son of John and Catherine (Maine) Pollock. The father, for some time a coal miner and merchant at North Lawrence, Ohio, is now living retired at Canton, this state, John J, Pollock was educated in the public schools and in the high school at Canal Fulton, Ohio, then under the charge of Prof. I. M. Taggart, later taking the preparatory course at Mount Union College, He began industrial life as traveling salesman for a wholesale house, after which he entered the railroad service and was thus occupied until 1899, during this time residing at Alliance, Ohio, On December 3, 1890, Mr, Pollock married Rachel Fisher, of North Lawrence, Ohio, and for the next three years he and his brother-in-law, John Fisher, were engaged in operating coal mines in Ohio. In 1899 he came to Lorain and until 1908 was in the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, In June of the latter year he went to work as yard master for the National Tube Company, remaining thus engaged until November, 1913, when he was elected mayor of Lorain, taking office in the following January. He had previously served an apprenticeship to politics, having been councilman for two years from the Third now the Fourth) Ward, and his public and private record were such as to inspire confidence in his fellow citizens and create for him a strong following, After assuming office Mayor Pollock gave the people a progressive administration and effected some important reforms, The control of the public highway on Twenty- HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 609 eighth Street has been taken from the street railway company and at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad tracks a subway has been built costing $150,000, Also the Sixth Ward has been connected with the city by continuous pavements and a street railway, and the five former grade crossings. which were a great source of danger and cause of accidents, eliminated. It was also the policy of the administration to create parks and breathing places for children and other inhabitants, and in those existing various improvements were made, The streets were not forgotten, but were kept in good condition and improved whenever feasible; and during the business depression of 1914 and 1915 the poor were aided by an appropriation of $5,000 for charitable purposes. These, and many other things, marked Mayor Pollock's administration—a record that more than justified the choice of the people in elevating him to the chief place in the city government, Mr. Pollock is affiliated with a number of social organizations, including that of Railway Conductors; the Knights of Pythias, in which he is past chancellor and representative of the grand lodge ; the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; the Fraternal Order of Eagles, of which he is worthy president and was chosen delegate to the national conclave to be held at Spokane, Washington, in 1915, but did not attend, and the Loyal Order of Moose, He and his wife have had three children, one of whom, Bessie, died at the age of three and a half years. The two survivors are Adelbert McKinley and Jennie, CALVIN WILCOX, In the pioneer history of Lorain County, a name that stands forth prominently is that of Calvin Wilcox, who came here in 1825, was for a long period of years engaged in agricultural pursuits, had charge of the railroad station of LaGrange, a position in which he was subsequently succeeded by his sons, and was probably the first postmaster at that place, His was the first frame house erected in the township, and his marriage was the first to be performed here, Throughout his life he was known as a solid, substantial citizen, who encouraged progress and contributed materially to the public welfare: Calvin Wilcox was born at Charleston, New York, October 4, 1796, a son of Gen. Silvanus and Sarah (Johnson) Wilcox, The family is of English extraction and of Welsh origin. The date of its first emigration to America was 1636, when William and Margaret Wilcox and son came on the ship Planter and settled first at Windsor and later at Stratford, Connecticut. Seventen hundred and eight marked the birth of Ephraim Wilcox, a. descendant of the above, who resided at Simsbury, Connecticut, and died in 1773, Silvanus Wilcox joined the Revolutionary Army in 1776 and went to New Haven under General Wood in the same year, Enlisting for three months at Ninscaunee, in 1777 he went to Albany and joined the Continental Army for six months, serving under General Washington, and subsequently was present at the hanging of Major Andre below West Point on the Hudson River, He served under Colonel Willett in Tryon County and was at Canada Creek when Butler was killed, and, having come through the war safely, in 1831 was granted a pension of $55 per year, which he received until his death. Two tombstones mark the resting-place of Silvanus Wilcox and his wife, on the west hank of the Schoharie Creek, on the old homestead in Montgomery County, New York, each bearing an urn and willow. The inscriptions follow: "In memory of Sarah, consort of Gen. Silvanus Wilcox and daughter of the late Robert Johnson of West Stockbridge, who departed this life July 1, 1830, aged sixty-five years, three months and twenty-four days," This would make her birthday March 6, 1765. "Gen, Silvanus Wilcox, died July 10, 1846, aged eighty-four years, one month and fourteen days," From the foregoing his birthday must have been May 26, 1762, 610 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNT'S.' In 1825 Calvin Wilcox, then a young man twenty-nine years of age, left his home at Charleston, Montgomery County, New York, and struck out across the almost unbroken forests for the West, walking the entire distance to the new country of the Western Reserve, his travels coming to an end at LaGrange, Lorain County, Ohio. There he took up a large tract of land and began the life of the hardy pioneer. There were but few people in the southern part of the county at that time and neighbors were far apart, but he had not been long here when he fell a. victim to the black eyes and bewitching smiles of a charming young frontier maiden, Harriet Hubbard, and they were married M arch 8, 1827, this being the first marriage ceremony solemnized in LaGrange Township, They at once took up their abode in the typical backwoods log cabin, but soon became ambitious for a more pretentious and comfortable home, and with much labor drew logs to a water-power sawmill with oxen, this being located on the Black River, near the present site of Grafton Village. With the lumber thus made was erected the old Wilcox homestead, the first frame house in LaGrange Township. which stood until about the year 1910 in the Village of LaGrange, and a cut of which will be found in this work. While Calvin Wilcox carried on farming as his chief vocation, be also engaged in other pursuits, being probably the first postmaster of LaGrange, and, like others of the early-clay type, was accustomed to wear a shawl and to carry the letters around ill his high hat and collect the postage and perform numerous other duties. His son, Hubbard A,, who has separate mention in this work, carried the mail on horseback when a boy between LaGrange and Wooster. Calvin Wilcox was station agent. of the old Bee Line, now the Big Four Railroad, from the day the station was opened at LaGrange, and was succeeded iu that position by his son. George, and later by another son, Hubbard A, Calvin Wilcox died January 30, 1871, respected and esteemed by the entire community, He had lived a long and useful life and had taken an active and helpful part. in the activities whicb formed the foundation for the present-day structure of prosperity. Mrs. Wilcox, who was born at Champlain, New York, August 11, 1802 died at LaGrange, August 31, 1865, They were the parents of ten childrcn, of whom three survive : William, of LaGrange; Mrs. Addie Gott, of California ; and Mrs. Phoebe Taylor, of Indiana. Those dead are : Charles A, George ; Edward F, Hubbard A, Sylvanus; Sarah A., who was the wife of the late I. A. Paddock; and Maria L,, who was the wife of the late William L. Gott, All were born at LaGrange with the exception of Charles A,, who was born at Wellington, Ohio. HUBBARD AVERY WILCOX. In the death of Hubbard Avery Wilcox. there passed away one of the best known figures in railroad circles in Northern Ohio, He had started to work for the old Bee Line in 1 S53. when LaGrange was little more than a siding, grew up with the road, saw all its changes, and after fifty-one years of continuous service. resigned from the Big Four Railroad when aging years had sapped his energy and strength, Few men have had a longer service none have given to that service more conscientious or able effort : certainly none bore better reputations or held in greater measure the confidence of their employers and the regard and affection of their fellow-emploee. When he died, February 23, 1906. the entire community mourned. Hubbard Avery Wilcox was born at LaGrange, Lorain County, Ohio, March 29, 1834, a son of Calvin and Harriet (Hubbard) old pioneers of this county, a sketch of whose long and useful careers will be found elsewhere in this work. The lad had the benefits of a home training that early instilled in him a love for honesty and fidelity, and his industry was demonstrated when he was still a lad, when he en- HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 611 gaged in carrying the mail horseback from LaGrange to Wooster, He succeeded his brother, George Wilcox, who in turn had succeeded their father, Calvin Wilcox, in the agency of the railroad at LaGrange, the father having been the incumbent from the opening of the office. It was a local tradition that the position would always remain in the family, but subsequent developments have allowed it to go to other hands. From the start of the railroad here Mr, Wilcox watched with interest and the eye of a proprietor its history, remaining stanchly with it during its various changes of organization, through the days of the old Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis, to its present. style of Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis, or, as it is probably more familiarly known, the Big Four. The savings from his salary were judiciously invested in farm land in the vicinity of the village, and around the division office at Cleveland Mr, Wilcox was a familiar and . welcome figure. Mr, Wilcox was about seventy years of age at the time of his retirement, in 1904, when the road lost one of its most faithful servants, Popular with all, efficient and prompt in his duties, courteous in their discharge, he had won hosts of friends and well-wishers, During the hours of his funeral business was suspended at LaGrange, the business men attending in a body, while the cortege to the cemetery was very long and included many friends from a long distance, Three sons and three grandsons, E. F,, A. H,, H. C,, George, Carl and Albert Wilcox, were the pall-bearers. At the funeral services "Refuge" and "Lead, Kindly Light,'' which had been chosen by Mr, Wilcox, were sung. On July 3, 1856, Mr. Wilcox was married to Miss Elizabeth Powers, who was born at Ashland, Ohio, May 3, 1837, and died at the family home at LaGrange, November 24, 1907, For almost a half a century, or until the death of the husband, February 23, 1906, they were the principals in one of the most ideal homes of the community. The beauty of Mrs. Wilcox's life was. in its simplicity, She was utterly devoid of ostentation, and rather retired to the privacy of her home, where she found her greatest pleasure, and even after her husband's. death, when left alone and broken in health, she refused to leave its shelter, preferring that it might not be broken up, She was a Christian woman who lived her Christianity every day of her life, and from her girlhood was a devout and active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Of the children born to Mr, and Mrs. Wilcox, two are living: Avery H,, of, Pittsfield, Ohio, and Hon, Harvey Clyde, of Elyria, judge of probate of Lorain County, the latter of whom has separate mention in another part of this work. A son, Calvin P. Wilcox, and a daughter, Mrs, Elizabeth ("Birdie") VanBenschoten, have been deceased for several years, and another Son, Edward F., died at LaGrange, in March, 1915. HON. HARVEY CLYDE WILCOX. Among the members of the Lorain County bench. none are more highly esteemed than Hon. Harvey Clyde Wilcox, judge of the Probate and Juvenile Courts of Lorain County, Endorsed by civic and professional bodies when he appeared as a candi- date for this office, since taking his seat and the bench he has vindicated the faith and trust reposed in him, and is proving a most dignified, impartial and capable jurist, Judge Wilcox was born at LaGrange, Lorain County, Ohio, September 27, 1872, and belongs to an old and honored pioneer family of the county, being a son of the late Hubbard A. and Elizabeth (Powers) Wilcox, a complete sketch of whose career appears elsewhere in this work. There were four sons and one daughter in the family, all of whom lived to maturity, although Judge Wilcox and a brother, A, H. Wilcox, of Pittsfield, Ohio, are the only survivors, The early education of Judge Wilcox was secured in the public schools of LaGrange, where he gradu- 612 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY ated from the high school, and this was supplemented by attendance at the Ohio State University and Baldwin University. From the latter institution he received first the degree of B. Ph. and later the degree of A. M. and received the degree of LL. B. at the Cleveland Law School. Thus ably equipped he began the practice of his profession, and followed it until elected county clerk of Lorain County in 1902 for a three-year term, While serving thus he took a post-graduate course at Baldwin University, but that he did not allow his studies to interfere with the performance of his duties is shown in that he was re-elected to succeed himself in the elections of 1905 and made a record in that office for integrity and efficiency that has been excelled by none, Judge Wilcox had been admitted to the bar by examination, and when he retired from the county clerk's office he resumed the practice of his profession at Elyria. In the fall elections of 1912 he appeared as candidate for the office of judge of probate of Lorain County, on the republican ticket, and was immediately endorsed by the attorneys of the county as a man who had had ample experience in matters of law as well as in court cases to justify his request at the hands of the people. By reason of his ability, character and experience, he is splendidly equipped for judicial position, He was also recommended for nomination and election in the report of the Oberlin College Civic Club, in its pamphlet issued in the fall of 1912. Securing the election, Judge Wilcox took his seat upon the bench February 9, 1913, for a term of four years,. and has continued to distinguish himself in the performance of his duties in a wise and eminently fair manner. He is also judge of the Lorain County Juvenile Court, which court was established in 1913, he becoming judge of the court at that time. Judge Wilcox is an ardent republican and for several years was secretary of the Republican County Committee, but since assuming his judicial duties has retired somewhat from political life. He is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce. His fraternal connection is with Lodge No. 465, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he was exalted ruler for two terms, and Premier Lodge No. 500 of the Knights of Pythias, With his family, he attends the Methodist Episcopal Church of Elyria, Ohio, in which he is superintendent of the Sunday school, He has always been a close devotee of out-of-door sports and athletics. Judge Wilcox was married at LaGrange, Ohio, to Miss Grace L, Freeman, daughter of D, C. and Harriet (Turner) Freeman, of that city, where the former still resides,, the latter being deceased, Four children have been horn to Judge and Mrs. Wilcox: Elizabeth, Josephine, Hubbard and Evangeline. EDWARD J. STANKARD, A record for physical efficiency and courage, united with capable judgment, were the basis for the promotion of Edward J. Stankard from a long career in the interurban railway service to the office of chief of the police department at Elyria. Prior to his election as chief Mr, Stankard had no experience as a guardian of the peace, but. the capable manner in which he has handled the office, the effective discipline which has been maintained among his subordinates, have so completely justified his original appointment that he has now served under three different mayors of the city. A native of Erie County, Ohio, Edward J. Stankard was born ten miles south of Sandusky on a farm, June 22, 1876. His parents were John and Jane ( McQue) Stankard, His father was a native of France and his mother of Ireland, The latter, after the death of her parents in the old country, came. to America with her two sisters, and located in New York State, where she met and married John Stankard, The latter, HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 613 whose father was a Frenchman and his mother an Irish woman, was taken in early childhood from France to England; where Grandfather Stankard died when his son John was about three years of age, Grandfather Stankard was a shepherd by occupation and had the responsibility of looking after the sheep of a large estate. When John Stankard had reached the age of thirteen he and his mother started across the ocean for the United States. She died while the vessel was in mid-ocean and was buried at sea, and the son soon afterwards landed alone in New York City, Though a boy of but thirteen he had that same independence of purpose and energy which have been the characteristics of Chief Stankard, and was soon working on a farm just outside the City of New York. From there he went to St. Louis, Missouri, and found employment as a cabin boy on a Mississippi River cotton packet, The vessel was engaged ill transporting cotton up and down the Mississippi and across the gulf, and this was during the war with Mexico, and at one time the boat came so close to a Mexican battery that it was fired upon and shells set fire to the cargo, The crew managed to throw overboard a large part of the burning cotton and finally got the vessel to shore, Later John Stankard found similar employment on another boat which was hauling steel for railroad construction. One day he was a witness to the tragic death of the captain of the vessel. The captain in tipping his chair back on the upper deck fell to the lower deck, and striking against a part of the cargo of steel rails was killed. The cabin boy was so much affected by this tragic incident that he immediately gave up his employment, After this boating experience he returned to New York State, where some brothers were working at the time on farms. While living there he met and married Miss McQue, and from there they moved out to Ohio, locating in Bellevue, There he found employment in a distillery, and remained about two years. His employment was terminated by the bursting of a big vat and while two other men were scalded to death, John Stankard received injuries which laid him up for about eighteen months, and he carried to his grave the scars from his burns on the side and right arm. This occurred during the Civil war period, and while he was recuperating from his injuries he was drafted for service in the army, but his condition was such that he was unable to respond, After the war he moved to Erie County, bought a small tract of thirty-five acres of land, cleared it up, and continued in agricultural lines the rest of his life, He added fifteen acres to the homestead, making fifty acres in all, and subsequently bought 100 acres half a mile from time first home, and this place of 100 acres is still owned by his estate, being the joint property of Chief Stankard and his brothers and sisters, The old homestead of fifty acres was willed to a crippled son, John C., before the death of the mother, John Stankard died at the old home July 16, 1913, and his wife passed away there June 9, 1898, In the family were ten children, five sons and five daughters, and two of the sons are now deceased. John C., the oldest, and the occupant of the old homestead, for more than twenty-five years served as assessor of Oxford Township in Erie County. The daughter Margaret is now Mrs. George E. Homan, living near Canton, Ohio. The third in order of age was Michael, who was an engineer on the Baltimore & Ohio Railway and died in 1890 at the age of thirty-six, Mary is the wife of J, A, Chay, a railroad man living at Youngstown, Ohio, James is a resident of Newark, Ohio, and is a stationary engineer in the Newark Glass Works. The daughters Jane and Lillian both reside at home, and following them in age is Edward J. Robert H,, the youngest, was drowned near Huron, Ohio, while fishing, on June 20, 1897, at the age of eighteen. All these children were born at the old home in Erie County, were educated in that locality, and the daughter Mary also 614 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY attended the normal school at Milan, a village otherwise noted as the birthplace of Thomas Edison, and for several years she taught school in the district around her old home in Erie County, The early associations of Chief Stankard were with the farm and the locality of his birth in Erie County, He attended the local schools and for one winter was in the Milan Normal, He engaged in farming until the age of twenty-one and then began his career in railroad service at Sandusky, For about two years he vas with the old Sandusky & Interurban, now a part of the Lake Shore Electric Railroad, He was first employed in construction work, and when the road was taken over by the Lake Shore he was put on as a motorman on the Sandusky, Milan & Norwalk branch. He continued in faithful and efficient service as a motorman for fifteen months, making the run between Sandusky .and Norwalk, and was then transferred to the Cleveland & Toledo Division, being a motorman for about two years between Cleveland and Sandusky. Leaving the Lake Shore he came to the Cleveland & Southwestern Electric Railway, and was in its service about seven years, operating a construction train for four years, and the rest of the time as motorman on a run between Cleveland and Wellington, It was on January 1, 1910, that Mr. Stankard Caine to Elyria to take the post of chief of police. At that time, as already stated, he knew nothing about police work, but his capabilities and qualifications in other ways made up for his lack of experience in this particular line. Stankard succeeded in the office of chief of police, William -Whitney, who, in 1914, was elected sheriff of Lorain County and no of whom will be found on other pages. Mr, Stankard took the office under Mayor Thomas A. Conway, and has since been continued in the office by Mayor David S. Troxel and now under Mayor Tucker. Politically Chief Stankard is a democrat and has affiliations, with the of the World, the Knights of Columbus. the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, and is a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church. Mr. Stankard and Miss Helen G. Swindell of Cleveland, were married in the St, Ignatius Catholic Church of Cleveland, April 190S. Her mother is Mrs. Sarah Reynolds, still living in Cleveland, Mrs. Stankard's father died when she was a child, and her mother later married „Mr, Reynolds, who is also deceased, .Mrs, Stankard Wit:, born in Grafton, Lorain County, and received her education in the Cleveland public schools, To their marriage have been born two children : Edward G,, who was born in Elyria, April 2U, 1909: and :Marion V.. born November 7, 1911, Mr, Stankard finds his chief delight in his home and in his associations with his small children, Ile is devoted to the interests and responsibilities of his office and is also a lover of the great national pastime of baseball. At the meeting in Mansfield, Ohio, August S,1914, Chief Stankard was elected vice president of the Ohio Police Association, a large organization composed of the chiefs of pollee, detectives and constables in the state, and with a membership of over 200. This fitting honor. which came to "Big Ed," as he is known among his associates, was followed in August, 1915. by his promotion to president of the same association. The meeting of the association in 1915 was held at Cedar Point, and Mr. Stankard was elected by a vote of sixteen to fourteen, the choice being subsequently made unanimous. As president he succeeds .Take Mintz of Cleveland. As a local paper said in eminent on his election, "the honor that has come to Chief Stankard is worthily disposed, and we are sure he will wear it in the same quiet way in which he goes about his daily duties in this city," HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 615 JOHN ADAMS TOPLIFF was born April 11, 1827, in Mansfield, Connecticut, the tenth child of Horatio and Sally (Sargeant) Topliff. The father, Who was born August .31, 1.785, married November 12, 1806, and died April 16, 1857, Horatio Topliff was the fifteenth child of Calvin and Jerusha ( Bicknell) Topliff. Calvin Topliff was born in Milton, Connecticut, August 24, 1729, married on January 9, 1758, and died December 23, 1669. He was the seventh child of Capt. Samuel and Hannah (Prescott) Topliff of Dorchester, Massachusetts. Captain Topliff was born May :30, 1695; married February 8, 1715, and died November 1, 1754, he was made captain after the birth of his second child and moved with his family to Connecticut, He was the tenth child of Samuel and Patience Topliff. Samuel Topliff was born in Dorchester, Massaehusetts, May 7, 1646, and died December 10, 1722. He was ordained deacon August 1, 1692, and ruling elder February 3, 1701, He was the fourth child or Clement and Sarah Topliff, Clement was born in England November 17, 1603, and came to America in 1635. He was one of the early settlers of Dorchester, Massachusetts. He died December 24, 1672, John A. Topliff was one of twelve children and his father was a New England farmer, John was twenty years younger than his eldest brother. His father found it a severe tax to educate his large family. and John worked as an apprentice and later for wages until he earned $100 which be paid to his father for the purchase of the minor years of his lire. He then earned enough to educate himself, first at Wilbraham Academy, at Wilbraham, Connecticut, and later at Union College, Schenctady, New York. After leaving Union College he studied law, and only gave up entering the profession on the advice of Lewis Beers whose daughter. Caroline, he wished to marry, Mr. Beers advocating that the professions were crowded with men who could not even obtain recognition. although they might have merit, but that good business men were scarce, and in the business world there was a place for every man of ability, John Topliff went to Lexington, Kentucky, in 1852 and engaged in the manufacture of carriages, A year later he moved to Elyria, Ohio, thinking that the opportunities for advancement greater in Ohio than in Kentucky, On September 9, 1854, he was married in Stratford, Connecticut, to Caroline Beers. who was born July 14, 1827, and died March 2, 1895, She was a daughter of Deacon Lewis Beers, horn August 18, 1799, and died July 15, 1870, He was married April 19, 1826 to Rebecca Curtis, who was born December 14, 1801, and died November 21, 1836. Lewis Beers was the son of. Matthew Beers (born October, 1759, and died November 25. 1837) and Sarah (Curtis) Beers (horn April 23, 1769, and died January 6, 1823). Matthew Beers was a Revolutionary soldier who received a grant of land for "distinguished service." He was wounded in battle and carried the marks to his grave, He was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Beers. Joseph 3rd, born October 13, 1727, was the son of Joseph 2nd (married March 6, 1721) and Sarah Clarke. Joseph 2nd was the son of Joseph and Abigail. This Joseph was the son of James- and Martha (Barlow) Beers. James 2nd was the son of James 1st of Kent, England, who was a descendent of Anthony Bere, 1486, John A. Topliff was a mayor of Elyria in the year 1856, and took a prominent part in the civic life of the city, and always aided in its up-building. he was public spirited and generous. There are men of mark in the United States today who were helped to receive their edu- 616 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY cation by him. His motto was "Help others to help themselves." A motto that he lived up to in a way that even his best friends little realized. He was the senior partner of the firm of Topliff and Ely whose business was the manufacture of carriage hardware, They made a specialty of the tubular carriage-bow, which John Topliff invented and patented, John and Caroline Topliff were members of the First Presbyterian Church of Elyria, which later changed its name to the First Congregational Church, They had five children : Fanny Maria, born August 20, 1855, was a student of Oberlin College, She married August 8, 1877, Walter Egerton Brooks, of Elyria, and she died December 5, 1893. There were three children by this marriage:. Harold Topliff, horn December 19, 1882, deceased; Margaret Egerton, a graduate of Vassar, class 1906, married Theodore E, Faxon, a graduate of Cornell, who died in 1914, and they had one child, Theodore Brooks Faxon, born September 20, 1908; and John Prentice, a graduate of Cornell, Frank, born January 1, 1857, died in 1860, Edmund Lewis, born September 2, 1860, was drowned while skating on December 8, 1877, Susan Caroline, born December 14, 1862, class of '86 Smith College, married September 3, 1889, Archibald Hunt Davis, a graduate of the University of Virginia and a resident of Atlanta Georgia, and they have three children—Archibald Hunt, Jr,, born July 13, 1890, a graduate, class 1910, of Georgia Technological School, awarded a Silver Carnegie Medal in 1909, and settled in Schenectady, New York ; John Topliff, horn June 15, 1893 ; Noah Knowles, born February 20, 1904, Harry, born in 1864, died in 1866, John A, Topliff was a man of broad culture, with a keen appreciation of art and letters. He traveled extensively both in Europe and America, and gave the privileges of travel to the others of his family, he lived in Elyria until the time of the death of his wife, in 1895. when he went to Atlanta, Georgia, and made his home with his daughter Susan until his death, on March 27, 1899, SUSAN TOPLIFF DAVIS. STANLEY G. SHAW, Of that prominent and well known Lorain County family of Shaw, one of the younger generation now has a conspicuous place in local affairs as county treasurer, Born at Ridgeville in Lorain County, June 23, 1881, Stanley G, Shaw was educated in the public schools, graduated from the Elyria High School in 1898, and for three years was a student in Oberlin College. On leaving college he became bookkeeper with the old Lorain Machine & Forge Company for two years, and then entered the county treasurer's office as deputy in 1904, In 1912 he was elected county treasurer, and reelected in 1914, and has held that office and given it a most capable administration since 1913. In politics he is a republican, Mr. Shaw is a director in the Elyria Savings & Banking Company, is treasurer of the Associated Charities, and has interests as a stockholder in a number of enterprises both at Elyria and elsewhere. He is affiliated with King Solomon Lodge No, 56, Free and Accepted Masons, with Marshall Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and belongs to the chamber of commerce. At Nashville, Tennessee, June 27, 1904, he married Miss Ellen E. Wright, a daughter of Herbert H. and Frances (Bosworth) Wright. Her parents formerly lived at Oberlin, and Professor Wright held a position as dean in Fisk University at Nashville, Tennessee. In 1914 HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 617 the Wright family moved to Elyria, and Professor Wright is now retired, Mrs, Shaw was born at Defiance, Ohio, and completed her education in the Oberlin Academy and Oberlin College, graduating in 1902. She represents a very old American family, her first ancestor in direct line having been Thomas Wright, who was born in England in 1610 and died in Massachusettts in 1670. The Wrights were also connected with several well known families who came over in the Mayflower in 1620, Mr, and Mrs, Shaw have three children, all born in Elyria, and named Marguerite F., Ralph H. and John F. The ancestry and family relationship of the county treasurer is one of note. His grandparents, Samuel Horatio and Juliaett ( Wiley) Shaw established their home in Ridgeville Township in 1851, and they are still living, venerable people, who celebrated their sixty-fourth wedding anniversary in January, 1915. Their home is still at Ridgeville, The first ancestor of the Shaw family was Abraham Shaw, who was married in Halifax, England, in 1616, and died at Dedham, Massachusetts, in 1638. He came to America during the decade of the '30s, and the family was numerously represented in during until 1800 or later. Beginning with Abraham Shaw there are eleven successive generations down to and including Stanley G. Shaw. In a later generation was Constant Shaw, who was born in 1778, and died in Summit County, Ohio, December 27, 1863. His wife, Mercy Pitts, was born in 1781 and also died at Bath. Samuel Shaw, a son of Constant, was born at Bristol, New York, in 1804, was married in 1827 to Charlotte Hale, and he died at Bath, Ohio, January 24, 1836, while his wife, who was born in Bristol, February 28, 1809, died December 24, 1894, Horatio Shaw, the venerable Ridgeville citizen already mentioned, was a son of Samuel and Charlotte, and was born in Bristol, New York, April 9, 1829. On January 14, 1851, he married Juliaett Wiley, who was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania, September 5, 1830. Her father, Joseph B, Wiley', who was born at Schenectady, New York, June 22, 1800, and died in Erie County, Pennsylvania, in 1837, was married in 1821 to Anna Shaw, who was born in Massachusetts in April, 1801, and died at North Ridgeville, Ohio, December 28, 1867, This Anna Shaw was a daughter of Abraham Shaw, who was born in 1770 and died at North Ridgeville, Ohio, in April, 1861, Samuel H. Shaw on coming to Lorain County in 1851 located on a small farm in Ridgeville Township, and in time cleared up and improved an excellent farmstead. He also filled the offices of trustee and school director, and his name and influence have long been closely identified with that community. He and his wife had the following children : Zimri A, ; Arthur B.; Diana B,, who married Lafayette C, Phillips; Dora. D,, who died at the age of two years ; Oscar H,; Alfaretta, who married Morris K, Bills, and Lola M, Zimri A, Shaw, father of the present county treasurer of Lorain County, was born at North Ridgeville, May 2, 1852, and is now living retired, after more than forty-five years of constant service with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company. He resigned his position in 1914, As a boy of fifteen he had entered the employ of the railway company as an assistant at Shawville Station, then known as Ridgeville Station, He learned telegraphy, became night operator, resigned to complete his education at Oberlin Academy, and then became agent at Shawville, a position which he held continuously until recently. Zimri A. Shaw was married March 9, 1875, to Lizzie Lucinda Ramsdell. Their older son is Archer H. Shaw, who graduated from the Elyria High School in 1893, from Oberlin College in 1897, and has since been identified with the editorial staff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Archer 618 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY H. Shaw married Clara Annis Terrell, daughter of Orson J. Terrell of Ridgeville Township, Mrs, Z, A. Shaw, who is also still living, was born in New York State October 6, 1856, and is descended from Abednego Ramsdell, who was killed as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. In the next generation was Moses Ramsdell, who was born in Rhode Island in 1761, and died in New York State May 16, 1834, and married Nancy Lapham, who was born June 16, 1770, and died April 3. 1844. In the next generation was Abner L, Ramsdell, who was born in New 'York State February 10, 1805, and died there September 8, 1872, He married Lucinda Healey, who was born January 25, 1807, and died May 19, 1886, A son of Abner L, was Olney Ramsdell. father of Mrs. Z, A, Shaw. He was born in New York February 10, 1829, and was married at East Cleveland, Ohio, April 8. 1853, to Mary Jayred, who was born ill New Jersey May 19, .1833, and the relationship of the Jayred family is traced back for several generations in New Jersey. CHAPMAN FAMILY. One of the primary objects of such a publication as the Standard History of Lorain County is to give permanent record to the activities and personalities of the leading old .families. There are few that can claim establishment at an earlier date in this section of Northern Ohio than the Chapman family. "While nearly a century has passed since the first of that name came into the then wilderness of Eaton Township, for nearly two centuries prior to that time the successive generations have been identified with. the old colony and State of Connecticut and it will be appropriate to begin this record with the establishment of the Chapman family on the American shores early in the seventeenth century, The Chapmans are not only among the oldest of New England stock but as the following paragraphs will sbow many of them have been prominent as leaders in church, legislators. magistrates, in business and the professions, as patriots and soldiers, and with careers of dignified and useful service in whatever station of the world they have held. The record begins with Robert Chapman, who according to family tradition came from Hull, England, to Boston in 1635. So far as autbentic records go he completely dissevered himself from his home and family in' England when he crossed the ocean, and nothing definite can be stated concerning the English ancestry. After arriving. at Boston he sailed in company with Lyon Gardiner for Saybrook, Connecticut, being one of the company of twenty men sent over from England by Sir Richard Saltonstall for the express purpose of taking possession of a large tract of land and making settlement near the mouth of the Connecticut River under a patent of Lord Say and Seal. The traditional date of his birth is placed in 1616, so that at this time Robert Chapman was about eighteen years old. After the Indian tribes along the Connecticut River had been sufficiently subdued the company undertook the next task, clearing the forest and establishing a permanent community. For about ten years after leaving England Robert Chapman kept a journal, and many items from this have been preserved. It is on the authority of the colony records that the remarkable length of the service given not only by him but by each of his three sons as legislators is established. he was elected forty-three times to represent his community in the law making body of Connecticut, while his eldest son served twenty-two sessions, the second son eighteen sessions, and the third son twenty-four sessions, As his name appears as a sentinel in the Pequot Indian war of 1637, Robert Chapman also did military service at that time and perhaps on other occasions as required. The records of Saybrook prove him one of the very large land holders in that town and in the Town of East Haddam. At the time of his death he left to HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 619 each of his three sons 1,500 acres, This vast estate had come to him as one of the legatees of Uncas, an Indian chief, Robert's homestead, on a tract of land in the Oyster River quarter, about two miles west of Saybrook Fort, has descended in the line of the youngest son of each successive generation, never having been bought or sold outside the family, until in 1854 it was occupied by George H, Chapman, Esq., youngest in the fifth generation from Robert. A son of Puritan parents, Robert Chapman received from them their religious zeal, and all his life was a man of exemplary piety, Only a short time before his death he wrote an address to his children, all of who were members of the church, in which he exhorted them to a devoted life and to abide by the covenant into which they had entered with God and his church. In the office of the Connecticut secretary of state are on file several letters written to Robert Chapman, Robert Chapman died October 13, 1687, at the age of seventy-one, He was married April 29, 1642, to Ann Bliss, That union produced seven children : John, Robert Jr,, Anna., Hannah, Nathaniel, Mary and Sarah, Robert Chapman, Jr., second son of the first settler, was born in September, 1646, at Saybrook, and was an extensive agriculturist, owning at the time of his death not less than 2,000 acres. The town records show him to have been a man of large influence in civic affairs, For many years he was clerk of Oyster River Quarter, as well as commissioner and surveyor for the Town of Saybrook. From 1692 to .1711 he was a member of the Legislature, as already recorded. An even more interesting fact is that he was a member of the assembly that drafted the Saybrook platform in 1708, a work that has preserved the purity of the Congregational churches of Connecticut for more than two centuries. Robert Jr.'s first marriage was to Sarah Griswold of Norwich, Connecticut, on July 27, 1671, She became the mother of nine children, and died April 7, 1692. On October 29, 1694, he married Mrs. Mary Sheather, and by that union had four children, Those of the first marriage were named Samuel, Robert, Sarah, Francis, Dorcas, Steven, the next, a son, dying in infancy, then a second named Sarah and the last being also a son who died in infancy, By the second marriage the children were Benjamin, Steven, Mehitabel and Abigail. Robert Chapman, Jr, died suddenly while in the Hartford courtroom in November, 1711. He was laid. away in the old burial ground at Hartford, in the rear of the Center Church, and on his tombstone, which can now be found about a rod north of the monument on which are inscribed the names of the first settlers of Hartford, is this inscription : "Here lyeth the body of Robert Chapman who departed this life November ye 10th, 1711, aged 65 years." Capt, Samuel Chapman, eldest son of Robert Jr,, was born September 12, 1672. On December 6, 1693, he married Margaret Griswold, a daughter of Capt, Samuel Griswold of Norwich. By her he had ten children, Mrs. Chapman died December 21, 1750. Captain Samuel was prominent both in civic and military affairs. His home was in what is now the Town of Westbrook, and he was one of the original fourteen persons who were banded into a church organization at that place June 29, 1726. The date of his death is not known, His children were : Sarah, Margaret, Samuel, Martha, Temperance, Jedediah, Mehitabel, Caleb, Lucy and Aaron. Jedediah, second son of Captain Samuel, was born at Westbrook, October 9, 1703. He married Miss Hester Kirkland June 5, 1723, and there were eight children. Jedediah was well known in Westbrook as a soldier, citizen and churchman, served as a major in the infantry, was by profession a lawyer, and held the possession of deacon in the Vol. II-5 620 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY church from 1732 until his death which occurred at Westbrook, February 10, 1764, in his sixty-first year.. The names- of his children were Hester, Temperance, Jedediah, Ann, Reuben, Charity, Chloe and Tabitha. Jedediah (second) eldest son of Major Jedediah, was born at Westbrook, December 15, 1726, and was married to Miss Mary Grinnell in 1755. From 1771 until his death on February 29, 1816, a period of forty-four years, he also served the church of Westbrook as deacon, He was for twenty years a justice of the peace. The Chapmans lived to great age, and this Jedediah was ninety at the time of his death, His children were Dan, Jedediah, Constant, Hester, Lucilla, Mary, Ann and Aaron, Constant, son of Deacon Jedediah Chapman, was born at Westbrook, Connecticut, December 27, 1760, and on January 27, 1785, married Miss Jemima Kelsey of Killingworth, Connecticut. They had nine children, The Chapman descendants get their eligibility to membership in the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution through Constant Chapman, who at the early age of sixteen entered the Revolutionary army and for six years was under the immediate command of Washington, For a time he was one of that general's body guard, He was in the battle on Long Island, at Germantown, Princeton and Trenton, experienced all the rigors of the winter at Valley Forge, and participated in that great triumph of American arms in the final surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Further interest attaches to his career for the fact that he was the first in this branch to follow the sea as a calling, He was a sailor for many years, and rose to the position of commander of a merchant vessel trading on the coast of South America, also across the ocean to Lisbon and other foreign ports, In 1793, during the friction between the youthful Republic of America and the French government, which almost precipitated a war between the two countries, the vessel of which he was captain was captured by the French off Porto Rico, was scuttled and sunk, while he and his crew were carried prisoners, to the French Island of Guadaloupe. After four months he was liberated, On retiring from the sea he chose a residence in the interior, and his last days were spent at Brimfield in Portage County, Ohio, where he died in 1850 at the age of ninety, His children were Lydia K., Thurot F., John K,, Anna M,, Chloe P,, Mary C., Joseph G., Jemima T. and Henry C. It is noticeable that the children of Constant all had middle names, a practice which was not followed in the earlier generations, The history of the Chapman family in Northern Ohio begins with Thurot F. Chapman, eldest son of the Revolutionary soldier Constant, Thurot was born at Old Killingworth, Connecticut, December 7, 1789. He was twice married. November 17, 1810, he married Lydia Andress, who became the mother of one child, October 16, 1833, he married Elizabeth Furray, and there were three children of that union. The military record of the family is continued through Thurot F, Chapman, who in the War of 1812 enlisted in Colonel Van Rensselaer's Regiment of New York Militia, crossed the Niagara- River into Canada, and participated in the ,battle of Queenstown Heights, where, he was taken prisoner and afterwards paroled. Like his father, he also followed the sea for a time, being engaged in the coasting trade, and for a number of years operated vessels engaged in codfishing off the Banks of Newfoundland and the Straits of Belle Isle. A character sketch of Thurot F. Chapman shows him to be a man of sterling integrity, of most generous impulses, so that the poor and oppressed were never turned from his door without practical help, and during the early half of the last century, while living in Northern Ohio, his home proved a refuge to many a poor slave who was following the underground railroad route to freedom in Canada, He kept these fugitives, fed and sheltered them, and carried them over his section of the underground railroad to the HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 621 next station, For several years Thurot F. Chapman lived at Smithville, Chenango County, New York, but in 1817 emigrated to the wilderness of the Ohio Western Reserve, and the greater part of his life thereafter was spent in Lorain County. As a pioneer few individuals did a more important work in clearing away the primeval wilderness which was the primary obstacle to cultivation and the real establishment of civilization in this country, For a number of years he carried on this work both by his own labor and by superintendence of others, and is said to have cleared up and fenced nearly 300 acres of land. Thurot F, Chapman died in Lorain County, December 16, 1860, at the age of seventy-one, He made his Christianity a practical force in everyday life, was one of the early members of the Congregational school in Lorain County and was one of the strongest forces working for morality and clean living in the early days, The children of Thurot F. Chapman were : Alonzo A,, whose name is taken up in the following paragraphs: Emily A.,. wife of Lucius R, Fields of Oberlin; Degrass S., who enlisted during the Civil war in Company K of the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was wounded at the battle of Antietam and died six days later in the field hospital at the age of twenty-four ; and Harlan P., of whom a separate sketch appears, The mother of the last three children was born in New Durham, Greene County, New York, March 9, 1804, and lost her life as the result of an accident at Oberlin, June 12, 1876. Alonzo A. Chapman, eldest son of Thurot F., was born August 25, 1811, at Smithfield, New York, and was only a child when his parents brought him to Lorain County, Ohio, in 1817, He was married September 30, 1832, to Miss Margaret Taylor, and had seven children by that union, He grew up in Eaton Township, and for many years was a farmer there, and was also called upon to fill various positions of trust in civic and religious bodies. For more than half a century he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and belonged to the first class organized at LaPorte, In 1866 he moved his family to Ridgeville, in Henry County, Ohio, and for many years was in the lumber business. His death occurred at Ridgeville Corners, August 5, 1890, at the age of seventy-nine. His children were : William T., Mary L., Henry L, (first), Emory N., Pamela A., Facelia and Henry L, (second), William T. Chapman, eldest son of Alonzo A., was born in Eaton Township of Lorain County on Butternut Ridge, July 10, 1833. He was married March 21, 1854, to Miss Fidelia S. Bannister, and became the father of three children, Perhaps no man in Lorain County made a more notable record as an educator than William T, Chapman, He entered the profession in the fall of 1852 and followed it practically continuously save for his service in the army until the spring of 1890, a period of thirty-eight years, His record aggregates fifty-seven terms, Eighteen of these terms were taught in Lorain County, one term in Cuyahoga County, two terms in Defiance County, two terms in Lucas County, twenty-three terms in Henry County, and eleven terms in Fulton County, all in Ohio, In 1867 he removed with his family to Henry County, settling in Ridgeville, and lived there for a number of years, His children were: Minnie E., Myra 0,, and Myrta J. The sons of Alonzo Chapman made a notable record as soldiers in the Civil war, William T, enlisted as a private August 4, 1862, and upon the organization of his company was Made a sergeant, In December, 1862, he was made orderly sergeant, and in June following received his commission as second lieutenant of Company H, One Hundred and Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In March, 1864, he was discharged for physical disability by order of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. The second son of Alonzo A. Chapman, Emory N. Chapman, enlisted August 11, 1862, in Company H of the One Hundred and Third Ohio 622 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY Infantry, and was discharged September 17, 1864, on account of wounds received at Resaca, Georgia, on May 14, 1864. Henry L., fourth son of Alonzo, enlisted December 24, 1863, in Company F of the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Ohio Infantry, and being taken with the smallpox was left in a tobacco shed at Concord Station in East Tennessee, and while there both feet were frozen so the toes came off. For these injuries he received an honorable discharge May 31, 1865. HARLAN P. CHAPMAN, A gallant soldier during the war, a successful farmer, and long identified with public affairs in Lorain County, Harlan P. Chapman has well upheld the traditions of the Chapmans for loyal and upright citizenship, and is one of the most honored members of that worthy family, the lineage of which down to recent generations has been traced on preceding pages, The youngest child of Thurot F, and Elizabeth (Furray) Chapman, Harlan P, Chapman was born on Butternut Ridge in Eaton Township, Lorain County, September 6, 1844. In his boyhood and early youth he attended the common schools of that locality, and had the benefit of two terms at Oberlin College. The wholesome environment of a farm provided bone and sinew for his intellectual training, and he had not yet reached years of manhood when the Civil war came upon the country and he responded to the call to help preserve the Union. August 4, 1862, he enlisted in Company II of the One Hundred and Third Regiment of Ohio Infantry, and was first sent to Camp Cleveland and then to Cincinnati, whence his command marched into Kentucky and spent the following winter at Frankfort, In April, 1863, the regiment moved across the state to the Cumberland River, where it was engaged in several skirmishes with the Confederates, In the following August they were placed under the command of Burnside, then crossed the Cumberland Mountains and participated in the historic campaign in East Tennessee, Mr. Chapman participated in the Battle of Blue Springs, Knoxville and Armstrong's Hill, and at the latter battle, which took place on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1863, received a serious wound, from which he never fully recovered and carries to this day a musket ball imbedded in the hip joint. For nine months he was confined to a hospital, and then went home on a furlough. Before being ordered back to the hospital he was married on March 31, 1864, and a pair of crutches were under his arms as he took his part in the ceremony which made him and Miss Mary C. Pitkin man and wife, Miss Pitkin's home was at Brunswick, Medina County. Mr. Chapman was not called upon for further active service with the army and received his honorable discharge June 27, 1864. Having in the meantime become head of a family he then settled upon his present farm in Carlisle Township near the Village of LaPorte. While fully half a century has been given to his duties as an agriculturist, this has been frequently interrupted by periods of public service. A stanch republican, Mr, Chapman has enjoyed the position of a leader in his party in this county, For three years he served as postmaster at, LaPorte and at the same time conducted a general store there. In November, 1892, he was elected treasurer of Lorain County for a term of two years and re-elected, so that he served altogether four years as county treasurer, Since then he has been mainly retired from public duties and from the active work of the farm, and now lives quietly at his attractive home in LaPorte, three miles south of Elyria, His valuable farm of fifty-three acres is nicely situated on the electric interurban line. Mr. Chapman is a charter member of Richard Allen Post, G. A. R., at Elyria. and has several times been honored with the office of post HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 623 commander. At the recent general census he was sent as enumerator for Carlisle Township, In January, 1911, the Sons of Veterans organized the H. P. Chapman Camp at Elyria, and the naming of this camp was a fit recognition of the services of one of Lorain County's gallant soldiers. Mr. Chapman and wife are the parents of three children, The oldest, Erie D., is individually mentioned on other pages. The son Otto B. is married and is now managing the old. farm at LaPorte. Oleo E, is now the wife of A, E. Giles, also living at LaPorte. The two younger children were born at LaPorte, and the oldest was born at Brunswick in Medina County, Otto and his sister Mrs, Giles were educated at LaPorte and in the public schools of Elyria, and Mrs. Giles is a graduate of the high school of the latter city. Possessing exceptional musical talent, she was trained in that art in the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin and is now a well known teacher of piano, Her husband is also a graduate of the Elyria High School, and has been prominent- in musical circles, being a member of the Elyria City Band and of the local orchestra. Mr. Giles is now pursuing a business course in the Oberlin Business College, ERIE D. CHAPMAN. The actual administration of the Elyria post-office has been in the hands of Erie D, Chapman now for more than seventeen years. As assistant postmaster he has every detail of that office at his fingers' ends, and has proved himself vigilant, diligent, proficient and well worthy of the responsibilities reposed in him. He is one of the best known citizens of Lorain County and possesses the substantial character and solid ability for which the Chapman family have always been noted. He is a son of Harlan P, and Mary C. (Pitkin) Chapman, and a member of the noted Chapman family whose line has been traced on preceding pages since it was first established in America upwards of 300 years ago, Born at Brunswick, Medina County, Ohio, March 21, 1868, Erie D, Chapman as a boy attended the public schools both of Elyria and Oberlin, and is a graduate of the Oberlin Business College. His practical career began as clerk in a dry goods store in Oberlin, and from there he came to Elyria and during the four years his father was county treasurer, during the '90i, was chief assistant in that office. 0. F. Carter of Oberlin succeeded Harlan P. Chapman as county treasurer, and, the latter's son remained on duty under County Treasurer Carter for a little over six months, from September to March, It was in March, 1898, that Mr, Chapman became identified with the Elyria postoffice as assistant postmaster, At that time I. H, Griswold was postmaster. In a short time he had made himself master of the varied details of the local office, and made his services so invaluable that he was retained in the same position by J, H, Bath, who succeeded Mr, Griswold, and when in 1913, following a change from republican to democratic administration, D. W, Seward was appointed under the new regime, Mr. Chapman was retained as assistant, and his work has been such that he ought to be held in that office as long as he desires it, In March, 1915, he completed seventeen years of continuous service, and during that time had helped reorganize the local management to provide for the successive improvements made in postal affairs, first looking after the arrangements of rural delivery routes and in more recent years having a part in the introduction of the postal savings and parcel post features to the local service, In politics Mr. Chapman is a stanch republican, and has served on a number of committees of the party. Fraternally he is affiliated with King Solomon Lodge No, 56, F. & A. M., at Elyria, with the Royal Arch Chapters, the Council, with the Knight Templar Commandery and with Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Cleveland, He is a charter 624 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY member of Lodge No, 465 of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, belongs to the H, P. Chapman Camp, Sons of Veterans, which was organized and named in honor of his father in January, 1911. He is also a charter member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce. Though his duties confine him closely he takes his recreations out of doors in fishing and hunting trips whenever possible. On April 20, 1898, Mr. Chapman married Miss Minnie Elizabeth Thayer of Elyria, Her father, James Thayer, is now living with Mr. and Mrs, Chapman, and her mother died here several years ago. They were Ohio people, lived near Zanesville for a number of years, but Mrs. Chapman was born in Medina County. She was educated in the Elyria public schools, and as a musician has a reputation of more than local note, She attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland School of Music, and also took instruction under private teachers at Cleveland both in piano and violin. An honor that recently came to her was her appointment as director of the Elyria Extension Department of the Sherwood Music School of Chicago, The Sherwood Music School, which was founded by the late William H. Sherwood, whose reputation as America's greatest pianist is hardly disputed, is the only conservatory of established reputation to adopt the plan of extension work, though several of the noted European schools of music have long applied that system, Mrs. Chapman for the past ten years, since 1905, has been leader of the theater orchestra of Elyria, and has conducted a large class of students in the study of violin and piano. It was her standing in local musical circles which led to her selection by the Sherwood School to take charge of the local branch of its extension department, This extension department affords the prestige and experience of one of the best known conservatories to Elyria, so that local students, without the expense involved in months of residence away from home, may secure the advantages of metropolitan conservatory training and earn credits and diplomas that entitled them to recognition for proficiency in their chosen art. Mr. and Mrs. Chapman are the parents of three sons: Harlan Thayer, who is in the U. S, Navy, Erie Degrass and Max Joslyn, They were all born in Elyria and are the two youngest students in the graded schools of that city, ERWIN WORCESTER, For a great many years the Worcester family have been identified with that part of Lorain County adjacent to Oberlin, and Erwin Worcester, whose enterprise as a dairyman is the largest business of its kind in Oberlin, is a brother of P. G, Worcester, in connection with whose name are published many facts of family history and interest. Born near Oberlin. January 31, 1871, Erwin Worcester has had a very active career. He grew up in the country, attended the public schools and high school, and his first' regular occupation was as a earpenter, which he followed ten years, He then went to the Far West and from San Francisco sailed out on various vessels along the Pacific Coast and in the Pacific trade as a salt water mariner for four years, With that experience he came hack to Lorain County, graduated from the business college in 1895. and then continued his studies in the Oberlin Academy for one year. For five years Mr, Worcester was connected with a mail order house in Toledo, and after that for nine years was at Cleveland, engaged in contracting and in the railway mail service, On returning to Oberlin in 1910 he engaged in the dairy business and now has the largest concern of its kind tributary to the city. In March 1897, he married Bertha C. Baggaley, daughter of Edwin Baggaley, who was a native of England, and since coming to America HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 625 has lived in Wood County, where he has been connected with various lines of business and at one time was postmaster at Weston. Mrs. Worcester was born at Weston, Ohio, To their union have been born four children: Marion Emeline, now attending high school; Madge in the sixth grade of the public schools ; Irene in the fourth grade ; and Kenneth Edwin, who is four years of age, The family are members of the Second Congregational Church at Oberlin, and in politics Mr. Worcester is independent. His success in life is due to the fact that he has devoted himself absolutely to the business in hand and he is now giving his time and attention to the dairy business. HEMAN ELY, By its name Elyria will always be a memorial to the enterprising activities of the Ely family, While there were a few earlier settlers than Judge Tiernan Ely, he is properly considered the founder of the town, gave it its name, and breathed into the community that spirit of vitality and progress which in more modern years has made Elyria "the hundred per cent city," While the history of the city found on other pages is a reflection of the life of Judge Heman Ely, it is proper to combine in a special sketch the main facts of his interesting career, He was born at West Springfield, Massachusetts, April 24, 1775, and died in Elyria February 2, 1852. His father, Justin Ely, of West Springfield, was a very extensive dealer in real estate, and was one of the original proprietors of what was then known as "the Connecticut Western Reserve" in Ohio, under the Connecticut Land Company. Judge Ely, who was the fourth in the family of his father, subsequently succeeded to his father's properties in what is now Lorain County, As a young man, early in the nineteenth century, he became interested in buying extensive tracts of land in Central and Western New York, and under his direction much of this land was surveyed and sold to settlers. Nearly coincident with these enterprises he was engaged in partnership with his brother Theodore in New York City, and for ten. years they managed an extensive exporting business, dealing with European countries and the East Indies. As a matter of business Heman Ely was one of the few Americans of that time who frequently "went abroad." He visited England, Holland, France and Spain, and remained in France long enough to acquire the language, for that purpose separating himself from pleasant friends and living entirely with French families. His residence in Paris, from July, 1809, to April, 1810, made him a witness of events of world-wide significance. It was the high tide of Emperor Napoleon's reign. In August, 1809, Judge Ely witnessed the grand fete when Napoleon appeared with Empress Josephine, and in the evening he attended a ball at the Hotel de Ville, where a cotillion was danced by a set composed exclusively of kings and queens, A few months later Empress Josephine was divorced, and Judge Ely was a spectator of the formal entrance into Paris of Emperor Napoleon with Empress Maria Louise of Austria, followed by the religious ceremony of their marriage at the Chapel of the Tuilleries. As all students of European history are aware, practically every nation was then engaged in warfare, with Napoleon and France combating practically the entire civilized world except America, Consequently, and partly in view of the embargo placed by the French emperor upon all commerce between England and the continental countries, it was no easy matter for any foreigner to pass from country to country, Judge Ely apparently possessed that typical American quality of being able to make his way anywhere and under any circumstances, and was always quick to act in any emergency or adventure, He frequently ran the blockade, was shot 626 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY at by privateers, and whenever means of transportation failed he would seize a small fishing boat to make his way from one country to another. In entering France he was accompanied by one friend, Mr. Charles R. Codman of Boston. They took passage from England to Holland in a Dutch fishing boat. Gendarmes patrolled the coast of Holland, and fired upon the little vessel as it attempted to land. Waiting until the cover of darkness, they quickly landed on the shores of an unknown country, where neither of the Americans had knowledge of a word of the Dutch language. For eight miles they carried their baggage, avoiding towns and fine mansions, and finally found a peasant who was willing to give them food and look after their baggage, which he later buried in the sand in order that it might not be discovered in case soldiers should search his cottage. The travelers then walked to Rotterdam, and soon found means to send a servant into the country to get their baggage, The travelers were closely questioned at Antwerp and other places, but finally reached Paris on July 9, 1809. While in Paris one morning they were ordered from their beds to the police courts on suspicion of speaking ill of Napoleon, but after some delay and annoyance were released, All France was then under an elaborate system of espionage, and caution and courage were absolutely necessary to safety.' In 1810 Judge Ely returned to America and the following year he paid his first visit to Ohio, going as far west as Cleveland. In some of his correspondence he made a special note of his trip by steamboat up the Hudson River, That was only several years after Robert Fulton's Clermont had made its pioneer voyage propelled by steam. From the Hudson River he had made most of his journey on horseback. The Ely possessions in Northern Ohio aggregated about 12,000 acres lying around the falls of the Black River. On going back to New England Mr. Ely passed by Niagara Falls, and thence went up the St. Lawrence River and through Montreal, The war with England, which broke out in 1812, made it unadvisable to open or settle new territory in Ohio, and it was not until 1816 that he again visited the lands best known as "No. 6, Range 17, Connecticut Western Reserve." At that time he made arrangements for future settlement, contracting for the construction of a grist and sawmill and a log cabin to be completed early in the following year.. In February, 1817, accompanied by his step-brother, Ebenezer Lane, who subsequently became chief justice of Ohio, and attended by a considerable company of skilled workmen and laborers, he left West Springfield for the Western Reserve of Ohio, He and Mr. Lane rode in a stout covered wagon, while the others walked or rode on ox cart conveyances which also carried provisions and implements. March 17, 1817, the company forded the stream known as Black River and took possession of the log cabin already erected. The site chosen was high land between the two branches of the Black River, Each branch had a fall of forty feet within a comparatively short stretch, and thus afforded some splendid water power, unusual in a country so prevailingly level as Northern Ohio. To the settlement Judge Ely supplied the name "Elyria," improvised from his own name, and from that time forward gave the best energies of his life to the development of the little community of which he was the founder. In 1818 several houses were built, the largest being the home of Judge Ely, a cut of which appears on other pages of this work, and another was the Beebe Tavern on the opposite side of Broad Street, which is also illustrated, Judge Ely's residence, the first frame house erected in Elyria, has been described as follows: "In dimensions 45x40 feet, two stories, with cellar under the main part ; kitchen in the rear ; fire- HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 627 place in every room, and brick oven in the kitchen, No stoves were known at that time. The siding of the house was made from a single whitewood tree cut on the place near a bend in the road. A large barn was built at the time. Invitations were sent to Ridgeville, which was settled before Elyria, and both frames were raised on the same day." Up to this time Mr. Ely had lived a bachelor, but in the fall of 1818 he returned to his old home in West Springfield as a passenger on Walk-on-the-Water, the first steamboat that ever plied Lake Erie to Buffalo. On October 9th he married Miss Celia Belden, who soon afterwards returned with him to the new village. As the house above described was not yet completed, they lived for a time in a log house, Mrs. Ely was a woman of lovable disposition and it was to the deep grief of her many friends that she did not long enjoy the home which she helped to make. She died January 7, 1827, In 1818 a postoffice was established at Elyria. Six years later a new county was formed, and to it Judge Ely gave the name Lorain, with Elyria as the county seat, While abroad he had spent some delightful months in the Province of Lorraine, France, and it was in honor of that country of such diversified national experience that Lorain County was named, At the same time the First Church of Christ was organized at Elyria, with Rev. Daniel W. Lathrop as pastor, Religious services, however, had been conducted in previous years. Judge Ely collected members of I he little colony and read them a sermon, and called upon professing Christians to offer prayer. While not a member of any church himself, he valued Christian institutions, and contributed liberally to their maintenance, However, in 1841, the reading of a "Child's Book on Repentance," written by Rev, Thomas H, Gallaudet, wrought a vital change in his personal experience, Nowhere is Judge Ely's influence more permanently impressed upon the present city than in the plan of the town. He arranged for broad intersecting streets, ample public grounds, and on opposite sides of the square assigned lots for a church and schoolhouse, He subsequently was the prime factor in erecting a building for a. high school or academy, in a more retired locality, and built a commodious house for the residence of the principal in order that boarding pupils from the surrounding country might be accommodated. Thus more perhaps than any other individual he influenced the early institutional life of Elyria, Among the early settlers Judge Ely naturally possessed a leadership consequent upon his broad activities and his world travels and experience. The range of his interests was remarkable. He was especially fond of horticulture, and spent much of the time in the summer seasons in his garden, where he collected the choicest varieties of vegetables, trees and vines, and this .avocation likewise had its beneficial influence upon the community, since he freely distributed samples of his trees and shrubs to all who desired them, Thus in one way or another he was almost constantly engaged in some form of vital public service. During 1831-32 he served as a member of the state board of equalization, and from 1835 to 1845 was one of the associate judges under the old state constitution. Miss Celia Belden, who married Judge Ely at West Springfield, Massachusetts, October 9, 1818, was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, October 5, 1796, a daughter of Col. Ezekiel Porter and Mary (Parsons) Belden. She died at Elyria January 7, 1827. There were three children of the union: Heman, Jr., Albert and Mary Belden, all now deceased, At Mansfield, Connecticut, August 20, 1828, Judge Ely married Harriet M. Salter, daughter of Gen. John Salter, She was born at Mansfield, Connecticut, March 20, 1792, and died at Elyria August 6, 1846. The 628 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY one son of this union, Charles A., died in 1864. On December 7, 1846, he married for his third wife Mrs. Cynthia Sergeant, widow of John Sergeant of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and daughter of Dr. Jeremiah and Amelia ( Ely) West of Tolland, Connecticut. She was born at Tolland July 21, 1791, and died at Hartford, Connecticut, August 5, 1871. HEMAN ELY, JR, Son of Judge Heman Ely, the founder of Elyria, whose life and services have been sketched on other pages, Heman Ely, Jr,, likewise made himself a conspicuous factor in the business and public life of Elyria. Born at Elyria October 30, 1820, he died in that city July 8, 1894, at the age of seventy-four. As a boy he attended the old Elyria High School, and also attended a school at Farmington, Connecticut. In his father's office he acquired a thorough training and insight into the real estate business, which he followed for many years. Like his father, though at a later period in the development of the county, he identified himself with many of its leading institutions. He was connected with the old Lorain Bank, established in 1847, with its successor, the First National Bank, organized in 1864, and with the successor of the First National, the National Bank of Elyria, organized in 1883. He was president of the National Bank of Elyria at the time of his death, and had been in each successive institution a director, and for a number of years had been vice president. In 1852, with a number of other men, he secured the building of that section of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, then known as the "Junction Road," from Cleveland to Toledo. From 1870 to 1873 he was a member of the State Legislature, and assisted in molding the first insurance laws for the State of Ohio. On September 1, 1841, Mr, Ely married Miss Mary Harris Montieth, a daughter of Rev, John and Abigail (Harris) Montieth. To this union were born three children : Celia Belden ; George H, Ely, who is a well known citizen of Elyria, and former state senator ; and Mary Montieth. The mother of these children died at Elyria March 1, 1849. On May 27, 1850, Mr, Ely married for his second wife Miss Mary F. Day, daughter of Hon. Thomas and Sarah (Coit) Day, of the prominent family of that name originating in Hartford, Connecticut. To the second marriage were born four children: Edith Day, Charles Theodore, Albert Heman and Harriette Putnam, Mrs. Ely died at Elyria in 1895, about a year after her husband. The late Mr. Ely was very prominent in social affairs and was really a gentleman of the old school. Distinguished honors were paid him in the Masonic fraternity. He took his first degrees in that order in 1852. From 1858 to 1871 he was worshipful master of King Solomon Lodge No. 56, at Elyria, In 1857 he received the Order of Knighthood in Oriental Commandery of Knights Templar No. 12, at Cleveland, and served as eminent commander there from December, 1861, to December, 1863, and from 1864 to 1871 was grand commander of the grand coinmandery of Knights Templar of Ohio. He was also identified with the supreme council of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States, and was its treasurer from May, 1867, to September, 1891. He received the much coveted honor of a. thirty-third degree, The Congregational Church of Elyria has much for which to be grateful to members of the Ely family, and to Helium Ely, Jr,, in particular. He was a member of that congregation from 1838, and for many years one of its officers and for ten years superintendent of the Sunday school, In politics he was a republican. Personally, while the range of his interests was widely extended, he was averse to undue notice, and preferred the unassuming, charitable and dignified position of the private citizen. HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 629 JOHN J. NICHOLS. It was given to the late John J. Nichols to become one of the representative agriculturists and stock-growers of Lorain County, and he was a child at the time when the family home was established in Ohio, He was born at Elzing, Norfolkshire, England, and was a son of John and Elizabeth (Dent) Nichols, the former of whom was born and reared at Elzing and the latter of whom was born at Castle Acre. England, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Titeringim) Dent. John Nichols was born in the year 1800 and bore the full patronymic of his father, John Nichols, Sr. John and Elizabeth (Dent) Nichols came to America in the year 1835, and their voyage across the Atlantic was made on a sailing vessel of the type common to that period, six weeks and one day elapsed ere they disembarked in the port of New York City, whence they soon afterward continued their westward journey and established their home on a pioneer farm near Sandusky, Ohio, the remainder of their lives having been passed in Erie County, Of their eleven children five were born in England, and the other six claimed the United States as their place of nativity. John J. Nichols was a child at the time of the family immigration to the United States and he was reared to adult age on the pioneer farm of his father in Erie County, Ohio, where his early education was obtained in the common schools of the period. He continued his active association with agricultural enterprise in Erie County until about the year 1855, when he came to Lorain County and instituted the development of a farm in Black River Township, where he engaged also in the manufacture of brick, He became one of the representative men of the township and here both he and his wife passed the residue of their lives, as prominent. and honored citizens of Lorain County. They were pioneer members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Lorain County and were zealous members of the First Methodist Church of Lorain for many years. The marriage of Mr, Nichols to Miss 'Martha Elwood was solemnized in Erie County, and they became the parents of three children. After the death of his first wife Mr. Nichols wedded Miss Deborah W. Lowe, daughter of Stephen and Rebecca Lowe, and she survived him by a number of years, Concerning the children of Mr, and Mrs, Nichols the following brief data are given : Ezra C, married Miss Ella Thomas ; Violet E, became the wife of William E. Lowe ; Elmina died in infancy ; Byron G. is individually mentioned on other pages of this publication ; Charles A, is likewise the subject of a specific sketch in this work ; J, Bert married Miss Jennie Ramsdell ; Erwin H, first married Miss Ida M. Hicks and after her death wedded Miss Eva Bryant ; and Miss Grace E, is a popular teacher in the public schools of Lorain County, Of the eleven children of John-and Elizabeth (Dent) Nichols the five who were born prior to the family immigration to the United States were Thomas, Mary, Susan, John J, and Ann, and the names of those who were born in Erie County, Ohio, were as here noted: George, William, Samuel, Elizabeth, Delia and Benjamin. CHARLES A. NICHOLS. He whose name introduces this paragraph is a native son of Lorain County and is a scion of staunch English stock, his paternal grandparents having come from England to establish a home in America somewhat more than eighty years ago, He has been a resident of Lorain County from the time of his nativity and is now engaged in the real estate and insurance business as one of the representative exponents of these lines of enterprise in the City of Lorain, Charles Arthur Nichols was born in Black River Township, Lorain County, Ohio, on the 2d of February, 1870, and is a son of John J, and 630 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY Deborah (Chase) Nichols, concerning whom more specific mention is made on other pages of this work. In the public schools of Lorain County Mr. Nichols acquired his early educational training, and in the meanwhile he gained effective discipline in connection with the operations of his father's farm, As a youth he became a clerk in a grocery store in the City of Lorain, and after he had gained a thorough knowledge of the details of this line of enterprise he engaged in the retail grocery business in an independent way, as a member of the firm of Nichols & Gawn, in which his coadjutor was Harry B, Gawn. This alliance continued eight years, and since that time Mr. Nichols has been engaged in the real estate and insurance business in Lorain, where he has built up a substantial and representative enterprise in these important lines and where he gives special attention to the handling of city property, Mr. Nichols is a progressive business man and alert and public-spirited citizen of his native county, where he takes lively interest in all things that tend to advance civic and material prosperity. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Tribe of Ben Hur, On the 26th of December, 1892, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Nichols to Miss Hattie Burtis, a native of New York State, and they have six children, namely : Lucille, John Raymond, James Burtis, Nina May, Charles Arthur, Jr,, and Virginia, MISS ALMA ROSE MORIARTY. In a list of the prominent citizens of any community today, mention is made of women as well as men, for whether they are actively in the business world or not, the high position of woman as a factor in civilization is being recognized as it has never been before, Any person, regardless of sex, who has accomplished as much real service in .a community as Miss Rose Moriarty has performed in Elyria, is entitled to all the commendation and respect which true ability should command anywhere, For nearly fifteen years Miss Moriarty has been identified with the municipal government of Elyria," She has served through six successive administrations as deputy city auditor, and is not only a master of the routine detail of office but has always been equal to any of the emergencies and it is said that she possesses a broader, more exact and pertinent knowledge of municipal law than any member of the local bar, Few individuals are better qualified for civic leadership than this splendid young Ohio woman, Rose Moriarty, She was born at Elyria, December 19, 1882, a daughter of Thomas and Ellen (Enright) Moriarty, both of whom are now deceased. Miss Moriarty acquired her early education in the Elyria public schools, graduating from high school in June, 1900, and immediately entering the Elyria Business College, in which she completed her course by January, 1901, With the exception of a few months of employment in the office of Topliff & Ely, she has always worked for the city. Her appointment as deputy city clerk came on October 3, 1901, from W. H. Park, and when the office of city auditor was created in 1903, she was appointed the deputy. She became clerk of the department of public safety May 3, 1903, and at the same date was appointed clerk of the sinking fund department, and has been clerk of the civil service department since January 1, 1910, By her industry, earnestness, broad comprehension, Miss Moriarty has gained the esteem and admiration of all the friends and leaders in the good government movement at Elyria. One of the strongest testimonials to her ability is found in the public statement recently made by C. M. Braman, in his announcement of his candidacy HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 631 for the office of city auditor. Mr, Braman said: "I declare it my intention, if nominated in the primaries and honored by an election in November, to retain the services of Miss Rose Moriarty as deputy, who has served in an admirable capacity through three administrations. She is too well known to the voters of Elyria to require any extensive introduction in this article, Not only has she served with high credit in the auditing department of the city, but has rendered invaluable service in every department of the city government by reason of her broad and correct knowledge of municipal affairs. I would regard it a duty to retain her in office so long as her services are of such high order, and cooperate with her to the extent of my ability, A victory for myself I shall construe quite as much a tribute to Miss Moriarty, who has honored her city here at home and brought much credit to it over the State," Miss Moriarty out of her experience and study is a woman who has something to say, and has the ability to state her position and her arguments with an earnest forcefulness which has frequently brought admiring comments, She has quite frequently delivered addresses before various gatherings and one of her addresses which attracted wide attention was that on Civic Righteousness, which she delivered several times in Lorain County. Miss Moriarty is a republican in politics, and is one of the local leaders in the equal suffrage movement, and a member of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association. She is also affiliated with the Ladies of the Maccabees, and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Ohio, Miss Moriarty is numbered among the stockholders of the Lorain County Bank. SUMNER G. CROOKS, A native of the old Buckeye State, Sumner George Crooks has gained prestige as one of the representative business men of the younger generation in the thriving City of Lorain, where he is the efficient and popular manager of the substantial business here conducted by the Sumner Creamery Company, which is a branch of an extensive business which has its headquarters in the City of Akron, the enterprise in Lorain having been established on the 1st of March, 1909, and the progressive, careful and energetic administration of the present manager having been the force through which the business has here been developed to its large volume, making it a valuable contribution to the industrial prestige of the City and County of Lorain, Mr. Crooks was born in Medina County, Ohio, on the 16th of March, 1886, and is a son of Earl E. and Elta (Sumner) Crooks, likewise natives of this state and representatives of sterling old families of Medina County, He whose name introduces this article acquired his early education in the public schools of his native county, and when but twelve years of age he gained his initial experience in the creamery business, with which he has been continuously associated from his boyhood, and in the dctails of which, both technical and commercial, he is specially well informed, so that his judgment is authoritative in this important field of enterprise. He manifests loyal interest in all that concerns the civic and material welfare and progress of his home city and is essentially a wide-awake and reliable young business man who has secure place in popular confidence and esteem. In the City of Akron, on the 3d of July, 1908, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Crooks to Miss Flora Felver, and their three children are: Audrey Burden. Ruth Gene and June Agnes. LEVI MORSE. In this venerable and honored citizen who died at his home in Elyria July 28, 1899, aged eighty-seven years twenty-seven days, the city possessed not only one of its oldest residents but also a man who 632 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY represented in his long career the prominent social and civic element which composed the citizenship of this community throughout its growth from frontier settlement to a modern municipality. The late Levi Morse was a very remarkable man. Of his eighty-seven years of life, he had spent sixty-four at Elyria, He was both a witness and actor in the changing development of this long time. A substantial degree of material prosperity rewarded his industrious efforts, but the honor paid to his memory is more specially due to his fine independence of character, his active influence in the civic, social, religious and business community. He was a pioneer settler, a successful business man, and a broad minded, vigorous, charitable citizen. He brought with him to Elyria the stock of ideas, traditions, and character of a sturdy New England community. His ancestors were English, and he was descended from one of three brothers who came from England in the very early days. Many members of the Morse family are still living in and about New Haven, Connecticut, and in the county of. that name at the Village of Prospect Levi Morse was born July 1, 1812, in the same year that the second war broke out with. Great Britain, His parents were Lent and Lydia (Doolittle) Morse. His father was born in Cheshire, New Haven County, Connecticut, was a farmer by occupation and died at the age of sixty-seven, Mrs. Lydia Morse died at the age of fifty, and of her six children, Levi was the fourth in age, He was reared and educated at his native village and in 18:35, at the age of twenty-three, came West in company with S. W. Baldwin and David B. Andrews, With these enterprising associates he boarded a sailing vessel at New Haven for New York, went by boat up the river to Albany, by canal packet to Buffalo, sailed up the lake as far as Cleveland and from there came by stage coach to Elyria, where he arrived May 13, 1835. He found here a hamlet, with only three stores,e a log house used for a jail and no church building, the population of the little community being about 400 inhabitants. He was associated with the enterprise of S. W, Baldwin, who established a store in the town, and his first years were spent as a trader among the settlers of Northern Ohio. exchanging articles of merchandise for furs and other frontier products: For a number of years he was in the employ of Mr, Baldwin, and then in 1848 embarked in the dry goods business with another one of his companions who came West in 1835, David B, Andrews, under the firm name of D. B, Andrews & Company. About two years later Mr. Andrews died and Mr, Morse carried on the business alone for a time. One of the interesting facts which identifies him with the early history of Elyria was his appointment as the first ticket agent for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, and he assisted in running the first train to Berea and return on July 4, 1853. He filled that office for three years, after which for a time he was in the produce trade, buy- ing and selling grain. For many years he was associated with the firm of Baldwin, Laundon & Nelson, In 1863 Mr. Morse was elected township trustee, and with the exception of one term filled that office continuously up to the time of his death. He was also superintendent of the county infirmary for over two years and at one time was township treasurer. In politics he was a republican, but had cast his first vote for the whig candidate in l833, and beginning with 1836 voted for every successive whig or republican candidate until the end of his life. In church relations he was a Methodist, joining the church when he first came to Elyria, when the society itself was only six or seven years old and was one of its oldest HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 633 members when he died. He had been foremost in encouraging and supporting every interest of the church, had continuously held a position on the official board, and again and again had sacrificed time and money for the benefit of the organization, He was of the type of Christian who takes his religion into his daily life and affairs and expressed through his life many of the highest ideals of Christian manhood, He took a prominent part in building the first church home of the Methodists, now used by the Disciples Church on East Second Street, the church edifice having been dedicated there in 1851. Since 1843 he had held an official position in the church, and at the time of his death was one among less than a dozen of the original membership of the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Elyria. He was also the oldest living member of Elyria Lodge No. 103, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and always exemplified its highest mottos and symbolisms in his daily life, On December 15, 1840, Levi Morse married Miss. Betsy Minerva Mann. She was born in New York State December 7, 1818, and died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. J. F. Brant in Boston, Massachusetts, June 29, 1909, having succumbed to the infirmities of an age that made her ninety-one years old when she died. Following the death of her husband she had removed to Boston to live with her daughter in that city, but her remains were brought back to Elyria and laid beside those of her husband, To their marriage were born six children: Milo Wesley, who was born April 21, 1842, and in the full tide of his youth in 1862 enlisted in Company E of the Forty-second Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was killed while on duty as a sharpshooter at the siege of Vicksburg, May 25, 1863 ; Clara Adelia, who was born January 13, 1846, and died February 18, 1849 ; Alfred D., born January 20, 1851, and now a resident of Elyria ; Edward F., born November 11, 1853, also a resident of Elyria; Lydia May, who is the wife of Rev, J, F. Brant, now prominent in the anti-saloon movement and living at Boston ; and Charles L,, the youngest of the family, a resident of Elyria and mentioned on other pages. At the death of Levi Morse an entire community paid the sincere tribute of their respect and admiration for his good and purposeful life. Addresses and resolutions of respect came from the church which he had so long served from the lodge of which he was the oldest initiate, and from men and women in all the walks of life, While these cannot be included in this brief sketch, it is only a matter of justice to quote somewhat at length from the remarks of his old friend and associate, William A, Braman, who spoke from intimate knowledge of the life and works of the good man who had gone to his reward. Mr. Braman spoke of Mr, Morse's coming to Elyria when the present city was but a hamlet and when poverty was a common inheritance and when the ties of common brotherhood were strong and enduring, He knew Mr. Morse as a boy and one of the first faces he remembered outside of his home circle was that of the citizen who had just died, That face he spoke of as kind and sympathetic, "such a one as boys do not run away from. There was nothing forbidding about it, there was nothing imperious in his bearing. Our friend had early learned an important secret, namely, that in order to have friends it is necessary to be friendly. " As a merchant Mr. Morse was popular. I recall remarks which were made by my father and mother, showing their estimate of his worth, In our family living six miles away, Mr. Morse was known as Levi. He was sought out as the favorite of the men doing business in Elyria at that time as being the one to trade with, They felt safe in his hands, Their faith in his honesty and integrity was unbounded, "In later years, when I became associated with him on the board of 634 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY trustees of the township, I was impressed with his fidelity to his constituents and his scrupulous regard for every detail pertaining to his office. His early education in his New England home had fitted him for the duties which he was called upon to perform. He early learned the value of money and in all my acquaintance I have never known a public officer in the distribution of the people's money to be more painstaking and conscientious. For nearly forty years his office brought him in contact with the poor and unfortunate, and his hand, though not lavish, never closed against worthy objects, “He died in the harness at eighty-seven, having been chosen but a few months previous by his fellow citizens as their representative for the following three years. What .a record! In full possession of all his faculties at eighty-seven, What a commentary ! It speaks of his good habits and his correct life. Mr. Morse was one of the pillars of society, one of that class of sturdy men of character without which society would he a failure, His citizenship was always of a high order. In the agitation of every moral and social question he was always to be found on the right side. It was never necessary to see him to find out where he stood, He was in favor of temperance, social order and the enforcement of laws. Not in a sensational sense, but his firmness was like the rock of ages. ' In conclusion Mr. Braman quoted as typical of the conditions under which Levi Morse had quitted the earthly tabernacle the following beautiful lines: "Let me die where the blue heaven bends over me lovingly, And the soft summer air as it goes by me stirs my thin white hair, And from my forehead drives the death damp as it gathers, And the sky seems waiting to receive my soul to their clear depths. Or let me leave the world when round my bed, Wife, children, weeping friends are gathered, And the calm voice of prayer And holy hymning shall my soul prepare To go and be at rest with kindred spirits, Spirits who have blessed the human brotherhood By labors, cares, and counsels for their good," CHARLES L. MORSE, The youngest son of the late Levi and Betsy Minerva (Mann) Morse, whose long and worthy lives spent in Lorain County has been previously described, Charles L. Morse has given his career primarily to business pursuits and for a number of years has been in the insurance and real estate business and the handling of surety bonds. His office is in the Ely Block. Born at Elyria October 3, 1861, he received his early education in the public schools of that city, and after reaching manhood spent nine years as a local merchant, At 390 Broad Street he established himself in the cigar, tobacco and restaurant business, and that street number has been the location of the restaurant ever since, being now the home of the J, R, Jones restaurant. For the past sixteen years Mr, Morse has been in the fire insurance business, having engaged in that line in 1898. He now represents twelve of the strong and reliable companies doing business at Elyria, His offices were in the old Elyria Block until it burned in 1910, since which time he has had his business headquarters in the Ely Block. Mr. Morse is a man of quiet, retiring nature, a great lover of home and outside of business has seldom identified himself with public life. He is a member, however, of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce. Oc- HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 635 tober 18, 1882, he married Miss Clara M, Bassett of Eaton Township, Lorain County, and a daughter of Henry and Betsey E. (Slauter) Bassett, Further particulars concerning the late Henry Bassett will be found in succeeding paragraphs. Mrs. Morse was born in Eaton Township, but was educated in the Elyria public schools, graduating from high school in the class of 1881, about a year before her marriage, Mr, Morse when opportunity offers takes his recreation in hunting and fishing. HENRY BASSETT. In his lifetime Henry Bassett was one of the best known and most highly respected farmers and citizens of Lorain County, having been a resident of Eaton Township continuously for nearly sixty years. He performed his share in the pioneer labors which transformed the wilderness into a country of homes, farms and institutions, and was a witness to almost every important change which occurred in Lorain County from the time of early settlement until well toward the close of the last century, His birth occurred at Chili, Seneca County, New York, July 23, 1814, and when he died at his home in Eaton Township of Lorain County, January 21, 1891, he had lived usefully and well for seventy-six years six months, His parents were Daniel and Phebe (Covert) Bassett, who were natives of the same county in New York State, were married there, and in 1834 started west with their family of children, finally arriving in Lorain County and making settlement in Eaton Township, Daniel Bassett died at LaPorte in this county in 1846 and his wife passed away in Eaton Township at the age of eighty-two. Twenty years of age when the family emigrated to Lorain County, Henry Bassett had in the meantime profited by attendance at the schools of his native town, Arriving in Eaton Township, he applied himself to the heavy task of clearing away the woods and cultivating the land under the primitive conditions that then prevailed, Farming was his life occupation and from it he secured an ample conipetence for himself and family, On November 5, 1835, a few months after his twenty-first birthday, he was married in Carlisle Township to Miss Betsey E, Slauter. She was born in 1818 in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. a daughter of Jared and Sarah (Curtis) Slauter. Her parents were born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, were married there, and soon afterward moved to Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and in 1826 allied themselves with the new country of Lorain County, making settlement in Carlisle Township, They came west by wagons and teams, and at that time Mrs, Bassett was eight years of age, and walked the greater part of the distance from Pennsylvania alongside or following the wagon. Mr, and Mrs. Slauter spent the rest of their days in Lorain County, and he passed away about eight years after the death of his wife, There were ten children in the Slauter family : Ephraim, who went to Wisconsin, where he died; Lydia, now deceased, was the wife of Everett Stoddard, one of the early settlers of Eaton Township ; Mary Ann, deceased ; Sarah, who became the wife of Henry Warner and moved to Whitehall, Wisconsin ; Betsey E., who married Henry Bassett ; Henry, who died in Wisconsin; Jared, who died in Carlisle Township ; Jane, wife of D. L. Gibbs of Carlisle Township ; Olive, wife of R. Gibbs, of Carlisle Township ; and Hiram, who spent his active career at LaPorte. In the home of Mr. and Mrs, Henry Bassett there were born thirteen children, all of whom grew to maturity, and most of them married and established homes of their own, and there were seventeen great-grandchildren when Mrs, Henry Bassett died. These children in order of age Vol. II-6 636 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY are mentioned as follows: Charlotte, now Mrs. Anson Lines of Grafton Township, Lorain County ; Caroline, wife of John Hart of Elyria ; Sarah, wife of Sylvester Tompkins; Charles, who died in 1879 ; Daniel, who lives at Defiance, Ohio ; 011ie, who died in Lorain County as Mrs, Lemuel Barlow ; Frankie, Mrs. Nathaniel Benedict of Michigan ; Julia, wife of Marion Sutliff, of Elyria ; Edwin, of Eaton Township ; George, of Eaton ; Serepta, wife of Edwin Welton of Elyria ; Clara M., wife of Charles L. Morse, of Elyria ; Alice, wife of Frank Jackson, of Eaton Township. At the beginning of his career Henry Bassett found himself aligned in political opinion with the whig party, and afterwards became an energetic and ardent republican. He enjoyed the confidence of his fellow citizens and filled a number of offices of trust in his home township, It should be recalled that Mrs. Bassett taught the second school held in Eaton Township, She was a woman of culture, and presided with dignity and charm not only over her own household but stood high socially all over the township. It is difficult for the younger generation to realize the toil, privations and hardships which such old settlers as Henry Bassett and wife endured while establishing their homes in Lorain County, When he erected his first home in Eaton Township the country was almost a dense forest, and it required not only persevering toil day after day, month after month and year after year, but also a high degree of courage, enthusiasm and sturdy ambition in order to convert the forest surroundings into a well cultivated farm, He succeeded in this and in his later years lived in a substantial house and had around him all the comforts and conveniences he required. About fifteen years before his death he gave up active farming and bought a house and lot on Butternut Ridge. There he by no means spent his time in leisure, but employed it in superintending the cemetery and was almost constant in his care of this attractive city of the dead. As a result of his administration the cemetery in that locality surpassed in neatness and general upkeep any burying ground in the county, Thus these years of his retirement were devoted to a useful service for which he received the gratitude of a great many people, His entire life was upright and honorable and whether as a friend or neighbor or in his business transactions he gained the lasting respect of all who knew him. JAMES T. HORSLEY, Born and reared in England, Mr, Horsley has maintained his home in the United States since 1886, in which year he established his residence at Lorain, Ohio, where he is now living virtually retired, after an active career marked by consecutive industry and worthy achievement. James Thomas Horsley was born in Worcestershire, England, on the 11th of November, 1851, and is a son of George and Emma Horsley, who passed their entire lives in England, where the father was a prosperous farmer in Worcestershire. He whose name initiates this article is indebted to the excellent schools of his native land for his early educational discipline, and his boyhood days were compassed by the invigorating influences of the home farm, He continued his activities in various occupations in England until 1886, when he came to America and in the same year established his permanent home at Lorain, where he conducted a meat market for some time, after which he had supervision of a corps of stevedores in the service of the C, L. & W, Railroad for a period of six years. Thereafter he was superintendent of the building employed by the Sheffield Land & Improvement Company during the time when this corporation was laying out and developing South Lorain, his service in this capacity continuing about nine years. HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 637 upon becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States Mr. Horsley espoused the cause of the republican party, and as a candidate on its ticket he was elected justice of the peace in 1903. In this office he gave an administration marked by mature judgment and much circumspection, and he continued its incumbent for nine years, after which he served for a time in the office of constable at Lorain. His upright character and genial personality have gained to him in Lorain County a circle of friends that is limited only by that of his acquaintances, and he is a citizen who is well entitled to recognition in this publication, He is affiliated with the local organizations of the Knights of the Maccabees and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. In his native land, on the 8th of October, 1874, was solemnized the marriage of Mr, Horsley to Miss Mary Collins Griffin, and thus his family accompanied him on his immigration to the United States, somewhat more than a decade later. Mr, and Mrs, Horsley have four children : Edith is the wife of Lucerne Hinckley and they reside in the City of Cleveland, They have two children, James L, and Beatrice, George Henry is identified with business activities in the City of Lorain. He married Mrs. Cornelia Steiner, and they have one child, Eleanor, Laura is the wife of Samuel Vokes, of Cleveland, She has one child by a former marriage, named Edward. Miss Beatrice remains at the parental home. HON. GEORGE H, CHAMBERLAIN. As a lawyer of undoubted ability and a public leader whose influence has helped toward the success of the republican party in a number of campaigns and has himself enjoyed the distinctions of legislative office, George Henry Chamberlain has been an active member of the Elyria bar for more than twenty-five years. He is a native of Lorain County and has earned his advancement by definite purpose, high aims, and the possession of exceptional talent. The Chamberlain family has been identified with Lorain County since 1848, when his grandfather, John Chamberlain, settled in Grafton Township. John Chamberlain was born in New York State and married Amy Perkins, whose grandfather, John Perkins, was a soldier of the American Revolution, John Chamberlain died in Grafton Township in 1850 at the age of fifty-four and his wife passed away at seventy-five in 1873. During the middle period of the last century Lorain County numbered among its industrial and capable farmers and business men George B, Chamberlain, the father of Senator Chamberlain. George B, Chamberlain was born at Brookfield, Cortland County, New York, in 1834, was brought to Lorain County when a boy of fourteen, was trained to farming and made that his vocation during most of his life, In 1880 he retired and for a short time was engaged in the hardware business at LaGrange. He died in 1884. George B. Chamberlain married Elizabeth Cragin, who now lives with her son George H. and was seventy-seven years of age December 27, 1914. She was born in LaGrange Township, Lorain County, a daughter of Benjamin and Mahala. (Boynton) Cragin, who were among the early settlers of Lorain County. Her father was born in Weston, Windsor County, Vermont, was married in that state, and his children were named Lorena, Benjamin, Charles C., Adna A., Esther, Horace, Harrison and Elizabeth, the last being the only one born in Ohio, In September, 1835, the Cragin family left Vermont, drove a wagon as far as Buffalo, and thence came up the lake to Cleveland and across country to Lorain County, Settling in Grafton Township, Benjamin Cragin paid $4.00 an acre for a tract of woodland consisting of 105 acres. He built himself a log cabin, cleared up, planted and cultivated a large part of his farm, and lived there until his death on July 638 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY 31, 1865. His wife had passed away about ten years before. They were members of the Methodist Church, and Mr. Cragin was prominent in the local church during the early days, serving it as trustee, class leader and steward. The four children of George B. Chamberlain and wife were : William P., who is now a rural. mail carrier from Grafton; George H, ; Charles C., who died at the age of twelve ; and Emma Jane, who died in infancy, On the old homestead in Grafton Township George Henry Chamberlain was born June 21, 1862. Some of his happiest memories concern themselves with his boyhood in the country, and \Ir, Chamberlain then imbibed a love of farming and country life which has never left him and which recently led him to move from his city home to his attractive farm of 142 acres just outside the city limits of Elyria in Ridgeville Township. One of his farm boundaries joins the city limits, The first seventeen years of his life were spent in Grafton Township, and along with other experiences he received instruction in the district schools and also attended Oberlin College. Among the records of his earlier experience are found several terms spent as a school teacher. Soon after reaching his majority he began the study of law in the office of E. O. Johnson, one of the ablest members of the Lorain County bar for many years, kept up this course Of study for three years, and was admitted to the bar by examination on June 9, 1887. He tried his first cases and earned his first fees in Elyria, where he practiced two years, and then moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to become general agent for the Home Life Insurance Company, Though a resident of Milwaukee six years, he was in the insurance business only two years, and the rest of the time was spent as one of the interested principals in a manufacturing concern. Returning to Elyria in the spring of 1895, Mr, Chamberlain has since conducted a large general practice as a lawyer, and the character of the patronage entrusted to his care, his frequent appearance in eases of importance, sufficiently testify to his high standing as a local lawyer. On April 1, 1913, Mr. Chamberlain removed from Elyria to his farm just outside the city, and has since been taking life somewhat easily. though visiting his city office daily, He has a fine farm, a splendid orchard which he keeps in condition by spraying and is able to pursue his farming 'as a recreation as well as profit, His first important participation in politics came in 1896, when he stumped .Lorain County for the election of William McKinley, and was also a speaker in various other parts of the state. He has since participated in every campaign in that section of Ohio. In 1900 he presented the name of E, G. Johnson to the congressional convention, and in 1901 his own name was placed on the republican ticket for the State Senate. He was elected and served in the Seventy-fifth and Seventy-sixth assemblies, In the latter session he was chosen president pro tem by acclamation, and had the united support of botb parties. In the Seventy-fifth Assembly he was chairman of the Committee on Federal Rclations, and a. member of the committees on Labor, Taxation, ,Benevolent Institutions, Judiciary, Insurance, Universities and Colleges, and Municipal Corporations. In the Seventy-sixth session he was a member of the committees on Public Works, Judiciary, Common Schools, County Affairs, 'Taxation, and Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Homes. A. unique feature of his record while in the Senate was that every bill introduced or actively supported by him was passcd, Since his service in the Senate \Ir. Chamberlain has been looked upon as one of the ablest and most influential public men in Lorain County and this was well demonstrated in the congressional convention of 1906, when he retained throughout the long deadlock the united support of Lorain County as nominee HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 639 from the Fourteenth District and came within four votes of the necessary number for nomination. He finally .withdrew, and gave his support to the nominee who was subsequently elected, In May, 1910, he was nominated by the republicans for Congress, but in that year the tide of political favors was flowing in another direction, and his party was defeated, Of his service in his own precincts there should be noted his membership on the Board of Education of Elyria for twelve years up to January 1, 1912. He was president of the board five years until 1910, He has also served as president of the Board of Elections, and is one of the live members of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, In the Methodist Episcopal Church he is a member and trustee, and for twelve years served as superintendent of the Sunday school. While he may well be satisfied with his individual accomplishments, Mr, Chamberlain takes his greatest pride in his fine family. In June, 1883, he married Miss Etta K. Mynderse, who was born in LaGrange, Ohio, daughter of Andrew C. and Louise (Hart) Mynderse, both now deceased. To their union were born nine children : Charles B., the oldest, is now assistant manager of the service station at Detroit, Michigan, for the Wheeler & Schebler Carburetor Company ; Geneva E., the oldest daughter, was graduated from the Elyria High School, pursued her higher education at Rochester, New York, and for the past eight years has been instructor of domestic science in the Elyria public schools ; the daughter Vera. died at the age of fourteen ; George H., Jr,, who after graduating from the high school was employed for a time by the National Tube Company at Lorain, is now the man in charge of the Safety Sanitation and Welfare Department Exhibit at the Panama Exhibition in San Francisco (1915) of the United States Steel Corporation ; Gertrude A,, now living home, at the time of her graduation from high school in 1909 was accorded the honor of having made the highest general average throughout her course in the records of the school. The daughter Ruth since graduating from high school has spent one year of training at the Elyria Memorial Hospital and is now continuing her work of preparation for trained nurse. at St, Luke's Hospital in Cleveland, The sons William and Robert are now in their last year in the local high school, while the youngest, John, is attending the grammar schools, GEORGE B, KELLY. One of the most active business men of Oberlin is George B. Kelly, who starting his career in early youth and without money or influence has gradually accumulated about him much that represents solid accomplishment and also much of the esteem paid an honorable and hard-working citizen. A native of Lorain County, he was born May 2, 1864, a son of Nathan and Jane (Davis) Kelly. His father was born in Rutland, Vermont, in 1830, and died in September, 1914, while the mother was born in Michigan in 1835, and died several years ago. The parents were married in Lorain County, and the father followed farming all his active career, He was a democrat and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, The maternal grandfather, Joseph Davis, was a native of Michigan and spent his life there as a farmer. George B, Kelly is the second in a family of four living children, out of six born to his parents, His brother, James, is a farmer at Oberlin. His sister, Louisa, married Seth Bailey, of South Amherst, while Belle is the wife of Clarence Kellmer, a machinist at Amherst, George B. Kelly as a boy attended the common schools at Amherst, and was still in his teens when he took his first regular occupation as driver of a. milk wagon. For fourteen years he earned a living and gained 640 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY business experience by that line of work at Amherst. He also spent five years as a worker in a quarry. The foundation of his present prosperity was largely laid as a farmer in Russia Township, and Mr, Kelly now owns two farms in Lorain County. In 1901 he moved to Oberlin and has since been engaged in the livery business, under the firm of Kelly & Jones, his partner being H, H. Jones, as the largest establishment of its kind in the town. Mr. Kelly in association with G. H. Bailey also conducts a delivery business, and has the contract for delivering goods for all the merchants. In 1890 he married Elizabeth Bailey, who was born in England and came to America with her parents when five years of age, Her father, John Bailey, located in Lorain County forty-five years ago. To their marriage have been born two children : Blanche, now in high school; and Lois, also a student of the public schools. Mr. Kelly and family attend the First Congregational Church and in politics he is a republican, F. E. BRADLEY. Of the third generation of the Bradley family in Lorain County, F. E. Bradley represents a name that has been closely identified with this county since pioneer times, The work by which he has commended himself to the esteem of the community has been chiefly as a farmer, though he has also performed with credit a share of public duty, He owns a fine farm in Wellington Township, and his prosperity has been well earned, He was born in Wellington Township of Lorain County, February 28, 1865, a son of William and Hannah A. (Pritchard) Bradley, His paternal grandfather, William Bradley, came to Wellington Township as a pioneer, and he and his family for a time occupied an old log house, He spent most of his time on the farm, but died in the Village of Wellington, His maternal grandfather was Joseph Pritchard, who made settlement in Medina County, where he spent his years. William Bradley, who was born in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, in 1819, and died September 21, 1892, had an early experience as a "bound boy" in Massachusetts. He came to Lorain County in 1836, when a vigorous youth of seventeen, went into the woods, and in the course of a few years had cleared up 100 acres of land for his father. Later he bought that farm, and made it the scene of his prosperous activities. He was very active in the Methodist Church and a devout Christian, and exercised a wholesome influence in the community, At the time of his death he left an estate of 150 acres. His wife was born in Connecticut in 1823 and died in 1899, They were married in Lorain County. Of their nine children the six now living are : Albert Oscar, who is a grape grower in California ; Burton P., who has an orange grove at Arlington Place, California ; Sarah, wife of W. F. Starr, of Penfield Township ; Joseph Henry, who lives in California ; Mary A., in California ; and F. E. Mr. Bradley grew up on the home farm in Wellington Township, attended the district schools, and has never sought any better or more attractive occupation than that of farming, In his earlier years he worked very hard to get a start, and in 1908 was able to buy out the interests of the other heirs in the old homestead, Besides the general crops, he raises some thoroughbred cattle and hogs, and does some dairying, On December 24, 1891, Mr. Bradley married Kate Baehtell, who was horn in Brooke County, Virginia, and moved from there to Medina County, where she met her future husband, They have four children : Merle, now twenty-one years of age and at home ; Katherine, Neal and Scott, all still at home, The family are all members of the Methodist Church at Wellington, and Mr, Bradley is a republican, In the way of HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 641 public service he was for seven years a trustee of Wellington Township, and proved as able and conscientious in the performance of public duties as he has in the management of his private affairs. JUDGE AMOS R. WEBBER, It was forty years ago that Judge Webber began the practice of law at Elyria, On the public life of his home city and county he has since made in indelible impression, Probably no citizen of the county is more respected, and enjoys more completely the confidence of the people. Judge Webber is a man of unimpeachable character, has high attainments as a lawyer, and in the management of his private practice as also in the administration of different offices, from common pleas judge to congressman, has brought the highest qualifications and has shown a ready grasp of every problem presented for his solution. Since retiring from his seat in Congress ten years ago Judge Webber has been quietly engaged in his large law practice and has offices in the Elyria Block. Amos Richard Webber was born January 21, 1852, in Hinckley, Medina County, Ohio, His great-grandfather, Joseph Webber, was an Englishman who on coming to the United States located in New England. In the next generation is Rev. Richard Webber, who became a pioneer minister in Medina County, Ohio. He has been described as a preacher of much eloquence and force, and a man who was through-. out his career devoted to the arduous vocation which he chose early in life. He was frequently sought as an adviser not only in spiritual matters but in the common relationships and duties of temporal existence. George E. Webber, father of Judge Webber, was born in Massachusetts and was fourteen years of age when the family moved to Ohio. He became a man of substantial character and a factor in business affairs in Medina, As a young man he returned to his native state and learned the trade of moulder, and then returning to Ohio established a foundry. at Hinckley in Medina County. After giving this business all the energies he possessed for twenty years, impaired health led him to take up work as a farmer, at which he spent several seasons, With renewed vigor and health he then established a foundry for the manufacture of hollow ironware at Medina, and developed the industry to one of important proportions and made it one of the chief factories at Medina. George E. Webber married Jane Woodruff. During her young womanhood she had taught school at Hinckley. Her father, Amos Woodruff, was a Hinckley shoemaker, and was distinguished in that community as the first avowed abolitionist and took Wm. Lloyd Garrison's Liberator for a great many years. His home became a station of the underground railway, and he lived to see the peculiar institution abolished to which he was so strongly opposed. Judge Webber grew up in Medina County, was educated in the public schools, and is a graduate of old Baldwin University at Berea near Cleveland, He studied law largely by himself and under the preceptorship of local lawyers, and on being admitted to the Ohio bar in 1876 opened his office in the same year at Elyria. While it would not be practicable to review in detail his work as an attorney, it is only an expression of a general judgment among his associates that he has during the past forty years been rated as one of the best advocates and counselors in the Lorain County Bar, His career has also been punctuated by important public service. His first noteworthy promotion in public affairs was his election in 1887 as prosecuting attorney for. Lorain County, He was re-elected and continued in the office until 1894. After an interval came his election to the Court of Common Pleas and he presided over this branch of the Ohio bench with admirable dignity and 642 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY efficiency for nearly three years. He resigned from the bench to accept the republican nomination for Congress to fill the unexpired term caused by the death of the representative from the Fourteenth District. He was then elected a member of the Fifty-eighth Congress in 1904, and his service in that body ran from 1903 to 1906. He was defeated for renomination because of his activities against the liquor interests, a power which he has consistently fought all his life, Another factor in his failure to secure the nomination was due to his having repudiated the then governor of Ohio, Myron T. Herrick, because of that gentleman's attitude on the liquor question, Judge Webber has been au active and determined opponent of the liquor traffic for the past thirty years, He carried his convictions and his activity into Congress, where he introduced a bill for the abolition of saloons in the District of Columbia, He aroused much interest in the campaign at Washington, and on the day his bill was brought before the committee a procession of several thousand people marched through the streets to the capitol as a demonstration of popular support to the measure. In spite of Judge Webber's strenuous efforts in behalf of the bill, it was never reported from the committee, but the sentiment thus aroused caused similar bills to be introduced in every Congress since, which have been supported by a large number of congressmen. He was one of the prime movers in the organization of the Anti-Saloon League, and was for a number of years a member of the judiciary committee of that organization, and spoke over the State of Ohio in the interests of the work, Mr. Webber has lectured for a number of years before churches, Young Men's Christian associations, and other public organizations, in the interest of the young men of this country. Judge Webber was married May 17, 1875, to Miss Ida E. Finch. Mrs, Webber died in Washington while Judge Webber was a member of Congress. Their two sons were: Gilbert W. and Lawrence N, Judge Webber's first wife was Miss Nettie Finch of Anna, Illinois, LAWRENCE HARRISON WEBBER. A son of A. R, Webber, whose career as a Lorain County lawyer has been previously sketched, is Lawrence Harrison Webber, who has already earned his first distinctions in the law and in public affairs. In the city primaries in August, 1915, Mr. Webber aftracted much notice by his gallant fight for the republican nomination to the office of city solicitor, and in spite of his youth his recognized ability and fitness for the nomination and his vigorous and persistent campaigning methods brought him success over four rivals. He received more than a fourth of the entire vote cast, and led his nearest opponent by more than sixty. Born at Elyria March 25, 1891, Lawrence Harrison Webber is a. graduate of the Elyria High School with the class of 1910, and the following two years were spent as a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, He is a graduate of the Cleveland Law School with the class of June, 1914, and completed the regular three years' course in the two years from 1912 to 1914, He was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio December 18, 1913, and is now junior member of the law firm of Webber & Webber in the Elyria Block at Elyria, being associated with his father, A, R. Webber. In politics Mr, Webber is a republican, and was elected city solicitor on November 2, 1915, Outside of his profession Mr, Webber is a young man of general personality and has identified himself with the best interests of his home city. He is an active member of the Young Men's Christian Association, is a. member of the Church of Christ, and belongs to the National HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 643 College Fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, in which he was initiated November 5, 1910, at Ohio Wesleyan University, June 18, 1913, at Elyria he married Jean E, Bath, Her father, John W, Bath, was for eight years postmaster at Elyria. They are the parents of one daughter, Shirley Webber, who was born May 25, 1915. WILLIAM A. BRAMAN. Few men exercised a stronger and wider influence in the affairs of Lorain County than the late William A, Braman, who was in his sixty-ninth year when he died at Elyria April 12, 1905. In early life hard work and self-reliance were his portion, but in later years he was a vigorous force in the republican party of Lorain County, was both broad minded and practical in promoting everything good in his home city, and was highly successful in business, being president of the Elyria Savings and Banking Company at the time of his death. He was born in Carlisle. Township of Lorain County October 24, 1836, His Scotch ancestors came to America about 1700, locating in Boston, and several of them were revolutionary soldiers and the family was also represented in the War of 1812. One characteristic which has persisted through a number of generations is splendid physical development. Mr, Braman himself stood six feet three inches in height, and it is said that his grandfather and two brothers and two sisters were each six feet or more in height. Grandfather Braman was one of the pioneer settlers in Lorain County, coming from Genesee County, New York, to Avon Township in 1822, William A. Braman was the son of Anson and Emeline (Vincent) Braman, His father was born in Genesee County, New York, May 30, 1811, grew up partly in Avon Township, and for many years was a farmer and nurseryman in Carlisle Township. He was in the nursery business at Elyria from 1855 to 1872, and then removed to Michigan, Emeline Vincent was born in Massachusetts October 8, 1818, and had come with her parents in 1834 to Carlisle Township, where she was married the following year. From his very boyhood the late William A. Braman had the independence to pursue a self-sustaining course, and on reaching manhood he was equal to the solution of any problems involved in his business and personal affairs, Apparently everything he undertook proved successful, He attended the district schools of his home neighborhood, and on reaching manhood, being thrown upon his own resources, he worked out on farms and also taught country school in order to pursue advanced studies in higher institutions. In 1864 he began dealing in live stock, and in 1870, associated with Mr, Boynton, he took up the cheese business. In the spring of 1874 he was one of the organizers of the firm of Braman, Horr & Warner, manufacturers and general dealers in butter and cheese, This business became one of the most extensive of its kind in Northern Ohio, During the last twenty-five or thirty years of his life his interests were not confined to any one line. In 1890 a stock company was organized by leading republicans in Elyria and Lorain County to purchase the Elyria Republican, which it was determined should become a temperance republican paper, true to the best interests of the party and in favor of temperance and moral interests, The directors of this company insisted upon Mr. Braman taking the position of editor, though he was without practical experience in that profession, He took the position at first only temporarily, but was unable to relinquish it for eight years, and made of it a journal notable for its high ground and standards as a republican paper and an exponent of temperance and every other reform, He was not only an able editor but made the Republican self-supporting financially, In his later years Mr, Braman was best known as a banker. For 644 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY twenty years or more he was a director in The Savings Deposit Bank Company, for several years was vice president, and also president of The First National Bank of Lorain, and was a director of The Penfield Avenue Savings Bank at Lorain from its organization in 1895. Subsequently his banking interests were concentrated in the Elyria Savings & Banking Company, of which he was president. The ideals of useful citizenship were seldom better exemplified than in the career of William A. Braman, Always with credit he filled various positions of responsibility and honor. Personally he was dignified in his demeanor, possessed an impressive personality, and in everything was thoroughly American and patriotic. It was truthfully said of him that he was a better American than he was a partisan, In politics his father had been an old line democrat, but in spite of that affiliation Mr, Braman had gone with the new republican party in 1856 and voted for John C. Fremont, William A, Braman came to manhood about the time the republican party was organized and about the time the great national crisis was evolved between the North and the South, Like many others he was influenced in his attitude toward public questions at that time by an early reading of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and he was an ardent boy partisan of Fremont in 1856. In 1860 he cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and thereafter for more than forty years was a champion of the best in the grand old party. While living in his home Township of Carlisle he filled most of the township offices, trustee, clerk, treasurer, and at the age of thirty-one was appointed county commissioner for one year. In 1877 he was elected county treasurer by a majority of 2,800, the largest given to anyone on the ticket, He filled that place with fidelity and efficiency for two terms of two years each, receiving his nomination without opposition, In 1887 he was nominated and elected to the State Legislature, in which he served two terms, He was a member of the Finance Committee in both sessions of the Legislature, and among other things established the provision that each state institution should be regularly visited and inspected by a legislative committee. While in the Legislature he also showed himself an effective force in behalf of temperance reform. It was largely due to his efforts that the township local option law was passed and also the Sunday law, prohibiting sale of liquor on Sunday, Mr. Braman was one of the strongest supporters of Major McKinley in his first nomination for governor of Ohio, and did some effective work in consolidating the party on that candidate, For many years Mr. Braman was president of the Lorain County Humane Society, and though an intensely practical and busy man, the influences of humanitarianism were always guiding factors with him, For many years he was a member of the city council at Elyria, amid was a trustee of the local schools for nineteen years. He was president seven years of the Lorain County Agricultural Society and for three years was president of the Farmers Institute, With all these activities and interests he was essentially domestic in his tastes and found his highest happiness in his home and among his family. April 27, 1865, he married Miss Sophia E. Patterson, daughter of Hiram Patterson. Mrs, Braman is still living at Elyria. To their marriage were horn three children, Theodore W,, who was born in 1867, and is now deceased ; Charles M., born in 1869 ; and Belle Louise. CHARLES M. BRAMAN. Since he was twenty-two years of age Charles M. Braman has been giving his best ability and energy to banking and his present position represents a steady promotion on the basis of merit and by reason of the prompt and efficient handling of all the responsibilities entrusted to his care, HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 645 Born at Carlisle in Lorain County March 5, 1869, Charles Martin Braman is a son of William A. and Sophia E, Braman, The Braman family is of Scotch-Irish descent, As will be found more fully stated on other pages the late William A. Braman was for many years prominent in county affairs, served as a member of the General Assembly four years, as county treasurer two terms, for many years was editor of the Elyria Republican, and was one of the organizers and until the date of his death in 1905 was president of the Elyria Savings and Banking company. Having finished his education in the Elyria public schools in 1888, Charles M, Braman at the age of twenty became clerk in the Savings Deposit Bank of Elyria. In 1892, after three years, he left to become cashier of the Savings Deposit Bank of Medina, Ohio. He was there two years and four months, However, he gained his reputation as a banker by his nineteen years of service as cashier of the Central Banking Company of Lorain, from which he resigned to take the position of vice president of the Savings Deposit Bank Company of Elyria in January, 1914; was elected to the presidency January 30, 1916, He is now vice president of the Central Banking Company of Lorain, is a director of the Wood Lumber Company of Lorain, and treasurer of the Eastern Heights Land Company of Elyria, In banking circles he enjoys an enviable position, and is the chief executive officer of one of the largest institutions of Northern Ohio, The Savings Deposit Bank and Trust Company having total resources of more than $2,000,000, representing not only large capital but the experience and business ability of a number of well known financiers, In the spring of 1915, at the solicitation of his many republican friends, Mr. Braman consented to become a candidate for the republican nomination for city auditor of Elyria. Though he had five rivals for the nomination, in the August primaries he received more than a third of the total vote east, and at the election, held November 2, 1915, was elected to fill that office. For more than thirteen years he served as deputy city treasurer of Lorain, Ohio, and on January 1, 1915, was appointed a member of the Elyria Board of Health and for two years had also been a member of the.Elyria School Board, He is a director of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, is a member and director of the Country Club, is president of the Men's Club of the Congregational Church, president of the Social Settlement Association, and a trustee of the local Young Men's Christian Association, Mr. Braman is an attendant of the First Congregational Church, and is affiliated with King Solomon Lodge and also with the Royal Arch Chapter of Masonry and with the Elks. On June 20, 1895, at Elyria, Mr. Braman married Miss Anna B. Folger, daughter of the late Thomas Folger, to whom reference is made on other pages. The Folgers are an English family, and the first of the name emigrated to this country during the eighteenth century and founded the City of Nantucket, The late Thomas Folger was a nephew cf Charles J, Folger, former secretary of the United States Treasury under President Garfield, Thomas Folger rose to the rank of adjutant in the Civil war with the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was a commission merchant. in Cleveland several years, and served as mayor of Elyria two years. Mr, and Mrs, Braman have two children : Theodore F. and Josephine L. Mr, Braman finds his chief recreation in golf, He is a clean-cut business man, popular in social circles, and stands for all that is progressive and substantial in his home community. 646 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY THOMAS FOLGER. What the late Thomas Folger represented as an individual asset to the community of Lorain County is concisely described in an editorial from an Elyria paper published shortly after his death, which occurred at his summer home on Avon Point October 13, 1909, The opinions there expressed are vouched for by all the practical facts of his honored lifetime. The editorial was as follows: "The sudden death of Thomas Folger came as a sad blow to his many friends in the city. Mr. Folger's personality had won for him during his long residence in Elyria a place in the respect of all his fellow citizens. His quiet, unassuming way spoke of a big nature, and those who knew him intimately were attracted strongly by his frankness and honesty as well as by a cordiality that never failed. He was quick to make up his mind, and his decisions were announced positively, One always counted on a square deal with Thomas Folger and was never disappointed. He attended to his business affairs in a quiet manner, accomplished successful results and won friends, which is much to say for a man in these days. His successful election as mayor a few years ago, against a strong party opposition, showed the confidence of the community and he made a most able official, He was impartial in his court work, rich and poor receiving impartial justice, while his rulings were ever tempered with good sense, He has always been a democrat in politics, and in his death the party loses one of its most loyal supporters. The city loses a good and patriotic citizen. His early years were cheerfully given to the service of his country and he also cheerfully undertook those civic duties entrusted to him, He was just preparing for an arduous campaign for re-election to the mayoralty when death cut him down, and he was entering into it with a zeal born entirely of a desire to help toward a needed reform in the various branches of the city government, He was glad to assume the burdens which would follow if his fellow citizens desired it. A good man indeed has gone from us," Born in Wadsworth, Medina County, Ohio, February 14, 1842, Thomas Folger was a son of Henry G, and Eliza A. (Ingersoll) Folger. The Folger family was established in America in colonial times, and one of the name was among the seven original proprietors of the Island of Nantucket. At Nantucket Thomas Folger's grandfather, also named Thomas, lived for many years, being identified with the old-time whaling industry, which had one of its important centers at Nantucket. He owned several whaling vessels, and when the English government provided a subsidy for the whaling industry, Thomas Folger moved his residence to London, England, and lived there until the abolition of the whale-oil bounty, and then returned to Nantucket. While living in London he was married, and in that city Henry G, Folger was born. Another of his sons was the late Charles J, Folger, who was United States sub-treasurer under President Grant, was secretary of the treasury under Presidents Garfield and Arthur, was otherwise a high Government official, and was judge of the Court of Appeals of New York, Henry C. Folger was the founder of the family in the Western Reserve of Ohio, for many years lived in Medina County, where he was a farmer and died at Elyria, November 26, 1885, having spent years of his life at Avon Point, His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza A, Ingersoll, a native of Auburn, New York, died March 7, 1904, at the home of her son Thomas. Educated in the common schools of Medina County and in the Western Reserve College at Hudson, the late Thomas Folger was nineteen when the war broke out and in August, 1861, enlisted as a private in Company H of the Twenty-ninth Ohio Volunteer" Infantry, He was HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 647 mustered out of that regiment and received his honorable discharge in July, 1.865, after nearly four years of active service. While his regiment was in the army of the Potomac he fought at Gettysburg, Chancellorsville and Peters Mountain, beside many minor engagements, and when the regiment was transferred to the army under Sherman he took part in the Atlanta campaign, and accompanied Sherman on the march to the sea and up through the Carolinas, finally participating in the Grand Review at Washington, in 1865, He was promoted out of the ranks to lieutenant and adjutant, and later received the brevet rank of captain. With the close of the war he took up his residence at Cleveland, was in the produce and commission business for about nine years, and up to 1878 gave his attention to the wholesale commission trade, Lorain County's prominence as a grape growing center is largely due to the leadership of the late Thomas Folger, It was in 1878 that he identified himself with viticulture both for pleasure and profit, and on his farm of 150 acres at Avon Point along the shores of Lake Erie he cultivated the grape for many years and perhaps as extensively as any other vineyardist in Lorain County. The industry is still continued by his family and no grapes of better quality are shipped out of Ohio than those from the Folger vineyard. For the last twenty years of his life Mr. Folger lived at Elyria, though for months at a time his residence there was only nominal, since he found his chief pursuit and pleasure in the supervision of his beautiful country estate, He performed a useful service in bringing the grape growers together in the organization of the Lorain County Grape Growers Shipping Association, and for fourteen years was manager of the association and had charge of the selling and shipping of the crops of the 150 growers who were its members, • Always a democrat in politics, while not ambitious for official preferment, his civic loyalty was such that he did not deny himself or his services to the public, He served several years as a member of the city council of Elyria, and was the nominee of the party for the office of mayor in 1903, His election was not only a triumph for the cause of good government locally, but was particularly interesting from the fact that he was the first democratic mayor of Elyria in more than half a century, and his administration was distinctly creditable to the party. The late Thomas Folger had been identified with the Royal Arch body of Masons for more than forty years, and was also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and with the Grand Army of the Republic. On -May 6, 1867, he married Miss Della M. Beswick, who was born and reared at Medina, daughter of Asahel and Emma A, (Richards) Beswick, Mrs, Folger is still living at Elyria, She was the mother of four daughters: Anna. 13,, wife of Charles M, Braman, president of the Savings Deposit Bank and Trust Company of Elyria; Josephine D,, wife of Dr. Charles H, Cushing of Elyria, further mentioned on other pages; Ida A., who died at the age of eight years; and Jean P,, wife of Arthur D, Pettibone of Cleveland. HENRY F. SMITH. For a man who started in life absolutely dependent upon his own resources, even to the extent of paying his way through school, Henry F, Smith, who is now vice president of the Peoples Banking Company of Oberlin, has made a success that is stimulating and encouraging to younger men. He was born in Elyria, Ohio, November 30, 1867, a son of Charles W. and Anna Mary (Loux) Smith, Both parents were natives of Wuertemberg, Germany. His father was born in 1842 and is still living, having been brought to the United States when twelve years old, The mother 648 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY was born in 1845, came to this country with her parents at the age of three, and died in 1896. They were married in Cleveland. Charles W. Smith was a jeweler by trade, and followed the business all his active career, He established himself at Elyria in 1862, and was in active business there until he retired about fifteen years ago. At one time he served as chief of the fire department in Elyria. He is a democrat in politics, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of St. Paul's Evangelical Church, His wife was a Catholic. Of their six children, four are living : William C,, a shoe merchant at Elyria ; Henry F. ; Julia Mary, wife of M. J, McGuire, manager of the Standard Foundry Company at Cleveland ; and Frank W., who was formerly a jeweler but now lives retired at Elyria, Henry F. Smith attended the public schools at Elyria for a time, and out of his own earnings he paid for a course in pharmacy in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he finished in 1891. From his earnings as a pharmacy clerk he set himself up in business as a druggist at Oberlin in 1893, He prospered and continued active in that line of business until 1906, when he sold out, Since then he has been the chief executive officer of the Peoples Banking Company, of which he is vice president, and he also owns stock in the State Bank of Oberlin, He has also invested in real estate, both in Oberlin and in Lorain City. In 1894 Mr. Smith married Dorothy Schubert, who was born near. Oberlin, a daughter of William Schubert, one of the early settlers of Lorain County. They have one daughter, Catherine Dorothy, now in school. Mr, and Mrs, Smith are members of the First Congregational Church, and he has always taken much interest in Masonry, being junior warden of the Blue lodge, and a member of the Royal Arch Chapter and the Knights Templar Commandery, For a number of years he has been an enthusiastic republican and has given his influence without reserve to the benefit of his home community. He is still a member of the city council and has been connected with that body for the past six years. At one time he was a member of the water board and for a number of years was precinct committeeman. LAFAYETTE BRUSH. On the 30th of August, 1905, was summoned to the life eternal the soul of a man whose sterling integrity and most exemplary christian character have left an indelible impress upon the hearts of his fellow men, At the time when he was called from the scene of his mortal endeavors he was in his sixty-eighth year and it may he said concerning him that "his strength was as the number of his days." The prestige which he gained as a fair and honorable man was the result of his own well-directed endeavors and his success was on a parity with his ability and well applied energy. Mr. Brush was a farmer during the greater portion of his active career but during the latter years of his life he resided in Elyria. He was born at Butternut Ridge, Lorain County, Ohio, January 11, 1837, and he died August 30, 1905. He is buried in the Butternut Ridge Cemetery, near the old parental home, He was a son of Benjamin S, and Sarah (Miller) Brush, both natives of Connecticut, where they were married and whence they immigrated to Ohio in 1832. The parents located in Eaton Township, Lorain County, and there cleared and tilled a fine farm which is still owned by the family. There were twelve children born to Mr, and Mrs. Brush and all grew to maturity except one who died at the age of fifteen years, Lafayette Brush was the youngest in the family, of whom Mrs. Hitchcock, widow of ex-Sheriff Hitchcock, is the only survivor, in 1915; she lives at Jackson, Michigan, and is in her eighty-fourth year. HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 649 Lafayette Brush was reared to maturity on his father's farm and he was educated in the neighboring district schools, He early began to assist his father in the work and management of the farm and after the latter's demise he bought out the other heirs and became sole owner of the parental estate, His mother lived with him until her death at the ripe old age of eighty-two years. The above farm consists of forty-seven acres and it has long been known as one of the finest little farms in this section of the state. Mr, Brush, whose workaday motto was "What's worth doing at all is worth doing well," took splendid care of his little estate and it was one of the model farms in this vicinity. Since his death Mrs. Brush sold the place to a nephew, Charles B. Brush, and he is, the same kind of a fine, intelligent farmer that his uncle used to be. Mrs. Brush visits the old place occasionally and is much delighted with the splendid care her old homestead receives. In the early days Mr, Brush's father erected a log house on this land and subsequently he had built one of those old fashioned, heavy frame houses and the same is still standing. It has been modernized throughout and makes a fine, comfortable home for its present occupants. In 1892 Lafayette Brush gave up farming and came to Elyria, locating in the beautiful home at 234 Eighth Street, now owned and occupied by his widow. He was considered a man of excellent judgment and used to be called upon by his neighbors to appraise property, His word was as good as his bond and he commanded the love and esteem of his many loyal friends and acquaintances, He was a republican in politics and in religious faith was a devout member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, May 27, 1860, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Brush to Miss Marie Beulah Hulin, a daughter of Edward and Olive (Palmer) Hulin. Mrs, Brush was born near Bucyrus, Ohio, and she lost her mother when she was a child of but two years of age, She was reared to maturity in the home of her maternal grandparents at Ridgeville, Ohio. Mrs. Brush is possessed of a sweet, kindly disposition and her life has been exemplary in all respects, She has a fine, generous heart and is always extending a helping hand to neighbors and friends in distress. Mr. Brush was a man of fine mentality and broad human sympathy. He thoroughly enjoyed home life and took great pleasure in the society of his family and friends. He was always courteous, kindly and affable and those who knew him personally accorded him the highest esteem. ALBERT A. PLATO. That he is not lacking in the mature judgment and resourcefulness implied in his classical family name, is shown by the position which Mr. Plato holds in connection with the more important industrial activities of. the City of Lorain, where he is the general manager of the Crystal Ice Company, engaged in the manufacturing of artificial ice on an extensive scale. This company was organized in 1907 and was incorporated with a capital stock of $65,000, which was increased in 1914 to $75,000, The personnel of the company official corps is as here noted : William Seher, president ; John S, Dorn, vice president ; August Kuebeler, secretary ; Edward A, Brown, treasurer ; and Albert A. Plato, general manager. The plant of the company occupies a substantial modern building 130 by 150 feet in dimensions, a portion of the same having a height of three stories and the remainder of two stories, The establishment has a capacity for the output of fifty tons of ice daily, and a storage capacity for 3,000 tons. Employment is given to an average force of thirty men and the enterprise virtually represents one of the most important public utilities of the thriving City of 'Lorain,