(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 400 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY Mr. Andrews' paternal grandfather was killed in New York by a falling tree, this sad event occurring when his son, Nathaniel M., the father of Oliver, was a small boy; so that little is known of the life of Grandfather Andrews. Nathaniel M. Andrews was born in Saratoga, New York, in 1800. He came to Ohio in the fall of 1835 and bought land in Mentor township, this county, where he lived until his death, in June, 1879. At the time he settled here only a little of the land he bought was cleared, but his years of toil made a fine showing, his farm being well improved at the time of his death. He sold a large amount of fire-wood for railroad and steamboat purposes, in this way utilizing the timber as he cleared it from his land. He was a man of some local prominence, holding various township offices, and ever proving himself to be worthy of the trust and confidence reposed in him. In early life he was a Free-will Baptist but subsequently united with the Disciple Church, in which he was a Deacon for many years. His wife, nee Matilda Dunham, was born in Onondaga county, New York, in 1805, and died in this county in 1883. She, too, was a member of the Disciple Church. They had eight children, Oliver being the second born and one of the five who are now living. Oliver Andrews was nine years old when he came, with the rest of the family, to Lake county, and in the district schools of Mentor township he received his education. For six years after he reached his majority he remained on the home farm, he and his brother working with their father in the timber, In the spring of 1854 he located on his present farm and began farming. At first he lived in a log house which had been built for a tenant. He cleared his land, and in the process of clearing, cut and sold several thousand cords of wood for railroad and steamboat use. He and his wife now own 204 acres of land, devoted to general farming purposes, and he has 160 acres in South Dakota. In 1856 Mr. Andrews married Mary A. Overy, who was born in one of the suburbs of London, England, in 1832, daughter of William and Grace (Daws) Overy, both natives of England. The Overy family came to this country in September, 1834, and settled in Mentor. Her father had been a sailor, but after coining here was engaged in farming until the time of his death, which occurred in his seventy-sixth year. The mother died at the age of sixty-nine. Both were members of the Disciple Church, as is also Mrs. Andrews. Two of their children are still living. Mr. and Mrs. Andrews have no children. Mr. Andrews cast his first vote in favor of the Free Soil party. He is now a Republican. ESQUIRE C. R. POST, one of the wealthy farmers of Bainbridge town- ship, Geauga county, Ohio, was born in Chester township, this county, December 15, 1835. Jabez Post, his father, was born in Connecticut, as also was his grandfather, David Post. The family are of English extraction. They trace their ancestry back to the sixteenth century. Jabez Post was married in Connecticut, and in 1835 emigrated to Geauga county, Ohio, making the journey hither by the Erie canal to Buffalo and from there to Ohio by the lake. Upon his arrival here he settled in Chester township, where he owned 260 acres of land, 200 acres of which he cleared. His whole life was characterized by honest industry. When he was a young OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 401 man he worked out fur five years and a half, and during that time never lost a day. He never took a dollar's worth of medicine until after he was seventy years old. He was in his eightieth year at the time of his death. Of his life companion be it recorded that her maiden name was Mary A. McGillis, that she was a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and that she was reared in the family of John Todd, author of " Student's Manual." They had eight children, two of whom died young. She died at the age of seventy-three. For many years she was a member of the Congregational Church. C. R. Post is the oldest of this family. He received his education in the district school and the old Geauga Seminary, spending about three years in the latter institution. At the age of twenty he began teaching, and taught for ten consecutive terms, in Geauga and Scioto counties. After his marriage he spent four years in Chester, where he owned a farm of sixty-five acres. Disposing of that property, he came in 1869 to his present location in Bainbridge township. Here he owns 180 acres, nearly all improved land. He raises grain and stock and for some time has kept a dairy, among which are some fine Holstein cattle. On his farm is a fine sugar orchard, comprising over 800 trees. His fine, large barn, 100 x 33 feet, with stone basement, he built in 1883. He erected his neat and commodious frame residence in 1887. Mr. Post was married November 10, 1864, to Juliet Chamberlin, a native of this township. They have two children, Orlo J. and Cleon C. Mr. Post is a man of excellent business qualifications, and aside from his farming operations has various other interests. During the past ten years he has settled a number of estates in this township. He is a Republican and is identified with the best elements of his party. In the spring of 1888 he was elected the Justice of the Peace, and in 1891 was re-elected to the same position. He served three years here and three years in Chester township as Trustee. Fraternally, he is an Odd Fellow, having his membership at Chagrin Falls, Lodge No. 290. JAMES METCALF, Saybrook, Ashtabula county, Ohio, was born in Cambridgeshire, England, June 29, 1814. He grew to manhood in his native land, a farmer's son, and followed agricultural pursuits there until his emigration to America in 1837. Upon his arrival in New York, he came immediately to Ashtabula county, Ohio, his sister having come to this place a few months previous. He located in Ashtabula and hired out by the month, working in this way for Esquire Griswold nine months, and, by the day, for other parties, until 1840. That year he rented a farm of Jabez Strong, and lived on it four years, at the end of which time he bought a tract of land in Saybrook. This property he improved and made his home upon it until about eight years ago, when he turned it over to his son, since which time he has resided upon a handsomely improved two-acre tract, planted to a variety of fruits. He has known no prosperity save that resulting from hard labor. In all his dealings with his fellow men he has been honorable and upright and has won their confidence and esteem, so that now, as old age creeps on, he finds himself surrounded by a large circle of friends. He was married first in England to Miss Hannah Hines, by whom lie had five children. She died in 1852. Of her children, 402 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY we make record as follows: John, a member of the Eleventh New York Battery, was wounded by a sharpshooter while in the service, dying from the effects of the injury soon afterward, June 20, 1864. While at home on a furlough that year he married a Miss Lucas. Of George, the second born, further mention is made in connection with this sketch. Alice Ann died when young. Harriet is the wife of of Charles Luce, and Mary is now Mrs. Young. June 6, 1854, Mr. Metcalf married, in Chautauqua county, New York, Henrietta L. Freeman, daughter of Jonathan Freeman. She died June 19, 1892, without issue. She was a consistent Christian woman and a member of the Methodist Church. Mr. Metcalf is also a Methodist, and is noted for his charity and Christian acts of kindness. George Metcalf was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, April 15, 1843. His father being a farmer, lie early became inured to farm work. He remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-four years of age, when he married and set out for himself, locating on a farm, which, some years later, he sold to Ezra Metcalf. Fifteen years ago he came to Saybrook township, and for the past eight years has resided at his present home. Mr. Metcalf is known somewhat in local politics, having served his town as Trustee six successive years. In 1865 he married Emily Caldwell, daughter of David Caldwell, her father being a familiar character here in pioneer days, he having served as mail carrier between this point and Buffalo, New York. Mrs. Metcalf died without issue, June 7, 1.875, and October 10, of the following year, Mr. Metcalf married Lillie L. Albin, widow of John G. Albin and a daughter of Rev. L. W. Day, a prominent Methodist divine, now deceased. Her father was born in New York about 1827 and died May 10, 1890; and her mother's maiden name was Ellen Cheney. By her former marriage Mrs. Metcalf is the mother of two children: Leland D., attending school in Cleveland, and Cora Leone, wife of G. M. Winslow. She and Mr. Metcalf also have two children: Fred James, born December 26, 1878, and Harry Edward, born January 25, 1883. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Metcalf has for many years served as a Steward and Trustee. CHARLES H. HOPKINS comes from one of the early pioneer families of Willoughby township, Lake county, Ohio, and has spent nearly the whole of his life on the old homestead known as the " Hopkins' Farm." He was born in Tompkins county, New York, April 24; 1831, and was only three years old when his father, Daniel Hopkins, brought him to this vicinity. Until the death of his parents our subject assisted in carrying on the farm, and since that time has been owner of the same. The paternal great-grandfather of our subject, James Hopkins, who was of Scotch- Irish extraction, emigrated from the northern part of Ireland to America in 1722. His son, David Hopkins, was born in West Greenwich, Rhode Island, and removed with his family to Salem, Washington county, New York, in 1775, where he resided until his death, ten years later. Daniel Hopkins was born in Salem, Washington county, New York, and, as previously stated, removed to Ohio in 1834. He accumulated considerable land and became quite well-to-do. He engaged in agricultural pur- OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 403 suits until 1862, when he was called from this life. During the war of 1812 he was in the service three months. He was a worker in the Presbyterian Church, though his wife was a member of the Baptist denomination. The latter, who was formerly Miss Polly Clark, was born in New York State, December 30, 1801, and died in September, 1872. Our subject is one of four children, three of whom are living. He was the oldest son, and his services were found of quite considerable value to his father in clearing his new farm. He received a Common district school education in the primitive log schoolhouse of the day. On arriving at maturity he commenced making his own living, and adopted the calling of his father. In 1858 he married Miss Margaret L. Waite, of Willoughby, Ohio. Her father, Erastus Waite, removed to this region from New York at an early day and settled south of the site of Willoughby. The place was formerly known as " Waite Hill." Mr. Waite was born March 25, 1793, and was called from this life December 18, 1829. His wife, who was born in 1777, died in 1879. Mrs. Hopkins, before her marriage, taught school quite successfully. She is the mother of four children, namely: Martha G.; Alice M., deceased; Hattie May and Gertrude D. The latter, who was a teacher for several years, is now the wife of H. E. Talbot, of Anderson, Indiana. Martha 0. is a teacher of music in Willoughby and a student from the Euclid Avenue School of Music of Cleveland, Ohio. In politics Mr. Hopkins is a warm supporter of the Republican party. Both he and his wife are members of the Disciple Church, in which he holds the office of Deacon. The fine farm belonging to our subject comprises 238 acres of land. The owner is a practical farmer, and, though to some extent conservative, is ready to accept new methods which are found practicable. In business and social life he is a man who commands respect and merits the confidence of one and all. His principles are correct, and his life is as an open book which all may read. EDWARD F. STOLL, the efficient and popular proprietor of the Stoll House, in Ashtabula, Ohio, was born in Conneaut, this State, May 13, 1851. His father, E. Frederick Stoll, was born on the Rhine in Germany, in 1803, and learned the tanner's trade, which he followed all his life. In 1833 he came to the United States, this mecca of all ambitions spirits, and followed his business for a time in Erie, Pennsylvania, later in Chicago, and finally, in 1843, settled in Amboy, Ohio, where he spent the rest of his days. After coming to the United States he was married to Margaret Simington, a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and of German descent. They had eleven children, of whom but five survive. The father died in Amboy, Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1891, aged eighty-eight, while the devoted wife and mother now resides on the old homestead in that city, at the age of eighty years, universally beloved and respected. The subject of this sketch was reared in Amboy, and obtained his education at Kingsville Academy. When seventeen years of age he began life for himself in Kingsville by learning the tinner's trade, after which he came to Ashtabula, where he was for four years foreman for Messrs. J. B. Crosby & Sons, hardware merchants. November 29, 1873, Mr. Stoll was married to Miss Jennie Warmington, an intelligent and accomplished lady, daughter of Robert 404 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY C. Warmington, at that time proprietor of the Ashtabula House, then the leading hotel in Ashtabula. In March, 1880, Mr. Stoll took charge of the Ashtabula House, which he managed for twenty-six months, when it was closed and converted into a business block. He then, May 1, 1882, opened the Stoll House, which he has since conducted and which is the leading hotel in Ashtabula. His devoted wife died October 12, 1891, which was a great loss to him and many friends. She was a model hostess, and, together with Mr. Stoll's capable management, they made a splendid reputation for the hotel. She was a material aid in his success and was considered one of the most popular landladies in Northeastern Ohio. Socially Mr. Stoll is a Uniform Rank Knight of Pythias, and is a member of the I. O. O. F., holding high positions in both fraternities. As a business man he is honest, industrious and enterprising, while as a citizen he is liberal-minded and progressive, ever alive to the best interests of his city, which he has done so much to advance. C. W. JAQUES, a well-known business man and respected citizen of Ashtabula, Ohio, was born in Mansfield, this State, February 19, 1845. His parents, Charles D. and Mary (Hutchison) Jaques, were born and reared in Massachusetts, where they were married. His father was a civil engineer, who removed about 1832 with his family to Ohio, where he made the survey for the first railroad ever built in the State, that of the proposed Painesville & Fairpoint road, and afterward built the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad in the same State. He was for several years a resident of Mansfield, Ohio, but later removed to Cincinnati, in which latter city he died in 1852, aged fifty- two years. At the time of his death he was Civil Engineer of the Little Miami and Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroads. He and his estimable wife were the parents of six children. The subject of this sketch was but seven years old when his father died, and was reared by his widowed mother in Mansfield, where he gained a fair common-school education. When twelve years of age he became a page in the Ohio Senate at the request of Lieutenant-Governor Ford, and served in that capacity two years. In the meantime, during the summer seasons, he learned telegraphy, and was operator for a time in Mansfield, after which he was night operator in the Superintendent's office of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad at Pittsburg until May, 1861. He then entered the military telegraph service, in which he served four years, being first stationed at Chain Bridge before our troops advanced into Virginia, and later opened a telegraph office at Alexandria, Virginia, which was the first military telegraph office opened in the Confederate States. During the first battle of Bull Run he had an office eight miles south from Alexandria, where he was stationed for some time, after which he was transferred to General George B. McClellan's headquarters, being one of three operators at that post during the entire time General McClellan had command. He was then changed to Cincinnati as chief operator with General Burnside, and while with this general at Knoxville, Tennessee, during the siege, Mr. Jaques was wounded. He was later cipher operator for General Sherman at Nashville, Tennessee, and was with McPherson, Logan and Howard on the Atlanta cam- OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 405 paign. After the war he was employed by the Western Union Telegraph Company at New Orleans, Louisiana, and Montgomery, Alabama, and later in New York city, until 1868, when he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad as telegraph operator at Crestline, Ohio, serving two years in that capacity and three years as ticket agent, after which he became train dispatcher at Ashtabula, the same State, for the present Pittsburg, Youngstown & Ashtabula Railroad, which position he retained nine years. In 1881 he went to Chicago, where he became chief train dispatcher for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company, continuing there three years, at the end of which time, in 1884, he returned to Ashtabula, and has since been engaged in the real-estate and insurance business in that city, under the firm name of Jaques & Williams. In 1871 Mr. Jaques was married to Miss Fannie E. Lane, an intelligent and capable lady, a native of Stamford, Connecticut, and they have one daughter. Mr. Jaques is a stanch Republican in politics, and takes an active interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of his party and country. He is Secretary of the Board of Trade of Ashtabula and of the East Side Street Railway Company, and has been instrumental in the advancement of his city to its present position of prosperity.             J.  CLARK PRITGHARD, a farmer and stock-raiser of Jefferson township, Ashtabula county, was born in Nelson township, Portage county, Ohio, June 5, 1858, a son of John and Eliza (Linzee) Pritchard. The father was born September 10, 1830, in Nelson township, where he grew to man- hood, and where he was married, May 28, 1857. He subsequently turned his attention to the milling business, bought a tract of timber land, erected a steam sawmill, and was engaged in the manufacture of lumber twelve years. In 1865 he purchased the old Michael Webster farm of 160 acres, now occupied by our subject. Mr. Pritchard was the founder of the Township Grange, No. 1,311, and was an active worker in the advancement of all farm interests. He lost his first wife by death April 8, 1880, and November 27, of the same year, he was united in marriage with Mary C. Norton, widow of Horace Norton. In 1885, Mr. Pritchard removed to his old home in Portage county, Ohio, and resumed agricultural pursuits. Mrs. Pritchard died in 1888, after which he lived with our subject one year, and was then married to Helen Maltby, widow of Nelson Maltby. He then located on a farm at Geneva, his present home. Mr. Pritchard has always been a man of decided opinions and of an unblemished reputation. He was elected Captain of the Home Guards of Nelson township in 1863, and held that position until the company disbanded. The mother of our subject was born in Portage county, Ohio, in 1840, and was married at the age of eighteen years. She united with the Methodist Church when young, lived a good, consistent Christian life, and died at about the age of forty-one years. Mr. and Mrs. Pritchard had three children: J. Clark, subject of this sketch; Elma E. (widow of Eugene Betts), who resides with J. Clark; and Henry, a graduate of the J. E. Institute, is now a stenographer in Cleveland. J. Clark Pritchard attended the district schools of his native place, and at the age of nineteen years entered the Eastman National Business College, of Poughkeepsie, New 406 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY York, graduating in the class of 1878. He then returned to his home in Jefferson township, Ashtabula county, where he became Secretary and an active worker in the Grange. He next was employed as Secretary and salesman of the Grange co-operative store two years, and then began agricultural pursuits on his present farm. In 1890 he took up his residence in Kent township, and engaged in the dairy business, but since 1891 has remained at his home farm. Mr. Pritchard keeps a number of horses and a large number of good cows. He ships milk to Pittsburg. In 1882 he erected his large basement barn, 36 x 76 feet, has a stock shed, 26 x 80 feet, and all other necessary farm conveniences. He is also part owner in a steam threshing machine and hay baler. Mr. Pritchard was united in marriage to Miss Emma J. Bennett, a daughter of Edgar Bennett. The latter has been a farmer of Austinburgh township for a number of years, also salesman for the Austinburgh cheese factory, and is President of the Board of the Grand River Institute. Mrs. Pritchard was born in Lockport, New York, in 1860, and was married at the age of twenty-one years. She grew to womanhood at Austinburgh, was a graduate of the Grand River Institute, in the class of 1880, was a lady of literary tastes, and an active worker in the Congregational Church. She died June 2, 1882, at the age of twenty-two years. March 18, 1885, Mr. Pritchard was united in marriage to Miss Lena Warner, a daughter of Jonathan Warner, an early settler of Ashtabula county. He was born in Jefferson in 1812, lived a good, useful life, and died in February, 1888. He was a Republican in his political views, and was a man of decided opinions. His father, Judge Warner, of pioneer fame, was proprietor of the Warner Inn, of Jefferson town ship, Ashtabula county, and his old signboard, bearing the date of 1812, is still in existence. He was an old-time Whig, was one of the early judges of Ashtabula county, and of well-known hospitality. The mother of Mrs. Pritchard was born in Herkimer county, New York, came with her parents to Ohio when young, and grew to womanhood in Cherry Valley township. She was married at the age of twenty-five years, and died in 1885. Mrs. Pritchard, wife of our subject, was born in Jefferson township, this county, in 1858, and received a good education. She was married at the age of twenty- seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Pritchard have two children: Emma C., born July 13,1889; and Herbert W., born July 17, 1892. Our subject affiliates with the Republican party, and has held the office of School Director and Township Supervisor. Socially, he is a member of Ensign Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 400, of Jefferson. WILBUR F. SMITH, a wholesale druggist and grocer of Painesville, Ohio, also Secretary and Treasurer of the Dollar Savings Bank of the same city, was born in Boonville, Indiana, in 1846. He comes of hardy, New England ancestry, who were early and prominent settlers of Ohio. His grandfather, Levi Smith, was born in Connecticut and in early life followed mercantile pursuits, but, in 1814, joined the westward movement of emigration, making his way overland, with his family, by wagon, and driving a flock of sheep. In this patriarchal way he arrived in Lake county, Ohio, and settled on land in the woods near Little Mountain, where he developed a farm which continued to be his home until death, at the OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 407 age of forty-five, and which is now owned by Reuben Harmon. George Smith, his son, and father of the subject of this sketch, was also born in Connecticut, in 1805. When nine years of age, he came with his parents to Ohio, where his earlier years were passed, after which he spent some years in Connecticut. He was a well-read man and taught school some time near the old homestead, later engaging in farming in that vicinity. He was married in Kirtland, Ohio, to Mary Kendall, born in Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1804. Her father, Luke Kendall, was a native of Massachusetts, where he passed his earlier life in farming. In old age lie came to Ohio and lived with his children, dying at an advanced age, In 1838, the father of the subject of this sketch went to Boonville, Indiana, and there bought new land, which he cultivated for ten years and then sold. He went thence to Marine, Illinois, where he bought more new land, which he industriously cultivated until his death at the age of forty- five. The worthy wife and mother still (1893) survives, at the age of eighty-nine years, re- residing with her son, whose name heads this sketch. The subject of this biography was the fifth child and passed his earlier years in Boonville, Indiana, and at Marine, Illinois. After the death of his father, he came, when nine years of age, with his mother to Kirtland, Ohio, where he lived until thirteen years of age, attending the district school of that vicinity. He then entered a store at Unionville, Ohio, where he remained three years, winning the confidence and esteem of his employers by his careful industry and obliging disposition. At this early age, his unusual mental activity was evinced by his discovering and patenting a concentrated writing compound, which he sold throughout the West, reaching Michigan with but one dollar in money, but in the course of two and a half years had accumulated sufficient to return to Ohio and engage in business. He started in the drug and grocery business in 1867, and in 1869 took possession of his present quarters, where he has been ever since, and has successfully conducted a wholesale and retail business. On the organization of the Dollar Savings Bank, he was elected Secretary and Treasurer of that institution. He is also one of the organizers of the Metallic Binding Company, of Painesville, there being but five similar manufacturing plants in the world. In October, 1873, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Frances Miller, an estimable lady, a native of Austinburg, Ohio, and they have two children: Percy K., and May Chester. In politics, Mr. Smith advocates the principles of the Republican party. He is fraternally a member of the Masonic Order, to which he has belonged for twenty years. In religion both he and wife are active members of the Congregational Church. Beginning life with nothing, Mr. Smith has, by industry and shrewd business management, accumulated a comfortable income, and in his handsome home on Mentor avenue, surrounded by an interesting family and a large circle of friends, he may truly be said to have attained the acme of success in life. GEORGE L. SWEET, a well-to-do farmer and respected citizen of Cherry Valley township, Ashtabula county, Ohio, was born in Orleans county, New York, January 5, 1818. He comes of good old New England stock, both his father, Noah Sweet, and grandfather, Samuel Sweet, being natives of the New England States. The 408 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY mother of the subject of this sketch was Susan Hollister, a native of New York State and a representative of an old and respected family. This worthy couple removed to Ohio in an early day, settling near Windsor in Ashtabula county, where the father improved a large farm, becoming in time one of the prominent and influential men of the county. He was an industrious, honest and capable man, and enjoyed the respect of all who knew him. He died on his farm at about eighty years of age and the mother expired at the same place, aged seventy-six. They were the parents of twelve children, those surviving filling honorable positions in business and society. The subject of this sketch was reared on his father's farm and attended the district schools in his vicinity. He was early inured to labor, his youth being passed in grubbing and chopping, as a result of which he succeeded in laying by vigorous out-of-door exercise the foundation of that robust health and determined spirit which have contributed to his present prosperity. He now has a good farm of 126 acres, well cultivated, with fields for stock, and in connection with his farming operations conducts a dairy, also engaging in raising horses. He has a good farm house, and three barns have been built for the accommodation of his stock and grain. His house is well situated and surrounded by ornamental trees, the whole place breathing an air of thrift and contentment, all of which may be attributed to the careful management and untiring efforts of the proprietor. November 5, 1840, Mr. Sweet was married to Elvira Harrison, an educated lady, who was a successful teacher before marriage. She was a native of New York, but came with her parents to Ohio in an early day. Her father, William H. Harrison, was a relative of the president of that name, and her mother before marriage was Electa Finch. Mr. Harrison died at the early age of forty- seven, leaving a widow and nine children: Henry, Frank, Lovina, Helen, Marian, Florence, Rachel, Eliza and Elvira, the last named being the wife of the subject of this sketch. Two sons, Frank and Henry, served in an Illinois Regiment during the war, and both are now deceased. The mother died in Lyons, Iowa, aged eighty-four, greatly lamented by all who knew her. Mr. and Mrs. Sweet have had six children: William E., the eldest child; Mice, wife of Albert Green, of Norwalk, Huron county, Ohio; Homer; Zelma, wife of Seth Giddings, of Dorset, Ashtabula county; Marion, wife of E. Randolph, died at the age of thirty-seven; and May, who died at the age of seventeen years. William E. enlisted in Company B of the Twenty-third Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and later in the Thirty-eighth Regiment. He was twice promoted for gallant and meritorious conduct, at Berryville and Winchester, Virginia, being eventually raised to the rank of Brevet-Major. He served all through the war and later enlisted in the regular service, Regiment Thirty- eight, and afterward was assigned to the Twenty-fourth Regiment, serving as Lieutenant, with efficiency and honor. He was wounded and had a limb broken, from the effects of which injuries he never recovered. He was eventually offered a good position in the United States Treasury Department, at Washington, and was one of the four men who took $1,000,000 in Government bonds to Europe, receiving from the Rothschilds the same amount in British money. This death was a great loss to his family and country. He died at the comparatively early age of forty-five, leaving a widow and two sons, Dean and George, who are now attending OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 409 Notre Dame College at South Bend, Indiana. Major William E. Sweet was an honorary member of the Commandery of Colorado. In politics, Mr. Sweet is a Republican. He is a whole-souled honorable man, enterprising and progressive, deeply interested in the public welfare and a representative citizen of his community, to the advancement of which he has materially contributed. EDWIN T. STRONG-, owner of the Clover Leaf Dairy Farm, of Ashtabula county, was born in Owasco, Cayuga county, New York, September 2, 1827, a son of Walter and Sarah (Devoe) Strong, and a brother of Mrs. Hervey. Edwin T. came to Jefferson, Ashtabula county, Ohio, with his parents at the age of sixteen years. When a young man he returned to his native State, remaining there one year. In 1862, he enlisted for service in the late war, was assigned to the Commissary Department, served under Captain Chapman, took part in the Missouri campaign, witnessed the battles of Pea Ridge and Rolla, and participated in many other engagments. After the close of the struggle, Mr. Strong embarked in the livery business, but afterward began agricultural pursuits. In 1878, in company with his brother, he started a dairy farm, having at that time seven cows. He is now sole owner of the Clover Leaf Dairy Farm, and has twenty-six cows. He has a fine residence, large barns, and a good orchard of small fruits. Mr. Strong is deaf, and also suffered the loss of his right hand in a threshing machine in 1878. He was married in 1870, to Miss Matilda Parks, a daughter of Edwin W. Parks, a native of England. He came to America when a boy, locating at Binghamton, New.York, where he taught school, and was also a mechanic by trade. He afterward became a farmer. In 1843, he located in Jefferson, Ashtabula county, Ohio, where he died in 1873, at the age of seventy years. Mrs. Strong was born in Binghamton, New York, in 1840, and came with her parents to Jefferson. Mr. and Mrs. Strong are members of the Episcopal Church. Politically our subject affiliates with the Republican party, and socially is a member of Lincoln Lodge; F. and A. M., No. 322. H. E. WILLIAMS, one of the representative business men of Ashtabula county, was born on the farm he now owns, December 14, 1839, a son of Joseph Williams, a native of Saratoga county, New York. The latter's father, David Williams, was also born in New York. The mother of our subject, nee Elmira Leonard, was a native of Massachusetts. She was first married to H. Huntley, and they had two children,— Louisa and Lydia. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Williams also had two children: H. E., our subject; and Laura Heath of Pierpont. The parents came to this township in an early day, where the mother died, at the age of seventy-four years, and the father at the age of seventy-five years. The latter was a farmer by occupation. H. E. Williams received his education at Pierpont and at Meadville, Pennsylvania. He now owns 500 acres of fine farming land in Pierpont township, Ashtabula county, and the place has a good residence and barns, orchard, and a good fish pond stocked with carp. From this pond he obtains his pure spring-water ice for his dairy. Mr. Williams 410 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY is engaged in general farming and stock raising. He makes an inventory each year, and also keeps a day book and ledger. April 18, 1867, at Pierpont, Ohio, our subject was united in marriage to Helen Caine, who was born at Newburg, this State, being a daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Quiggin) Caine. The father and mother were born on the Isle of Man. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have five children: Fred H., who married Lotta Hardy, and resides near his father's home; Frank P.; Margaret E.; Eddy A. and M. Louise. They lost two children by death: Alice, the first born, died at the age of four years, and a son died in infancy. Mr. Williams holds to the tenets of the Republican party and has served as Township Trustee many years. He has been Master of the County Grange; held the same position in the subordinate grange for five years, and is now Deputy Master of the county of Ashtabula. The past six years he has been Treasurer of the Pierpont Cheese Factory. A. B. FRISBIE, now residing on a small farm in Madison township, Lake county, Ohio, was for many years engaged in teaching drawing, penmanship and music in various towns throughout Northern Ohio, and is well known all over this part of the State. Mr. Frisbie was born in the township in which he now lives, June 7, 1824. His father, Benjamin Frisbie, was a native of Connecticut and a farmer by occupation. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, and was Colonel in the State Militia here at an early day. About 1815, he came out to Ohio with an ox team, and in the dense forest of Madison township purchased 160 acres of land upon which he settled and which he developed into a fine farm, He was a hard worker all his life, his active career ending with his death in 1849. At the time he settled here the woods were full of wild game of all kinds. His wife was, before her marriage, Miss Polly A. Dickerson. She was a native of Connecticut; was an active member of the Congregational Church, and died in 1853. They reared five children, namely: Henry, Alvin, James L., A. B. and Amos D. A. B. Frisbie received his early education in the log schoolhouse near his home. Later he attended the academy and a select school. At the age of twenty he began teaching, and taught four terms. When quite young he developed a talent for penmanship and music, in both of which he is self-educated. For many years he taught a singing school here, at different times having under his instruction hundreds of scholars. He has also given lessons on the voilin, bass viol, organ and piano. Some of the specimens of his early work in drawing and penmanship show that he was an expert in these lines. In the following named places he taught writing, drawing and music: Warren, Mecca, Green, Rock Creek, Hartford, Southington, Park- man, Garrettsville, Nelson, Freedom, East Cleveland, Euclid, Mentor, Painesville and Willoughby. At one time he had 300 scholars in this township. Mr. Frisbie gave up regular teaching twenty years ago, and since then has been engaged in farming. He has forty-six acres of fine land, which he utilizes for general farming purposes. He was married March 15, 1853, to Mary L. Baker, a native of Holly, Orleans county, New York. She has been a resident of Ohio since her eighth year. They have two children: Mrs. Grace G. Merrick, a resident of Tacoma, Washington, and Mrs. Fannie F. Owen, of Ashtabula. OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 411 Mr. Frisbie joined issue with the Whigs in his early life, but since the organization of the Republican party his political views have been in harmony with its policies. WILLIAM H. RUGGLES.—Conspicuous among the legal fraternity of Jefferson, Ohio, may be mentioned the subject of this sketch, who has arisen by unaided ability and force of energy to his present position of prominence in his community. Mr. Ruggles was born in Marcellus, Onondaga county, New York, March 14, 1836. His parents, Zebina H. and Clarissa A. (Chaffee) Ruggles, were both natives of Massachusetts, who removed from New York to Ashtabula county in 1843 and settled on a farm just north of Jefferson. Here the father died in September, 1852, aged forty-two years, while the devoted mother survived until 1889, dying at the age of seventy-one years, greatly lamented by all who knew her. They had four children,—two sons and two daughters. Roxana, the oldest, was twice married and resides with Mr. Davis, her present husband, in Michigan; Percy A., the next daughter, is the wife of Mr. Thompson, a prominent resident of Ashtabula county; William H., the subject of this sketch; and Joseph E., a retired attorney, now a prosperous farmer of Ashtabula county. The subject of this notice was reared on the home farm until he was nineteen years of age, and received his education in the Jefferson schools and at the Grand River Institute at Anstinburgh. At the age of twenty he taught one winter as an assistant in the Jefferson schools and the next winter taught a district school, following which incumbency lie taught one winter in Plymouth, in the meanwhile energetically pursuing the study of law. He subsequently taught four terms in the Jefferson schools and during that time studied law in an office in that city. Such persistent effort was rewarded in 1859 by his admission to the bar, after which he at once entered upon the practice of his profession in Jefferson, and has since been thus successfully employed. In 1861, Mr. Ruggles was married to Miss Ruth A. Chaphin, an estimable lady and a native of the Buckeye State, and they have one daughter, Rutha G. Politically, Mr. Ruggles was originally a Free Soiler, casting his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont, but has been an ardent supporter of the Republican party since its organization. His constituents have shown their appreciation of his worth by electing him Mayor of Jefferson for two terms and to other positions of trust, in all of which he has served with ability and honor. Fraternally, lie is a Royal Arch Mason, Tuscan Lodge, No. 342, and a member of the Knights of Pythias, Columbian Lodge. Thus has Mr. Ruggles' efforts been rewarded by the best success, which does not consist alone in financial prosperity but in the various amenities which go to satisfy the many wants of the human soul. C. E. GRISWOLD, a farmer residing near Orwell, Ashtabula county, Ohio, was born in Orwell, in 1858, son of H. E. and Frances (Rodgers) Griswold. His father, also a native of Windsor, was born in 1831, and was married in 1852. In early life H. E. Griswold worked at his trade, that of carpen-   412 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY ter and joiner, but for a number of years he has been engaged in farming and stock-raising, being the owner of a fine farm of 125 acres in Ashtabula county. He has filled various local offices, and is now serving as President of the Board of Education in this county. Of his family we record that his children are five in number, their names being as follows: Frank, born in 1855; C. E.; Lewis, born in 1860; Ida, born in 1862, is the wife of George Vanpelt; and Rose, born in 1876, is the wife of Joseph Fottit. Mrs. Griswold died January 30, 1892. C. E. Griswold received a high-school education, and after leaving school was for some time engaged as a professional baseball player, being a member of the Akron team two seasons, and of the Rabanna team two seasons, besides playing with several minor teams. He is a member of the Order of Good Templars, and musician of some note, being a member of Howard's celebrated orchestra. At present lie is engaged in farming and stock- raising. He and his father are both Democrats, taking a lively interest in the political issues of the day. ORAN MORTON, another one of the prominent farmers of Markman township, Geauga county, Ohio, was born in Newbury, this county, December 4, 1823. His father, Joseph Morton, and grandfather, Abram Morton, were both natives of New York, and were soldiers in the war of 1812. Grandfather Morton was an early settler of Geauga county. He died in Newbury township, at the age of seventy-five. Joseph Morton married in New York, and it was about 1816 or 1817 that he made the journey with an ox team to this county. Selecting a location in Newbury township, he built his log cabin in a woods and began life here in true pioneer style. The snow was knee deep when he built his cabin, and it was under many difficulties that lie got his family settled here. The woods all around him were full of deer, bears and wolves. He was a man of strong constitution, was a hard worker all his life, and the result of his labors here was a nicely developed farm of 40Q acres. He died at the age of seventy-five. His wife, whose maiden name was Polly Abbey, was also a native of the Empire State. She was born near Rochester. They had five sons and one daughter, all of whom reached adult years except one. The mother died at the age of seventy- four. Both parents were members of the Free-will Baptist Church, and in politics Mr. Morton was first a Whig and afterward a Republican. Oran Morton was the third born in this family. The schoolhouse, in which he received his education, was built of logs, was warmed by an open fireplace, and was seated with rude slab benches. The school was conducted on the subscription plan and the teacher "boarded around." He assisted his father in clearing their farm, and at the age of twenty began life on his own responsibility. He worked out by the month one season. After his marriage he settled in Jennings county, Indiana, and two years later, in the spring of 1845, he returned to his present location in Ohio. Here he has 182 acres of laud, all in one body, all the improvements upon which he has made himself, and here he is engaged in diversified farming and stock- raising. For the past fifteen years he has kept a large dairy. He has made it a point never to go in debt to any extent, and, being a hard worker and good manager, his success in life is due to no one OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 413 but himself. He casts his vote and influence with the Republican party, and has served as Trustee of his township. Mr. Morton was married, in 1842, to Julia Beswick, a native of Massachusetts. They have four children: Henry, Flora, Fayette, and Clara. HON. HENRY H. COE is the popular and efficient Mayor of Painesville, Ohio, and senior member of the firm of Coe & Wilkes, manufacturers of the improved cut veneer machines and improved automatic feed veneer clippers, a business which Mr. Coe has followed for more than forty years. This gentleman was born in Charlestown, Ohio, June 6, 1830. He comes of good New England stock, his father, Rev. David Leyman Coe, having been born in Fair Haven, Connecticut, in 1801. The latter graduated at Williams College in 1818, at the age of seventeen, and became a successful teacher, opening the first academy on the Western Reserve, the institution being located at Burton, Geauga county. He subsequently taught in the academy at Tallmadge, in Summit county, Ohio, where he remained until his death in 1836. He had also fitted himself for the Presbyterian ministry, to which he had been admitted, and he preached on Sundays. He was a proficient Greek and Hebrew scholar, to both of which languages he devoted much time and attention. He married Polly Hayes, who was born in 1800, daughter of Judge Hayes, who removed from Connecticut to the Western Reserve in 1804. Her father was a Colonel in the war of 1812 and for many years Associate Judge. He died in 1838, aged about sixty-five years. The parents of the subject of this sketch had three children, one of whom died young; those surviving being Albert Leyman Coe, president of the Royal Trust Company and a member of the firm of Mead & Coe, Chicago; and the Hon. Henry H. Coe, of this 'notice. Mrs. Coe afterward remarried, her second husband being Dr. 0. K. Hawley, a prominent physician and farmer of Ashtabula county, Ohio. He was a strong Abolitionist and was an executive of the t, underground railroad," aiding many a poor colored man to, freedom. The subject of this sketch was then only twelve or fifteen years of age, but was an engineer of this railroad, and would often go with a large wagon from his stepfather's house to the nearest station, some ten miles distant, He would frequently be gone all night, but saw many a colored man assisted through and placed on board a steamer bound for Canada. The mother of the subject of this notice died in 1877, leaving many friends to mourn her loss. She was a life-long member of the Presbyterian Church and lived a useful and blameless life. Hon. Henry H. Coe was reared on a farm until twelve years of age, and received his preparatory education mostly in private schools and at home under the excellent instruction of his mother. At the age of twelve, he entered the Grand River Institute at Austinburgh, where he was prepared for college. He. entered Western Reserve College at the age of eighteen, where he remained two years, when he became ill. He then left school, and in 1852 became a member of the firm of Anderson & Coe, in Painesville, Ohio. Mr. Coe's partner was an expert machinist and the subject of this sketch commenced at the bottom under his partner's able tuition, working his way gradually and industriously to the top. Mr. Coe has been in the same shop, at the corner of Jackson and St. Claire 414 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY streets, ever since, and has seen his industrious efforts generously rewarded. In 1866, Mr. Frederick Wilkes purchased the interest of Mr. Anderson, and the firm has since been known as Coe & Wilkes. They make a specialty of veneer machinery and rotary cutters, having one of the most extensive factories in the country, their products having been shipped, in 1892, to twelve different States. His army experience commenced in June, 1861,when he enlisted as leader in the Seventh Ohio, Infantry Band. About a year afterward the regimental band was disbanded under general order and the musicians subsequently attached to another brigade, Mr. Coe still remaining the leader. He thus participated in the battle of Winchester and numerous minor engagements at Franklin and Nashville, Term. In December, 1852, Mr. Coe married Miss Eliza L. Whiting, an estimable lady, a native of Ohio, and daughter of Myron Whiting, a well known pioneer of the Western Reserve, for many years a hotel-keeper, and afterward a merchant of Austinburgh. He retired from active life in 1860 and survived to the advanced age of ninety-four years,dying in 1890, universally lamented. Mrs. Coe died in 1856, leaving one child, who also died at the age of six years. August 24, 1858, Mr. Coe mar tied Miss Lucy Proctor, a lady of superior attainments, a native of Hiram, Ohio. Her father was a prosperous farmer of Portage county, Ohio, who came originally from Massachusetts, where the family is well and favorably known. Mrs. Coe was educated at Grand River Institute and was a successful teacher for several years. Mayor and Mrs. Coe have had three children, two of whom survive; Harry Proctor, educated in the public schools of Painesville, now with his father's firm; and Charlotte Florence, who is a graduate of the Lake Erie Female Seminary, and who is now at the Chicago University. Politically, Mayor Coe is a Republican, to which party he has belonged since its organization. He cast his first presidential vote for Franklin Pierce in 1852. Of untiring energy and commendable public spirit, he has been called upon by his fellow citizens to fill a number of offices of trust, bringing to his duties that business experience and integrity which has contributed to his success in life. He served twelve years on the Board of Education, was elected County Treasurer in 1879, and served one term, and has belonged for fifteen years to the Board of Trustees of the Evergreen Cemetery. He was elected in September, 1892, to his present office of Mayor, which it is needless to say he fills with his customary ability and trustworthiness. Fraternally, he has affiliated with the Masonic order since 1858, and has passed all the chairs in the blue lodge and chapter. He has been Recorder in the commandery since its inauguration in 1877. Thus briefly is presented a cursory outline of the pre-eminently busy and useful career of one whose every action has been impelled by noble motives and contributed to the advancement and welfare of his fellow men. GEORGE D. PARKER, the efficient and popular Justice of the Peace in Ashtabula county, Ohio, was born in Kelloggsville, this State, February 15, 1846. His father, Samuel R. Parker, now in his eighty-third year, a prominent resident of Ashtabula county, was born in Gene- OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 415 see county, New York, in 1810. His father, Jared Parker, was a native of Hartford, Connecticut, and, in turn, was a son of Samuel Parker, also a native of Connecticut and an efficient soldier in the Revolutionary war, his ancestors being of English origin. In 1823 great-grandfather Samuel Parker accompanied his only son, Jared, and family to Ashtabula county, Ohio, then a new and sparsely settled country. They came overland with ox teams, the journey consuming as Many weeks as it now takes days to cover the same distance. Jared Parker was a cooper by trade, but also followed farming. He first settled in Kingsville, but later removed to Kelloggsville, Monroe township, where he lived to a good old age, dying lamented by all who knew him. He was the father of seven sons and two daughters. His son, Samuel R. Parker, was reared in Ashtabula county, where he has since lived, having always followed farming, but being naturally a mechanical genius he has done much and varied mechanical work in the county, such as bridge and boat building. He married Mary A. Roundy, a native of New York State, born in 1820, who died at the age of seventy-two. She was a worthy Christian woman, and left a wide circle of friends to mourn her loss. They were the parents of eight children, six sons and two daughters, of whom the subject of this sketch is the oldest. Mr. Parker, of this notice, was reared in Sheffield township, Ashtabula county, attending the common schools and passing a short time at the Grand River Institute. At the age of eighteen, May 2, 1864, he enlisted as a private in Company A, One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served about five months, when he became ill with typhoid fever, and was subsequeutly discharged on account of disability. He afterward went to the oil fields, where he earned money enough to further prosecute his studies. He later accepted a clerkship in a store at Kelloggsville, after which he taught school four winter terms, and also sold sewing machines, being thus variously engaged until 1876, when, his health failing, he was forced to seek out-door work. He moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1877 began firing an engine on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, and later began engineering on the same road, which occupation he discontinued in 1884 to accept a position as foreman of a basket factory in Kingsville, Ohio. While there he met with a painful accident by falling in boiling water, severely scalding his lower limbs and hips. This occurred in January, 1885, and he was two years 'recovering from his injuries. In 1887 he moved to Ashtabula township, near Ashtabula, where he became a Notary Public, and has been such for six years. In the spring of 1889 he received the nomination of both Democratic and Republican parties for the position of Justice of the Peace, to which he was elected, and in 1892 was re-elected by the Republican party. Mr. Parker has discharged his duties in this important capacity with ability and impartiality and with the strictest iutegrity, and merits from his constituents the support which he so generously receives. In 1869 Mr. Parker was married to Miss Carrie Wiley, of Vermont ancestry, s.he being a native of Sheffield township,: Ashtabula county, Ohio. Politically, Mr. Parker has always been a stanch Republican, and he is a member and has been Commander. of the G. A. R. post at Ashtabula three years. Liberal-minded and progressive, Mr. Parker takes a deep interest in the welfare of his town, of which he is a representative citizen. 416 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY Mr. Parker is also a recognized attorney for practice before the Department of the Interior, and as such has many claims pending in the bureau of pensions. GEORGE B. RASER, an able financier , and business man and esteemed citizen of Ashtabula, Ohio, was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, July 10, 1845. His parents, Thomas and Elizabeth (Knight) Raser, were both reared in the Keystone State, of which the father was a native, while the mother was born in Alabama. They had four sons and four daughters, of whom two of the former died in early life, three of the latter still surviving. The father died when the subject of this sketch was but ten years of age, while the mother still survives and resides in Erie, Pennsylvania. Being the third of the children, George B. Raser assisted his widowed mother in the support of the family, and his educational advantages were consequently limited to a high-school course. Owing, however, to a quick observation and retentive memory, he supplemented by his own efforts this early instruction. Most of his youth was passed in Erie county, Pennsylvania, but he subsequently went to Quincy, Illinois, and there learned the harness-maker's trade, but not liking this business he soon abandoned it. He then secured employment in the construction and engineering corps of the At lantic & Great Western Railway Company, and since that time has been engaged in the railroad business. He was subsequently employed by the railroad at Erie, and was the assistant superintendent's clerk of the Anchor Liue docks in that city. In 1873 he came to Ashtabula to assume the duties of agent of the Pittsburg, Youngstown & Ashtabula Railway Company, which incumbency he has held ever since. He also represents the large corporation known as Messrs. M. A. Hanna & Company, of Cleveland, extensive dealers in iron ore, pig iron, coal and coke. He is director in the Ashtabula Rapid Transit Company, and is president of the Marine Bank, in which latter capacity he has acted since its organization in 1891, this bank having a capital of $50,000. He had established the post office at Harbor, and was for several years Postmaster. He was for some time a member of the Ashtabula City Council, in which latter position he was enthusiastic in supporting all modern improvements, and was instrumental in having horse cars replaced by electric street cars, a great convenience to the city. In many other ways and instances Mr. Raser has promoted the interests of his city, and the extent and result of his efforts will, probably, be never fully known by those who enjoy the benefits of his enlightened and persevering endeavors. In 1869 Mr. Raser was married to Miss Harriet Mans, an accomplished lady of Erie, Pennsylvania, and they have two sons and two daughters. Politically Mr. Raser advocates the principles of the Republican party, his constituents having shown their appreciation of his ability and worth by electiug him to several important positions of trust. He is a Master Mason,--an order which he joined when twenty-two years of age, and in which he has taken the Knight Templar degree. In 1877 he was elected High Priest of the Western Reserve Chapter. Religiously he and his family are earnest members of the Reformed Episcopal Church. He was a prominent factor in the organization of Trinity Church at Ashtabula, in which he has been OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 417 Junior Warden since its establishment in 1890. In short, the weight of his influence has ever been thrown in the scale of the material and moral advancement of his favorite city, in the progress and worth of which may be witnessed the result of his generous efforts in its behalf. REECE M. JOHNSON, of the firm of Johnson & Company, doing a brisk business in dry goods, furnishing goods and notions, at Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio, was born in Burton, Geauga county, this State, September 22, 1861. His parents, John W. and Mary (Alden) Johnson, are still honored residents of that county, where they were born, reared and married, and have spent their entire lives, their respective parents having been early and prominent settlers of that county. The subject of this sketch passed his youth, until sixteen years of age, on the home farm, attending the district schools in his vicinity, and afterward taking a course of two years and a half at Hiram College, Ohio. He subsequently taught school a term, but his inclinations running in the direction of mercantile pursuits, he became a clerk in a dry-goods store at the early age of eighteen years, being first in Hiram, Ohio, and afterward in several other different places until 1886. He then invested capital of his own in business at Orwell, this State, after which he was engaged in mercantile pursuits on his own account in several different places, until, in 1891, he came to Ashtabula Harbor. Here he entered into partnership with others, under the name of Johnson & Company, and the firm has enjoyed one of the largest trades in dry goods, furnishing goods and notions in the city. December 21, 1888, Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Lulu Williams, an estimable lady, of Garrettsville, Ohio, and they have one child, a daughter, Josephine, born November 13, 1890. Fraternally Mr. Johnson is a Knight of Pythias and a Master Mason. Mr. Johnson's financial success and advancement may justly be termed phenomenal, and in looking for the cause it is only necessary to remember his untiring industry, perseverance, enterprise and integrity of purpose under all circumstances and in all places, which have secured for him universal confidence and esteem of his fellow-men. JOHN WARREN, a prominent and highly respected farmer of Mentor township, Lake county, Ohio, was born in Ontario county, New York, September 1, 1820. His father, John Warren, was born in New Jersey, July 4, 1776, son of Samuel Warren, also a native of New Jersey. Grandfather Warren died in New York, having attained a ripe old age. John Warren, Sr., was engaged in farming in Ontario county, New York, for some years, and in 1836, having disposed of his property there, moved to Ohio and settled in Huron county. Subsequently he moved to Lake county and located at Kirtland. When well advanced in years he and his wife went back to Huron county, and passed the residue of their lives at the home of one of their daughters. There the father died, at the age of eighty-two, and the mother at about eighty. Her maiden name was Hannah Matson, and she, too, was a native of New Jersey. Both were Quakers all their lives. They had a family of fifteen children, thirteen of whom 418 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY lived to maturity and three are still living. The subject of our sketch received his education in the district schools, attending school six months a year and having a long distance to walk. He was sixteen when his parents settled in Huron county, this State, and early in life he started out on his own responsibility, without means, and has worked his way up to his present position of prosperity. He is now the owner of 126 acres of good land. January 30, 1840, Mr. Warren married Caroline M. Clough, a native of Ohio, who died March 30, 1850, leaving four children: Albert C., George E., Benjamin P. and Caropline M, September 4, 1850, Mr. Warren married Anna Hopkins, whose death, December 27, 1892, again left him bereaved of a loving companion. She had two children: John S. and Anna M. All the children are married and occupying useful and honorable positions in life. Mr. Warren's second wife was born in this county September 9, 1821, at a place on the lake shore familiarly known as Hopkins' Point. The constant action of the water washed away the land there, until now the site that marked her birth-place is about a mile out in the lake. She was a daughter of Daniel and Anna (Churchell) Hopkins, who were of New England birth and were pioneers of Lake county. Her father died at an advanced age and her mother is still living, being now eighty-nine years old. They had ten children. Mrs. Warren was first married in 1837 to Abner Losey. He died about ten years after their marriage, leaving her with one child, a son, Charles A. Losey, who is still living. She joined the Methodist Episcopal Church at the age of twenty-seven, and was an earnest Christian woman all her life, kind and generous to the poor and affectionate in her family. To know her was to love her. Her death was a great bereavement not only to her immediate family, but also to a large circle of warm friends. Mr. Warren is a Disciple, and a member of the same church to which General Garfield belonged. Politically, he is a Republican, and, fraternally, has been a Mason for many years. J, K. MASON, a carriage and wagon 1 manufacturer and well-known citizen of Andover, Ohio, was born in Fort Ann, Washington county, New York, March 8, 1835. His parents, Ransom and Semantha (Kirby) Mason, were also natives of that town and early settlers of Ashtabula county, Ohio, where they were prominent and well- to-do residents. They had four children: Myron, residing in West Andover; J. K., whose name heads this notice; and Allen, who enlisted in the Twenty-ninth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was with Sherman in his great march to the sea, receiving his death wound in the battle at Rocky Face Ridge, Georgia; and S. B. Mason, Andover, Ohio. The subject of this sketch was but five or six years of age when he came with his parents to Ashtabula county, Ohio, where he was reared and educated. At the age of fifteen he began to work at cabinet-making, which he successfully followed at Kingdom, Cherry Valley, later engaging in carriage and wagon making, which he has followed for many years. That he is a natural mechanic is shown by his having run a sawmill at one time after but four days' experience. In 1861 he engaged in the carriage business at Kingdom, buying one-half interest in an OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 419 establishment, and later buying out his partners. He successfully prosecuted this business for some time, doing good work. He made an entire carriage himself, wood-work, iron and paint, which he sold for $255. Realizing the advantages offered by Andover to a man of energy and ability, Mr. Mason sold out his interests in Cherry Valley in 1889 and removed to his present place, where he is enjoying a profitable trade, being regarded as one of the best workmen in the county. At the age of twenty-five Mr. Mason was married, at Meadville, Pennsylvania, to Julia W. Woodworth, a lady of many excellent qualities, daughter of Charles and Phoebe (Allen) Woodworth, early settlers of Ashtabula county, who died in Williamsfield. Mr. and Mrs. Mason have one son, Allen Monroe Mason, who is in the livery business in Andover. He married Anstie Miller, and they have one son, Hubert Spencer. Mr. Mason is a Republican in politics and interested in all that pertains to the public welfare. Enterprising and progressive, he has done much to advance the interests of his county, and is deservedly ranked among the representative citizens of his community. MARTIN LOFTUS, of Jefferson, Ohio, a manufacturer of stock and building brick, one of the most progressive and highly respected business men of his community, was born in New York State, August 16, 1850. His parents died when he was a boy, after which he was sent to live with his uncle in Canada. When twelve years of age he accompanied his uncle, Martin Loftus, Sr., to Ashtabula county, Ohio. The first work of the subject of this sketch on his own account was as water-boy on the railroad, after which he was variously employed at whatever he could find to do. He was employed for three years as a farm hand, working during the summer and attending district school in the winter. He then became a laborer in the brick-yard of Mr. Read, at Geneva, where he shortly afterward received $30 a month, which was later raised to $40. After three years here he was offered and accepted a position in the brickyard of C. M. Prentice, at Ashtabula, at a salary of $60 a month, which was subsequently increased to $100. By close and steady application to business lie learned it thoroughly. In 1878 he removed to Jefferson, his present home, and in 1889 bought a half interest in the brick-yard of that city. After thirteen years in this connection he, in 1891, purchased the entire stock and yard. He has since materially improved the quality of the brick and run the yard right up to the sample, which is a clear stock-building brick, equal to any made in the country. His trade has increased in proportion to the advance in the quality of his product, to meet which the output of his yard has reached 600,000 brick per annum. He supplies the home trade and makes frequent shipments to other vicinities. He furnished the brick for all the public buildings of the county, which in itself is an item of considerable profit and a high recommendation as well. He has a comfortable home, built in 1888, which is desirably situated and attractively surrounded by ornamental grounds, a typical abode of a prosperous and unpretentious man. June 20, 1871, Mr. Loftus was married to Miss Susan Hall, a lady of estimable character, daughter of Benjamin Cook Hall, an old and honored resident of the county. She was born in Ashtabula; December 16, 1855, 420 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY and there attained womanhood, enjoying such educational advantages as the common and high schools afforded. She was married at the age of seventeen, and has had eight children: Mary E., unmarried and at home, graduated as valedictorian of her class at the Jefferson Educational Institute, and began teaching at the age of seventeen, which occupation she still pursues; Sarah L. is now in the preparatory class of the same institution; Thomas, Bessie L., William J. and Herman M. are all at home; Katie M. and Eunice B. are deceased. All the surviving children are enjoying the best educational advantages, and give fair promise of benefiting by their opportunities. Mrs. Loftus has materially aided her husband in his struggles to prosperity, assisting him by her unerring judgment, wise economy and skillful management of domestic affairs. They have together reached success, aud together enjoy the fruition of their labors. She is a useful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which she united since coming to Jefferson. Politically, Mr. Loftus is a Democrat, and takes a commendable interest in the issues of the day. He is not a member of any religious denomination, but is a man of the highest integrity of character and moral worth, and foremost in aiding all objects tending to advance the welfare of his community. HORACE SHEPARD, a highly respect- ! ed citizen and representative farmer of Sheffield township, Ashtabula county, Ohio, is deserving of more than cursory mention in the history of his county. William M. Shepard, his father, was born in Connecticut in 1803, and from there moved to Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1835, locating where his son, Horace, now lives. He was a self-educated man, and was by occupation a farmer and shoemaker. Politically, he was first a Whig and afterward a Republican. He served as Township Treasurer and as a Justice of the Peace for a number of years. A consistent member of the Baptist Church, he for many years rendered efficient service as a local minister in that denomination. William M. Shepard was a son of William Shepard, the latter having married a Miss Sanford, and both being natives of Connecticut, where they spent their lives and died. William was a son of Moses; Moses, son of Timothy; Timothy, son of John; John, son of John; and John, son of Edward. Horace Shepard's mother was before her marriage Miss Lucy Stilson. She was a native of Connecticut and a daughter of Lazarus and Bessie Stilson, also natives of that State. William M. Shepard was twice married. In 1824 he wedded Anna Griffin, by whom he had five children, viz.: William, a resident of Kingsville, Ohio; Andrew, deceased; Mary, who was the wife of Lyman Boynton, is deceased, as also is her husband; Susan, wife of a Mr. Cunningham, resides in Columbus, Ohio; and one child that died in infancy. In 1833 he married Miss Stilson, and they had four children, as follows: John, who died at the age of twenty-two years; Horace; George, a resident of Erie, Pennsylvania; and James, a machinist of Ashtabula, Ohio. Horace, George and James all served in the Union ranks during the Civil war. Horace Shepard was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1836. He remained with his parents while they lived, and has continued to reside at the old home place ever since, with the exception of the time he OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 421 spent in the war. He enlisted in 1862, in Company G, One Hundred and Fifth Ohio Infantry, and after a service of three months was discharged on account of disability, said disability being the result of a sunstroke. He is now the recipient of a pension. Mr. Shepard affiliates with the Republican party. For twenty-seven years he has been Township Clerk of his native township, and served two years as Trustee. He has also served as Assistant Postmaster of North Sheffield, and as a member of the School Board. Fraternally, he is a Master Mason. CHRISTOPHER C. MARCH, a progressive farmer and stock-raiser of Jefferson township, Ashtabula county, Ohio, residing two and a half miles northeast of the attractive town of Jefferson, is a descendant of one of the oldest and most worthy pioneer families of his township. He was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, January 28, 1825, and is a son of James and Susan (Potter) March, the former born in Portland, Maine, in 1792, and the latter a native of New York State. The father grew to maturity in the State of his birth and enlisted at the age of twenty in the war of 1812, serving his country faithfully and well. On the close of hostilities, he learned the cooper's trade, at which he worked, in connection with farming and stock-raising. He afterward removed to Delaware township, Mercer county, Pennsylvania, where he worked, mostly at his trade, until 1837, when he came by wagon to Ohio. He settled on land in Jefferson township, Ashtabula county, and soon afterward bought a farm near the town of Jefferson, to which he moved and there passed the remainder of his life. His farm was in the woods and cov- ered with timber, which he cleared away, and effected on his place good and substantial improvements. This farm is now one of the best and most valuable in the township, and is owned by his descendants. He was politically an old-line Whig and later a Republican with strong anti-slavery opinions. A man of strictly upright principles, straight-forward and honest, he had many friends, and Ids death, which occurred in 1864, in his seventy- second year, was a signal for universal mourning. To him and his worthy wife is due much credit for their efforts in reclaiming land from the wilderness and converting it into productive and valuable fields, thus paving the way for other improvements to follow, and contributing to the general advancement of the community. The mother of the subject of this sketch was a typical pioneer woman, versed in all the duties of a household, brave and self-reliant. She grew to womanhood in New York, the State of her birth, and was married at the age of twenty. Of ten children, eight reached maturity, of whom six now survive. The devoted mother died at the age of eighty-six, leaving her family and many friends to mourn her loss. She was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which she united in girlhood. The subject of this sketch was the fourth child in order of birth, and was reared on the home farm in Jefferson township, attending the district schools of the vicinity. He was early inured to hard work, and by industry and economy accumulated sufficient meals by the time he was twenty-six years of age, to purchase eighty acres of timbered land, which he at once began to clear. He built a house on this place and cut road-ways and made other improvements, such as the erection of ample barns and other outbuildings. His 432 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY home is beautifully situated with picturesque surroundings, and in every way a desirable place in which to live. He has resided here uninterruptedly ever since his settlement, and has contributed by his labor and energy to the growth and prosperity of the community. He was married in the twenty-eighth year of his age to Miss Eliza A. Knapp, a lady of education and ability, daughter of Alexander and Lucinda (Hillman) Knapp, early settlers of Ohio. Her father was a blacksmith by trade and for many years a resident of Southington township, Trumbull county, whence he later removed to Bloomfield township, Morrow county, and from there to Jefferson, dying in his eighty-third year, greatly lamented by all who knew him. Mrs. March was born in Southington township, Trumbull county, in 1833, and grew to womanhood in Bloomfield. She received good educational advantages and taught school for a number of years previous to her marriage, which occurred when she was twenty-two. Of her seven children, five survive: Lois, wife of D. W. Griggs, a railroad man, resides at Ashtabula Harbor; James H., a blind boy, died in his twentieth year at Columbus College, on the eve of his graduation in music, in which lie was most proficient; Orphia A., wife of Alfred Coon, resides in Jefferson; Mabel 0., wife of J. D. Hitchcock, resides in Jefferson; Jesse W. married Miss Hattie Lane and lives at Ashtabula Harbor; Fred C. married Helen Martin and resides in Warren; and Hattie E. is deceased. All of the children received good educational advantages by which they have profited, and were given a fair start in life, and those surviving have comfortable homes of their own. All are useful members of business and society and reflect credit on their parents and the State of their birth. Mr. March has taken a deep interest in educational matters, and was one of the prime movers in securing a schoolhouse for his district. In this school may be found a complete set of charts., maps and globes and all other necessary furnishings of a first-class institution. He has served as School Director in his district for eighteen years, and was recently re-elected for a further term of two years. This endorsement is most flattering and plainly indicates the estimation in which he is held. In politics Mr. March is a Prohibitionist and does efficient work for the cause he advocates. Both he and wife are useful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. March is always ready to aid any project having the advancement of his community as its object, and much of the present prosperity of his vicinity is traceable to his public- spirited efforts, for which he is entitled to great credit. GEORGE BOUEY, engineer on the Nickel Plate Railroad, Conneaut, Ohio, was born in Canada East, May 16, 1865. His parents, John and Sarah (Scott) Bouey, were natives of Canada, of the cities of Montreal and Niagara respectively. John Bouey has been engaged in the fish business for years. He is a stonecutter by trade, at which he worked some time. He had the contract for getting out the stone for a number of locks on the Black River canal, which work he carried to completion. He came to the United States in 1868, and is now a venerable citizen of La Salle, New York, having reached his eightieth year. While in Canada he held minor offices, and during our Civil war he enlisted in the Union cause, but it OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 423 was about the time the war closed, and he never saw active service. He is a Roman Catholic, and his wife is a member of the Baptist Church. The subject of our sketch was the sixth born in their family of seven children, six of whom are living. George Bouey worked on his father's farm until he was seventeen years old. Then he learned the carpenter's trade and worked at it until he was twenty-two. Next he drifted into railroad employ, and has been on the road ever since. He began in 1888 as fireman, served as such four years, was then promoted to engineer, and is still employed in the latter position. He has made Conneaut his home since the winter of 1887. Mr. Bouey was married in Conneaut, June 3, 1890, to Miss Minnie Annette Loomis, the younger of the two daughters of F. A. and Jennie Loomis. F. A. Loomis was born July 8, 1840, and for many years was an honored resident of Conneaut. His death occurred March 10, 1884. During the late war he rendered efficient service in the Union army. He enlisted August 28, 1861, in the Second Ohio Battery, as Corporal; was discharged on account of disability July 5, 1862; re-entered the army October 10, 1864, and commanded a two-gun battery until the war closed; was honorably discharged in May, 1865. At Erie, Pennsylvania, his skill at caricature gained him quite a reputation as a genius. His rare social qualities made him companionable and drew around him a circle of friends wherever he went. He was a member of the G. A. R., the Knights of Labor, the Royal Templars, and the Methodist Episcopal Church. In temperance work he took an active interest. He was an entertaining and impressive speaker, and for several years traveled through Ohio, Pennsylvania and Canada, working in the interest of the Murphy movement and the W. C. T. U., and being the means of accomplishing much good. He was married, June 28, 1862, to Miss Sarah J. Blakely, who survives him and is still a resident of Conneaut. Mr. Bouey has during his residence in Conneaut won the respect of a large circle of acquaintances as well as of his fellow-workmen. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the blue lodge at Niagara Falls, and the chapter, council and commandery at Conneaut. He takes little interest in politics, but votes the Republican ticket. Mrs. Bouey is a member of the Congregational Church. CAPTAIN JOHN S. ELLEN, a resident of Willoughby, Lake county Ohio, was born in Devizes, England August 28, 1835, son of Henry and Hephzibah Ellen, both natives of England. Henry Ellen was a farmer by occupation. Ha was twice married and had two children by first wife and eleven by the second, John S. being the younger of the first wife's children. The subject of our sketch had limited educational advantages in his youth. However, a quick perception and retentive memory have served him well, and in the school of experience he has gained a broader range of useful information than many a man whose advantages for schooling were far superior to his. In 1848, at the age of thirteen years, he came, in company with an older brother, to America, sailing from London and landing at New York city, after a voyage of six weeks. There he took steamer to Albany, 424 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY thence by canal boat to Buffalo, and from there to Cleveland on a lake steamer. Reaching Willoughby, he made his home with an uncle for a few years. He worked at the harness trade here for five years, four years of that time being an apprentice. After that lit clerked in a store for some time. In the spring of 1860 he entered a law office at Painesville, where he read law one year. At the opening of the Civil war in the spring of 1861 he enlisted in the service of the Union, being the first man to enroll his name in Willoughby township. He was a member of General Hayes' regiment, the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and when Company I was organized he was chosen its Sergeant. Afterward he was successively promoted to Sergeant-Major, Second' Lieutenant, First Lieutenant and Captain. His first experience in battle was at Canifax Ferry, Virginia. In the fall of 1861 he had a severe illness which lasted six weeks. The following year he was with the forces that operated in southern Virginia and at South Mountain and Antietam. He was 'in western Virginia in 1863, and also over in Ohio in pursuit of Morgan. In 1864 he was with Hunter on his raid on Lynchburg; was subsequently at Charlestown and Washington, arriving at the latter place in time to see the Federal army retreating after the second battle at Bull Run. He was then transferred to the Shenandoah valley, where he received his commission as Captain of Company E, Twenty-third regiment. He participated in all the engagments of the Shenandoah valley. At the expiration of his three years' service he went home on a short furlough, and then he re-enlisted, remaining in the service until November 30, 1864, when he was honorably discharged, having made a creditable record as a soldier and an officer. During the war he was intimately acquainted with General Hayes, and when the latter was President Captain Ellen had courtesies shown him at the White House. They differed politically, but remained stanch friends until the ex-President died. After the war Captain Ellen engaged in mercantile business in Willoughby, continuing the same until 1888. He served sixteen years as Mayor of Willoughby, fourteen years as a Township Trustee, and a number of years as a member of the School Board. Under President Cleveland's administration he received the appointment as Postmaster of Willoughby, serving as such most efficiently for four years. In 1892 lie was the Democratic candidate for Congress from the Twenty-first district; and, although the nominal Republican majority was about 2,000, his opponent received only 900 majority. Captain Ellen was married, in 1863, to Emma H. Carrel, daughter of James Carrel, one of the pioneer settlers of Willoughby. They have four daughters, Emma, Bertha, Blanche and Florence. The Captain is a prominent member of the Masonic order, Knights of Pythias, and G. A. R. Mrs. Ellen is a Presbyterian. JULIUS ORRIN CONVERSE, who has edited the Geauga Republican for nearly thirty-five years, is a native of the State of Ohio, born at Chardon, May 1, 1834. His father, Jude Converse, was born at Randolph, Orange county, Vermont, July 21, 1806, and the grandfather, Joseph Converse, was born in the same place, a descendant of the de Coignieres, of Navarre, France. Two brothers, Robert and Roger, went to Durham, England, in the latter part of the reign of OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 425 William the Conqueror, and in process of time the name followed English pronunciation until it became Conyers, and has since been so called in England. In 1630, Edward Conyers, with Sarah, his wife, and two sons, Josiah and James, emigrated to America. A third son, Samuel, was born on the voyage. They sailed with Winthrop's fleet, and settled at Charlestown, Massachusetts. During the passage, the name suffered still another change, dropping the " y" and becoming Convers; just at what time the " e" was added to the name does not appear. The family has had many noted members in New England, and some of them were officers in the Revolutionary war. The paternal grandfather of Julius O. Converse was a native of Orange county, Vermont, and a farmer by occupation. His wife, Mary, was the mother of twelve children, of whom Jude Converse was the'youngest. An older son, Julius Converse, was an eminent lawyer and statesman, having filled the office of Governor of Vermont, beside many other public positions in that State. Jude Converse was reared in his native State, but came to Chardon, Ohio, in 1828, and, with the exception of two years spent in Cleveland, lived there the remainder of his life. Soon after coming to the West, he en-- gaged in mercantile enterprises with varying success. An ultimate failure, which came in spite of his best efforts, involved no loss of reputation, and caused no diminution of the general esteem and confidence in which he had been held as a man of strict integrity and uprightness of character. For a long period during the administration of Lincoln and Johnson, he had practical charge of the post- office at Chardon, but was compelled to relinquish the position on account of ill health. He was joined in marriage November 8, 1832, to Mrs. Sidney Denton, widow of the late Dr. Evert Denton, of Chardon. Her maiden name was Metcalf, and she was born at Enfield, Connecticut, March 16, 1804, a daughter of Thomas and Sybil Metcalf. The Metcalfs were a strong-fibered people, and numbered among their members Governor Metcalf, of New Hampshire; Governor Metcalf, of Kentucky, was probably of the same line of descent. Mrs. Converse was a child of thirteen years when she came with the Smith family to Chardon, Ohio, in 1817. At the age of twenty she married Dr. Denton, one of the most noted physicians of early times. After a happy union, covering a period of six years, she was left a widow. She was a woman of many remarkable traits, possessing great strength of mind and character, and was idolized by her children and grandchildren. Upon the first anniversary of the death ,of Mr. Converse, she was smitten with a fatal illness, and February 9, 1875, passed from this life. His death occurred. February 4, 1874. Julius Orrin Converse is the only surviving child of this union. He has united in his nature many of the mental characteristics of both his parents, and possesses a kindly amiability and rare judgment. His earliest training was received in the common schools of Chardon, and at the age of sixteen he entered the printing office, where he began the more serious discipline of life. He began doing press work and composition on the Geauga Republic, a Whig paper, in 1850. Later, he entered the office of the Free Democrat, a Free Soil paper. The name of this publication was afterward chauged to Jeffersonian Democrat. He remained with this journal in a subordinate position most of the time until he became its editor aud propriementor, assuming full control January 1, 1859. 426 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY Meanwhile, he studied law in the office of Riddle & Thrasher, and was admitted to the bar in the autumn of 1858. He was still a young man of twenty-five years, and the spirit of progress was soon manifest in the claims for justice which sounded with no uncertain note from the editorial column. During the war this newspaper was stanch and steadfast in its support of the North, and aggressive and bold in its denunciation of the curse of slavery. The Jeffersonian Democrat was finally changed to the more significant Republican. Under the management of Mr. Converse, the paper has become the exponent of liberal thought and moral reform, keeping fully abreast of the times, and it is considered one of the best edited papers in Northeastern Ohio. Early in President Lincoln's administration, Mr. Converse was appointed Postmaster, the only public office he has ever held. For many years he was chairman of the Republican Central Committee of his county, and has served on various district committees and in judicial, senatorial and Congressional conventions, giving a ripened experience and sound judgment to the counsels of his party. For four years, beginning in 1880, he was a member of the Republican State Central Committee, the last year being its Chairman. In 1880 he was chosen as one of the alternates from the Nineteenth District to the Republican National Convention, and, in 1884, was one of the delegates from the same District to the Convention which nominated Mr. Blaine. At the last Congressional convention, lie received every vote from his county, on eight successive ballots, for the nomination for Congress, his name being then withdrawn. He was appointed Postmaster by President Harrison, taking charge of the office April 1, 1890, Being an orator of no mean ability, Mr. Converse has made many speeches in the county and State during political campaigns, and has also spoken in public upon other topics. After the death of President Garfield,, he delivered an address, " Garfield, the Idea] Man," which was published in pamphlet form, and elicited much favorable comment by the press, and many valued private tokens of appreciation from eminent sources. Mr. Converse was married December 24, 1862, to Julia P. Wright, a daughter of Daniel H. and Susan P. Wright, then of Freedom, Portage county, now of Chardon. They have one child, Mary E., born May 16, 1864. The family are members of the Congregational Church, in which Mr. Converse now holds the office of Deacon. He is a man of tall and commanding presence, pleasing in address and possessed of marked intellectuality. He is a facile and forceful writer, endowed with a mind of keen analytical and logical power, resulting in part from native capacity and in part from experience and close study. He has had, during his long and honorable editorial career, a potent influence in shaping the politics of the county, and had he been ambitious for preferment in that line, could have had any position in the gift of the people. His habits are thoroughly democratic; his character pure and above reproach, and to a marked degree does he hold the confidence and esteem of the people. D. D. BURNETT, a prominent merchant and progressive citizen of Ashtabula, Ohio, was born in Ashtabula county, August 9, 1839. His grandfather, the first of the family to settle in this county, was OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 427 David Burnett, a native of New Jersey. He was married in that State to Mary White, and in 1805 they joined the westward tide of emigration. They came to Hubbard, Ohio, where their first child was born, and whence they removed, the following year, to a farm in Plymouth township, where they resided until death, the grandfather dying in 1863, at the age of eighty years. His only experience in military service was at the time of the war of 1812, when he was a minute-man and was stationed at the Harbor with a few others to repel the British, who were just outside ready to capture the stores and supplies gathered at this point. He was a man of the highest integrity and greatest energy and public spirit and did much toward the early development of the country in his vicinity. The nine children of this worthy couple were: Samuel, father of the subject of this sketch; Edmund; Sarah, who married Bela Blakesley; Fannie, wife of Timothy Smith; Josiah; White; Jane, who died unmarried; Betsy, who married Frederick Smith; and Stephen. Of these, Samuel Burnett became a farmer and active business man and served Plymouth township for many years in the capacities of Postmaster and Justice of the Peace. He was a man of unusual ability and force of character and was greatly esteemed by all who knew him. He was thrice married, his second wife being Louisa Seymour, a lady of many sterling qualities, daughter of Merrick Seymour, a well known pioneer of Ashtabula county. They had two sons: Merrick, who died 1838, and D. D., the subject of this sketch. In 1840, the devoted wife and mother died. Mr. Burnett was later married to Jane Gleason, a lady of domestic and social accomplishments, and they had five children: George; Freddie, the wife of Lewis Iran Slyke; Louisa, who married J. D. Klumph; Stephen and Frank, in Ashtabula. In 1890, Mr. Burnett was bereaved of his wife, and April 15, 1893, he also died, universally and sincerely lamented. His son, D. D. Burnett, whose name heads this sketch, was reared in his native county and attended the common schools in his vicinity. He was trained to farming, which occupation he followed until the commencement of the war. In the fall of 1860, he went to Iowa, where he enlisted, the following year, in Company D of the First Iowa Cavalry. The command rendezvoused at Burlington until uniformed, when they were ordered to St. Louis, Missouri. They participated in ,a slight skirmish at Lexington, where Mr. Burnett was shot in the hand and disabled for six months. He then rejoined his regiment at Clinton, Missouri, and was with the wagon train during the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. He helped to drive General Marmaduke out of Missouri, in May, 1863, and in 1864 was discharged at Davenport, Iowa. He then immediately came to Ohio, and was married, after which he returned with his wife to Iowa. A year later, he decided to make Ohio his home, and accordingly settled in Ashtabula, where he engaged in carpenter and joiner work, which he followed until 1872. At this time a railroad accident deprived him of his right foot, and for the next ten years he confined his work to the shop. He then decided to try a new business, and engaged in merchandising, which he has since followed with gratifying success, his business being conducted on the merit of his goods and with the strictest regard to the highest business principles. February 22, 1865, Mr. Burnett was married to Louisa Dickenson, an intelligent and refined lady, daughter of E. M. Dickenson, of whom extended notice will follow. Mr. 428 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY and Mrs. Burnett have had five children: Myrtle E.; Anna L.; Ada D., who married A. J. Dittenhaver; Julia K.; and Bessie I., who died at the age of eleven years. Fraternally, Mr. Burnett affiliates with the G. A. R., and his family are active members of the Congregational Church. All enjoy the highest esteem of the community in which they reside, and of which Mr. Burnett is a representative citizen. E. M. Dickenson, Mrs. Burnett's father, now deceased, was an early settler of Ashtabula county, Ohio, and took an active part in its development. He was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, September 17, 1806, and was the youngest of nine children of Waitstell Dickenson, who was a farmer and a worthy patriot. He joined the Colonial army, serving faithfully aud efficiently for seven years under General Gage and Baron Steuben, thereby contributing much luster to the family name. He was a Whig in politics and a typical American, most temperate in his habits, never using either wine or tobacco, was highly industrious and enterprising and a Scotch Presbyterian in faith. He removed with his family in an early day from Connecticut to Onondaga, New York, where they resided many years. Thence they removed to Lagrange county, Indiana, and in 1841 made a final move to Ashtabula county, Ohio, settling in Kingsville. Here Waitstell Dickenson died in 1842, at the age of eighty-six years, sincerely lamented by reason of his many sterling traits of character. E. .111. Dickenson resembled his father in character and disposition, and like him was a Whig in politics, with the addition of strong antislavery proclivities, being a member of the underground railway association, his home having sheltered many fugitive slaves. He was a man of superior ability, well versed in current events and most just and upright in character, his religious faith being that of the Congregationalists. Mr. E. M. Dickenson was married in Kiugsville, Ohio, to Elizabeth Brown, daughter of Peter Brown, of Vermont, who was an early settler of Ashtabula county, of whom mention will be made again. Five years after his marriage, Mr. Dickenson sold the farm on which he had been residing and bought that now owned by the family. There his death occurred February 22, 1859, his loss carrying sorrow to many hearts which appreciated his worth. Peter Brown, his wife's father, also a pioneer of Ashtabula county, was born in Stafford, Orange county, Vermont, in 1780, where he was reared and married and followed the tanner and currier's trade. He also participated in the war of 1812, and fought in the battle of Lake Champlain. He came to Ohio in 1826 and died in Ashtabula county in 1856, his wife following him to the tomb in 1863, at the age of eighty-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Dickenson had six children: Louisa C.; Charles, who died in California, February 26, 1890; Edward P.; Willie H., who died March 26, 1891; George B., residing in Denver; and Katherine S. All who survive occupy positions of honor and trust and are worthy descendants of respected parents. MANVILLE F. PARKER was born March 15, 1839, in Madison, Lake county, Ohio, a son of Silas and Phoebe (Beckwith) Parker. The father, a native of Connecticut, was born April 22, 1811, and was reared to agricultural pursuits; he emigrated with his parents to Ohio in 1830, locating in the western part of Madison township, Lake county. At the OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 429 age of twenty-four years he was married, and afterward bought a farm in Leroy township, Lake county. By his first marriage he had five children: O. C. was born in 1836 and has a family of six children, live of whom survive; in early life he was engaged in mercantile pursuits, but now raises small fruits; Loren was born October 2, 1837; he was a farmer and followed this occupation for several years; at present his whereabouts are unknown; Manville F. is the third-born and the subject of this notice; Silas, Jr., was born in 1846; he enlisted in the Union army in December, 1861, as a private in the Fifteenth Ohio Battery, a bright young man full of promise; he was mustered in at Camp Chase; Ohio, and was soon after stricken with measles from which he did not recover, his death occurring February 14, 1862; Harmon C. was born in 1848, he is successfully engaged in the culture of small fruits. The father was married a second time in 1858, and two children were the result of this union, ouly one surviving; his third marriage was in 1865, and his death occurred October 23, 1879. Manville F. Parker passed his boyhood and youth on the farm, and had bin, ited opportunities for acquiring an education. He left the parental roof at the age of ten years, and before he was twelve years old left the schoolroom to assume the more serious responsibilities of life. For eight years he was employed on a farm, and at the age of eighteen was united in marriage to Ann P. Rice, this event being solemnized September 1856. Mrs. Parker is the daughter of Lyman H. and Hulda C. Rice, natives of the State of New York; they removed to Ohio in 1800, and the following year Mr. Rice returned to New York to make a visit; he reached Buffalo, and was not heard from after ward. For a year after his marriage Mr. Parker was employed on the railroad; he removed to Michigan in 1857 and engaged in milling, conducting a successful business until December 30, 1863, when he surrendered his private interests to the Nation's need, enlisting as a private in Company E, Nineteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry. He joined his regiment at McMinnville, Tennessee, the middle of January, 1864, and was in active service until the battle of Resaca, Georgia, where he was wounded May 15, 1864. He lay upon the ground eight hours; was then carried into the woods, where he laid seven days on a rubber blanket with his wound un-. dressed; he was then taken to the general field hospital, and May 24 he was carried back to Resaca. July 1 he was sent to Chattanooga, thence to Nashville, thence to Jeffersonville, Indiana, and finally to St. Mary's hospital, Detroit, where he was dis charged October 5, 1864, having undergone a thigh amputation. He returned to his home in Kalamazoo county, and again embarked in the milling business. In 1867 he returned to Geneva, Ohio, and for sixteen years was manager of a large sawmill. During the past eight years he has been unable to conduct an active business. Mr. and Mrs. Parker have had a family of six children, four of whom are living: Ara A., was born August 30, 1857; he was married in 1877 to Ada A. Young, who died January 8, 1880; he was married a second time, March 15, 1883, to Isabella Taylor; Ira I. was born February 4, 1860; he married Adell Stone, and they had two children, one of whom died at the age of six months; Delia D. was born March 24, 1862; she was married December 24, 1881, and had one child; she was married a second time August 29, 1891; Myron M. was born April 14, 430 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY 1864, and died January 26, 1869; Jay 0. was born November 29, 1872, and died February 24, 1873; Clyde L. was born July 13, 1878. Mr. Parker is a member of Bowers Post, G. A. R. In politics he supports the issues of the Republican party. He is a man of sterling worth and a most loyal citizen of the Republic. CHARLES PELTON, a well known farmer and stock-raiser of Willoughby township, Lake county, Ohio, was born in this same township, July 22, 1832. His father, Heury Pelton, was a native of Livingston county, New York, as was also his grandfather, whose given name was John. The father of the latter, however, was of English descent, and emigrated from Connecticut. Henry Pelton removed to Ohio in 1831, and engaged in farming in Willoughby township. He subsequently removed to Michigan, afterward to Missouri, and finally located in Nebraska, where he died in 1890, at the ripe old age of eighty-six years. He was a man of great physical strength and power, and his life was characterized by great industry and energy. In time he grew to be quite well- to do and was prominent among the pioneers who called upon him at various times to hold local offices of trust and honor. His wife, who before her marriage was Margaret Hamilton, was, like her. husband, a native of Livingston, county, New York. She was called to the home beyond in 1889, when she had attained the age of eighty-five years. The subject of this record is the first in order of birth in a family of five children, who grew. to mature years, and four of whom are still living. his education was such as was afforded by the common district school of those days, after which he attended for one term the famous old Kirtland Academy. When eighteen years old he began to " paddle his own canoe." He was entirely without means and literally had to begin at the bottom of the ladder. He rented land for awhile, and finally purchased a farm on the lake shore. After cultivating this property for some years he disposed of this also, and, for the follow ing seven years lived in Willoughby, retired from active business. Mr. Pelton's next move was to purchase the old Woolsey farm near the village, on which he has now resided for about ten years. This valuable farm was one of the first places settled in the township and comprises 150 acres, in addition to which our subject owns thirty-five acres in another body. An old frame house, which is still standing on the place, was one of the first erected in this township. Our subject has always taken great interest in raising good stock and is a successful agriculturist. A most important event in Mr. Pelton's life occurred in the fall of 1854, when he married Fidelia Campbell, who has been a faithful and efficient helpmeet to him. Mrs. Pelton is a native of Willoughby township and is a daughter of James and Lucy (Rooker) Campbell, the former a native of the Empire State and the latter born in this township, February 20, 1812. Mrs. Campbell is still living and is probably the oldest surviving person born in this town. Her husband's death occurred in 1879. One child came to bless the union of our worthy subject and his amiable wife. This was a daughter, Elia, who was born March 29, 1857, and who became the wife of G. F. Houliston November 15, 1877. She was called from this life February 5, 1890, leaving one son, Charles. OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 431 In regard to the matter of politics, Mr. Felton supports the Republican party. He has filled various local positions within the gift of the people, was for several years Township Trustee, and in 1880 was appointed Land Appraiser. He is public-spirited and has always manifested great interest in everything tending to advance the welfare and promote the prosperity of the Community in which he has made his home for so many years. GEORGE W. RATHBUN, a venerable citizen of Conneaut, is one of the oldest native residents of the town. Of his life and ancestry we make the following record: At an early day three Rathbun brothers came to America, landing at Plymouth Rock. Two went back to Liverpool, whence they came. The other remained, and all the Rath- buns of the United States are supposed to be desceudants of his. George W. Rathbun's graud parents, Joseph and Olive (Pearson) Rathbun, had a family of five sons and eight daughters, all of whom lived to be married except one. Joseph and Edmund (the latter died in Cleveland some years since) were both Revolutionary soldiers. Joseph lived to be ninety-three years old and Edmund was nearly a hundred when he died. Our subject's parents, Erastus and Sallie (Lilley) Rathbun, natives of New York and Vermont respectively, were married in New York in 1815, and came direct to Ohio, settling in Newburg. For many years Erastus Rathbun was engaged in milling in Ohio, having learned that trade after he came to this State. While in New York during the war of 1812, he enlisted in the service of his country and was called out at Buffalo. He was taken sick about that time, however, and never saw any active service. He was born in 1798, and died in 1884. His wife was a member of the Free-will Baptist Church. She died at the age of sixty-three years. Of their children we make record as follows: Sylvester L., the oldest, married Fanny E. Kent, reared a family, and died in Amboy, Ohio, August 6, 1885, aged sixty-eight years; Lavina and her husband, William Tinker, are both deceased, their only child beiug William Tinker, Jr.; George W., the third born; Joseph, who died at the age of three years; and Adelia M., wife of L. L. Skinner, Pierpont, Ohio, has two children, Edgar R. and Lillie L. George W. Rathbun was born in Conneaut, January 15, 1825. He began milling in Monroe and Sheffield townships, this county, and, like his father, was for many years en gaged in the milling business. In February, 1861, he moved to Conneaut and has continued to reside here ever. since, being now retired. He owned the Union Mills of Conneaut until 1892. Mr. Rathbun was married June 15, 1851, to Miss Maria Collius. Her father, Thomas Collins, a native of England and a shoemaker by trade, came, to America during the war of 1812, as a soldier of the Crown. He was taken prisoner and held at Cleveland, and after he was exchanged never returned; really, he deserted, preferring to remain in the United States. He was married in Newburg to Susan Rathbun, and lived in Cuyahoga county the rest of his life. His death occurred in 1835. Some time afterward his widow became the wife of Ambrose Lockwood. Both are now deceased. She passed away in 1870, aged seventy-one. She was a member of the Disciple Church. Mrs. Rathbun is the only one now living in a family of 432 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY eight children. Four of the oldest died in infancy. The fifth, Milton, was drowned, at the age of eightyears, while out skating on the canal. Mrs. Rathbun was the sixth born. Orley, the seventh, died at the age of two years. Mary Jane, wife of George Skinner, died at the age of twenty-five years. Mrs. (Collins) Lockwood had two children by her last husband,—Clark I., of Illinois, and Sadie, who died in childhood. Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun have two children, namely: Mary Eleanor, wife of W. S. Montgomery, of Conneaut, has two children, Carl F. and Ernest 0.; and William Ernest, who married Minnie Reels, has two children, George W. and Florence E. He and his wife have been members of the Christian Church for over twenty years. He has also long been a member of the Masonic fraternity, having taken the degrees in the blue lodge, chapter, council and commandery. In all these he has held official position, and for the past two years has been Generalissimo in the commandery. He was a delegate to the Grand Council which met at Chillicothe, Ohio. Politically, he is a Democrat. ARDELIA C. KING, a resident of Madison township, Lake county, Ohio, and a native of this place, is a member of the Cunningham family, early pioneers of the county. The Cunninghams were prominently identified with the interests of this section of the country. They were people of education and refinement, and while they cleared away the forest and cultivated the soil they were also prominent factors in shaping the social and educational affairs of the community. Few, indeed, of the early pioneers took a more active part in developing the best interests of this vicinity or wielded a wider influence than did the Cunninghams. Captain John Cunningham, the grandfather of Mrs. King, was a man of distinguished ability. In early life he lived at Spencer, Massachusetts, but subsequently removed to Plainfield, Hampshire county, in the same State. He was a Captain in the war of the Revolution, and at one time he represented his district in the Legislature of Massachusetts. Governor Strong of that State offered to trade him land in the Western Reserve for his Massachusetts property, and in 1809 the Captain sent two of his sons, Cyrus and Artemus, out to Ohio to look at the land. They made the journey on horseback as far as Madison county, New York, and from there to Ohio, on foot, and returned with a favorable report of the country. The trade was made, and in 1811 Captain Cunningham and his family emigrated by wagon to the land he had thus acquired, reaching their destination March 5. This land, located in the northeastern part of Madison township, comprises several thousand acres. It extended from the Middle Ridge to the lake and was one mile wide and four miles long. He built his log cabin in the woods just north of where Unionville is now located, and at once began to clear the land. At that time there were not to exceed half a dozen families in Madison township. A few straggling Indians wandered through the country, and deer, bears and wolves were numerous. For the first few years the early settlers had to go to Erie, Pennsylvania, a distance of sixty miles, to mill, and the nearest store was at Austinburg, Ashtabula county, where also a mill was built after a time. After residing on the first place of OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 433 settlement two years, he relinquished it to the family of his son James, who had died suddenly in Madison county, New York, and whose family had come out here immediately after his death. The Captain then started anew on another part of the tract. He was a hard-working man all his life, his active career ending with his death, August 20, 1829, at the age of eighty-four years. His wife, nee Anna Thomson, a native of Massachusetts, died February 23, 1813, being a victim of a terrible epidemic that swept over the country. They reared five children, namely: Lucy, Artemus, James, Amos and Cyrus. The daughter, Lucy, married Dr. Torrey, and resided in the East. The three surviving sons settled upon different portions of the land above described, Artemis making his home on the lake shore near the mouth of Cunningham creek; Amos on the North Ridge. near the county line; and Cyrus, father of Mrs. King, on the land which she now owns and which has been her home during her whole life. Cyrus Cunningham was a native of Plainfield, Hampshire county, Massachusetts. He was fitted for college under the tutorship of the Rev. Mr. Halleck, and entered Williams College when he was seventeen, with a view to a professional career. However, after being in college two years, he was obliged to return home on account of ill health. It was soon after this that he and his brother came West, as before stated. After his return from this trip, he was married to Miss Hannah Colson, of Massachusetts, and in 1811 they came with his parents to the Connecticut Western Reserve. Here she died January 12, 1812, less than a year after their arrival. In 1814 Mr. Cunningham married Miss Mary W. Crary, who was born in Preston, New London county, Connecticut. She had been a resident of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, where she was engaged in teaching school, and had intended to come West with her father, Christopher Crary, who, in 1811, settled in Kirtland township, Lake county, but she decided to teach for another year in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and, accordingly postponed her western trip until 1812, when she came to Ohio in company with the Warners. Her father was a veteran of the Revolutionary war. Mr. Cunningham and his second wile had five children, four daughters and one son, namely: Edwin, who died at the age of six years; Mrs. Amanda C. Sawdy, deceased; Mrs. Octavia C. Walker; Mrs. Ardelia C. King; and Mrs. Emily Wetmore, deceased. After the surrender of Detroit by Hull, there was a call for all men capable of bearing arms to meet at Unionville and there form a company to go to Sandusky and make a stand against the British and Indians. Cyrus Cunningham joined the company, shouldered his musket, and, with the company, proceeded to the point where Cleveland is now located and there waited for further or - ders. At that time Cleveland was but a mere hamlet in the forest, with only a cluster of houses of that unpretentious order that was typical of that time and section. After a time word came that the British and their Indian allies had been repulsed, and the volunteers returned to their homes, after having been absent about fifteen days. At the time of the battle of Lake Erie, in 1813, the Cunningham family could distinctly hear the cannonading at their home, but it was several days before they received news of the result, as there were no roads or mail routes at that time, the only guide through the pathless forests being that furnished by the trees which had been blazed. Of the early pioneer days' 434 - BIOGRAPHICAL; HISTORY Mrs. King recounts that she has often heard her 'father speak of having taken a load of corn to Austinburgh, where he exchanged it for a barrel of salt, and she called attention to the notable change in comparative prices of the two commodities since that time. Cyrus Cunningham taught the first winter school in this vicinity, and his wife the first slimmer school. His death occurred here August 30, 1862, and hers March 5, 1858. Both were members of the first Congregational Church established here, and were liberal supporters of the same. He was a Justice of the Peace for many years and also Assessor of Geauga county for six years. At that time the present county of Lake had not been detached from Geauga, which originally comprised both. Mrs. King attended the early pioneer schools and for four terms was a student in the Western Reserve Seminary in Kirtland township. She taught eighteen terms of school here, and her sister Octavia taught over thirty terms. She was married in 1858 to Andrew J. King, who was born in Orange county, New York, in September, 1815, and came with his father, Thomas King, to Ohio in 1818 and settled on the North Ridge in Madison township. Mr. and Mrs. King had 'two children: Minnie W., now Mrs. Craine, who resides with her mother; and Thomas, a resident of Montana. Mr. King was well- known and highly respected. He died January 20, 1891. CHARLES H. QUAYLE, M. D., one of the most prominent physicians and surgeons of northeastern Ohio, residing in Dodgeville, was born in Madison, this State, July 9, 1863. His ancestors were German and Manx, his grandfather, John Quayle, having came to Painesville, Ohio, from the Isle of Man, and was for many years employed in the old Geauga furnace. Here, Henry, father of the subject of this sketch, was born November 1, 1834. About eleven years later, in 1845, the family removed to Madison, at that time a forest, and purchased a large tract of laud, which they soon converted into a productive farm. Here grandfather Quayle passed his last days in peace and comfort. Henry, his son, father of Dr, Quayle of this notice, assisted in clearing the farm and worked upon the place for a number of years. He was married, August 30, 1862, to Mary E. Bower, daughter of Paul and Hannah Bower, who emigrated from Germany to Ohio in pioneer days. About 1877, Henry Quayle sold out his interest in the home farm and removed to within a mile of Thompson, in Geauga county, where he purchased a farm of 300 acres, which, under his vigorous efforts, became one of the finest places in that vicinity. Commodious, modern buildings have been erected on it, orchards, vineyards and evergreens planted, and all that money and labor can do to convert it into a model home, has been effected. Henry Quayle was the father of six children: Charles H., the oldest, whose name heads this sketch; Perry W., residing on the old homestead, a mile east of Thompson Ledge, began the study of medicine, which he was forced to abandon on account of the failure of his eyes; John H., the youngest son, is attending the Cleveland Homoeopathic College, and bids fair to equal his distinguished brother, of this notice, in his profession. He has already so far won the confidence of the faculty as to be appointed first assistant to Dr. Bigger during the first year of his course. Rhoda H., the oldest daughter, married A. F. Allyn, a prom- OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 435 inent grocer and baker of Chardon, Ohio; May, the second daughter, married Alton Dewey on May 10, 1893, and resides in Thompson; and Sarah, the " baby, " is at home. The happy parents of this interesting family are yet living on the homestead near Thompson, where, surrounded by all that conduces to earthly comfort, and esteemed by all who know them, they are passing their declining years- Mrs. Henry Quayle is a model wife and mother, and much of the success of her children may be attributed to her wise and watchful guidance. Henry Quayle is a loving father and husband, an able financier, and progressive, public-spirited citizen, and has done much by his broad views and wise counsel to advance the interests of his comm unity. Dr. Quayle of this notice, received his preliminary education in the district schools of Thompson and enjoyed the benefits of a cultured and refined home. Possessing a strong and active intellect he naturally craved for higher knowledge, and after teaching a few terms in the district schools he entered Lebanon University. Here he remained five years, accomplishing a wonderful amount of work. He spent the first year in the business department, at which he graduated with such high honors that he was immediately tendered the position of head bookkeeper of the University, a post of great responsibility, which he held to the satisfaction of the trustees and with profit to himself during the remainder of his stay in the institution. Dr. Quayle next entered the pedagogical department, and so thorough was his preparation for teaching, that, upon receiving his diploma from this department, he was immediately offered a position as teacher, which was accepted. The courses of science, the arts and medicine were next pursued with much inde fatigable zeal that notwithstanding the time devoted to teaching and bookkeeping, he was enabled in a comparatively short time to receive the degrees of B. S. and M. D., in addition to those diplomas already secured for teaching and bookkeeping. While thus pursuing his studies, he not only succeeded in defraying all his expenses but also saved the snug amount of $1,000 with which to continne his studies. As showing his high standing in the estimation of the faculty, may be mentioned the fact that he was the only one chosen from the large class which graduated, to assist the physicians, Drs. E. J. Tichener and G. L. Cruger, in conducting the Warren County Infirmary. After six months' experience in this position, Dr. Quayle entered the Western Reserve Medical College, where he remained three years, receiving his diploma in 1888. Here, his indnstry as a student, together with his previous experience and the fact of his already holding the degree of M. D., naturally conspired in his favor, and, during the last year of his course, a responsible position in the hospital department was offered to him, and he was thus enabled to combine practical experience with theory during the whole time of his preparation. Nor has he discontinued his studies since graduation; on the contrary he has embraced every opportunity to pursue them to a higher perfection. He has since taken a post-graduate course at the Western Reserve University and has specialized in several departments of medical science, namely: urinal analysis, cancers, typhoid fever, diseases of the throat, lungs and chest, etc., and also intends to take a post-graduate course at the Cleveland Homeopathic College as soon as practicable. He is also a close peruser of his large and carefully selected library, subscribes liberally for numerous med- 436 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY ical periodicals, for which he occasionally writes, and is otherwise untiring in the study of his chosen profession. He is also a great admirer of general literature and deeply interested in scientific matters, is an enthusiastic geologist and botanist, and has an excellent geological collection of his own gathering. The Doctor began his practice in Middletown, Ohio. Being then unmarried and rather portable, after practicing about a month, he was easily induced to remove, by a resident physician who owned property in the town, and who offered a liberal amount of money to secure this result. Thereupon the Doctor immediately came to Dodgeville, where he purchased the beautiful home which he now occupies and where he has continued in constant practice up to the present time. During these four years he has built up a practice which may well seem phenomenal, when it is considered that he frequently drives twenty-five miles on his professional visits, and is often called to distant towns, his annual income being conservatively estimated at $3,000. He is also examiner for six old-line insurance companies. Indeed, he seems to have been specially spared for a life of usefulness to his fellows, if some of his hairbreadth escapes from death are counted for anything. When a child, he fell and injured his right arm, from which he has never recovered. While in Lebanon he narrowly escaped perishing in a flood caused by the bursting of a reservoir, in which the house where he was staying was carried away. He was in a railroad accident at Collinwood; narrowly escaped drowning in Lake Erie; was once entangled in a rope attached to an infuriated bull; and has figured in numerous minor casualties, always providentially escaping with his life, the Doctor says, because he 44 was born to be hung. " November 1, 1888, Dr. Quayle was married to Miss Nellie M. Clough, an educated and accomplished lady, who attended New Lyme Institute, then, as now, under the able guidance of Prof. Tuckerman, and she later engaged in teaching with success. She is also an excellent musician, which art she formerly taught. She is a lady of literary taste and ability, an ideal wife and mother, and universally beloved for her many estimable qualities. Her parents, Roswell and Fidelia Clough, of Footville, Ohio, were pioneers of the Buckeye State, having accompanied their parents to the West from Massachusetts, their ancestors having been residents of New England for many years. Roswell Clough is a prominent mill man of Trumbull county, owns extensive property and is a first-class financier. He has seemingly conquered fate, having twice erected buildings which were twice destroyed by fire. He has a large acquaintance and a host of friends. He is the father of six sons and four daughters, all living. Dr. and Mrs. Quayle have two interesting children: Florence, born June 29, 1880; and Lucille, born October 12, 1882, of whom the parents are justly proud. Politically, the Doctor is rather conservative, but may always be relied upon to cast his influence on the side of reform and purity. Fraternally, he is a Free and Accepted Mason and associated with Symbol Lodge, of New Lyme. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Pebble Rock Lodge, at Thompson, Ohio; and is an active member of the Ashtabula County Medical Society. In social and moral reforms, he has always been an effective worker, and while at Warren County Infirmary was chiefly instrumental in establishing a Sunday-school in that institution. Both he and his wife are useful members of the Baptist Church. He is a OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 437 citizen of whom his town and county may well be proud. Of the highest integrity, broadest culture and kindliest motives, he is fitted to benefit and adorn any society or community in which it may be his pleasure to reside. HON. HENRY LAWTON MORRISON.—This gentleman is a worthy rep- resentative of a long line of ancestors, his career having been such that his name is synonymous with all that is good and great. His remote American ancestor, William Morrison, came to North Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1740. It is not known where this ancestor was born, but it is quite probable that he was of Scotch-Irish lineage. In 1748 he married Sarah Montgomery, whose ancestry can probably be traced to the Brigend family of Montgomery, Ayrshire, presumably of British origin. William Morrison was a brave and efficient soldier in the French and Indian war, in which he was captured by the enemy and removed to a prison in Quebec, where he died. He had the following sons: William, Alexander, John, Robert and James. James Morrison, his youngest son, was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1757. In 1783 he was married to Hannah Gunn, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and they had five sons and five daughters, the oldest of whom was James Morrison, Jr. June 6, 1806, in company with several other people, James Morrison, Sr.,. started with teams for the West, arriving in Ashtabula county, Ohio, after six weeks' toilsome and wearisome journeying. Shortly after his arrival here, he selected and purchased 400 or 500 acres of land in the new township of Geneva, to which he removed his family. A rude home was built in the forest, after which the older members set about clearing the land, thus beginning their pioneer experiences in Ashtabula county. The father gave to his sons, James, Jr., William, Strobridge and Riley, who accompanied him, each a tract of land, reserving the old homestead for himself, on which his youngest son was to reside. The father was at first a Universalist, but after coming to Ohio he became a Methodist, being a zealous churchman of sturdy character. He had been an efficient soldier in the Revolutionary war, for which he drew a pension during the last few years of his life. He died in 1854, at the advanced age of ninety- seven years, leaving many sorrowing friends to mourn his loss. James Morrison, Jr., his oldest son, was born in 1784, in Blandford, Massachusetts, and in 1805 was married to Susanna McNutt. In 1806 he came with his wife and oldest son to Ohio, in company with his father, and settled on land in Geneva, Ashtabula county, on which he resided until his death in 1867, at the venerable age of eighty-three years. He was married four times. His first wife died in 1811, by which marriage he had four sons. He then married her sister, Sarah McNutt, and they had five children. She died at the birth of Henry Lawton Morrison, the subject of this sketch, who was born in Geneva, Ohio, August 12, 1820. His father married for a third wife Mrs. Ruth (Ellis) Turner, who died in 1845, leaving four children. In 1847 he married Mrs. Abigail Palmer, of Massachusetts, who had no children. Henry Lawton Morrison, whose name heads this notice, on account of his mother dying at his birth, was given to an uncle named 438 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY Lawton, whose wife, Sarah, was a sister of James Morrison, Jr. These relatives bestowed upon him all the care and affection the kindest parents could give, and in their quiet, humble home on the 'farm he grew to boyhood with such advantages of schooling as the common schools of his day afforded. When Henry was fifteen years of age, his uncle sold the farm and Henry became a clerk in a store in the then village of Ashtabula, thus beginning what has been a long, active and successful business career. He has since lived continuously in this place, which he has seen grow from a village of 500 to a flourishing city of 10,000 inhabitants, during which time he has been actively identified with the best interests of his chosen home. In 1848 Mr. Morrison was admitted as a partner into the establishment in which he had worked so long as a clerk. The death of his partner in 1861 left him sole proprietor of the business. He occupied the same place of business for more than forty-five years, conducting for the greater portion of the time a general merchandise trade. He recently built an excellent business block in another part of the city, and took his two sons into partnership with him. These are active and promising young men, the firm of H. L. Morrison & Sons now conducting a large trade in dry goods, notions, millinery and carpets, being a leading business firm of the city. Besides his other interests, Mr. Morrison has been for more than twenty years a director in the Pittsburg, Youngstown & Ashtabula Railroad Company. Politically, Mr. Morrison is a Republican, although he has been conservative and somewhat independent. He was for ten years an active member of the School Board; was Mayor several terms; County Commissioner three years; and has held other minor posi tions of honor and trust in the gift of an admiring people. He manifests much interest in history, and has been for some time president of the Ashtabula County Pioneer Society. In 1846 Mr. Morrison was married to Miss Nancy Pamelia Castle, of Ashtabula, and they have had four children: Katherine Amelia, Mary Watrous,Williard Henry and Frederick Root. Mr. Morrison, wife and daughters are communicants of the Baptist Church. The family hold high social rank in Ashtabula, and Mr. Morrison enjoys the confidence aud esteem of all who know him. VAN RENSELAER T. JOINER, a farmer and stock-raiser of Jefferson township, Ashtabula county, was born at Conneaut, this county, December 12, 1838, a son of Irwin and Phema (Moore) Joiner. The father was born in -Vermont, in 1795, and when a youth participated in the war of 1812, as Aid-de-camp to his uncle, General Erastus Joiner. Mr. Joiner was afterward engaged in farming in New York, next worked as a farm hand in Erie county, Pennsylvania, and in 1828 located in Conneaut, Ohio. He was married in that city in 1837. After following the cooper's trade a number of years, he engaged in shoemaking, but subsequently was employed as a brick and stone mason. In 1840 he purchased a timber farm in Sheffield township, Ashtabula county, cleared the same and erected a cabin, and was engaged at his trade and farming. In 1855 he sold his land and purchased another small tract of timber, which he also cleared. Mr. Joiner eventually made his home with his children, and he died July 26, OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 439 1891, at the age of ninety-six years. He was a member of the Universalist Church, was a good and useful man and honest citizen. The mother of our subject was born in Canada, May 20, 1816, came with her parents to Conneaut, Ohio, at the age of sixteen years, and was married two years later. She was well versed in the use of the wheel and loom, and, although not a member of any church, was a noble and self-sacrificing woman. Her death occurred in 1856. Mr. and Mrs. Joiner had six children, all of whom now reside in Ashtabula county. Van Rensaeler T. Joiner, the subject of this sketch, was early taught the value of industry, and when young engaged with his father at the stcne mason's trade. He afterward worked as a farm laborer six years. In 1864 lie became partner in a milling enterprise, manufacturing all kinds of lumber, including oak, ash and whitewood, and this venture proved quite successful. In 1866 Mr. Joiner bought 154 acres of land, and later, in company with his partner, they purchased 307 acres of timber land; and also owned a portable mill, cleared the land, sawed all the available timber into lumber, and increased their annual business to $10,000. Mr. Joiner's home is located about three and a half miles east of Jefferson. He has all the barns and sheds necessary for his stock and grain, has been engaged in the dairy business since 1870, has a fine herd of sheep and horses, and is interested in fruit-growing. In political matters he affiliates with the Republican party, has served as Township Trustee, School Director, and filled many other offices of trust. Our subject has kept a correct diary of the events of his daily life and transactions, and in this record he takes a just pride. November 12, 18__ he was united in marriage to Miss Dell C. Thompson, a daughter of Oral Thompson, a prominent merchant of Conneaut. Mrs. Joiner was born in that city September 29, 1846, received her education in the Kingsville school, and was engaged in teaching for a number of years. She was married at the age of twenty-two years. Mr. and Mrs. Joiner have two children,—Linas E., born November 17, 1870, received a good education in the Jefferson Educational Institute, and is now engaged in farming at home; and Bernice C., born October 16, 1879, has also received good educational advantages. Mr. Joiner was early thrown upon his own resources, having begun work for himself at the age of sixteen years, and by steady application to business, well directed efforts and honorable methods has gained what he now owns. His wife has been his faithful guide and counseler throughout their marriage life, and bath occupy a high position in the hearts of the citizens of Ashtabula county. ABEL G. RATHBONE, M. D., one of the oldest and most successful physicians and surgeons in Ashtabula county, Ohio, has practiced medicine continuously in New Lyme since 1852, and won golden opinions from all who know him. He comes of hardy New England stock and inherits much of the indomitable courage and perseverance so characteristic of that race. His parents were members of that daring company of pioneers who traveled toilsomely over hill and dale from New England to Ohio in an early day, settling on the present site of New Lyme, which they transformed from a forest to a beautiful village. The father of the subject of this sketch was born in Salem, Connecticut, in 1800, and made his home in that city until 1830, when he removed to New 440 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY Lyme. Alice (Latimer) Rathbone, mother of Dr. Rathbone of this notice, is the youngest of a remarkably long-lived family, four of whom survive, all being octogenarians. One, Eliza (Latimer) Reeves, now dead, was also an octogenarian. Those surviving are: Mrs. Rathbone, now eighty-four years of age; Albert Latimer, aged eighty-five, resides in New Lyme; Lucy Douglas, aged eighty-seven, lives in Rome, Ohio; and John Latimer, of Delaware, Ohio, lacks but eight years of a century. Dr. Rathbone of this notice was one of six children, four of whom survive. Albert L. died in California; Edwin lives in Rome, Ohio; Abel G., of this notice; John, Jeanette; and Leonora, who died in Rock Creek, Ohio. The subject of this sketch was born on a farm near New Lyme, August 12, 1837. His early educational advantages were secured in the district schools of his vicinity and supplemented by a few terms at Orwell Academy. He then taught for several winters, at the same time carrying on farming. In order to institute preparation for that work to which he had determined to devote his life, he commenced the study of medicine under the direction of an able preceptor, Dr. Porter Kee, and continued this preparatory study until 1859, when he removed to Kentucky, where he engaged in teaching. In the winter of 1860–'61 he attended medical lectures in Cincinnati, and, in the spring of 1861, returned to his home, by reason of the breaking out of the Civil war. His intention had been to remain in Kentucky and to give his attention to teaching until he had been able to complete his medical course at Cincinnati, but the war compelled him to alter his plans. Notwithstanding the fact that he enjoyed teaching and was extremely successful in that line of work--as is witnessed by the commendation of his contemporaries—he early chose medicine as his profession and lost no opportunity for applying himself to the necessary work of preparation. In the winter of 1861–'62 he attended lectures at the University of Buffalo, New York, and, upon the completion of the prescribed course, graduated from that institution. He then returned to New Lyme, his early home, and at once entered upon the practice of his profession. There, by careful and conscientious work, he succeeded in building up a large and lucrative practice, and he now enjoys a handsome income and, what is more to be prized, the universal good will of his fellow men. Although well fortified by experience and years of study, his habits of research and investigation are as strong as ever, and his large, well-filled library and numerous medical periodicals are constantly and carefully perused to his continual edification and satisfaction. He is not, however, incapable of enjoying the beauties of general literature; on the contrary he is a man of broad and generous culture and a devoted student of all that is good and beautiful in science, literature and art. During the past ten years, the Doctor has profitably conducted a first-class drug and grocery store, which in appearance and completeness of stock is one of the best business houses in New Lyme. Here is always a full line of drugs, groceries and notions, seldom to be found in a village of its size. Here, also, several young men of special fitness and ability have prepared themselves for the drug business and the medical profession, an indirect contribution by Dr. Rathbone to the good of society. In 1857, Dr. Rathbone was married to Finette P. Watson, a worthy lady, daughter of Harvey Watson, an esteemed citizen of Rock OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 441 Creek, Ohio. They have three daughters: Alice J., born August 19, 1860, married Alexander Switzer, a prominent cattle dealer of Butler, Richland county, Ohio; Anna Belle, born February 9, 1876; and May Belle, born May 12, 1878, are at home and pursuing courses of study at the celebrated New Lyme Institute, which is presided over by the distinguised educator, Prof. Jacob Tuckerman, A. M., Ph. D. Politically, Dr. Rathbone firmly advocates the principles of the Republican party, although not an active politician. Fraternally, he is allied with the Masonic order and the Ashtabula Medical Society. As a business man, practitioner and citizen, the Doctor has ever been characterized by broad views and unswerving integrity, and is justly held in high esteem by his community.R ROBERT BLAIR, deceased, one of the prominent pioneers of Lake county, Ohio, whose enterprise contributed much to the general advancement and development of the surrounding country, and whose memory is venerated by all who knew him and appreciated his worth, was born in West Brookfield, Worcester county, Massachusetts, March 8, 1792. He was of hardy Scotch ancestry, his grandfather, Robert Blair, having been born in Scotland in 1706, whence he emigrated to America in 1725. Reuben Blair, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Worcester county, Massachnsetts, in the early part of the eighteenth century. He was reared to farming, which he successfully followed during many years of his life. He married Susan Shepherd, also a native of Massachusetts and a descendant of an estimable family. Both died in the State of their birth at a good old age and in the full enjoyment of the highest regard of their fellow citizens, among whom they had lived so long and so honorably. Robert Blair, their son, whose name heads this sketch, was reared in a home of comfort and thrift, and early developed a self-reliance and ability rare in one of his age. When quite a young man, he became an agent for a woolen manufactory in Brookfield, Massachusetts, and after the war of 1812, business becoming much depressed in the East, he was sent by his company to the West, to dispose of goods. tie made the trip via the lakes to Mackinaw in 1816, and sold his supply of goods, and, in the same year, visited on his return the small settlement distinguished as Painesville, Ohio. He found little in that place to encourage him to remain for any length of time, provisions being scarce and the country wild. He was, however, much impressed with the future possibilities of the section. He made another trip to Ohio before finally taking up his abode in the western wilds. On February 5, 1818, he started for Kirtland, Lake county, making the journey overland with a sled drawn by oxen, passing through Painesville, March 8, 1818. He purchased land in Kirtland, paying about $4.50 an acre, all being heavily timbered. On this place he built a log house in which the family lived seven years. Wild game abounded, such as elk, deer, turkey, and their enemy, the wolf, but the Indians had mostly followed time coarse of the setting sun. In 1824, while residing on his farm, Mr. Blair erected the first courthouse in his .county, which was all called Geaug t county. This structure was made of brick, which material he made and burned. The building served the purpose for which it was erected 442 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY for many years and was finally destroyed by fire in 1873. Mr. Blair cleared about 100 acres of his land, which he cultivated and on which he later built a substantial residence. In the second year, he put up eight barrels of tine pork, which he could not dispose of for enough to pay for the salt used in its curing, The latter product was $5 a barrel at Fairport, all other imported commodities costing in proportion. It was about this time that a man endeavored to exchange some wheat for a pound of tea with a merchant in Painesville, when the storekeeper said that he had all the wheat he wanted, but if the man would bring him eight bushels of wheat, he might have the tea. It was in the midst of such hardships that the pioneers of this country lived and planted in the western wilds the flower of civilization to blossom like a rose for the future generations. In the winter of 1821—'25, a company was organized of which Mr. Blair became manager. In pursuance of their plans, he built a furnace on Grand river at what was called Pepoon's Crossing, near Painesville, where the Lake Shore Railroad crosses the river. He superintended the entire. construction of the plant, erecting the sawmill and all buildings necessary, and in the fall of 1825 began the manufacture of iron from ore found at Madison, Lake county. Charcoal was used in the furnace, which at once afforded a large market for that commodity, thereby greatly benefiting those in the vicinity who made that fuel. To be near his work, he removed to Painesville, which continued his home until death. He remained the manager of the Geauga Iron Company until a short time before his demise, when the increasing infirmities of age compelled him to retire, much to the regret of all concerned, his management having been satisfactory in every particular. While in charge of the Geauga iron furnace, he built another at Vermillion, Ohio, which was also in use for several years. When a resident of Kirtland, Mr. Blair was elected to the responsible position of County Commissioner, which office he filled with his usual ability and integrity. His wife, nee Barbara Anderson, a native of Hampshire county, Massachusetts, and representative of an old and prominent family, died in Ohio, April 21, 1852, greatly mourned by all who knew her. Mr. Blair survived his faithful wife many years, his death occurring in Painesville, August 27, 1875, at which time he was in his ninety-fourth year. Of the eight children of this worthy couple, five survive. One died in 1822, after which no death occurred among the remaining six until 1887, when one died, at the age of seventy- eight years. Of those living, William A., Robert L. and Susan, reside in Painesville, in comfortable homes on Erie street, overlooking the Grand river, where the Geauga Iron Company's furnace is situated. SIMEON C. HICKOK, an old setller and prominent business man of Painesville, Ohio, was born on a farm in Rutland county, Vermont, August 9, 1817. His father Sheldon P. Hickok, was of sturdy New England ancestry, having been born in Connecticut in 1792, whence he went to Vermont, where lie was mostly reared, his father having died when lre was eighteen years of age. Simeon Hickok, the great grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a resident of Litchfield county, Connecticut, and was the Captain of a Connecticut company which took an active part in the war of the Revoplutionary. His wife was Anna Parmley. OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 443 The maternal grandmother of our subject was Annie Ferry, who subsequently married a man by the name of Nichols and died when her daughter (mother of our subject) was only four years of age. Sheldon Hickok followed farming in the Green Mountain State until 1828, when the tide of western emigration was joined by himself and family and they removed to Ohio, coining via the lake to Fairport, at which place they arrived July 5, of that year, there being but four steamers plying Lake Erie at that time. The family resided in Perry for several years, whence they came in 1841 to Painesville township, where they lived until 1846. In the latter year, the parents removed to Brooklyn, Green county, Wisconsin, where the father died, at the age of eighty-five, greatly lamented by all who knew him. He was a devoted member of the Methodist Church, according to the teachings of which his life was directed. The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm and attended a district school in a log house. He used to visit the town of Poultney, Vermont, near his home, where he often received at the office of the Gazette a copy of that paper, said copy being given him by Horace Greeley, at that time a printer “devil" in that office. On coming to Lake county, Ohio, in 1828, he worked on a farm, and when twenty-one started out for himself, goiug the first year way up on the shores of Lake Huron, where lie cut wood for steamboats for a year. In April, 1839, he came to Painesville, where he was employed as a house painter a few years, after which he took up carpentry, which he has successfully followed ever since. He has built a good many dwellings and superintended the erection of the Episcopal church, besides a number of business blocks. He superintended the building of the County Infirmary and built under contract the City Engine House. Painesville has been his home ever since and he has resided on the same lot for fifty-one years, steadily prospering by industry and always in the full enjoyment of universal esteem. February 10, 1841, Mr. Hickok was married to Miss Eunice French, who was born in Perry, Ohio, June 1, 1822, and there reared. They celebrated the fifty-second anniversary of their wedding on February 10, 1893. Her father, Nathaniel French, was a native of Massachussetts but reared in Vermont. He participated in the war of 1812, after which, in 1816, he emigrated to Ohio, settling that year in Perry. His wife, nee Abigail Vessey, was a native of Vermont. He died about 1851 and she about 1864, leaving many friends to mourn their loss. Mr. and Mrs. Hickok have had five children, two now living: Sarah A., wife of J. B. Stubbs, of Chicago; and Eliza J., wife of J. M. Hart, of Collinwood, Ohio. In politics, Mr. Hickok was originally an old William H. Harrison Whig, and for that president he first voted. He is now a Republican and has voted in Painesville at fifty- three State elections, previous to which lie voted twice at Painesville, the same county. He has in his possession the poll-book containing all the names of the men who voted at the first election in Painesville, in 1804, which city was then in Trumbull county, three townships being included in that precinct at the time. He has never missed an election. His constituents have shown their appreciation of his worth by electing him to various offices of trust. He has been six times elected a member of the City Council of Painesviile, and has been three times elected County Commissioner, in 1866, 1869 and 1874, serving altogether in the latter capac- 444 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY ity for nine years. He has also been a del- egate to various conventions and served in many other minor official positions, his conduct being always distinguished by intelligence and honesty. Although not a member of any church, Mr. Hickok is a liberal contributor to religious and charitable objects. Mrs. Hickok belongs to the Methodist denomination. A progressive and public-spirited citizen, Mr. Hickok has been foremost in advancing the interests of his city, county, State and country, and reaps his reward in his own prosperity arid the highest regard of his fellow-citizens. His first vote for president was cast for William H. Harrison, in 1840, and he has voted for every candidate placed in nomination by his party since that time, his fourteenth presidential ballot being deposited for Benjamin Harrison in 1892. CHARLES G. BETTS, a farmer and stock raiser of Jefferson township, Ashtabula county, was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, November 5, 1856, a son of Thomas and Mariah (Sharp) Betts. The father was born in Pennsylvania, in 1839, and there married in 1859, and has ever since resided on a farm in that county. He is a Republican in his political views. The mother of our subject was born in Williamsfield township, Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1841, and was married at the age of eighteen years. She also still survives. Mr. and Mrs. Betts were the parents of thirteen children, eight of whom grew to years of maturity, and five of whom are still living. The pareats are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Charles G. Betts, the eldest in the above family of children, was early inured to the toil of farm life. He left home at the age of twenty-three years, and came to Ohio. He was first employed by Luther Lee near Jeffer• son for two years, receiving $250 per year. He then rented 226 acres of land near Mr. Lee's home, where he was engaged in farming and dairying, selling his milk to the Eagleville Factory. Nine years later Mr. Betts purchased his present farm of eighty-eight acres, all of which is under a high state of cultivation, and which is adorned with a good ten-room house, of modern architecture. He has ample barns and sheds to accommodate his animals and fowls; has all necessary farm implements, and an orchard of 130 trees. In company with Mr. Pritchard, he owns a threshing machine and hay baler. Mr. Betts was married in 1880, to Miss Gertrude Belknap, a daughter of Charles A. and Elizabeth (North) Belknap. The father was born in Pennsylvania, in 1821, and in early life was engaged as a sailor. In 1841 he purchased a farm in Ashtabula county, Ohio, but in 1846 sold that place and moved to Iowa Valley, Lynn county, near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. On account of ill health, lie returned to Williamsfield township, Ashtabula county, in the winter of 1846. In 1861 Mr. Belknap enlisted for service in the late war, entering the Tenth Kansas Infantry, Company C, served three years, and was honorably discharged October 10, 1864. He died in 1878, and at the age of fifty-seven years. He was a Republican in political matters, and a member of the United Brethren Church, as was also his wife. The mother of Mrs. Betts, nee Elizabeth North, was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, in a log cabin, and was rocked in a cradle made of a sap trough. She well remembers the pioneer OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 445 days when the county was inhabited by Indians, and the forests abounded in wild game. She has seen the forests gradually disappear, and beautiful residences take the place of log cabins. She was married in 1841, at the age of eighteen years. Mr. and Mrs. Belknap had seven children, five of whom grew to years of maturity, and four still survive. Mr. Betts was thrown upon his own resources at an early age, but by careful management and well directed efforts has built for himself a beautiful home, and laid by an ample competency for the future. His wife has been his assistant and co-worker in all his undertakings, and to her is due much credit for their present surroundings. DAN. O. CARTER for more than fifteen years has been Superintendent of the Lake County Infirmary near Painesville, Ohio. He is one of the very old settlers of the Western Reserve, having lived here since he was ten years old. His father settled in Medina county, in 1816, locating in the wilderness. His Christian name was Newcomb, and Warren, Litchfield county, Connecticut, was the place of his birth. He built a log cabin in the woods and developed a farm of 160 acres. The Indians were friendly, and he often tried his skill with them in shooting at a mark. He was a great sportsman and killed numbers of deer and bear, thus furnishing his family with Meat. In 1825, he removed to Cuyahoga county, and from there came to Lake county ten years later. He married Alohe E. Eldred, also a native of the Nutmeg State, and to them were born four sons. They were both consistent members of the Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Carter, who was a strong Abolitionist, was in turn a Whig, Free Soiler and Republican. He died at the age of seventy years, and the death of his wife occurred in her sixty-ninth year. The subject of this brief notice is the youngest of his father's family. His birth occurred in Medina county, Ohio, in 1820, and his boyhood was passed partly there and partly in Cuyahoga and this county. He attended the old-fashioned pioneer school, maintained under the subscription system, and for a while he was a student in the old academy in Kirtland township. When twenty- five years of age, he started out to carve his own fortune, and as he had been brought up to farm life, he most naturally turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. The first farm that he owned was one of 100 acres in Leroy township. This he developed and im proved, and after selling it purchased another farm of seventy-five acres in Painesville township. In the year 1845, Mr. Carter and Lydia Cox was united in wedlock. The lady was born in Merrimac county, New Hampshire, in 1828, and in 1838 came to Lake county with her parents, who were David and Lydia (Been) Cox, likewise natives of New Hampshire. They settled in Mantua township, Portage county. Mr. and Mrs. Carter have had two children: Ella E. and Frank H. Ella became the wife of Richard If Foss. She was born February 2; 1849, and died March 13, 1877, leaving two children: Carter H. and Harry C. Frank H., who was born January 16, 1855, is married and has one child: Ella B. He is engaged in the lumber business at Castleton, North Dakota. In the fall of 1877, Mr. Carter was placed in charge of the County Infirmary, and has since been its efficient Superintendent. Many improvements have been made during 446 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY his administration of affairs, and the State Inspector has made reports, saying that the management of this institution is second to none in the State. The farm comprises 236 acres, and as it is well cultivated each year, it almost pays the expenses of the Infirmary. At the present time there are twenty-six inmates, but the average number for the past fifteen years has been about forty persons. Mr. Carter has witnessed nearly all stages in the development of this section of the State. He has seen the country transformed from a wilderness, inhabited only by Indians and wild beasts, to the condition of this day, when one may see well cultivated fields, the curling smoke from farm-houses which are thickly dotted over the landscape, and may descry thriving villages on every hand. The length of his life spans the distance between the sickle and the self-binder, and the wonderful changes that have been made in mechanical lines are undoubtedly accountable, to a great extent, for the advanced civilization and prosperity of the present time. Our subject is a man of strong constitution, and in the past he has been a very hard worker. Where the court house now stands in the city of Cleveland, he has often garnered wheat for his father's cousin, Lorenzo Carter, the first white man who settled on the original site of that city. PHILETUS W. TUTTLE, one of the most enterprising business men of Geneva, is worthy of representation in this record of Ashtabula county's leading citizens. He was born at Geueva, June 22, 1835, and here he passed his youth, receiving his education in the village school. His parents, William and Lettie M. (Montgomery) Tuttle, natives of New Hampshire and Connecticut respectively, emigrated to the frontier in their youthful days, and were among the hardy pioneers, who through hard toil and many struggles, paved the way for the outward march of civilization. The maternal grandfather, Robert Montgomery, was a clergyman, and organized the first Methodist Episcopal Church in the township, being the pastor of the same for some years. William Tuttle was a liberal supporter of the church, an ardent advocate of temperance reform and politically supported the Whig party. He was elected, June 28, 1828, under Governor Allen Trimble, Second Lieutenant of the First Cavalry Company, First Brigade, Ninth Division, and was made First Lieutenant of the same company September 3, 1829, and in 1830 Captain. October 10, 1831, he was promoted as Colonel of the Third Brigade, under Governor Duncan McArthur. William Tuttle departed this life November 11, 1858, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. His wife died at the age of sixty-nine, January 10, 1873. Mrs. Tuttle was a devoted and enthusiastic member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in the early days she at one time entertained more than forty people for two days at her own home, doing this in the interest of church work. When Battery C, of the First Ohio Light Artillery, left for the field, she presented to each member a Bible to carry with him to the war. One period of the life of our subject which he considers to have been fraught with the most valuable experiences, was passed in the lumbering district in the Northwest. He was in the heart of the pine forest, seventy- five miles from a white settlement, on the OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 447 head waters of Black river in Wisconsin; there he "roughed it," and learned many practical lessons, when he was twenty years of age. He remained in the lumbering business two seasons and had charge of a lumbering camp, employing forty men. He also spent one season on the Mississippi river, rafting and boating. He returned to Geneva in the fall of 1856 and took charge of his father's farm for two years, after which he engaged in the hardware business, which he continued two years, suecessfully. He then took up the produce and commission business, which he carried on extensively for several years. Another enterprise with which Mr. Tuttle was connected was the manufacture of brick. He supplied the brick for the Methodist Episcopal and Congregational churches and many other buildings in the place. In 1872, with other parties, he purchased the vessel "William Young," at a cost of $18,000, and in 1874 they built the " Daniel E. Bailey," which cost $65,000 and was at that time one of the finest vessels on the lakes. Mr. Tuttle was one of the original stockholders of the First National Bank of Geneva, and for many years a director and its president. He was one of the first stockholders of the Geneva Tool Company, of which he has been president for the past seven years. This company is one of the most successful in northeastern Ohio. He is also president of the Platt E. Spencer Memorial Hall and Library Association, of Geneva. He has builded thirty-five dwelling-houses in Geneva, costing from $500 to $10,000 each. The marriage of our subject occurred August 20, 1856, when he was united to Miss Polly Frisbie, a daughter of Peter Fris bie, who was among the early settlers of Geneva township. Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle have three children: Fred W., a wholesale grocer, of Grand Forks; N. D., Mary E. and Mattie W. Mr. Tuttle is an enthusiastic Republican, and is a member of the Masonic order, of the Eagle Commandry, No. 29, K. T., and of the I. 0. 0. F. He was a charter member of the Encampment No. 292, I. 0. 0. F., of Geneva. While not a member of any church, he has contributed largely to church building and their maintenance. ELI DILLON, a well-known resident of Orwell, Ohio,was born in Austintown, Mahoning county, Ohio, February 20, 1817. He is a son of David and Polly (Osborn) Dillon. The former died in 1850, at the age of eighty-two years, and the latter in 1830, aged fifty five. They had a family of nine children, two of whom died in childhood. Jonathan Dillon, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Philadelphia, his parents, natives of England, but descendants of Irish ancestors, having emigrated to that place. Eli Dillon's maternal grandfather, Nicholas Osborn, traced his ancestry back to the early settlers of New England, the Os-horns being of German descent. Eli Dillon was reared to farm life, and for some years was more or less engaged in agricultural pursuits. By trade he is a carpenter. November 27,1836, he married Miss Nancy E. Erwin, daughter of William and Joanna (Lanterman) Erwin. She was born November 27, 1816. Her paternal grandparents were Christopher and Mary (Folk) Erwin, natives of Virginia. Her maternal grandfather was William Lanterman. Eli Dillon 448 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY and his wife became the parents of ten children, four of whom died in infancy. A brief record of the others is as follows: Ann Eliza, born August 30, 1839, is now the wife of William H. Treat, of Madison, Ohio; Kirtland, born November 7, 1841, married Florence Bailey, who died October 10, 1881, leaving him with an infant daughter and one son ; Granville W., born June 4, 1843; Erwin, born September 5, 1846, died August 29, 1883, leaving a widow and three children, Herbert A., Ethel A., and Erwin, his widow, whose maiden name was Anna Rice, subsequently being married to Ashley M. Harrington, who is now deceased; Edith the next of one of the Dillon children, was born May 11, 1857; Warren, born December 3, 1850, married Miss Eunice Armstrong, and has three children. CURTIS McNUTT, a lumber manufacturer and farmer of Plymouth township, Ashtabula county, Ohio, an estimable man and enterprising citizen, was born in the same county, January 22, 1842. He was reared in his native county, attended the common schools, and received his practical business training in a sawmill, in which line of occupation he has continued, with scarcely an intermission, for more than a quarter of a century. At the age of twenty, he became a partner with his brother L. B., in a mill, which they operated five years, after which the subject of this sketch became one of the firm of McNutt Brothers, who conducted a machine shop in Ashtabula. In 1876, he went to Lake county and engaged in farming, but soon drifted back into the milling business, which he followed continuously until his return to Ashtabula county, in 1882. Since then he has lived within a radius of five or six miles of his present farm. May 15, 1890, he purchased of Joseph Hubbard 100 acres of timber, which he is now sawing up, furnishing hardwood lumber on contract and meeting with deserved success in his undertaking. October 6, 1865, Mr. McNutt was married, in Painesville, Ohio, to Geraldine S. Williams, a lady possessing many worthy qualities. Her father, John B. Williams, was an early settler in Concord township, Ashtabula county, where he followed farming, and kept a tavern in Ashtabula in 1850. He served his country faithfully in the war of 1812, and was a worthy patriot and man. He married Jane Fleming and they reared two children, of whom Mrs. McNutt alone survives. Mr. and Mrs. McNutt have four children: Jennie, wife of Fred Jones, has two children, Florence and Henry; Lizzie married Clark Callow; and Mabel and Rolla, at home. Energetic, enterprising and progressive, Mr. McNutt has pushed his way to success, at the same time observing the highest business integrity, and gaining just title to the esteem which he so universally enjoys. W. G. HOPPER. President of the Bank of Andover, Ohio, and proprietor of La Petite stock farm, in Richmond township, well and favorably known in this part of the country, was born in Devonshire, England, October 29, 1833. His parents, John and Lydia (Griffin) Hopper, were like- wise natives of the "tight little isle," and good, worthy people, the former a shoemaker by trade, a hard working, honest man. In 1841, the parents emigrated with their children to America, settling in Cleveland, Ohio. OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO - 449 The venerable father is living at Madison, Ohio, and retains his vigor and faculties to a remarkable extent. He is eighty-five years of age. The subject of this sketch was eight years of age when his parents came to Cleveland, where he was reared and educated. He learned the cooper and tinsmith's trade and gas-fitting, which occupation he followed continuously for a number of years. He came to Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1862, and was in business in Andover and Padanaram several years. He then bought his present farm, and engaged in agriculture and stock-raising, in which line of operations he has been signally successful. In 1882, he started to raise Jersey cattle, and now owns one of the finest herds in the country. He also has a small stable of well-bred horses, at the head of which is Educator, foaled in 1887, and sired by Judge Saulsburg, a son of Nutwood. His horse barn is a model of its kind, with modern box stalls and an anteroom. He has a comfortable residence, with the most complete appointments, and is numbered among the most substantial men of his county. All of his prosperity is due to his own unaided and persistent efforts, and he is justly entitled to credit for the energy displayed in a commendable cause. In 1855, in Jefferson, Ohio, Mr. Hopper was married to Catharine Newcomb Beers, a highly estimable lady, a native of Devonshire, England, and daughter of A. and Catharine Beers, of the latter country. Mrs. Hopper died in 1883, leaving her family and many friends to mourn her loss. Her two children are: John A., a prosperous farmer of Richmond township, who married Flora Thomas, who died, leaving two children, Willie G. and Cora. John subsequently married again, espousing Julia Phelps, who is the mother of one child, Harry. Mr. and Mrs. Hopper's second child, Katie, is the wife of F. O. Butler, a prosperous farmer, and they have one son, Willie G. Mr. Hopper's life might serve as an incentive to many poor young men, starting in life with only their own exertions to depend upon. He is essentially a self-made man, owing his prosperity to unremitting hard work, careful management, strict ecouomy and the utmost integrity in business affairs, thus gaining not only financial success but the well merited esteem of his fellow men. HENRY L. HOSMER, one of the lead' ing farmers and solid financial men of Geauga county, Ohio, resides in Troy township. Following is a brief sketch of hits life: Henry L. Hosmer was born in Newbury township, Geauga county, Ohio, September 26, 1824. His father, Benjamin S. Hosmer, and grandfather, Zachariah Homer, were natives of Connecticut and descendants of Hollandish ancestry. Zachariah Hosmer emigrated to Ohio at an early day and settled in Parkman township, Geauga county, where he spent the residue of his life and where he died at the advanced age of ninety-six. Benjamin S. was one of a family of six sons and two daughters. He came to Ohio with his parents, and after working at Avon for some time, went to Detroit, Michigan, and there found employment, subsequently returning to Parkman, Ohio, where he remained a short time, and from there went to Newbury. At the latter place he farmed for several years. After this he purchased 200 acres of land in East Troy, and subsequently bought 200 acres more near the center of Troy township, where he spent about forty years of his life. He