COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF THE COUNTIES OF HURON AND LORAIN, OHIO, CONTAINING Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, and of Many of the Early Settled Families VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED. CHICAGO: J. H. BEERS & CO, 1894 LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO   COLONEL NAHUM BALL GATES, who for more than fifty years was closely identified with the prosperity of Elyria, was born in St. Albans, Vt., September 28, 1812. He was the youngest of twelve children of John and Abigail (Ball) Gates, who in 1800 migrated from Northborough, Mass., to St. Albans township, Franklin Co., Vt., where they followed farming. Col. N. B. Gates received his education in the district schools of his native town, also one year at St. Albans Academy, which well prepared him for teaching, a vocation he followed for three winters, laboring on his father's farm during the intervals. In the spring of 1834, being violently attacked with what was called " Western Fever," he threw down his axe and declared he would never chop another stick of wood in Vermont; so with the scanty means his parents could afford, at the age of twenty-one he came to Elyria, where his brother, Horatio N. Gates, was engaged in mercantile business. In September, same year, he engaged as clerk in his brother's store, where he remained till May, 1835, at which time he went to Cleveland, Ohio. While there the cholera epidemic broke out, but it in no way drove him away from the place, as it did thousands of others, for he remained at his post and manfully devoted his time for weeks in attending to the sick and dying, and also to the burying of the dead. These acts of humanity were characteristic of him all through his life. He had no fear, and upon other occasions, when smallpox and other scourges afflicted the community, he performed similar offices, and escaped all contagion. In Cleveland be remained engaged in a variety of pursuits until September, 1834, when he returned to Elyria, and during the remainder of that year and part of 1835 clerked for the firm of Gates & Green. On May 17, 1835, our subject went to Black River (now Lorain), in Lorain county, and opened a general store for Gates & Green, remaining in charge of same until the fall of 1838, when he was elected sheriff of the county, and removed into the town of Elyria. From 1836 to 1844 a copartnership had existed between himself and his brother, H. N. Gates, in the forwarding and commission business at Black River. While a resident of that place he filled the various offices of constable, justice of the peace and marshal. He was elected sheriff in 1838 because of his thorough fitness for the position; there 520 - LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO. was much public excitement in that year —banks suspending specie payment, and counterfeiters springing up in every section—and it was undoubtedly due to Sheriff Gates' indomitable courage and determination that Lorain county was rid of all kinds of nefarious characters. In 1840 Col. Gates was an ardent Whig, and took an active part in the memorable campaign of that year. Mounted on his famous black horse "Bucephalus," he led the delegation in the procession from Lorain county to the imposing grand convention held upon the banks of the Maumee river on June 11, that year. In Elyria he built a sawmill, sash, door and blind factory, and in 1843 he put up an ashery, which Ile operated for many years. In 1843 he was elected mayor of Elyria for the first time, and served many succeeding terms, though not consecutively. In 1844 he embarked in general mercantile business in Elyria, but at the end of a year he sold out. In 1850 he was a director of the Lo. rain Plank Road Company, and for many years was its superintendent. In 1852 he was elected president of Lorain County Agricultural Society, and gave it its first permanent footing. In 1862 he was active in the Republican party, and a member of the "Wide-awake Club." Same year he was appointed by Abraham Lincoln collector of Internal Revenue for the Fourteenth District of Ohio, in which office he remained till removed by President Johnson. Indeed it may be truly said of Col. Gates that his life in Elyria has been one of constant action. His code of morals may be inferred from the following scriptural quotation found among his papers—yellow with age—and which he exemplified in all his intercourse with his fellows: "Pure and undefiled religion before God, the Father, is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." Col. Gates died December 9, 1890; all his family were present at the funeral services except his daughter Helen, then al sent in New York, whose health prevented her from attending. The services at hi late residence were conducted by his pat tor, Rev. E. E. Williams, and were brie and impressive. The ceremonies at th grave were performed by Elyria Lodg No. 103, I. O. O. F., which Col. Gate was mainly instrumental in the formation of, and at the time of his death was th only living active charter member. Hi son-in-law, Rev. T. Y. Gardner, read a fet extracts from a paper written and sole by deceased on his birthday, two years before, in which he briefly reviewed the pass and gave some of the leading principle which had been the guide of his action: To give a more detailed history of on subject's useful and busy life comes not within the province of this article; suffice it, that he was possessed of those sterling solid qualities which were calculated t give him prominence in his newly-chose field, and make him what he proved to be one of Lorain county's leading and hot ored citizens. In his administration of h public duties he was brought in contact with all classes, and in his discharge c those duties, while his aim was always to maintain a high standard of morality, h kind heart never failed to respond whe there was opportunity for leniency of mercy. He will long be remembered be the poor for his many acts of charity am benevolence. Being a positive and aggressive man, his position on all pull questions was never a doubtful one, all he was always found true to his convictions, whether religious, political or otherwise. In the home circle he was a great favorite. His geniality and his rare socia qualities made him ever companionable Although for months clinging to life by slender thread, baffling disease with all the force of his great will-power, like a trot philosopher he was uncomplaining, always hopeful, always better, always heroic, he passed down the line to the gateway of the great Unknown. To the hearts of his LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 521 family who ministered to his wants he brought only sunshine; and when the end came it was as calm and peaceful as the close of a midsummer day. On May 12, 1841, Col. Gates was united in marriage with Miss Sarah S. Monteith, a daughter of Rev. John Monteith, formerly professor of ancient languages in Hamilton College. She survived her husband but a little over two years, dying in New York City from the result of an accident, April 18, 1893. There were born from this marriage, John Quincy, who died early; Elizabeth, wife of Dr. A. W. Wheeler, of Cleveland; Charlotte, wife of Rev. T. Y. Gardner; Mary Ely, who died in childhood; Charles Alexander, of Massillon; Helen Gates, of Elyria; William N., of Cleveland, and Frederick H., of Cleveland. Mrs. Gates was a highly educated lady, possessed of marked characteristics, a leader in all kinds of reform, Church and missionary work, strikingly non-partisan, prominent in W. C. T. U. work, and withal an uncompromising advocate of temperance. Mr. and Mrs. Gates lived to enjoy nearly fifty years of marital felicity, for Mr. Gates' death occurred but five months prior to their fiftieth anniversary of wedded life. They lived also to see four of their children married, and born of them twelve grandchildren. This large family periodically held their family reunions, and the old homestead at such times was the scene of rare festivities. REV. JOHN MONTEITH was born August 5, 1788, at Gettysburg, Penn. His father, whose parents were natives of Dundee, Scotland, was an early settler in the wilds of western Pennsylvania, where the son was reared in a life of industry and plain farmer's toil. His mother was also a native of Dundee, Scotland, and from this parentage he inherited that hardy physical constitution, and those sturdy mental and spiritual traits that conspired to fit him for the heroic work that fell to his hands as a pioneer, and a lifelong educator and reformer. He graduated at Jefferson College, Penn., in 1813, and at Princeton Theological School in 1816. About this time an invitation was extended to him " to introduce the Gospel into the Territory of Michigan," to accept which offer he declined an appointment as professor in a Pennsylvania college. On Sunday afternoon, June 13, 1816, he preached the first English sermon that had ever been pronounced in Michigan, from the text Luke ii, 10. In May, 1817, Mr. Monteith was ordained in the Presbyterian Church at Princeton, N. J., Dr. Alexander delivering to him the charge. Returning to Detroit he entered upon the work with characteristic zeal, industry and personal sacrifice. He organized the Presbyterian Church at Monroe, and preached the first Protestant sermon in that place. The "University of Michigan," in point of fact simply a school, established in 1817, in a great measure owed its birth to Mr. Monteith, who had the office of president and no less than six professorships conferred upon him. On June 7, 1820, he was married to Sarah Sophia Granger, of Portage, Ohio, who died in the autumn of the same year, while visiting her parents in Ohio. In 1821 he married, at Nahor, in the then wilds of northern Ohio, Miss Abigail Harris, and here his career in Detroit came to an end. From that point he removed to New York State, to occupy the Chair of ancient languages in Hamilton. College, in which position he remained eight years. Then for several years he followed academic labors at Cambridge, N. Y., and at Germantown, Penn., after which, in 1832, he came to Elyria, Ohio. " Here was the evident goal of his providential destiny. He bettered the town and the community by his educational labors and lectures. He bettered the Western Reserve by joining his hand with others in the establishment of churches,. and Presbyteries, and colleges." He girded on the armor of a zealous and uncompromising anti-slavery champion, and 522 - LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO. fearlessly and conscientiously fought its battles. " When the clash of arms came, he felt that the beginning of the end was at hand; and when the red cloud of war passed beyond the horizon, he felt that the ultimate vision of his life was realized. * * * His joy was calm, dignified and silent." In 1845 Mr. Monteith again resided in Michigan, ministering to the spiritual wants of the good people of Blissfield and Monroe until 1855, in which year he returned to Elyria, where he passed the remainder of his busy, useful life, dying April 5, 1868, in the eighty-first year of his age. Rev. John Monteith was a fine specimen of manly physique; he was six feet tall, straight and muscular, his power of endurance being transmitted from the Scottish race from which he sprang. As a scholar he was accurate and learned, and though the scope of his culture was not wide, yet in the ancient languages and in French his proficiency was something remarkable for his day. Duty was the mainspring of all his actions, and fearlessly he performed it, as witness his heroic efforts to introduce the Gospel into undeveloped territories, making long, weary and ofttimes hazardous journeys in the prosecution of benevolent work. HON. JOEL TIFFANY. To Hon. George G. Washburn, of Elyria, the publishers are indebted for the following biographical record of this deceased gentleman, who "was a most original genius, and one of the inventive creators of his age." Mr. Tiffany was a native of Barkhamstead, Conn., born September 6, 1811, and where his ancestors lived in the days of the Revolution. They being Presbyterians, he was placed in college in 1827 to prepare him for the ministry, but, preferring the study of law, he in 1831 entered the office of William G. Williams, of New Hartford, Conn., as a law student. In the following year he went to Ohio on a visit to a brother and other relatives, and was induced to make Ohio his home, which he did, first locating in the town of Medina. Here he resumed the study of law under the preceptorship of Charles Olcott, and in the summer of 1834 was admitted to the bar and commenced practice. In the spring of 1835 he came to Elyria, Lorain county, and entered into the practice of law with Horace D. Clark, and together they worked harmoniously—Mr. Clark preparing the cases, and Mr. Tiffany trying them in court. In 1848 he removed from Elyria to Little Mountain, Ohio, where he remained a short time, and thence to New York City. From 1850 he gave up all other business, and devoted his time to writing and speaking upon the subject of spiritualism until 1860, when he went to Albany, N. Y., engaging there in legal writings, etc., and in doing what he could in suppressing the Civil War. He served as reporter for the court of appeals for several years with marked distinction. At the end of ten years he went to Chicago, Ill., and was actively engaged in different lines of business up to the time of his death, which occurred at Hinsdale, Ill., July 1, 1893, he being then eighty-two years old. Mr. Tiffany was not only a lawyer but also an inventor, and he is, probably, most widely known for his invention of the Tiffany Summer and. Winter Refrigerator car; he also made, through his inventive . genius, valuable improvements and inventions in machinery. Mr. Tiffany resided in Elyria thirteen years, during the prime of his manhood, and was engaged in the practice of law the greater part of the time. He served as prosecuting attorney during the years 1837-38-39, and in 1841 and 1845 each for one year. As a lawyer, and especially as an eloquent advocate, he had no superior at the bar, which was composed of strong LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 523 men; and had he devoted his great natural abilities to the practice of his profession he would have attained the highest distinction at the bar and on the bench. In the trial of causes he was aided not only by a remarkable memory, but by an intuitive perception of the points his adversary would male, and thus was ever ready to meet them. The trials which gave him most distinction were the noted " counterfeiting cases," in which one Cash, whose testimony was important to the prosecution, was shot by the counterfeiters because he turned " States evidence," and was brought from his home on a litter to give his testimony. In these cases, which were tried in 1838-39, Mr. Tiffany acted both as detective and prosecutor with consummate ability, regardless of the threats against his life that came from unknown sources. He persisted in his prosecutions, and succeeded in breaking up an extensive gang of counterfeiters who had hitherto successfully plied their vocation in this county without detection, and landed fourteen of them in the penitentiary. He was a scholar of almost unlimited resources, yet he derived little pecuniary aid therefrom. His inventive genius was remarkable, but it took the direction of natural science and philosophy rather than practical mechanics, and this, near the close of his life, gave him a competence. HON. GEORGE G. WASHBURN is a native of Orange, Grafton Co., N. H., born November 24, 1821. His father, Azel Washburn, descended from the Maine branch of the Washburn family, and his mother, Elizabeth Danforth, was of Scotch-Irish descent, her ancestors being among the early settlers in Londonderry, New Hampshire. The subject of this sketch spent his early days among the rugged New Hampshire hills, with his parents for his only teacher, until he was eleven years old, when the family removed to Ohio, and settled in Perry township (then in Geauga county) where for three years he had the benefit of good schools. In 1835 they removed to Camden, Lorain county, then an unbroken wilderness, where he spent most of the days of his minority in the laborious work of clearing up a new farm. By the aid of his father, and by the light of the log-cabin fireplace, he acquired sufficient education to teach school in the winter, while his summers were spent in farm labor. At the age of twenty-one years he abandoned the farm, and spent one year in teaching a private school in Brandenburg, Ky. On his return he spent four years in study at Oberlin College, paying his way by labor on the college farm, and by teaching during the winter months. From Oberlin he removed to Elyria, nine miles distant, where he read law in the office of Hon. Philemon Bliss. He was admitted to practice in 1818, and for two years was associated with Hon. Sylvester Bagg, who subsequently removed to Iowa. Mr. Washburn became an early writer for the press, and on the removal of Judge Bagg to Iowa he assumed charge of the Elyria Courier, the organ of the then Whig party, which soon became recognized as an 'influential factor in moulding public sentiment. He soon abandoned all other pursuits; and for forty-two years conducted that journal and its successors—the Independent Democrat and the Elyria Republican— as the sole proprietor, editor and manager. For many years he declined all political preferment, but served during this period as member of the board of school examiners for the county, member of the Elyria council, and for six years as president of the board of education. He was appointed by Gov. Dennison, and served during the war as secretary of the military committee for Lorain county, the duties of which often 524 - LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO. led him to visit the battlefields of the Rebellion, and aid in caring for the wounded soldiers. He has been connected with the Lorain Bank in Elyria, and its successor, the National Bank of Elyria, as one of its board of directors for thirty-four years. In 1883 he consented to become a member of the Ohio General Assembly, as the representative for Lorain county, and served four years with credit to himself and his intelligent constituency. He then declined further political service, and resumed his journalistic duties, but was soon afterward commissioned by the Governor as one of the board of managers of the Ohio State Reformatory, which he had been active in establishing while in the General Assembly, and which position he now holds. In September, 1891, he sold the entire plant of the Elyria Republican, which he had conducted with marked success for so many years, and is now devoting his time chiefly to the reformatory movements of the day. His long connection with the State and National Press Associations, and services as a legislator, have given him an extensive acquaintance with men prominent in politics and journalism in both the State and Nation. ELY FAMILY. Among the first land proprietors of what is now Lorain county, Ohio, was Justin Ely, of West Springfield, Mass., a very extensive dealer in real estate, and one of the original proprietors of what was then known as " The Connecticut Western Reserve," in Ohio, under the Connecticut Land Company. Hon. Heman Ely, fourth in the family of Justin Ely, and who succeeded to his father's estate in what is now Lorain county, was also a native of West Springfield. Mass., born April 24, 1775. He was a linguist of ability, and a traveler of no small experience, having visited, prior to 1810, many of the leading places of interest in Europe. In that year he returned to America, and in 1811 came west as far as Cleveland, Ohio, with the view of opening up for settlement the land owned by his father, then known as "No. 6, Range 17, Connecticut Western Reserve." The impending war between the United States and Great Britain, however, made it an inauspicious time for colonization, and Mr. Ely returned to his New England home. In 1816, peace being now concluded between the two countries, he again ventured west, and immediately commenced opera. tions for the development of his forest-covered land, contracting for the building of the first house that marked the spot whereon now stands the prosperous city of Elyria, together with a gristmill and sawmill. Having accomplished so much, he returned to West Springfield, and in February, 1817, finally left for his new western home, where the remainder of his life was passed in the development of its resources, and the converting of the wild forest into prosperous farms, villages and towns. He erected several houses, including the one in which his son, Heman, now lives, in Elyria. The town was laid out by him in its present form, and bears his name, as also the township. On the formation of the county in 1824, he named it Lorain, from Loraine, in France, in which province he spent some time while in Europe, and with which beautiful spot he was much delighted. He was also the founder of the educational, religious and other public institutions of Elyria, giving liberally of his means, and his name is still revered by the many descendants of the early settlers of Elyria. He passed from earth February 2, 1852. HEMAN ELY, JR., was born October 30, 1820, in Elyria, Ohio, and received his education at the " Elyria High School," and at Farmington, Conn. In his father's office he acquired a thorough training and insight into the real-estate business, which LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 527 he followed for many years with much success. Like his father, but further in the advancement of the county, Mr. Ely has identified himself with many of the leading institutions of Elyria, prominent among which may be mentioned the Lorain Bank (established in 1847); the First National Bank (organized in 1864 from the Lorain Bank), and the National Bank of Elyria (organized in 1883 from the First National Bank), in which several institutions he has been director, vice-president and president, in which latter capacity he is at present serving in the last named organization. In 1852, in connection with others, he secured the building of that section of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, then known as the "Junction Road," from Cleveland to Toledo. From 1870 to 1873 he served in the State Legislature, and assisted in molding the present insurance laws of the State of Ohio. On September 1, 1841, Heman Ely and Miss Mary Harris Monteith, daughter of Rev. John and Abigail Harris Monteith, were united in marriage, and children as follows were born to them: Celia Belden, George H. and Mary Monteith. The mother of these children died in Elyria March 1, 1849, and May 27, 1850, Mr. Ely married, for his second wife, Miss Mary F. Day, daughter of Hon. Thomas and Sarah (Coit) Day, of Hartford, Conn. Four children were born to this marriage, namely: Edith Day, Charles Theodore, Albert Heman and Harriette Putnam. Mr. Ely is prominent in social life, as follows: Has been an active member of the F. & A. Masons since 1852; from 1858 to 1871 he was worshipful master of King Solomon Lodge No. 56 of Elyria; received the orders of Knighthood in Oriental Commandery of Knights Templars No. 12 in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1857, of which he was Eminent Commander from December,1861, to December, 1865, and from 1864 to 1871 he was grand commander of the Grand Commandery, Knights Templars of Ohio. He is an active member of the supreme council of Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite for the Northern Masonic jurisdiction of the United States of America, and was treasurer of same from May, 1867, to September, 1891. In matters of religion he has been a member of the Congregational Church of Elyria since 1838, and for many years has been one of its officers, about ten years as superintendent of the Sabbath.- school. He is a Republican in politics, and a gentleman much respected in the community for his moral worth and his many unassuming charitable deeds. JOHN W. HULBERT, cashier of the National Bank of Elyria, was born in Old Chatham, Columbia Co., N. Y., April 1, 1827. His ancestor on the father's side settled in Connecticut in 1630. His great-grandfather and grandfather both served in the Revolution, the former in the capacity of surgeon. Grandfather Hulbert was born in Connecticut, removed to western Massachusetts, and thence to Canaan, N. Y., where his son, Philip, father of John W., was born. He, Philip, was born April 16, 1799, and died March 27, 1881. Tie settled in Old Chatham, and followed the trade of carpenter and joiner until 1837, when he bought an iron foundry, which with a plow-factory he carried on till his death. On September 1, 1824, he married Abigail Smith, born August '26, 1797, died May 8. 1840, and eight children were born to them, to wit: Harriet Elizabeth, John W., Geo. B., Chas. W., Seymour C., Mary I., Henry B., and Samuel C. The subject of this sketch received his education in the common schools of Chatham, and at the age of fifteen went to New York City, as clerk in a dry-goods house. He came to Elyria in September, 1847, under engagement in the large general store of Kendall & Mussey, with whom he remained till 1853, when he was appointed 528 - LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO. teller of the Lorain Branch of the State Bank of Ohio. In January, 1856, he was elected cashier, in which capacity he has remained through its re-organizations in 1864 and 1883, being upwards of forty years of continuous service. Mr. Hulbert was united in marriage, January 1, 1857, with Miss Ellen N. Wood (daughter of Taber Wood and Almira his wife), who was born in Chesterfield, Mass., May 4, 1832, and died December 6, 1889, leaving two daughters. In politics Mr. Hulbert was a Democrat until 1853, when he became a Free-Soiler (afterward a Republican). He was made a Mason in King Solomon Lodge No. 56, F. & A. M., in March, 1851, a R. A. M. in October, 1851; and a Knight Templar in Oriental Commandery No. 12, Cleveland, Ohio, in 1855, to which organizations he still belongs. He was Master of his Lodge from 1853 to 1859; M. E. H. P. of the Chapter from 1853 to 1883. Mr. Hulbert is a member and trustee of the First Congregational Church, where for sixteen years he led the church choir. E. R. HOLIDAY, M. D., Wellington, was born March 27, 1843, a son of Lorton and Huldah Matilda (Gates) Holiday. Amos Holiday, the great-grandfather of our subject, is believed to have been born in Vermont. At the beginning of the Revolution, however, he was living in Granby, Hartford Co., Conn., and with his three brothers served during that war in the Colonial army, enlisting and going out in a company raised in what was known as " Salmon Brook Street " in or near Granby. One of the brothers was taken prisoner, and was either killed or perished in prison, as he was never heard of after by his friends. After the war Amos again returned and lived at Granby until 1800. In that year, in January, his son Jonathan, who was born in Granby in 1776, married Bethesda Holcomb, also a resident of Granby, born there June 22, 1879. In the spring of that year these three and a bro. ther of Amos, named Azariah, emigrated to. Pompey, Onondaga Co., N. Y., when were .born to Jonathan and Bethesda Holiday the following children: Hiram, Lorton Rowena, Milton, Eno and Arley—four sons and two daughters. During the stay in Pompey, Jonathan Holiday was twice called out in defense of the State and coon. try in the war of 1812, and served 9,1 Sacket's Harbor, Sodus Point and other places along the border. After the children had become somewhat grown, the) removed to near Bath, in Steuben county where they lived until 1828, when the grandfather of E. R. and four of his chil dren--Lorton, Eno, Rowena and Arley–removed to Huron county, Ohio, the res of the family remaining about Bath and Hornellsville, where their descendants not live. Amos Holiday was a pensioner c the Revolution, and lived to the remark able age of one hundred and nine years an eleven months, dying in Steuben. Joni than Holiday died in Hartland, Huro county, in 1845; his wife, Bethesda, die in the same place February 22, 1859. Lorton Holiday, the father of our sub- jest, was born in Pompey August 21 1804. Here and in Steuben he acquire a fair education in the branches taught those times and places, and on arriving Ohio taught school for a time. Marrying in 1830, he soon after began hotel keeping in New London, in what was known a the " Asher House." Here E. R. wa born. The other children of this marriage were as follows: (1) Huldah M., born December 4, 1831, is now the wife of Hose M. Hood, and resides in Hartland, Huron Co., Ohio. (2) Henry M., born March 3, 1833, who ran away at the age of sixteen, went to sea, and was a sailor for two or three years but finally, through the influence of his captain, returned to shore life and books; LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 529 graduated from Thetford Academy, Vermont, then wedding Miss Louise Jane Coombs, of that place, they went South and taught schools in Georgia and Alabama until the trouble about slavery and secession grew so fierce they were requested to leave, which they did in 1859; corning north he studied theology at Walnut Hills, near Cincinnati, Ohio, then at Andover, Mass., from which place he went to St. Johnsbury Center, Vt., where he was installed pastor of the Congregational Church of that place. From here he went to Tolland, Conn., as pastor of a church there; thence he went to Alma, Mich., finally to Olivet, Eaton county, where he died July 31, 1888, of typhoid fever; his wife died about a month later of same disease, leaving three children; Nina, Winifred and Charles. (3) Charles B., born November 11, 1834, was an attorney of St. John's, Mich.; enlisted in the Eighth Michigan Infantry as lieutenant, and died off Port Royal, October 5, 1861, of typhoid, on board ship, and was buried at sea. (4) Lenora J., born July 8, 1838; married Alonzo Hood, and lives at Alma, Mich. They have one daughter living—M. Louise Hood. (5) George G., born March 31, 1840, was a soldier in the late war, serving three years; he married Miss Chloe Garget, and they have two daughters; he is a farmer. H. M. (Gates) Holiday, mother of E. R., was born December 8, 1812; died April 18, 1843; she was a daughter of Gross Gates (born February, 4, 1789, died February 8, 1841) and Abigail (Ames) Gates (born September 22, 1794, died June 13, 1836); they died and were buried in Ruggles, Ashland Co., Ohio. Gross Gates served in the " war of 1812." Lorton Holiday, after the death of his wife, continued in the hotel business for a few years, when, his children having found homes (?) with friends and relatives, he went into the new State of Michigan, working at gunsmithing and trading with the Indians, among whom he was often styled—on account of his black eyes, swart complexion and heavy black beard" Black Hawk." He was a man of splendid physical proportions, six feet two inches in his stocking feet, and as lithe as a panther. He was on friendly terms always with the Indians, and after settling down at Alma, they always camped upon his land if their rovings brought them in the neighborhood, knowing they were welcome. He lived at Alma, Gratiot Co., Mich., before the township was organized as a township, keeping a sort of "pioneer hotel." He was postmaster in that place under Buchanan. He died of pneumonia April 25, 1870. Edwin R., the subject proper of this sketch, on the death of the mother was taken and cared for by Helen M., a sister of the dead mother, and wife of Eno Holiday, a brother of the father. Here he lived on a farm until the breaking out of the war, when, on the 5th of September, 1861, he enlisted in the Third Regiment Ohio Vol. Cavalry, and served with that organization throughout the war, being discharged from the service August 14, 1865; veteranizing in January, 1864, was, discharged as sergeant; was at Savannah during the battle of Pittsburg Landing, as cavalry was useless, and there was enough to do the work anyhow; was in the Stone River engagement at Chattanooga; at Kenesaw, Atlanta; on the Wilson raid from Eastport, Tenn., to Macon, Ga., where they first learned of the surrender of Lee and the death of Lincoln; and last (but not least to him) had charge of twenty-five men from his company, which, with the regiment or a part of it, went in pursuit of Jefferson Davis, but was too far in advance, however (eight miles), of that anomaly tp be in at the capture, but saw him in the ambulance on the return trip. After the war our subject returned home on a Saturday, and the following Monday morning started for school at Milan, Erie Co., Ohio, where he took one term; taught 530 - LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO. school the winter following, and in the spring went to reside with his brother Henry in Vermont, where he took private instructions until the following winter, when he began the term of lectures at his Alma Hater, the medical department of Western Reserve College, from which institution he graduated in February, 1871. For a time he practiced in the western part of the State, and in Michigan. On January 5, 1878, the Doctor married Miss Ella B. Peet, of Brighton, Lorain Co., Ohio, who was born in that place December 1, 1856. He located in Clarksfield, Huron county, where he practiced for eight years, and twice was elected coroner of the county. In this place were born to Dr. and Mrs. Holiday three children: Lorton E., born November 24, 1878; Malcolm P., born February 26, 1882, and Bertha Gates, born December 12, 1884. In April, 1887, the Doctor removed to Wellington, Lorain Co., Ohio, where he has since practiced his profession. HON. JUDGE LAE RTES B. SMITH, a prominent, well-known jurist of Lorain county, attorney at law and justice of the peace, with residence in Elyria, was born in Amherst township, Lorain Co., Ohio, September 21, 1830. He comes of an old New England family of Puritan descent. His paternal grandfather, Chiliab Smith, was born in Connecticut November 11, 1765, and died in 1840. Prior to coming to Ohio he lived many years in Berkshire county, Mass., and was there married to Nancy Marshall, who was born January 19, 1765, and died December 5, 1824. In 1814 they immigrated to Lorain county, the trip being made with ox wagons; and it took them five days to cut a road from the present site of Elyria through the woods to what afterward became Amherst township (for it was not organized till April, 1817), where they arrived October 16, 1814. Here they settled upon land for which grandfather Smith had traded property in the East to the Connecticut Land Company. He was by trade a tailor, at which he worked in his new home during intervals in his farm work, as opportunity offered. As an exhorter in the M. E. Church, he held frequent meetings in the neighborhood of his home and in his own house. When old age came upon him he turned his farm over to his children, who also inherited the good name of one of the best known and earliest of the pioneers. He had settled on Little Beaver creek, four miles west of where is now Elyria, and opened the first tavern in that vicinity. David Smith, father of subject, was born in Berkshire county, Mass., March 20, 1797, and came to Lorain county along with his father. In 1824 he married a Miss Fannie Barnes, also a native of Berkshire county, born December 23,1802, and nine children were born of this union, six of whom grew to maturity, Laertes B. being the third in the order of birth. The father died April 30, 1861, the mother August 6, 1888. In religion she was a Presbyterian, attending the Church of that denomination in Elyria till 1840. In politics David Smith was a Democrat, and he was a quiet, unostentatious man. Laertes B. Smith, the subject proper of this memoir, received his education at the public schools of his native township. At the age of twenty-one years he left his father's farm to learn the trade of harness maker, at which he worked till he was about twenty-five years old. He then entered a hardware store at La Porte, Ind., where he remained some five years, or until 1858, in which year he returned to Lorain county, and commenced the study of law with Vincent & Sheldon, Elyria. In 1860 he was admitted to the bar, and became a member of the firm with whom he had learned his profession, and within the first year, Mr. Vincent retiring, Mr. Shel- LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 531 don and Mr. Smith formed a new partnership; but the Civil war breaking out, the senior partner went into the army in 1861,, and in the following year our subject became a partner with Judge W. W. Boynton, which copartnership lasted some three or four years. In June, 1871, he was appointed probate judge of Lorain county, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John W. Steele, and continued in the office, by re-election, till February, 1882, since when he has been acting justice of the peace. On December 26, 1871, Judge Smith was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Smyth, of Ontario county, N. Y., and five children have been born to them, namely: Fannie, Clara Louise, Frank Carleton, Gertrude and Leroy. Politically Judge Smith was a Democrat till the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, since when he has been a Republican. REV. MATTHEW L. STARR, retired, was born April 4, 1809, in Jefferson township, Schoharie Co., N. Y., a son of Talcott and Mary (Lindsley) Starr, who came to Lorain county in 1840, and here died. The subject of this sketch received his elementary education at the subscription schools of his native place, supplemented with a three-years' course at an academy, and he was reared on his father's farm. Having decided to devote his life to the ministry, he, after marriage, prepared himself for the work, attending a Theological school in his native State. Having duly qualified, he preached his first sermon in Jefferson, Schoharie Co., N. Y., taking for his text the words: "Behold! stand at the door and knock." For three years after his marriage he continued to live on his father's farm, at the same time following his duties as a minister of the M. E. Church, and then trav- eled four years in the New York Conference. Removing to Massachusetts, he was associated with the Great Barrington (Berkshire county) Conference for a time; from there was transferred to Bloomfield, Conn., thence to Colebrook, same State. In 1838 he received a transfer to the Michigan Conference, at that time embracing the portion of Ohio wherein Lorain county lies, to reach which he and his wife had to drive to Buffalo, N. Y., thence proceed by lake to Cleveland, and then take stage for Elyria. From Elyria to Penfield township they came by a conveyance driven by Orrin Starr, a pioneer of that township, and at his home our travelers made their first sojourn in Ohio. The reason of Rev, and Mrs. Starr preferring to come to Lorain county, was on account of her parents, William, L. and Aurilla (Lindsley) Hayes, having made a settlement in Penfield township. Mr. Starr was on the Elyria circuit two years, during which time his home was at LaPorte, Lorain county; thence moved to Medina, then to the Wellington circuit, after which he was stationed, respectively, at Tiffin, Sidney, Bellefontaine and Lima (all in Ohio), from which latter place he returned to Penfield township. After four or five years rest and relaxation, during which time he built a comfortable residence on his farm in that township, and moved therein (he had purchased this property before coming to Ohio), he proceeded, at the earnest request of their friends, to LaPorte; from there went to Richfield (Summit county), thence to Columbia (Lorain county), and from there to Hayesville (Ashland county)—aggregating, from the date of his first sermon, a half century of active life in the ministry of the M. E. Church, ,and he is now superannuated, preaching only an occasional funeral sermon. On March 3, 1831, Mr. Starr married in Delaware county, N. Y., Miss Sarah Hayes, born in New Canaan, Conn., and to this union were born children, as follows: Alta M., 532 - LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO. who died, unmarried, at the age of twenty-one; Sarah M., who died unmarried at the age of twenty-three; Elbert A., a farmer of Penfield township; Wilbur F., who died when five years old; Watson F., a liveryman, of Mackinaw Island, Mich.; Mary I., Mrs. William Sheldon, of Kansas; and Irving, a farmer of Penfield township. Mr. Starr, in his political preferences, was for many years a stanch Republican, but of late has been an uncompromising Prohibitionist, not only in theory but in practice, for never in his long life has he tasted either liquor or tobacco. He and his faithful wife, now in the sixty-third year of their married life, are hand in hand descending the hill toward the golden sunset, wearing well their years of honored and useful lives, and enjoying the respect and esteem of a wide circle of friends. On October 23, 1893, Mrs. Starr received a shock which affected her right side, and on January 4, 1894, she fell, injuring her hip on the same side. ALANSON GILLMORE. This hornored old pioneer of Lorain county deserves more than a passing notice in this volume, where it only for his continuous residence here of over y- deserves more in this volume. were it only for his continuous residence here of over fourscore years, in that period witnessing the transformation of forests wild into fields of golden grain; and the time of the old postboy and stage-coach giving place to the era of steam and electricity. Mr. Gillmore was born in April, 1805, in Hampshire county, Mass., seventh in the family and the only survivor of eight children born to Edward and Elizabeth (Stewart) Gillmore, both also natives of Massachusetts. In 1812 they came to Lorain county, the journey from Hampshire county, Mass., being made overland with teams, and occupying thirty days. They located on land on the shore of Lake Erie, two miles west of the mouth of Black river. Here they opened out a farm, on which they passed the rest of their busy lives. The mother died in February, 1844, the father on April 9, 1846. He was a strong John Quincy Adams man, also a supporter of John Adams; in his later life he was a Democrat. Alanson Gillmore was seven years old when his parents brought him to Lorain county, and he was reared on the shore of Lake Erie, his education being received at the primitive schools of those early days. When the family first came here, they killed game in abundance in what is now Black River township. Our subject distinctly remembers Perry's victory on Lake Erie, and the firing at the time of Hull's surrendering of Detroit to the Canadian militia. Till he was twenty-one years of age he worked on a farm, and then went into a shipyard with Capt. Augustus Jones, of the sloop " William Tell." For over thirty years he was employed as a ship builder, working chiefly in the principal cities along the lakes. On February 23, 1833, he was married to Miss Evaline C. Jones, a native of Connecticut, whose half-brother came to Lorain, Ohio, in 1818. To this union were born five children (all yet living except one), as follows: Adelaide E., wife of Edmund Gillmore, of Lorain; Simon A., married, and living in Lorain; Joel M., a seafaring man, drowned in Lake Michigan July 2, 1886; Byron A., residing in Lorain, and Fannie, wife of Capt. Thomas Wilford, also of Lorain. The mother of this family died on the farm on Lake Erie, October 5, 1850, and February 10, 1859, Mr. Gillmore married Emma Lynch. She died in 1863, and June 5, 1865, our subject was united in marriage, in Dodge county, Wis., with Mrs. Sarah Mantoe, a native of New Hampshire, daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Barron) Burnham, who in an early day migrated to Michigan, thence to Wisconsin at the time it was a territory. This Mrs. Gillmore had been twice married before her union with our LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 533 subject, first time to Mr. A. Bankson, by whom she had two daughters, viz.: Louisa, wife of William Cross, of Fairmount, Minn.; and Jennie, widow of William Washington Peanick. By her marriage with Mr. Mantoe she had one son: George Arthur, in San Francisco, Cal., foreman in a bonded warehouse. During the Revolution Grandfather Jonathan Barron served as an aid-de-camp to his father Gen. Barron. Jonathan Barron married a Miss Minor. In politics our subject was originally a Whig, and since the formation of the party has been a strong Republican; he has served as justice of the peace (two terms) and township assessor. In matters of religion he is a member of the Disciple Church. LEVI MORSE. Among the prominent citizens of Lorain county, none is more notable than this gentleman, who is a trustee of Elyria township. Mr. Morse is a native of Connecticut, born in Prospect, New Haven county, July 1,1812, a son of Lent and Lydia (Doolittle) Morse, the former of whom was born in Cheshire, New Haven Co., Conn., followed farming, and died at the age of sixty-seven years; he was descended from one of three brothers who came from England in very early times. Mrs. Lydia Morse, the mother of our subject, lived to be fifty years old, and had six children, of whom the following is a brief record: Lydia married Samuel Bronson, and resided in Waterbury, Conn., where she died, leaving one son, Spencer Bronson; Lent died in Prospect when about forty years old, leaving two daughters, Martha and Lucy; Luther lived in Prospect, married Adelia Platt, and reared three children: Nancy, Agnes and Edward; Levi, the subject of this sketch, is the fourth child; Harry married Sarah Gillette, and died, leaving seven children: George, John, Walter, Byron, Hattie, Mary and Alice; Achsah married George Payne, of Prospect, where she still resides (she reared three children: Achsah, Lydia and Harry). The mother of this family died in 1825, and in 1828 or '29 Mr. Morse married Miss Tuttle, by whom there are three children: Augustus M., Sarah and Lydia Ann. Levi Morse, whose name opens this sketch, was reared and educated in his native town, Prospect. In 1835, at the age of twenty-three, when Elyria was but a small place of perhaps four hundred inhabitants, with two or three stores, a log house used for a jail and no church buildings, he came west to Ohio, and there commenced business in the store of S. W. Baldwin, who had accompanied him to the town. He remained in his employ some fifteen years, at the end of which time he embarked in the dry-goods business in company with a Mr. Andrews, under the firm name of Andrews & Co. In about two years Mr. Andrews died, and Mr. Morse carried on the business alone for a time. We then find him in the responsible position of first station agent at Elyria for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company, which incumbency he filled with ability and satisfaction three years; after which for a time he was in the produce trade—buying and selling grain. In 1863 he was elected township trustee, which position he has held continuously since, excepting one term. He was superintendent of the County Infirmary for over two years. In 1840 Mr. Morse was united in marriage with Miss Minerva Mann, who was born in New York State, December 7, 1818, and the children born to this union were as follows: Milo Welsey, born April 21, 1842, enlisted in 1862 in Company E, Forty-second Regiment O. V. I., and was killed May 25, 1863, at the siege of Vicksburg, while on sharpshooting duty; Clara A., born January 15, 1846, died February 18, 1849, of scarlet fever; Alfred D.; born 534 - LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO. January 29, 1851, now living in Elyria, married to Miss Adams, of Columbia; Edward F., born November 11, 1853, is in the mining business, and he and his wife make their home alternately in Stockton and Salt Lake City, Utah; Lydia May the wife of Rev. J. F. Brant, of Port Clinton, Ohio, was born April 10, 1859; Charles L., born October 6, 1861, in business in Elyria, married to Miss Basset, of Elyria. Mr. Morse in his political proclivities is a Republican, and has voted for every Whig and Republican candidate for President since 1833. In his church relationship he is a Methodist, and took a prominent part in building the first M. E. Church (now the Disciple Church) on East Second street, which was dedicated in 1851. He has held an official position in the church of his choice since 1843, and is now one among less than a dozen of the original membership of the First M. E. Church. His children now living are four in number, and he has eight grandchildren. THOMAS LOTHROP NELSON, prominent merchant and banker of Elyria, was born in Lyme, Grafton Co., N. H., January 11, 1823, a son of Asa and Sarah (Gilbert) Nelson. His mother was the daughter of Major Thomas Lothrop Gilbert, a worthy citizen of Lyme. The Gilberts had emigrated to Lyme from Hebron, Conn., and, at the time of Thomas L. Nelson's birth, a line of worthy ancestors had lived in Lyme for at least one hundred and eighty years, and the old Gilbert Homestead, in which Thomas L. Nelson was born, is now occupied by a descendant of the seventh generation. His father, Asa Nelson, was a merchant in Lyme, but died when his youngest child was small, and left his widow with no means, but a stout heart and courage to care for a family of small children. The little lad, Thomas L. Nelson, spec his boyhood days in his Grandfather Gilbert's family. Mr. Nelson enjoyed an improved the few educational advantage which the place afforded, and then wet for a time to Thetford Academy, Vermont near by; but he was a close student an careful reader all his life. Upon leavin school he was employed in a dry-goods store in his native town for two years, all then, attaining his majority, he started for the great West, reaching Oberlin, Ohl where his uncle (by marriage) Deacon Porter Turner resided. His ambition was acquire an education at the college Oberlin, but as all his possessions consisted of one dollar in money and the sm bundle he carried in his hand, the way procure an education did not seem clear him. Yet this early struggle and disappointment prepared the way for him sympathize with, and help in later yea, young men similarly situated. Thomas L. Nelson left Oberlin, walked to Mansfield, Richland county, and at last after many attempts and failures to first employment, secured a position as clerk a dry-goods store, which clerkship he held for six months. A kind Providence aft, ward directed his steps to Elyria, a he entered the store of Baldwin, Starr Co. At the end of five years of Industry the strictest economy and self-denial, was able to become a partner in this business, under the firm name of Starr & t In 1857 the firm of Baldwin, Laundon Nelson was formed, and for fifteen years Mr. Nelson was known throughout county as an honest, upright, success, merchant. The largest business in Lorain county was done by this house. At the time of this partnership the same part also conducted a large mercantile house Wellington. In 1872 Mr. Nelson with drew from the mercantile business, and, company with J. C. Hill organized the Savings Deposit Bank, of which he was chief stockholder and the honored President up to the time of his last sickness. LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 537 He was a valuable mane in the community, and his presence in business or Christian meetings was, as it were, "a tower of strength." He was always interested in the cause of education and the upbuilding of humanity. For thirty-one years he was a member of the Board of Education of Elyria, and for eighteen years its president. For nearly twenty years he served as trustee of Oberlin College. For one year he was mayor of Elyria, but declined all other offices tendered to him. Mr. Nelson cast his first vote with the Whig party, and afterward was a member of the Liberty and Republican parties as they came into existence. For thirty-seven years he was a beloved member of the Congregational Church, ever ready to bear the burdens of the Church, a devout attendant upon its worship, a constant worker in the Sabbath-school, and a faithful witness for truth and righteousness. When a young man he laid down certain rules for governing his life, among which honor, strict business integrity and Christian charity stood most prominent in his mind. A life regulated by such standards bore its fruits in winning the confidence of all with whom he came in contact and in an enviable reputation. How little does a sketch of this length portray the character of such a man ! In a business career of nearly half a century—a man of unstained integrity, as a citizen—honored and respected. A Church-member, beloved and mourned. In social circles always the gracious, affable gentleman. Thomas Lothrop Nelson died February 21, 1891. Mr. Nelson was thrice married. His first wife was Miss Lucretia Churchill (daughter of Judge Churchill, of Lyme, N. H.), whom he married July 24, 1851; she died January 18, 1853, leaving an infant daughter, Lucretia, now the wife of the Rev. E. P. Butler, of Sunderland, Mass. On August 21, 1856, he married Miss Mary L. Moody, of Chicopee, Mass. She died February 13, 1863, leaving three daughters: Mary L., the wife of A. L. Garford, of Elyria; Lizzie Gilbert, who died in childhood, and Sarah M., wife of Robert Frey. After ten years Mr. Nelson married, February 19, 1873, Miss Frances H. Sanford, of Elyria, who survives him. The last Mrs. Nelson was the youngest daughter of Frederick Burr Sanford and Eveline (Nichols) Sanford. Mr. Sanford was born in Danbury, Conn., April 25, 1805. He was educated in the academies of his native place, and at the age of seventeen years, with his brother-in-law, Thomas W. Pitman, went South and engaged in commercial business in Newberne, N. C., but after a sojourn of some years they sold out and returned to their home in Danbury. On May 6, 1830, he married Eveline Nichols, daughter of Aaron. Nichols, of Danbury. She was a woman of rare gifts, active in Church work, a friend of the poor, a sister of mercy to the sick and afflicted—an example of all that is sweet, tender and heroic in Christian faith. After the birth of their six children they left Connecticut and settled in Elyria, Ohio. Mr. Sanford again embarked in mercantile business, for a long period being proprietor of the then well-known " Peoples Store.!!.. Subsequently he engaged in the shoe business. His noble, beautiful life passed from earth December 27, 1879; his wife preceded him March 1, 1864. They were both members of the Congregational Church, and their children cherish the tenderest memories of their home. Both Mr. and Mrs. Sanford were descendants of the Starr family, a name well known throughout Connecticut, and they were worthy descendants of such a long line of noble ancestors. ORRIN HALL, than whom there is no one better known or more highly respected in Lorain county, was born April 5, 1816, in Connecticut, a son of Avery Hall, also of the Nutmeg State, whose father's name was also Avery. 538 - LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO. Avery Hall, father of subject, was reared on a farm, and when a young man took up the business of what was commonly known throughout the country as a "Yankee peddler," selling, in company with another, tinware and notions from their tin shop in Meriden, Conn., the first of the kind in the town. On December 27, 1801, he married Miss Sarah Foster, who bore him two children: Selden born September 19, 1802, and died in Wellington, whither he had removed from Brighton, and where he lived retired; and Alfred, born May 21, 1803, and died in 1890 in Perth Amboy, N. J., where he was in the terra cotta business. The mother of these dying, Mr. Hall married, September 1, 1805, for his second wife, Miss Lucy Bacon, the result of which union was children as follows, born in Connecticut: Erastus, born July 28, 1806, was a merchant, and died in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Sarah, born November 11, 1807, married Cyrus Miner, and died in Townsend, Huron Co., Ohio; Edwin, born April 9, 1809; lives in Elyria, Ohio; Avery, born February 28, 1812, a farmer, died in 1891 in Kansas; Lucy, born April 13, 1814, Married Lorenzo Doty, and died in Brighton, Lorain county; Orrin is the subject of this memoir; Julia and Julius (twins), born April 19, 1818, of whom Julius died in infancy (Julia was first married to Alfred Lamb, and after his decease to William Cook; she died in Perrysburg, Ohio); one born June 17, 1820, and died in infancy; and Theophilus, born May 15, 1821, lives retired in Wellington, Ohio. In New England Avery Hall owned a farm, and also a sawmill located on Muddy brook. About the year 1820 he came to Ohio in company with a man by the name of Comstock, the journey hither being beset with many hardships and much suffering. In Lorain county Avery selected 200 acres of wild land, and then returned to Connecticut, where for the Lorain land he traded what property he had to the State of Connecticut. In the summer of 1822 he and such of his family as were then living, excepting two sons—Selden and Alfred (who had already gone on, in order to prepare a cabin, walking the entire distance carrying their packs. on their backs)—set out for their new Western home. The family, together with their goods and chattels, came in two wagons drawn by a span of horses and a yoke of oxen, respectively, others of the farm stock, including a couple of cows, being led behind. After a tedious though somewhat uneventful journey of four weeks and four days, the party arrived in Lorain county, locating in what afterward became Brighton township. The county seat was then Medina, now of Medina county, Lo. rain county being organized about the yeas 1821, and the Hall family was the fifth to come into the township. (The county was organized the year before they came in, am the township the year after). On their arrival they found the cabin not quite completed, consequently they stayed at this home of Calvin Rice for a time. Whip living in Brighton township three more children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Aver Hall, to wit: John W., born August 26 1823, of Wisconsin; William, born Apr 11, 1825, now a mechanic of Southampton Mass.; and Clarissa, born August 22 1829, who died when twelve years old After a residence of some time here, Avery Hall attended a meeting which was called for the purpose of forming a township and he there suggested for it the named "Brighton," which was adopted. At that time there were only sufficient voters in the township to fill the several offices established by its formation. The whole country all around for many miles was in a thoroughly wild state, riot ten acres of cleared land to be found in the entire township and hears, deer, wolves, grey foxes, wild turkeys, etc., were numerous; the Indians used to bring fresh meat to the Avery home, which they would trade for other things useful to themselves. In course of time Mr. Hall, as declining years came upon him, retired from active work, and LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 539 made his home in Brighton Center, where he died at an advanced age; his wife had preceded him to the grave, dying in November, 1853, and they lie side by side in Brighton Cemetery. In religious faith she was a Congregationalist. Politically Mr. Avery Hall was a Democrat until the formation of the Republican party, when he united with it, continuing in the ranks thereof till the day of his death; he held the first offices in Brighton township, and was as highly respected as he was well known. Orrin Hall, whose name introduces this sketch, was, as will be seen, six years old when the family came to Ohio, and as for nine years thereafter there were no school houses in Brighton township, his educational advantages were necessarily somewhat limited. For a time he found ample employment in assisting to clear up the land, and at the age of sixteen years he commenced to learn the trades of mason and bricklayer and plasterer, under A. Briggs. Having completed what might be termed his apprenticeship, he worked at these trades as a journeyman in twenty-eight States of the Union and in Upper Canada, traveling about as much to see the country as anything else. Immediately after his marriage he located on a portion of the old Kingsbury homestead in Brighton township, and in 1855 came to his present farm in Brighton township, comprising 115 acres of prime farm land. Since 1888 he has retired from active work, and is now enjoying with ease a well-earned competence. On November 1, 1843, Mr. Hall was united in marriage with Miss Louisa Kingsbury, born November 16, 1823, a daughter of Austin and Altomira (Adams) Kingsbury, who in an early day came from Berkshire county, Mass., to Lorain county. To this union children as follows were born : Charles M., who became a member of Company F, Twelfth Ohio Cavalry, and was killed in 1863 at Mt. Sterling, Ky., where he was buried; Albert, of Cleveland; An drew, living at home; Mary, Mrs. Albert Pierrepont, of Wyoming; Jay, a teacher at Oberlin, Ohio; and Eva, of Wellington. Politically our subject was originally a Whig, now a Republican, and in religious faith he is a member of the Congregational Church at Brighton Center, which he has attended for over sixty years, and has held every office in same. REV. JOHN J. SHIPHERD. Oberlin is known in the world as an institution of learning and a community, the two having a common origin and a common history. As seen to-day it is a thriving city of some five thousand inhabitants, surrounded by a prosperous farming community, in the midst of which stands a college with its various departments, theological, collegiate, preparatory and musical, and an average yearly attendance of about fifteen hundred students. The projectors and prime movers of the enterprise were Rev. John J. Shipherd, then pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Elyria, and his associate and friend, Philo P. Stewart. John J. Shipherd was born March 28, 1802, in West Granville, Washington Co., N. Y., son of Zebulon R. and Elizabeth B. Shipherd. He was carefully and religiously educated, and while at school at Pawlet, Va., in preparation for college, his conscious religious life opened in a conversion which began in intense conviction and conflict, and resulted in great peace and joy. From this time to the end of his days his character and life were marked with profound earnestness and restless activity. In his youth a serious mistake, in swallowing poison instead of a remedy prescribed for a slight indisposition, so affected his constitution, involving a weakness of his eyes, that he had to abandon his preparatory studies for entering the college at Middlebury, Vt., and turn his attention to such business as opened to him. 540 - LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO. In 1824 he married Miss Esther Raymond, of Ballston, N. Y., and removed to Vergennes, Vt., to engage in the marble business. But he had still in view the work of preparing for the Gospel ministry, and his eyesight having improved, he entered the study of Rev. Josiah Hopkins, of New Haven, Vt., where he spent a year and a half, in company with other young men, in theological study.' His first year in the ministry was with the church in Shelburne, Vt. The next two years he was engaged in the general Sunday-school work in the State, making Middlebury his headquarters, editing a Sunday-school paper, and traveling throughout the State in the work of organizing schools. Concluding to try a new field for his life work, he took a commission from the American Home Missionary Society, and " went out, not knowing whither he went," but turning his face to the " Valley of the Mississippi," as the whole country west of the Alleghany Mountains was then called. At Cleveland he met Rev. D. W. Lathrop, who had just closed his labors as pastor of the church in Elyria, and upon his invitation he came to that town in October,1830, and the following February was installed pastor of the church. In October, 1832, he tendered his resignations and entered upon the work of laying the foundations at Oberlin, in which connection he was joined, the same year, by his old friend, Philo Penfield Stewart, the companion of his boyhood at Pawlet Academy. Thus the two founders of Oberlin were finally brought together, consecrated to the great cause, and ready for any sacrifice which the work required. In constitution and natural movement they were greatly-unlike. Mr. Shipherd was ardent, hopeful, sanguine, disposed to underestimate difficulties and obstacles; while Mr. Stewart was slow and cautious, apprehensive of difficulties, and inclined to provide for them in advance. But they had entire confidence in each other, in respect to rectitude of heart and purpose, although their cooperation doubtless involved some difficulties; but whatever they were, there was unanimity in the pushing to consummation the one grand object in view. In their deliberations they exchanged views; one would present one point of interest, and another a different one. Thus they labored and prayed, and one day while on their knees asking guidance, the whole plan developed itself to Mr. Shipherd's mind, and before rising to his feet he said: " Come, let us arise and build." He then told Mr. Stewart what had come into his mind—to procure a tract of land and collect a colony of Christian families that should pledge themselves with all its interests. They came down from the study, and Mr. Shipherd, with a glowing face, said to his wife: " Well, my dear, the child is born, and what shall its name be?" It was named for John Frederic Oberlin, a German pastor of Waldbach, in the Vosges Mountains, Eastern France, who had died a few years before, of whose labors, in elevating the people of his parish, an interesting account had been published in this country, as a Sunday-school book. Several sites were proposed whereon to found Oberlin, but none of the situations gave sufficient scope to Mr. Shipherd's ideal community; finally a forest-covered tract eight miles southwest from Elyria, in the township of Russia, was decided on, the owners of which lived in New Haven, Conn. Hence a journey must be made by some one to New England, for the threefold purpose of securing the land, the money, and the men. In November, 1832, Mr. Shipherd undertook the journey, which had to be accomplished on horseback, arriving at his destination, New Haven, in the course of two weeks. " The day after his arrival," to quote from Mrs. Shipherd's records, " he called on Messrs. Street and Hughes, the owners of the land, and laid his plan before them, and asked the gift of five hundred acres for a Manual Labor School, proposing to gather a colony of families who should pay LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 541 a dollar and a half an acre, for five thousand acres in addition, representing that this would bring the lands into market, and thus prove a mutual benefit. But they could not see the prospect. He called on them day after day unsuccessfully, until at length he came down from his room one morning, and remarked to the lady of the house, our friend, I shall succeed to-day, and she told me afterward that his face shone like the face of Moses. He accordingly went over to the office, and after the morning salutations, one of the firm said: Well, Mr. Shipherd, we have concluded to accept your proposition.' They adjusted matters, and he was prepared to proceed with his work of collecting the colony." The arrangement was to sell five thousand acres, bought for one dollar and a half an acre, to colonists, at an advance of one dollar an acre, and thus secure a fund of five thousand dollars for laying the foundations of the college. But Mr. Shipherd engaged that from this fund a sawmill and a gristmill should be erected, to be owned by the college, as these were essential to the very existence of the colony, and there was no probability that the mills would be erected as a private enterprise. But as it does not come within the province of this biographical article to give a history of Oberlin, which has already most exhaustively and graphically been treated on by Prof. James H. Fairchild, president of Oberlin College, it but remains for us here to conclude the per personal sketch of Mr. Shipherd. While in the East, he had engaged the number of families he supposed it desirable to invite to become the nucleus of the Oberlin Colony; had enlisted a considerable number of students who were to join the school at its opening in December following, or the next spring; had looked up and secured the appointment of the necessary teachers, and had raised a fund, in contributions and subscriptions, amounting to nearly fifteen thousand dollars. His journey back to Ohio was characteristic of the man and the times. Mrs. Shipherd had gone in the early summer, with a six-weeks-old babe in her arms, to her father's home in Ballston, N. Y. There Mr. Shipherd joined her in August, and in an open buggy, with a willow cradle at their feet, they made the journey to Ohio, remembered by Mrs. Shipherd, to the last, as the most pleasant journey of their lives. They then took up their residence in Oberlin. In 1834 the organization of the " Congregational Church of Christ at Oberlin " was begun, the ministers present at the organization being John J. Shipherd; Seth H. Waldo, principal of the school; John Keyes, pastor of the church at Dover; J. H. Eels, pastor at Elyria; and Oliver Eastman, of Oberlin. Mr. Shipherd, by unanimous call, became its first pastor, in which relationship he continued, with some interruption from ill health and his other duties, until June, 1836. There were special educational enterprises of a missionary character, in which the colony shared with the college. The first of these was led by Mr. Shipherd himself, who had laid the foundations here, and had a longing to continue work of the kind. In providing men for Oberlin, the church and the college, he had not been careful to reserve a place for himself; and thus, after ten years, while still a young man, he found himself with improved health, free from the responsibility in the college except as trustee. Having occasion, in the autumn of 1843, to pass through the State of Michigan, his mind occupied with the thought of another Oberlin, he chanced upon a place in Eaton county that impressed him as possibly the appointed field. Returning to Oberlin, he gathered a few of the men who had joined the Oberlin colony upon his invitation, and proposed to them the new enterprise. In the spring of 1844 Mr. Shipherd took his wife and six sons into a wagon, together 542 - LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO. with such household goods as could be readily transported, with a young man or two to drive his cows and sheep, and made his way overland to the new wilderness home. A half-dozen families from Oberlin followed, and two young men, graduates of the preceding year, joined them as teachers. Thus the foundations of the town and the college of Olivet, Mich., were laid. The new settlement had its experiences of hardship and trial; sickness came to many, especially to Mr. Shipherd and his family. In September, 1844, at the age of forty-two, he passed away, and his grave was made in the new colony, where his memory is still cherished, as it is in Oberlin. No published writings of his remain, and as no portrait of him, of any kind, was ever taken, not even an outline of his features was left. Mrs. Shipherd returned to Oberlin with her fatherless boys, and by the help of the people here heir former home was secured to her. After some years three sons came forward to their mother's aid, and provided her a home in Cleveland, where some of them had settled in business. She died December 7, 1879, at the advanced age of eighty-two. A memorial window in the Plymouth Church at Cleveland symbolizes the self-forgetfulness and beauty of her life. A simple tablet in the Ladies' Hall is all that bears the Shipherd name at Oberlin—Oberlin itself is the monument. [Compiled from "Oberlin: The Colony and the College," by the kind permission of the author, Prof. James H. Fairchild. PHILO PENFIELD STEWART. This gentleman, whose name has been associated with that of John J. Shipherd, in the above sketch, when treating of the organization of Oberlin Colony and College, was a native of Connecticut, born in the town of Sherman, July, 1798. When ten years of age, on account of his father's death, he was sent to live with his maternal grandfathe in Pittsford, Vt., and at the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to his uncle in Pawlet, Vt., to learn the saddle and harness-making trade. In this apprentice ship he served seven years, with a term three months each year in the Pawl Academy, a privilege which he great prized, and thoroughly improved. Undo the influence of a Christian teacher in the Academy, he had devoted his life to the Master's service; and after completing his apprenticeship he experienced a sort second conversion, in a conflict with his love of money, which seemed a natur tendency in his character. Thus he was prepared at the age of twenty-three to accept an appointment from the America Board to a mission among the Choctaw in the State of Mississippi. The journey of almost 2,000 miles to his field of labor he made on horseback, a pair of saddle bags containing his whole outfit. The officers of the Board had furnished him seventy dollars for his traveling expenses. But from the time of starting he enter upon his missionary work, and preach the Gospel to the families along the way until he reached the Choctaw nation, at expense to the board of only ten doll, for himself and his horse. An important part of his work at t mission was the superintendence of secular affairs, for which he was well fitted. In addition he taught the boys' sells, and with the help of an interpreter he services on the Sabbath in the differe Indian settlements. His health failin he returned to Vermont to recruit, but turned again to the mission in 1827, wil a reinforcement of one young man an three young women, whom he took o the long journey in a wagon, at an expo only slightly greater than that involved his own journey six years before. In 1828 Mr. Stewart, now thirty years of age, married Miss Eliza Capen, one of the young women whom he had taken o to the mission the previous year from LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 543 Pittsford, Vt., and together they wrought in the mission two or three years more, when Mrs. Stewart's broken health compelled them to return north, and resign the mission work. Still on the outlook for a field for Christian labor, he corresponded with his old friend, Mr. Shipherd, the companion of his boyhood at Pawlet Academy; and as a result, leaving Mrs. Stewart behind, he joined him at Elyria in the spring of 1832, and became an inmate of his family. During Mr. Shipherd's eastern tour in 1832, to secure lands, funds, etc., Mr. Stewart was rejoined by Mrs. Stewart, and they remained at Elyria with Mr. Shipherd's family, Mr. Stewart being especially occupied in the work of bringing to perfection a cooking-stove which he had invented, and which was known as the "Oberlin stove." This was the beginning of the Stewart cooking-stove, which has become so well known throughout the country. It was his expectation that the success of the invention would warrant the trustees of the school in taking the pecuniary responsibility involved, and thus all the profits might go to the school; but the trustees never felt authorized to assume this responsibility. While carrying forward the project of the cooking-stove at Elyria, Mr. Stewart had general supervision of the work of the new colony at Oberlin, meeting the colonists as they came from the East with information and counsel and encouragement, conducting such correspondence as the work called for from this point, and holding frequent meetings with several gentlemen of the region who had consented to act as trustees of the enterprise. Thus the work at Oberlin was begun. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, having no children, had pledged themselves to the service of the Oberlin Institute for five years, for no other compensation than the mere cost of living. When the school was opened in 1833 they took charge of the boarding-hall, and continued in this capacity of father and mother to the young people, until 1836. The first year he was also general manager, in the absence of Mr. Shipherd, as treasurer of the college. His views and practice of frugality, and plainness of diet, were somewhat too rigid for general acceptance with the students, and in 1836 he resigned the stewardship of the " Hall," and with some sense of disappointment Mr. and Mrs. Stewart made their way eastward to Vermont, and finally to New York, to work out the stove problem, which for two or three years had been held in suspense. He established his home at Troy, N. Y., in the neighborhood of the manufacturers who worked out his inventions. Mr. Stewart, worn out with the cares and perplexities of his business, died December 13, 1868, at the age of seventy years. Mrs. Stewart afterward remained at her home in Troy, the only survivor of the group that in the parsonage at Elyria, in prayer and consultation, devoted themselves to the work of building up in the wilderness a Christian College, and a Christian community. [Compiled from "Oberlin: The Colony and The College," by the kind permission of the author, Prof. James H. Fairchild. DAVID BENNETT, one of the early settlers of Lorain county, was born on the 26th day of May, 1788, in Westmoreland, Cheshire Co., N. H., being third in a family of fifteen children. His father, Dea. David Bennett, was the only son of one of three brothers who came from England to the Massachusetts Colony about the year 1750, and was born at Harvard, Mass., May 28, 1761, his parents both dying in his infancy. At the age of sixteen years he enlisted in the infantry service of the United States army, and fought in the Revolution. He was married in 1783 to Abagail Chase, and to 544 - LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO. them were born nine children. He joined the Baptist Church at Jamaica, Vt., in 1806, and the next year received the appointment of deacon. In December, 1811, he contracted a second marriage with Selina Holmes, and to them were born six children. He died at Dummerston, Vt., June 9, 1848. David Bennett at the age of twenty-two years married Polly Wheeler, and lived at Londonderry, Windham Co., Vt., until the year 1827, when he came to Carlisle township and purchased 112 acres of land in Section 12, one and one-half miles west of the center. He returned east for his family/ consisting of his wife and a niece, and the next spring, in May, came to make a permanent settlement on his farm. He soon afterward built the first frame house in that part of the township; put under cultivation 110 acres of land, and there resided until his death, July 16, 1863. On February 6, 1830, he married, for his second wife, Jane, eldest daughter of Neri and Betsy Galpin, of Elyria, and to them were born six children: Polly, who died at the age of fifteen years; Jane A., wife of W. C. Sutliff; Emerett, wife of Curtis Webster, Elyria; Celestia, who died in infancy; Melvin R. and Cassimar D. Mrs. Bennett died December 27, 1884, at the age of seventy-four years. David Bennett was an energetic farmer, and became successful in his chosen vocation. In politics he was a Democrat, and held various offices of trust in the township, being for six years justice of the peace, and for two terms township treasurer. In religious faith he was a Universalist. M. R. BENNETT, the eldest son, was born September 11, 1849, on the home farm, where he resided until 1884, when he removed to seventy acres adjoining which he now owns. He received an elementary education in the common schools of his native township, afterward attending Elyria High School, and subsequently Oberlin Academy. On January 27, 1880, he was united in marriage with Miss Katie L. Schaden, native of Lorain county, and to them were born two children, Florence E. and Karl E. Mr. Bennett, politically, votes with the Democratic party, and in 1872 was elected to the office of township clerk, in which position he has since served. C. D. BENNETT, an enterprising wide-awake farmer of Carlisle township, is a native of same, born November 2, 1852, a son of David an Jane (Galpin) Bennett. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, and is now owner of sixty-four acres of well improved land, where he carries on general farming. In 1887 he married Miss Carlie Kellogg, of Oberlin, Ohio. PARKS FOSTER. As a living example of what it is possible for man, with willing heart and hands to accomplish—how from the bottom round of the ladder, upward, to work out for himself an honorable competency, a solid reputation and a good name —this gentleman stands prominent anion; the worthy citizens of his native county Mr. Foster was born in Lorain county Ohio, September 4, 1832, of New England ancestry. His paternal grandfather, will was a native of Vermont, for some ten o twelve years lived in the State of New York, whence he came to Ohio, where he passed the rest of his days. Elisha Foster, father of subject, also of Vermont birth, moved to New York State with his parents when nine years old, and in 1816 proceeded westward to Ohio, making settlement in what is now Avon township Lorain county, at that time a wild, un broken wilderness. The next year he LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 547 moved to Amherst, same county, and the farm which he cleared and lived on is still in the possession of members of the family. In addition to his agricultural interests he kept hotel at Amherst for fourteen years. He married Miss Ann Maria Mason, who was horn in Lee, Mass., January 12, 1804, and is still living on the old home farm, hale and hearty for a woman of her years. Parks Foster received his education in the old lug schoolhouse at Amherst, and early commenced the arduous work incident to farm life in his younger days. This he pursued until he was thirty-six years old, and then went into the stone business, Amherst township and vicinity being famed for its quantity and quality of sandstone. At the end of two years he sold out and moved to Elyria, hut shortly afterward, on account of his wife's impaired health, they went to the Sunny South, sojourning in Chattanooga, Tenn., seven years, during which time he was connected, as director, with the First National Bank of Chattanooga; was president of the first street railway organization in that city; was one of the first organizers of of the Roane Iron Company Mills, at that time one of the largest rolling mills in the South, and was assistant superintendent of same; helped to start the Wasson Car Works, and also assisted in the erection of a flouring mill. On behalf of the Government, he helped to open up the Mussel Shoals Canal, employing in the work a large number of men for a year. He put out the first extensive peach orchard, yielding good fruit, on the side of Missionary Ridge, where the battle of Missionary Ridge was fought; in addition to which he became interested in real estate, owning lands and houses, including a handsome residence in Chattanooga, which was the family home while in that city. On his return to Lorain county, Mr. Foster reentered the stone business, in company with Clough Bros.. the firm style being "The Clough Stone Co.," which continued some seven years. They built the railroad to the quarry from Oberlin, some four miles in length, afterward selling out to the Cleveland Stone Company. After selling his interests in the Clough Stone Co., Mr. Foster took a trip to Europe, remaining there some months, visiting various countries, and then set sail again for his native land. Soon after his return he engaged extensively in the lake vessel business, as a member of two transportation companies, the Escanaba & Lake Michigan Transportation Co., and the Owen Line, and one of the vessels, a handsome craft, bears his name—" The Parks Foster." In 1888, Mr. Foster was appointed, by Gov. Foraker, one of the trustees of the State Asylum for the Insane, at Toledo, and served throughout the Governor's term ; under Gov. Campbell he was removed for political reasons only, but was reappointed by Gov. McKinley, and still enjoys the incumbency. In addition to Mr. Foster's manifold businesses above recounted, he is interested in a cattle ranch in Colorado, and also in coal industries. For a time he was a stockholder in and director of the Savings Deposit Bank Co., of Elyria. He owns two large farms near Toledo, and, in connection with J. C. Hill and T. L. Nelson, was interested in an extensive timber business. He is at present a director of and stockholder in the Garford Manufacturing Co., and the Electric Light Plant at Lorain, Ohio. In 1890 he was elected a member of the State Board of Equalization, serving thereon some seven months. While in Toledo Mr. Foster contracted (in 1891) with that city to lay some pipes, to the amount of fifty thousand dollars, and while engaged on same was taken so ill that he had to be conveyed to his home, where he gradually became worse, and in May, 1892, he had to take to his bed, and for eleven months be lay between life and death, his friends all despairing of his recovery. In October, after lying some five months dangerously ill, he submitted to a 548 - LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO. heroic operation. Medical skill, backed by a good constitution, prevailed, and the patient slowly gained strength, although he had lost one hundred pounds in weight. Five months elapsed after the operation before much improvement in his system was noticeable, but since then be has improved steadily, and is now almost fully recovered—a living monument to modern medical and surgical skill. In October, 1855, Parks Foster and Mary L. Robertson, a native of Lorain county, were united in marriage, and four children—one son and three daughters—were born to them, of whom the following is a brief record: Sarah May is the wife of S. L. Kent, of New York City; Burton P. is a resident of Findlay, Ohio; Mary L. is the wife of Arthur W. Walker, of Portsmouth, N. H.; and Miss Florence is a student of music at Boston, Mass. John B. Robertson, Mrs. Foster's father, was a native of Ballston, N. Y., and was well-known in prominent Democratic circles. He was formerly a resident of Saratoga, N. Y., coming to Lorain count in 1830. He married Miss Temperance oot, a native of Lee, Mass., and they had five children — three sons and two daughters—of whom two sons are living, in Lorain county and New York City, respectively. Mr. Robertson died in 1875. His widow is now living in Amherst township, Lorain county, at the advanced age of ninety-three years. Mrs. Foster passed her girlhood in Amherst township, where she was educated. It was after marriage, when her health began to fail, that she and her husband went South, as already related. She has ever been a hard worker in the interests of reform, a zealous Church woman, and was the one who took the initiative and most active part in the erecting of the present Baptist Church building. A member of several organizations, she acts as chairman of numerous committees. She is a live worker in the social interests of the Church, and raised the wherewithal to establish the Temperance Reading Room. In the Anti-Liquor League recently organized, she is one of the active workers, and a leader in its councils. She is a power in the family circle, and a counsellor to her husband, at times aggressive when he may be mild or indifferent, but always on the side of right, to that end, in all things, fearless and unflinching. WILLIAM SMITH, retired, enjoy the distinction of being one of th oldest and most honored of the farmer citizens of Lorain county He was born in Bennington county, Vt., December 30, 1809, and is consequently now fourscore and four years old. He is a son of Samuel and Pollie (Fuller) Smith, the former of whom was born in Vermont, was a farmer by occupation, and died in Ashland county, Ohio, at the age of eighty-three. His wife, when aged sixty-two, died in Illinois, whither he had accompanied her, but returned East just prior to his death. His father, Daniel Smith, a Vermonter, came of old Puritan stock, and was a deacon in the Baptis Church; Mrs. Pollie Smith, our subject mother, was also a Baptist. She had five children, of whom the following is a brief record: Jedediah is residing near Plattsburg, N. Y.; William is the subject of this sketch; Willis is living in Utah; Laura, who was married in New York State to a Mr. Webb, died in Iowa; and Lydia, married to a Mr. Pixley, is living in Orange, Ashland Co., Ohio. William Smith received a liberal education at the schools of the neighborhood of his place of birth, and was reared to agricultural pursuits on his father's farm. At about the age of twenty-six he moved to New York State, but after a year's sojourn there came to Ohio, settling on a piece of land in Sullivan township, Ash LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 549 land county, commencing there with about four hundred dollars, and by industry and i ado in i table perseverance succeeded in accumulating a handsome competence, becoming the owner of 388 acres of fertile land. There he lived forty-one years, or until about 1878, when he came to Wellington; Lorain county, and has here since made his home. In November, 1835, our subject married Miss Sabrina Palmer, and eleven children were born to this union, of whom the following is a succinct record: (1) Lydia M. married George McClellen, and had two children: Lydia M. and Julia, both married; Lydia M. died in Wellington in 1884. (2) Platt B. is a farmer in Sullivan township, Ashland county. (3) Fuller enlisted in Company H, Eighth 0. V. I.,,and was killed at the battle of Cold Harbor. (4) Russell also was in the Civil war, serving under Garfield in the Forty-second 0. V. I., during which time his health was completely shattered; he died at home. (5) Martin W. lives in Sullivan, Ohio; he is married and has five children: Nettie, Sabrina, Fuller, Claude and Ethel. (6) Julia is the wife of a Mr. Beem, and resides in Sullivan, Ohio; she has one son, William S. (7) Eli resides in Michigan; he has four children: Milo, Mabel, Ruby and Ettie Joy. (8) George, living in Sullivan, has two children: Louise and Mack. (9) Ettie resides in Sullivan. (10) Milo died in youth. (11) One that died in infancy. The mother of these died in 1874, and in 1878 Mr. Smith wedded Mrs. Lorena G. West, née Dimmock, a daughter of Solomon and Clarissa (Phelps) Dimmock. Her father, who was a native of Connecticut, in an early day came to Sharon, Medina county, Ohio, and died at Olmsted Falls, Cuyahoga county, at the patriarchal age of ninety-three years. He was a well-known Baptist minister, at first serving in the capacity of a missionary. His wife (who was born in Connecticut, and from there moved to Vermont, where she was married) died at the age of eighty-nine years. They had twelve children, Mrs. Smith being among the younger ones. Her first husband, by whom she had four sons, died in Kansas in 1875; he was a farmer, and a devout member of church. She is an adherent of the Baptist faith, Mr. Smith of the Disciples. Politically he is a Republican, and as a Whig cast his first vote for Polk. In his long life and early pioneer experiences he has an interesting history, and full many a tale of days gone by can be yet relate—of difficulties and dangers unknown to the present generation. THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN DANIELS, cashier of the Citizens Savings Bank, Lorain. Of the men who have from the first believed firmly and steadfastly in the uitimate greatness of Lorain, and whose faith has been and still is unshaken by any momentarily discouraging circumstance that might arise, T. F. Daniels has. been one of the most patient and persevering. The town never had a bank until he came in 1880, and it has had a good one ever since. When the town grows to a population of a hundred thousand or so he will be remembered as the pioneer banker. His ability and integrity have brought prosperity to the institution of which he has so long been an important officer, and his continued connection with it amounts to a guaranty of its continued success. Theodore Frelinghuysen Daniels was born in Caledonia, N. Y., on the first day of July, 18,44, a son of Eli W. and Ann (Miner) Daniels, both of whom were natives of Connecticut. The mother died when Theodore was four years of age, but his father is yet living at the age of eighty-one. When the subject of this sketch was two years of age the family moved to the wilds of Wisconsin. The first place the family settled was at Oconomowoc, a few years later moving to what is now Auroraville. The Daniels family