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CHAPTER IV.
KINSMAN.
LOCATION AND OWNERSHIP.
Kinsman—township number seven in the first range—is situated in the northeast corner of the county, adjoining the Ashtabula county line on the north and the Pennsylvania line on the east. On the south is the township of Vernon and on the west the township of Gustavus. The township contains 16,664 acres, to which was annexed by the equalizing board 1,857 acres (lot number eight, tract two) in the eleventh range, being a part of the land on which the city of Akron is now located. The first township line run by the surveyors began at the south line of the reserve, five miles west from the Pennsylvania State line, and deflected so much from a parallel line as to be nearly five miles and a half from the State line at the lake shore, which accounts for the extra six hundred and sixty-four acres. The draft was made in 1798 and is known as draft number eighty-one of that series. The requisite amount to make a draft of a standard township was $12,903.23, and in this draft was assigned as follows: Uriah Tracy and Joseph Coit, $4,838.61 ; John Kinsman, $8,064.62. Major Joseph Perkins of Norwich, Connecticut, was a joint owner in this township and in other lands drawn in other drafts. In the division of the Kinsman and Perkins interest Mr. Kinsman took this township and Major Perkins the Akron and other lands. Mr. Kinsman also purchased the interests of Joseph Colt and Uriah Tracy, who was then a United States Senator from Connecticut.
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PHYSICAL FEATURES, STREAMS, SOIL, TIMBER.
The surface of the township is in general of a level character. The principal streams are the Pymatuning, Stratton, and Sugar creeks, the last two being branches of the first. The Pymatuning rises in Cherry valley, Ashtabula county, enters Kinsman near the northwest corner and flows a southeasterly course through the west half of the township. Stratton creek—named for the first settler on its banks—comes into the townshrp near the northeast corner, takes a southwest course, and unites with the Pymatuning near the south line of the township. Sugar creek rises in Johnston township and flows into Kinsman near the southwest corner, uniting with the parent stream. This creek derives its name from the sugar maple groves found along its course. Much of the soil of Kinsman is of a superior quality, especially the bottom lands along the Pymatuning, where an alluvial soil is found, this stream frequently overflowing its banks and covering the adjacent land for a considerable distance on either side, and those in the vicinity of the junction of Sugar creek and the Pymatuning, which are exceedingly rich and productive. A considerable proportion of the soil of the township is a sandy loam.
The first settlers found Kinsman covered with a heavy growth of timber with the exception of a tract of about one thousand acres in the center of the township, which was destitute of timber, and which the settlers called "the prarrie." The principal varieties of timber were the oak, beech, maple, hickory, chestnut, elm, etc. In the south part of the township, in the west part of section twenty-three, was a grove of white pines of about twenty-five acres, presumably the largest grove of the kind on the Reserve.
INDIANS.
In Regard to the Indians of Kinsman a writer* says :
There are many indications that Kinsman, at some early day, was a place of Indian resort, where their villages and wigwams were as permanently fixed as the nature of their wandering life would allow. The high ground back of Wayne Bidwell's house, the meadow in front of it, and the ground about the springs by the old ashery, showed marked indications of having once been the seat of an Indian village. The first plowing of the land revealed spots darkened with charcoal, showing the places of their camp-fires; many
* Rev. H. B. Eldred in Mahoning Valley Historical Collections.
flint arrow-heads and stone axes were found; traces of fortifications on the high grounds, and the dancing circle seen on the fiats, all conspire to establish this belief.
Although there were no permanently resident Indians in the vicinity of Kinsman after its first settlement, they frequently visited it in small straggling bands for the purpose of hunting, trapping, and trading at Mr. Kinsman's store. Furs, skins, and various articles of their manufacture, as baskets, wooden trays, ladles, curiously worked moccasins, sugar, and various trinkets were the commodities in which they dealt. They also brought in the native fruits—June-berries, strawberries, raspberries, whortleberries, cranberries, haws, plums, and crab apples, to exchange for milk, meal, flour, bread—always wanting equal measure, no matter what was brought or what was asked in return. Calico, blankets, powder and lead, flints, whiskey, tobacco, knives, and some little finery, as beads and the like, comprised their purchases at the store. Sonic of the Indians were sharp at a bargain. Many could talk broken English, and often showed themselves good judges of the character of those with whom they dealt. They were jealous of their rights, and shy of those whites in whom they lacked confidence. . . .
In the year 1800 a larger party of Indians made an encampment on the bottom-lands in Kinsman than were seen in the township afterward. They broke into the cabin which Mr. Kinsman had erected in 1799 for his surveyors, and appropriated camp-kettles and such articles as had been stored there for future use.
ANCIENT REMAINS.
Upon this subject the same writer says :
That part of the township commencing near the mouth of Stratton's creek, skirting along the east bank of the Pymatuning, and west bank of Stratton's creek, first regarded of so little value, was a beautiful alluvial bottom, on which the first settlers noticed the evident signs of an old Indian corn-field. Further up the land rises into an undulating surface of deep gravelly loam, which undoubtedly had been burned over by the Indians for a hunting ground. Freed from timber the elk and the deer, in the grazing season, would come out from the deUse forest on either side, to feed on the open grass plat and plain, and thus could be approached, and presenting a fairer mark for the Indran. Bordering on the open prairie, on the farm now owned by Wayne Bidwell, Esq., upon the high ground in the rear of his house, were the remains of what was supposed to have been an old Indian fort. The lines of an embankment and ditch were clearly defined and were often noticed by the early settlers of the town. In the vicinity of this fort flint arrow-heads and stone axes were frequently found. So late as 1866 Mr. Plant, in plowing up an old field on his farm (a part of the prairie), struck a nest of arrow-heads, which were undoubtedly lost or buried there by the Indians. Until the War of 1812 the Indians made their yearly visits to this locality, where they spent weeks in hunting, fishing, and trapping. Spots of earth, dark with intermingled charcoal, were found near the old fort, showing what was evidently an Indian camping ground. The head- waters of the Pymatuning were marked with a very permanent beaver-dam, which had been abandoned by its occupants before the settlement of the country by the whites.
SURVEY AND FIRST IMPROVEMENTS.
Mr. Kinsman first came to the Reserve in 1799, making the journey, in company with Simon Perkins, on horseback across the Alle-
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gheny mountains by way of Pittsburg. He reached Youngstown in the latter part of the spring of the above year, where he met Mr. Young, at whose house he made his headquarters a portion of the time while making preparations for settlement. At Youngstown he made arrangements for the survey of the township, which was done under the direction of Alfred Wolcott. On arriving rn this township Mr. Kinsman and his party established themselves at the center, putting up a cabin near the southeast corner of what is now the square. The work of surveying was completed during the year 1799. Mr. Kinsman was a large owner of land in different sections of the Reserve, and not until 1801 did he decide as to the place of his location. In the spring of that year he left Connecticut for his future home in Kinsman township. He was accompanied by Calvin Pease, Simon Perkins, George lrod, John S. Edwards, Ebenezer Reeve, Josiah Pelton, Turhand and Jared Kirtland, and others. Reeve was employed by Mr. Kinsman to begin improvements in the township, and, as an inducement for him to leave his Eastern home for this purpose, was to he paid $0 per month during his absence, and the sum of $40 in case he did not like the country and desired to return to his former home, a quite probable contingency. But it was also stipulated that if he liked the country he was to exchange his land in Connecticut for land in Kinsman. The sequel to this agreement will appear further on. The whole party came out on horseback, with the exception of the two Kirtlands, who came with a team and wagon. That they were a merry set of men, and intelligent as well, may be inferred from the following, which we quote from the writer previously mentioned :
The company usually put up over night at the same place. They soon organized into a society called " the Illuminati." All were titled, and in addressing each other the titles were frequently used. To illustrate the use to which the society was put, and show the wit and humor with which they beguiled the tediousness of their journey, a single case will suffice. Mr. Kinsman was the only one of the company possessed of a hired man. Pease set up a claim to the right of property in this man Reeve. Kinsman resisted, and employed counsel to defend his rights. Pease instituted proceedings to recover the property. The case was brough before one of the titled dignitaries of the " Illuminati " and called for hearing from night to night as they pursued their journey. Profound arguments on the case were made, and a lengthy and learned decision was at last given confirming the trtle to the property in Mr. Kinsman.
On their arrival in Youngstown the party separated, a part going to Warren, Mr. Kinsman and Mr. Reeve to Kinsman, and Pelton to his purchase in Gustavus.
The first improvements in the township were soon commenced by Mr. Kinsman beginning the erection of a double log house in section twenty-three, east of the Vernon road. When the cabin had reached a height of six or seven feet it was abandoned and another erected between the creek land the store of Kay & Burrill. In the fall of 1801 Kinsman and Reeve returned to Connecticut, leaving John Cummings, John and Isaac Mathews, in charge of the place and to prosecute the work of clearing during their absence.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
While the settlement of the township will date from the improvements made by Messrs. Kinsman and Reeve, above mentioned, Martin Tidd and his son-in-law, James Hill, and David Randall are regarded as the first permanent settlers, since they were the first to take up their abode with their families, which they did in the spring of 1802, Mr. Kinsman having made a contract with them to this effect the previous fall.
In April the three families left Youngstown together, with two teams and wagons. There was probably a good natured strife between the Tidd party, who occupied one wagon, and Randall, as to who should oneirst arrive upon the ground, but an accident happening to Randall, his wagon breaking down at Smithfield (now Vernon), he was detained there over night. Tidd and family, with Hill and wife, proceeded to Kinsman, and thus bore off the honors of being the first permanent settlers. Tidd settled on the hill north of the Seth Perkins farm, getting one hundred acres in exchange for sixty acres in Kinsman. Randall located on the Seth Perkins farm. Tidd and Randall were originally from the Wyoming valley, Pennsylvania. The former lived a short distance below the settlement of Wyoming at the time of the massacre, his house occupying a high bluff on the banks of the Susquehanna river. His house is said tc have been used as a block-house, and during the massacre afforded a place of safety for many of the inhabitants in the vicinity. Atter removing from Wyoming he went to Westmoreland county. In 1798 he came to Youngstown with his family
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and nephew, Captain Hillman, where he lived until his removal to Kinsman. Tidd possessed the true spirit of the pioneer, though he continued to live in Kinsman until his death, yet he was restless during the progress of settlement and improvement of the country, and was only prevented from "moving on" by reason of his advanced age and out of deference to the wishes of his children, who did not inherit his pioneer spirit. He died at an advanced age.
Randall moved from Pennsylvania down on the Ohio river, settling near Marietta, Washington county, whence he came to Youngstown in 1800. In his frequent removals from place to place he acquired an extensive acquaintance with the Indians, with whom his dealings were always characterized by such exceptional kindliness and honesty as to invariably win their confidence and good will. At the time of the McMahan difficulty at the salt spring, elsewhere related, he went with Captain Hillman to visit the Indians, and endeavor to prevent the retaliatory measures which they seemed determined to inflict upon the whites.
Randall lived but a short time on the Perkins farm, removing to the farm which in 1806 he exchanged with John Allen for land in Ashtabula county. He resided in Ashtabula but a short time, returning to Kinsman and locating on Stratton creek. He continued to live in Kinsman until advanced in life, when he removed to Michigan, where he died at the age of seventy-two.
As a result of the contract between Mr. Kinsman and Ebenezer Reeve, previously mentioned, the latter exchanged his land in Norwich, Connecticut, for land in Kinsman, and in 1802 moved out with his two daughters, Deborah and Hannah, and erected a log house opposite the site of the Sutliff frame house, where he lived until 1807. In that year he built a two-story frame house in front of where the house of Wayne Bidwell was afterwards built. This was the first two-story frame house erected in Kinsman. Here Mr. Reeve spent the rest of his life.
Besides those already mentioned a few families settled in 1802. Paul .Rice and his mother settled on land which subsequently became the Webber farm. Alexander Clark began operations upon his farm. Uriel Driggs located east of Driggs' hill.
In 1803 Captain Charles Case came into the township, and assisted in tending the Kinsman saw-mill. He was accustomed to give singing lessons, free of charge, and gained considerable popularity thereby. He removed to Williams- field, and died there.
The same year settlements were made as follows : William Tidd, John Wade, John Little, Walter Davis, Isaac and John Matthews—with whom their sister Betsy lived—Robert Laughlin, Peter Yetman, George Gordon Dement, George Matthews, Joseph McMichael, Joshua Budwell, and his son Henry, and William Knox settled in the township. Several of these men brought families ; others were young men and single. Joseph Murray, a carpenter and a single man, arrived and lived with the Davises.
In July, 1804, after a journey of seven weeks, John Kinsman and family arrived in the township. His family then consisted of himself and wife and four children—John, Joseph, Sally, and Olive. Accompanying him were several persons whom he had engaged to assist him in erecting a house and other buildings for his family. In this party of settlers were Chester Lewis and family, also his mother-in-law, Mrs. Manning, and her son Samuel. Lewis drove an ox team loaded with household furniture and farming implements. Mr. Kinsman came with a number of teams. On his way he bought a stock of goods, and placed them in charge of Joseph Coit, who came out to act as clerk in the store. Louisa Morse, afterward the wife of Isaac Meacham, and Eunice Morgan, afterward Mrs. John L. Cook, came with the company ; also Cook and Jahazel Lathrop, carpenters.
In 1804 Plumb Sutliff settled on the creek, but moved to a farm on the center road a year later, where he died, in 1834, aged eighty-three. He married, the year of his settlement, Deborah Reeve, of Kinsman.
William Scott settled on the ridge in 1804.
Deacon William Matthews settled during the same year. He was a Revolutionary soldier. In 1808 he was appointed justice of the peace. Deacon Matthews was one of the most earnest of working Christians, and was largely instrumental in promoting the cause of religion in the new settlement. He was always in attendance upon the religious meetings, whatever the weather, and frequently conducted the services,
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as clergymen were seldom in the township during its early years.
Thirty families comprised the inhabitants of the township in 1805, together with twenty or thirty young unmarried men, and twelve or fifteen young women, who were single. Some of the settlers whose names have not yet been mentioned were John Neil, Thomas, John, and William Gillis, Stephen Splitstone, Captain William Westby and his sons, James, John, and Ebenezer, William and Andrew Christy, Thomas Potter, Leonard Blackburn, David and Elam Lindsley.
John Allen, of Norwich, Connecticut, came to the township in 1806. The Allen family has played an important part in the affairs of this township.
David Brackin, a native of Ireland, located in this township in 1806. The same year came John Andrews. He married Hannah. the youngest daughter of Ebenezer Reeve, to whom eight children were born. Mr. Andrews was born in Connecticut, in 1782, and died at the age of eighty-0ne. About 1812 he engaged in business as a merchant. He was a useful member of society, and a warm supporter of schools and churches. As early as 1825 a boarding-school in Kinsman grew up under his patronage, and ten years later, at his house, built for such a purpose, a female boarding school was opened and successfully conducted until 1840.
Isaac Meacham came from Hartland, Connecticut, in 1806, Lester Cone in 1807, Peter Lossee in 1808, Jairus Brockett in 1809, Michael Burns in 1808, Ira Meacham in 1812, Joshua Yeomans in 1814, Obed Gilder in 1815, Ebenezer Webber, John Yeomans, Simon Fobes, and others later.
EARLY EVENTS.
In 1801 Ebenezer Reeve began work on a mill-dam, but it was swept away by the water the following spring. The next year James King, from Pennsylvania, as mill-wright, built and completed a saw-mill for John Kinsman. It was put in operation the same year.
In 1802 Mr. Kinsman brought a small stock of goods for the supply of his family and the settlers. David Randall and Zopher Case were employed to tend the mill, and Joseph Coit subsequently became clerk in the store. Mrs. Ran dall sometimes ran the mill and spun whrle the logs were moving through.
TROUBLE WITH THE MILL-DAM.
The mill-dam erected in 1802 proved to be very much of a nuisance. Those who dwelt near it were afflicted with malarial sickness of a severe nature. Zyphus and kindred diseases raged violently in this and neighboring townships. The dam caused back-water in the creek for a distance of three miles on account of the almost level bed of the stream, and so much stagnant water no doubt caused a most unhealthy atmosphere to prevail in the neighborhood. Loud complaints soon began to be heard, and in 1805 Mr. Kinsman was waited upon by a number of 1epresentative men of Hartford, Vernon, and other places, among whom were Rev. Thomas Robbins and General Smith, who came to demand that the dam be destroyed. He treated them with hospitality, gave them a good dinner, plenty of brandy, etc., and in reply to their request said that it would but increase the evil to tear down the dam in hot weather; that he and others wished to do some sawing, but that the trouble should be removed early in the spring. The delegates went home satisfied ; but their neighbors were not, and accused them of having been bribed and made drunk, besides making other insinuations not complimentary to the characters of the distinguished gentlemen.
One night some self-appointed regulators came and cut the boards about the flume. Immediate action prevented serious damage, and in a day o1 two the null was running as usual. Mr. Kinsman suspected who had done the mischief, but allowed no talk upon the subject, thinking that some of them would soon return to see what their work had effected. He was correct in his surmises. A short time after a man from Vernon, whom Mr. Kinsman had suspected, was seen on the opposite bank of the creek. Mr. Kinsman mounted a horse, forded the stream, and engaged in conversation with the visitor, inviting him to come over to the store. The latter accepted, and the two entered the store together. After Mr. Kinsman had conversed with the fellow sufficiently to satisfy himself that he had the guilty party, he locked the door of the store, collared the man and gave him a sound flogging. Then knowing that he had acted unlawfully, he stepped behind the counter and offered to settle. The
PICTURES OF RIVERIUS AND EUNICIA BIDWELL
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proposition was accepted, and about $3 worth of goods patched up the wounded feelings of the would-be destroyer of the darn. But when the trespasser returned to Vernon he was threatened with another whipping for settling on such easy terms.
Other threats were made, but the dam continued to stand. In 1806 Chloe Gilder, of Gustavus, and Anna Cone, of Gustavus, were 1iding a horse near this dam when in some way the animal became frightened and Miss Gilder, who was behind, slipped off into the mud and water and was drowned. In March, 1806, the pond was drained and sickness abated. The road now runs on the top of what was the old dam.
The first apples raised in the township came from an orchard planted by David Randall, on the farm subsequently owned by John Allen.
George Gorden Dement built and put in operation a whiskey distillery in the southeastern part of the township in 1803.
The first mechanics among the early settlers were James Hill and Walter Davis, shoemakers; Captain David Randall, cooper; David and Elam Lindsley, Joseph Murray, John L. Cook, Jahazael Lathrop, carpenters.
In 1806 the Gillis brothers erected a saw-mill on Stratton creek, and subsequently a grist-mill.
The first frame house was erected for Mr. Kinsman. It was begun in 1804. The second frame house was built in 1806 by Plumb Sutliff. A half mile below the Gillis mill Benjamin Allen and Abner Hall built a shop for fulling and cloth dressing. In 1813 a carding-machine was put in Gillis' mill and transferred to Allen's shop in 1814.
About 1806 William Henry, near Hartstown, began work as a tanner. He at first manufactured the lime which he used from shells found in the creek.
In 1813 John Andrews established a store and ashery for the manufacture of pearl ash.
In 1802 the first birth occurred. Twin daughters, Sally and Phebe, were born to Mr. and Mrs. David Randall. Sally afterwards married R. Brown, and Phebe Charles Woodworth, both of Williamsfield.
The same year occurred also the first marriage. Mr. Kinsman, as justice of the peace, united in
marriage Robert Henry and Betsey Tidd.
The first death was that of John Tidd, who died in April, 1804, at the age of thirty-two. He was buried in the lot which afterwards became the old cemetery, on the corner near the church. The oneirst death of an adult female was that of Mrs. Walter Davis, October 28, 1805. A child of Samuel Tidd died of a burn in September, 1805. William Westby and son died of typhus fever in 1805. Also a child of Urial Driggs died September
The same year while David and Elam Lindsley were clearing, a limb of a falling tree struck David and fractured his thigh. The wound was cared for by Dr. Wright, of Vernon, and Dr. Hawley, of Austinburg. The broken pieces did not unite and it was found necessary to amputate the limb. The operation was performed by Dr. Wilson, of Meadville, with a common handsaw and a carving-knife.
The first military company was organized in 1806. David Randall was captain, Zopher Case lieutenant, and George G. Dement ensign. Previous to this date the men of Kinsman had trained in Hartford and Vernon.
ROADS.
As in most thickly wooded new settlements, the first way-marks of the town were blazed trees, marking a line from one settlement to another. Afterward these lines were underbrushed. Still later they were cleared of their timber, and some of them at least, worked into highways. There is, however, scarcely a road in the town that follows the first paths traced by the early settlers. The roads commonly lay along the highest and dryest grounds, and had reference to the places most convenient for fording and bridging the streams. Afterwards as the woods were cleared away and the country settled, its thoroughfares were laid out to suit the convenience of the people, and facilitate intercourse between different parts.
The first road of any considerable length that was constructed in this region is what was called the "Old Salt road," laid out in 1804 by Bemis and David Niles. It began on the lake shore at the mouth of Conneaut creek, continuing south to the old county road, thence south through the first range to Kinsman's mill. It took a northerly course from Kinsman's store, along the ridge by the residences of George Mathews, William Scott, and Marvin Leonard, of Williams field, somewhere between the present State and
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center roads, of the first range. South of Lake Erie a settlement had been begun at Monroe.
Midway between Monroe and Kinsman a temporary board cabin was erected, where men and teams might find shelte1 for the night. Salt was one of the pressing wants of the early inhabitants of Kinsman and adjoining towns, and was one of the principal motives for the construction of this road; hence the name grven to the road. Salt was manufactured in Onondaga, New York, and transported in vessels on Lake Ontario to Lewistown, below the Falls of Niagara; from Lewistown it was carted to Buffalo; from Buffalo it was brought to Conneaut in canoes and open boats. It reached Kinsman by means of ox teams, where its price was twenty dollars per barrel.
In 1806 a road from Johnson to Kinsman was laid out, beginning at the east and west center road, on the south side of lot number forty- five, in Johnson, and running thence to the Mercer road, near the house of John Kinsman. The same year a road was laid out from the house of John Kinsman east to the State line, near the house of William Mossman, by the farms of Leonard Blackburn and Thomas Potter. This is known as the Mercer road. In 1807 the State road was laid out.
In 1808, a road from the north line of Warren Palmer's farm, in Vernon, was surveyed to the crossing of the Pymatuning creek, near the house of John Kinsman.
The petition, in 1804, for a road from the mouth of Conneaut creek south, shows that it was to terminate at Kinsman's mill, whereas the record of the survey makes it terminate at an oak tree, one mile south of the south line of Kinsman. It is conjectured that the first road was legally established only to Kinsman's mill, and the above piece is to make good the balance of the first survey.
In 1810 the record shows there was a petition to establish a road from Mr. Kinsman's toward Meadville. The record is imperfect, and proper legal action was not had. In 1835 new action was taken, and the road surveyed by Buel Barnes, surveyor, and the lines fixed from the tavern barn, near Mr. Kinsman's, on the line of the Meadville road to the State line, and the whole legalized by the commissioners.
In 1815 the Mill road, so-called, was established, beginning at the Mercer road west of the house of Thomas Potter, by Gillis's mills to the State road, near the houses of Elizabeth Lewis and Nicholas Krahe.
In 1811 a road was laid out from the vicinity of the Griswold farm east, in Gustavus, to the house of Mr. Kinsman, via the farm of J. Burnham, Esq.
In 1818 a road was established from what was then known as the Clark farm to the northeast part of the township.
In 1819 a road was established by the farms of Simon Fobes and William Mathews to the Meadville 1oad. Also the same year a road trom the meeting-house (near Dr. Allen's), in Kinsman, west through the center of Gustavus to the west line of the county.
In 1820 the road from Johnson to Kinsman was altered and straightened. In 1821 the road beginning near the north line of Vernon, by Obed Gilder, was established. In 1822 the north and south center road was surveyed.
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL BUILDINGS.
The first school in Kinsman was taught by Leonard Blackburn, in a log cabin. He taught a night-school, consisting of a few boys; also during the day, in the winter of 1805-6, in the log cabin of the Neals, on the Joshua Yeoman farm, or in the Yetman cabin, on the Seth Perkins farm. In the winter of 1806-7 his school was in the Neal cabin. It was popular, principally on account of its cheapness, As there were no public funds, and the "Yankee school" charged $2.50 per term for tuition, some of the people were displeased, and patronized the cheaper school.
The first school-house was built of logs, sixteen feet square, seven and a half feet in height, and stood on the bank of Stratton creek, opposite the house of John Andrews on the Randall farm, afterward known as the Daniel Allen farm. It had rough slab benches, and boards fastened to the wall by wooden pins for desks, altogether primitive in its fixtures and surroundings.
The first school taught here was by Jedediah Burnham, Esq., beginning January 1, 1806, and continuing one quarter. He taught also in the winter of 1806-7, at ten dollars per month, and took his pay mostly in grain and barter. He boarded from house to house; his scholars came from all the surrounding settlements. Benjamin
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Allen taught the first part of the winter of 1807 -1808. Dr. Peter Allen taught the balance of the winter; also in 1808, assisted by Joseph Kinsman, and the next winter assisted by John Kinsman. Ezra Buell taught in this school-house one or two winters, from 180 to 1814. Joshua Yeomans taught one winter, as late as 1815 or 1816.
Miss Eunice Allen (wife of Jehiel Meacham) taught the first summer school in 1807. Miss Lucy Andrews, afterward Mrs. Jones, of Hartford, and Miss Bushnell, afterward Mrs. Beecher, of Shalersville, were among the last who taught in that building.
The next school-house was of logs, erected near the township line, north of William Scott's, to accommodate families in Williamsfield. Afterward one was built south, near the site of the present Ridge school-house. The third was also a log house, and st0od near where the stone house built by Seymour Potter now stands. Dr. D. Allen attended school there in the summer of 1818. At this time there was a school-house east of McConnell's, on the Pennsylvania line, to accommodate settlers on both sides of the State line.
In 1820 the township was divided into districts, and the whole southwest quarter of the town was organized into district number one. The first frame school-house was erected by subscription, 0)(24, feet and placed in the angle of the State and Meadville roads, on the site of the present hotel. The first school taught in it was by Daniel Lathrop (since Rev.), of Norwich, Connecticut, in 1820-21, for $15 per month. The common price for teaching winter schools was $0 per month. The building was a commodious and good one for the times. Afterward it was removed to a rise of ground, a few rods north on the Meadville road, near where the house of Elijah Beckwith now stands. Here it was occupied a number of years under the name of the Village school-house. Here D. Cadwell (afterward known as a distinguished lawyer, provost-marshal of the Northern district of Ohio during the civil war, and district judge of the Cleveland circuit) taught about 1840, and I know not how many others, who in after life filled honorable callings. After the erection of the present school-building, 1853, near L. C. Perkins's, the old one was sold, and is now the dwelling of R. P. Hulse.
It was several years after the erection of this oneirst frame village school-house that the schools began to be aided by public funds. Only a oneew of the common English branches were taught in the schools, such as 1eading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, and, to a very limited extent, geography and grammar.
About 1822 a log school-house was erected north of Esquire King's—not far from the present residence of Gordon Burnside. The second frame school-house was built in 1825, on the ridge, at the crossing, near George Matthews's. The one by David Brackin was built in 1828. The one near Mr. Crocker's, in the north part of the town, on the Meadville road, the one east, by Esquire Laughlin's, and the center school-house, near Henry Lihies's, were built in 1834.
KINSMAN ACADEMY.
This institution was incorporated during the winter of 1841-42, and its academy building erected in 1842, the land on which it stands having been donated by Mr. John Kinsman. The timber for the frame was given in the r0ugh by Esquire Andrews. At the time of building the times were hard and cash scarce. Only $50 in money were paid for building purposes, although many turns and credits were made that answered the same as cash. The building was plain, well proportioned, commodious, neatly and substantially built. John Christy, Albert Allen, and Dr. Dudley Allen, were its first trustees and building committee. The stonework was prepared and laid by Robert and George Braden. P. S. Miner did the carpenter and joiner work, and Zephua Stone the plastering and flues. Its cost was not far from $1,500. In 1863 its rooms were remodeled, at a cost of about $400. It has done good service for the town and surrounding communities.
The following is an imperfect list of its principals and assistant teachers: Charles F. Hudson, assistant; Miss Brown taught in 1842-44; Charles C. Clapp, assistant Miss Clapp, 1844-46; John Lynch, r846-49; Almon Sampson, 184950; Robert F. Moore, 1850-5I; John Myers, 1851-52; Miss Owen, 1852-53; Miss H. A. Holt, 1853; Dr. W. R. Gilkey, 1853-55; Miss Hannah P. Parker, 1855; Mr. and Mrs. W. P.
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Clark, 1855-58; E. I.. Moon, assistant Mrs. Moon, 1858-59; E. P. Haynes and Miss E. C. Allen, 1859-60; Moses G. Watterson, 1860-61; Edwin L. Webber, 1861-62; Mrs. A. A. F. Johnston, 1862-65. Assistants: Miss Josephine C. Field, Miss Celia Morgan, Miss Mary Christy, Miss Louisa M. Fitch. Mrs. Johnston was principal of the academy for a longer period than any other teacher, and was greatly respected and beloved by her pupils.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES,
JOHN KINSMAN AND FAMILY.*
The ancestors of Mr. Kinsman, on his father's side, are traced from the time of their leaving England, embarking in the ship Mary and John, at Southampton, landing at Boston, settling in Ipswich, Massachusetts, as one of the Puritan fathers, in 1634. From that time the genealogical record is traced by regularly executed recorded wills of the ancestors of Mr. Kinsman down to and including the last will and testament of his father ; and whatever of history is shown links them with the patriots of their day and generation. The ancestry of his mother is traced from John Thomas, who came over from England in the ship Hopewell, 1635, a boy fourteen years of age, under the special charge of Governo1 Edward Winslow, of Plymouth, from whom sprang an honorable and patriotic line of descendants. The name of Mr. Kinsman's mother was Sarah Thomas, sister of General John Thomas, of the American Revolution, one of the generals first appointed by the Continental Congress.
Mr. John Kinsman was the son of Jeremiah Kinsman, a thrifty farmer of Lisbon, Connecticut. Here he lived, working on his father's farm, and receiving such education as the schools of that day afforded, until he was of age. At the breaking out of the Revolution, 1776, being then twenty-three years old, he enlisted in a company of Connecticut militia, destined to take an active part in the bloody and disastrous battle of Long Island. In that battle he was
* From the Mahoning Valley Historical Collections.
taken prisoner and was confined for some time in one of the prison-ships in New York harbor. He suffered greatly from this imprisonment, being inhumanly treated, and never fully recovered from its effects upon his health. With two of his companions he was finally released from the prison-ship on parole and allowed to mess in a 1oom in the city of New York.
While in New York he acquired a knowledge of the hating business that induced him, immediately on his release and return home, to embark in that business. He at once established a shop, placed in it an experienced workman, Mr. Capron, as foreman, purchased a stock of goods, and devoted his time to the care of the store, furnishing the shop, and making sales of the products. He supplied the army largely with hats, and the trade generally proved to be successful, and was continued in Connecticut, with his farm operations, until after the war.
In 1792 he was married to Miss Rebecca Perkins, daughter of Captain Simon Perkins, of Lisbon, Connecticut.
In 1797, having been elected to represent his native town in the State Legislature, the office was continued to him by successive re-elections for three years. It was here that he became acquainted with many of the officers and stockholders of the Connecticut Land company, and familiar with their operations, and concluded to become one of the proprietors of the company. It was also about this time that he first entertained the idea of a removal to Ohio.
His first trip to the Connecticut Western Re. serve was in 1799. He came out to explore the country, and to see and survey some of the lands that had fallen to hint in the drafts of the year previous. That year he aided in the survey of the township of Kinsman, and from this time his life and business were very intimately connected wrth the early history and settlement of the township. His was the ruling spirit of the settlement. His age, experience, enterprise, wealth, and more than all, perhaps, his practical sound judgment, gave him an influence in the affairs of the town which no other individual could pretend to exert.
While naturally firm and decided in his purpose, he was conciliatory in his treatment of others, eminently kind in his feelings and lenient as a creditor.
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His first office in Ohio was that of justice of the peace under the Territorial government. Local justices were associated to form the courts called quartet sessions. He was one of those who assisted in constituting the government of the first and subsequent county organizations, providing for county jail, and fixing its limits, etc. Under the State government, in 1806, he was appointed one of the associate judges of the county. Also held the office of postmaster from the time of the first establishment of an office in the town to the time of his decease.
His own increasing business, as well as that of many others, now called for increased facilities of trade and commerce, and was the occasion of the establishment of the Western Reserve bank, the first corporation ot the kind in Northern Ohio. Mr. Kinsman was one of its principal projectors, and much the largest subscriber to the stock of the company, taking one-fifth of the $100,000 capital. He did not live, however, to see the organization completed.
His business life was one of great activity and toil, riding often on horseback to Connecticut, New York, and Philadelphia, to purchase goods, also over many parts of the Reserve, looking after settlements and sales of land, occasionally camping out nights. Besides, the building of mills, attention to his store, and the clearing and improving of a large farm, brought upon him exposures and cares greater than his somewhat impaired constitution was able to bear. He died August 17, 1813, aged sixty years. He died intestate, leaving a large estate, for that time, which was administered upon by his brother-in-law, General Simon Perkins.
Mr. Kinsman lived and died in the house which he built on the south side of the square, near where the store and warehouse of Kay & Burin now stands. A few years after his decease the house took fire in the middle of the night and burned to the ground. The family afterwards occupied the old Sutliff house, a little east of the one burned, until John Kinsman, the eldest son of the deceased, built the house now known as the "Kinsman homestead," which was occupied by the family until by death, marriage, or otherwise, their homes were changed.
The widow, Mrs. Rebecca Kinsman, remained there until her decease, May 27, 18$4, aged eighty years, Mrs. Kinsman was a woman of decided and devoted Christian character, of strong mind, and of large heart. She was active in promoting the religious culture of the place, both in word and deed. She gave freely and largely to benevolent objects ; was a liberal benefactor of Western Reserve college in its earlier years, assisted largely towards the building of the Presbyterian and Congregational house of worship, gave the parsonage and grounds to be occupied by the minister of the society, and contributed generously toward an endowment for his support. Her liberal hand, kind advice, and ready relief to those who were in need have often been gratefully remembered and acknowledged.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Kinsman, when they left Lisbon, Connecticut, consisted of the following children : John, aged ten years; Joseph, aged nine years; Sarah, aged five years, died January 13, 1807; Olive Douglas, aged three years.
John, the eldest of the children, soon took the place of "pater familias " in the household, living in the old homestead, which he built. He was married April 28, 1846, to Jane W. Cass, widow of John Jay Cass, and died February 4, 8864.
He was identified with the early settlement of the Western Reserve from his youth; and having uncommon energy and business capacity, he soon became connected with many of the public and business interests of the day, and devoted much of his time and means to the development of the resources of the country, and administered largely of his advice and means to the wants of those around him.
In his extended business large credits, for provisions and supplies, were freely given to relieve the wants of the early settlers, at a time when such credits were deemed absolutely necessary to their success.
Joseph, after remaining with his father in Ohio assisting in the store a few years, returned to Connecticut, fitted himself for college at the academy at Colchester, and entered the freshman class at Yale college in 1816. After three years of close application to study his health gave way, and he was advised by his physician to go South. He spent the winter in the West Indies at St. Thomas and St. Croix, returning with the return of spring. He died of consumption,
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June 17, 1819, and was buried in the old cemetery at Norwrch, Connecticut. His age was twenty-four years.
Olive Douglas, in 1812, was sent to Norwich, Connecticut, to attend the school of Miss Lydia Huntley, afterward Mrs. Sigourney. From there she went to Hartford, afterwards to Litchfield, where she finished her school education under the instruction of Mrs. Pierce. While in attendance upon Miss Huntley's school for young ladies the intelligence of her father's death was received. An only daughter, she was a favorite of her father's, and his death was to her a great affliction.
Returning from school in 1819, she rode on horseback from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, to her home. Unaccustomed to this mode of travel the journey was so severe that it produced a spinal affection, from which she never recovered. She married George Swift, Esq., son of Hon. Zephaniah Swift, chief-justice of Connecticut. He was a graduate of Yale college, commenced the practice of law in Warren; occupied, for his first residence, a house on the corner of Main and Franklin streets, where the Anderson block now stands. In 1823 he removed to Kinsman, purchased a farm and built a house upon it, which is now occupied by David Bracken. He continued the practice of law for some time, but in the latter part of his life devoted himself mainly to the farm. He was a great reader and an accomplished scholar, very agreeable and instructive in conversation; was elected a Representative to the State Legislature ; was a devoted Christian, and aided much in the religious exercises, and the building up of the church to which he belonged. He died March 14, 1845, of cancer. Mrs. Swift died June 24, 1835, of spinal affection.
Thomas was the first of the family born in Ohio, August 20, 1804. He was one of the most extensive farmers in northern Ohio. His lands, comprising about two thousand acres, were located in are townships of Kinsman and Gustavus. The fine quality of its soil, well watered by springs and spring-brooks, its good timber, and well arranged farm buildings, made his farm one of the most attractive in the State. It was mostly under fine cultivation; a part being devoted to dairy purposes, the number of cows ranging from sixty to eighty each year ; the balance to promiscuous farming. His large and well-bred Durham herd constituted at all times a prominent and attractive feature of his business.
His life as a citizen of the town numbers more years than any one that has preceded him, and at his death he was the oldest native inhabitant. His life, from childhood to old age, has been peculiarly marked by kindly relations with all with whom he had to do. Buoyant in spirits, with a strong mind abounding in wit and humor, he drew around him a circle of friends; while his marked integrity, consistent Christian character, and a modesty that withheld him from any aspirations for fame or official position, rendered him prominent as a counselor and adviser with his neighbors and friends.
Frederick Kinsman, the only surviving member of the family, now resides at Warren, Ohio.
THE REEVE FAMILY OF KINSMAN.*
Jeremiah Reeve, Sr., was born at Norwich, Connecticut, in April, 1779. His father, Ebenezer Reeve, was born at Southold, Long Island, August 23, 1751, and his wife, Bethia Hudson, at the same place, about five years after. They were married at Southold, Long Island, in the year 1776, and moved to Morris, New Jersey. This place was occupied at about this time by British troops, and the inhabitants were considerably annoyed by them. For this reason my grandfather thought best to sell the farm which his father had helped him purchase, and remove to Norwich, Connecticut. He after this served as a soldier in the war which had then commenced. My grandmother was removed by death, at their home in Norwich, on January 9, 1786, at the age of twenty-nine, leaving three small children, my father, the eldest, being not quite seven years of age.
Of my father's early years I can speak but very little, being at the time of his death only nine years of age. Being the only son considerable pains was taken with his education. He pursued the study of medicine, although never practicing. That he had gifts as a public speaker was shown by his being chosen to deliver an oration at Norwich, his native place, on the 4th of
* By Mary D. Reeve.
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July which followed the death of Washington. His allusion to the then recent death of the country's renowned chief and lamented ex-President, was considered by his friends quite a happy effort.
That he was possessed of a sense of the humorous and ludicrous, and perhaps a little of the waggery which prompts to practical joking, seems appatent from an incident related by deacon Charles Wood, late of Kinsman. He was a frequent passenger on boats plying between Norwich and New London. On one of these occasions, when about meetrng another boat, the captain of his boat knowing something of his mirthful propensities, said to him, " Now, Jerry, keep quret and be civil." My father demurely replied, "I will," immediately picking up a section of stove-pipe near him, turned towards the approaching boat through his improvised telescope a long and steady gaze, which had the desired effect of producing the uproarious applause and merriment of both boat-loads. In 1802, my grandfather having traded his farm in Norwich with Judge Kinsman, for land on the Western Reserve, moved wrth his two younger children, Deborah, afterwards Mrs. Plumb Sutliff, and Hannah, afterwards Mrs. John Andrews, to their new home in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, my father remaining East a year longer at school. After coming West he engaged in teaching at Hubbard, in this county, where he continued his school for one year. He afterwards engaged in teaching at Wooster, near Marietta, where he became acquainted with and was afterwards married to Miss Mary Quigley, on November 27, 1808. Their eldest and only child, Ebenezer Reeve the second, was born at Kinsman, Ohio, August 9, 1812. His mother died August 9, 1825. His last visit in Kinsman was about the yea1 1842. He had previous to this been engaged for three years in farming on a farm which he had rented in Kentucky. He promised another visit the next year, but did not come. Several years after this news came to us of his death by drowning in the Mississippi river.
The Reeve family for seven generations occupied the same estate at Southold, Long Island, which descended through the eldest son, who usually, if not in every instance, bore the Christian name of James.
My grandfather was a younger member of a large family of brothers, whose posterity scattered and divided over the Union, and possibly with earlier branches of the family in all parts of the world, without doubt share distinguishing marks which denote a common ancestry.
Chief Justice Tappan Reeve, of Connecticut, was a relative of my grandfather, and a sense of equity manifest in his writings display characteristics of mind and heart which my father and grandfather exemplified in daily life.
The psalmist's description of the man " who sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not," from the knowledge which I have been able to gain of father and son would eminently apply to each.
My father died of typhus fever at Kinsman, Ohio, September 21, 1836.
Sarah McMichael was born at Frederick, Maryland, November 27, 1800. Her children regarded the date as felicitous, the year commencing the century, and the day of the month and the week sometimes being the same as that set apart for our National Thanksgiving day.
My grandfather, Joseph McMichael, was born in Ireland, not far from the year 1750, and was of what is called Scotch-Irish descent. His mother's family had a good estate about three miles from Londonderry, and after his father's death, which occurred when he was quite small, himself and mother returned to their former home.
Annie Masters was born near Dublin, Ireland, some years later. Her father was of English birth, and her mother, Catherine Carroll, of Irish birth, and cousin of Charles Carroll, one of the signers of the American Declaration of Independence. While visiting my grandfather's relatives in London my grandmother became acquainted with a wealthy Scotch family, and engaged with them as a governess for their children, and soon after sailed with them to America, Charleston, South Carolina, being their destination. She remained with them several years, and then engaged as governess in the family of Judge Bey, of Baltimore, Maryland, where she remained until about the year 1795, near or at the close of the Revolutionary war, when she was martied to my grandfather. My mother was not quite five years old, and her only brother, Joseph McMichael, Jr., an infant, when her parents removed to Kinsman, Ohio, in 1805.
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My grandfather, Joseph McMichael, was a trader, and crossed the Atlantic six times in the course of his business, which was shipping linen to this country and flax-seed back to Ireland. On his third homeward voyage his ship was wrecked, and with the survivors he was carried to London by a rescuing vessel, where his mother's family sent him needed assistance, and after visiting home he crossed the sea the seventh and last time. His death occurred in Kinsman, Ohio, July 28, 1831. That of his wife at the same place, February 27, 1845.
My mother lived to a good old age, and filled out the life of usefulness which had been allotted to her with a cheerful patience, meeting the ills of life and infirmities of age with brave composure and unyielding fortitude. Her death took place April 25th, 1880. My parents were members of the. Congregational and Presbyterian church of Kinsman.
Their home was at some distance from the church, and it was no uncommon sight to see them on horseback on their way to church on Sabbath morning, my mother with the youngest in her arms and the eldest seated behind her, and my father with two others disposed in a similar manner. In personal appearance my father was rather tall, well formed, with brown hair, a brown beard, blue eyes, and a very fair complexion. He was a fine singer with an excellent voice for bass. My mother was a trifle below the ordinary height; in childhood her hair was red, but when she grew up it turned black. Her head was handsomely shaped, eyes blue. Her complexion was not as fair as my father's, but very clear and fresh. She was very lady-like and agreeable in her manners, with refined tastes and thoughtful mind. In singing she could not distinguish one note from another, and never attempted singing, although when her children were small, and while she was busy about her work, I have heard her humming in monotones.
My parents were desirous of giving their children the best advantages for acquiring knowledge which the place would afford. Their two eldest, when but " tiny tots," could be seen trudging morning and evening; when the season and weather would permit, on their way to and from school. An infant school, such as is described in Miss Gilbert's Career, written by the late Dr. J. G. Holland, was established in the Kinsman village, a mile and a half from home. My parents' two eldest infants managed to be there to take their part in less0ns in astronomy, geometry, and other deep sciences, besides doing their share of the marching, singing, clapping of hands, etc., through the greater share of two summer terms. Were all parents as earnest in procuring educational facilities for their children, laws for compulsory education would be useless.
My parents' family consisted of six children Mary Deborah, born September 5, 1827; Bethiah Hudson, January 29, 1829; Annie Maria, April 3, 1831; Jane Eliza, October 11, 1833; Jeremiah Reeve, Jr., March 15, 1835; James Albert, May 7, 1837. Bethiah H. Reeve was married to Robert Clark at Paris, Edgar county, Illinois, August 10, 1853, and died at the same place April 9, 1854. Their infant daughte1 died at Kinsman, Ohio, October 6, 1854. Jane E. Reeve and George C. Harding were married November J0, 1854. Their daughter, Fl0ra Krum Harding, was born at Charleston, Coles county, Illinois, in the summer of 1855, and died at Indianapolis, Indiana, August 0, 1874. Their son, Ben Shillaber Harding, was born at the same place, and was the victim of a railroad accident on the Burlington & Quincy railroad, near Ottumwa, Iowa, December 29, 1879, which caused his instant death. Annie Maria Reeve was married to John T. Edwards, of Chicago, Illinois, at Cleveland, Ohio, June 6, 1859. His widow and a son and four daughters survive the father, who died at Benton Harbor, Michigan, February 7, 1873, where his family still reside.
James A. Reeve and Eliza Woolmer were married at Chicago, Illinois, where they now reside, in December, 1863. Their family consists of two sons and a daughter. Two sons who died in infancy were buried at Benton Harbor, Michigan.
Jane E. R. Harding and John Morris were married at Charleston, Coles county, Illinois, where they still reside, April 16, 1865. Their son, Charles Thomas Morris, was born at Charleston, Illinois, September 13, 1866, and died May 7, 1869. Helen Emily Morris was born September 16, 1870, at Charleston, Illinois, The eldest son and eldest daughter of my parents still reside at Kinsman, their native place.
M, D. R.
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SETH PERKINS,
of Kinsman, was born in Hartland, Hartford county, Connecticut, February 29, 1780 ; removed to Barkhamsted, Litchfield county, Connecticut, at the age of twelve, and at twenty to Canandaigua, Ontario county, New York, where he resided ill April, 1804, when he emigrated to Ohio, with his earthly possessions on his back in a knapsack. He worked by the month through the season, and in October was married to Lucy Thompson, daughter of Thomas Thompson, who came to Hartford, Trumbull county, Ohio, the same year from Farmington, Hartford county, Connecticut. It the winte1 he made a clearing, and built a cabin on the center line of Fowler, near the Vienna line, where he removed with his wife, then eighteen years old, in the spring of 1805, there being at that time only four families in the township, the nearest one mile distant through an unbroken forest. They endured all the hardships incident to so new a country, and made for themselves a home of comfort, humble though it was. At the time of Hull's surrender in 1812 he went with almost the entire male population of the county, to defend the northwestern frontier at Sandusky and Huron, from whence he 1eturned about the 1st of January, 1813, with impaired health. He still resided on his farm in Fowler, which he had improved to a fine homestead, planted an orchard, which now by its perfectly straight rows shows his taste and care, and the fences being neat and substantial were an evidence of industry and thrift. In the autumn of 1818 he sold his farm to Abijah Silliman, and in April, 1819, removed to Kinsman, where he resided until February, 1846, when, by a fall, which resulted in concussion of the spine, he died three days thereafter. His family at the time of his settlement in Kinsman consisted of himself and wife, six daughters, and one son, and afterward another son and daughter.
DR. PETER ALLEN,
Kinsman has had no citizen more honored and useful in his calling than Dr. Peter Allen. He was born at Norwich, Connecticut, July 1787, the son of John and Tirzah Allen. His father was a respectable and well-to-do farmer of Norwich, and gave his son the best advantages of education which the city at that time afforded. He pursued and completed his professional studies with the eminent Dr. Tracy, of Norwich, emigrating to Kinsman in 1808, and immediately entering on the practice Of his profession. He was the first, and for nearly I quarter of a century the only physician in the township and a somewhat extensive surrounding country. Possessed of an uncommonly robust constitution and great energy of character, he endured hardships and performed an amount of labor in his profession which in these days of bridges, good roads, and short rides might seem almost incredible. It was nothing uncommon for him in the early settlement of the country to ride over bad roads and along mere bridle-paths ten, fifteen, twenty or more miles to visit a patient, often fording streams or crossing them on logs or by canoes, exposed to wet and cold, fatigues and discomforts that we are now little able to appreciate. In his day the advantages of medical schools, hospitals, clinics, dissections were enjoyed only by a very few physicians. Notwithstanding the disadvantages with which he had to contend, Dr. Allen attained a high standing in his profession. He performed many difficult surgical operations, such as the operation for strangulated hernia, ligating the femoral artery for aneurism, laryngotomy, lithotomy, removal of cancers, amputation of limbs, and at the shoulder-joint, etc. He stood high in the esteem of medical men, and his counsel was much sought by them in difficult cases of both medicine and surgery. He was an active member of the Ohio State Medical association from its first formation, and was at one time its presiding officer. In the War of 1812 he had the first appointment of surgeon in the army on the northern frontier of the State. He was also a member of the Ohio State Legislature in 1840.
He married Charity Dudley, of Bethlehem, Connecticut, May 15, 1813. Mrs. Allen, a superior and most estimable woman, was for many years a great sufferer. Her death was sudden, she having been thrown from the carriage in which she was riding, by the fright of her horse, June 1, 1840, and lived only a few hours after. In 1841 Dr. Allen married Miss Fanny Brewster Starr, a niece of Mrs. R. Kinsman and General Simon Perkins. She died of consumption in August, 1846. Dr. Allen had but one
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child, Dr. Dudley Allen, born in June, 1814.
The first office of Dr. Allen was in his father's yard, on the farm now occupied by Isaac Allen, by the maple grove on the banks of Stratton creek. This he occupied until the fall of 1813, when he moved into a double log-house which stood in the yard in which he built his frame house in 1821. This latter was in the time of its erection and is still a beautiful house of elaborate and superior workmanship. It was much admired and cost $3,000, which was then considered an extravagant sum.
His brother, Dr. Francis Allen, was in company with him from 1825 to 1829, and his son from 1837 to 1852, at which time he mostly relinquished practice. The farm on which he lived was purchased in 1812 for $z per acre.
Dr. Allen is remembered by those who knew him, not merely as a skillful physician, but also as an active and steadfast member of the church of Christ. • When his business permitted he was always present in the house of God on the Sabbath. A regular attendant at the weekly prayer- meeting, and in the latter part of his life was an active member of the Sabbath-school.
After having relinquished the business of his profession he was almost the standing representative of the church in meetings of synod, and at the meeting next succeeding his death was spoken of by that body in terms of high regard. Only a few months before his last sickness he represented Trumbull presbytery as their lay delegate in the general assembly, at Dayton. He retained full possession of his faculties though advanced in life, and his Christian example shone bright unto the end.
JEDEDIAH BURNHAM.
The life of Jedediah Burnham, through a period of nearly eighty-seven years, has been intimately and variously connected with the growth and progress of the township of Kinsman. His counse's and acts, whether in the military, civil, or religious organizations of the town, as well as in the adminrstration of all township and county affairs entrusted to him, have been marked with eminent justice, propriety, and wisdom. He came to Kinsman not far from the time that he became of age, and was very soon appointed to office. From that time to the period when the infirmities of age began to press upon hrm, he was actively employed in the responsible duties to which he was called by his fellow-citizens of the town and county. He was an active member and honored officer of the Congregational and Presbyterian church in Kinsman, from its beginning to the day of his death. Pre-eminently a peace-maker, he was commonly the first one in the town resorted to for the settlement of any misunderstanding or difficulty between neighbor and neighbor, or trouble of any sort that had sprung up in the community.
He was born in Lisbon, Connecticut, in 1785, the son of Dr. Jedediah Burnham, a respectable physician of that place, who in old age, with his wife and daughter, removed to Kinsman, and lived and died in the family of his son. In 1804 Mr. Burnham left the home of his parents and went to Virginia, with the hope of finding in that State a location that would please him. He returned however, with0ut locating, but through an arrangement with Mr. Kinsman he returned to Ohio the next year, and entered the employ of Kinsman. The new house of Mr. Kinsman was being rapidly brought to completion. The first work of Mr. Burnham was to assist in putting in the stone chimney. After that he was busy in various work of the farm until winter, when he was engaged to teach the first regular school of the township. The next spring and summer he was again employed on the farm, and assisted in putting in a crop of oats on the bottom lands south of Wayne Bidwell's. The product was an abundant crop of straw as well as oats, which was mowed and stacked for winter fodder, near Mr. Kinsman's house.
In the winter of 1806 he again commenced the school, with the understanding that Benjamin Allen would take his place as soon as he had finished a job of work in Hubbard. In accordance with this arrangement Mr. Burnham was relieved about midwinter, and went into Mr. Kinsman's store in the capacity of a clerk, where he remained until the breaking out of the War of 1812, when he was called to serve in the army.
In the organization of the township militia Mr. Burnham was first appointed lieutenant in Captain Randall's company, and afterward promoted to captain. Returning from the army, Captain Burnham at once devoted himself to the cultivation and improvement of his farm,
PICTURE OF JAMES C. BISHOP
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He was married to Miss Sophia Bidwell, of Gustavus, 1814. In 1816 he was elected justice of the peace, in which capacity he served uninterruptedly twenty-one years. His official acts were ever marked with justice and propriety ; and of all his decisions appealed from during his long administration, it is said that not any (if any, certainly but very few) were reversed by the higher courts.
In 1806 he was chosen collector of the civil township of Green, embracing under that name what is now Kinsman, Gustavus, and Green. Afterward he was appointed county collector, when the law required the collector to call at the residence of every person taxed to make the collection. This arduous duty was performed by himself alone, going on horseback from house to house throughout the county. Afterward he had the office of county assessor, the duties of which were performed in a similar manner, and required about the same amount of time and labor. The duties of his office were attended to with a high degree of exactitude, promptness and fidelity,
He held the office of deacon in the Vernon, Hartford, and Kinsman church, and, after the formation of the Congregational and Presbyterian church in Kinsman, the same office in that until his death. His long, prosperous, eventful, and useful life closed early in the year of 1874.
JAMES C. BISHOP.
James C. Bishop, well known in the northern part of Trumbull county as a dealer in fine stock, is the subject of an illustration on an adjoining page. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, July 9, 1810. His parents were Ebenezer and Lucinda Bishop, who removed with their family to Herkimer county, New York, in the year 1813. Mr. Bishop built a factory, and engaged extensively in the manufacture of cheese.
In the year 1833 James C. Bishop came to the Reserve, and the following year purchased one hundred and thirty-seven acres near the present site of Kinsman station. After having made a clearing and planted the fall crop, he sold his land and went South, finding employment at the carpenter trade is Mississippi. When spring opened Mr. Bishop returned to his old home in New York on a visit. The trip resulted in his parents selling their farm, and the removal of the whole family to Gustavus township. This was in the spring of 1834. They purchased a dairy farm, and erected a cheese factory similar to those in use in Herkimer county. It was the first of the kind in Trumbull county, though other manufacturers were not slow to imitate its advantageous features.
Mr. Bishop brought with him from New York what was at that time a great curiosity in the north part of this county—a spring buggy. Reuben Roberts, a blacksmith in Gustavus, used the springs for patterns and engaged with profit in their manufacture. James C. operated his father's factory about four years, and then purchased it, He conducted the business with profit to himself and with entire satisfaction to dairymen in the neighborhood for a period of about twenty years. He purchased a second farm in Gustavus and engaged in breeding and trading in fine stock. He brought to the county the first thoroughbred cow, from which was descended many of the best cattle in this part of the State. Two oxen raised by Mr. Bishop were sold in the Pittsburgh market for $300. Mr. Bishop, George Hezlep, and George Cowden were the leading stock dealers in Gustavus township. He was a patron of the Trumbull County Agricultural society, and received premiums on the productions of his farm.
Mr. Bishop married, in 1839, Philena Gates, a daughter of Philo Gates, of Gustavus township. She died in 1845, leaving one son—Chaplin J. Bishop, of Chicago. In 1859 Mr. Bishop sold both his farms in Gustavus and purchased the old Swift farm in Kinsman, which he continues to own. In 1860 he married for his second wife Mrs. Dr. Joseph P. Morford, of Johnston township. Her maiden name was Hannah Dunbar.
Mr. Bishop is a well preserved man; has a clear recollection of past events, and retains the business sagacity of former years.
THE FOBES FAMILY.
Horatio Fobes, youngest son of Joshua and Dorothy Fobes, was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, February 16, 1812. Joshua Fobes settled
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in Wayne township, Ashtabula county, in 1802. He raised a family of ten children, of whom srx are living. Horatio Fobes, until nineteen, was engaged in farming on the home place, coming to Kinsman in 1831. He commenced with Benjamin Allen the carding and cloth dressing business. He afterwards rented and purchased the business and conducted it until about 1852. He was married in 1835 to Miss Louisa Dodge, of Ashtabula county, but a native of Connecticut. They became the parents of one daughter, Charlotte L., born in 1840, died in 1863. About 1859 Mr. Fobes purchased a half interest in the Bidwell & Fobes flouring mill, which, in connection with Bidwell and other parties he has since operated; was township treasure1 for many years.
Lotta Louisa, only child of Horatio and Louisa (Dodge) Fobes, was born in Kinsman in the year 1840, and died Nvember 7, 1863. She was the pride of fond parents, and the beloved of a large circle of friends. In her the charm of a graceful figure was united with the attraction of a a cultured mind and beautiful character. Faithful, gentle, loving, she was death's shining mark. No words can more nearly express a parent's feelings than the lines Byron once wrote beneath a friend's picture:
Dear object of defeated care,
Though now of love and thee bereft,
To reconcile me with despair
Thine image and my tears are left.
'Tis said with sorrow time can cope;
But this, I fear, can ne'er be true;
For by the death-blow of my hope
My memory immortal grew.
RIVERIUS AND EUNICIA BIDWELL.
Riverius Bidwell and his wife Eunicia Bidwell were among the earliest settlers of Gustavus township, the date of their emigration being the year 1812. Mr. Bidwell was born in Connecti cut, September 5, 1790. He received a fair English education, and at the age of about nineteen engaged to teach school in a small village near New Haven, where he had planned to pursue his course at Yale college, the village now known as Westville, a suburb 0f New Haven, was then commonly called Hotchkisstown, it being the seat of the numerous and prominent family bearing the name of Hotchkiss. A friend- ship between the young schoolmaster and Eunicia Hotchkiss soon ripened. into matrimony. They were married in New Haven, Connecticut, June 27, 1810, by Rev. Abram Allen; and two years later sought a home in the wild, cheerless West.
Riverius Bidwell, Sr., father of our subject, lived in Canton, Hartford county, Connecticut. His family consisted of three sons and five daughters, with whom he emigrated to Ohio in the year 1813, and also settled in Gustavus. He died July 22, 1822, aged fifty nine years. His wife, Phebe Bidwell, died August 17, 1837, aged seventy-six years. Their children were Wayne, died June 10, 1832; Esther (Cone), died in Kinsman January 27, 1816; Achsah (Dyer), died in Canton, Connecticut; Sophia (Burnham), died at Kinsman, January 5, 1851, aged fifty-four; Zehiel, died September, 1864; Phebe Humphrey, died in New York. Marietta, wife of Buell Barnes, is the only surviving member of the family.
Riverius Bidwell, Jr., was somewhat eccentric in habit, but was one of the most pushing, persevering and active men on the Reserve. Under an old law in Ohio taxes were collected by an officer who was appointed for that purpose, at the homes and places of business of the citizens. The office was very laborious on account of the great size of the county and bad condition of roads which connected the sparse settlements. Mr. Bidwell served as collector two years. He walked from house to house till every house in the county had been visited, part of the time being barefooted, always at a brisk gait. After collections had all been made, he walked to Columbus and made settlement with the Treasurer of State. This is but one incident of many which might be written to show his perseverance. He was always ready witted, and rarely found himself in a puzzling situation. He kept the first post-office in Gustavus, but being absent most of the time Mrs. Bidwell transacted most of the business.
Mr. Bidwell was justice of the peace and held other local trusts. He sold his farm in Gustavus in 1834 and removed to Kinsman. He took an active interest and was influential in securing to Kinsman a line of railway. This was about the last work of his busy life. He died February 6, 1870, aged eighty-one years. Mrs. Bidwell, who
PICTURE OF MISS LOTTIE FOBES
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is yet living, was born March 24, 1794. She is a woman of At strength of character, is yet strong, and is able to 1ecall with clearness events of eighty years ago.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Bidwell consisted of three sons and one daughter—Hannah Mariah, born September 2o, 1811, at Canton, Connecticut, and died in childhood; Jasper Riverius, born July 25, 1813, and died at the age of twenty years; Caleb Hotchkiss, born September 26, 1815, graduated at Western Reserve college at nineteen years of age, studied law with Whittlesey & Newton, was admitted to the bar, and died at the age of twenty-five; Wayne, the only child living, was born May 6, 1821, He married Mary Hyde, who was born January 11, 1824, in Vernon township.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Bidwell were members of the Presbyterian church and exemplary Christians.
NOTES OF SETTLEMENT.
Charles Burnham, oldest son of Jedediah Burnham, (a sketch of whom is given elsewhere) and Sophia Bidwell, was born in Kinsman, Ohio, March 17, 1817. He remained at home until 23 years of age, and in his younger days was engaged in clerking in Kinsman and elsewhere. He purchased the place where he still resides, the old Ford place, in 1853. He was married June 1st of the same year, to Elizabeth A. Gal- pin, daughter of Elnathan Galpin, born in 1825. They have three children, as follows : Abbie S., born March 15, 1857 ; Lizzie G., February 9, 1859 ; Charles B., February 0, 1861. Mr. Burnham was justice of the peace from 1861 to 1865, and was elected again the latter year, but declined to serve ; has also served as assessor three terms. His brother Thomas was a soldier in the Union army in the Rebellion, and was killed at Kershaw mountain, Georgia.
Benjamin Allen was born in Kinsman township, Trumbull county, Ohio, March 23, 1817. His father, Benjamin Allen, Sr., was one of the earliest settlers and prominent citizens of the township, coming in 1805. He was a clothier by trade, and had the first establishment of the kind in Kinsman. He was a Representative in the State Legislature two terms, was justice of the peace, township trustee, and county commissioner, and a lieutenant in the War of 1812. He died in 1851, aged sixty-seven. Benjamin, Jr., was taught the occupation of hrs father, but afterwards adopted farming as a pursuit. When eighteen he attended the Grand River institute for two years; was engaged in teaching school two terms in Krnsman. Married, January 6, 1841, Charlotte, daughter of Elnathan Galpin of Kinsman, born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, in 1820. They have one son, Arthur B., born January 2, 1858; married November t0, 1880, Albie H. Morehead, born in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Deacon Allen was township clerk for many years ; was justice of the peace, but declined to qualify. He has been a prominent member of the Presbyterian church for some forty years.
Lyman P. Andrews was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, May 6, 1822. John Andrews, his father, a native of East Haddam, Connecticut, came to Ohio in 1804. He settled first in Gustavus, where he cleared up a farm east of Gustavus center ; afterwards removed to Kinsman, where he engaged in mercantile business. He was the owner of sixty acres of land at the time of his death. He was a sucessful business man, was a justice of the peace, and a member of the Presbyterian chinch. His oldest son, C. B. Andrews, was a clergyman of the same denomination ; went as missionary to the Sandwich Islands, under the auspices of the American Board of Foreign Missions, in 1843; actively engaged there for some thirty years. While returning to the islands he died in 1876. John Andrews married Hannah Reeve, daughter of Ebenezer Reeve, and raised a family of six children, of whom two survive—the subject of this sketch, and Mrs. Caroline Parker, of Cleveland. Lyman P. Andrews derived his education at the common schools of Kinsman, and at Hudson college, which he attended two years. He was married August 3, 1843, to Miss Betsy Fobes, daughter of Aaron Fobes, one of the pioneers of this region. Mrs. Andrews Was born in Kinsman about 1826. They have three children—Frank A., born in August, 1853, a resident of Chicago, Illinois ; J. Edwards, July, 1856; and Emma S., December, 1861, both at home, Mr. Andrews was a resident of Flint, Michigan, for eleven years from 1867, where he removed for the purpose of educating his children. He
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removed from the home place in Kinsman to the one he now occupies in 1879. He was elected justice of the peace in Kinsman about 1848, serving six years, and was also an incumbent of the same office in Michigan one term. Enlisted in 1864 in the One Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio National guard, and was commissary sergeant ; was taken prisoner by the rebels at Cynthiana, Kentucky ; was paroled and finally mustered out of service at Johnson island, near Sandusky, Ohio. He took an active part in the establishment of the Kinsman cemetery, originating it, and is still president of the board of trustees.
Isaac Meacham was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, May 4, 1828. Isaac Meacham, Sr., his father, was a native of Hartland, Connecticut, born in April, 1778, came to Ohio in 1806 and settled on the line of Kinsman and Gustavus townships, Trumbull county, where he cleared up a farm of a hundred and eighty-five acres wholly himself. He was married twice, first in 1808 to Lovisa Morse, by whom he had three children. In 1827 he married Anna Trunkey, and raised a family of four children. He was a successful and industrious farmer, always occupying the place where he originally settled, until his death, which took place in 1861. His wife died in 1860. He offered his services in the War of 1812, and was on duty fourteen days. Isaac, Jr., enlisted in the One Hundred and Seventy- first Ohio National guard, in 1864; married in 1850, Rebecca Baldwin, by whom he had three children, two of whom survive, viz: Charles F., born February 6, 1856, now a resident of Greenville, Pennsylvania, and Harvey S., born September 3, 1857, a book-keeper in Cleveland. His first wife died April 9, 1864. His second wife was Hannah E. Yeomans; died in 1868. His Present wife nee Julia E. Peck, to whom he was married December 22, 1869, was born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, August 27, 1840. They are the parents of two children—William E., born January 2, 1874, and Marian Lulu, born February 24, 1876. Mr. Meacham occupied the old homestead until 1866, when he removed to Kinsman village, where he still resides.
Allen W. Gillis, son of Robert and Mary Gillis, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, July 28, 1830; married, in 1852, Miss Harriet Webber, born in Kinsman in 1833. He has . three children living, as follows : Byron F., a merchant in New York city; Cora B., residing with her uncle in Ashtabula county; Maud H., at home. His first wife died in 1869, and in December, 1870, he married Mary C. Webb, of Erie county, Pennsylvania. In 1861 he enlisted in company B, Twenty-third Ohio volunteer infantry, and with his regiment was in many engagements, including those of South Mountain and Antietam, serving nearly three years. He was discharged for physical disabrlity. In June, 1864, he again offered his services to the Government, joined the One Hundred and Seventy- first Ohio National guard, and had command of his company at Cynthiana, Kentucky. He was finally discharged as first lieutenant. He settled in Kinsman village after the war, where he now resides.
Robert Gillis (deceased) was born in Maryland in 1801; came to Ohio with his father, Thomas Gillis, in 1806, who put up the first grist-mill in Kinsman, on the creek near the center of the township. The site is now occupied by Hamilton Brothers' mill, the present mill being the third built by the Gillis family. Robert Gillis conducted the mill during his lifetime. February 23, 1825, he married Mary King, daughter of Robert and Isabella King, born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, November 3, 1801. Her parents came to Kinsman 1n 1809, settling on the place now owned by Gordon Burnside. Robert King was a soldier of the War of 1812, a member of Captain Burnham's company. He raised a family of twelve children, of whom nine are living. Robert and Mary Gillis have had one daughter and eight sons—the daughter, Isabella, was the wife of Lewis Moats, of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, and died at the age of twenty-four ; Thomas lives in Jefferson, Ashtabula county ; John K. died in California in 1878, where he went in 1852; Allen W., of Kinsman village, of whom a l.brief sketch is given elsewhere; G. W., now living in Kansas (was a member .Of the Sixth Ohio volunteer cavalry three years during the Rebellion); Anderson J., now living iii Jefferson township, Ashtabula county (was a member of company B, Twenty-third Ohio volunteer infantry, serving three years, afterwards re-enlisted and served until the close of the war); Amos F. enlisted in company B, Twenty-third Ohio volun-
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teer infantry, and served three years; re-enlisting, was promoted to captain and was killed in action at Berryville, Virginia, September 3, 1864, leaving a widow and one daughter now residents of Cleveland. Two children died in infancy.
T. B. Scott, son of James and Sarah (Smith) Scott, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, January 28, 1849; married October 19, 1870, to Miss Ada Williams, of Bazetta township, adopted daughter of John and Jane Williams, and has three children living, as follows: Jennie Ellen, born July 29, 1872; Sarah Alice, May 25, 1876; Mary Eineline, November 21, 1880. John W. dred rn infancy. After marriage Mr. Scott continued to reside on the home place some six years, removing to his present place in the spring of 1877. He owns one hundred and eighty acres at the village of Kinsman, and is a prosperous farmer and dairyman. Himself and wife are members of the Methodist church.
John S. Allen was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, November 1, 1813, oldest surviving son of Benjamin and Lydia (Meacham) Allen remained at home until twenty-five, when he was united in marriage October 24, 1838, to Miss Julia E., daughter of Roswell Moore. She was born in Connecticut February 24, 189. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have had three children, two of whom are living: Darwin F., born June 27, 1839, and Antoinette J., born May 6, 1842, both at home. Darwin was a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Ohio volunteer infantry, and later of the One Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio National guard ; was mustered out in the fall of 1864. September 15th of the same year he was married to Jennie M. Collins, and has one son and one daughter-Fred L., born October 31, 1864, and Theresa E., May 12, 1867. Ou1 subject settled on the place where he still lives in 1838, which was then but partially improved. He was active in militia affairs during his early years; was first elected justice of the peace about 1860 and held that position six years, and was township trustee many terms. Mr, and Mrs. Allen are members of the Presbyterian and Congregational church.
John W. McCurdy was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, October 22, 1804, oldest son of James and Margaret McCurdy. He was brought up to agricultural pursuits, remaining at home until twenty-six. He married, September 4, 1832, Mrs. Catharine Thorn, born in Kinsman township November 3, 1804, daughter of George Matthews, who settled there in the spring of that year. He was a prominent farmer and church member; died about 1855. Mr. and Mrs. McCurdy are the parents of four children, three living and one dead, viz: Joseph Thorn, born May 16, 1830, now a resident of Michigan; George, July 29, 1833; Jane, April 22, 1835, died August 5, 1861; James, January 27, 1837, a resident of Missouri, and an artist by profession. After his marriage Mr. McCurdy resided for one year in Butler county, Pennsylvania, coming to Ohio in the fall of 1833. He settled where he now lives about 1840, which place was then entirely wild. Mr. McCurdy was township trustee one term. He has been a member of the Presbyterian and Congregational church for many years.
Joseph Reed, oldest son of John and Elizabeth (West) Reed was born in .New York, June 29, 1824. With his parents went to Bath, Steuben county, New York, about 1826, where he went to school, Was engaged in the lumber business in Pennsylvania for some.twenty years, being a partner in a steam saw-mill. He was married July 7, 1852, to Rebecca Everhart, born in Blair county, Pennsylvania, April 3, 1831, and is the father of seven children as follow : William A., born July 21, 1853, now a merchant of Kinsman, of the firm of Gee & Reed; Susan E., born July 20, 1855, now wife of George Bennett, of Kinsman; Ella G., born October 10, 1858; May R., May 19, 1860; Augusta D., September 3, 1862; Edith B., August 18, 1864; Minnie B., July 29, 1866. Mr. Reed resided in Pennsylvania until 1869, when he purchased the Galpin place in Kinsman, where he has since lived.
Charles B. Webber, son of Ebenezer and Amanda (Brown) Webber, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, February 14, 1822. Ebenezer Webber was born in Massachusetts, in 1778; married in 1805, and came to Ohio in 1811, settling on the place now owned by his son Charles B., in Kinsman, in the spring of 1812. He cleared up that place and reared a family of eleven children, of whom five are still living. He died December 15, 1843. Charles B. upon the death of his father took charge of the farm ; was married February 21, 1850, to Miss Rachel G. Matthews, daughter of Thomas
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Matthews, one of the pioneers of the county. Mrs. Webber was born in Kinsman July 7, 1829. The children of Charles and Rachel Webber are Dwight H., born January 30, 1853, now living in Ashtabula county; Ellen A., October 11, 1854; Alfred P., July 30, 1856; T. B., May 22, 1858; Charles A., February 25, 1861; Frederick G., November 25, 1862; Frank H.; December 28, 1864; Theresa H., October 12, 1867 The oldest child died in infancy. After his marriage Mr. Webber continued on the home place, taking care of his mother until her death September 2, 1868. He was township trustee for many years, school director, etc. He enlisted during the Rebellion but was thrown out on account of physical disability. They are members of the Presbyterian and Congregational church.
James W. Stonier, son of James and Euphemia Stonier, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, June r n, 1847. James Stonier, Sr., was a native of Scotland and emigrated to America in 1845, coming to Trumbull county, Ohio, and settling in Kinsman. He is still living, a successful farmer in Gustavus township. He raised a family of five children, of whom four. are
The oldest son, John J., enlisted in the One Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio National guard, and at the battle of Cynthiana, Kentucky, June II, 1864, he was instantly killed, on his ,twentieth birthday. James W. Stonier was married March 27, 1872, to Miss Emily Johnson, daughter of John Johnson, of Kinsman, born in Pennsylvania January 1, 1847. He has three daughters, as follows : Nannie, burn February 9, 1873; Euphemia, March 13, 1875; Estella, May 22, 1878. He resided on a place then owned by his father-in-law, now the residence of John White, for some two years, removing in the spring of 1874 to the place where he now lives. In the fall of 1881 he purchased the Hugh Miller place, consisting of fifty-two and one-half acres.
William B. Edwards, son of Lewis and Jane (Parks) Edwards, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, July 28, 1825; was brought up in the family of his uncle, James Edwards, and his three sisters, with whom he came to Ohio in the spring of 1848. He settled in Williamsfield, Ashtabula county, on a farm which he still owns. One of his aunts who accompanied him to Ohio, is still living with him at an advanced age, He continued to reside in Ashtabula county until the spring of 1881, when he purchased the Lyman Root place in Kinsman, where' he now lives. He married, October 3, 1855, Sarah F. Webb, of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, born about 1833. He was township trustee in Williamsfield one term. Himself and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at the State line. James Edwards, his uncle, died May s0, 1874; was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church for many years.
Lester Matthews, oldest child of Reuben and Lorenda (Eggleston) Matthews, was born in Kinsman township, Trumbull county, Ohio, October 8, 1842. Reuben Matthews raised a family of five children, of whom three survive. He died in 1851, and his widow in 1864. Lester was married January 1, 1866, to Stella Woodworth, a daughter of Andrew Woodworth, of Ashtabula county. Mrs. Matthews was born in that county in 1849. They have had one daughter, Minnie A., born January 23, 1867; died at the age of ten months. Mr. Matthews occupies the family homestead, the dwelling having been built by his father about 1840. Mr. and Mrs. Matthews are members of the Congregational and Presbyterian church. George Matthews settled in an early day on the property now owned by his sons Ezekiel, Elias, and Reuben's heirs. George Matthews was born December 29, 1773, and his wife, Nancy (Scott), 1775.
L. A. Cole, oldest living son of Harmon and Polly (Blackburn) Cole, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, August 6, 1834. Harmon Cole was a native of Connecticut, born about 1800, and coming to Ohio about 1818, he settled in Kinsman, where he married Polly Blackburn. He was a cooper by trade, and in later life a successful farmer. He was justice of the peace one term about 1850; died October 2, 1856. Mrs. Polly Cole is still living with her sons, and is yet vigorous in mind and body. L. A. Cole was united in marriage October 3, 1855, to Amanda Simpkins. To this marriage were born three children-Harmon B., a resident of Kinsman township, born October 29, 1856; Mary E., born October 2, 1858, now wife of John Brown, residing in the vicinity 0f her father's home; Otis A., born April 21, 1861. Mrs, Cole died February 4, 1870. September 7, 1870, he was again married, this time to Miss
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Elizabeth Feather, born in Pennsylvania, February 19, 1835. T0 this union have been born two children, of whom one is living—Harriet Elizabeth, born January 9, 1873. After his marriage he settled on a portion of the family homestead, where he still 1esides; has been township trustee two terms.
Harmon Cole was born in Kinsman township, Trumbull county, Ohio, August 4, 1826; son of Richard and Priscilla Cole. Richard Cole was a native of Connecticut, born in 1793; corning to Ohio about 1820, and settling on the place now owned by his son Harmon. He cleared up this place, erecting a log house, where the present residence now is, which was built in 1853. He died in the spring of 1880, his wife having died about 1854. Harmon Cole was married, March 15, 1847, to Miss Sivilla Royal, born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, August 24, 1827, daughter of Peter and Polly Royal, and has had a family of seven children. Four are living, as follows : Orra C., born January 3, 1848, now the wife of A. F. Waid, residing in Kansas; Charles C., born February 15, 1850, a farmer, residing in Ashtabula county, Ohio; Albert S., born March 7, 1856, a resident of Kinsman, and Emma L., born June 27, 1861. Mr. Cole located on the home farm, where he has since resided, consisting of about four hundred acres of finely improved land.
Edwin Yeomans, son of John and Elizabeth (Coyle) Yeomans, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, February 22, 1823. His father came to Ohio in 1819 and settled on the place now owned by his son, David M. He had a family of ten children, 0f whom three are living. He died about 1853. His wife survived him until 1881. He was a soldier of the War of 1812, from Connecticut. Edwin remained at home until his twenty-eighth year. In 1853 he engaged in the paper manufacturing business at Cuyahoga Falls, where he resided until returning to the home place in 1880, where he has since resided.
J. M. King was born in Kinsman township, Trumbull county, Ohio, January 17, 1825; oldest son of William and Sarah (McConnell) King. Robert King, the grandfather of J. M. King, was a native of Ireland, coming to Ohio in the first years of the present century. He settled on the place now owned by Mr. Burnside, which he cleared up and improved. He raised a large family, the son William being the father of the subject of this sketch. Robert King was justice of the peace, probably one of the first that filled that position. He was a soldier in the War of 1812 from Kinsman township. J. M. King was raised in the family of his maternal grandfather, James McConnell, until of age. He was married in 1847 to Harriet L. Christy, daughter of James Christy, an early settler in the county. The result of this union was six children, three of whom are living, viz : Frank C., Clam B., and Nellie. His first wife died in 1857, and in December, 1858, he married Miss L. C. Christy, daughter of John and Hannah Christy, also early settlers. By this marriage he has three children, as follows : George E., Robert A., and Sadie M. After his marriage he ented the farm of his grandfather for three years. He afterwards bought a small place in another part of Kinsman which he improved and occupied until 1864 ; was a resident of Vernon for some eight years, where he purchased the Palmer farm, which he still owns. In the fall of 1872 he removed to the place where he now lives, near Kinsman village. Himself and wife are members of the Presbyterian and Congregational church.
Gordon Burnside, son of James and Elizabeth (McMullen) Burnside, was born in county Derry, Ireland, March 12, 1826. He emigrated to America in 1849, landing at New York city, whence he came direct to Ohio, reaching Kinsman township in June of that year. For a numbe1 of years afterward he was in the employ of others, engaged in farming. He purchased the place where he still lives—the Robert King homestead—in 1855, and January 1, 1857, was married to Miss Elizabeth Anderson, also a native of Ireland, born February 21, 1835. They are the parents of ten children, all of whom are living but one, viz : John, who died in infancy. The others are Samuel J., now a commercial traveler, William W., Robert J., Gordon, Jr., Minnie J., Lena, George Q., Lizzie, and Edith. Mr. Burnside was a member of the One Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio National guard in 1864, and was in the battle of Cynthiana, Kentucky, and at Kelly Bridge; was taken prisoner with his regiment, but after some twenty-four hours detention the command was
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released on parol, was finally mustered out after serving out his term at Johnson's Island, in the fall of 1864.
James J. Christy, oldest son of Andrew and Elizabeth Christy, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, July 25, 1818. October 24, 1844, was married to Margaret Hunter, daughter of James Hunter, of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, where she was born November 22, 1822. They have one son and one daughter-Wilbur A., born September 6, 1845, a farmer of Mercer county, Pennsylvania ; and Elizabeth J., February 25, 1847, now the wife of James Jack, of Crawford county. Wilbur was a member of the One Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio National guard; served out his term of service, and was mustered out with his regiment in 1864. He married, in 1876, Isa Kinleyside, and has two children, Eleanor S. and Margaret. In 1845 Mr. Christy settled on the place where he now lives, which was originally settled by Joseph McMichael. He has been township trustee several terms; is a member of the United Presbyterian church, of which church, at Jamestown, Pennsylvania, he is still ruling elder. He was formerly a Whrg and anti-slavery man, and was active in assisting fugitives.
Isaac T. Allen, son of Daniel and Ruth (Meacham) Allen, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, November 5, 1828. Daniel Allen was born in Connecticut March 22, 1789, and came to Ohio with his father, John, in 1806, settling on the place now owned by Isaac T., his son. He was a captain in the militia ; died February 0, 1859, aged nearly seventy years. His wife died February 6, 1856. Isaac T. Allen was married December 4, 1856, to Sophronia Nackey, born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, September 17, 1836. They have four children living and two dead, viz : Ruth E., born October 24, 1857, now Mrs. D. T. Root, of Kinsman, has one son, Allen D., born March 9, 1881. Daniel F., born May 1, 1859, of Kinsman ; Roswell J., July 28, 1866; Joel K., May 9, 1873. Mr. Allen is an extensive dairyman and st0ck- raiser, owning two hundred and fifty-five acres of good land. He offered his services to the Government during the Rebellion ; served out his term of enlistment, and was mustered out at Sandusky, Ohio, in the fall of 1864.
William A. Thomas, son of Daniel and Lu cinda Thomas, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, February 27, 1834. Daniel Thomas was a native of New London county, Connecticut, born in 1798. He came to Ohio in 1830, locating on the place in Kinsman now owned by his son, the subject of this sketch, which he cleared up and occupied the balance of his life. He died July 27, 1869. His widow is still living with her son. William A., at the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861, enlisted in the One Hundred and Eleventh Pennsylvania volunteer infantry as private, but having considerable knowledge of military tactics was soon made a lieutenant. He participated in some of the hardest fought battles of the war. The first engagement took place near Harper's Ferry, where he was commanding the company. At Antietam Captain Thomas had command of two companies. In this battle the regiment was decimated fifty-five per cent. He was also in the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. At the battle of Lookout Mountain he was wounded and incapacitated for further service. He was granted leave of absence to recuperate, and return home for a short time; went again to the front at Nashville, Tennessee, obtaining permission to join his regiment on crutches. He went as far as Atlanta, where he was obliged to remain. He was detailed to serve on court- martral until 1864, when, on account of his injuries, he was discharged. He went on crutches for eight years after the war. August 18, 1862, he was married to Nancy J., daughter of 'Squire Peter Doty, of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, where she was born January 18, 1839; has a family of six children, as follows : Edith Grace, Cornelia J , George H., Clara C., Eugenie G., and Frederick William. One child is deceased. Mr. Thomas was a resident of Andover, Ashtabula county, for some four years. Upon the death of his father in 1869 he took charge of the home place, where he has since resided, having bought the interest of the other heirs. He was justice of the peace for the past three years.
L. W. Roberts was born in Chittenden county, Vermont, April 5, 1833, oldest son of H. P. and Alvira Roberts. With his parents he came to Ohio in 1834, the family locating at Madison, Lake county ; was brought up to the trade of carpenter; when nineteen served an ap-
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prentice ship of two years at the blacksmithing trade and subsequently worked as journeyman in various places, including Kansas City, for two years; came to Kinsman December, 1855, and the following spring commenced business for himself at Kinsman village. September 16, 1857, he married Mary J., daughter of Alexander and Ellen Wald, who was born in Kinsman July 31, 1834. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts are the parents of five children, viz: James W., born August 3, 1858, an attorney at law recently admitted to the bar ; Harriet A., born September 13, 1860; Frank A., August 24, 1867; Perry M., September 19, 1870; Arba L., April 18, 1872. In 1862 Mr. Roberts enlisted in the Tenth Ohi0 cavalry and made the march to the sea under General Sherman. He was wounded in the thigh in April, 1865. He served until the close of the war and was mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, July 4, 1865. Returning home he resumed his trade at Kinsman, which he continued until 1873 ; for seven years afterward resided in Jamestown, Pennsylvania, for the purpose of educating his children; returned to Kinsman in the spring of 1880, and purchased a part of the James Laughlin place, where he also established a blacksmith shop, which he continues to carry on, having a large custom.
John Sisley, youngest child of John and Annie (Mattocks) Sisley, was born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, June 8, 1814; married September 6, 1835, Mary, daughter of Rev. John Betts, of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, where Mrs. Sisley was born June 2, 1815. The fruit of this union was seven children, of whom only two survive-William, born June 7, 1836, died ab0ut 1856; Willis, born February 11, 1838, enlisted in 1861 in the Twenty-ninth Ohio volunteer infantry, and was killed June 9, 1862, at Port Republic ; Reason, born June 21, 1839, a farmer of Kinsman ; Peter R., born November 29, 1841, assisting in the management of the home place. He was married, in 1868, to Mary Clark, born in Pennsylvania in 1848, and has had three sons. All the balance of the family of John Sisley died young. After his marriage he resided in Pennsylvania for some years, locating on his present place in 1853-the Henry Gale place. He owns nearly two hundred acres of fine land. Mr. Sisley is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Rev. John Betts, the father of Mrs. Sisley, was for years a pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church, residing in Greene township where he cleared up a farm. He died there about 1862, upon the place owned by Calvin Betts.
George H. Nickerson, son of Joseph and Rosa (Thomas) Nickerson, was born in Cortland county, New York, May 1, 1833. His grandfather, Edward, was a sergeant in a Massachusetts regiment in the Revolution. In 1862 the subject of this sketch enlisted in company G, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, and with his regiment was in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Spottsylvania Court House, and all the battles around Petersburg in Grant's flank movements. He was taken prisoner and was in the hands of the rebels two weeks, being confined in Castle Thunder and on Belle Isle; was afterwards exchanged and returning to the front; was present at the surrender of Lee, serving till the close of the war with the rank of first sergeant ; was mustered out near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1865. He has been twice married, first during the Rebellion, while home on a furlough, July 16, 1863, to Miss Eliza C. Wade, daughter of Alexander and Ellen Wade. She died January 25, 1864. He married again January 31, 1867, Elizabeth L. Wade, a sister of his first wife, who was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, January i 1, 1832. By this marriage he has had four children, two of whom are living : James A., born October 21, 1867, Arthur J., born September 6, 1871, the only survivor of triplets born on, that occasion. Mr. Nickerson came to Trumbull county, Ohio, in the spring of 1870, locating on the place where he still lives. Alexander Wade, the father of Mrs. Nickerson, came to Ohio at an early day, married October 25, 1827, Eleanor McConnell, and raised a family of six children, of whom two survive. He died December 15, 1853. His widow, born June 17, 1806, is still living.
William R. Christy, son of Andrew and Elizabeth (McConnell) Christy, was born June 15, 1828, in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio. Andrew Christy came to Trumbull county in 1806. He was married in 1812; built a hewed log- house, which they occupied until building the present family residence in 1832. They raised a family of eleven children, of whom six are liv-
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ing. He was a soldier of the War of 1812 for a short time. He was born in 1776, and died in 1863. His wife died August, 1863. William R. Christy was married April 4, 1867, to Miss Charlotte Davis, daughter of Walter Davis, and has two sons-Lauren D., born September 25, 1868, and Ward P., born April 24, 1872. Mrs. Christy's mother was Lucena Perkins, daughter of Seth Perkins, one of the pioneers of Kinsman township. Miss Sarah Christy is residing with her brothel, William R., and is a vigorous and intelligent lady, the oldest of the family.
Christian Betts, son of Christian and Elizabeth Betts, was born March 13, 1813, in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. His father was a settler of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, as early as I790. Christian, Jr., was married May 8, 1835, to Eliza Fister, who was born in Pennsylvania September 16, 1815, and has had a family of thirteen children, of whom eight are living, as follows : Sarah, born 1836, now wife of Eli Wakefield ; Jacob, November 25, 1838 ; Mary, September 25, 1840, wife of Joseph Parker; Julia, December 7, 1843, now Mrs. Lewis Shall); Sylvester, February 4, 1848; Fred D., January 20, 1850; Charles S., September 6, 1855, (married December 24, 1878, to Miss Mary Bush, of Ashtabula county); Adella D., May 10, 1858, wife of Chauncey Bidwell. All 1eside in Kinsman except Mrs. Wakefield, who resides in Ashtabula county. Cyrus, born April 12, 1841, died October z8, 1860; Wealthy, October 7, 1843, died March 22, 1876. Three others died in infancy. After his marriage Mr. Betts resided in Pennsylvania for some years. In February, 1851, he purchased where he now resides, moving on the place a year after.
John M. Allen, son of Daniel and Ruth (Meacham) Allen, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, November 5, 1827. He remained at home until twenty-three, when he went to Crawford county, Pennsylvania, for five years, engaged in farming and conducting a sawmill. He married there March 24, 1853, Miss Phebe Leach, who was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, July 22, 1828. She died October, 1854, leaving one daughter, now Mrs. Oscar Leland, of Geauga county, Ohio. November 8, 1855, Mr. Allen was again married, his second wife being Jane Eckels, born July 30, 1831. By this marriage he has had eight children, seven of whom are living, viz : George S., born September 1, 1856; Permelia, March 9, 1858; Eva Jane, October 25, 1860; Wilber J., May 24, 1862 ; Charles A., July 22, 1865; Jessie A., November 23, 1868; Maggie H., April 2, 1872. In the spring of 1855 our subject returned to Kinsman from Pennsylvania, having the year before bought the place where he now lives. In 1864 be enlisted in the One Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio National guard, and participated in the battle of Cynthiana, Kentucky, June 11, 1864; served out his term of enlistment, and was mustered out at Johnson's island at expiration of term of service.
William Christy, son of William and Mary Christy, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, August 29, 1811. William Christy, Sr., was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, born in 1778; came to Ohio in 1805, and settled in Kinsman on the place now owned by his son William. He raised a family of twelve children, of whom but two survive-the subject of this sketch and Mrs. Mary Gibson, of Kinsman. He was a blacksmith by trade, which trade he followed until advanced in years. He died in 1854. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, under Captain Burnham. William, Jr., was married, September 29, 1853, to Phebe Roberts, who was born in Pennsylvania April 29, 1820, and has a family of three children, as follows : Mary Jane, born December 25, 1855, now wife of Levi S. Mowry, and has one child -William R., born January 14, 1881; William H., born February 20, 1857, at home; Robert, born July 4, 1858, residing in Crawford county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Christy died October 6 1864. Mr. Christy built his present residence in 1874, and owns one hundred and seventy-six acres, well improved. He gives considerable attention to dairying and stock-raising.
Albert W. Matthews was born in Kinsman township, Trumbull county, Ohio, September 30, 1836. His grandfather, Deacon William Matthews, came to Ohio in 1804, and settled on the place where the subject of this sketch now lives. William Matthews was a Revolutionary soldier. Albert W. Matthews enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Ohio volunteer infantry, in 1862, and with his regiment was in the battles at Mission Ridge, Resaca, Dalton, Atlanta, and Franklin. He served until the close of the war,
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securing a lieutenant's commission, and was mustered out with his regiment at Nashville, Tennessee, June, 1865. He received a commission after being mustered out as sergeant. After his return home he took charge of the homestead where he still lives. August 30, 1866, he was married to Miss Sarah Johnson, daughter of John and Nancy Johnson, of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, where Mrs. Matthews was born October 5, 1844. They have two children, as follows : William Albert, born March 11, 1870, and Ruth E., June 28, 1871. For one year after his marriage Mr. Matthews was a resident of Nebraska, when he returned to his former home. He has been township trustee several terms. His father, Thomas Matthews, was a soldier of the War of 182. In 1826 he had a leg amputated on account of injuries received by breaking through the ice on the Ohio river.
David S. Gillis, youngest son of Francis and Mary Gillis, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, September 6, 1845; married December 24, 1874, to Agnes M. Patrick, by whom he had one daughter, Emma M., born December. 4, 1875. His wife Agnes died January, 1879, and October 13, 1880, he married Miss Sarah A. Wood, daughter of Deacon Charles Wood, of Kinsman. By this marriage he has had one daughter, Abbie, born August 6, 1881. Since the retirement of his father he has taken charge of the family homestead, giving considerable attention to dairying and stock-raising.
Francis Gillis, son of Thomas and Mary (Mossman) Gillis, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, July 8, 1806. His father was one of the early pioneers of Kinsman, erecting the first grist-mill in the township. He raised a family of nine children. Francis was reared a farmer and remained at home until of age. His father gave him one hundred acres east of the homestead. This place, now the residence of his son David S., was then entirely wild, and he cleared it up and improved it. Octobe1 6, 1837, he married Mary Ann Sawyer, born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, 1816. They were the parents of six children, three of who are living, John, at home ; David S., a farmer of Kinsman, and Malvina C. at home. Subsequent to his marriage he resided on the place now occupied by his son David until the . spring of 1881 when he removed to Kinsman village. His wife died in 1876. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Gillis was township trustee many years. He owns over three hundred and seventy acres in Kinsman. John, his oldest son, in 1862 enlisted 1n the army and served until the close of the war.
John Craig, son of William and Susan Craig, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, September 27, 1822. Brought up on the farm and remained at home until his marriage, June 20, 1855, to Mary Brackin, whose father, Ezekiel Brackin, was one of the pioneers of the county. Died about 1864. They raised a family of nine children. Mrs. Craig was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, May 30, 1832. Mr. and Mrs. Craig have had five children, as follow: Lida, the oldest, died young ; Henry Clay, born August 16, 1858; Della M., born October 6, 1860; Fanny Blanche, January 16, 1864; David B., October 14, 1866. After his marriage he continued to reside in Pennsylvania until April, 1874, when he came to Ohio, purchasing the Brackin homestead in Kinsman, where he still resides.
Peter Lossee, youngest son of Peter and Nancy (McLaughlin) Lossee, was born in Kinsman township, Trumbull county, Ohio, May 10, 1812. Peter Lossee, Sr., was a native of New Jersey; came to Ohio in 1808, settling on the Place where the son now resides. He raised a family of four children, the subject of this sketch being the only survivor. He died in 1815, his wife survivmg him thirty-three years, dying in 1848. Peter, Jr., was married September 10, 1832, to Elizabeth Reed, horn in Pennsylvania. Five children were born, four of whom are living, as follows: Jane, born in 1833, and died March 15, 1862; Amanda Morford (widow) in Illinois; Wallace P., born in 1837 in Kinsman; Helen E., at home; Hattie A., wife of Lawrence Leffingwell, of Kinsman. The mother died in 1849, and Mr. Lossee married for his second wife Eleanor, daughter of John Little, an early settler of Kinsman, where she was born April 18, 1814. They were married May 21, 1850. Mr. Lossee has devoted considerable attention to dairying and stock raising; also to buying live stock, and has raised some valuable horses. He sold two that brought $2,500. Mr. Lossee, speaking of early times, says he has seen deer to the number of thirty-five in one herd,
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and met a bear on one occasion, which the neighbors oneinally killed. His only son, Wallace P,, was a member of the Second Ohio cavalry, serving over four years until the close of the war.
A, H. Porter, son of Daniel and Sally Porter, was born in Washington county, New York, May 2, 1822. Coming to Ohio in the fall of 1844, he located in Andover, Ashtabula county, where he bought a place; was married in 1846 to Miss Ruth Dolph, born in Washington county, New York, in 1824. They have had eight children, five living, as follows: Henry A. and Nellie (now wife of Reuben Foy) of Gustavus township; J, M. and Nettie (wife of J0hn Turnbull) of Kinsman, and Carrie, still at home. Mr. Porter continued to live in Ashtabula until the spring of 1850, when he removed to Kinsman township, Trumbull county, locating at what is known as Porter's corners, building a saw-mill which he still owns. He removed to his present home in the spring of 1866. He was a member of the One Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio National guard in the Rebellion, and was in the battle of Cynthiana, Kentucky; was taken prisoner and paroled. He served out his term of enlistment and was mustered out at Sandusky, Ohio,
Mrs. Rhoda Spencer was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, June 20, 1809; oldest child of John and Elizabeth (Mrzener) Waldorf. Her father was one of the pioneers of Hubbard. With her parents she removed to Vernon township in 1812; was educated in the common schools; taught school three terms prio1 to her marriage. She was married, January 15, 1829, to Warren Spencer, born in 1801. Her husband was a cooper by trade ; came to Ohio about 1820, settling in Ashtabula county; came to Kinsman about 186. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Spencer settled on the place now owned by Scott Mizener; settled in the woods, putting up a log house, cleared up and
improved the farm, which they, occupied until 1860, when they purchased the place formerly the Ben Allen farm, where Mrs. Spencer still resides. Mr. Spencer was an original anti-slavery man, and a Methodist until the division of the church upon the question of slavery, He died November 23, 1863. Mrs. Spencer is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Kinsman,
Mrs. Harriet B. Parker, daughter of Elam and Sarah (Hyde) Jones, was born in Hartford township, Trumbull county, Ohio, 'February 2, 1806. She attended a ladies' seminary at Kinsman; taught school one season at home; married, January 8, 1824, Linus Parker, a native of Connecticut, born in 1778. He was a manufacturer of edged tools, and had quite an establishment in Kinsman. He came with his father to that township in the early years of the present century, He died in 1837. He was a member of the Presbyterian and Congregational church in Kinsman, of which his father, Lovell, was deacon, and was an active member. He had a family of four children, of whom three are living, as follows: Sarah E., born September 27, 1825, widow of William A. Gillis; Rufus H,, born December 24, 1827; Lemira J. born September 27, 1835; all residing in Kinsman. The latter completed her education at an academy in Poland, Mahoning county; Hannah P., born October 12, 1837, died November 29, 1855. Rufus H. received his education at a high school in Wayne township, Ashtabula county; was brought up to farming; went to California about 1852, where he was engaged some five or six years in mining and farming. Returning to Ohio, he dealt in lumber and live stock a number of years. After the
close of the war he traveled for three or four years wholesaling goods for himself, establishing a store-house in Mercer, Pennsylvania; opened a wholesale family goods house in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and did an extensive trade. He has now a fine home in Kinsman. Mrs. Parke1 continues to reside on the home place. She is a member of the same church to which her husband belonged,
George Baldwin, son of Jacob H, and Florinda Baldwin, was born in Champion, Trumbull county, Ohio, July 7, 1836; obtained his education in the common schools, and at the high school at Warren, supplemented by an attendance for one term at Kenyon college, Gambier, Ohio. He was engaged at clerking in Warren for one or two years; married, October a, 1861, to Emma R, Lesuer, born in Bolivar, New York. They have two children: Gertrude F., born May 9, 1864,. and Albert L., June 29, 1870. He resided in Warren two years after marriage, then removing to Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he commenced the stove and tinware business. One
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year afterwards his place of business was destroyed by fire. He removed to Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, in the spring of 1866, where he engaged in the stove trade, buying out the Kinsman f0undry, which he conducted till 1870. About 1873 he added to his business that of general hardware, and is doing a prosperous business. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church for the past twenty years, and is superintendent of the Sunday-school.
Dr. Luman G. Moore, only son of Lorenzo and Caroline (Miller) Moore, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, February 16, 1849. Lorenzo Moore came to Ohio with his parents about 1836, the family locating on the place now owned by John Wallace, where he spent the balance of his days. He died in 1869. His widow, born in 1789, is still living with her son, the subject of this sketch, quite vigorous for one of her age. Dr, Moore was reared upon a farm, attending the common and high schools until twenty ; was a student one. year at the Ohio Wesleyan university, and also at Michigan university, Ann Arbor, one year ; began the study of medicine with Dr. Jones in 1870, continuing three years, during which time he attended a course of lecture's at Bellevue Medical college, graduating from Long Island Hospital Medical college, New York, in June, 1873. The same fall he commenced practice at Kinsman, where he has since been located. He was married in May, 1871, to Miss Elizabeth Patterson, and has two children living—Minnie, born June 29, 1879, and Luman G., December 17, 1880. He has been township trustee one year, and township treasurer two years.
Lyman Root, oldest son of Charles and Sally Ann (Laughlin) Root, was born in Mecca, Trumbull county, Ohio, June 2, 1839, and was a student at a seminary in Jamestown, Pennsylvania, at the breaking out of the war. With four companions he went to Columbus, Ohio, and enlisted in the Eighty-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry for three months; was at Camp Laurens, Maryland, and returned home in October, 1862. He re-enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty- fifth Ohio v0lunteer infantry for three years, and with his regiment participated in some of the principal battles of the war including Nashville, Mission Ridge, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, and Atlanta. He was on detached duty as mail-carrier for s0me time, served until the close of the war, and was mustered out at Cleveland, Ohio, June, 1865. He resumed his occupation of farming on the place formerly owned by his grandfather, James Laughlin; was married January 10, 1857, to Miss Irene S., daughter of Thomas Mathews, and has three children: Hubert L., born October 9, 1867; Alice S., February 2, 1874: Ralph, June 2, 1876. He remained on the Laughlin place until buying at Kinne's corners about 1870. He sold out in 1880, and in the spring of 1881 located in Kinsman village, engaging in merchandising, having a general store. He has been justice of the peace for twelve years in Kinsman, and also assessor for two terms.
Daniel C. Clinginsmith, born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, May 16, 1824; married, April, 1847, Electa J., daughter of Thomas and Eleanor (McLaughlin) Matthews, born October Tr, 1823, in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio. Mr. Clinginsmith was a farmer originally, afterward engaged in mercantile business; removed to Wisconsin in 1856, where he engaged in merchandising and was also postmaster. He died September 24, 1870; was worshipful master Free and Accepted Masons at the time of his death, and also member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Clinginsmith continued to reside in Wisconsin until the fall of 1879, when she returned to Trumbull county and located in Kinsman village, where she still resides.
Captain E. C. Briggs was born in Newport county, Rhode Island, September 13, 1804; son of Ethan C. Briggs and Mary Littlefield. His father died when be was six, and when ten years of age he ran away from his home and mother; went to New Y0rk and engaged as cabin boy on a New York and Philadelphia packet, in which position he continued until fourteen ; went before the mast to Patagonia, was subsequently promoted to second mate, still later to that of mate, and finally, when about twenty-four, was placed in command of the packet on which he began as cabin boy, Afterwards he was master of a vessel plying between New York and Baltimore, and later filled the same position on a vessel engaged in the Carib bean sea and the Spanish main. He was married' June, 1834, to Anna C. Stanhope. They had four children, two living—James Theodore,
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and Sarah R., residing in Denver, Colorado. Ethan C., Jr., was born in 1843; enlisted in the war of the Rebellion and with his regiment participated in numerous engagements. At Chattanooga, Tennessee, September 21, 1863, he was captured by the rebels, being wounded in the leg. The limb was amputated and he died a few weeks afterward. Henry Clay, the other son, was thirty-three when he died, December 10, 1880. Mrs. Briggs died ir. 1863, and the captain was again married February 21, 1867, to Cordelia, daughter of Benjamin Ward. She was born in Hartford, Connecticut, February 5, 1816. Captain Briggs continued the life .of: a seaman until 1843. For the next four years he was engaged in mercantile business in New York city. Removing to Ohio in 1847 he settled on the place where he still lives in Kinsman, and since then has followed farming. He is a fine specimen of the old style of sea captain, bluff and hearty, and withal hospitable; is vigorous in body and mind, and has never drank a tea-spoonful of liquor in his life.
Wayne Bidwell, son of Riverius and Eunicia Bidwell, was born in Trumbull township, Trumbull county, Ohio, May 6, 1821, Besides his attendance at the common schools he attended school at Oberlin three or four terms. Married, December 31, 1844, to Mary L., daughter of Ezra Hyde, an early settler of Vernon township, where she was b0rn in January, 1823. Mr. and Mrs. Bidwell are the parents of five children, three of whom are living. Jasper R. lived to the age of thirty-one and died in Iowa in 1879; Caleb W. resides on the home place; Ezra H., of Kinsman village; and Chauncey D., of the same place. Cora Lynn died when three years of age. In addition to his farming Mr. Bidwell deals extensively in the buying and shipping of live stock.
J. W. Chase was born in Yates county, New York, November 23, 1817; son of David and Polly (Welsh) Chase. He was raised to the trade of his father, that of carpenter and joiner. With his parents he came to Trumbull county, Ohio, in the fall of 1835, and located in Gustavus township, where he followed his trade, erecting many of the best buildings in that vicinity. In the fall of 1836 he started on a trip South, and made an extended trip through the South and West and also to the northwest as far as Green Bay, Wisconsin, working at his trade at various places. At Fort Des Moines he saw the famous Black Hawk and seven hundred Warriors. At Galena, Illinois, he put up the second brick building in the place. Returning home, the next year he again went west, thence south to Vicksburg, Mississippi, making a portion of the trip down the Mississippi in a skiff. At Vicksburg he worked at his trade some six years, the panic breaking him up. He returned to Galena, where he remained one year, then made a trip up the Wisconsin river to the pineries, and engaged in trafficking with the Indians. He finally concluded his wanderings, and on November 10, 1843, was married to Laura, daughter of David Chapman, born in Vernon township, November 14, 1823. They are the parents of three children; of whom tw0
are living—Leroy, born September 1, 1844, residing in Missouri, and Jane Ann, at home. Mr. Chase continued work at his trade until compelled to give it up' on account of rheumatism. He followed farming for a time, conducting the farm of Thomas Kinsman, and run an extensive dairy. Cheese then brought but four cents per pound; subsequently kept a hotel in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, for a couple of years during the oil excitement, afterwards purchasing a farm in Pennsylvania. October, 1861, he enlisted in the Sixth Ohio volunteer cavalry; raised a company and was made first lieutenant. In the spring of 1872 he removed to Kinsman, where he now resides. For the past thirty years he has followed more or less the business of auctioneer. He has also been efficient in detecting horse thieves,