1250 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE Hudson river and the Erie canal, to Buffalo, he was for three years employed in lumbering on Tonawanda Island. From there he came, in a sailing vessel on Lake Erie, to Sandusky, and for seven years thereafter worked as a farm laborer for Captain Case. With characteristic German thrift, he saved his earnings, and subsequently. bought sixty acres of land in Ballville township, Sandusky county, and in the log house that stood in an opening he and his wife lived a number of years, and in it two of their sons, including Harlow C., and two daughters, were born. Selling that place in 1851, he purchased a farm on the banks of the Sandusky river, known as the "Blue Banks," and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, January 27, 1883, when he was accidentally killed by being thrown from his carriage in a runaway. In 1841 Jacob B. Stahl married Rachel Camp, who was born in Westford, Chittenden county, Vermont, December 4, 1814, and died September 5, 1877. Her father, David Camp, was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, January 2, 1778, and after his marriage moved to Westford, Vermont, where he resided until 1814. Migrating then to Orange county, New York, he remained there eight years, when, in 1822, he again started westward, bringing his wife, children, and all their worldly possessions, in teams to Sandusky county, Ohio, which was then a wilderness. There were neither canals nor railroads in the state for many years thereafter, and the forests were filled with bears, deer, wolves, and other wild beasts, they alone disputing the Indians' right to the territory. He first bought land in York township, but afterwards moved to Riley township, from there going to Fremont, Ohio, where he spent his declining years, dying in 1838, at the age of three score years, his death occurring December 23 of that year. The maiden name of the wife of David Camp was Elizabeth Root. She was born in Connecticut July 26, 1784, and married Mr. Camp on December 1, 1803. She was well acquainted with the domestic arts, being able to card, spin and weave, and during the war of 1812 wove saddle girths for the soldiers. With her husband she shared all of the trials and dangers of pioneer life in her Ohio home, and had many thrilling experiences. On returning home one morning from the bedside of a sick neighbor, who lived several miles away, she suddenly espied a bear standing in her Path. She stooped, looked at the bear and began talking to him. Soon the beast moved to one side, and she passed him, but did not dare to take her eyes off him, but walked backward until out of his sight. She survived her first husband, married Deacon Holton, and resided in Lyme township, Huron county, until her death, November 26, 1877, in the ninety-fourth year of her age. By her first union she reared sik children, namely: Caroline, Harry, Albert, Rachel, Elizabeth and James Londen. Mrs. Rachel (Camp) Stahl was the mother of seven children, namely: Mary, Martha,. George, Harlow C., Almera, Albert and Charles. After his graduation from the Fremont high school, Harlow C. Stahl took a commercial course at Oberlin, being graduated in 1871 from -that institution. When seventeen years old he taught school one term, and then began to assist his father on the homestead. At the age of eighteen years he began farming on his own account on the parental farm, making a specialty of raising hops. Going to Washington county, Kansas, in the fall of 1869, Mr. Stahl pre-empted a quarter section of land, built .a dugout, in which he spent the winter, and at the end of six months proved up on his claim. Returning home, he resumed hop culture, and subsequently bought sixty-six acres of land lying about two miles from Fremont, and while engaged in farming there began the manufacture of cultivators. With the assistance of one man, he first made ten cultivators, which he took, one at a time, behind a buggy, and solid. He then manufactured twenty-five more, which he readily sold, and then made fifty, the greater part of which he disposed of. The' next year, taking a partner, Mr. Stahl made 200 cultivators, and each succeeding year the business increased, becoming so large in 1882 that he formed a company known as the Fremont Cultivator Company, capitalizing it at $10,000, and Mr. Stahl was its president and treasurer. In 1886 the capital was increased to $50,000, and the company was removed to Bellevue, where the Bellevue Power House was purchased, and the name of the firm was changed to that of the Ohio Cultivator Company, Mr. Stahl becoming its president and treasurer. This company has had .an almost marvelous growth, the capital now being $700,000, while the plant, in which hundreds of men are employed, covers acres of space. The business has been extended to various states, the company now having plants in Dallas, Texas, and in' Council Bluffs, Iowa, with stor- HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 1251 age warehouses at Philadelphia, Kansas-City, Memphis, Tennessee, and Peoria, Illinois. Mr. Stahl has also been, president of the Bellevue Savings Bank since its organization. On October 21, 1874, Mr. Stahl married Annie Mitchell, who was born in Southbury, New Haven county, Connecticut, February 3, 185.6. Her father, Nelson Warren Mitchell, Was born on the same farm that she was, being a son of Cyrus Mitchell, a lifelong resident of Connecticut. That farm was reclaimed from the forest by the emigrant ancestor of the family, Eleazer Mitchell, one of the very first white men to settle in that state, and has never been out of the possession of the family, having been handed down from generation to generation, being now owned and occupied by a brother of Mrs. Stahl. Nelson W. Mitchell died August 31, 1904, at an advanced age. His wife, whose maiden name was Edna Platt, was born in Southbury, Connecticut, a daughter of David and Julia (Northrup) Platt, coming on both sides of the house of distinguished ancestry, the Platts being an old and honored family of Milford, Connecticut, while the Northrups were equally as prominent in New York state. She died in June, 1907, leaving three children, Edward, Annie and Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Stahl have four children, namely : Edna R., wife of Joseph E. Marvin ; Alice E married Daniel Seltzer ; Marion B., wife of Henry M. Schofield ; and Harlow M. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Stahl are members, of the Congregational church. Fraternally Mr. Stahl is a member of Bellevue Lodge, No. 273, F. & A. M. ; of Norwalk Commandery, No. 18, K. T. ; and of Lake Erie Consistory, of Cleveland. JAHIAL PARMLY.—The Parmly family embraces some of the oldest and most interesting pioneers of Lake county and the Western Reserve, the so-called "Old Mansion," on the shores of Lake Erie at Perry, having been one of the landmarks of the region for three-quarters of a century. The family pioneer was the grandfather of Jahial Eleazer, a Vermont farmer, who moved to New York in 1816 and in the following year made a winter trip to the Western Reserve, continuing to reside in what is now Lake county until his death July 4, 1825. While driving on the lake shore ice to his new home he broke through the crust into the water and narrowly escaped drowning. He first settled on the river road in Perry town ship, but a year later built a log cabin on the banks of Lake Erie, its site afterward being that of the "Old Mansion." His son, Jahial, was born in Vermont July 14, 1790, and when he came to the Western Reserve with other members of the family immediately took his place among the frontiersmen as one of their expert wood-choppers. He was an active worker in constructing the first saw mill on the creek and was among those who proved their faith in the enterprise by carrying the iron used in the plant from an old furnace near Painesville, six miles distant, its means of conveyance being his own strong back. In 1821 Jahial, Sr., went to Boston to study dentistry, and afterward. practiced for some time in Georgia and other sections of the south, afterward returning to Ohio and purchasing 6,000 acres of choice land in the vicinity of Perry and Painesville, where he died May 26, 1873. His wife was known,. before marriage, as Eliza Pleasants. She was a native of Richmond, Virginia, born August 2, 1799, and died March 2, 1891. Of the nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Jahial Parmly, Jahial, Jr., James, Henry, Samuel, David and Leo reached adult life. Jahial Parmly, Jr., was born in Augusta, Georgia, on April 27, 1830, and was about three years 'of age when his father returned to Ohio and settled on his magnificent estate on Lake Erie. As stated, it was the senior Jahial who built the "Mansion," and his son of the same name was educated to follow in his professional path. The boy attended school at Madison Academy and in Painesville, and at the age of twenty entered Baltimore Dental College. After his graduation he practiced four years, but his strong business inclination then drew him into the lumber business at Van Wert, Ohio, in which he continued until 1861. He built the fourth steam saw mill in Van Wert county, but finally returned to his old home in Perry and settled on his 500-acre farm. He also owned a grist mill on Harper creek, and was in every way a worthy son of his energetic and honorable father.: On July 5, 1855, Mr. Parmly wedded Miss Martha J. Priddy, of Van Wert, Ohio, and four children were born to them : Ida A., who married' John Cramblett and became the mother of Eugene P., Marion F., Grace, Ira and John ; Augusta G., now Mrs. Whitney ; Eugene P. and Cecil F. (twins), the former of whom died at the age of fifteen and the latter, at twenty-seven. The mother of the family died February 16, 1892. David Charles Parmly, a brother of Jahial Parmly, was born in the "Old Mansion" July 1252 - HISTORY OF THE WESTEERN RESERVE 28, 1840, and died there December 29, 1869, in his thirtieth year. He was educated for the dental profession at the University of Maryland, but never practiced. On October 15, 1863, he married Miss Emma Burns, who is still living in Painesville. There is one son, viz :—David Parmly, aged twenty, who is living with his widowed mother, but is at present pursuing a course at Cornell University. Annals of the Parmly family are extant indicating that it was early identified with the history of Belgium. Maurice de Parmelie was one of the supporters of William of Orange in the uprising of the Netherlands against the cruelties of the Spanish governor and general, the notorious Duke of Alva. For his part in that historic contest, in 1567, Maurice was obliged to flee to Holland, his estate being seized and confiscated by the Spanish oppressors. He it was who founded the house of Von Parmelee, and his third son was baron of Batavia. New .England records show that John Parmelee, aged twenty, was a passenger on the "Elizabeth and Anne," and settled in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1635. The present spelling of the family name was adopted in 1810. ALBERT HARMON.—For three generations the Harmon family has been connected, in a practical and prominent way, with the establishment and progress of the industries, agriculture and commerce of Ashtabula. Albert Harmon, the present-day representative, has spent his entire life on the ancestral farm, now located in the East Village, and is living comfortably and happily in the house erected by his father, Edwin, one of the most enterprising business men, manufacturers and founders of the lake marine who ever resided in Ashtabula. In 1828, when this residence was erected, business and building were both conducted with a view to permanency rather than pure expedition and temporary profits. The rooms were not only large and airy and the woodwork substantial, but honestly put together, and the massive heavy doors that were hung more than eighty years, ago still swing as true as they did in 1828. Annan Harmon, the grandfather, was born and reared in Massachusetts, coming to Ohio with his family in 1812 and settling on the eastside of Ashtabula creek, where, with the faithful and valuable assistance and management of his son Edwin, he cleared a large tract of wild land and improved a good homestead. The son mentioned erected the neces sary farm buildings and was engaged in activ farming and the superintendence of the famil estate until the death of his father Annan, a the venerable age of eighty-two years. Mr and Mrs. Annan Harmon became the parent of five daughters and two sons. Two of th daughters,. Achsah and Polly, spent the greate part of their lives in East Village near the of home farm ; Annan, the younger son, died a the age of fifty years, and Edwin Harmon, th elder son, was for many years an esteemed and active citizen of Ashtabula county. Edwin Harmon was born in Massachusett May 6, 1803, being but a young lad when he came with his parents to the Reserve. Always energetic and enterprising, when a young man he Secured the contract to carry the mail from Erie to Cleveland, and soon introduced the firs four-horse stages used in this part of the state ,His route was along the east side of the creek as the most popular taverns were thereby ac commodated ; but the Hubbard family started a rival stage route on the west side, establish ing taverns along the way under their control Mr. Harmon then put on more horses, so that he was able to furnish fresh relays every six or seven miles. Although his business flourished for some time, he soon perceived that th tide of settlement had turned to the west side but when he sold his route he proved how strong was his sense of justice by making contract which guaranteed that stages would continue to stop at the east side taverns as long as they existed. They were soon closed, however, and all the stages crossed to the west side, which at once assumed importance and has since grown into the present beautiful city of Ashtabula. About 1839 Edwin Harmon became interested in the lake trade. He also operated a distillery, a saw mill and a grist mill—the last named being a three-story cobble stone building with a gable roof. At one time Mr. Harmon owned several vessels, which he used for freighting. His first vessel was the "Adelaide," which he loaded with apples, cider and whiskey and sent under the care of Captain Daniel Mitchell (who died in 1908, at the age of ninety-five years) to Mackinac and other points in the upper lakes region, to be sold to the Indians. Subsequently, he bought two brigs, the "Oleander" and the "Constellation," which he sold after he had completed and stocked them. Edwin Harmon afterward owned the schooner "Arctic" and the "A. E. HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 1253 Hart," and built the "Mary Collins" which was named for his daughter. This latter vessel was worth from $18,000 to $25,000 and, it was thought, would easily pay for itself in three years. During the panic of 1857, however, Mr. Harmon suffered heavy losses ; but during the succeeding years he recuperated, as freights advanced to a high figure and he also -disposed of his crops (especially his oats) at most profitable figures. Besides being a successful general farmer, Mr. Harmon was very fortunate as a stock--raiser, keeping each year a selected flock of sheep and a fine herd of thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle.. Every winter he fed a large bunch of steers, always selling them in the spring at the highest market price. He was also an extensive land holder, never owning less than three farms ; at one time he had 200 acres on the lake shore ; 275 acres in the home farm, at Ashtabula ; and a dairy farm of 300 acres at Springfield, Illinois, which he took on a debt. Prior to his death he divided his real estate among his children, each receiving a farm.. Mr. Harmon was a Republican in politics, but was a voter only, his entire time being devoted to business and his large agricultural and live stock interests. He died on the Ashtabula farm, August 13, 1863, his demise being deeply deplored. On January 21, 1829, Edwin Harmon married Miss Miranda Cunningham., who when a child had accompanied her widowed mother and older brother, Cushing, to Unionville, Lake county, Ohio. Mrs. Harmon died February 5, 1872, mother of eight children. Harriet and Charles Hannon died in infancy ; Adelaide passed away when sixteen years of age, and the following five reached maturity : Miranda, who died as the wife of J. A. Wilkinson August 6, 1892, aged sixty years ; Mary, who married Charles Collins and died April 15, 1893, at the age of fifty-eight, her husband being chief engineer on the Lake Shore Railway at the time of the Ashtabula casualty, with headquarters in Cleveland ; Frances E., of Ashtabula ; Albert ; and Gertrude, who spent 'her forty-six years on the home farm, where she died June 29, 1891. Albert Harmon, who was born February 18, 1842, has spent his entire life on the old Ashtabula homestead, successfully employed in farming. He has made a specialty of breeding high trotting Hambletonian horses. His youngest sister, as above mentioned, enjoyed the farm as her lifelong home; Mrs. Collins (Mary) also died on the home farm, and the other sisters have lived there much of the time. Stronger family ties cannot be imagined than those which bind the survivors to this old, valuable and cherished homestead. ALBERT J. RICHMOND.—Prominent among the early pioneers of Lorain county is recorded the name of Albert J. Richmond, during many years' a farmer in Amherst township. He was born in Black River township- of this county April 15, 1831, a son of Freeman and Eunice (Gillette) Richmond, the father born in Providence, Rhole Island, and the mother- in Genesee county, New York. Freeman Richmond came in a very early day to Sheffield township, Lorain county. He had first married Nancy Arnold,. by whom he had a daughter, Philinda, who married Schuyler Strong and died in Black River township ; Freeman Richmond for his second wife married Mrs. Eunice (Gillette) Fox, and to them were born the following children : Sylvia, who married Albert Arnold and died in Plattsburg, Missouri ; Minerva, widow of Isaac Shope and a resident of Amherst.; Jane, who died at the age of eighteen years ; Albert J. ; Milo, who was a farmer and died in Amherst ; and Almeda, who married James Rankin and died in Amherst. The first husband of Mrs. Richmond was Levi Fox, by whom she had four children, Gilbert, Orphie, Hannah and Nancy, all now deceased. Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Richmond lived on a farm in Sheffield township for a few years, and then selling their land there they bought and moved to a farm in Black River township, near Sodam Gamora and Hungry Hollow, but some years later they again sold, this time buying in 1849 the farm on Middle Ridge in Amherst township, now occupied by Albert J. Richmond, the place containing sixty-two acres of partly improved land. There Freeman and Eunice Richmond spent the remainder of their lives. He died December 24, 1881, aged ninety-one years, and she died June 7, 1883, aged eighty-six years, and their remains lie in the Middle Ridge cemetery, near the family homestead. Albert J. Richmond remained with his parents until their death, and the farm was then left to him and his brother. Two years after his marriage Albert bought his' brother's' in-terest in the home estate. He has always followed general farming and dairying, and has been successful in his chosen calling. In Sep- 1254 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE tember of 1852 was celebrated his marriage to Mary L. Gilmore, who was born in Amherst October 16, 1829, a daughter of Aretus and Orrie Gilmore, and a son, Bird Richmond, now f Amherst, was born to them. Mrs. Richmond died October 11, 1886, and in September of 1887 he wedded Mrs. Emerette (Rathbun) Tennery, who was born in Green Creek township, Sandusky county, Ohio. She was the widow of John E. Tennery, from Montreal, Canada, and daughter of Lucius and Rhoda (Gillette) Rathbun. Mrs. Richmond was three times married, her first husband being Samuel Baker, from Clyde, this state. Albert J. Richmond in politics is allied with the Republican party, and he is a Christian Scientist in his religious belief. He was one of the charter members of Hickory Tree Grange of Amherst, in which he has held several offices. BIRD RICHMOND has long held a distinctive place among. the farmers and business men of Amherst township, the place of his nativity on October 16, 1853, the only child born of the marriage union of Albert J. and Mary L. (Gilmore) Richmond. Bird Richmond re- mained with his parents until his marriage in 1877, at that time buying a tract of land which. joined the home farm and for eight years he lived in an old house which stood upon the place. That dwelling then gave place to a good frame residence, but it burned eight years afterward and was replaced by a similar dwelling, the present family home. Mr. Richmond follows a general line of farming and gardening, and he also raises horses for general farm purposes. He is a splendidly educated man, having attended both the common schools and Oberlin College for two years, and for eighteen years he was prominently identified with the educational interests in Lorain county. He entered the profession when but eighteen years of age, and taught during the winter months and gardened in the summers, while during a period of five years he was a member of the school board. On October 16, 1877, he was married to Sarah E. Jenne, born in Amherst township, October 12, 1858, daughter of the late Ansel Jenne, from New England, and Phebe Wing, from the state of New York. Her grandparents on the paternal side were Ansel and Elizabeth (Brown) Jenne.. A son, Frank Harrison Richmond, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Richmond on July 16, 1880. He graduated from the Amherst high school and attended Elyria Business College, and he now lives on a portion of his father's farm. He married on December 24, 1903, Florence E. Steele, also born in Amherst township, a daughter of Homer and Ellen (Gawn) Steele, from the same place. Two children have been born to Frank H. and Florence Richmond, Frances E., born December 5, 1904, and Byrd H., born January. Jo, 1906. Bird Richmond is a member of the Royal Arcanum, of the Republican party and of the Congregational church. JOHN WESLEY KYLE is numbered among the dairy farmers of Dorset township, and he represents a pioneer family of Ohio.. John Kyle, his father, was born on the present site of Youngstown in 1812, and he married there Abbie Arnold, ,who was born in 1817, and died. in 1903, the husband having passed away in 1901.. They moved to Trumbull county several years after their marriage, and the following children were born of their union : Anna, who married Milo Crawford and is living at Petoskey, Michigan ; George married Delia Wilbur and lives at Cortland in Trumbull county,. Ohio ; Irvin, born in 1845, married Lottie Dilley, and is a farmer in Richmond township, Ashtabula county ; John Wesley was born November 19, 1852 ; and Oliver, born in 1854, married Millie Wilbur, and lives at Johnson in. Trumbull county. After a training in the district schools of Bazetta township, Trumbull county, John Wesley Kyle began working out at farm labor, and he-is now the owner of a dairy farm of 210 acres, seventy acres of which are devoted to general agricultural pursuits. He has served his township two years as a trustee, and is a Republican: in his political affiliations. By his marriage to Alzada Everett, who was born in 1851, he has had three children, namely : Arda, who was born August 21, 1882, married Fred Cook and is living in Ashtabula ; Ada, born April 27, 1884, married Wesley Hamilton and lives in Richmond township, Ashtabula county ; and John, born on May 13, 1888, is a Pierpont: township mill, man. He married Lottie Burr. John Wesley Kyle is one of the leading farmers of Dorset township, and. both he and his family have many friends here. He is a. member of the Farmers' Grange of Denmark and also the Knights. of the Maccabees and the State Police of Ohio. ROBERT B. LERSCH.—An able exponent of the progressive spirit and strong initiative- HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 1255 power that have .caused the Western Reserve to forge to the front as an industrial and commercial section of importance is Mr. Lersch, who is one of the representative business men of the younger generation in his native city .of Elyria, Lorain county, and who is a scion of one of the old and honored families of the Western. Reserve. He has given his attention more especially to mercantile pursuits, and he is now one of the interested principals in the well known drygoods house of John Lersch & Co., of Elyria. The esteem and confidence in which he is held in his native county has been indicated by his election to offices of public trust, including that of representative in the state legislature. Robert Boynton Lersch was born in Elyria, on November 10, 1871, and is a son of John and Pamela (Boynton) Lersch, who still maintain their home in Elyria. John Lersch is one of the oldest business men and most honored citizens of Elyria, with whose civic and material development and upbuilding he has been long and prominently. identified. During nearly half a century has John Lersch been actively engaged in business in this place, and his career has been one marked by uniform and uninterrupted success, based alike upon fair and honorable dealings and distinctive personal popularity. To his efforts is due the building up of a mercantile concern which is one of the largest of its kind in northern Ohio outside of the city of Cleveland. He was born in the kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, on July 25, 1841, and is a son of Carl and Louise (Schweitzer) Lersch, both of whom were likewise natives of Bavaria. The family emmigrated to the United States in 1851, and eventually Carl. Lersch purchased a farm in North Dover township, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, near the Lorain county line. In 1854 John Lersch, who was then about thirteen years of age and who had received his rudimentary education, in his native land and thereafter attended the common schools of Ohio for a time, found employment in the store of the old-time firm of Mussey & Co., of Elyria. In 1858 this firm was succeeded by one in which the interested principals were Seymour W. Baldwin, Thomas W. Laundon and Thomas L. Nelson, all of whom were old and well remembered merchants of Elyria. Under the new regime John Lersch continued his labors as a valued and efficient salesman, and in 1872 he became, associated with David C. Baldwin in the purchasing of the business with which he had so long been identified. Thereafter the enterprise was continued under the firm name of D, C. Baldwin & Co. until 188o, when Mr. Baldwin virtually retired from active connection with the business, which was continued under the title of Baldwin, Lersch & Co. Mr: Lersch at this juncture assumed practically the entire management of the business, and about this time he effected the organization of a mercantile combination known as the North Ohio Syndicate, which was composed of the firms of Baldwin, Lersch & Co., of Elyria ; Fries & Scheule, of Cleveland, and B. C. Taber & Co., of Norwalk. Said syndicate is now known under the title of John Lersch & Co., and consists of seventeen representative drygoods houses in Ohio and Pennsylvania, with a purchasing capacity of about $4,000,000 annually. Through the practical amalgamation of interests the concern is enabled to give to its patrons the most effective service, as is indicated by the great popularity and large business of the Elyria house of John Lersch & Co., in which are handled large and select lines of drygoods, cloaks, women's suits, carpets, draperies, etc. The establishment is divided into large and well ordered departments, and, as already stated, it is one of the largest in the northern part of the state outside of Cleveland, the' metropolis of Ohio. John Lersch has exemplified in his long and peculiarly successful career the highest principles of integrity and honor, and no citizen of Lorain county is held in more assured popular confidence and regard. He is a member of the directorate of the Elyria Savings & Banking Company and is a citizen of utmost loyalty and public spirit. He is a stanch adherent of the Republican party. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Lersch was solemnized in i868, and Mrs. Lersch is a native of Lorain county, Ohio, being a daughter of the late Joshua Boynton, a native of the state of Maine, but a pioneer to Lorain county and a well known and influential citizen of his day. Robert B. Lersch, the immediate subject of this review, was reared to maturity in Elyria and here he completed the curriculum of the public schools, having been graduated in the high school as a member of the class of 1889, after which he took a partial course in the law department of the Western Reserve University in Cleveland. After leaving college Mr. Lersch identified himself in an active way with the business of John Lersch & Co., and he has been the junior member of the firm since 1893. He has done much to further the success of the Vol. II-35 1236 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE enterprise and to uphold the prestige of a name long honored in connection with business. and social affairs in Lorain county. In politics Mr. Lersch has been a stalwart in the camp of the Republican party from the time of attaining to his legal majority, and he has rendered effective service in the promotion of the party cause. In 1896 he was elected a member of the city council of Elyria, and the valuation placed upon his services in this capacity may be understood when the statement is made that he was four times re-elected. In 1903 he was chosen, on the first ballot, by the Lorain county Republican convention, as its candidate for representative in the state legislature, and in the ensuing election he received a gratifying majority at the polls. In the house he proved an active and effective working member, both on the floor and in the committee room. He was chairman of the important finance committee and was secretary of the committee on cities that prepared and presented the Payne bill, under which the present municipal code of Ohio was enacted. In addition to his interest in the firm of John Lersch & Co., Mr. Lersch is one of the stockholders and active administrative officers of the Cleveland Life Insurance Company, of the city of Cleveland. 'He is a valued member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce and one of the zealous promoters of its high civic ideals and progressive business policies. He is a Knight Templar Mason affiliating. with Elyria Commandery, No. go,. and is a member of the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of the Maccabees. On November 10, 1897, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Lersch to Miss Helen Steward, who was born and reared in Lorain county, Ohio, a daughter of Thomas and Etta Seward, and they have one child, a winsome little daughter, Dorothea. Mr. and Mrs. Lersch occupy a position of prominence in the social life of their home city, where their popularity is of the most unequivocal order. JOHN WILKES.—The Wilkes family is an old and honored one throughout Portage county, and John Wilkes worthily upheld its name and position. He was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, November 28, 1800, a son of Samuel and Sarah (Lawrence) Wilkes, who were from England, as was also his paternal grandfather, John Wilkes. The latter came with his family to Pennsylvania about the time of the Revolutionary war, and securing land in Pennsylvania, he spent the remainder of his days there, while his son Samuel came on to Ohio and located in Columbiana county, where he subsequently died. He was three times married, and Sarah Lawrence was his second wife, by whom he had two daughters and a son. The latter, John Wilkes, lived in the parental home until his marriage to Anna Benton, from New York, as were also her parents, William and Roxie (Bryant) 'Benton. Coming with his family to Rootstown township in Portage county Mr. Benton seeured land here and. his daughter Anna taught in the township's schools. Here she met and married John Wilkes, and they moved to the southwest corner of Edinburg township, where he secured 400 acres of land and over 200 acres in Rootstown township. He became one of the largest farmers and. stock. raisers Of his community, and he and his wife continued to reside there until their deaths. In their family were seven children : Anna, who became the wife of Jerry Fifer and is now deceased ; Sarah, on the home place ; John, who died at the age of twelve years ; Tyler, who resides with his sister Sarah ; Roxie, the wife of James Wilson, of Los Angeles, California ; Mary Jane, who died at the age of twenty-eight years ; and Lucy E., of Ravenna. Lucy E. Wilkes remained with her parents during their lives, and she was appointed guardian in. trust for four children of her brother Tyler by his second wife, and soon after this she moved to Mt. Union to give the children better educational advantages. During her three 'years' residence there her father died and she came into possession of the 100 acres of land in Edinburg township which she yet owns, while in February of 1896, she moved to a residence which she owned in Ravenna, No. 475 South Chestnut street. JAMES W. BABCOCK.—Noteworthy for his good citizenship and. many excellent traits of character, James W. Babcock, of Geneva, holds an assured position among the enterprising and progressive men of this part of Ashtabula county. He is an able. and skilful mechanic, and as foreman of the forging department of the Geneva Tool Company is connected with one of the principal industries of the place. A son of Asa C. and Clementine (Webster) Babcock, he was born August 22, 1838, in Leonardsville, Madison county, New York; coming from substantial New England HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 1257 ancestry, the Babcock family having been early settlers of Connecticut. As a young man James W. Babcock learned the trade of a blacksmith in his father's shop, and also assisted him in the manufacture of the old style forks used in farming. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Fourteenth New York Volunteer Infantry, a company made almost entirely of young men from his own home town. At the end of a year, after a severe illness while in camp at Baltimore, Mr. Babcock was honorably discharged from the service, his regiment going on with the command of General Banks, while he was left in a hospital. Returning home :as soon as able, Mr. Babcock continued making forks until 1866. In that year, at the solicitation of a Mr. Caswell, a manufacturer .of :scythe snaths, living at the old Engle Tavern, one mile south of Geneva, he came to Ashtabula county: Mr. Caswell was one of the original scythe snath manufacturers, as head of the firm of Caswell, Price & Barlow, having established a factory a number of years previous to that time in Geneva. At once entering the newly organized firm of Caswell & Tinker, Mr. Babcock continued with his employers three years, making snatfis and forks. In 1871 the Geneva Tool Company was organized, the machinery of the plant, which was then in Garrettsville, was removed to this place, and work was begun On a much larger scale. The force of men was increased from :fifteen to one hundred, and the amount of yearly business was increased from $30,000 to $100,000. During the first year the factory put on the market $80,000 worth of steel tools, including potato forks, hoes, etc. Mr. Babcock was from the beginning foreman .of the forging department, and had the charge of installing all of the new machinery. Mr. Caswell subsequently sold out his interest in the firm, but continued, his residence in Geneva until his death. Mr. Tinker, also, sold out, and later conducted a machine shop in Garrettsville. Mr. Babcock continued with the firm for a period of twenty-one or twenty-two years, having charge in the meantime of about thirty-five or forty men. In 1891 he became foreman of the forging department of a factory in Girard, Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1898. Coming. back then to Geneva, he resumed his former position in the forging department of the Geneva Tool Company where he has now charge of about eighty men, but dying the past two years Mr. Babcock has been released from constant attendance at the factory, being his own boss. Mr. Babcock married, in 1860, in Leonardsville, New York, Helen M. Clark, and they have one daughter, Callie E. Babcock, a gifted musician. Mr. Babcock nas ever been active in local affairs, having served a number of years as a member of the city council, in that capacity assisting in the installation of the Geneva water works and of its sewer system. Fraternally Mr. Babcock has belonged for thirty-eight years to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has passed all the chairs of his lodge, and for twenty years has been a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. MARCUS HARVEY NICHOLS, descendant of a family which for several generations distinguished themselves oy their service to their country and their strict adherence to the principles and teachings of the Disciples church, was born March 1o, 1845, in Shalersville, Ohio, and is a son of Noble Haven and Ursula Bryant (Drake) Nichols. The Nichols family came originally from England, and at an early date settled in Vermont. The great-grandfather of Marcus H. Nichols settled near the shore of Lake Champlain on the Vermont side, and was living there when his son Andrew was born. Subsequently he removed to Brown Point, New York. Andrew Nichols was born at Shoreham, Vermont, September 26, 1790, and died November I, 1867. In January, 1819, he married Sally Haven, and they became parents of five sons and four daughters, of whom but two sur vive. He was a man of wonderful endurance and great physical strength, and distinguished himself by his service in the war of 1812. He enlisted June 20, 1812, and served five years, being discharged in June, 1817 ; in the first. year of service he was appointed sergeant of his company, of which Luther Leonard was captain. He was one of those who captured and carried into the American lines, General Riel and his staff, of the British army, near Niagara Falls, September 6, 1814. The English army tried to cross the Saranac river near its mouth, but Sergeant Nichols saw them and unlimbered his guns, although on. retreat by orders ; he gave them "grape and canister," and drove them back. Although court-martialed for disobeying orders, he was triumphantly acquitted. During this daring exploit he was wounded through the thigh, but dis- 1258 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE regarded his own sufferings in his interest in the cause. This occurred shortly before the battle of Plattsburg. Noble Haven Nichols was born April 11, 1825, in Shalersville, Ohio, and died December 2, 1893. He married, at Shalersville, May 11, 1844, Ursula Bryant Drake, a descendant of the great English navigator and admiral ; she died May 8, 1893. They were parents of eight children. Marcus H. Nichols attended the district schools of Mantua and Hiram, and then for four years attended the Eclectic Institute, now known as Hiram College ; when he left college in 1864, Professor Garfield was principal, and later in that year Professor Thompson, a half-breed Indian, held the position. Upon Mr. Nichol's entrance, Harvey M. Everett was principal. Upon leaving college, Mr. Nichols taught one year in the poorhouse district in Shalersville, and then began farming, which has since been his occupation. He has met with very good success in all his undertakings. In political views he is a Democrat, and is a member of the Disciples church. Mr. Nichols married January 6, 1864j, Jennie Wilson, of Hiram, by whom he had six children. She was born January 13, 1848, in Paris, Ohio, and was 'a daughter of Albert Gallatin Wilson, born April 17, 1809, also at Paris, Ohio. Albert G. Wilson married Ara Ann Minyoung, January I, 1839 ; he died March 11, 1888, and she died March 29, 1879. Her father came to the Western Reserve about 1834-5 and settled at Paris, Ohio, where he remained until his death, September 5, 1884. Her grandfather, Jacob Min-young, was born in Hamburg, Germany, August 24, 1793 ; he married Jane McKansey, of Maryland, who was born in Ann Arundell county, January Jo, 1798. He was a paper-maker by trade and settled in Philadelphia. Mrs. Marcus H. Nichols died February 3, 1890, and is buried in Garrettsville, Ohio. Their children are : Ida May, born October 30, 1869, in Freedom, Ohio ; Ethel Neva, born January 19, 1872 ; Nellie Jane, born June 17, 1874 ; Lee Wilson, born June 21, 1879 ; Carl Albert, born July 26, 1881 ; and Carrie Lorena, born June 10, 1886. Ida M. married J. C. Felt, of Grafton, Lorain county, Ohio, December 31, 1888, at Nelson, Ohio, and their children are : Lee Tomah, born January 7, 1890 ; Jennie Elmina, born August 10, .1891 ; Edna Emma, October 3, 1892 ; Iva May, June 3, 1895 ; and Ruth Estelle, born February 3, 1905. Ethel N. mar-. ried Frank Bosley, of Garrettsville, Ohio, May 20, 1891, at Nelson, Ohio, and they have one child, Cedric Donald, born April 13, 1893. Lee W. married Jessie Robinson, of Garrettsville, March 21, 1903, at Ravenna, and their children are : Dorothy Harriet, born August 16, 1904, and June, born June 18, 1907. Nellie Jane married at Hiram W. E. Van Voorhis, of Hiram, April 26, 1905. Mr. Nichols married for his second wife December 9, 1891, Olive V. Stough, of Elyria, Ohio, in Elyria ; they have no children. Her father was a stonemason of Elyria. ALBERT G. SHEWELL.-Distinguished as one of the oldest native-born residents of Portage county, Ohio, Albert G. Shewell has been closely identified with the development and advancement of the agricultural interests of this section, more especially of Edinburg, during his active career, by persevering industry and commendable thrift having improved a valuable farm. He is descended from an early pioneer family, and was born August 22,, 1831, a son of William Shewell. His grandparents, Henry and Mercy (Hazen) Shewell, natives of New Jersey, spent the first years of their married life in Pennsylvania, from there making their way through the almost pathless woods to Portage county with ox teams. Taking up 125 acres of wild land in Deerfield, they improved a homestead, and there resided the remainder of their lives. The grandfather, who became blind, was a Methodist minister, and for many years after coming here was engaged in preaching the gospel, having a wide circuit to cover. William Shewell was born in Pennsylvania, and after coming here with the family assisted his father in clearing and improving a good farm, the labor involved being almost herculean in its proportions. After his marriage with Lydia Baldwin, who was born, bred and educated in Atwater, Portage county, he carried on farming for himself, his efforts being rewarded with good results. Brought up on the home farm, Albert G. Shewell obtained his education mostly in the schools of Rootstown, while under his father's instructions he was well trained in agricultural labors. After his marriage he turned his attention to mechanical pursuits, and for ten years worked at the carpenter's trade. Buying then sixty acres of land in Edinburg township, he immediately 'began its improvement. He succeeded well, invested his money in other lands, and is now the owner of 172 acres of HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 1259 valuable land, which he has brought to a high state of cultivation. He is now practically retired from active labor, having relinquished the management of his property to his son, Judd B. Shewell. He has been identified with the Republican party since its formation, and has served his fellow townsmen in different capacities; for two years having been assessor, and for a number of terms being a member of the board of education. Mr. Shewell married Mary E. Chapman, who was born January 6, 1832, a daughter of James and Mary E. (Ingraham) Chapman. She died August 28, 1904, leaving four children, namely : Franchettie, a contractor and builder' of Sebring, Ohio ; Ida; Judd B. and Ulysses G., farmers. All are married, and living in this vicinity. Judd B. Shewell, who has charge of the parental homestead, was educated in the district schools, and has spent. his life as an agriculturist, being now one of the foremost farmers of the community in which he resides. On June 21, 1884, he married Estell M. Stephenson, and they are the parents of five children, namely : Clifton G., Florence D., Pearl M., Mercy. C., and Lucinda M. Politically Mr. Shewell, following in the footsteps of his honored father, is a steadfast Republican, and has served as justice of the peace. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias. JUDSON G. STARR.—In the office of superintendent of the Lorain county infirmary Mr. Starr is giving a most able and acceptable administration,—marked by due conservatism and economy and also by an earnest regard for the welfare of the unfortunate wards of the county. Judson George Starr is a native son of Lorain county, as he was born in Penfield township, on October 30, 1864. He is a son of George and Ellen ( Jones) Starr, both of whom were likewise born in Penfield township, Lorain county, being members of honored pioneer families• of this section of the Western Reserve. The original America progenitor of the Starr family was Dr. Comfort Starr, who came from Ashford county, England, in 1640, settling first at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and .later in Boston. He was an able physician and surgeon, according to the standard of his day, :and followed the work of his profession until As death, which occurred in 1660. Of his eight children the one through whom the direct line of descent is traced to the subject of this review was Dr.. Thomas Starr, who was born in England and who accompanied his father to America. He also was a skillful physician and surgeon and was a valiant soldier in the early Indian wars. He died in 1658; leaving eight children, of whom Josiah, ancestor of Judson G. of this sketch, was born in 1657. Josiah Starr moved from Massachusetts to Long Island and later took up his residence in Connecticut, where he died in 1716. His son John, one of a family of eight children, was born in 1684 and died in 1739, leaving six children, of whom the youngest was Eleazer, who became a captain in the Continental forces in the war of the Revolution and who was killed when the British captured Danbury, Connecticut. His son Eleazer, Jr., was born in 1758, and became the founder of the family in Lorain county, Ohio. He likewise was a patriot soldier in the war of the Revolution, and after the close of the same he moved from Danbury, Connecticut, to Harpersfield, New York, whence he eventually removed to the Western Reserve of Ohio and settled in Penfield township, Lorain county, where he secured a tract of wild land and reclaimed much of the same to cultivation prior to his death, which here occurred on December 8, 1845. He was survived by eight children, namely : Raymond, Talcott, Polly (married Daniel Lindsley), William, Hannah, Elizabeth (married Rev. Roswell Kelly), and Orrin and Aurinda, twins, (latter married Lathrop Penfield). Of these children William figures as the grandfather of him whose name initiates this article. George Starr, father of Judson G., died in 1878, at the age of forty-seven years, and his wife died in 1886, at the age of forty-three years. George Starr was. reared and educated in Ohio, and after his graduation in Berea College, at Berea, this state, he was a successful teacher in the common schools for several years, after which he again turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, to which he had been reared, and passed the residue of his life on his well improved farm in Penfield township, Lorain county. He was a Republican in his political proclivities and both he and his wife were zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Of their three children Judson G. is the eldest ; Florence Esther is art instructor in the Dakota Wesleyan. College, Mitchell, South Dakota ; and Wilbur T. is engaged in farming at Penfield. Judson G. Starr was reared to maturity on the home farm and was afforded the advan- 1260 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE tages of the public schools of the village of Wellington. After leaving school he continued to be associated in the work and management of the homestead farm for eleven years, at the expiration of which, in i886, he removed to the city of Elyria, where for the ensuing decade he held the position of foreman for the Worthington Manufacturing Company. In August, 1896, he was appointed superintendent of the Lorain county infirmary .and farm, assuming the duties of this office in the following March, and he has since continued to hold the position, which fact offers the most effective voucher for his able and acceptable. administration. In politics he is a stalwart Republican, and his religious views are in harmony with the tenets of the Methodist church, of which he and his wife are members. On August 12, 1885, Mr. Starr was united in marriage to Miss Sadie Isabella Watts, who was born in Medina county, Ohio, on April 2, 1867, and who is a daughter of Edmund J. and Thirza (Pike) Watts, both of whom were born in England, whence they came to the United States when young : their marriage was solemnized in the city of Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Watts served as a valiant soldier of the Union during three years of the Civil war, having enlisted as a private in the Twenty-third New York Volunteer Infantry. While he was in the army his parents removed from the state of New York to Greenwich, Huron county, Ohio, and after the close of his military career he likewise came to Ohio. In 1866 he settled in the city of Medina, where he was engaged in the harness business for four years. At that time they moved to Wellington, Lorain county, Ohio, at which place and vicinity he passed the remainder of his life and died December 28, 1905. Mrs. Starr completed the curriculum of the public schools, having been graduated in the Wellington high school June 20, 1884, and having thereafter been a successful and popular teacher in the district schools of Lorain county. Mr. and Mrs. Starr have three children, namely : Lila Ellen, Waldo Edmund and Florence Gertrude. Lila, aged twenty-one, is a student at Baldwin University, Berea, Ohio. Waldo, aged nineteen, is assistant foreman of the Garden Isle celery and onion farm at Lodi, Ohio. Florence, aged eight, is at home with her parents. THOMAS CORWIN WOOD. - Conspicuous among the best known and more prominent citizens of Bellevue is Thomas Corwin Wood, an extensive landholder, and an able business man, who is widely known throughout this section of the Western. Reserve for his many interests of importance and value. A son of Bourdette Wood, he was born, April 27, 1842, in Groton township, Erie county, of pioneer ancestry. Jasper Wood, his grandfather, was born, reared and educated in Onondaga county, New York, and there married Elizabeth Boylston, the descendant of a substantial New England family. He was well educated, being fitted for a civil engineer. Migrating to Ohio in 1818, he became --one of the first settlers of Groton township, Erie county, locating near Bloomingville. He found his way to these wilds by following a path marked much of the way by blazed trees, settling here when the country was in its primeval condition, bears, deer, wolves and other wild beasts being plentiful. He bought 1,000 acres of land, making but a partial payment of the tract. Before acquiring title to his land, in about three years after his arrival, he died, a victim of milk fever, leaving his widow with several children to care for. Being unable to meet the payments on the land, the entire. sum invested was lost, and the. widow and children had to battle for a living. She was a woman of heroic courage, and reared her two sons and three daughters to men and women of worth, training them to habits of industry and thrift. Bourdette Wood, a native of Onondaga county, New York, was a boy of thirteen years when his father died, and he proved himself o f great assistance in helping his mother to maintain the family. He worked hard, saved his money, and in due course of time was enabled to buy a tract of land in Groton township, where he began his career as an independent farmer. Coming to Bellevue, Huron county, in 1844, he embarked, in the real estate and loan business, and in his operations was unusually successful. He made wise investments in real estate, at one time owning over 2,000 acres of land in Groton township alone and continued in active pursuits until within a short time before his death, which occurred in the eighty-seventh year of his age. Bourdette Wood married Rhoda Harrington, who was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, a daughter of Seth and Huldah (Smith) Harrington. Seth Harrington was one of the very early settlers of the Western Reserve. In 1810 HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 1261 he removed from Ashtabula county to what is now Erie county, buying ,land on Pipe creek, about one and one-half miles northwest of Bloomingville, where there was a log fort in which the pioneer settlers took refuge from the frequent attacks made upon them by the Indians. There were then neither railways nor canals, the only markets being the lake towns, 100 miles or more distant. Building a log house on his land, Mr. Harrington cleared a good homestead, and. there lived until his death, at the age of eighty years. His faithful wife and companion survived him, living to the remarkable age of ninety-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Bourdette Wood reared ten children, namely : Jasper, Emeline, Richard, Henry, Elizabeth, Benjamin, Sophia, Thomas Corwin, Susan and Julia. Having completed the course of study in the public schools of Bellevue, Thomas C. Wood was given the use of the homestead farm by his father, and there commenced the battle of life even with the world. As a tiller of the soil he made his first money, and later enlarged his operations, becoming a dealer in cattle, sheep and horses, for a number of years carrying on an extensive and profitable business in that line. He gave it up in 1885, and the following two years was engaged in the grain and milling business, but since that time has devoted himself entirely to the care of his private interests, which are extensive. Mr. Wood owns several Farms in Groton and Lyme townships, and has valuable real estate holdings in the city of Bellevue, his property being large, and demanding his whole time and attention. On March 17, 1864, Mr. Wood was married to Fannie L. Hartz, the only child of Dr. John J. and Mary Cordelia Hartz.. Dr. Hartz was born at Versailles, France, and in his youthful days received excellent educational advantages. He was subsequently graduated from the medical department of the Heidelberg. University, in Germany. On coming to America he traveled extensively through the south and was a. resident of Charleston, South Carolina, for a time, then located in Philadelphia, where he practiced medicine for several years, migrating from there to Portage county, Ohio. He spent a short time there, then moved to Upper Sandusky. At these places he had a. very extensive practice. He was a man of liberal culture, outside of medicine. In 1852 he came to Bellevue, Huron county, Ohio, and was here successfully engaged in the practice of his profession, until his death in 1865. Dr. Hartz married in Philadelphia, Mary Cordelia Duler, who was born in that city, a daughter of Peter Duler, a native of Bayonne, France, and a noted linguist who taught the languages in Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Hartz was a lady of much attractiveness and superior mental qualities. She passed away in 1884. Mr. and Mrs. Wood have a pleasant home in Bellevue, West Main street, where they spend the greater part of the year, the remainder of the time being devoted to travel. They are held in high esteem throughout the community and are worthy members of the Protestant Episcopal church. FRANK H. HAWLEY.—Three generations of the Hawley family have been identified with the Ohio Farmers' Insurance Company of Leroy, Medina county—A. G. Hawley, grandfather of Frank H., who served as its secretary from 1858 to 1866 ; Amos H., who held the same position from 1866 until his death in 1890, and Frank H. Hawley, who has been identified with the company for a number of years, since 1909 as its treasurer. These representatives of the family, who have done so much to forward the interests of the agricultural community in this part of the Western Reserve, were all born in Ohio. The great-grandfather, Dr. Gideon Hawley, was a native. of Vermont, who migrated to Madison county, Ohio, in the early portion of the past century. He became the father of A. G., Micah and Mary Hawley, of whom the only survivor is Micah, who resides in Canada. The first named was born in Madison county, Ohio, on August 18, 1814 ; married Miss Helen M. Brown, a native of Haverhill, New Hampshire, and in 1849 moved to Seville, Medina county. There he remained until 1857, then located at Westfield and the following year became secretary of the Ohio Farmers' Insurance Company, serving thus until the fall of 1866. His son Amos H., who succeeded his father to the secretaryship of the Ohio Farmers' Insurance Company, was born in Worthington, Franklin county, Ohio, on December 14, 1840 ; was educated in the Seville public schools and at Duff's Commercial College, Pittsburg, and, as stated, became identified with the Ohio Farmers' In-. surance Company in the fall of 1866. He died at his home in Leroy, Ohio, in September, 1890, his obsequies being conducted under the auspices of the Methodist church and the Masonic fraternity, with both of which he had 1262 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE been actively identified for many years. As a Mason, he had been advanced to the thirty-second degree, being a member of the following : Harrisville Lodge No. 137, A. F. & A. M.; Medina Chapter, Commandery of Massillon, of Eliadah ; Grand Lodge of Perfection of Bahurim Council of the Princes of Jerusalem ; Ariel Chapter of the Rose Croix at Cleveland, and the Orient Chapter of Ohio, of Cincinnati. On October 16, 1867, Amos H. Hawley married Miss Sarah E. Phillips, who was born in Medina county, February 13, 1848, and was a daughter of Ellery and Ellen (Doty) Phillips, both natives of New York. Mrs. A. H. Hawley died in 1908, mother of the following : Frank H., of this sketch ; Emma N., born September 1, 1870, who became the wife of R. T. 1 urner and is now a resident of Detroit, Michigan ; and Robert A., born August 16, 1877, who Jives in Cleveland and is engaged in the insurance business. Frank H. Hawley was born. May 24, 1869, and after passing through the public and high schools at Leroy attended Brooks Military Academy at Cleveland, finishing his studies at Williams College, Massachusetts. Upon his return home he assumed a clerical position with the Ohio Farmers' Insurance Company and in 1909 Was elected its treasurer. He is one of the directors of the corporation and also a trustee of Baldwin University, at Berea, Ohio. In June, 1897, Mr. Hawley was married to Miss Grace Corner, of Malta, Ohio, daughter of George Ss. and Elizabeth (Gillispie) Corner. Their two living children are Robert Blake and Marjorie A. Hawley ; one died at the age of two years. Mr. Hawley is domestic and sociable, but has not extended his fraternal relations beyond the order of Masonry, being a member of Seville Lodge No. 3 and Medina Chapter. He owns a fine residence in Leroy and both' himself and wife are highly esteemed for their good qualities and justly popular for their attractive ones. GEORGE SCHIBLEY, a prosperous dairy and stock farmer of Amherst township, Lorain county, was born in Huron, Erie county, Ohio, July 26, 1857. He is a son of Michael and Catherine (Brandau) Schibley, the .former born in Wurtemberg and the latter in Hesse-Castle, Germany. Michael Schibley came to the United States in 1851, and located in Pennsylvania, where he worked on a farm one year, and then settled in Amherst township. He worked two years in the first stone quarry and then removed to Huron, Erie county, where he married and resided a few years, when his house burned. He then located in Amherst, and soon after went on to a farm, which he rented six years and then purchased. Within a few weeks of his purchase he sold the farm at a good profit, and then resided for a few months in the village of Amherst, then purchased a farm in the southeast part of Amherst township, in 1865, and there successfully carried on farming until 1898, when he disposed of it and removed to Amherst, where he lived retired until his death, June 15, 1907. His widow now resides _with her son, William H., of Amherst. George Schibley lived at home until he reached the age of twenty-one years, then went to Cleveland, where he worked a year driving street .cars, spent two years as coachman, and returning to Amherst, rented a farm one year and conducted a milk route. He then purchased a farm of sixty-one acres, about one mile southeast of Amherst, upon which he has lived since 1886. He erected a handsome frame house and a good stock barn, and has made many improvements. He has always carried on general farming, and from 1891 until 1902 conducted a milk route in Amherst. He makes a specialty of dairy cows and Chester white hogs. Though he received but a common school education, Mr. Schibley has become a well-read man, keeps himself informed on the general topics of the day, and in his political views he is independent, following the dictates of his own judgment rather than the advice of a party. For many years he has served as trustee and steward of the. Methodist Episcopal church, and since 1901 has been treasurer. Mr. Schibley married April 20, 1882, Anna Mary Johnson, born in Christiania, Norway, daughter of Martin Johnson, who still lives in Christiania ; she came to Cleveland, Ohio, in the spring of 1880* to the home of a sister, where she lived until' her marriage. Mr. Schibley and his wife have five children, namely: Amelia, wife of Verner Zilch, of Amherst township, and they have two children, Nelson W. and Dorothy ; John A. who married Edna P. Smith and resides in A., ; and Anna Martha, Edward C. and Frank, living at home. EUGENE SITES, one of the best known poultry fanciers in this section of the country, was born at Tiffin, Seneca county, Ohio, Novem- HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 1263 ber 28, 1861, and is a son of David and Elizabeth (Nolan) Sites, both natives of Pennsylvania, the former born in Harrisburg and the latter at Hollidaysburg. David Sites' grandparents were natives of Germany. He came to Seneca county, Ohio, about 1838-40, and drove a team, hauling potash from Sandusky to Columbus, when the old Mad River Railroad was the only road (this is now a part of the Pennsylvania Railway System) ; at this time wild animals and Indians were plentiful. He was married in Seneca county; his wife was a sister of the noted Dr. Nolan, who had charge of the State Hospital for Insane at Toledo, Ohio. The Sites family came to the :Western Reserve, locating first in Dover, Cuyahoga county, and resided there until 1888, when they removed to Geneva, Ohio, where Mr. Sites died in 1907, at the age of eighty-six years. His wife died in 1884, at Dover, at the age of sixty years. The early days of Eugene Sites were spent on a farm. He received a high school education. In 'his youth he took great interest in good stock, especially poultry, and as a child took up fancy poultry, which is still of great interest to him. He has handled fine poultry stock of all varieties, and for the past twelve years has often been employed as official judge, his field ranging from New Orleans to Toronto. He has officiated five times in Madison Square, New York, and also in 1886 at the Garden Theater. He was a member of the International Jury of Awards at the St. Louis Exposition for judging poultry, and for this services received a gold medal. He has been judge at Buffalo, Cleveland and many other cities, of live stock of all kinds. He has acted in fifty large cities, about twenty places a year, east and west, and has the Old Mexico Agency for handling poultry. He received a loving cup from the Cleveland Fanciers' Club, in 1906, on his Plymouth Rock chickens. He has won over 8,000 prizes at shows for chickens and dogs. He breeds collies of the highest type, and also makes a specialty of Angora cats. In January, 1909, he exhibited poultry at the Madison Square show in New York, and out of twenty-two entries won twenty regular prizes, fourteen of which were firsts, three seconds, two thirds and one fourth prize. The books of this show will indicate that he has won more cash prize money than any other exhibitor. He is now general intendent of the Cleveland Fanciers' Club ompany. Mr. Sites came to Lorain county in the spring of 1888, and to his present farm in 1896. He has 150 acres on Murray Ridge, known as "Murray .Hill Farm," one of the best improved farms in the county, southwest from Elyria. He is a member of the Carlisle Grange, and has been for twenty-three years a Blue Lodge Mason. Mr. Sites married Frankie A., daughter of Charles W. Gilson, a pioneer of Sheffield township, Lorain county, and they have two children, Bessie and Jessie. ALONZO GRANT BALDWIN. - Prominent among the agriculturists and business men of Rootstown township and its vicinity stands Alonzo G. Baldwin, who was born here in Portage county June 4, 1853, a son of Richard and Amanda M. (Snyder) Baldwin, both from Ohio, the father born in Atwater township, Portage county, and the mother in Boardman township, Mahoning county. The grandparents on the paternal side were Moses and Nancy (Burns) Baldwin, from Wallingford, Connecticut, while the maternal grandparents, John and Elizabeth (Russell) Snyder, were of German parentage. Moses Baldwin, in 1804, at the age of eighteen years, drove through with an ox team from Connecticut to Portage county, Ohio, and settled south of Atwater township on a timbered farm. He built one of the first frame residences in that township, which is yet standing, and in his later life he lived among his children until his death at the age of eighty-seven years. His son Richard lived on this home place until 1871, when he sold the land and bought a farm just north of Atwater station; where his death occurred on the 5th of January, 1902, his wife having died in 1897. Their four children are : Alonzo G. ; Eliza Jane, the wife of W. G. Shilliday, of Edinburg township ; John M., in Rootstown township ; and Richard F., whose home is in Atwater township. Alonzo G. Baldwin at the age of twenty-one years went to Bourbon in Marshall county, but after six months returned to his former home, and thereafter lived with his parents until his marriage. During the year and a half following that event he lived on a farm belonging to his father in Atwater township, and his father then giving him forty-seven and three-fourths acres in Rootstown township he moved thereto and has since been engaged in the improvement of his farm and in general agricultural pursuits. Since 1902 he has been a fertilizer 1264 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE agent. He married on the. 1st of May, 1879, Cora May McGowen, who was born at North Benton, Mahoning county, a daughter of Richard and Harriet (Mowen) McGowen, also from that county. Their children are : Arthur M., of Ravenna ; Edith May, the wife of W. F: Loomis, of Randolph township ; Bessie Elva, the wife of W. L. Porterfield, of Ravenna ; William. F., also in Ravenna ; and Edward A. and Lawrence F., at home with their parents. Mr. Baldwin votes with the Republican party, and he has served his township as a member of its school board. L. D. DAYTON, who is a leading man of business and public affairs at Painesville, Lake county, is now general manager of the Independent Coal Company, of that place. The company, which was, promoted by him, incorporated in 1909 and capitalized at $10,000, does not clearly indicate by its title the breadth of its business, for, besides dealing in fuel, it 'furnishes builders' supplies of all kinds and buys and sells farm produce. It has erected a warehouse and other buildings suitable for its purposes at the corner of Liberty street and the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, and is the first company of its kind ever organized in Painesville. Its officers are : L. D. Dayton, president and manager ; E. C. Witzman, vice-president ; J. A. Bechtol, secretary and treasurer ; directors, besides the foregoing, R. E.. Gregory and C. A. Jepson. Mr. Dayton, the head of this enterprise, which already is flourishing, is of a family which has long taken a part in making the history of the. Western Reserve. His grandfather, Daniel Dayton, was one of the early pioneers who in the twenties of the nineteenth century settled on the west side of the Cuyahoga river in Burton township, where he cleared a space in the forest and made a home for his large family and himself. Reuben P. Dayton, his son, was reared on the old farm, married and raised a family of eleven children himself, of whom L. D. was the youngest. He was born on the old homestead in 1860, received his literary training at Geauga Seminary, after having passed through the public school course, and completed his education by mastering a business course. Mr. Dayton came to Painesville in 1902, first superintending the operation of the large steam plant of the Coe Manufacturing Company for some two years. In 1904 he was elected a member of the city board of education on an independent ticket, but re signed in the spring of 1905 to accept the position of superintendent of public school buildings. After satisfactorily filling that office four years he resigned in order to give his undivided attention to. the development of the business represented by the Independent Coal Company. MICHAEL STUART.-It may be said without fear of contradiction that the patent of nobility which rested its honors and distinction in the person of Michael Stuart came from the highest authority, since it was based upon fine character and marked ability. His life was marked by valuable and generous accomplishment in the legal profession and his measure of success was [large, but greater than this were the intrinsic loyalty to principle, the deep human sympathy and the broad intellectuality which designated the man as he was. He was the architect of his own fortunes, well meriting the title of self-made man, and his character, moulded in the school of adversity and in earlier years touched by the lash of necessity, was strong, dominating and marked by pronounced individuality. He was one of those who could "stand alone amidst nature, imperturbed," and while his very idiosyncrasies threw his individuality into strong relief and in a way held him aloof from more intimate associations, none who came within the sphere of his influence could doubt his sterling, integrity of purpose or fail to accord admiration for his great ability. He devoted half a century to the work of his chosen profesion, in which his learning was specially profound and comprehensive, and at the time of his death, which occurred at his home in Ravenna, on January 20, 1899, he was not only the dean of the bar of Portage county but was also recognized as its ablest member from a purely professional standpoint. He was one who realized that the want of things is the axis of progress and in his career he gave evidence of the fact that the necessities of existence are what produce men worthy, of the name. Mr. Stuart was born near the city. of Hartford, Connecticut, on August 15, 1827, and was the oldest child of Michael and Mary (Viets) Stuart, both representatives of families founded in New England in the colonial epoch of our national history. The father held the office of general in the war of 1812, and was a man of strong personality and sterling integrity. He came with his family to Ohio in 1828, when his son Michael of this memoir was one year old, and settled near the present village HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE- 1265 of Streetsboro, in Streetsbroro township, Portage county, where he secured a tract of wild land and instituted the reclamation of a farm. The old homestead is now owned by his son Charles, and the other two surviving children are Mrs. Charles Kilbourn, of Hudson, Ohio, and Mrs. Jane Snyder, a resident of the state of Kansas. On the old homestead the parents continued to reside until they were summoned to the life eternal. The father died July 17, 1862, at the age of seventy-two years, and the mother on October 23, 1888, at the venerable age of eighty-six years. Michael Stuart, to whom this memoir is dedicated, was reared on the home farm and early began to assist in its arduous work, while his preliminary educational training was secured by somewhat irregular attendance in the pioneer schools of the locality and period. At the age of sixteen years he entered the Western Reserve College, in Hudson, and after completing his academic studies in this institution he went to Akron, where he entered the law office of the late Judge Rufus P. Spaulding and began the work of preparing himself for the profession in which he was destined to attain much of distinction. There is eminent propriety in perpetuating in this history the following appreciative extract from a memorial tribute prepared by Mr. Stuart and touching the life of his honored preceptor : "I trust you will pardon me the apparent egotism of this remark when I state I was a poor boy, without means, influence or wealthy friends, and he took me into his office and gave me my tuition ; he took me into his family and gave me support ; he appointed the committee who examined me for admission to the bar. In his presence, as a judge of the supreme court, I stood with uplifted hand while he administered to m.e the oath of office that made me a lawyer. on his motion I was admitted to the United States district court ; on his motion I was admitted to the United States circuit court, and on his motion I was admitted. to the United States supreme court at Washington, thus literally making me a lawyer at every step, and from the day of my admission to the day of his death he was to me in every sense a fosterfather, giving me advice and assistance with the same generosity and earnestness that he did his own chirdren." Apropos of the above statements it can not be doubted that it was largely due to his appreciation of the kindly aid of his honored preceptor, Judge Spaulding, that prompted Mr. Stuart himself to extend his assistance with all of generosity to young and struggling lawyers after he himself had attained to eminence at the bar. Thus did he well repay the debt owed to his friend and patron, Judge Spaulding. Mr. Stuart was admitted to the bar in the year -1847, and thereafter he was engaged as a teacher in the high school at Kent, Portage. county, about one year, at the expiration of which, in 1849, he took up his residence in Ravenna and established himself in the active work of his profession. Here he continued in practice for a full half century, and he rested from his labors only when there came to him the inexorable summons of death. For more than thirty-years he was retained as local counsel for the Erie Railway Company and its predecessors, and for the same he won many im portant victories, being known as one of .the able corporation lawyers of the state of Ohio. At this juncture recourse is had to words of appreciation appearing in the Ravenna Republican at the time of the death of Mr. Stuart, and in the statements only slight paraphrase is made : "For many years he was a regular attendant at the annual meetings of the Ohio. State Bar Association, and several papers read by him were received with much favorable comment. Politically Mr. Stuart was a stanch Democrat. He believed thoroughly in the principles of his party and was an effective exponent of its cause. With due recognition of his superior ability; his name had been prominently mentioned in connection with the nomination by his party for the office of judge of the supreme court of the state, as well as for appointment to a federal judgeship. As an attorney at the bar of Portage county Mr. Stuart was regarded as by far the ablest member, and his counsels were often sought by the profession. Cheerfully did he render any assistance in his power to the younger members of the bar, never forgetting his own trials when first endeavoring to obtain a foothold, half a century ago. Two cardinal principles were adopted by Mr. Stuart early in life,—industry and honesty—and that he always strictly adhered to them none who knew him will deny. These principles, coupled with economy, enabled him to accumulate a good competency." Concerning Mr. Stuart Hon. Simon P. Wolcott, one of his honored confreres at the bar, wrote the following estimate at the time of his death : "M. Stuart possessed a strong personality, and it was peculiarly his own. 1266 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE There were many characteristics of Mr. Stuart that will long be remembered by his associates at the bar in this and adjoining counties, and there is nothing unpleasant or disagreeable in such memories. His peculiarities were ever present, generally amusing and rarely offensive. In a man of less ability it would have been different. Mr. Stuart was a hypocrite in this sense only,—that his external characteristics tended to conceal a really very kindly heart. He loved his profession. His life was exclusively devoted to its pursuits and he was deservedly successful. He never courted popular applause, except that it came through' the channels of his chosen profession. He was extremely sensitive to any discredit of his legal attainments and rejoiced in a like degree when properly recognized and appreciated. He was the oracle upon questions of law in this county before which every member of the bar worshiped. None ever left his presence from con- ' sultation without greater respect for his rich and varied storehouse of knowledge; and he found no, greater pleasure than in the discussion of legal propositions with his brethren of the bar. He possessed a marvelous memory and retained it even unto death. I would be glad to pay a more worthy and less hastily prepared tribute to my friend of many years.” In memory of Mr. Stuart special services were held by the Portage County Bar Association, in the court house, and resolutions of respect and admiration were passed by the body, besides which a special Memorial address was read by James H. Nichols, chairman of the meeting. From this address the following extracts are made : "On January 20, 1899, after seventy-one years of arduous, ceaseless struggle in the great battle of life, Michael Stuart surrendered to the great conqueror and yielded his spirit to the God who. gave it. Coming upon the stage of action before free schools and colleges had spread their elevating influence over his pathway, he began life in poverty and obscurity, and by that great industry which characterized his every effort he obtained such an education as has honorably sustained him in the trying responsibilities of every station in life. One factor of his nature which did much to mould his character was his great exclusiveness and self-reliance. With no friends but his strength, courage and energy he began his studies and pursued them with such pertinacity that at the early age of nineteen years and nine months he was, by the district court of Portage county, admitted to the bar and licensed to practice in all the courts of the state. Two years later Stuart came to Ravenna and commenced his life labor at the bar, and, without a dollar to call his own or friend to encourage him, he worked on in poverty and obscurity, never relaxing in his purpose of becoming learned in the law and preserving a spotless reputation. "During these years of labor and privation he formed the habit of sobriety and economy which followed him through his laborious and very successful life. After working with but little accomplished, except storing his mind with legal knowledge, for about teh years, there was a change in young Stuart's prospects which started him on the high road to the nonorable and great financial success which he was able to and did attain. "On April 13, 1858, he was joined in marriage to Mrs. Almira Seeley. A lady of rare personal worth and accomplishments and of great natural ability, her influence at once asserted itself over him, thus softening and elevating his somewhat rugged nature, and encouraged him more fully to enter ihto the great labor of his profession and to reach the point of excellence which he after attained. About three years after his marriage Providence bestowed another proof of his favor, by the presence of his little daughter, Emma. Stuart's happiness was now complete, and from that time forth his whole soul was brightened and his laborious pathway strewn with flowers by the joyous presence of his wife and daughter, and he plunged into the most, abstruse prihciples of the law and subjected them to the accomplishment of the labors of his profession with a phenomenal success enjoyed by but few practitioners at the bar. Such were his legal researches that he became a veritable encyclopedia of the law, and I am of the firm belief that for knowledge of the general law he never had a peer in northern Ohio. "Providence has decreed that the sun shall not always shed its life-giving rays upon us, but that the clouds of darkness and humiliation are constantly crossing our pathway. So it was with our friend. On July 16, 1891, the luminous body which for thirty-three years had lighted his pathway was by the ruthless hand of death taken away, and the spirit of Almira Stuart ascended to the bosom of her Savior. The husband and father was paralyzed by the blow, and to the day of his death never fully recovered from the shock. After HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 1267 the death of his wife Stuart's heart turned entirely to his loving daughter, and every high and holy factor of his nature knelt at her shrine. he placed her picture on his desk before him, so whenever his eyes were raised from his constant study they rested on the only object of his earthly affection, and her praise was his great theme in the presence of his friends. Michael Stuart believed in the great Author of the Universe and in Him who said, `I am the resurrection and the life.' Let .us remember his many virtues and emulate his many noble qualities, and, with the mantle of charity covering his faults, profit by the great lesson of his life." Michael Stuart was a distinct character, a strong man, .a great lawyer. Though he lacked the winning personality which makes for general popularity, none who knew him and could appreciate the true worth of the man failed to accord to him unqualified confidence and high esteem. His life was guided by integrity and he never deviated from the course of rectitude and honor. He was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church and served for a number of years as a member of the vestry of the parish of Grace church, Ravenna, of which his wife was a devout communicant, as is also his daughter, Miss Emma, who still maintains her home in Ravenna, a place endeared to her by the gracious and hallowed memories of the past and one in which she is surrounded by a wide circle of valued and loyal friends. GEORGE SMITH.--A man of marked ability, making the most of every offered opportunity, George Smith, of Bellevue, holds high rank among the substantial business men of Huron county, as vice-president of the Martin Gross Lumber Company being associated with one of the leading industries of the city. A son of David Smith, he was born March 9, 1848, in York township, Sandusky county, Ohio. He is of German descent, his grandfather, George Frederick Smith, having been born and brought up in Wittenberg, Germany. Refusing to join Napoleon's army when he invaded Germany, George Frederick Smith, true to the fatherland, went to Switzerland and there lived for a time. From there he emigrated to America, locating in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, where, ,during the con. struction of the canal through that section, he ,was employed to sharpen the tools and to do general blacksmithing. About 1834, accompanied by his family, he came to Sandusky county, Ohio, making the journey with teams, and bringing with him all of his earthly goods. Buying a tract of land about four miles northwest of Bellevue, he began the improvemeNt of a homestead, at once taking possession of the log cabin that had previously been erected on the place. He built a shop, and in addition to clearing the land and tilling the soil worked at his trade, continuing his residence there until his death, February 1, 1858. To him and his wife, whose death occurred in 1842, seven children were born, as follows : Maria, Anne, Fred, David; Katie, Sally and Ferdinand: Born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1819, David Smith was in his "teens" when he came with the family to Ohio, locating near Bellevue. Being soon after apprenticed to David Moore, he learned carpentry, and subsequently worked for Mr. Moore as a journeyman for a while, then began carpentering on his own account. Finally turning his attention especially to mill work, he followed that lihe of industry continuously until 1873. Buying in that year fifty-four acres of land in York township, he devoted his time to the improvement of a farm, and as his means increased bought other land until he had title to 264 acres, ninety acres of it lying in Groton township, Erie county, while the remainder was in York township, Sandusky county. On, this valuable farming estate, he spent his remaining days, dying in 1899. The maiden name of the wife of David Smith was Julia Ann Knauss. She was born April 3, 1825, in Union county, Pennsylvania, which was the birthplace of her father, Solomon Knauss, who served in the war of 1812. Leaving Pennsylvania in. 1848, Mr. Knauss journeyed with his family, by team, to the Western Reserve. Locating in Groton township, Erie county, he bought 400 acres of land, on which stood a large barn, eighty feet by sixty feet, and a rambling log house with a frame addition. Successful in his farming, he improved much of the land, erected a large brick house, set out fruit and shade trees, and there resided until his death, in 1864. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Moore, was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, and died in Ohio, in 1874. They were the parents of eight children, namely : William ; Julia Ann, who married David Smith ; Elizabeth ; Charlie ; Mary Ann ; Solomon ; Henry ; Samuel ; and James.. Mrs. Smith is still living, .a bright and active woman of four score and four years. 1268 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE To her and her husband five children were born, namely : George, the subject of this sketch ; Charles ; Samuel ; Sarah M. ; and Mary E. Completing his education in the public schools, George Smith began at the age of seventeen years to learn the carpenter's. trade, and subsequently became a millwright. Going then to Buffalo, New York, he entered the employ of J. T. Noye & Co., for whom he drew plans, and was also foreman of construction in building mills in different parts of New York, including among other places, Attica, Gowahda and Lockport, and in remodeling the Haxall Mill, in Richmond, Virginia. Going to Kansas in 1886, Mr. Smith bought a farm in Rice county, where he remained four years. He afterwards worked at his trade in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a year and a half. Returning then to Bellevue, Mr. Smith followed his trade in this vicinity from 1892 until 1899, when, on the organization of the Martin Gross Lumber Company, he became a stockholder, and was elected vice-president. This office he has filled ably and well, devoting his entire time toward advancing the interests of the firm. Mr. Smith married, January 24, 1877, Anna Derr, who was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Her father, Rev. Joshua H. Derr, was born December 9, 1822, in Washingtonville, Pennsylvania, where his father, David Derr, spent his entire life. He attended the district school, afterwards working as a carpenter to earn money enough to fit him for the dental profession, and while working as a dentist accumulated a sufficient sum to pay his way -through Marshall College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1847. Three years later he was graduated from the Mercersburg Theological Seminary, and the same year was ordained in the Reformed church. He was active in the ministry about thirty-five years, and for a time was a professor in the Lancaster Theological Seminary. He served as a pastor in several places in Pennsylvania, including East Berlin, Catawissa and Reading, and after coming to Ohio preached at Wooster, Louisville and Bellevue, his death occurring in the latter place in 1891, at the age of sixty-nine years. Rev. Mr. Derr married Jane Mary. Bobst, who was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, August 28, 1822, and died December 26, 1886. Five children blessed their union, namely : James N ; Mary Magdalene ; Anna, now Mrs. Smith ; Eliza Jane ; and David. Mr. and Mrs. Smith reared two children, namely : Julia Maude and Frank Ellison. Julia Maude was graduated from the Bellevue high school with the class of 1897, and from the Sandusky Business College in February, 1908. While in that school she contracted typhoid fever, from which she died three weeks after her graduation. She was confirmed as a member of the Reformed church at the age of fifteen years, and was a charter member of the Christian Endeavor Society. Frank Ellison Smith was graduated from the Scranton Correspondence School, after which he took a two years course in mechanical arts at the State University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1905. He is now a stockholder and director in the Martin Gross Lumber Company, and is second lieutenant in Company B, Sixth Regiment,. Ohio National Guards. Politically Mr. Smith is a Republican, and religiously both he and his wife are members of the Reformed church. CHRISTIAN B. SCHIBLEY, of Amherst township, Lorain county, is a native of the township, born December 20, 1859, a son of Michael and Catherine (Brandau) Schibley. He is the second of a family of four sons and one daughter, and lived at home with his parents until he reached his majority, and received a common school education. Mr. Schibley's first work away from home was in the employ of John Burge, in contract bridge work for the county, where he spent two years. He then moved to Cleveland, and there became coachman for Judge Wilson. Two years later he began farming on part of the homestead in Amherst township, which he purchased fifteen years later. He sold this land and rented a farm of 270 acres in Camden township ; eight years later he purchased the Margaret Hoffner farm in Amherst township, consisting of forty-five acres. He carries on this farm, also conducts the farm of 100 acres belonging to Mrs. Kress, adjoining. He raises Durham and Jersey cattle, and makes butter, for which he finds a ready market. In political views Mr. Schibley is an independent Democrat ; he has served as school director. He is a member of the Evangelical Association, and has been a Sunday school teacher since 1906. He is an industrious and thrifty farmer, and has won the respect and esteem of all who know him. He is actively interested in public affairs, and uses his influence for all good causes. HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 1269 On November 22, 1883, Mr. Schibley married Anna E. Hess, daughter of Andrew and Catherine (Stang) Hess, the father born in Vermilion, Ohio, and the mother in Germany. Mrs. Schibley was born in Vermilion, Ohio, on May 5„1862. Their children are : Lillian L., wife of August C. Kolbe, of Huntington township, and have two children, Wesley R. and Paulina E. ; Mamie C. and Rose E., twins, the former the wife of Henry Kane, of Brownhelm township, and . they have one son, Raymond W., the latter a teacher in South Amherst ; and Frank G., Myron W., Dewey A., Dora M., Christina C. and Delia M., all living at home. LESTER A. FAUVER, a well known citizen of Lorain and a former county surveyor of Lorain county, was born in Eaton township, Lorain county, on a farm. His father, the late Alfred Fauver, was one of Lorain county's well known and respected citizens. He was a native of the county, born in Eaton township in 1835, and a carpenter by trade. At the breaking out of the Civil war he was the first man in Eaton township to volunteer in response to President, Lincoln's call for troops, and he enlisted in the Eighth Ohio Regiment. At the battle of Winchester he was severely wounded in the leg, and on August 19, 1862, was honorably discharged on account of disa- bility. At the close of the war he lived on a farm in Eaton township until 1891, and then removed to Oberlin to secure better educational advantages .for his children. In 1884 he was elected a county commissioner, and served nine years in that office. In 1898 he was elected mayor of Oberlin. Alfred Fauver was one of the'organizers of the Lorain Savings Bank, of which he was a director, and he was also identified with the Savings Bank of Elyria. On October 24, 1863, he married Elizabeth King, of Eaton township, and to them were born children as follows : Lester A. ; Louis B., an attorney living in Elyria ; Clayton K., an attorney in Cleveland ; Edwin and Edgar, twins, are physicians living in New York City ; and Mabel married T. L. Gibson, of Oberlin. Alfred Fauver died in Oberlin, February 29, 1904, and his widow still resides in that city. Lester A. Fauver attended the public schools and Baldwin University, at Berea, and graduated from a civil engineering course at Ohio State Normal School, at Ada, in 1889. He began work at his profession in Cleveland soon after his graduation, and two years later located at Lorain, holding the position of city engineer from 1891 until 1900. During the time he held this office many important improvements in river, pavements and, sewerage were constructed. Mr. Fauver was appointed county surveyor in 1901, to fill a vacancy, and his work was so well appreciated that he was re-elected at each succeeding election, finally declining, a renomination in 1909. Mr. Fauver is president of the Ohio Engineering Company of Elyria, director of the Lorain Banking Company of Lorain, secretary of the Black River Telephone Company of Lorain, and secretary of the Lane-Bowen Company of Lorain,. interested in plumbing and hardware. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Maccabees. He also belongs to the Cleveland Engineering Society and to the Ohio State Engineering Society. He is also on the executive committee of the Lorain public library, and a member of the Board df Commerce. Mr. Fauver married Rusha R., daughter of the late R. R. Reid, of Lorain, and granddaughter of Conrad Reid, an old resident of Lorain. Their children are : Richard Reid, Catherine Elizabeth, Margaret King and Georgiana. EDWARD L. HOUSE was born in Painesville, Ohio, April 10, 186.1 ; he is a son of Samuel R. House, who, until his removal from the city a few years ago, was one of Painesville's prominent men. Mr. House was educated in the public school, graduating in 1880. In 1884 he was married to Miss Urania Holcomb, a daughter of Henry Holcomb. There is an adopted daughter in the family, a bright little girl of five years, named Helen. Since 1887 Mr. House has been the proprietor of the Painesville steam laundry, carpet-cleaning and feather-renovating works: He has done much for the city in the way of renovating and ,beautifying one of .its most disgraceful districts. Those who are acquainted with the past and present condition of the property on both sides of lower Main street appreciate what the efforts of Mr. House in this direction have been to the town. He is respected in the community both as a business and public man. In the organization of the Painesville Telephone Company he was one of the prime movers, and has been a member of its board of directors since its beginning. 1270 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE RALPH WOLFROM -A young man of vim and energy, possessing undoubted business tact and ability, Ralph Wolf rom is officially connected with one of the foremost beneficial enterprises of Bellevue, being secretary and treasurer of the Local. Telephone Company, the Bellevue Home and Crestline Telephone Companies. A son of the late Frederick Wolfrom, he was born March 4, 1883, in Bellevue, and has here spent his life thus far. His paternal grandfather, Lorenz Wolfrom, was born in Asch, Austria, and there lived for a number of years after his marriage. He owned and operated a knitting mill, manufacturing hosiery for a number of seasons. In 1854, accompanied by his family, he emigrated to this country, locating at Weavers Corners,. Huron county, Ohio, where he purchased two acres of land, intending if he liked the country to buy more, and if not pleased to return to Austria. His career here, however, was brief, his death occurring in 1856. His widow was left with two small children, namely, Christina, who subsequently married Christian Zehner, a prominent business man of Bellevue ; and Frederick. Frederick Wolfrom, born in Asch, Austria, January 7, 1849, was a small child when he came with his parents to Huron county. He attended the district school at Weavers Corners, and the Milan Academy, and as a boy and youth assisted his mother in the care of the home farm. He subsequently began his mercantile career as clerk in .a store at the Corners, afterwards serving as deputy revenue collector for a while. Coming then to Bellevue, he was employed as clerk in the dry goods establishment of A. Ruffing for a few years. Embarking then in the dry goods business on his own account, he became junior member of the firm of Harsh, Leinbaugh & Wolf rom, which later became Leinbaugh & Wolfrom, Mr. Leinbaugh buying out the senior member of the firm. This firm conducted A good business until selling out to F. W. Geunther. A month after that time Mr. Wolfrom and Mr. Frank. Knapp bought out Mr. Geunther, and for five years carried on a substantial business under the firm name of Wolfrom & Knapp. Mr. Wolfrom then bought out his partner, and continued the business successfully until 1904, when he sold out to. E. A. Strahahan. Accepting the position then of secretary of the Local Telephone, the Bellevue Home and Crestline Telephone Companies, he retained it until his death, October 1, 1907. He married Mary Louisa Sutter, who was born at Sugar Grove, Ohio, and they became the parents of nine children, namely : Elmer, Carl, Ralph, Eva, Yolande, Miriam, Mildred, Frederick and Melville. After his graduation from the Bellevue high school in 1900, Ralph Wolfrom attended the Capitol University for a year, after which he was employed as clerk in his father's store for a while. He subsequently accepted a position with the Local Telephone, the Bellevue Home and Crestline Telephone. Companies, and at the death of his father succeeded him as secretary, and at the present time is both secretary and also treasurer of the former company. Politically Mr. Wolfrom is a Republican. Religiously he is true to the faith in which he was reared, belonging to the Lutheran church. Fraternally Mr. Wolfrom is a member of Bellevue Lodge, No. 1,013, B. P. O. E.