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RAVENNA TOWNSHIP.
DR. A. W. ALCORN, Ravenna, was born on the 23d day of May, A. D. 1835. He was the seventh of eight children, six of whom were boys. His father was of Scotch-Irish, and his mother of English and German descent. His parents were farmers, and the first and only farm they owned they cleared up from wild woods in Armstrong County, Penn. The trees, saplings and brush had to be cut down and grubbed out to make room for the first log-cabin. His parents were Old School Presbyterians, and were one of three families who met together for social prayer, from which grew the Concord Presbyterian Church, about one mile from his father's farm. Before the church building was secured his father and mother would attend church at Glade Run, a distance of seven miles, and most of this distance was made along a path through the woods; but any difficulty in the way was alleviated by their going on foot. Sometimes a babe was carried in their arms so that the distance need not be made in haste. On this farm the Doctor began his education. The school year in his boyhood consisted of three months in the winter. This was improved. At this school his second, third and fourth reader was the New Testament, and the fifth and sixth reader was the Bible or Old Testament. When he was eighteen years old, at the urgent solicitation of an older brother, Dr. J. P. Alcorn (now deceased), who had left the farm and by his own energy and self-support had graduated at one of the best medical colleges in the United States, he left home for the first time to enter the Glade Run (Penn.) Academy in 1853; the next year he entered the Eldersridge (Indiana County, Penn.) Academy. This institution was the creation of Rev. Alexander Donaldson, D. D., a noted educator of young men in western Pennsylvania, who, at an old age, is still Principal of the academy. In this academy the Doctor
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was fitted for the junior class in college. At this time his health broke down and he was obliged to leave school. After a few months' rest he entered the office of his brother, who had built up a large practice in Ravenna, Ohio, for the purpose of studying medicine. His medical education was secured at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Penn., and the Michigan University, Ann Arbor, Mich. He had the benefit of the private and practical instructions of his brother for five years. In 1864 he served four months in the Union Army, was a "squirrel hunter," and volunteered his services at the battle of Gettysburg for the care of the sick and wounded. He married Miss Christina, eldest daughter of John and Elizabeth Fletcher, of .Ravenna, Ohio, February 20, 1884. He is a member of the Congregational Church. He first united with the Presbyterian Church in 1852. He is a member of the Board of Education, and has served as such for nine years. He is in hearty sympathy with all reform measures that tend to lift men up to a sober and religious life. His chief desire is to be worthy the name of physician and Christian. He never used tobacco in any form, nor alcoholic drinks as a beverage. He considers the habitual use of tobacco and ardent spirits as the chief obstacles in the way to temporal and spiritual prosperity.
ANDRUS T. BALDWIN, hardware merchant, Ravenna, was born September 10, 1820, in Palmyra, this county, where his father, Alva Baldwin, now resides. He commenced traveling at eleven years of age, and spent about thirty-five years visiting nearly all the Southern and Western States. November 5, 1839, he married Miss Samantha Daniels, a native of Massachusetts. She died February 2,1861. Their son, Alva V., was a graduate of the Medical College at Cleveland, Ohio, and practiced his chosen profession, medicine, in that city six years, after which he returned to Palmyra, where he died February 17,1881. He married Miss Eliza Merwin, and left three children: Ida S. Gustave W. and Clayton R. Our subject, June 17, 1873, next married Mrs. Ella Baldwin, widow of Marquis Baldwin and daughter of Bazaleel Olmstead, of Palmyra, this county, and to this union were born two children: John. D. and Minnie S. Mr. Baldwin was engaged in the hardware business in Medina, Ohio, in 1873-74, and then established in Ravenna. In addition to his business he owns a finely improved farm of 138 acres in Palmyra Township, this county.
DARIUS L. BALDWIN, manufacturer, Ravenna, was born February 6, 1828, in Atwater Township, this county, where his parents, Ransom and Worthy Baldwin, now reside. Our subject was brought up on his father's farm and began working at the carpenter's trade while a young man, and this he followed continuously until 1878. He was married. October 26,1853, to Miss Letitia Ferrell, a native of Monongahela County, Va., born October 15, 1829, and who came to this county in 1850. Our subject and wife settled in Ravenna, Ohio, immediately after their marriage. Their children are Charles R.; Aurelia O., wife of H. Eatinger; Hattie W.; and Minnie T. In March, 1879, Mr. Baldwin and his son purchased the planing-mill which they now operate under the firm name of D. L. Baldwin & San. They do a large business as a custom Mill, supplying the home market for planing and geiaeral ornamental work. They also do an extensive business in contracting and building houses and public structures. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin are adherents of the Disciples Church. He cast his first Presidential vote for Gen. Winfield Scott as a Whig, and has ever since been a stanch Republican.
HARMON BATTERSON, farmer, P. O. Ravenna, was born March 29,1819, in Ravenna Township, this county. His father, William Batterson, of Litchfield County, Conn., married Miss Matilda Iles, and moved to this county
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about 1816. Soon after the grandfather, William Batterson, Sr., came, and he and his wife resided here until their death. Harmon's mother died when he was about seven years of age, and his father married a second time and moved to Williams County, Ohio, where he lived the remainder of his days. William Batterson, our subject's father, was the pioneer cooper of Ravenna, and people came far and near to him, for barrels, tubs, pails, well buckets, and gallon bottles for carrying water and whisky in. Whisky stills were numerous at that time, and a good deal of cooper work was needed. Our subject lived for a time with a Rev. Ebenezer Williams, then with Perry and Ethan A. Babcock, near Ravenna, and after lie was fourteen years of age he worked by the month summers, and did chores nights and mornings for his board wintem, going also to school; in fact, Mr. Batterson avers, he always found plenty of good folks to take him into their families to live in return for what they could get out of him. At twenty-two years of age he learned the cooper's trade, which he followed for many years. He married, October 6, 1847, Miss Mary Hull. born in Edinburg Township, this county, March 27, 1820. Her parents, Gilbert and Abigail (Harris) Hull, of Ontario County, N. Y., came to this county in 1819, and settled in Edinburg Township same year, where they resided until his death, which occurred December 16, 1880, at the age of eighty-six. Mr. Gilbert was a skillful mechanic. He erected many of the buildings in that township. His widow, who is eighty-four years of age, resides with her daughter, Mrs. Batterson. To Mr. and Mrs. Batterson have been born three children: Ellen A., Mrs. Emily M. Robinson and Clinton R. Our subject and wife paid about a ten months' visit to Williams County, Ohio, but with the exception of that trip have always resided in Ravenna Township. About 1853 they purchased the place where they now live, and where they own a fine farm of seventy-four and a half acres, besides another farm of forty acres in the same township. Mr. Batterson is a life-long Democrat.
HORACE Y. BEEBE, retired, Ravenna, was born in Middletown, Conn., September 14, 1816; son of Oliver D. and Phebe H. (Holt) Beebe. Our subject came to Ohio in 1834, locating at Cuyahoga Falls; two years later he removed to this county, and for some two years he was Deputy Clerk under George Kirkum, and for seven years was with William Coolman, in the Clerk's office, as Deputy. In 1845 he was appointed Clerk of the Courts of Common Pleas and Supreme Court, serving until 1852. The following year he accepted the position of Cashier in the banking house of Robinson, King & Co., and so remained until succeeded by his son, William H., present Cashier of the Second National Bank. In 1860 he was elected a Delegate to the Republican Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln, and in 1862 was by the latter appointed Assessor of the Nineteenth Congressional District. Later he was appointed Provost-Marshal of this county, in which capacity he served during the war. Our subject .was on intimate terms with President Garfield and other distinguished Republicans. Upon his resignation as Cashier and Bookkeeper of the Diamond Glass Company (which position he held some sixteen years), Mr. Beebe retired permanently from active business. He was twice married, first in April, 1838, to Augusta, daughter of William Coolman, who died June 15, 1879, leaving two children: Mary B. and William H., both now living. Our subject then married, in 1881, Mrs. Hannah D. Wells, widow of Benjamin J. Wells, of Ravenna. Mr. Beebe is a Republican in politics. Since the organization of the Universalist Church, he has been connected financially with its growth. In June, 1883 he was appointed by the. Commissioners of the county a Director of the County Infirmary, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Capt. F. W. Coffin, and in the fall of the same year he was elected a Director, which office he now holds.
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HENRY BEECHER (deceased) was born in Shalersville Township, this county, September 18, 1817; son of the well-known pioneers, Sylvester and Betsey Beecher, and the eldest of their twelve children. Our subject remained on his father's farm until 1842, when he engaged in mercantile business. He was in partnership with A. T. Horr until 1846, in which year he established himself in Garrettsville, this county, where he remained nineteen years, having as a partner, during the last ten years of that period, his brother Samuel S. At the .death of his father in December, 1855, our subject succeeded him as Director of the Portage County branch of the State Bank of Ohio, holding the position until the bank was closed. He was prominent in the management of the First National Bank of Ravenna from the time of its organization, and was mainly influential in the erection of the Etna Block in Ravenna, He was actively identified with many other public and private enterprises which have contributed to the building up of the interests of Ravenna City and Portage County generally. Mr. Beecher was married, September 21, 1857, to Miss Laura, daughter of N. D. Clark, Esq., of Ravenna. She died March 12, 1858, and our subject was afterward united in marriage, July 23, 1861, with Miss Rachel, daughter of Maj. John and Jane (Wilson) Shannon, of Youngstown, Ohio, where she was born October 10, 1835. She completed her education with a three years' course under the instruction of the late President James A. Garfield at Hiram College. Mrs. Beecher was successfully engaged in teaching in the Union School of Ravenna two years previous to her marriage. Mr. Beecher departed this life April 16, 1870. His loss was deeply mourned by a large circle of friends won by his generosity and uniform kindness.
C. L. BELDEN, M. D., Ravenna, was born August 23, 1818, in West Farmington, Trumbull Co., Ohio, where his parents, Harvey and Martha Belden, were among the earliest pioneers. Our subject received his education in the academy at Farmington, Ohio, and attended medical lectures at the Eclectic Medical College, Philadelphia, Penn., where he graduated in 1859. He prac- ticed his chosen profession at West Farmington until 1862, at Chardon, Geauga Co., Ohio, until 1871, and at Braceville, Trumbull Co., Ohio, until 1876, and then located in Ravenna. Here he is recognized as a scientific physician and famed for his uniform success in combating diseases. September 2, 1839, Dr. Belden married Sarah L. Brown, of Farmington, Ohio, born in Warren, Trumbull Co. Ohio, who bore him four children, three of whom survive her: Mrs. Elizabeth Pierce, Mrs. Emily Skeels, and drs. Abbie W. Thomas. Little Corwin met his death by accident when less than two years old. Personally the Doctor is rather robust, socially a genial companion. By his courteous bearing and skill in his profession he has succeeded in building up a fine practice. In matters of religion our subject entertains liberal views; in politics he is a Democrat. Mrs. Belden died March 13, 1885, after an illness of fifty-one days, during which she suffered more than pen CAll write. She was a whole-souled worker at home and in the neighborhood, and was a great benefactress to the poor and needy. She had a singular presentiment of her demise, even months in advance, and when the time came she faced death with courage and left those nearest and dearest to her, expressing to them the sentiment of her life' "Kind words can never die."
PHILO BIERCE, County Recorder, Ravenna, son of Zenas S. and Lucinda (Pinney) Bierce, was born in Stark County, Ohio, in 1844. His father, a native of Connecticut, was a pioneer merchant of Stark County, subsequently was engaged in the manufacture of cheese boxes, ""and at the close of his life was book-keeper at Windham Center; he also served as Township Clerk for many years. He died in the sixty-second year of his age, the father of follow-
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ing children, all of whom are living: Ellen, wife of M. T. Hill, in Nevada, Mo.; Alice, widow of W. Waters; and Myra, wife of W. S. Brush, in Batavia, Ill. Our subject learned the carpenter's trade, and in 1861 enlisted in Company A, First Ohio Light Artillery. He was struck by a shell at the siege of Knoxville, Tenn., which carried off his left arm near the elbow and his left leg below the knee. He was taken to the Field Hospital, and in November transferred to Chattanooga Hospital, where he remained until able to journey to the Cleveland, Ohio, Hospital, where he fully recovered and received an honorable discharge in August, 1864. He afterward learned and followed telegraphy until his hearing failed, when he turned his attention to obtaining further education, In 1872 he joined a colony of ex-soldiers and went to Nebraska, taking up a soldier's homestead claim in Hall County, which he still owns. After remaining there some years he removed to Milwaukee, Wis., and conducted a restaurant until 1876, when he returned to Ravenna, this county, and in the fall of the same year was elected County Recorder. He is now serving his third term. He was married in October, 1879, to Miss Ellen, daughter of Miles Whitney, of this county, and has one child—Amber. Mr. Bierce is a member of Encampment Lodge, I. 0. 0. F., of the G. A. R., and of the Ravenna Rifle and Shotgun Team.
ENOS P. BRAINERD is a resident of Ravenna, the county seat of Portage County, Ohio, and the eldest of four sons of Joseph and Nancy (Post) Brainerd, born in Leyden, Lewis Co., N. Y., November 25, 1814. His education was acquired in the common schools of Lewis County and the Martinsburg Academy. At the age of sixteen his father died, and it was the wish of his widowed mother that her eldest son be educated in some profession, but preferring a trade he served an apprenticeship at harness-making and carriage trimming. In the spring of 1834 he came to Ohio and settled at Cuyahoga Falls, then in Portage County, where he followed his trade for about five years. August 4,.1836, he married Miss Margaret Wells, eldest daughter of John F. Wells, of Ravenna, this county. In 1839 he removed to Randolph, and in 1843 he was elected Justice of the Peace, and at the October election in 1845 he was elected County Treasurer. In the spring of 1846 he removed to Ravenna, where he has since resided. In 1849 he entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, Samuel Mason, under the firm name of Mason & Brainerd, engaged in hardware, stove and tinning business, which partnership continued until Mr. Mason's death in August, 1852. In 1853 Mr. Brainerd was appointed Cashier of the Franklin Bank of Portage County, was acting Treasurer in 1854, and in 1855 he was elected Treasurer of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company, and re-elected from year to year until 1864, when he resigned, but subsequently served in the same position one year more. On the 12th of July, 1859, he was appointed acting Secretary of this railway company, in which position he served three years. In December, 1864, he was appointed Director of the company in place of William Reynolds, Esq., resigned, and at the next annual meeting in July he was elected member of the Railway Board of Directors, which position, and that of Inspector of Accounts, he held several years. His official connection with the railway company in the positions named covered a period of nearly fourteen years. Mr. Brainerd was also Director, Treasurer and Financial Officer of the Silver Creek Mining & Railway Company in Wayne and Medina Counties seven years, from 1856 to 1863. For many year's he was Director of the Portage County Branch of the State Bank of Ohio, and after the death of Mr. Seymour in November, 1863, he was elected its President. After the organization of the First National Bank of Ravenna, he was for several years one of its Directors. He
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was also Treasurer of the Farmers Insurance Company of Portage County during all the years of its business transactions. For seven years be was Treasurer, and three years President, of the Portage County Agricultural Society, and much of its success and prosperity is due to his efficient action and untiring efforts in its behalf. Mr. Brainerd has for the past six years been Director and Historian of the Portage and Summit Counties Pioneer Association. In 1870 he entered into partnership with his son, Charles W. Brainerd, under the firm name of E. P. Brainerd & Son, and engaged in a general drug business, which continued until the spring of 1882. Our subject is of the fifth generation from Daniel Brainerd, the common progenitor of all of the name in the United States, who came from England when quite young, and settled in Haddam, Conn., in 1862. He became a wealthy, prominent, and influential man; was twice married, first to Miss Hannah Spencer, of Lynn, Mass., by whom he was the father of seven sons and one daughter. No children by his second wife. Mr. Brainerd has in his possession a manuscript 200 years old, it being the original record of a town meeting in Haddam, Conn., at which the first Brainerd was elected to a township office. The subject of this sketch being a direct descendant of Revolutionary stock, he inherited the spirit of '76 and great devotion to the stars and stripes. In politics he began an old-line Whig, voted the Free Soil ticket, and has been identified with the Republican party since its organization, and was for many years Chairman of the County Central Committee. He has ever been a warm friend of education. For many years before the union school system was adopted he held the position of Director of Common Schools, and later for some years he was President of the Board of Education of Ravenna. He is the father of two children: His son, Charles W., is a druggist in Mantua; his daughter, Mary Adelaide, married F. W. Hurlburt, of Utica, N. Y.—she died October 11, 1878, aged twenty-eight years, leaving a daughter, Florence Adelaide, born June 25, 1875. His wife died March 21, 1880, aged sixty-three years. October 11, 1881, Mr. Brainerd married Augusta L., the only surviving daughter of Ezra and Lydia (Platts) Jones, of Saybrook, Conn., and a graduate of Mount Holyoke Seminary, Mass.; in the class of 1859. From the early period at which the subject of this sketch became identified with the interests of Portage County, he has occupied a conspicuous position in business affairs, in educational interests, public improvements and all that pertains to the progress and advancement of his town and county. The record of his life will live in the memory of those whose rugged ways he smoothed and softened, after he has passed away.
ISAAC BRAYTON was born at Nantucket, Mass., in 1801. Having early lost his father, he entered the family of a relative, Hon. Hezekiah Barnard, then Secretary of the State of Massachusetts, where superior advantages were given him. As did nearly all Nantucket boys at that period, he early followed the sea, shipping on board a whaling vessel when nineteen years of age, where his activity and intelligence led to rapid promotion. In 1825 he married Love Mitchell, who died in 1869, beloved by all who knew her. In 1827 he commanded a ship which conveyed some of the first missionaries to the Sandwich Islands, and upon a subsequent visit he united with the church of Honolulu, and immediately established a family altar and Bible class on ship board. Capt. Brayton abandoned the sea in 1833, and was soon elected to the Legislature of Massachusetts at the time Horace Mann was Superintendent of Public Schools. Coming to Ravenna in 1839, greatly interested in education, he was potent in the establishment of a high school, which then seemed to many unnecessary. He became Associate Judge when Hon. Benjamin F.
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Wade was chief upon the bench. Judge Brayton removed to Newburg (now a ward of the city of Cleveland) in 1853, where he was elected to the Ohio Legislature and was afterward charged with important duties by Gov. Salmon P. Chase. He labored with the Sanitary Commission during the war, being stationed at Nashville, Tenn., and was afterward appointed Superintendent of the National Soldiers' Home while it was at Columbus, Ohio, before coming under military control. He returned to Ravenna in 1873, and has since led a quiet home life in the family of his son-in-law, F. W. Woodbridge.
JOHN S. BRIGHAM, contractor and builder, Ravenna, was born June 9, 1821, in St. Albans, Vt. His father, Pierpont Brigham, a native of Massachusetts, came to Vermont, where he married Louisa Conger, who died September 30, 1832; he moved to Buffalo, N. Y., and died of cholera September 21, 1852. Our subject while residing in Buffalo married, September 5, 1844, Miss Frances H. Barker, of Ravenna, Ohio, a native of Palmyra, N. Y., born March 24, 1828, coming to this place at two years of age with her parents, James F. and Henrietta Barker. Her grandfather, Ira Shelby, was one of the early pioneers of Ravenna Township, this county, and his descendants to-day remain the leading and most influential people of Portage County, Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. Brigham have been born four children: Henry; Henrietta, wife of Mr. Beckley; Charles J. and Willis J. After residing one year in Buffalo Mr. and Mrs. Brigham settled in Ravenna, this county, where Mr. Brigham has followed his business as builder and contractor. He erected most of the public buildings and the leading private residences which gives Ravenna so much renown for its beauty. Mrs. Brigham is one of the leading members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Brigham is a life-long Republican; he has taken a deep interest in the public affairs of the city.
HENRY F. CARIS, brick manufacturer, Ravenna, was born April 22,1832, in Ravenna Township, this county, and is descended from a long line of pioneers of this county. His great-grandfather, Frederick Canis, came here from Maryland in very early times. He had two sons: John, who was a Lieutenant in the war of 1812, and Frederick, who a Captain of militia in the same war. The latter had a large family, of whom John Canis, second, was the eldest son. He married Elizabeth, daughter of the well-known pioneer, Henry Sapp, and of their seven children three are now living: Albert and Mary in Washington Territory, and Henry F. Our subject was brought up on his father's farm and received his education in the schools of the home district. At twenty years of age he began learning the trade of brick-maker. He established a yard of his own in 1853 and he now owns the only brick-yard in Ravenna, where he makes from half a million to a million bricks per annum. Mr. Canis married, June 14, 1860, Miss Julia, daughter of Sidney S. and Julia Allen, of Ravenna, born at Republic, Seneca Co., Ohio, in 1836, and who came to this place at eight years of age with her parents. Mr. Allen was a mill-wright, and he and his wife resided here until their death. Of the five children'born to our subject and wife two are now living: Edward C. and Anna A. Mr. and Mrs. Canis are members of the Universalist Church. In politics he is a Democrat.
ERASTUS CARTER (deceased) was born in 1775 in Litchfield County, Conn.; married Miss Lois Fuller, of the same county. They moved to Johnson Township, Trumbull Co., Ohio, in 1805, and settled in Ravenna Township (then a part of the same county) in 1806. Here he purchased 700 acres of wild land from the Connecticut Land Company. They then went to work to clear their domain and redeem it from the wilderness. They raised a family of seven children: Howard, now living in Ravenna Township, this county; Mrs. Tuthala Judd, who died November, 1878, aged seventy-seven; Mrs. Lois
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Judd, who died in May, 1884, aged eighty; Erastus; Miles, who died in 1864, aged fifty-three; Myron, who died in 1836, aged twenty-one, and Ira still living in Ravenna Township. Mrs. Carter died in 1854, aged seventy-six. Mr. Carter followed her in 1867, aged ninety-two. He was very energetic in opening this county and developing its resources. He was an active member of the Masonic fraternity. Being originally a Whig, he supported the Democratic party at Jackson's second election and ever afterward. He was one of the honored pioneers whose memory will be handed down to future generations in connection with the services they have rendered in reclaiming a vast wilderness and laying the foundation for a broader and more permanent civilization.
ERASTUS CARTER, farmer, P. O. Ravenna, son of Erastus, Sr., and Lois (Fuller) Carter, was born May 25, 1808, in Ravenna Township, this county. He shared the usual lot of pioneer boys and attended the limited schools of those early days. He married, in January, 1832, Miss Hannah Skiff, who died in May, 1837, aged twenty-five years, leaving three children now living in Iowa: Ira R., Julius E. and Marion H., wife of Dr. J. R. Boyd. Mr. Carter then married, July 2, 1838, his deceased wife's sister, Miss Delia Skiff, born in Litchfield County, Conn., August 20, 1816, and who came to Shalersville, this county, in 1825, with her parents, Julius and Julia Skiff, of whose ten children but three are now living: Mrs. Abbie Beazell in Ravenna, Frank B. in Iowa, and Mrs. Erastus Carter. Mr. Skiff died May 11, 1852, aged sixty-six; his widow April 10, 1855, in her seventieth year. Since their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Carter have resided in Ravenna Township, this county. Here they own a fine estate of about 500 acres of well-improved land, and to them have been born the following children: Myron H. and Mrs. Ellen Gillett in Ravenna Township, this county, and Addison S. in eastern Iowa. Mr. Carter is a lifelong Democrat, having voted for Andrew Jackson in 1832 and for every Democratic nominee for President since.
WILLIAM S. CHURCHILL, farmer and dairyman, P. O. Ravenna, was born June 21, 1841, in Streetsboro Township, this county. His father, Isaiah Churchill, of Chautauqua County, N. Y., came to this county in early manhood and here married Miss Eunice A., daughter of Newton and Mollie Morris, of Shalersville Township. Isaiah Churchill died October 6, 1851, leaving two children: William S. and John N. in Warren, Ohio, and his widow afterward married William L. Russell. She died March 1, 1884. Our subject enlisted, August 11, 1862, in Company I, One Hundred and Fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was attached to the Army of the Cumberland, and after three years of brave and faithful service, received an honorable discharge, June 29, 1865, at Cleveland, Ohio. He married, January 1, 1868, Miss Louisa E. Towns, and their children are Harry Almon (deceased), Edith I., Lulu Pearl, Orilla Birdell, Jessie A., Winnie J. and Alta B. Mr. and Mrs. Churchill now own the homestead farm of sixty-eight acres where they have resided ever since their marriage. They devote their farm largely to the dairy interests, in which they are very successful. They are consistent members of the Disciples Church, Mr. Churchill is a life-long Republican.
N. D. CLARK, banker, Ravenna, was born in Tallmadge, Summit Co., Ohio, December 14, 1814. He was the youngest son of Ephraim and Ala Clark, originally from Massachusetts, but who settled in Tallmadge, then Portage County, in the year 1802, just in time to vote for the first Constitution of Ohio. Ephraim was one of the leading men of Tallmadge, and for many years a Justice of the Peace. He died March 4, 1858, in the eightieth year of his age. He had seven children: Allen I., James A., Miletus S., Newel D., Martha A., Mary L. and Harriet A., of whom three only are now living: N.
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D., of Ravenna; Martha Wait, of Iowa; and Harriet A. Clark, of Kansas. Our subject was reared on a farm. In 1832, after serving his apprenticeship, he, with his two brothers, James A. and Miletus S., under the firm name of N. D. Clark & Co., started a carriage and buggy manufactory in Ravenna, and carried the same on successfully for thirty years. He then became connected with the old Portage County Branch Bank, which was in 1863 merged into the First National Bank of Ravenna, of which he was elected President in 1867, which office he has continuously filled to the present time, being again re-elected in January, 1885. He has also occupied various offices of public and private trust, in each of which he faithfully discharged his every duty. He was mar ried April 9, 1835, to Sarah Rawson, of Ravenna, by whom he had two daughters: Amelia, the eldest (died when only sixteen months old) and Laura A., who was married to Henry Beecher, an extensive dry goods merchant and Director of said bank, in September, 1857, both of whom are now deceased. Mrs. Ala Clark, the mother of N. D., died in Tallmadge, October 2, 1833. Mrs. N. D. Clark was born in Ravenna, August 13, 1816.
HIRAM T. CLARK, dentist, Ravenna, was born December 3, 1838, in Ravenna. His father, James A. Clark, came here from Tallmadge (now in Summit County, Ohio,) and married Miss Mary Torrey. He carried on a wagon and carriage shop in partnership with his brothers, Newell D. and Miletus. James A. Clark died in 1852, and his widow afterward married a Mr. Goldsmith. She is now residing in Cleveland, Ohio. Our subject resided in Belleville, Ontario, from 1859 to 1867, where he learned the profession of dentistry. He remained in Wadsworth, Ohio, two years, and then located permanently in Ravenna, this county, in 1869. ilere, by his scientific skill in his profession, he has built up a large and influential and lucrative practice. The Doctor was married June 6, 1868, to Miss Angeline Gilbert, of Belleville, Ontario. They have one son—James Gilbert. Dr. Clark is the only dentist in Ravenna, having obtained a certificate from the Ohio State Dental Society. He is one of the leading members of the profession in northeastern Ohio.
QUINCY COOK, proprietor of Ravenna Mills, Ravenna, was born April 28, 1833, in Elmore, Lamoille Co., Vt. His parents, David and Betsey (Conant) Cook, were natives of the same place, where the former died and the latter now resides. Our subject's grandfather Cook was a soldier in the war 1812, and lived to the advanced age of ninety-six. Our subject learned the trade of stone-cutter in his native place. At twenty years of age he came to Ohio, and assisted in the construction of the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad for one year. He then worked three years in the construction of the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad. He then spent one year in Watertown, Wis., and eighteen months in Rochester, Minn., in the livery business. He hen returned to Ohio and married, October 5, 1859, Miss Charlotte R. Battles of Weather- field, Trumbull County, and to this union have been born three children: Helen, Martha B. and Edward D. He remained two years on a farm in Trumbull County, then from 1862 till 1870 he held the position of foreman of masonry on the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad. In 1866 he purchased a farm in Ravenna Township, and there his family resided. He was Inspector of Masonry for the city of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1870, and in 1871 foreman of a force of men for E. W. Ensign, contractor on the Lake Shore Road. In 1872 Mr. Cook formed a partnership with Wanzer Holcomb, in taking contracts for. various railroads and pity corporations. In 1881 he built the Ravenna Mills on Main Street, and the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, and he now devotes his attention principally to the management of this industry. The mill is for custom work, complete in all departments, and enjoying a very extensive patronage in the surrounding county. Mr. Cook is a life-long Republican.
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JOHN CUTLER (deceased) a native of Windham County, Conn., came to Ravenna Township, this county, from Rensselaer County, N. Y., in 1819. Here he married, October 6, 1825, Miss Sallie G. Sutliff, daughter of Giles and Betsey Sutliff, who came to this county from Litchfield County, Conn., in 1817. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cutler settled on their farm of 101 acres of well-improved land, situated in the western part of Ravenna Township, this county, where they have ever since resided. Their children were Mrs. Almira White, FlOrilla J., Mrs. Miranda S. Law, John Warren and Mrs. Lucyette Braden. all now living, and four who died in childhood. Mr. Cutler died October 16, 1865, in his sixty-sixth year. He took an active interest in public affairs, having held the positions of Township Trustee and Township Assessor. In politics he was a Democrat. Warren Cutler now lives on the homestead with his widowed moher and his sister Florilla.
LUTHER DAY, deceased, ex-Judge of the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio, was born in Granville, Washington Co., N. Y., July 9, 1813. His paternal grandfather, Noah Day, was of the Connecticut family of Days, and did service under Washington in some of the hardest battles of the Revolutionary war. Soon after the war he moved from Killingly, Conn., and settled on a farm in Granville, N. Y., and, being a blacksmith by trade, carried on both the business of farming and blacksmithing. He reared a large family, who, like himself, were Puritans in religion, and most of them good farmers and mechanics. David Day, the father of Luther Day, was a skilled mill-wright. On June 1, 1812, he married Rhoda Wheelock, of Tyringham, Berkshire Co., Mass. Her father was also a soldier of the Revolution, Her mother was Hannah Warren, a kinswoman of Maj.-Gen. Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill. The subject of this sketch attended the common schools until twelve years old, when he began an academic preparation for college, which he pursued for a year, when, his father having purchased a farm and saw-mill, he left the academy and worked at home on the farm for a year. He then returned to school, but in a few days after he received a message that his father had been killed in. the mill. Bit; father died much involved in debt, and it was thought that all he had saved would be sacrificed in the settlement of his estate. But, under the advice of an'uncle, he resolved to save the family from that calamity. For six years—from fourteen to twenty-lie labored on the farm and in the saw-mill, and with the help of his younger brother, the debts of the estate were paid and a home was saved for his mother and the younger children. Those are six valuable years to a young man desiring to obtain a liberal education, and the loss in that regard could never be regained, but great as the loss was to him and hard as the struggle was, he never looked back to those days with regret, but ever recurred to them as associated with the chief success of his life. Having at twenty years of age accomplished the desire of his friends and the ambition of his boyhood regarding the home of his family, his desire for an education returned, and working his way by teaching school, he resumed his preparatory course for college, and in 1835 entered Middlebury College, Vermont. During the junior year he taught the grammar school of Cambridgeport, Mass. At the close of the school year in September, 1838, his mother and family having in the meantime removed to Ravenna, Portage Co., Ohio, he went there to visit them, intending to return and complete his collegiale course, but owing to his limited pecuniary circumstances, he abandoned the idea, and began the study of law under the tuition of Hon. Rufus P. Spalding then a resident of Ravenna, whose kindness to him, during the two years of his preparatory study he ever gratefully remembered. On October 8, 1840, he was admitted to the bar. It was his good fortune to have a partnership offered
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him by Hon. Darius Lyman, an old practitioner of high standing at the Ohio bar. This partnership continued three years. In 1843 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Portage County and served one term. While reading law he had made the acquaintance of Miss Emily Swift Spalding, eldest daughter of Hon. R. P. Spalding, to whom he was married July 24, 1845. Her mother was Lucretia Swift, daughter of Hon. Zephaniah Swift, late Chief Justice of Connecticut. Her father was afterward a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and for three terms a distinguished member of Congress, from the Cleveland District, Ohio. Mr. Spalding having in 1840 moved to Akron, Mr. Day went there after his marriage and formed a partnership with him, remaining nearly a year, when, because of the ill health of his wife in that locality, he returned to Ravenna, where he resided during the remainder of his life. In 1848 our subject was again elected Prosecuting Attorney and served one term. In 1850 he was nominated by the Democratic party as a candidate for Congress, but the district having a large Whig majority, he was defeated. In the fall of 1851, at the first election of Judges under the Constitution of the State adopted that year, he was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the district composed of the counties of Portage, Trumbull and Mahoning.
In February, 1852, while on a visit to her father, Judge R. P. Spalding, who had then become a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, his wife was taken sick. She died April 10, following. On April 26, 1854, Judge Day was married to Miss Ellen I. Barnes, of Lanesboro, Berkshire Co., Mass., a highly educated and estimable lady, and the union was most fortunate, both on his own account and of the three young children left him by his former marriage, by whom she has ever been most worthily esteemed and loved. Her kindred have for several generations been distinguished for their culture and high standing in the learned professions. Judge Day, at the expiration of his judicial term, in 1857, resumed the practice of his profession, and had a large and lucrative business in the counties of his former judicial district and adjoining counties. When the war of the Rebellion broke out, he ceased to act with the Democratic party, and at once identified himself with the Union organization. In January, 1862, Gov. David Tod, who had in the fall before been elected Governor of Ohio by the Union party, appointed him Judge Advocate General on his staff with the rank of Colonel, but soon after, by reason of previous professional engagements, he was reluctantly forced to resign the position. In the fall of '1863 be was elected by the Republican party to the Ohio Senate, from the district composed of Portage and Summit Counties. Having been in the fall of 1864 elected Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio for the term of five years, he resigned his position as Senator after one year's service. In 1869 he was elected to a second term as Judge of the Supreme Court. In 1874 he was again nominated by the Republican party for the same position, but the State going largely Democratic that year, he was defeated. In 1875 the Legislature created a commission consisting of three persons, to revise the statute laws of the State. In April of that year he was appointed by Gov. William Allen, who had been elected Governor by the Democratic party, one of the Revising Commissioners. In the fall of 1875 an amendment of the State Constitution was adopted, creating a commission in aid of the Supreme Court in the disposition of the large number of cases pending in that court. On February 1, 1876, Gov. R. B. Hayes appointed our subject a member of that commission. Accordingly, he resigned his membership of the Revising Commission and entered upon the duties of the Supreme Court Commission, where he remained three years, when the commission expired by constitutional limitation. While on the Revising Commission he aided in the collation of the statutes, which
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were fragmentary and scattered through many volumes, and rewrote a portion of them, which were afterward embodied in the Revised Code, and enacted as part of the laws of the State. While connected with the Supreme Court he was four years Chief Justice and one year Chief Judge of the Supreme Court Commission. The results of his judicial labors appear in fifteen volumes of the Ohio State Reports, where his published opinions, measured only by their real merit, will remain for him a sufficient memorial of his judicial ability. After the expiration of Judge Day's judicial service, he returned to the practice of the law.
The children of his first wife were Emily L., William R. and Edward L. Of these Emily L. married George E. Fairchild and is settled in Ravenna. William R., who is a graduate of Michigan University, resides in Canton, Stark Co., Ohio, and is a prominent member of the Stark County bar. Edward L., a boy of bright promise, died of diphtheria at the age of twelve. By his second wife he had six children: Mary E., the eldest of these, a most lovely child, died when five years of age; Charles F. is a graduate of Williams College, Massachusetts, and is about to enter the legal profession; David B. is in his junior year in Adelbert College of the Western Reserve University, Ohio; Robert H. is in the preparatory department of the same institution, and Anna B. at home attending the Union School, of Ravenna; John L., the youngest child, died in his infancy. During the war for the preservation of the Union, Judge Day took an active part in the recruiting service, and few civilians rendered more efficient aid to the Union cause. During those years he contracted a slight throat trouble, from which he never recovered, occasioned by too much out-door speaking. More than a passing mention of his services is due to this memorable period, which witnessed the most active portion of his whole life. A life-long Democrat of the Jackson school, prominent in the councils of his party, and a fearless and judicious leader, he ever acted with those who sustained the integrity of the Union. The first gun that was fired on Sumter lifted him to a higher arena. Abandoning party affiliationl and, true to the traditions of the patriotic ancestry from which he sprung, he devoted himself to the Union cause with a zeal and enthusiasm that knew no abatement until the Republic won its imperishable crown at
Appomattox. In raising and organizing the Ohio Union forces, Govs. Dennison, Todd and Brough respectively sought his co operation, and he entered into the work with characteristic ardor and devotion—day after day, night after night, speaking, encouraging and inspiring those that took their lives in their hands, and those who sent their sons to the scenes of conflict and danger. Having urged the assignment of. Gen. Garfield, the President of Hiram College, to the command of a regiment, he joined him in the work of its organization, and the meeting in the church of Hiram, addressed by Judge Day, was a memorable occasion, when the young men of the college and vicinity volunteered to form the first company in the old Forty-second Regiment of Ohio, whose first leader was destined to a transcendent historic fame. Throughout this entire period the demands on Judge Day for his services on public occasions of every kind were almost unlimited, and the fervor of his public addresses roused men to action at home, and sent encouragement to those in the field. For himself, permitting no reward, and asking no honor, he devoted the whole energies of his being to the success of the cause. Born among the hills of eastern New York, and spending his academic years at Castleton, Bennington and Middlebury, Vt., he ever had an enthusiasm for the mountains that nearly amounted to poetic inspiration, and when worn with overwork he was accustomed to resort to them for rest and reinvigoration. Judge Day was a member of the Methodist
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Episcopal Church, to which he was much attached. But in religious views be was tolerant and liberal, regarding the life, rather than the creed, the best axponent of Christian character. In all religious, benevolent and moral enter- trees he took a strong interest, giving to them liberally according to his means.
Judge Day died at his home, after an illness of five days, March 8, 1885, aged seventy-one years, eight months. His sudden and unexpected death cast a gloom over all who knew him, not only in Ravenna, bat throughout the State. His funeral, services were held at the Methodist Episcopal Church on the 11th, and were largely attended. Members of the bar were present from Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Massillon, Youngstown, Warren, Ravenna and other fasces; also Judges Mcllvain and Johnson, of the Supreme Court. David McIntosh Post, G. A. R., attended in a body. Thus terminated the life-history of one of Ohio's most eminent citizens and distinguished jurists. A retrospect if his noble character and eventful life recalls to mind the beautiful words of America's poet laureate:
"Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime;
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time."
ENSIGN F. DENTING, merchant, Ravenna, was born September 25, 1823, in Rootstown Township, this county. His father, Donald Deming, a native of West Hartford, Conn., came to this county in 1821, and married Miss Rozana Fitch, April 11, 1822, a native of Tolland, Conn., and who came to this county in 1815, at eleven years of age. To this union were born the following children: Ensign F. ; Alonzo H., who died in 1849 at Maysville, Ky. ; Mrs. Charlotte E. Pinney; Mrs. Olive A. Monroe; Mrs. Adelaide R. Youngman; Henrietta (deceased); Mrs. Henrietta S. Whitney; and Mrs. Lorenza O. Thompson. Mrs. Deming died February 27, 1865. Donald Deming moved to Iowa, where he resided until his death, which occurred in Muscatine, August 14, 1870, in his seventy-fifth year. August 27, 1845, our subject married Miss Pluma Terry, who bore him two children: Mrs. Loretta A. Maris, and Charles A., in Salineville, Ohio. They resided on the home farm for several years. In 1861 Mr. Deming commenced business as a grocery and provision merchant in Rootstown Station, this county. In 1867 he removed to Ravenna, where he has carried on the same business ever since. Mrs. Deming is a pious member of the Congregational Church. Mr. Deming is a stanch Republican. He is a member of the I. O. O. F.
DR. JOSEPH DE WOLF (deceased) was born in April, 1786, in Granby, Conn. He was the fifth in a family of thirteen children, of whom Samuel De Wolf (the youngest) is the only survivor, residing in Akron, Ohio. In the spring of 1800 Joseph De Wolf came out to Vernon, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and after making preparations sent for his family in the autumn of that year. Young Joseph pursued his medical studies under Dr. Seeley, of Howland, that county, and located after a short time in Rootstown, this county, where he married Miss Eunice Goodrich, the only child of Deacon John Goodrich, and they soon after located permanently in Ravenna, this county. Dr. De Wolf early won a high position for himself in his chosen profession, having a practice that extended for many miles around to the towns of the surrounding counties. He retired on his farm just west of Ravenna in 1839, still keeping up a practice among his patients, who could not be induced to leave him. His worthy wife proved to be in every sense a helpmate to him in life. Her domestic virtues made her the center of the home life, and her modest merit and noble qualities endeared her to all who knew her. Their children were Dr. J. G.
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De Wolf, of Eureka Springs, Ark.; Mrs. Mary G. Dewey, of Mount Pleasant, Iowa; Henry, who died at eleven years of age; and Mrs. Adeline L. Elkins. Dr. De Wolf afterward married Mrs. Betsey Wetmore, widow of Henry Wetmore. He died in 1869 at the advanced age of eighty-three years, retaining the strength and vigor of his faculties almost unimpaired up to the year of his death. He was a man of very strong mind and firm convictions.
R. S. ELKINS, P. 0. Ravenna, a native of Vermont, was born in Vermont, January 30, 1818. He learned the printers' trade and came to Cleveland, Ohio, in 183'7, when twenty years of age. Here he worked two years in the Herald office, In 1839 he came to Ravenna and engaged in the publication of the Ohio Star until 1844, when he went to Akron, same State, where he engaged in the publication of the Summit County Beacon. In 1880 he returned to this county and located where he now resides on the old Dr. De Wolf homestead. Mr. Elkins married Miss Adeline L. De Wolf, February 9, 1842. She was born in Ravenna, August 8, 1823. They have one daughter-- Mrs. Adelaide E., wife of Rev. W. K. Ingersoll, a Presbyterian minister in Milford, Mich.
CAPT. ASHLEY ELY was born November 4, 1793, in West Springfield, Hampden Co., Mass. He visited this county in 1818, in order to make arrangements for a permanent settlement, and returned to locate in Deerfield Township, the following year. He had been a soldier in the war of 1812 for a period of eighteen months, being stationed at Boston, Mass. His father, Capt. Darius Ely, a soldier of distinction in the Revolutionary war, married Margaret Ashley. They came out to this county and resided with their son until their death. She died in 1838, aged seventy-five, he in 1844, aged eighty- three. Capt. Ely married Miss Sarah Lazarus, a native of Monroe County, Penn., and a resident of Deerfield Township, this county, since early childhood. In 1826 they sold their farm in Deerfield, and located one mile and a half north of Ravenna. Here they cleared up their second farm, and spent the remainder of their lives. Their children are Linus (in Chicago), Mrs. Alma Carnahan (died in 1847, aged twenty-one), Ralph (residing on the old homestead) and Mrs. Julia M. Jillson, in Worcester, Mass. Mr. Ely died September 2, 1868, in his seventy-fifth year. He was a man of iron constitution, and had sustained a wonderful amount of toil and hardship as a pioneer. He was an earnest Presbyterian, and very firm in his principles. He was one of the early members of the Ravenna Congregational Church. He obtained a substantial education, mainly by private study, and taught in Deerfield Township and Ravenna, this county. His known integrity and excellent judgment caused his services to be frequently required in the public affairs of the township. Mrs. Ely died September 8, 1881, aged eighty-three, retaining active use of her faculties until the last. She was widely known and beloved because of her skill and devotion in attending the sick.
PETER FLATH, merchant tailor and clothier, Ravenna, was born September 17, 1829, in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany. He came to America in 1849, and here followed his trade for several years, living at different times in New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Galion, Ohio; Detroit; Fremont; Chicago, Ill. ; Rochester, N. Y.; and other places, finally settling in Ravenna, this county, April 2, 1860. Here, after working as cutter for about five years and eight months for J. D. Green, he, in partnership with L. W. Reed, purchased Green's establishment. In course of two years W. L. Poe purchased Mr. Reed's interest, and after carrying on the business seven years under the new firm name, Mr. Flath purchased his partner's interest and has since conducted the establishment alone. In addition to general merchant tailoring, Mr. Flath carries an extensive stock of
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clothing, hats, caps and gentlemen's furnishing goods, and by strict attention to busiess he has built up a large and flourishing trade. Our subject married in November, 1857, Miss Kate Heimes, of Cleveland. She was a native of Rhenish Prussia, and has been a resident of Cleveland since she was six years of age. They have one daughter—Mary Charlotte. Mr. Flath in politics is
a Democrat.
COL. WILLIAM FRAZER, who at the time of his death was the oldest male resident of Ravenna, was born in Lansingburg, N. Y., in 1794. His father served seven years in the Revolution, and lost his life in the war of 1812. Our subject was a soldier in the war of 1812, in which he served with distinction. He came from Geneva, N. Y., to Ravenna in 1814, and there
carried on a jewelry establishment, and a saddlery, in turn. In 1819 he married Miss Annie A. Campbell, daughter of Gen. John and Sarah Campbell. Of their ten children the following are now living: Homer C., in Ravenna, Ohio; Mrs. Catherine M. Preston, in Cleveland, Ohio; Mrs. Martha E. Dodge, in Ravenna, Ohio ; Mrs. Eliza Barnes, in Grinnell, Iowa, and William A., in San Francisco, Cal. Mrs. Harriet M. Taylor, wife of Hon. Ezra B. Taylor, died in Warren, Ohio ; Mrs. Amoretta R. Campbell died in Chicago, Mrs. Sarah Norton died at , White Water, Wis.; and two others died in infancy. Col. Frazer served for several years as Deputy Sheriff of this county, and also as United States Marshal of this district. In 1842 he was elected Sheriff of this county, serving with satisfaction to the people and credit to himself. For many years, commencing in 1852, he was one of the Directors of the Portage County branch of the State Bank of Ohio. Mrs. Frazer died in March, 1875. The Colonel followed her in April of the same year. They were honored and esteemed as upright pioneers. Our subject was one of the original Republicans of. the county. He took the first newspapers published in the county from their commencement, and kept a complete file, which his son still continues. This is the only unbroken file of these papers in existence.
HOMER C. FRAZER, hardware dealer, Ravenna, was born September 21, 1821, in Ravenna. He received his education in the schools of the town and at Bissel Institute, Twinsburg, Ohio. In September, 1848, he married Miss. Susannah Dennis, of Cleveland, Ohio, but a native of Folkestone, England, and they have one son—Edward W. Our subject succeeded his father In the business he now carries on—a general hardware store. Being one of the earliest opponents of slavery, he is now an earnest advocate of the cause of temperance. Mr. and Mrs. Frazer are active workers in the Congregational (lurch.
STEPHEN RICE FREEMAN, produce dealer, etc., Ravenna, was born July 26, 1839, in Palmyra, this county. His father, bearing the same name, a native of Rutland, Vt., moved to Ogdensburg, N. Y., while a young man, and there married Miss Lucretia A. Seaton, a native of that place. In 1832 he went on a prospecting trip on horseback to Chicago, looking for a desirable location, and not liking that place, he returned to Cleveland, Ohio, where his family joined him, and there they established a hotel. After following that business and running a boat on the canal some years, Mr. Freeman came to Palmyra, this county, in 1838, finally settling in Ravenna in 1846. In 1861 he established a business as general dealer in produce in this city, and this he carried on until his death, which occurred August 29, 1872. In politics he was a strong Whig. His widow still survives him. Their children were Mrs. Lilias L., wife of J. S. Smith, Ravenna; Stephen R. Mrs. Sarah W. Stein, wife of W. F. Stein, photographer, Cleveland, Ohio; iirs. Ida F. Britton, wife
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of F. H. Britton, Superintendent Chicago Division Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; Garrett, and Ada L.,who died in 1879 in Cleveland, Ohio. Our subject's grandfather, Capt. Nathan Freeman, a native of Massachusetts, was a soldier in, the Revolution at sixteen years of age, a Captain in the Massachusetts mili- tia, and a Captain in the war of 1812. He was a famous wrestler, and after rising to the position of champion of Massachusetts, met and vanquished the champion of New York. Our subject completed his education under James A. Garfield, Hiram Institute, Hiram, Ohio. He enlisted in April, 1861, in the Seventh Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and in September of the same year re-enlisted in the Forty-second Regiment under Col. Garfield, serving until the close of the war, when he left the army with an honorable record as a brave and faithful soldier. Returning home he took a course in the Iron City Commercial College, Pittsburgh, Penn., and settled down in Ravenna. September 23, 1869,Mr. Freeman married Miss Lydia, daughter of William A. Holcomb, and to this union were born six children: Paul, Louis, Maud, Alexis, Edward and Ada. In 1866 he went into business with his father, and succeeded him at the death of the latter. In 1874 our subject took as partner, G. L. Horr. They make a specialty of dealing in cheese, grass seeds, maple products, etc. Mr. Freeman is a member of the I.O.O. F. and G. A. R.
GEORGE W. FREEMAN, merchant, Ravenna, was born December 10, 1839, in Newark Valley, Tioga Co., N. Y. His father, Bicknell Freeman, was a native of Hartford, Conn., and a descendant of one of the Pilgrims of the early settlement of New England. The line of descent is as follows: January 2, 1637, Edmund Freeman was one of the ten who settled Sandwich, Conn.k and was for six years assistant to Gov. Bradford. His son Edmund (second married a daughter of Gov. William Prince. His son Edmund (third) had a son Edmund (fourth), who settled at Mansfield, Conn. His son, Edmund (fifth) had a son, Stephen, who was the father of Bicknell Freeman, the father of George W. This family is well known for the distinguished ability and integ. rity of many of its members. Bicknell Freeman married Miss -Nancy Taylor. They moved to Broome county, N.Y., and soon afterward to Tioga County,but shortly before their death removed to Broome County. Our subject, at the age of twenty-three, came to this county, and remained first at Shalersville, where he was engaged several years as clerk. He married, March 17, 1872, Miss Cornelia A., daughter of Apollos Reed, of Mantua, this county, and to this union have been born three children: Anna T. (deceased), Edmund Reed and Eva Henry. They came to Ravenna in March of the following year, and here Mr. Freeman engaged as a clerk for Smith Bros. two years, for J. S. Smith one year, for N. Converse & Co. two years, and for Converse & Snyder two years. In 1880 he bought out the interest of Mr. Converse and engaged in partnership with P. W. Snyder. They carry a full line of dry goods, carpets, notions, etc. Mr. Freeman rode on horseback fifty miles to cast his first vote for Stephen A. Douglas, and has been a consistent Democrat ever since. While living at Shalersville he served the township as Treasurer seven terms. He is a F. & A. M. Mrs. Freeman is a member of the Congregational Church.
CHARLES L. FRENCH, photographer, Ravenna, was born April 23,1853. in Middlefield, Geauga Co., Ohio, and is a son of A. M. and Margaret R. French, now residing at Garrettsville, this county. At the age of twenty our subject began learning the art of photography with his brother, at Youngstown, Ohio. He was united in marriage, April 28, 1880, with Miss Emma E. Wolf, of Windham Township, this county, born in St. Louis, Mo., February 21, 1860. They have one daughter—Rena. Mr. French resided at Garrettsville some tune after his marriage. He located in Ravenna, this county, Feb-
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ruary 1, 1882. He is known as a skillful and scientific artist, and is building up an extensive custom.
DE WITT CHAMPLIN GARDNER, insurance agent, Ravenna, was born November 24, 1839, in Freedom, this county. His father, Ira Gardner, born in Vernon, N. Y., May 6, 1803, at the death of his parents was brought up by an uncle in Black Rock, Oneida Co., N. Y. He learned the shoe-maker's trade, and in 1826 came to Middlebury, Portage (now Summit) County. Here he was one of the Superintendents on the construction of the Baltimore Sr Chesapeake Canal. In 1828 he married Miss Martha, daughter of Judge Norton. They came to Ravenna in 1830, and in 1838 located on a farm in Freedom Township, where Mrs. Gardner died in 1838. Two of their children are now living: Miles Gardner, in Ashtabula County, Ohio, and Mrs. D. K. Wheeler, in Ravenna. Mr. Gardner then married Miss Olive A., daughter of Thaddeus Curtiss, of Charlestown, this county, and their children are De Witt C.; Lafayette C., in Kansas; Mrs. Esther B. Barber, in Lincoln, Neb.; Mrs. E. Steadman, in Newton Falls, Ohio; Mrs. Mary Burroughs, in Four Mile, N. Y.; Donn H. in Newton Falls, Ohio, and Charles F. in Wadsworth, Ohio. Ira Gardner died March 30, 1871. He was elected Sheriff of this county in 1856. In politics he was a Republican. Mrs. Gardner died in 1876. Our subject, D. C. Gardner, received his education in the schools of the home district and at Hiram College. He enlisted with a large number of bis fellow students in the famous Forty-second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under James A. Garfield, September, 1861. He was wounded in the right shoulder at the battle of Port Gibson, Miss., May 1, 1863, and received his discharge in September of same year. After taking a commercial course at Cleveland, Ohio, he settled on the farm with his parents, where he remained until his mother's death in 1876. He located in Ravenna, in 1877, and entered into partnership with H. C. Bedell, as agents for line of fire and life insurance companies. Mr. Gardner bought out his partner's interest in 1883, and now carries on the business alone. The companies represented by this agency are of a first-class character, numbering about twenty, in Ere' life, accident, tornado and plate-glass. Gardner married, September 27, 1882, Miss Cynthia M., daughter of Edward G. and Alantha Beckwith, of Dimon- dale, Eaton Co., Mich. Mrs. Gardner is a member of the Congregational Church. Mr. Gardner is a life-long Republican. He is a member of the G. A. R.
WILLIAM S. GIBBONS, police officer, Ravenna, was born in Salem, Columbiana Co., Ohio, August 23, 1843. His father, kugh Gibbons, came to this county in about 1853, and after living some years each in several townships in the eastern and northeastern parts of the county, finally moved, in about 18'74, to Akron, Ohio. Our subject enlisted in April, 1861, in Company 0, Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and re-enlisted in the same regiment two months later for three years service. He served in the Army of the Potomac, and took part in most of the tierce engagements in the Virginia campaigns. He received three wounds at the battle of Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862, compelling him to remain in hospital eight months. He also received several alight wounds at other times. At the expiration of his time he re-enlisted in the Eleventh Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, serving till the close of the war in the Army, of the Cumberland. In the famous march to the sea he had command of a foraging company with the rank of Sergeant. He made an honorable record as a brave and faithful soldier, receiving his final discharge at Washington, June. 11, 1865. Returning to Ravenna our subject worked here about twelve months as glass-blower, also in Pittsburgh, Penn. He was
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Deputy Sheriff of this county under the administration of O. B. Payne and O. C. Risdon. In 1871 he was appointed police officer and elected Marshal of Ravenna, and since then has been at the head of the police system of Ravenna most of the time. He is a faithful and fearless officer, discharging his duties to the satisfaction of the people. Mr. Gibbons has been successful in acquiring property. He is one of the principal stockholders in the Crown Flint Glass Works, of which he has held the position of Director two years. Mr. Gibbons married, August 9, 1866, Miss Margaret E. Cline, born in Ravenna, December 14, 1844. Her father, William Cline, a native of Pennsylvania, married Miss Amanda Sapp. Mrs. Cline died July 30, 1884. Mr. Cline still resides at his home on South Walnut Street, Ravenna. Our subject is a member in high standing of the I. O. O. F.; also a member of the R. A. and G. A. R.
CHRISTOPHER FREDERICK GOEPPINGER, tanner, Ravenna, was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, September 3, 1841. His father, Justus J. Goeppinger, came to America in 1849, and sent for his family to follow in 1850. They lived four years at Jackson, Ohio, two years at Ellsworth, Ohio, and finally settled at Newton Falls, Ohio, where they now reside. Our subject learned his trade with his father. January 25, 1866, he married Miss Mary M. Schauweker, a native of Columbiana County, Ohio, born July 5, 1841. Their children now living are Rudolph, Eva, Lizzie and Ada. Those deceased are Della and Mary. In 1867 Mr. Goeppinger purchased the tannery of Martin Cretzinger, at Ravenna. He at once established himself here permanently and went to work improving and building up the business. He now carries on the only tannery in the place. He makes a specialty of fine harness leather, for which this establishment has a wide and first-class reputation. The products of this tannery are in great demand and are shipped to the far West, finding as well a ready sale in the Eastern and home markets. Mrs. Goeppinger is a member of the Reformed Church. Mr. Goeppinger is a member of the Lutheran Church. He is a stanch Democrat; a member of the I. O. O. F. and is a F. & A. M.
ALEXANDER B. GRIFFIN was born August 7, 1819, in Oneida County, N. Y., and is a son of Richard L and Anna (Buell) Griffin. He located in Ravenna in 1838, where he married Miss Elvira J. Stowe, June 14, 1843. Her parents, Auren and Hannah (Sheldon) Stowe, natives of New Marlboro, Mass., came to this county in 1811. The Stowe brothers (Auren and Hiram) carried the United States express from Cleveland to Pittsburgh during the war of 1812. Our subject carried on a cabinet shop until 1856, when he took charge of the hub factory purchased by the Stowe brothers. In 1880 he purchased the hub factory, which he sold out in 1884. Mr. Griffin has some very fine and intricate cabinet work which was exhibited with high honor at the Centennial Exposition. He has held the positions of Town Clerk and Treasurer, Justice of the Peace and Mayor. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Griffin were George (deceased), Emilie (deceased), and Mrs. Carrie G. Esty.
WILLIAM GRINNELL, Ravenna, Ohio, a son of James and Julia (Luce) Grinnell, was born in Allegany County, N. Y., June 28, 1839. The family immigrated to Ohio, and settled in Franklin Township, this county, where Mrs. Grinnell died. James Grinnell is a resident of Summit County. Our subject lived on a farm until about eighteen years of age, when he entered a store at Kent, Ohio, as salesman. In the spring of 1859 he went to Hardin County, Ky., working on a farm a short time; then entered a store in Elizabethtown, same county, as salesman. During the winter of 1860 and 1861, a military company being organized, our subject was waited upon by a committee
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and urged to join for drill, but declined the invitation. This act rendered his stay in that locality rather unpleasant, and in the spring of 1861 he returned to Kent, Ohio; re-entered a store, where he remained until 1862, when he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered in as Fifth Sergeant. He was promoted to be First Lieutenant; was wounded at the siege of Knoxville, Ky., November 29, 1863, causing confinement to hospital until April 1, 1864; was commissioned Captain of Company D soon after his return home, but discharged on account of wounds. Mr. Grinnell was united in marriage in 1865, with Rachel A. Phillips, a native of this county. He was acting as Deputy at the time of his election-as Auditor of this county in 1868, which position he occupied twelve years. In 1883 he was appointed by the Governor a member of Tax Commission, to revise tax laws of State, but declining health necessitated his resignation. Our subject was one of the founders and builders of the Flint Glass Works at Ravenna, Ohio, and its Secretary and Treasurer until January, 1884. He was actively identified with the building of the new Court House, having drafted the original bill and forwarded the same to the Legislature, by which authority was given the Commissioners to issue bonds and erect said Court House, and then, by appointment of Common Pleas Court, was made one of the Building Committee.
ELIAS HARMON, one of the first settlers of Mantua, was a descendant of Francis Harmon, who in 1635 settled near Boston, Mass. His children were John and Sarah Harmon, the former one of the first settlers of Springfield, Mass. Nathaniel, a son of John Harmon, was, with the exception of his two brothers, the first settler of Suffield, Conn., and there John Harmon, the great-grandfather of Elias Harmon, of Mantua, was born. He was the first Deacon of the first church at Suffield, and died there in 1786. Elias Harmon, father of the Elias Harmon who settled in Mantua in 1799, was also a native of Suffield, Conn., and in that village resided until his death. In the history of Mantua will be found a record of Elias Harmon's settlement. During his residence in Portage County he held the following positions: Supervisor of Highways in 1803; Justice of the Peace from 1808 to 1815; he was appointed Associate Judge in 1815, and reappointed to 1836; in 1808 was County Treasurer, reappointed in 1809; Assessor in 1810; Deputy United States Marshal in 1810; was elected Representative 1810-12, receiving 148 votes against John Campbell's seventy-three and Hezekiah Burrough's seventy-seven. From 1814 to 1835 he was engaged as Land Agent for original owners of Western Reserve lands. His daughter, Eunice, was the first white child born in the township, and the first white female child in the county. In 1802 Zacheas Harmon settled at Mantua, and four years later came Seth, Enos, John and Daniel Harmon, three of whom served in the war of 1812 and were taken prisoners by the British at Malden, Canada. Elias Harmon died in September, 1851 (vide Mantua and county history). Orrin Harmon, son of Judge Elias Harmon, was born in Mantua Township, February 22, 1805, and was educated in the schools of that township. His wife, Mrs. Camilla (King) Harmon (daughter of Dr. Robert King, who settled in Charlestown Township, this county, in 1826), was born at Sandisfield, Mass., November 14, 1802; came to Portage County with her father and was married to Mr. Harmon, at Ravenna, September 26, 1832. This lady died June 17, 1878. Of their children, Julian C. Harmon, born February 17, 1835, is now a resident of Ravenna, and owner of a large faim near the city; Sabrina C., born January 27, 1842, died October 10, 1856. Mr. Harmon, now in the eighty-first year of his age, can look back seventy years to the beginning of the county, and relate with
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remarkable precision events connected with the county's progress and settlement. His long service as County Surveyor is referred to in the general history of the county.
SAMUEL D. HARRIS, editor Democratic Press, Ravenna, was born in Ravenna Township, this county, May 17, 1816; son of Samuel D. Harris, born in Bozrah, Conn., and Lucy S. Harris, a daughter of Zenas Kent, also a native of Connecticut. In 1812 Samuel D. Harris, Sr., moved to Stowe Township, now in Summit County, where he remained but a short time, and then moved to Ravenna, where he established a home and reared a family. Of his children there are three living: Samuel D., A. A., and Mary M., widow of Dr. Cane, of St. Paul, Minn. He was for years engaged in teaching school; served the county as Auditor from 1823 to 1831; was Surveyor from 1833 to 1845; again elected and served till 1857. Samuel D. Harris, Jr., served in the County Clerk's office, where he acted as Assistant from 1838 to 1855. He took a just pride in surveying and followed it until his death, which occurred in this county August 2, 1865. Our subject, after receiving his education in the common schools of the county and Ravenna Academy, taught school. In 1836 he entered the Western Courier office, then controlled by Selby & Robbins, and in 1837 took a position at the case in the Buckeye Democrat, the published by John B. King & Co., and edited by Le Grand Byington. After the collapse of this journal in 1837, and early in 1838, he was employed as Assistant Clerk in the office of the Court of Common Pleas. He filled this position until 1844. In June, 1845, he and Boswell Batterson published the Portage Sentinel, a Democratic journal. Mr. Batterson sold his interest to Mr. Harris, who became sole proprietor about 1851. In August, 1855, he sold the Sentinel to Alphonso Hart and a Mr. Craig, of New Lisbon. From August, 1855, to 1857, he studied law with N. L. Jeffrys at Ravenna, and was admitted by the District Court in 1857. Subsequently he was employed in the offices of Judge Day and H. C. Ranney. In 1860 he was Delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Charlestown, in company with Samuel Lamb, of Canton (Eighteenth Ohio District) both being firm supporters of Stephen A. Douglas. In 1861 he was one of the most ardent supporters of the Union movement, and in the fall of 1861 was nominated by Republicans and Democrats on the Union ticket as County Treasurer; was elected, and re-elected in 1863. From 1861 to 1866 he was a member of the County Military Committee. In August, 1868, he organized the Press office, and on September 3, that year, issued the first number of the Democratic Press, a thorough Democratic weekly journal, which he has edited continuously up to present time. Mr. Harris was married April 28, 1844, to Miss Joannah Doty daughter of David Doty, of Ravenna. They are the parents of three children, viz.: Lucy M., married to A. T. Smith, of Ravenna; George D., now part owner of the Press; and Miss Kate Harris, residing with her parents.
ANSEL M. HINMAN, farmer, P. 0. Ravenna, was born October 20, 1836 in Atwater Township, this county. His grandfather, Edward Hinman, and has father, Elizur Hinman, were among the pioneers of Ravenna Township, this county. Our subject received his education in the schools of the home district and at the Atwater Academy, and at twenty-five years of age he moved to Ravenna Township, this county, and married Miss Helen M. Reed, born in Worthington; Mass., and who came to Ravenna Township at seven years of age, in 1833, with her parents, Lathrop and Chloe Reed, who settled on an cleared up a farm on the road north of Ravenna, where Mr. Reed died in 1842. Mrs. Reed still reside at this place at the advanced age of ninety years. Their children were Mrs. Harriet Miller, deceased; Mrs. Susan M. Dewey, in Well-
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ington, Ohio; Mrs. Helen M. Hinman, deceased, and Lathrop E. Reed, banker, St. Paul, Minn. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hinman located here on the homestead farm. Their children are Edward L., Mrs. Hattie Peck, Harlan E. and Henry D. (twins), who are still at home. Mrs. Hinman died in October 30, 1877. She was a lady of exalted Christian character, beloved by all who knew her. Mr. Hinman afterward married Miss Jennie Sackett, of Pittsburgh, Penn. He and his worthy wife are consistent members of the Congregational Church.
WANZER HOLCOMB, capitalist, Ravenna, was born September 9, 1827, in this county, son of William A. Holcomb. He received his education in the schools of the home district and at Marlboro Academy, Stark Co., Ohio. In early life he learned the trade of stone and brick mason with his father. On September 25, 1851, he was married to Miss Sophronia C. Stough, of Ravenna, daughter of the well known pioneer, Jacob Stough, and was brought up in the city. Their children are Margaret (now Mrs. Smith), William W. and Harry S. After living in Edinburg two years and in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, five years our subject and family finally settled in Ravenna. Mr. Holcomb was appointed in 1857 Superintendent of Masonry on the A. & G. W. (now the N. Y.,lP. & O.) R. R., which position he held until 1868. Since that time he has been engaged as contractor, taking extensive contracts for corporations and railroad companies. Since 1870 he has been connected with the Diamond Glass Works of this city and now owns a one-half interest in the concern. Mr. Holcomb is a member of the Disciples Church. He is a life-long Republican.
SAMUEL J. HOPKINS (deceased) was born in Nelson, this county, in 1822. He married, October 11, 1852, Miss Harriet W. Prentiss, whose father, Cyrus Prentiss, of Francestown, N. H., established a store in Ravenna, this county,.in 1822, in which he retained an interest until his death, and married Miss Clarissa Wetmore, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, in 1827. Mr. Prentiss devoted himself with wonderful energy and zeal to the building of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad. It is said that wihout his efforts the road would never have been constructed. When he fell into delicate health and the road was in good working and running order he became its President, and this position he retained as long as his health permitted. He died July 31, 1859. To Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins were born three children: C. P., Clara S. and Arthur P. Mr. Hopkins was engaged in the dry goods business until 1860, and after that in the wholesale produce and cheese business, until his death, which occurred April 25, 1882.
ADAM V. HORR (deceased), son of Abner Horr, was born in Lewis County, N. Y., December 26, 1819, and came to Shalersville, this county, at eighteen years of age with his parents. He first engaged in merchandising with his father, and as the latter's health was very much impaired, the main responsibility of the business devolved upon our subject. In 1842 he and Henry Beecher purchased the store, which they carried on jointly until 1845, when Mr. Beecher retired from the firm and Mr. Horr took possession of the entire business. He was united in marriage September 8, 1846, with Miss Rosella Beecher, born in Shalersville Township, this county, November 24, 1825, and daughter of Sylvester and Betsey (Bushnell) Beecher, and to this union have been born five children: Mrs. Irene R. Seymour, one son who died in infancy, Mrs. Isodene E. Oakley, William A. and Mrs. Adah V. Stough. Mr. Horr departed this life January 10, 1856. He was a man of rare business talents, and a very active citizen in the support of all worthy enterprises. He took an active interest in public affairs and held the position of Postmaster at Shalersville, this county, upward of fourteen years. In politics he was an ardent
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Republican. He was personally a genial companion, a true friend to the needy and a man of generous and noble impulses. He will long be remembered with tender respect by the citizens of Shalersville and vicinity. In April, 1861, Mrs. Horr removed to Ravenna, this county, where she still resides. Here she has devoted herself faithfully to the duty of bringing up and educating her family. She is a member of the Congregational Church, and is everywhere respected as a lady of estimable character.
GURDON L. HORR, produce merchant, Ravenna, was born July 6, 1842, in Shalersville, this county. His father, Abner Horr, of Salem, Mass., first married Miss Sarah Vedder, and after residing about eighteen years in Denmark, Lewis Co., N. Y., they came in 1835 to Shalersville, this county. There Mrs. Horr died in 1837, leaving three childien: Warren, in Sterling, Kan., Adam V. (deceased), and Mrs. Nancy Tyler (deceased), wife of Judge Joel W. Tyler, of Cleveland, Ohio, and Mr. Horr then married, in 1838, Miss Lydia Horr, of Leyden, Lewis Co., N. Y., and their children are Gurdon L. and Mrs. Sarah Bedell, late of Cleveland, Ohio, latter of whom died February 9, 1885. Abner Horr carried on a general merchandising business in Shalersville, and had an interest in stores in Streetsboro, this county, and at Newton Falls. In 1843 he sold out, retired to his farm in that township, and there resided until his death, which occurred August 15, 1865. His widow resides in Cleveland, Ohio, with her son-in-law. Our subject received his education in his native town. He engaged in merchandising in partnership with the widow of Adam V. Horr, at Shalersville, this county, in 1862. He sold out his interest in 1872, and in 1874 located in Ravenna, in partnership with S. R. Freeman, in the produce business. Mr. Horr married, September 8, 1869, Miss Sarah Babcock, of Shalersville Township, daughter of the well-known pioneer. Edwin Babcock, and born August 2, 1847, in that township. To Mr. and M;e. Horr have been born one daughter, Minnie, and one son, Burt. Our subject is a life-long Republican.
HON. JOSEPH DEMPSTER HORTON (deceased) was born January 3, 1833, in Randolph, this county. His father, Rev. Peter D. Horton, was born in Orange County, N. Y., in 1796, and was of the eighth generation from Barnabas Horton, who settled in Long Island, in 1633. He was one of the early Methodist ministers of northeastern Ohio, and his memory is revered by many who enjoyed his ministrations. His wife was Miss Hannah Couch, of Nelson, this county, born in 1802, in Lee, Berkshire Co., Mass. Our subject, who was the eldest of their children received his education principally in the academy at Nelson, and began teaching at sixteen years of age. Having completed his law studies in the office of Ranney & Taylor, of this city, he was admitted to the bar in 1855, and he at once formed a partnership with his cousin and preceptor, Hon. Ezra B. Taylor, which continued during his life, except the period during which Judge Taylor served on the bench. Judge Luther Day was a member of the firm for many years. Mr. Horton was a man of active public spirit, and was. constantly solicited to accept offices of honor and trust, which he did as often as his professional duties would allow. He held the positions of Military Commissioner during the Rebellion, Prosecuting Attorney several times, Mayor of the city, and many local offices. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1873, and was an influential member of the Judiciary Committee. He was known as possessing one of the finest legal minds at the bar. He was also a fluent writer, and a brilliant orator, his productions exhibiting rare literary ability. His death occurred September 14, 1882. Mr. Horton married, December 25, 1858, Miss Fannie Finley of Detroit, Mich., born March 4, 1837, in Montreal, Canada. In 1841 she moved
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with her parents, Richard and Anna Finley, to Detroit, where the latter resided until their death. To Mr.. and Mrs. Horton were born five children: Mary H., Jessie A., Peter D., Fannie and Jennie F. They have been members of the Congregational Church since 1866. Mr. Horton was a prominent officer in that church, and at the time of his death had nearly completed a history of the church in Ravenna.
ANDREW JACKSON, attorney-at-law of Ravenna, is a grandson of John Jackson, of Plymouth Rock, Mass., and son of Col. John E. Jackson, a native of Chester, Mass., who immigrated to the West in 1812. and settled in this county, clearing a farm in Aurora Township, and owning and operating there a woolen-mill and saw-mill. At Garrettsville he met and married Clara, daughter of John Tinker, of Granville, Mass., whose family settled in Nelson Township, this county, in 1804. His place of residence was called the " Centerville Mills," in the north part of Aurora Township. Having been elected, and served one term, as County Surveyor, he disposed of his factory and sawmill in 1839, and continued the business of surveying, and began preaching the Gospel, having been ordained a Baptist Elder. He was elected State Senator from this district in 1841, serving in that position two terms, and in 1845 was appointed Appraiser of Lands of this county. While delivering a discourse in 1868, he was stricken with paralysis, and died in April, 1869. Our subject was born in Aurora Township, October 4, 1824, and worked in the factory until seventeen years old, when he was sent to Granville College, Licking Co., Ohio, the only Baptist College in the State. He began the study of law in 1846, under Gen. Knox, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar of Canton, Ohio, in 1848, commencing practice in Ravenna soon after. Subsequently he was appointed Examiner of School Teachers, and in 1852 elected County Recorder, serving three years, and was three times elected Justice of the Peace, for Ravenna Township. He enlisted in the Union Army, August 12, 1862, in Company I, One Hundred and Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; was subsequently appointed Ordnance Sergeant; was at the front from the time he entered the service till close of the war, and participated in the battles of Fort Mitchel, Ky., siege of Knoxville, Gen. Sherman's Atlanta campaign, and battles of Franklin and Nashville, Tenn., Columbia, Wilmington and Fort Fisher, being mustered out of the service at Cleveland, in July, 1865. In 1866 he was elected Clerk of the Common Pleas Court, occupying the position six years. In 1875 he secured a charter for the " People's Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of which he is Secretary and Treasurer, and a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Jackson has since conducted an extensive insurance business, and ceased the practice of law. He was married in 1848 to Mabel, daughter of Guy Doolittle, of this county, and to this union has been born one child—Frances J., wife of L. P. Seymour, of Ravenna, Ohio. Mr. Jackson is, and has been for twenty-five years, an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and also an ardent Mason; became a member of Unity Lodge, No. 12, in 1853, of which he is a Past Master, a member of Tyran Royal Arch Chapter, and a frater of Commandery No. 25, Knights Templar and Malta.
DAVID JENNINGS (deceased) was born January 1, 1771, in Bradford, Mass. He married Miss Hannah Wellman, who was born in Lyndeboro, Hillsboro, Co., N. H., September 13, 1769, and they came to this county in 1802, purchasing in October, of Benjamin Tappan, 115 acres of wild land. This part of the country was then entirely in the wilderness. They had to go to Georgetown, Penn., to market, paying $7 to bring home a barrel of flour that cost $3. Their children were Salomon, who died in Franklin Township, this county,
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April 6, 1840, aged forty-three; David, Jr., who died in Ravenna Township, this county, January 25, 1862, aged sixty-three; Daniel W., who died in Shalersville, September 1'7, 18'74, aged seventy-four, (the day of his death was just seventy two years from the time he reached this county); Mrs. Hannah H. Cutler, died June 10, 1835, aged thirty-one; Squire L., now living in Ravenna; and Lewis E. Mrs. Jennings died April 3, 1840, aged seventy. Mr. Jennings died January 10, 1856, aged eighty-five. He was an honest, upright man, respected by all who knew him. Daniel W. Jennings held many public positions, including that of Sheriff of Portage County, Superintendent of County Infirmary and Justice of the Peace. Henry C. (son of Solomon Jennings), a Lieutenant in the Forty-second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, served as Sheriff of the county two terms, during which he executed the murderer Jack Cooper.
SQUIRE L. JENNINGS, retired, Ravenna, was born December 28, 1807, in Ravenna Township, this county, being the second oldest white boy born in the township now living. On October 22, 1833, he was married to Miss Nancy A. Sapp, born in Maryland in 1810; daughter of Jacob Sapp, of Rootstown Township, this county. To this union were born Sylvester F. and Mrs. Anginette Bosworth (latter deceased). They lived on a farm in Franklin Township until 1845, when they sold out and have resided in Ravenna since. From that time Mr. Jennings has followed the trade of carpenter and joiner. He has been very active in public affairs, and has held the positions of Deputy Sheriff, Constable and Trustee at different times.
LEWIS E. JENNINGS, farmer, P. 0. Ravenna, was born July 14, 1811, on the farm which he now occupies. He shared the usual lot of pioneer boys and attended school in the old log-schoolhouse of the home district. He was married, January 22, 1833, to Miss Elizabeth Knowlton, born in New Sharon, Kennebec Co., Maine, January 14, 1813, and came to Ravenna, this county, in 1832. To this union have been born twelve children, seven now living: Mrs. Hanna H. Wain, in Cleveland, Ohio; Elizabeth Amelia; George W. and Mrs. Martha W. Gledhill (twins, and being born February 22, they were named for Gen. Washington and his wife respectively); Helen M. ; Arminta L. and Albert B. The five deceased died in early life. Since their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Jennings have resided on the homestead farm. Here they own a comfortable home of 189 acres of well-improved land. Mr. Jennings has held the office of Trustee, and has been School Director thirty years. In politics he is a Democrat.
DAVID JENNINGS (deceased) was born September 18, 1798, in Hartford, Me., and came to this county in 1802 with his parents. He married, November 13, 1825, Miss Hannah Rawson, born in Warwick, Franklin Co., Mass., December 16, 1808, and came to Ravenna Township, this county, in 1815, with her parents, Elliott and Sarah (Williams) Rawson. Mr. Rawson purchased a tract of 400 acres of land, adjoining the western corporation line of Ravenna. He died in 1825, leaving six children : Mrs. Elizabeth Price(now deceased), Mrs. Hannah Jennings, Ebenezer (deceased), Mrs. Sarah Clark, Mrs. Czarina Harper, and Elliott (latter deceased). After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Jennings settled on their property in Ravenna Township, three miles north of Ravenna. Here Mr. Jennings died, January 25, 1862. He was a man of upright integrity, and exerted a good influence in the community. He was a life-long and consistent Democrat. He took an active part in the public affairs in the township ; held the office of Township Trustee and other township offices. Mrs. Jennings still resides with one of her two sons, on the family homestead.
ANDREW JACKSON JENNINGS, farmer, P. 0. Ravenna, was born January 15, 1827, in Ravenna, this county. October 11, 1849, he was married
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to Miss Sophia P. Trowbridge, born in Ontario County, N. Y., March 14, 1825. Her parents, Daniel and Sallie (Blakely) Trowbridge, former a native of Franklin County, Mass., came to Ravenna Township, this county, in October, 1833. They moved to Hudson, Summit Co., Ohio, in 1852, where Mr. Trowbridge died in February, 1881, and where his widow still resides. After his father's death our subject purchased the heirs' interest in the estate, and now owns the homestead. He is proprietor here of a farm of 100 acres of well-improved land. He takes a deep interest in progressive and scientific farming, and has taken ft leading part in the Portage County Agricultural Society.
DR. DAVID RAWSON JENNINGS, of Cleveland, Ohio, married Miss Elizabeth H. Monroe, of Rootstown Township, this county, a native of Nantucket, Miss. He took a thorough course in dentistry and after practicing his profession fourteen years in Ravenna, this county, he located in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1873. He is a skillful and scientific dentist and has a large and increasing practice.
HARLOW S. JOHNSON, Health Officer, Ravenna, was born February 1, 1821, in Nelson, this county. His father, Alanson Johnson, a native of Litchfield, Conn., was a great-grandson of the famous Sir William Johnson, who took great part in settling a colony in the Mohawk Valley, N. Y. The town of Whitehall, Washington Co., N. Y., was built on an estate of the family. Alanson Johnson was a cousin to Richard M. Johnson, late Vice- President of the United States, and also to Mrs. Martin Van Buren, and was second cousin to President Andrew Johnson. He married Miss Betsey Northrop, of Cornwall, Conn., a descendant through her grandmother of the family of Sir Francis Drake, and one of the oldest Puritan families of New England. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and in 1816 they came to this county, and settled in Nelson. Of their five children Mrs. Elizabeth S. Spencer now lives in Windham, this county; Mrs. Antoinette Couch, of Nelson, died July 6, 1884, aged seventy; Mrs. Julia Hunt, of Nelson, died April 6, 1884, aged sixty-six, and one daughter died in childhood. The father and mother lived the lives of useful pioneers and were honored by a large circle of friends. She died March 6, 1877, aged eighty-three. He died January 2, 1880, aged eighty-eight. Our subject was their only son. He married Miss Emily Baldwin, of Nelson, August 22, 1844. She was born October 19, 1827, and is a daughter of Stephen Baldwin, who was among the earliest settlers of that township, having come from Granville, Mass., in 1803. Her mother's maiden name was Hannah Clark, a native of Cornwall, Conn. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have been born four children: Loren Alanson, Auditor of the freight department of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, Cleveland, Ohio; Andrew J., in Warren, Ohio, inventor of a successful fire-escape and Superintendent of the Warren Fire Escape Company; Frank H. (deceased), late journalist, Bay City, Mich., and an infant (deceased). After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Johnson resided on their farm until 1872, when they sold out and located in Ravenna. Our subject has held the position of Health Officer of the city since 1880. He is discharging his duties faithfully and efficiently and has put the city in first-class sanitary condition. Mr. Johnson is a life-long Democrat. Mrs. Johnson is a consistent member of the Congregational Church.
R. B. JOHNSON, physician, Ravenna, is a native of Stark County, Ohio, born November 14, 1839. His grandfather, Joseph Johnson, was a pioneer of Stark County, settling in the woods in 1822, and clearing a farm where he passed the remainder of his years. John Johnson, the father of our subject, who was born in Fayette County, Penn., in 1815, married Esther Holloway
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and resides on the farm where he first settled. Of their children, three are now living: R. B., Nathan W. and Sarah, wife of Isaac Scott, of Kosciusko County, Ind. Our subject was brought up on a farm and received the advantages of a common school education, attending also the high school of Alliance, Ohio. He taught school for four successive winters, commencing when nine• teen years old. He studied medicine in the office of Dr. J. G. Heaton (deceased), in Alliance, and graduated at the Cleveland Homceopathic College in 1869. The same year he began practice in Ravenna, where he has since remained. He was married, in Washington County, Penn., in November, 1861, to Elizabeth Lilley, by whom he had six children, three now living: Nellie L., Thaddeus L. and George D. The Doctor has won popularity both as a physician and as a citizen, and has given successful advancement to Charles D. Painter, of Alliance, and M. G. McBride, of Ravenna, both of whom are practicing physicians. He united with the Disciples Church in 1860, and has held some official position for the last fifteen years, and is now an Elder in said church. He is an honored member of the I. 0. 0. F.
DAVID 0. KELLOGG, farmer, P. 0. Ravenna, was born December 2, 1809, in Hampden County, Mass. He came to Freedom Township, this county, in 1828, with his parents, David and Ruth (Lambson) Kellogg, who afterward moved to South Shenango Township, Crawford Co., Penn., where they resided until their death. Our subject married Miss Mary Ann Hoskin in 1837. She died May 2, 1840, leaving one daughter—Mrs. Mary Ann Brown (now deceased). Mr. Kellogg afterward married Miss Harriet Hoskin, December 9, 1840. They had two daughters: Mrs. Jeanette McClintock and Lovisa, the latter deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg located in 1866 in Ravenna Township, this county, and purchased a farm, their present home, near the city, and this they have improved. They are pious members Of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which our subject belonged for over fifty years, and Mrs. Kellogg for over forty years. The subject of this sketch is one of the leading pioneer citizens of this county, and is highly respected by the entire community.
WILLIAM KING (deceased). Among the early settlers, and the first of this family who located in this county, was William King, a native of th town of Blandford, Mass., of Irish descent. He moved with his wife and two ehildren, Robert and John B., and arrived in Charlestown, Portage Co., Ohio, in 1811, where he located, bought a farm and resided for several years. Subsequently he removed to Ravenna, and commenced keeping the Exchange Hotel on the south side of the Square, east of Court House (now used for business purposes). Afterward he kept hotel in another building, and remained in that line of business until he retired from active life. He died June 20, 1842, leaving a family of four children: Robert, John B., Eli P., Mary A., now the wife of Dr. A. B. Woodworth, of St. Louis, Mo. His widow, Betsey (Black) King, died in 1853. Mr. King was exceedingly energetic and pushing in business affairs and left a comfortable property.
GEN. JOHN B. KING (deceased), son of William King, whose sketch appears above, was born in Blandford, Mass., March 30, 1807, and was about four years of age when his father settled in this county. During his youth he attended the public schools of Ravenna and there laid the foundation of good education. Subsequently he took a classical course in the Western Reserve College. He entertained a desire to become a lawyer, and for som time be was engaged in the study of that profession at Ravenna, though never admitted to the bar. When twenty-three years of age, February 7, 1830, Mr. King was married to Miss Caroline M. Selby, a native of Palmyra, N. Y., and
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a daughter of Judge Ira Selby, from that State. Judge Selby at this time kept the Globe Hotel at Ravenna, and as Gen. King and his young wife's parents were both hotel-keepers, it was that business our subject adopted, and he soon after became proprietor of the Exchange Hotel, which he carried on for six or seven years. He then purchased a farm adjoining the village of Ravenna and followed agricultural pursuits, buying and selling stock in connection the remainder of his life. Gen: King was a Democrat in politics, and he took an active part in all public affairs. He served the township in some local offices, and was always an earnest advocate and supporter of the educational interests of the county. In religious convictions he was a Universalist, and he assisted largely in the organization of the society in Ravenna, contributing liberally toward it, and furnishing most of the timber used in erecting the present church building at Ravenna. On the construction of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad he was one of the incorporators, a large stockholder and a Director. In his younger days he was an enthusiastic member of the State militia, serving in the ranks, and rose subsequently through every official grade to that of Major-General. During the civil war, at the time of Morgan's raid, he organized a company of volunteers called the " Squirrel Hunters," which went to Cincinnati, Ohio, but the emergency having passed over they were disbanded and returned home. This company was made up of men of over forty-five years of age, and each of them received a lithographed "Squirrel Hunter's" discharge, embellished with the portrait and characteristic autograph of His Excellency, Gov. Tod, one of which is now in possession of J. D. King. His first wife dying in 1852, Mr. King was married the second time, September 18, 1855, to Phebe Warner, daughter of Judge Jonathan Warner, of Jefferson, Ashtabula County, who bore him one child— Flora L. Gen. John B. King died April 2, 1864, leaving seven children in all: William L., Ira S., Joseph D., Henrietta L. (now Mrs. Clinton C. Canfield, of Cleveland, Ohio), Frances B., John B. and Flora L. The widow now resides in Cleveland.
CAPT. JOSEPH D. KING, a son of Gen. John B. King, was born March 21, 1836, at Ravenna, this county, and passed his youth on his father's farm adjoining Ravenna, during which period he attended the village schools, graduating at the Union Schools of that place. Subsequently he attended Tappan Seminary. He read law in the office of John L. Ranney, intending to teach school at intervals in order to obtain the money wherewithal to continue his studies, but his health having failed he was obliged to discontinue his legal studies, and shortly afterward made a visit South for his health, extending over a period of eighteen months. Returning from Texas in June, the following September he went to Vassalboro Township, Kennebec Co., Ma, where, September 19, 1860, he was married to a former schoolmate at Tappan Seminary, Miss Lucy L., daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Homans, of that place, and returned with his bride to Portage County. Two children were the result of this anion: Stephen G. 0., born December 26, 1867, and Frederick B., born March 5, 1872. He engaged in farming near Campbellsport. The war breaking out in 1861, our subject was among the first to offer his services in defense of the Union, and organized a company of artillery, which was afterward consolidated with Company I, First Regiment Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery, of which he was elected First Lieutenant. They reported soon afterward for service at Charleston, W. Va., on the Kanawha River. In June, 1862, while convalescent at hospital, and some eighty miles inside the Union lines, he and his cousin, William King, were taken prisoner by a detachment of Ashby's Rebel cavalry. They were kept prisoners at Lynchburg, Staunton,
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Va., Salisbury, and from Salisbury were moved to Libby Prison, at which place they were confined ten days, when they were fortunate in being paroled and thus escaped the horrors of that prison. Mr. King was then ordered to Columbus, Ohio, and was put in command of the paroled prisoners' camp, where he remained until his resignation in November, 1862. He then returned home and embarked in the milling business at Campbellsport, this county; also in company with his brother built the Atlantic Mills at Ravenna, and was engaged in this industry two years, since when he has given his entire attention to farming. He owns 100 acres partly in and partly adjoining the village corporation, where he resides. In politics Capt. King is Democratic. He is a member of the Universalist Church.
PETER KING, grocer and provision dealer, Ravenna, was born June 29, 1813, in County Clare, Ireland, where his parents, Michael and Ellen King, resided until their death. Our subject there married, February 15, 1835, Ellen Reidy. In 1848 he came to America to make preparations for his family, then sent for them to join him fifteen months thereafter. After spending some time in Chittenden County, Vt., they came to Earlville, Ohio, in 1851, and finally located in Ravenna, November 9, 1854. Here Mr. King worked about seven years on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, and was about three years engaged in dray, ing. He then established his present business, which he has ever since carried on. Of the eleven children born to Mr. and Mrs. King, two died in the mother country, and four in America. Those now living are Mrs. Mary Cerny, Mrs. Bridget Donahue, Mrs. Ellen Gallagher, Mrs. Maggie Hopper, and Elizabeth, a graduate of St. Mary's Academy, Notre Dame, Ind., and who has been for several years successfully engaged in teaching. Their son, Michael, was killed in an explosion on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, at Hanover, Ohio, March 11, 1862. He was an upright and promising young man, and left many friends. Mr. King and his entire family are members of the Catholic Church, of which he is one of the pillars, and was largely influential in establishing and building it up at Ravenna.
BERNARD KINNEY, capitalist, Ravenna, was born in Corracloona, County Leitrim, Irelands June 24, 1830, and there married Miss Mary Gilbride. They immigrated to America in 1855, came at once to Ohio and settled in Ravenna in about two years thereafter. Here our subject acted as Section Boss on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad for about fifteen years. He opened a grocery and provision store in Ravenna, which was carried on by his family for about four years previous to his retirement from the railroad. He has also been engaged in several successful real estate dealings, purchasing tracts of timber land and developing and improving them. He purchased in 1866 what was known as the old State Bank Building, which he still occupies; besides this he has built and established a grocery store for his son, and he owns several other valuable pieces of property in various parts of the city. He is agent for three Atlantic Ocean steamship companies, viz.: the Cunard, the Williams & Guion and the Anchor lines. To Mr. and Mrs. Kinney have been born ten children: James, Mary Ann (now Sister Cammillus in the Ursuline Convent, Toledo, Ohio), John, Catherine (deceased), Rose (a teacher in the Catholic school, and organist in the church at this place), Sarah (died September 10, 1883), Bernard, Thomas, Agnes and Charley. Mr. and Mrs. Kinney and their entire family are consistent members of the Catholic Church. Our subject was the leading spirit in establishing and building up the church at Ravenna.
EDWARD KNAPP, manufacturer, Ravenna, was born January 23, 1820, in Charlestown, this county. His father, Junia Knapp, a native of Connec-
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ticut, went to Northampton, Mass., in early boyhood with his parents. There he married Miss Martha Edwards, and the entire family then came to this county and settled in Charlestown Township, in 1815. The family of Junia and Martha (Edwards) Knapp consisted of six girls, of whom three now live, and six boys, of whom five are now living. Edward, Robert, Dwight, and Mrs. Sallie M. Palmer all reside in Ravenna. The parents moved to Ravenna in 1865, Mr. Knapp, dying October 2 of the same year, and his widow April 30, 1867.. Our subject remained with his parents and assisted them in conducting the farm. He married, September 15, 1857, Mrs. Charlotte C. Parker, of Chester, Conn., where her father, Ely Dickenson, resided until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Knapp moved to Ravenna in 1860. Here our subject carried on a foundry on Main Street, in partnership with his brothers, Robert, Dwight and Henry, until their establishment was destroyed by fire in August, 1876. Our subject then built the foundry near Pittsburgh depot, which he carried on until October, 1875. He now rents it to the Haley Bros. He established a pump factory in partnership with his brother Robert in 1875, and they have since carried on the only pump factory in Ravenna. They manufacture a complete line of suction, force and rubber bucket pumps. Their goods have an excellent reputation, and are sold throughout Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and other Eastern and Southern States. Mrs. Knapp is an adherent of the Baptist faith. Mr. Knapp is a F. & A. M. Robert Knapp was born April 8, 1828. He married Elizabeth Carson, October 4, 1854. Their children are Mrs. Clara A. Linton and Arthur D.
W. S. KRAKE, Postmaster, Ravenna, was born in Jefferson County, N. Y., in 1840, son of James and Sally (Wadsworth) Brake, natives of New York State (both deceased.) James Krake, who was a manufacturer of fanning- mills in Jefferson County, was prominently identified with and was an officer in the State militia. Our subject was but twelve years of age when his father died. He enlisted in 1862 in the Fifth New York Volunteer Infantry, receiving promotion to Second Lieutenant, in which rank he was discharged at the close of three years' service. He participated in the battles of Shenandoah Valley, at Winchester, and in the general skirmishes, serving most of the time, however, on detailed duty. He came to this county soon after the war and engaged as salesman in a dry goods and clothing business. In May, 1869, he was appointed Assistant Postmaster at Ravenna, and in April, 1873, was promoted to be Postmaster by President Grant, occupying the position to the present time. Mr. Krake was married in Lewis County, N. Y., in 1861, to Amelia U. Mitchel, who bore him one child—Florence M., an active assistant to her father. Mr. Krake is a F. & A. M., a member of the I. 0. 0. F. and R. A.
JAMES LIKENS, farmer, P. 0. Ravenna, was born October 17, 1816, in Brighton, Beaver Co., Penn. His parents, Thomas and Juda Likens, came to this county in April, 1838, and after living three years in Rootstown Township finally settled across the line in Ravenna Township. Thomas Likens was a soldier of the war of 1812, and followed the occupation of iron molder before locating here. He was one of the old-time Democrats, and took an active part in public affairs. He served the township as Trustee one term. He died February 12, 1872, aged eighty-four years. His widow followed him May 20, 1880, in her ninety-fifth year. They were pious members of the Lutheran Church. Of their nine children, six are now living: James, Lewis, Thomas and Mrs. Alvira Hartle, in Ravenna Township, this county; Mrs. Emma J. Hartle, in Rootstown Township, this county, and Josiah, in Iowa. Our subject married, March 6, 1851, Miss Mary M. Canis, born July 15, 1828, and daugh-
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ter of John and Elizabeth Canis, of Rootstown Township (now deceased). To this union have been born three children now living: Ellery 0., James Calvin and Hattie Minerva. John W. died in infancy, and Mettie M. died at fourteen years of age. Since their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Likens have resided on the farm which they now own. Here they have a fine property of eighty acres of well-improved land. Mr. Likens is a consistent member of the Lutheran Church. In politics he is a life-long Democrat.
ISAIAH LINTON, civil engineer, Ravenna, was horn September 29, 181'7, in Washington County, Penn., where his parents, Mahlon and Ann (Hillis) Linton, resided until their death. At eighteen years of age our subject entered the engineer service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, on which he was engaged for four years. He was then employed on the Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad until 1847, when he came to Ohio and entered the service of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Road as Assistant Engineer, on which he has since remained. In 1840 Mr. Linton married Miss Victoria Dutton, of Washington County, Penn. She died in 1844, leaving one daughter-Mrs. Ellen Galway, of West Virginia. Mr. Linton afterward married, in 1849, Miss Mary Riley, of Brownsville, Penn., and in 1852 they settled in Ravenna, where they have since resided. Their children are William H., Luther (deceased) and Edith. William H. married Miss Clara Knapp, of this place. He has also adopted the profession of civil engineer, and is engaged on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad with his father. Mr. Linton has held the position of Trustee of Ravenna about four years; has been on the Board of Education two years; has held the office of County Surveyor from 1862 to 1864, and was mainly influential in the establishment of the Ravenna Gas Light & Coke Company, of which he has been President since it organization in 1873. In politics our subject is a Republican.
SQUIRE ELEAZER LORD, dealer in real estate, Ravenna, was born December 1'7, 1823, in Norwich, Conn. His parents, Lynds and Priscilla (Potter) Lord, natives of the same place, lived in Fairview, Erie Co., Penn., from 1829 to 1836, and in Ellsworth, Trumbull (now Mahoning) Co., Ohio, from 1836 to 1858. tynds Lord died in April, 1856, and in 1858 his widow and the family came to Ravenna. Here the mother died in March, 1876. They raised a family of nine children: Mary A., died in 1871; Rev. Nathan L., was a graduate of Hudson College and a missionary to the East Indies (he died in New York City in January, 1868); Mrs. Carrie P. Bingham, in Santa Barbara, Cal.; Rufus, in Durand, Ill.; Charles F., in Chicago, Ill.; David H., was born December 5, 1827, married Henrietta F. Bingham September 29, 1853 (their children are Mrs. Laura A. Sanford, in Le Sueur, Minn.; Helen H., Ginevra J. ; Frank L.; Mary B., and Hattie G. Mr. Lord settled in Ravenna in 1873, where he has been chiefly engaged in dealing in real estate); Eleazer ; Laura; A., died in Ellsworth in 1851; William Thomas, died in St. Louis in 1859. Our subject received his education in the academies at Ellsworth, Ohio, and Fredonia, N. Y. He married, April 8, 1865, Miss Mary, daughter of Thomas and Mary Lewis, of Palmyra, Ohio. They have one daughter, Lydia C., and one son, Louis E. Squire Lord has been for sixteen years a very successful dealer in real estate. He was elected Justice of the Peace in July, 1872, and again in April, 1876. In politics he is a Republican. Mrs. Lord is a member of the Congregational Church.
BYRON B. LOUGHEAD, A. B., M. D., Ravenna, was born January 29, 1847, in Charlestown Township, this county. His father, Richard W. Loughead, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Hiram Township; this county, and here married Miss Maria Foster, daughter of the pioneers, Eliakim and Wealthy
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Foster, of Mantua Township, this county, and who came from Williamstown, Mass., to this county, in about 1835, residing in Mantua the remainder of their lives. Our subject's parents resided in Charlestown Township, this county, about thirteen years, finally settling in Windham Township in February, 1858. The mother died January 28, 1884; the father still resides in Windham Center. Our subject, after receiving instruction in the schools of the home district and the academy in Windham and attending two years at Hiram College, entered upon a course of study at Oberlin, Ohio, and graduated from that institution with the degree of A. B. in 1875. He supported himself entirely by teaching between the sessions. He held the position of Principal of the high school at Tallmadge, Ohio, two winters. After his graduation he at once entered upon the study of medicine under Dr. T. C. Miller, of Cleveland, Ohio, Professor of Obstetrics in the medical department of the University of Wooster, Ohio, at which institution he took the degree of M. D. February 28, 1877. He then located in the practice of his chosen profession in Windham, this county. In January and February of 1883 he took a post-graduate course in the New York Polyclinic. In September, 1884, the Doctor established in Ravenna, where he has rapidly built up an influential practice. He is genial and courteous in manner, and is recognized as a skillful and scientific physician. Dr. Loughead married, October 31, 1878, Miss Mary Alvord, of Bolton, Conn., and they have two children: Charles Foster and Mary Alvord. Mrs. Loughead graduated in the ladies' course at Oberlin College in 1874. Our subject and wife are members of the Congregational Church, the Doctor having joined at Windham when but eighteen years of age.
DARIUS LYMAN (deceased), born at Goshen, Litchfield Co., Conn., July 19, 1789, died at Cleveland, Ohio, December 13, 1867, aged seventy-six years, live months. He graduated at Williams College in the class of 1810. Soon after he entered the law school at Litchfield, then under the charge of Judge Gould, where by diligent application to his studies he soon won the respect of his distinguished teacher and all those who were associated with him. After leaving the Litchfield Law School he went to Pittsburgh, Penn., and in order to more fully perfect his legal studies he spent several months in the law office of Hon. Henry Baldwin, subsequently one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, of the United States. In the spring of 1814 he came to this county, was admitted to the bar, and established himself permanently in his profession in Ravenna. He was soon appointed Prosecuting Attorney of the county, and in 1816 was elected to the lower branch of the Legislature for two years. In 1828 he was elected to the State Senate, where he served two terms ending in 1832. In the fall of the latter year he was the anti-Masonic candidate for Governor, and was defeated by Robert Lucas by a small majority. Judge Lyman has ever been regarded one of the pioneer lawyers of Portage County. Alhough not a brilliant advocate, his thorough knowledge of legal principles, his unswerving integrity and love of justice gave him great influence with both court and jury, which made him a formidable competitor. For some ,years he was in partnership with the late Hon. Luther Day. Judge Lyman acquired an extensive practice in Portage and adjoining counties. His well- balanced, clear and discriminating mind, inflexible uprightness and unsullied purity of heart won the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. He was an ardent friend of education, and for many years an efficient member of the Board of Trustees of the Western Reserve College. He early identified himself with the Free Soil party, and in 1850 was elected to the State Senate on that ticket. This was his last service as legislator. In 1855 he was elected Probate Judge of Portage County, was re-elected and occupied the position
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until 1864. After retiring from the Judgeship he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he lived to the time of his death. Our subject was twice married, He was the father of six children, some of them dying young. His eldest son, Prof. Darius Lyman, for nearly twenty years has held an important position in the Treasury Department at Washington, D. C. Henry D. Lyman, his grandson, is now Second Assistant Postmaster-General. His daughter, Laura, is the widow of the late Hon. William S. C. Otis, of Cleveland, Ohio. The other surviving children are Mrs. Mary L. Hood, of Minneapolis, Minn., and Mrs. Anna L. Woodworth, of St. Louis, Mo. In all his relations as a citizen Judge Lyman wag a worthy exemplar; opposed to all forms of oppression, he was ever guided by the highest principles of honor and rectitude; his heart and, hands were ever ready to do all in his power to preserve peace and order in the community and to improve and elevate society.
JOHN S. MARVIN, dealer in lumber, Ravenna, was born in Lancaster, Niagara (now Erie) Co., N. Y., May 30, 1831. The family are descended from the well-known Marvins, first settlers at Saybrook, Conn. His immediate ancestors for four generations were residents of Litchfield County, Conn. His great-grandparents died of small-pox contracted from Burgoyne's Army, then passing through the country. His mother died in Lancaster, N. Y., when he was four years of age, and his father returned to Connecticut, where he resided until his death. Our subject learned the shoe-maker's trade under the old apprentice system, in Litchfield County, Conn., and came to Ravenna, Ohio, June 25, 1855. After spending two years in traveling in Kentucky and Tennessee, he finally-settled here in 1857, and was in the boot, shoe and leather business until 186'7. Here he married, November 20, 1859, Miss Sarah M. Woodruff, daughter of Chancy and Perlina Woodruff, who came in 1830 from Hartford, Conn., to Atwater Township, this county, where Mrs. Marvin was born April 30, 1837. To our subject and wife have been born eight children: Anna L., Fannie C. (deceased), Charles. L., Lydia Perlina, John C., Edward W., Rollie Hutchuson, William Bray. Our subject and wife have resided in Ravenna since their marriage, with the exception of fifteen years (1867 to 1882) spent on a farm in the western part of the township. Mr. Marvin purchased an interest in the lumber yard with Robert Smith in 1874. Our subject, wife and eldest daughter are members of the Universalist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Marvin were kindly remembered by their numerous friends on the twenty-fifth anniversary of their wedding, November 20, 1884, on which occasion they received many beautiful and valuable presents.
JOHN MEHARG, attorney, Ravenna, is a native of County Down, Ireland, where he was born in 1839; son of James and Margaret (Bingham) Meharg (both now deceased) who immigrated to this country in 1852, and located on a farm at Canfield, Ohio. Here our subject was brought up and his early education was obtained in the Mahoning Academy at Canfield, where he began the study of law, but in 1862 he entered the army as Sergeant in Company H, One Hundred and Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving to the close of the war. He shared the fortunes of the Army of the Cumberland, joining the forces of Sherman in his memorable march to the sea, and after passing through the grand review at Washington, D. C., was mustered out. He resumed the study of law with S. W. Gilson, of Canfield; was admitted to the bar, in 1865, and formed a partnership with Taylor and Horton that was continued until 1872, when he was elected Clerk of the Courts, in which capacity he served nine years. His relations with the same firm were renewed and continued until the death of Mr. Horton in September, 1882, since when he has been associated with Judge Taylor, of Warren, Ohio. Mr. Meharg was
a a
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appointed Prosecuting Attorney to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Horton; served as Mayor five years; was a member of the Board of Education, and some years Justice of the Peace. He became interested in the Ravenna Republican in 1882, and now owns that publication. He is an adherent of the Disciples Church; a member of the I. 0. 0. F. and G. A. R. He is a F. & A. M.
A. MOSLEY (see history of press, page 368.)
S. D. NORTON, attorney, Ravenna. The name Norton, a contraction of Northtown or Northville, is of English origin. It is properly Norville, and the first known to bear it in this country were two brothers, Richard and Thomas, the former landing -in America in 1620, the latter in 1635; one settling in Massachusetts, the other at Martha's Vineyard. The great-grandfather of our subject, Bethuel, was an explorer, employed by the British Government. He served in the French-English and the Revolutionary wars, and was one of the soldiers who scaled the Heights of Abraham. Our subject was born in Springfield, Summit Co., Ohio, in 1825; son of Thuel and Harriet (Harrington) Norton, the former of whom, with his father, Peter, immigrated to this State in 1807, and settled in Summit County, thence removing to Hiram Township, this county, in 1832, where he died. He was a carpenter by trade, and raised a family of nine children, eight of whom are living. Our subject was reared on a farm and learned the blacksmith trade, which he abandoned for the law, the study of which he pursued after having received a common school education, and was associated with Charles W. O'Neil, one of the best lawyers of the State, his practice being largely in Allen and Hancock Counties. He located in Garrettsville in 1858, and five years later removed to Ravenna, where he has since resided. He was married, in 1845, to Miss Maria Wetherell, a native of New York, and they are the parents of the following children: Adelaide, wife of George Nichols; Julia M., wife of S. R. Poe; Lilia, wife of N. P. Catlin; and Emma. He has served two terms as Mayor of Ravenna; is at present Justice of the Peace; has been twice run for Probate Judge and came near being elected, though his party is largely in the minority, and is a man well known and highly respected.
J. H. OAKLEY, photographer, Ravenna, was born in Charlestown Township, this county, December 9, 1842. His father, Abram Oakley, was a native of England, but left that country while yet a mere boy and located for a number of years in Canada, going thence to the State of New York, and finally removing to Portage County, being among the earliest settlers of Charlestown Township. In 1844 he removed to this township, where he continued to reside until some time after the death of his wife, Minerva (Beach) Oakley, which occurred in 1860. In 1865 he went to Indiana, having a daughter residing at Elkhart, at whose home he died in 1867. Their children, four in number, are all living, viz.: Maria J., Julia A., John H. and Mary C. At the outbreak of the Rebellion our subject was among the first to respond to the call for volunteers, and enlisted for the three months' service in Company G, Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In October, 1861, he re-enlisted for three years in Battery I, First Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery, and served therein until December 9, 1864, when he was honorably discharged by reason of expiration of term of service. He participated in many of the important battles of the war, among them being the second battle of Bull Run, and the engagements at McDowell, Cross Keys, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Mission Ridge and all the battles of the Atlanta campaign. In January, 1865, he took up the study of his profession, and in July of that year formed a partnership with his preceptor, Mr. Ford, whom he succeeded the following year, and has since carried on the business alone. In September, 1884, he occupied Room No. 4 in the
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Opera House Block on the ground floor, having a depth of 120 feet, with new skylight and operating room. In addition to his regular photographic work, which ranks among the very best in the State, he is a large dealer in pictures, frames, art goods, etc. Mr. Oakley was married in 1872 to Miss Isodene E. Horr, a native of Shalersville, this county, and has two sons: Harry B. and Warren B. He is a member of the L 0. 0. F., Encampment, Royal Arcanum and G. A. R.
LE GRAND A. OLIN, County Auditor, Ravenna, was born in Streets- boro Township, this county, August 17, 1844, grandson of Arvin Olin, and son of Ransom and Clarissa M. (Clark) Olin. The family settled in Franklin Township, where Arvin served as Justice of the Peace some years and lived to the close of his life. Ransom Olin filled township offices of trust. He reared a family of eleven children, nine of whom are now living: Le Grand A., Lemuel V. (of Fairview, Kan.), Letta L. (wife of H. L. Kallenbaugh, of Pittsburgh, Penn.), Leverett W. (of Elmdale, Ind.), Leora B. (wife of C. D. Banks, of Pittsburgh, Penn.), Lester R. (of Kent), Lena R. (Pittsburgh, Penn.), Leila C. (wife of W. D. Logan, of Pittsburgh, Penn.) and Levanche A. (wife of Charles Gressard, of Kent). Leroy C. and Leantine N. .died in childhood. Our subject lived on the farm until twenty-one years of age, when he learned the carpenter and joiner's trade, at which he worked. until crippled by a fall at Moscow, Livingston Co., N. Y., in the autumn of 1868. This accident caused paralysis of the limbs, of which he has but little use. Subsequently he learned telegraphing, which he followed until elected to the position of Auditor of this county in the fall of 1880, and is now serving his second term. Our subject was married in 1865 to Miss Laura A., daughter of William R. Allen, of Livingston County, N. Y.
WILLIAM SHAW CHANDLER OTIS (deceased), son of William Otis, was born in Cummington, Mass., August 24, 1807. In 1825 his father immigrated to Ohio, leaving his son to make his way through college. After graduating he accepted the position of Principal of Gates Academy, Marlboro, Mass., where he remained one year. In the fall of 1831 be removed to Ohio, where he read law in the office of Messrs. Whittlesey & Newton, in Canfield. He was admitted to the bar in September, 1833, and commenced the practice of law in Ravenna. He subsequently removed to Akron, in the adjoining county of Summit; was Prosecuting Attorney of that county for two years, and in 1850 and 1851 was a member of the convention which formed the present Constitution of Ohio. He was President of the Akron branch of the State Bank of Ohio from its organization in 1847 until January, 1854, and, during most of that period, was a member of the Board of Control of the State Bank of Ohio. In January, 1854, Mr. Otis was elected Vice-President of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad Company, and removed to Cleveland to enter upon the duties of that office. At the expiration of the year be resumed the practice of his profession at Cleveland, where he resided till the date of his death. He was soon appointed Attorney and Counsellor of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad Company, which position he filled for more than fourteen years with distinguished ability. Mr. Otis was first married January 1, 1836, to Miss Hannah Mygatt, daughter of the late Comfort Mygatt, Esq., of Canfield, Ohio. Mrs. Otis died April 11, 1840, without children. Mr. Otis was again married November 1, 1842, to Miss Laura Lyman, daughter of Hon. Darius Lyman, of Ravenna. He had six children, four of whom are now living. Mr. Otis died at Cleveland, Ohio, July 31; 1879. As a brilliant advocate, able . counsellor and sagacious manager, Mr. Otis occupied the front rank in his profession.
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SYLVESTER J. PARMELEE, son of Leonard and Harriet (Day) Parmelee, was born in West Springfield, Mass., January 31, 1826, and came to Ravenna in November, 1840. He was in early life a teacher, and was for six years a member of the firm of L. Parmelee & Sons, steam flouring-mill. He married, July 17, 1855, Miss C. Lorene Hall, born in Charlestown, this county, October 6, 1827, and daughter of Giles and Louisa Hall. She came to Ravenna in 1836. In 1845 she went South and was engaged for eight years teaching in Tennessee and Mississippi. She did very noble and useful work in her profession, and endeared herself to he hearts of the young ladies under her charge, and the people among whom she labored. Mr. and Mrs. Parmelee now reside at Oakwood, their farm of twenty acres adjoining the city limits. They are earnest members of the Congregational Church.
ROBERT S. PEACOCK, produce, grain and coal merchant., Ravenna, was. born February 13, 1827, in Camden County, N. J., where he was brought up on his father's farm, and received his education in the schools of the home district. His parents, William and Margaret Peacock, of Scotch and English descent, but natives of New Jersey through several generations, resided on their farm in that State until their death. Our subject learned the trade of glass cutter, and came to Kent (Franklin Mills), this county, when twenty-one years of age. He married, June 23, 1853, Miss Mary Jane, daughter of Benjamin and Rachel Phillips, and to this union have been born four children: Addle (deceased), Robert G., May and James W. After working several years at his trade he went on a farm, and in six years returned to Kent, finally locating in Ravenna in 1868. Here Benjamin Phillips died in 1876, aged about seventy-two. After working some years at his trade in the Diamond Glass Factory, Mr. Peacock engaged in the wholesale produce business in 1875. He handles a general line of farmers' products, but now devotes himself principally to cheese. In 1882 he added a coal yard and grain office to his business, making his eldest son a partner in that branch of the industry. Mr. and Mrs. Peacock and two youngest children are members of the Congregational Church. In politics he is a Republican.
ISAAC PHELPS, retired, Ravenna, was born in Berkshire County, Mass., September 12, 1809; son of Zacheus and Rebecca Phelps, both of Puritan stock. Lewis Phelps, brother of our subject, located in Freedom Township, this county, in 1836, the latter in same township, in 1837. Our subject began dealing in stock and has made thirty-seven trips overland, generally by way of Buffalo, with stock which he sold in the land of his nativity. He subsequently engaged in the dairy business and since his retirement has erected sixteen houses on the west side of Ravenna, thereby adding to its growth and improvement. His marriage with Lucinda Sage, of Berkshire, Mass., occurred in 1832. She died in 18'75, in the sixty-sixth year of her age, the mother of ten children, four of whom survive: Simeon S., Isaac H., Rodney L. and Mark W. An infant son, George Y., died July 24, 1842, aged six weeks; Charles T. died February 12, 1867, aged twelve years; H. Dwight died July 2, 1869, aged thirty-three years; Hattie S. died February 9, 1872, aged twenty-three years; Darwin E. died December 1, 1874, aged forty-one years, and Mary H. died March 24, 1878, aged thirty-nine years. Mr. Phelps married on second occasion, February 11, 1877, Mrs. Mary J., widow of Jerome Hinckley. The family is among the oldest and most respected in this locality.
THOMAS G. PHILLIPS, life insurance agent, Ravenna, was born September 3, 1822, in Plaseyrhendy, Clydeu Parish, Pembrokeshire, South Wales. His parents—Caleb and Sarah Phillips—brought their family to America and settled in Palmyra, this county, in 1837. They spent the latter years of their
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lives in Paris Township, this county, where they died, the mother January 7, 1866, aged seventy, the father March 23, 1869, aged seventy-seven. Of their nine children, two died in Wales; two died in this county: John, who was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, and Mrs. Sarah Morgan; five are now living: William, in Newport Station, Ohio; Evan, in Detroit, Mich. ; Anna, in Newport Station, Ohio; Mrs. Mary Jenkins, in Summit County, Ohio, and Thomas G. Our subject came to Ravenna in 1838 at sixteen years of age, where he learned the cabinet-maker's trade. He carried on an establishment at Freedom from 1843 to 1846. There he married, May 1, 1844, Miss Delia M., daughter of Rev. John Hill, born in Monroe, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, and located in Freedom in 1843. To this union have been born five children: George Myron, Cashier of the First National Bank of Northfield, Minn. (he was a Lieutenant in the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the latter part of the war of the Rebellion); Morton H., in Philadelphia (he was a private in the first Ohio regiment formed); Mrs. Laura Beers, in Cleveland, Ohio; Mrs. Lucy L. Smith, in Ravenna, Ohio, and one that died in infancy. Mr. Phillips carried on the furniture business from 1846 to 1872, with the exception of three years-1859 to 1862. He also dealt extensively in real estate, purchasing lots, putting suitable buildings and making improvements on them and then selling. In 1872 he was appointed agent of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York for Portage and Trumbull Counties. He rapidly built up the company's business in this locality, and received the appointment of general agent for the State of Ohio July 1, 1874, which position he still holds. Mr. and Mrs. PhiHim) are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
DEACON ADAM POE (deceased) was a son of the famous Indian fighter, Andrew Poe, and a cousin of the poet Edgar Allan Poe. He was born in Beaver County, Penn., April 4, 1791; came to this county in 1819, and purchased 200 acres of land two miles west of Ravenna. He returned to Pennsylvania, where he married Miss Eliza Laughlin, in 1825, and again came to this county in 1828. Here he resided until his death, which occurred January 5, 1859. He was a professor of religion when thirteen years of age; joined the Congregational Church in 1829, and was a Deacon from 1831 till the day of his death.
JOHN PORTER, Clerk of Courts, Ravenna, was born. in Dublin, Ireland, March 1, 1849, and was brought to this country by his parents when an infant. At he age of eleven years he was adopted by the Children's Aid Society of New York City, and with others sent to this county, where he found a home in the family of James H. Porter, of Freedom Township, with whom he remained about three years, when he began the struggle of life for himself, securing employment mostly on farms. In 1865 he visited the oil regions of Pennsylvania and of Trumbull County, Ohio, returning to Portage County in 1867. He made his home with William Hine, of Shalersville, and attended college at Hiram and Mt. Union. In 1870 he engaged in teaching, subsequently accepting a position as Principal of the school at Uniontown, Stark County. In 1872 he began the study of law in the office of Hart & Reed, in Ravenna, and in 1874 was admitted to the bar, but accepted a position as traveling salesman until 1878, when he opened a law. office at Mantua Station. In the fall of 1881 he was elected Clerk of the Courts, and this position he has very acceptably filled. Mr. Porter was married January 1, 1877, to Miss Anna E. Hine, of Shalersville, this county, by whom he has one daughter-Hester E.
JOHN L. RANNEY, deceased, was born in Blandford, Mass., November 14, 1815. His parents, Rufus and Dolly Ranney, moved to Freedom Town-
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ship, this county, in 1824, where they resided until their death. Of their family but two are now living: Judge R. P., of Cleveland, Ohio, and Mrs. Mary Marcy, of Geauga County, Ohio. Our subject was a close student and in boyhood was often engaged until late at nights studying by the light of a hickory-wood fire. He attended school one year in Ravenna, and studied the profession of law in the offices of Judge Ranney and Ben Wade, of Ashtabula, Ohio. He married, February 26, 1836, Miss Eliza E, Remington. She was a native of Tolland, Mass., and in 1835 came to Freedom Township, this county, at sixteen years of age, with her parents, Josiah and Sallie Remington. To this union were born six children: Mrs. Mary Ann Hotchkiss (deceased), Joseph N. (deceased), Lewis R. (deceased-he was a soldier of the One Hundred and Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry at the close of the war), Mrs. Sarah C. McDonald (in Cleveland, Ohio), Flora Adelaide and Rufus H. (deceased). Mr. Ranney was admitted to the bar in 1839, and in 1840 located in Ravenna in the practice of his chosen profession. Mr. Ranney died February 22, 1866. He was a lawyer of rare ability, and a citizen of wide influence. He was for many years President of the First National Bank of Ravenna. His memory will long be revered by his surviving associates and the citizens of Portage County. Mrs. Ranney afterward married, November 25, 1874, D. C. Day, and they now reside at the family homestead.
C. A. REED, Probate Judge, Ravenna, comes of Connecticut stock, a grandson of Abraham Reed, who settled in this county in 1804 and died in 1859. Horace, eldest son of Abraham Reed and father of our subject, was born in Rootstown in 1805, and at this writing is residing on the homestead where he was born. He married Lois E. Baldwin, daughter of John Baldwin, who came from Massachusetts and settled in Charlestown, this county, in 1811, and by her were born seven children, all now living: Melissa E., wife of E. E. Chapman, of Rootstown; Aryanett E., wife of A. Baldwin, of Akron, Ohio; John H., of Columbus, Neb. ; Edward A., Poplar Creek, Tenn.; Cornelius A.; Horace L., of Mansfield, Ohio, and Julia A. Our subject was born in Rootstown, this county, July 3, 1838. He worked on the farm and attended school until his twentieth year, when he entered the Normal School at Lebanon. In 1861 he began the study of law under Col. B. Burns and Judge Dickey at Mansfield, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in July, 1863. In September, 1863, he formed a partnership with A. Hart in the practice of the profession at Ravenna. This lasted about twelve years, after which Mr. Reed continued the practice alone until he was elected to his present position in 1881. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1869, occupying the office four years. Our subject was married February 1, 1865, to Miss Phebe F., daughter of Capt. Albert Ray, of Nantucket, Mass. Two children were born to this union, both now living: Lorena B. and Julia May. The family is connected with the Congregational Church, and Judge Reed is at present Superintendent of the Sabbath-school. He is a Knight Templar.
JAMES REYNOLDS, Road-master of the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railroad, P. 0. Ravenna, was born May 12, 1822, in County Antrim, Ireland, and is a son of William and Bridget Reynolds. He early adopted the life of a railroad man and was engaged on the Carlisle & Lancaster Road, England, the Edinburgh & Berwick, the Hawick & Edinburgh and the Kircaldie & Dundee Roads, in Scotland, and the Londonderry & Strabane Road, Ireland. Coming to America October 16, 1849, he was engaged on the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Road ten months, and on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Road from 1850 to 1861. He then served twelve years on the Atlantic & Great Western, and after being ten months on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati
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& St. Louis Road, he accepted the position which he now holds. He has been a very successful railroad manager, having held important positions. In 1883 he was presented with a handsome gold watch and chain by the officers and employes of the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Road, as a mark of esteem. Mr. Reynolds married Miss Almira O'Brien, of Stowe, Summit Co., Ohio, in 1853. She died in 1854, leaving one daughter—Almira (now deceased). Our subject then married, in 1860, Miss Susan Clark, a native of Canada, who bore him five sons: James, Jr. (an engineer on the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Road), R. Emmett and William J. (twins), Francis D. and Henry. In 1870 Mr. Reynolds purchased and located on his present farm of 115 acres near Ravenna. He and his family are members of the Catholic Church. He assisted liberally in building the church in Ravenna. He is a F. & A. M., 32̊.
WILLIAM RICHARDSON, Supervisor of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, P. 0. Ravenna, was born in 1830 in Dalkeith on the River Esk, Scotland, where his parents, John and Jeanette Richardson, have since resided. Our subject received his education in his mother country and there married Miss Agnes Downie. They left Glasgow for America June 1, 1851, and after living one year in Pomeroy, Ohio, they located at Ravenna, this county, where they have ever since resided. Their children are John, Alexander, William, James, Jeanette and George. On July 1, 1852, Mr. Richardson began working for the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad Company, with whom he has been employed ever since. He has held his present position since 1870. He discharges his duties faithfully and enjoys the entire confidence of the company with which he is employed. In 1876 Mr. Richardson purchased a farm of sixty-two and one-half acres of well-improved land two miles north of Ravenna, to which he and his family moved in 1877. The subject of this sketch is a man of large and powerful physique. He is a citizen of upright character, highly respected by the entire community.
GEORGE ROBINSON (deceased), ate civil engineer, banker and capital- ist, was born November 21, 1801, in Washington County, Penn., of Scotch-Irish descent. When eighteen years of age he lost his father, so he commenced obtaining an education, at the same time supporting himself by his own work. He learned the carpenter's trade, but met with an accident which confined him to his bed two years with a broken leg. During this time he perfected himself in the study of mathematics. He then devoted several years to teaching school and preparing for his chosen profession, that of civil engineer. In 1830 he became Assistant Engineer on the Ohio Canal, and at its complemention, in 1835, he engaged on the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal, locating permanently at Ravenna, being soon made Chief Engineer. He retained that position until his retirement from the canal in 1845. He was Chief Engineer of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, and its first Superintendent. In 1858 he engaged on the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad, remaining its Chief Engineer and Superintendent until 1865. In 1854 he became the head of the banking house of Robinson, King & Co., and in 1864 the first President of the Second National Bank of Ravenna, from which position he retired in 1878, remaining a Director until his death. He also established, in 1868, in company with D. C. Coolman, the Diamond Glass Works, in which he remained until his retirement from business in 1879. His death occurred July 12,1882. He was a man of firmness, integrity and perseverance, and made a success of everything be undertook. Mr. Robinson married, July 26, 1831, Miss Maria Louisa Johnson, at Lancaster, Ohio. She was born in Mifflin, Penn., in 1810, and came to Ohio at ten years of age with her parents. To this union were
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born the following children: Capt. A. K. Robinson, Mrs. Elizabeth M. Wildes, Miss Frances H. Robinson, Lieut. W. Henry Robinson (deceased), Mrs. Emily H. Riddle, Capt. George F. Robinson and Mrs. M. Adelaide Hermann. The sons were all in the Union Army during the war of the Rebellion, and Henry was the first soldier from Ravenna to lose his life in his country's cause.
RECELLUS ROOT, farmer, P. 0. Ravenna, was born May 25, 1816, in Denmark, Lewis Co., N. Y., where his parents, Alpheus and Electa (Bardwell) Root. resided until their death. Our subject came to Ohio in 1837, and after spending a few months in Cuyahoga County, finally located in this county in the autumn of that year. Here he married, January 1, 1845, Miss Adeline Howard, born in Sistersville, Tyler Co. Va. (now West Virginia), September 12, 1821, and brought to this place when a year and a half old by her parents, Salmon and Ruth (Taylor) Howard, and here Mr. Howard cleared and developed a farm, where the parents resided until their death. Mr. Root bought of Mr. Howard the homestead place, and has here resided since 1847. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Root are Mrs. Eliza H. King; Edwin R., attorney at law, New York City; Mrs 011ie J. Phelps; John H., agent of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad, Medina, Ohio; Arthur W., in the office of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railroad, Cleveland, Ohio; Fred and 3. Wesley. Mr. Root is an ardent Republican. He and his family adhere to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
ALBERT G. RUSSELL, carpenter and joiner, Ravenna, was born in 1822, in Nantucket, Mass., son of Capt. Reuben and Maria (Gardner) Russell, natives of Nantucket, and who came to Rootstown, this county, in 184'7. They are descendants of the renowned Tristam Coffin, the heroic pioneer of Nantucket. They purchased a farm in Rootstown Township, this county, where they resided until 1873, when they located in Ravenna. Capt. Russell, who had been a Captain of whaling vessels since about 1817, died July 2, 1875, aged seventy-five years. His widow survives him at the advanced age of eighty-four, and is still in full possession of her faculties. Our subject learned his trade at Nantucket, and came to this county with his parents at twenty-five years of age. He married, October 2, 1853, Miss Caroline Russell, also a native of Nantucket, who came to Ravenna in September, 1839, with her parents, Capt. George G. and Louisa W. (Wyer) Russell, who resided in Ravenna until their death. She died in 1863, and he in 1865. To Mr. and Mrs. Russell have been born two children: Maria Louis (deceased at nine years of age) and Fred A., an architect, now residing in Boston, Mars. Since their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Russell have resided in Ravenna. In 1853 he established a sash, door and blind factory, in partnership with his brother Reuben and Timothy Chase, retaining his connection with the establishment until 1853, since which time he has followed his trade. Mrs. Russell is a consistent member of the Congregational Church. Mr. Russell is a life-long Republican, and takes a deep interest in public affairs; one of the most active and earnest workers on the Board of Health in this city.
HENRY SAPP (deceased) was born August 2, 1768, in the State of Maryland, and married Miss Matilda Boosinger, of Oldtown, Va., October 7, 1796. He came to Ravenna Township, this county, in 1802, and, after making preparations for a home, returned and brought his family out in 1803. The property of 100 acres which be settled near Ravenna Village, he bought of Benjamin Tappan for $150. Their children who are now living are Henry; Mrs. Hannah Hall; Conrad; Jacob, in Vendalia, Ill. ; Asa and Daniel F. They were among the early members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of this place. Mr. Sapp died September 18, 1856. Mrs. Sapp died in April, 1876,
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at the advanced age of one hundred and one years. On the occasion of her one hundreth birthday there was a gathering of her descendants at the homestead. At that time the entire number of descendants was ninety-eight, of whom seventy-five were living.
CONRAD SAPP, retired, Ravenna, was born December 1, 1812, in Ravenna Township, this county, son of Henry and Matilda (Boosinger) Sapp, former a native of Maryland, latter of an adjoining county in Virginia. Henry Sapp came in the fall of 1802, to this county, made preparations to locate his family, and brought them out in 1803, settling near the center of Ravenna Township, adjoining the city. Of their eleven children, six are now living: Henry, Mrs. Hannah Hall, Conrad, Jacob (in Mt. Vernon, Ill.), Asa and Daniel. The father died in 1856, far advanced in years. He was a fine specimen of the pioneer, being large, muscular and active, a man of temperate habits and sterling integrity. The mother was a woman of wonderful energy and endurance. At the age of ninety, she spun flax enough to make forty yards of cloth. Her death occurred April 4, 1876, at the advanced age of one hundred and one years, and one month. Their memory will long be revered by a large circle of descendants, and honored by all who knew them. Our subject, when a boy, helped to set the type for the first copy of the first paper printed in Ravenna. At the age of twenty one he commenced learning tool-making, followed it for ten years, and then entered upon the trade of carpenter and joiner, which he made his principal life-work., He was known as a skillful mechanic, and had erected a large number of the farm buildings and private residences in Ravenna and vicinity. He married, December 8, 1841, Miss Clarissa E. Chapman. She died September 12, 1881, and Mr. Sapp then married, December 5, 1883, Mrs. Malin L. Phelps, daughter of Charles Jones, of Columbiana County, Ohio. This family came from England in 1834, where Mrs. Sapp was born, in 1845. She married on first occasion James Phelps, of this county, and then resided in Ravenna eight years, .and in Rootstown until his death in 1879. Their children were Walter N., who died in 1871, aged sixteen ; Mrs. Alexine J. Moulton, of this county, who died in 1877, and Wykes Phelps, now in Rootstown. Mr. and Mrs. Sapp are now living at their residence on the corner of Prospect and Van Buren Streets. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Sapp and his sister are the oldest members of the church in Ravenna.
DANIEL F. SAPP, farmer, P. 0. Ravenna, was born September 28, 1821, in Ravenna, this county. He was brought up here on his father's farm, and attended the schools of the home district, and of Ravenna, and worked at the blacksmith's trade from 1839 to 1842. He married, June 13, 1849, Miss Lydia Hudson, daughter of Isaac Hudson, and they located on the family homestead, where they have ever since resided. Their children are Hiram, in Nebraska; Charles H. ; Isaac 'Hudson, and Mrs. Anna M. Rawlings. Mr. Sapp now owns the entire home farm of 103 acres, besides twelve acres which he has added to it. The New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad passes along the northern border of the farm.
GIDEON SEYMOUR, attorney, Ravenna, was born in East Granville, Hampden Co., Mass., February 23, 1836, son of Gideon D. and Corintha (Gibbons) Seymour, natives of Massachusetts, who came to Ohio in 1841 and settled in Rootstown Township, this county, where Gideon D. was a man of influence. Our subject was raised on a farm, receiving his education at the common schools of Rootstown Township, and employing the earlier years of his life in teaching. He studied law in the office of Hart & Reed, served as Justice of the Peace nine years, and for the same period as
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Probate Judge, to which he was first elected in 1872. He was Clerk, Treasurer and Assessor (1858) of Rootstown Township, and made the assessment of real estate for 1870, in that township. On September 15, 1859, he was married in Trumbull County, Ohio, to Lucy J., born in Ellsworth, Ohio, daughter of Frederick A. Parker, now of Newton Falls, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Seymour are the parents of the following children now living: Corintha M. and Fred P. Our subject and wife have been connected with the Congregational Church for years. The family are highly esteemed.
JOHN E. SHARP, agent of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad, Ravenna, was born January 25, 1830, in Sharon, Schoharie Co., N. Y., where his parents, John and Elizabeth (Bodine) Sharp, resided until their death. Our subject came to Shalersville, this county, in about 1850, where he completed learning the trade of mason. After remaining there about six years, he located in Ravenna. Here he married Miss Lavinna S. Kellogg, November 11, 1856. Her parents, Alanson and Caroline (Bishop) Kellogg, were natives of this county, and very useful in building up the young village of Ravenna. Mrs. Sharp died August 1, 1877, aged thirty-seven years, leaving three sons: Alfred L., in Jewett, Leon Co., Tex., holding the positions of Postmaster, express agent, and agent of the International & Great Northern Railroad; Dwight E., married to Miss Eva G. Jones (he is in the employ of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad at Ravenna); and Harry S. September 26, 1878, Mr. Sharp married Mrs. Mary E. Cope, widow of Homer Cope, and daughter of C. D. Thompson, of this place. They have one son—Charles R. C. D. Thompson, of Vermont, came to Ravenna while a young lad with his father—Jonathan Thompson. He married Mrs. Abi Sweet, a native of Connecticut, widow of Franklin Sweet. Their sons, Denison C. and W. Wallace, died of typhoid fever, former December 25, 1864, latter February 10, 1865. Mrs. Thompson died in 1863. D. C. Thompson, brother of Mrs. John E. Sharp, had one son, named Dennison C., now twenty-one years of age, unusually active in business for one of his age. He went into the hardware business in Garrettsville, Ohio, alone, when but eighteen years of age, and he is now a partner in the Pierce Manufacturing Company, in Warren, Ohio. John E. Sharp has been connected with the service of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad at this place since about 1865, and was appointed the agent of the company in 1874. In religious belief he is a Universalist. He is a F. & A. M. In politics a Democrat.
I. T. SIDDALL, Prosecuting Attorney, Ravenna, is a son of Mahlon and Elizabeth (Gould) Siddall, of Puritan and Virginia stock, the former a pioneer of Mahoning and Columbiana Counties, Ohio, and who died while a resident of Atwater Township. Our subject, the youngest of nine children, was born in Atwater, and, left fatherless when an infant, early began the btruggle of life. When but twelve years of age he purchased lands, employed a large force of men, and cut and delivered timber to the railroads. He also owned one-half interest in the home farm, in which he succeeded in buying the interest of the other heirs. Receiving a primary education in Atwater Township, he in 1870 entered Mt. Union College, where he graduated in August, 1874, and began the study of law under the direction of W. B. Thomas, of Ravenna. He was admitted to the bar by the District Court of this county in 1876, and opened an office at Springfield, Ohio, but his mother's illness necessitated his return, and he began the practice of his profession in this town in November, 1877. His mother died January 14, 1878, aged seventy-four years, an estimable lady, beloved by all who knew her. Mr. Siddall was chosen Prosecuting Attorney in 1883, the only Democrat elected to county office in the county
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since the Republican party came into power. He is Chairman of the Executive Committee; a member of the Masonic fraternity, Blue Lodge and Chapter; also of the Commandery of Akron, Ohio, and of the Consistory of Pittsburgh, Penn. He is now Master of Unity Lodge, No. 12, F. & A. M.
SOLOMON SLAUGHTER, farmer, P. 0. Ravenna, was born August 31, 1805, in Kent County, Del. He started West at the age of twenty-three years and finally came to Ravenna December 10, 1828. He worked three years in the hotel for Salmon Carter. He then married Miss Ruth Burdick, August, 1831, Purchasing a small claim, which he has ever since occupied, and relying entirely upon his physical resources, he has acquired 100 acres of well-improved land through which the Cleveland & Pittsburgh; and New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroads pass. He still owns a flock of sheep, descendants of the first sheep brought to the place, over fifty years ago. Mrs. Slaughter died October, 1841, leaving four children: John B., of Goshen, Ind. ; Andrew; Lucy; and Betsey (deceased). Mr. Slaughter afterward married his deceased wife's sister—Lucy Burdick, who died three years afterward. He then married Miss Elizabeth Smith, who bore him four children: Mrs. E. B. Caris, of Akron, Ohio; Charles W., of Pullman, Ill.; Martha D. (deceased) and Solomon E., of Ravenna. Mr. Slaughter is now living on the homestead, at the advanced age of eighty years. He still retains his faculties, and does his own work. He is the only pioneer now living in his part of the township and one of the original Republicans of the county, and was deeply interested in the anti-slavery movements. He has led an active and a very useful life? and is respected by all who know him.
WILLIAM SMITH (deceased), son of Capt. Jonathan Smith, a soldier in the Revolutionary war, was born at Mount Holly, N. J., February 8, 1809, and when nine years of age he came, with his parents, to Youngstown, Ohio,, and there married, November 29, 1832, Miss Jane Trotter, by whom he had: the following children: Jonathan S., Mary (Mrs. Day), Alvin T., Isaac W.: and Frank, residing in this county; Judson, Chester and Edgar H. in Pea. body, Kan. ; Charles M., killed in Kansas in 1877 by a boiler explosion', Zenas K., died in this city, January 27, 1878, and William, died in infancy. Four of the sons fought in their country's defense during the late war of the Rebellion, making an aggregate of twelve years' service, and all returned home safe. Charles M. served four years in an Illinois regiment; Alvin T., a member of the Nineteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, also a veteran, served four years and three months, and was mustered out as Sergeant; Zenas K., of the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, served over three years, and Judson served three years in the One Hundred and Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In 1843 Mr. Smith and family came to Deerfield Township, this county. 0ur subject, while in the midst of preparations for voting for Garfield, November 4, 1880, was stricken by the hand of death on the morning of that day. His widow survived him until November 16, 1884. They were a worthy couple highly respected by all who knew them. Jonathan S. Smith in 1857 located in Ravenna. where he married Miss Lillian L. Freeman, October 31, 1861 He engaged in the dry goods business with H. L. Day in 1864, and in 18 formed a partnership with his brother. Zenas K., which lasted until 187 and Jonathan S. then carried on the business until 1878. He established h present grocery and provision store in 1880, having as partner his only son Henry F. Alvin T. Smith married, September 12, 1867, Miss Lucy H. Hari ris, daughter of S. D. Harris, and they have one daughter—Nellie. He established in 1878 a dry goods and carpet store, which he still carries on.
ROBERT SMITH, lumber dealer, Ravenna, was born June 19, 1833, in Ravenna Township, this county. His father, Moses D. Smith, of the neigh-
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borhood of Canandaigua, N. Y., a miller by trade, came to Ohio in very early times and married Miss Mary Reed at Parkman, Geauga County. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and served with distinction to the close of the struggle. One year after their marriage our subject's parents came to Ravenna Township, this county, where the father carried on for several years the mill on Mahoning Creek east of Ravenna, and after about two years' residence in Brimfield Township, this county, they finally located permanently in Ravenna. Moses D. Smith had learned the trade of carpenter while in his native State, which trade he followed here. He was an excellent mechanic, and many buildings now standing testify to his superior skill. He died here in November, 1853. His widow survived him until February, 1867. Of their six chil- dren Robert is the second. Our subject married, May 2, 1855, Miss Elvira B. McMannus, daughter of Philip and Harriet McMannus, who came here from Erie County, Penn., when she was but seven years of age. They were well-known and highly respected residents of Ravenna, where they died, the mother December 8, 1863, and the father June 24, 1872. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born three children: Frank F., Mrs. Addie E. Swain and Harriet E. Oar subject learned his father's trade, that of carpenter, which he has followed about twenty years. He established a lumber yard in the place in 1873, and had as a partner, for about eight months, his brother-in-law, Edwin Smith, who sold his interest to J. S. Marvin in July, 1874. The firm is now known as R. Smith & Co. They do a general trade in lumber, and manufacture the "Common-sense Wooden Bed Spring." Mr. Smith served seven months in 1865 in the One Hundred and Ninety-sixth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He is a Master Mason; a member of the A. L. of H., the R. A. and G. A. R.
P. W. SNYDER, merchant, Ravenna, was born May 22, 1845, in Rootstown, this county, son of Peter and Henrietta (Wagner) Snyder, former a native of Allentown, Penn. They came to Franklin Township, this county, in 1840, and in 1843 located in the southwest part of Rootstown Township, where they resided until his decease, which occurred June 23, 1845. The cause of his death was erysipelas, which was then raging as an epidemic in the county. Mrs. Snyder lived to bring up her family of four boys and four girls, and died in the same township January 6, 1873. She was a lady of fine business capabilities, and of most estimable character. Our subject has taken care of himself almost ever since he was nine years of age, making his home with his sister, Mrs. William P. Collins. At eighteen years of age he enlisted in the One Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio National Guards, April 27, 1864, and was in the service four months, part of which time he was confined in the hospital at Covington, Ky., suffering from a severe attack of typhoid fever. Returning home he spent three years clerking in Rootstown and Randolph, this county, Mr. Snyder married, April 18, 1869, Miss Emma E. Rowe, of Ravenna. They moved to Lyons, Iowa, where Mrs. Snyder died March 15,1870. In the following autumn Mr. Snyder returned and located permanently in Ravenna. Here he clerked two years with N. Converse, and five years with Smith Bros. On April 1, 1878, he entered into partnership with N. Converse, which was continued until 1880, when Mr. Freeman purchased Mr. Converse's interest. The firm is now known as Snyder & Freeman. Mr. Snyder married, October 19, 1873, Miss Orpha A. Brobst, of Brimfield Township, this county. She is a member of the Disciples Church.,
WILLIS STRICKLAND, retired farmer, was born June 10, 1801, in Sandisfield, Berkshire Co., Mass., and at the age of fourteen went with his father's family to the township of Otis, Berkshire County, where he lived till he came
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to Ohio. In 1827 he married Miss Lucy Hawley, and in June, 1839, came to Windham Township, this county, where Mrs. Strickland died in January, 1841, leaving three children: Seth, in Minnesota; Selah, in Wisconsin; and Lucy H., who died at the age of twenty-four. Our subject next married, in June, 1841, Mrs. Caroline Gardner, of New Lebanon, N. Y., and came at once to his home in this county. To this union were born three children: George (a farmer in Ravenna), John (died, aged sixteen), Willis (killed at the age of sixteen, by a kick from a horse in 1875). This wife dying in January, 1866, Mr. Strickland married, November 27, 1866, Mrs. Sarah E. Richards, who had at that time one daughter—Alice-now the wife of Milton R. Furry, of Ravenna. Mr. Strickland moved to Ravenna in April, 1855. Mr. Strickland has been very successful as a farmer and business man, devoting himself principally to live stock. He was active in public affairs up to 1855, and while in Massachusetts was called to various public offices, including Postmaster and Representative in the Legislature. In July, 1875, he, in company with N. D. Clark, went to Dakota, taking $125,000 in Northern Pacific Railroad bonds owned by themselves and other citizens of Portage County, where they were exchanged for land in Cass County, which has proved to be a good investment for the bond-holders in Windham Township, this county. He was twice elected Justice of the Peace. He is now and has been for the last twenty years a stockholder and one of the Directors in the First National Bank of Ravenna, Ohio. Mrs. Strickland is a member of the Disciples Church.
DR. ISAAC SWIFT (deceased) was born in Cornwall, Litchfield Co, Conn., January 30, 1790, the youngest son and fourth child in a line of five children of Dr. Isaac Swift. His father was a Revolutionary patriot. When the British opened the war at Lexington, Dr. Swift, with a company of his neighbors, at once proceeded to Boston and entered the ranks of the patriot army. Dr. Swift was assigned the position of surgeon, in which capacity he served during the war. He died in 1802, when his son, the subject of this biography, was twelve years of age. Mrs. Swift, a most estimable woman, followed her husband to the grave in, about six years, her son Isaac then being in his eighteenth year. Young Swift entered, upon a course of study, attending medical lectures in New York City, and after completing his studies, was admitted or licensed to practice in New Jersey. In the spring of 1815 he set out westward, with a view to select a desirable point at which to establish himself in the practice of medicine. Mounted upon horseback, with all his worldly effects in a portmanteau attached to the saddle, he commenced his pilgrimage, and after rough riding, reached Cleveland City, as the natives called it, though its population was the mere handful of a hundred or two. After halting here for a short time, the young doctor resumed his journey, and in the month of June, 1815, drew rein upon his steed in the village of Ravenna, having then ridden over 1,000 miles. His horse, in swimming Grand River, at Painesville, took cold, and upon arriving at Ravenna was too sick to proceed farther. This obliged the Doctor to remain in Ravenna, nolens volens ; thus the trifling matter of the sickness of a horse located him for life; his search after "a home in the West" ceased, and for over half a century he was a prominent resident of Ravenna. In 1816 Dr. Swift formed a partnership with the late Seth Day, for a term of five years. The firm bought out a store kept by a man named Hazlipp, adding to it a stock of medicines, Day carrying on the store and Swift continuing his practice. In 1817 Mr. Day was appointed Clerk of the Court and Recorder of the county. In 1820 the partnership was dissolved, and the store eventually passed back to Hazlipp, the Doctor retaining the stock of medicines. January 15, 1818, he was married to Eliza Thomp-
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son, and immediately after marriage the newly married couple commenced housekeeping in a dwelling then standing upon the ground now occupied by the Etna Block. In 1823 the erection of the Swift homestead, on Chestnut Street, was commenced, the building being completed in 1824, since which time it has been the residence of the family. After the dissolution of Day & Swift in 1820, the drug store was continued by the Doctor for a time in the Hazlipp store, and afterward, from 1822' to 1825, in the store of Cyrus Prentiss (that place of business being upon the corner now occupied by the First National Bank), in connection with which his medical practice was retained. In 1824 Dr. Swift was elected Treasurer of the county, and held the office until 1831. In 1825 he built a drug store upon the east corner of his lot on Chestnut Street, and established his business there. In 1828, after a practice of thirteen years, he retired permanently from the practice of medicine, devoting his time exclusively to the Treasurership and drug store. In 1842 the drug store was moved to the brick building on Main Street, known as Swift's Block or building. A brief partnership with the late Curtiss Hatch ensued, and the drug business was continued until 1859, when Dr. Swift disposed of it to his son, Dr. Charles E. Swift, and retired from active business. In 1846 he State Legislature conferred the appointment of Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, of this county, upon Dr. Swift. He occupied the position with usefulness and dignity for five years, at which time the office was abolished by the adoption of the new State Constitution. Mrs. Swift united with the church in 1826, but her husband was not led to such a step until September 11, 1831, a conviction then coming upon him from attending a protracted meeting held by Rev. Charles B. Storrs, at Hudson. At this time Rev. Alvan Nash was pastor of the Ravenna Church. Dr. Swift took an active interest in the church, and became a leader in its affairs and counsels, and so remained up to the day of his death. For over forty years he was the church Treasurer, and he filled various positions within the scope of the church organization. Dr. Swift died at his residence on Chestnut Street, Ravenna, on Tuesday evening, July 14, 1874, in the eighty-fifth year of his age.
W. B. THOMAS, attorney, Ravenna, is a son of William D. Thomas, who was born in South Wales, February 18, 1810, and married Miss Ann Davis, of Llandowey, Carmarthenshire, South Wales, June 10, 1832, and April 14, 1836, with his wife and two small children—Sarah and David—left a large number of relatives and emigrated to America. They were forty days on the ocean. Arriving at New York they took passage up the Hudson River, through the Erie Canal to Buffalo, N. Y., thence to Cleveland, Ohio, by boat, and thence, with others who settled in Palmyra, this county, to Ravenna on foot (having a wagon to carry their baggage), arriving at the old Exchange Hotel June 10, 1836, unable to speak a word in English, and $30 in debt. He was a very industrious man. For years he worked for Zenas Kent as a farm laborer in summer, and threshed with the old hickory flail in the winter. He was ever grateful to David Jennings and others who aided him when in need. In April, 1846, he removed to Paris Township, and after some years of constant labor and economy on the part of himself and wife, who is a good financier, became the owner of a large farm and pleasant home, where he lived to the close of his life, April 10, 1881. He was a man of sympathetic nature, conscientious and honest. Mr. and Mrs. William D. Thomas were the parents of six children: Sarah A., David W., Mary A., John R., William B. and Amelia (the first and last named are deceased). Our subject, W. B., was born in Franklin Township, this county, about three miles west of Ravenna Village, on the Kent farm, May 1, 1845. He was brought up on the farm,
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and knew what it was to milk ten cows night and morning, and to mow his own swath. He first acquired a common school education, then attended the academy at Newton Falls, Ohio, then taught district and select school, saving from his earnings enough to complete his education. In 1863 he attended Hiram College, this county, at which time political proscription and intolerance was indulged in by the Faculty to such an extent that he and seven others refused to submit and withdrew from the college. This subsequently caused the removal of the President of the college, J. H. Rhodes. Young W. B. then attended college at West Farmington until the fall of 1864, when he entered the law school at Ann Arbor, Mich., where he graduated on March 22, 1866; was admitted to practice in Michigan, intending to remain at Ann Arbor, but was called home by his parents. He was admitted to prat,. tics in Ohio September 12, 1866, at Canfield, Ohio. Again he taught school and aided his parents upon the farm until April 23, 1868, when he hung out his shingle as a lawyer in the Empire Building, Ravenna Village, and has? ever since occupied the same rooms as his office. He is earnestly devoted to his clients and is in every sense a successful lawyer and an enterprising citizen. On June 22, 18'70, at Chardon, Ohio, he was married to Willie Abbie Belden, born in Farmington, Trumbull Co., Ohio, July 22, 1850, and daughter of Dr. C. L. Belden, now of Portage County, Ohio, and by her he has the] following children, all living: Winnie B., born in 1874; Ida T., born in 1876, and Charlie B., born in 1881; and of his children our subject is very fond.
RICHARD J. THOMPSON, farmer, P. 0. Ravenna, was born January 13, 1809, in Stockbridge, Berkshire Co., Mass. His parents, Isaac and Polly (Campbell) Thompson, came to Ravenna Township, this county, in 1814, driving from Stockbridge, Mass., with a yoke of oxen, one wagon drawn by one horse and another wagon drawn by two horses. They had seven children with them and the journey occupied forty-two days. At that time Isaac Thompson was offered land in Cleveland, Ohio, anywhere east of the square, on Euclid Avenue, for $10 per acre. , Their children were Mrs. Eliza Swift, who died in Ravenna, Ohio, in December, 1884, at the advanced age of eighty-five; Harry C., deceased Charles B., deceased; Rev. Orrin C., in Detroit, Mich., who has been a Congregational minister for over fifty years; Richard J. and his twin brother Robert W., latter deceased; Mrs. Mary H. Sabin, and Mrs. Charlotte Carnahan, deceased. The mother died about 1844, aged seventy; the father followed her in about 1859, aged eighty-five years. They were upright pion: people and won the respect and esteem of all who knew them. Our Bull:, married, November 16, 1834, Miss Adelia Benton, of Guilford, Conn., and this union were born four daughters: Mrs. Julia B. Hall, of Euclid Avenue) Cleveland, Ohio; Mrs. Hattie L. Hanna, of the same place; Mrs. Helen McLain, deceased, and Mrs. Frances D. Smith, deceased. Mrs. Thompson died January 11, 1883. She was a member of the Congregational Church a lady of estimable Christian character. Mr. Thompson is one of the origin. Republicans of Portage County. In early days he took a deep interest in th movement against the cause of slavery. He is one of those devoted men w will be honored by future generations as the sustainers of the famous " Under. ground Railroad.' His present residence, where he has lived over seven years, was the building in which the first court of Portage County was held: He is now one of the oldest continuous residents of the township. Mr. Thom , son bought and used the first mowing machine &ought into the Weste Reserve, one of the old Ketchum patent. People used to come from all poin to see it work. This would be about the year 1855, or perhaps earlier.
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JULIAETTE THOMSON was born in Shalersville March 3, 1823, daughter of William and Sina (Crane) Thomson, former of whom died October 3, 1852, latter August 26, 1853, in Shalersville, and grand-daughter of Abiah Crane. William Thomson and Sina Crane were married in Surry, Cheshire Co., N. H., in 1810, and in the winter of 1812-13 came to Ohio, and when they arrived in Shalersville they found but twelve families in the town. Her father removed to Ohio in 1812 and settled in Shalersville Township, this county, where he encountered the trials incident to the life of a pioneer, and established a home. Our subject was there raised and educated, and contributed by her efforts and association to the progress and development of that township. She was twice married, on first occasion January 1, 1845, to Levi L. Colton, of Freedom Township, this county, and who died April 27, 1860. Her second marriage, December 8, 1862, was with Mr. Whitney, who died May 19, 1882. The widow now resides in Ravenna, and, though she has no children of her own, delights in doing for others, and is beloved by all who know her.
WILLIAM F. TOWNS, dealer in boots and shoes, Ravenna, was born May 8, 1844, in Paris Township, Stark Co., Ohio. His parents, Joseph and Harriet Towns, former a native of Maine, latter of Maryland, settled in Stark County, Ohio, in early life, and moved to Ravenna Township, this county, in 1864. Here Mr. Towns departed this life March 5, 1871. Of their ten children five are now living: T. H. (in Pomeroy, Ohio), William F., Mrs. W. S. Churchill (in Ravenna Township, this county), M. N. (in Brookville, Kan.), and L. J. (in this city). Mrs. Towns is now living in Ravenna. Our subject received his early education in the schools of the home district and in attending college at Alliance, Ohio. He established and carried on the Salem Business College, Salem, Ohio, during the winter of 1869-70. Mr. Towns was united in marriage October 24, 1870, with Miss Hattie M., daughter of W. D. Durham, of this city, and they have two children: Florence I. and Nellie A. In 1882 Mr, Towns established a boot and shoe business on Main Street, in Ravenna, and by courtesy to his customers and strict business principles he has built up an extensive trade in the city and vicinity. He is quite a church worker, a member of the official board of officers of one of the leading churches of the city, and does a good portion of its financial work; he is at present Church Treasurer, which position he has held several years.
WILLIAM WADSWORTH, deceased, was born December 16, 1820, in Canfield, Ohio, son of Edward and Pamelia Wadsworth, natives of New England, and who moved to Ohio from Litchfield, Conn. At fourteen years of age our subject came to Ravenna, where he learned the printer's trade in the office of the Ohio Star. He then embarked actively in the profession of journalism, for which he was especially fitted. He acted as foreman of the Cabinet and Visitor three years and then became joint proprietor with Mr. Dewey of he Ohio Star. He afterward purchased his partner's interest and conducted the paper alone until 1848. He became a member of the firm of Hall, Herrick & Wadsworth, proprietors of the Portage County Democrat in 1854, relinquishing his position in 1856, to assume his duties as a member of the banking house of Robinson, King & Co. He held the position of Treasurer of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad during the time the office of the company was located in Ravenna. Mr. Wadsworth married, May 8, 1844, Miss Elizabeth R. King, born in Ravenna, January 10, 1819, and daughter of the well-known pioneers, John and Polly King, who came here from Blandford, Mass., in 1814, having lived four years previously in Charlestown Township, this county. Mr. Wadsworth. died April 22, 1860, leaving a widow and four children: Mrs. Francelia
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E. Dewey, Edward W. (deceased), Charles B. and Cora B. Mrs. Wadsworth now resides at the family homestead. Mr. Wadsworth was a business man of wonderful energy and sound integrity, of firm Christian character, and as a citizen of liberality and enterprise, one who was respected and esteemed by all classes. Their son, Charles B., adopted the profession of civil engineering, and has been engaged on the Wheeling & Lake Erie, Cleveland & Pittsburgh and Alliance, Niles & Ashtabula Railroads, and for several months on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. He was elected Surveyor of Portage County, Ohio, at the general election in October, 1884.
JOSEPH WAGGONER, physician and surgeon, Ravenna, was born near Richmond, Jefferson Co., Ohio, December 30, 18.21. His father, William Waggoner, of German-Irish parentage, residing in northeastern Maryland, married Miss Sarah Jackson, of northwestern Delaware, and of Scotch English descent. Loading their household goods into a wagon, they began the tedious journey over the mountains to the wilderness of Ohio, landing in Jefferson County, in 1805, and locating on a quarter-section near Richmond. Here they built a log-cabin, began their pioneer labor, and spent their useful and honored lives, raising a family of eight boys and four girls. Our subject, the tenth in the family, grew up on the farm, working during the summer and attend. ing the district school in the winter. In his eighteenth year he began teaohing during the winters and attending a select school at Richmond during the' summers. On attaining his majority he entered the Steubenville Academy, to prepare for entering college, but his health failing, a further classical course was by his friends deemed inadvisable. After resting and recruiting his health for nearly a year he commenced the study of medicine under Drs. Johnson and Henning. of Steubenville, in the spring of 1843, continuing until the fall, of 1846. During the winter of 1846-47 he attended medical lectures at the Cleveland Medical College, and subsequently had the degree of Doctor of Medicine conferred on him by that institution. In the spring of 1847 he located at Deerfield, this county, in the practice of his chosen profession, where for six teen years he was engaged in its duties and responsibilities. In the spring of 1863 he removed to Ravenna, where he at once entered upon an enlarged and, constantly increasing practice. During the year 1864 he visited Washington D. C., tendering his services to the Government, which were accepted. entered the army as Assistant Surgeon, and was placed on duty at Lincoln Hospital, but his stay there was short. His wife's health became precarious, and he was induced to resign his position and return home. Since that ti he has been continually and assiduously engaged in the practice of medicine his life work, allowing nothing to interfere with its duties. The Doctor is
F. & A. M., a member of nothing American Medical Association, the OW State Medical Society, the Northeastern Ohio Medical Society, and the Portag County Medical Society. His literature consists of society papers and occasional political article. He is very liberal in his professional views, an willing to fraternize, when humanity calls, with medical gentlemen of the s called different schools. In theology he is also very tolerant of the views the different sects, gladly welcoming the day when those differences will disa pear. He supports the different churches liberally, believing in the doctrine Christianity and its ennobling influences on mankind. Politically in early life the Doctor was a Whig, and a great admirer of Henry Clay, for whom he his first Presidential vote. When the Republican party was organized, he joined it, and has ever since been battling for its political ascendancy, voting for its nominees, Fremont, Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Garfield and Blaine. Dr. Wagoner is known as a straightforward, honest man. He is courteous and gentle-
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manly in manner, genial in disposition, and liberal in spirit and action. He enjoys the esteem of all those with whom he is acquainted professionally or socially. As a general practitioner and family physician, he has few equals, always endeavoring to keep his patients well, as much as to cure them. In June, 1862, our subject married Miss Mary M. Regal, of Deerfield, this county, who by her domestic virtues has proved a life helpmate. Four children were born to them: George Joseph, Arthur Judson; William Wallace, and Mary Josephine, the first and last of whom are living. Arthur and William, two lovely and promising boys, aged eleven and eight, respectively, died of that dread disease, diphtheria, in January, 1880, and were buried on the same day, January 18. This is the one great sorrow of his life, and is the only shadow that hangs over an otherwise happy home.
EDWIN R. WAIT, jeweler and watch-maker, Ravenna, was born in Aurora, this county, July 4, 1830. His parents, Jonathan and Abigail Wait, of Ches- ter, Mass., settled in this county about 1825. They lived the lives of useful pioneers, and raised a family of ten children, of whom but three are now living in this county. The mother died February 23,1877; the father January 17, 1881, at the age of eighty-four. Our subject at the age of twenty-one began learning the trade of jeweler and watch-maker, with R. A. Baird, of Ravenna, and was for many years engaged with him, finally purchasing the entire busi- ness. He carried on the enterprise alone for many years, taking in as a partner his brother, Alva F., in 1871. The firm is now known as Wait Bros. They enjoy an extensive custom as manufacturing jewelers, watch-makers and dealers in a complete line of jewelers' goods. Theirs is the oldest business house (with one exception) in Ravenna. Mr. Wait married Miss Mary E. Swift, November 18, 1858. She is a daughter of Dr. Isaac Swift, one of the early settlers of this city, and for many years prominently identified with the medical profession. To Mr. and Mrs. Wait have been born one son—Henry M. and one daughter--Emily M. Our subject and wife are members of the Congregational Church. Mr. Wait is a life-long Republican, casting his first vote for Fremont. He takes a deep interest in public affairs. Has been a member of the Board of Education for fifteen years.
WALLACE WILLIAMSON (deceased) was born in Washington County, Penn., December 15, 1817, but was brought up principally in Bethlehem, Stark Co., Ohio. At sixteen years of age he started on foot to the Maumee Swamps, Ohio, where his uncle, George Robinson, was acting as a civil engineer on the Ohio Canal. He learned that profession under his uncle, and followed it for about twenty-five years on that and the Ohio & Pennsylvania Canals. He married, January 4, 1842, Miss Alvira S. Judd, born May 5,1822, in Ravenna Township, his county. Her father, Charles Judd, of Hamilton, County, N. Y., came, when a young man, in 1818, to this county, where he married Miss Lucina, daughter of the pioneers, Moses and Mary (Abele) Smith, who settled here from Litchfield County, Conn., in 1805. Mr. Judd died November 17, 1864. His widow still survives him at the advanced age of eighty-five years, being the oldest continuous resident of Ravenna Township now living. Mrs. Williamson is their only child. Seven years after their marriage Mr. Williamson purchased the old Judd family homestead of 126 acres, near the corporation line of Ravenna. He devoted his time partly to this, and partly to canal and railroad engineering. He had an accidental fall on his premises on February 12, 1881, which resulted in his death on the 21st of that month. He was an active man in agricultural affairs, taking a very prominent part in the Portage Agricultural Society. He was a leading member of the P. of H., being an influential member of the State and
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National Granges. His widow and their only son—Marshall—survive him, and reside at the family homestead. Mrs. Williamson is a pious member of the Disciples Church, the faith of her father and mother.
ANDREW WILLYARD, farmer, P. 0. Ravenna, was born March 27, 1830, in Ravenna Township, this county. His father, Benjamin Willyard, came from Maryland to this county in 1808 with his parents, and here he married Miss Elizabeth Eatinger, daughter of John and Christiana Eatinger. They had a family of five children: Mrs. Julia Ann Canis, Andrew, Phylena (deceased), John and Charles (latter deceased). The father died April 6,1868, and the mother January 12, 1878. They were upright pioneer citizens, pious members of the Lutheran Church, enjoying the respect of all who knew them. Our subject married Miss Susan Welk, of Mahoning County, Ohio, January 25, 1859, and they then settled where they now reside. They own a fine farm of 150 acres in Ravenna and Rootstown Townships. Their children now living are Charles H.; Judson C., in Dakota; Clara E.; Calvin B. and Kate E. Two died in infancy. The subject of this sketch is a worthy descendant of one of the oldest and most influential pioneer families of Portage County.
GEORGE WISMAN, farmer, P. 0. Ravenna, was born March 23, 1823, in Beaver County, Penn.; son of William and Hester Wisman, natives of same county, and who came to this county in 1824, settling in Rootstown Township. (Mrs. Wisman was a daughter of the famous scout and Indian hunter, Andrew Poe). Here Mr. Wisman met his death in 1826 by being accidentally shot while out hunting wild hogs with a friend, Mr. Carl. Mrs. Wisman then returned with her family to her native county, where she resided until 1839, when they located in Ravenna Township, this county. The children were Mrs. Elizabeth R. Hall, of Rootstown; Andrew Poe, in Van Wert County, Ohio) (deceased); George and Sarah (latter deceased). Mrs. Wisman died in 1873, at the age of seventy-six years. Our subject married, in 1848, Miss Sarah Jane, daughter of Daniel Clark, of Rootstown. She died in 1854, leaving; one daughter—Mrs. Mary Merrill, of Meadville, Penn. Mr. Wisman after- ward married, March 22, 1855, Miss Eliza Uncapher, of Columbiana County, Ohio. They have five children: Samantha, George, Eliza Eldora, John Poe and William. Mr. Wisman purchased his present place south of Ravenna, toll which he has added until he now owns an excellent farm of 160 acres of well-improved land. He has recently erected a fine residence thereon. He and his wife are consistent members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Wisman is a man who has begun upon his own resources and risen to his present prosperity by his own industry and good management. In politics be is a Democrat.
ROBERT B. WITTER, proprietor of livery, etc., Ravenna, was born October 29, 1829, in Truro, Nova Scotia, where his father, Ezra Witter, died about 1848. Our subject came to this county about 1849, settling in Ravenna hi 1854. His mother, Margaret Witter, came to this county in 1850 and died in Rootstown September 5, 1853; his sisters, Mrs. Isabella Butler and Mrs. Mary A. Day, and his brother Charles now live in Ravenna, Ohio. Our subject followed his trade as harness-maker until 1863, and has conducted a livery stable since 1875. He married, in October, 1872, Mrs. Mary A. Steadman, widow of Dr. Charles E. Steadman, and daughter of Robert and Mary Ann Hamilton, of New Baltimore, Ohio. Mrs. Witter died May 30, 1879, leaving one daughter-Mary A. Witter.
FREDERICK WELLS WOODBRIDGE, Ravenna, was born at Manchester, Conn., in 1824. His father, who had been wealthy, lost his all in the financial panic of 1837, and came to Ohio with his son in 1839. In 1841 the boy began to clerk for Clapp & Spellman, at Akron, and soon after for Zeus
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Kent, of Ravenna, who had noticed his character and ability. With characteristic unselfishness, young Woodbridge gave his father his wages to help him buy a farm, denying himself many comforts for that purpose. Too poor to venture into society, he was yet too rich in self-respect and principle to indulge in bad habits. He went into business for himself in 1846. Mr. Woodbridge's head, heart and life all testify that the clock of his fortune struck twelve in 1847, when he married Mary A. Brayton, of Ravenna. He engaged in business soon after with his father-in-law; removed to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1853, where with others he built the Cleveland Powder Mills, which he operated successfully for several years, when he again entered a mercantile life and prosecuted an extensive business in connection with the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company. He returned to Ravenna in 18'73, where he still lives, engaged in the manufacture of glass. He is emphatically a Christian business man, enterprising, energetic, sagacious, successful, and of invulnerable integrity. He is domestic in his tastes, and more than beautiful in his home life. A patient and dutiful son, a kind and wise father, a genial friend, the idol of his children, the king of his wife's affection, as she is the queen of his heart. He is as tenderly devoted as the most ardent young lover, aiding her enthusiastically in all her reform work.—Rev. A. M. Hills.
MRS. MARY A. WOODBRIDGE. — Mary A. Brayton was a Nantucket girl, which explains much in her brave career and character. Left to themselves during the long and dangerous voyages of men who sought the northern seas for "light, more light" (in the halcyon days of spermaceti, before Col. Drake struck oil from Pennsylvania's bosom), the women of Nantucket were by nature and nurture hardy, strong and self-reliant.. But with these qualities not sufficiently emphasized in the "regulation pattern" of the softer sex, these unique islanders combined great tenderness and depth of head and conscience. How could it fail to be so, when they fervently prayed for the safe home-coming of their best-beloved, and kept their memory green by constant recitals to their children of the virtues of their absent sons and sires ? From the same lineage that has given us Prof. Maria Mitchell, of Vassar College, and Phoebe Hanaford, the preacher and poet, comes their cousin, Mary A. Woodbridge, whose name has already lent to temperance annals one of the brightest pages this century can show. Her father, Capt. Isaac Brayton (see page 814), a man of character and substance, repeats his noblest traits in his most gifted child, but more than all we trace the gentle, tender spirit which makes more firm her stand for truth, and the unfailing trust in God which were the gift and teaching of a devoted mother to a tenderly loved daughter, and see in her those rare qualities possessed by that mother (Love Mitchell Brayton) and her brother, Prof. William Mitchell, the brilliant astronomer, of whom it is said "none knew them but to love." Her sunny years of childhood were sedulously turned to account under the guidance of wise parental counsel and able teachers. Little Mary was the prodigy of the school-room, especially in mathematics. That most progressive educator, Horace Mann, on witnessing some of her exploits at six years of age, said: " Persevere, my child, you will yet make a notable woman." At eighteen our heroine was both wife and mother, having married Frederick Wells Woodbridge, Esq., a successful young merchant, who made her acquaintance in the pleasant town of Ravenna, for some years her father's home. A residence in Cleveland followed her marriage, where two daughters are now living. One son, though of the stature of manhood, is the joy of his parents, while the elder awaits their coming to the home beyond. Home cares did not prevent Mrs. Woodbridge's constant growth in mental acquisitions and acu-
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men. Books have always been her "next of kin," and of few can it be said with greater truth, that "she lived on her ideas." She was Secretary of a literary club, over which Gen. James A. Garfield presided (in his frequent visits to Cleveland), and all unconsciously she was preparing for the great work awaiting the Christian women of her native land. Finally the clock of God struck the hour of the crusade, and among the leaders which, in the sacred exclusion of their homes and manifold activities of their Church life, had been serving their novitiate, forth came Mary A. Woodbridge into the peaceful war for God, and home, and native land. Of the three-fold call—" opportunity, adaptation and success"—by which she was ushered into gospel temperance work, let her own pastor, Rev. A. M. Hills, tell in the fitting words that follow: "The crusade came with the suddenness and the power of Pentecost, bringing, also, like it, a, baptism of the Holy Ghost. In common with thousands of others of her Ohio sisters, she felt the movings of the Spirit. Her eyes were opened to see in a new light the woes caused by intemperance. She went to her closet, and there, when alone with her God, heard the Divine voice asking, `Whom shall I send?' She had the grace given her to lay herself upon the altar in, consecration, with the prayer, 'Here am I; I will be or do whatever pleaseth Thee.' But she did not yet understand the vision, nor realize that a live coal had touched her lips. She had been a professing Christian for thirty years, but had never spoken a word in public or offered an audible prayer. Soon she attended a great union meeting which had come together in the excitement of the hour without any one having been appointed to preside when gathered. It was thought best that this should be done by a woman. Who should it be? One after another thought of her, and she was asked to take the place. She was utterly overcome with fear and a sense of inability, and pleaded to be excused. Her aged father came to her side and tenderly reminded her of her consecration vow, and then left her. Her pastor came a second time, when, with a struggle, she said to one standing by, 'Doctor, ask the audience to rise and sing Coronation; I never can walk up the aisle with these people looking at me.' As' they sang, she went forward, trembling with weakness and praying every step 'Lord, help me! Lord, help me!' She called upon a brother to pray: then she read a verse of Scripture, and began to say—she knew not what. But God put his own message into her anointed lips. The deeps of her woman's heart were moved; self was forgotten in her message. She pleaded for the degraded victims of drink; for their heartbroken wives and mothers, and for their suffering and degraded children. Her words poured forth in tender and resistless eloquence, till the multitude were moved as one man. The strong were melted to tears. Christians wept and prayed together. A cool-headed Judge arose and solemnly declared that he had never been in an audience so manifestly moved by the Holy Ghost. In that one sacred hour she was lifted by the providence of God into a new life. Her mission had come. Like St. Paul, she had had a revelation, and she has not since that time been disobedient to the heavenly vision." Ever since then the history of Mrs. Woodbridge is part and parcel of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, "that sober, second thought of the crusade." She has risen to her present eminence by sure and regular gradation, being at first President of the local union of her own home town at Ravenna, then for years President of her State, and in 1878 she was chosen Recording Secretary of he National Women's Christian Temperance Union, a position which she fills with unrivalled ability, her minutes being almost never susceptible of improvement by even the slightest verbal change. This is, indeed, a fact "significant of much," for only the quickest ear, keenest perception and readiest hand could so " keep
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the run" of proceedings to the last degree intricate, rapid and changeful. Upon the resignation of Mrs. J. Ellen Foster (at the St. Louis National W. C. T. U. convention, in October, 1884,) Mrs.Woodbridge was unanimously chosen National Superintendent of the Department of Legislation and Petitions. She is now in the field addressing large audiences at leading centers of influence, and is received with the consideration due to her character, talents and influence. But the crowning work of Mrs.Woodbridge thus far, was her consummate conduct of the Constitutional Amendment campaign, especially when the stage of submitting the prohibitory clause had been successfully passed. Her wonderful alertness of mind, facility of leadership, patience and far-reaching wisdom, had here a splendid field. Political leaders in Ohio said "they were outworked, out-witted and out-generaled." Almost unaided by the partisan press, with faithlessness in camp and field, the parties making a promise to the ear only to break it to the hope, this steadfast nature still held on its way, trusted by the people of Ohio and devoutly trusting them. But in God were the hidings of her power. Whether she edited the Amendment Herald, which under her leadership attained a weekly circulation of 100,000 copies, or directed the appointments of the temperance workers who were "out campaigning, stirred the zeal of her local workers by letter and telegram, or pleaded for the sinews of war, her faith failed not," and words of prayer were ever on her lips, or promises of God from the Book with which she has so great familiarity. What wonder that more than 300,000 voters responded by "Yes" ballots to such earnest workers as the White Ribbon women of Ohio, under such splendid leadership. Later on, when the amendment was counted out, Mrs. Woodbridge has taken positions so far advanced as to he safe conduct of prohibition movements, that many good people have been unable "to see light in her light," but she goes bravely forward, undaunted, undeterred, "with firmness in the right as God gives her to see the right," exhibiting in this the choicest quality of her noble character, viz.: fidelity to her convictions at cost of comfort and of praise. The W. C. T. U. is unspeakably dear to Mrs. Woodbridge, but the temperance reform is dearer still, and what she believes to be for its best interests, she will steadily pursue, "with malice toward none and charity for all." Happily for this gifted woman, " her husband's heart, doth safely trust in her." Her noble son, now up to man's estate, is so truly "moth- er's boy," that he drinks in of her spirit and appreciates her work. Out of gratitude to God for the immunity of her own family circle, Mary A. Woodbridge works—not out of grief or desperation. Her home furnishes salient refutation to the foolish fallacy that women of brains, enterprise and public spirit are not good house-keepers. Mrs. Woodbridge is a rare florist; many varieties of roses embellish her garden. Rare exotics flourish in her sunny house; viands prepared by her own skilled and industrious hands render attractive her hospitable board. " These things ought ye to have done and not left the other undone," seems to have been her motto. A model wife and mother, a royal friend, an earnest Christian, long may she live and labor for a sacred cause. —Frances E. Willard.