(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 651 JOHN M. HOERTZ, one of the leading men of Norton Township, residing on his well-improved farm of forty-eight and a quarter acres, was born October 22, 1852, in Independence Township, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and is a son of Philip Hoertz. The mother of Mr. Hoertz died when he was an infant, and his father passed away when he was a boy of ten years. He thereupon went to the home of his uncle, John Hoertz, who was a farmer of Cuyahoga County, and remained with him, working on the farm for seven years. After this he worked on farms in the neighborhood until 1875, when he rented a farm, after his marriage, and his family lived on it until 1882, when he purchased his present farm in Norton Township. He has done a large amount of improving here in the way of building and remodeling, and has a very comfortable home. He grows fine fruits and vegetables. On April 1, 1875, Mr. Hoertz was married to Mary L. Harris, who is a daughter of Vincent G. and Magdalena (Long) Harris. Vincent G. Harris was born in Wayne County, Ohio, February 7, 1826, and died at his home in Copley, November 14, 1905, lacking but a few months of being eighty years of age. He was a son of Aaron and Ellen Harris. He secured such educational training as was afforded in the schools of his day, and after his marriage settled on a farm of fifty acres, one mile north of the center of Copley. To this land he added until he owned 210 acres, all in one body. He was a loyal supporter of the Government during the Civil War and when Governor Tod called on the patriots of Ohio to suppress the raids of the guerrilla, Morgan, in the State, he was one that immediately responded and remained in the service until all danger was over, when he was honorably discharged. Mrs. Harris still survives, having passed her seventy-eighth birthday on March 1, 1907, and she resides in the fine home which her husband built at Copley. Mrs. Harris was married September 14, 1849, and her happy married life covered fifty-six years. The family consisted of nine children, namely Mrs. Belle Unger, resid- ing at Averill, Michigan: Mrs. Mary Hoertz; Rev. Joseph J., who is pastor of the Disciples Church at Marion, Illinois; John, deceased in infancy; Mrs. Elizabeth Shook, residing at Helena, Montana; Eliza J., residing at Copley with her mother; Charles F., residing at Loyal Oak; Mrs. Alice S. Fried, residing at Blake, Ohie, and Andrew J., residing at Copley. Mr. and Mrs. Hoertz have two children, Ada Alberta and Harry Ernest. Ada Alberta married Carman Seiberling of Wadsworth, where he operates a grocery store. They have four children—Ernest Allen, Harold Robert, Helen Mary and James Larin: Mrs. Seiberling is an educated, cultured lady. She graduated from the Norton Center High School and subsequently taught school for two years, one term in Norton and the rest at Krumroy, Springfield Township. Harry Ernest also graduated from the Norton Center High School and the Actual Business College, at Akron, and is a member of the office force of the Goodrich Rubber Company, at Akron. To dispose of the products of his farm, Mr. Hoertz runs a wagon to Barberton at stated intervals, and sometimes even sells at Akron. He is an active, interested citizen and has served as a member of the School Board of Norton Township. He is a member of the Pathfinders. Mr. and Mrs. Hoertz belong to the Wabash Avenue Disciples Church, at Akron. W. H. HUNT, of the firm of Hunt & Wig-ley, general contractors, at Akron, is a man of large experience in his line of work and has been a resident of the city in which so much of it is in evidence, for the past twenty-eight years. Mr. Hunt was born in Lancastershire, England, in 1860, and lived there until he was eighteen years of age. In 1878, he came to America, settling in Akron, where he, thoroughly learned the brick and stonemason's trade. He was located for some five years subsequently in New York city, during which time he was engaged in general con- 652 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY trading. After his return to Akron he continued in the same line of industry, working alone for some years, and later admitting J. Wigley to partnership, the firm name of Hunt & Wigley then being assumed. During his nearly twenty years of contracting at Akron, he has executed a large amount of important work, including the erection of great buildings used for business, school and residence purposes. His first large contract was the Doyle Block, which was followed by the Walsh Block and by other buildings of a substantial character, more or less ornate as their uses demanded. His work has stood the most satisfactory tests, and each succeeding job has added to his reputation as an honorable and capable business man. He is the owner of the National Biscuit Block, which he leases to the National Biscuit Company, and of the Hardware & Supply Warehouse, which he leases to the Hardware & Supply Company. He also owns a block at No. 63 Market Street. In 1880, Mr. Hunt was married to Mary McGowan, of Akron, and they have seven surviving children, namely: Annie, who married Arthur Wales, residing at Akron; and Mary, James, William, Margaret, Edward and Ellen, all residing at home. Mr. Hunt's business address is No. 35 North Maple Street, Akron. NELSON W. FENN, a prominent farmer and dairyman of Tallmadge Township, was born October 23, 1847, in Tallmadge Township, Summit County, Ohio, and is a son of Treat and Harriet (Bierce) Fenn. In 1818, Richard Fenn, the grandfather of Nelson W., brought his family from Oonnecticut and purchased a farm of 200 1-2 acres in Tallmadge Township, now in Summit but then in Portage County. The maternal grandfather, Philo Bierce, was an early settler in Nelson Township, Portage County, coming there also from Connecticut. Treat Fenn was born in Connecticut and was about fourteen years of age when his parents came to Ohio, and he was reared on the home farm in Tallmadge Township He was married three times, (first) to Harriet Bierce, who died when Nelson W. was an infant, and (second) to Rachel Fuller Baldwin, who died in 1856. In 1861 he was married (third) to Florilla Wright, who is also deceased. Mr. Fenn died November 24, 1886, aged eighty-two years. Of his eight children, seven were born to his first marriage. Nelson W. Fenn has resided all his life on the present farm, which is a part of the old homestead purchased by his grandfather. He attended the local schools and has made farming and dairying his main occupations, and keeps from eighteen to twenty cows to carry- on the latter industry. He is numbered with the township's substantial and representative citizens. In 1885, Mr. Fenn was married to Mary Gunsualis, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and they have one daughter, Irene. They have an adopted son, Oliver Fenn. In politics Mr. Fenn is identified with the Republican party. He and wife are members of the Congregational Church. HARVEY THORNTON, a representative agriculturalist who is carrying on farming on a part of the old Thornton homestead, a 100-acre tract of fine land situated in the northeastern corner of Franklin Township, was born in the brick house located just across the channel from his present residence, Summit County, Ohio, March 20, 1876, and is a son of Aaron Thornton. Samuel Thornton, the grandfather of Harvey, was one of the first settlers -of this district, where at one time he owned 800 acres of land, 200 of which is now South Akron. He donated a large amount of land to Akron, including Thornton Street and Pleasant Park. In his latter years he removed from his farm in Franklin Township to Akron, where his death took place. His widow resides at Akron, aged eighty years. Aaron Thornton, father of Harvey, was born in Franklin Township, Summit County, Ohio, on his father's farm, which he made his home until 1893, when he removed to Akron. His wife, who is a native of Snyder County, Pennsylvania, came to Franklin Township, in girl- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 653 hood, on a visit to her sister. Her father died when she was an infant. Here she met Mr. Thornton, whom she later married. Three children were born to this union: May, who died in childhood; Harvey ; and Bessie, who married Russell Robison of Akron. Harvey Thornton remained on the home farm in Franklin Township until he was sixteen years of age, when he removed with the family to Akron, where he assisted. his father in a coal business, until his marriage. lie then settled on his present farm, where he has followed farming and threshing ever since, with the exception of a short period, when he engaged in a grocery business at Akron. Ile has been an active citizen and taken an interest in township affairs. In 1901 he served in the office of road supervisor and at present is a school director. Mr. Thornton and family belong to the Lutheran Church. On January 5, 1898, Mr. Thornton married Bertha Diehl, and they have three children, namely : Floyd, Fern and Robert. The parents of Mrs. Thornton are William and Eliza (Diehl) Diehl, residents of Barberton. They have the following children : Hattie, who married Charles Swigart, residing in Franklin Township; Edward, who resides at East Liberty ; Curtis, who resides at Barberton; Bertha, who is the wife of Harvey Thornton ; and Wallace, who lives at Barberton. William Diehl was born in Pennsylvania and his wife in Stark County, Ohio. They were prominent residents of Franklin Township for many years, but in 1904 removed to Barberton. J. V. CLEAVER, M. D., physician and surgeon, of Akron, who probably stands at the head of the medical profession in Summit County, and whose reputation as a surgeon extends all over Ohio, was born June 13, 1858, at East Bethlehem, Washington County, Pennsylvania, and is a son of John I. and Pleasant II. (Hill) Cleaver. The Cleavers have been known in Pennsylvania since 1682, when the German founder of the family settled there. John Cleaver, grandfather of the doctor, was a pioneer of Washington County, Pennsylvania. He reared a large family, some members of which became distinguished. One of his sons, Hiram, became a professor in the medical college at Keokuk, Iowa, and his son, John, a physician. James II., another grandson, also a physician, was elected to the office of mayor of Council .Bluffs, Iowa, and a third son, Eli B., served in the Ohio State Legislature. John I. Cleaver, father of Dr. Cleaver, spent his whole life as an agriculturist and sheep-raiser in Washington County. Ile married Pleasant Hill, whose ancestors—paternal and maternal—came from Ireland and Scotland respectively, and they had four children, namely : Etta, who died in childhood; J. V. Cleaver, M. D., whose name begins this sketch ; Solon 11., who died in childhood; and Isaac N., who is in business at Indianapolis, Indiana, in the Archibald Cleaver Company. After finishing the public school course in Washington County, the subject of this sketch took a course in the Southwest Normal School in the same county. He then' spent four years in teaching. During this time he was quietly reading medicine under the direction of Dr. Q. C. Farquhar, and also found time to serve as clerk to the 'county treasurer. He subsequently entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, and had the advantage of receiving the special instruction of Dr. Agnew, who was probably one of the most skilled surgeens of the day. He was graduated from the University as M. D., May 2, 1887. Deciding to locate in Akron, he same here and entered an office with Dr. Thomas McEbright, with whom he remained one year. Since then Dr. Cleaver has practiced alone, and for some years has devoted himself mostly to surgery. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the State Medical Association, the Union Medical Association of the Sixth Councilor District, this state; the Mississippi Valley Medical Association, and the Summit County Medical Society, to all of which he has centributed carefully prepared papers on medical and surgical subjects. Dr. Cleaver's modern-equipped Alm 654 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY offices are located in the Quaker Oats Building. On October 24, 1894, Dr. Cleaver was married at Akron to Mabel Wagoner, who is a daughter of Captain Aaron Wagoner, and they have one child, Josephine. The family home is at No. 605 West Market Street. Politically Dr. Cleaver is a Republican. He has served both as city physician and infirmary physician. Fraternally he is connected with the Odd Fellows. He is also a member of the Akron Medical Club. JOHN T. BRITTAIN, a leading citizen of Springfield Township, where he owns 135 acres of valuable land, was born in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, August 6, 1823, and is a son of John and Margaret (Albertson) Brittain. The mother of Mr. Brittain died when he was eight years of age. In 1832 his father came to Summit County, Ohio, and settled on the farm on which his son, John T. Brittain, resides, a property which has been owned by father and son for seventy-five years. At the time John Brittain located in Springfield, not a house had yet been built at Akron, and only a sparse population was scattered over the township. Neither schools nor churches had been established, but Mr.w Brittain and his brother soon aroused enough interest to have a schoolhouse erected, this being the first one in Springfield Township. The first house built on the Brittain farm was destroyed by fire, and was replaced by the one which still stands, in which John Brittain died in 1857. There were eight children born to John and Margaret Brittain, four sons and four daughters, namely : Henry, Zebrith, Jane, Elizabeth, Margaret, John T., Matilda, and a son that died in infancy, in Pennsylvania. All the other members of the family reached ma- turity. John T. Brittain is the only survivor. John Brittain was married (second) in 1834, to a member of the Gaynor family, which was one of the first to settle in Springfield Township. John T. Brittain has had possession of his present farm since the death of his 'father. His life has been mainly devoted to agricultural pursuits and his industry has brought him independence. For some years he operated a blacksmith's shop and for three years was in the fire clay industry, carrying on these industries on his farm. He retains 135 acres of the original farm, having disposed of fifty-six acres some time since. Mr. Brittain has been married twice (first), to Hannah Rodgers, who was born in Geauga County, Ohio, whose parents were natives of Connecticut. To this union were born four children: Amanda, John G., Sarah and Hannah. The eldest daughter married Wesley Corp, of Northampton, and all of their four children have married. John G., named for both father and grandfather, married Augusta Dennis and they reside in the Sixth Ward, East Akron. During the Civil War he served as a member of the Fourth Ohio Battery. Sarah married Herman Newbower and they have two children. Hannah married Thomas Gilcrist, and they reside at Hartville, where he is engaged in celery growing. Mr. Brittain was married (second) to Catherine Potts, who died June 22, 1906, aged seventy-four years. She was a daughter of Israel Potts and was a woman of most estimable character, one who was much beloved by all who came within her kindly ministrations. There were six children bern to this marriage, as follows : Olive, who married W. S. Rhodes, residing at Kent ; Lemuel, whe married Carrie Brumbaugh, residing with Mr. Brittain; Alice, who married Charles Kohler, residing in Indiana; Cora, who married Harry Harrington, residing at Twin Lakes; and Edith, who married L. Ewart. Mrs. Ewart is the only one of Mr. Brittain's children who is deceased. His family record is a very remarkable one, as he has thirty grandchildren and forty great-grandchildren and death has invaded the family but once. Mr. Brittain cast his first presidential vote for Henry Clay, in 1844, and has supported every candidate of the Republican party since the birth of this organization. He has always taken a deep interest in national affairs and in local good government and has been AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 655 ready to do his full duty on every occasion. For about thirty years he served as a member of the township School Board, and for a number of years as township trustee. THOMAS HALE, one of Springfield Township's substantial men and leading citizens, residing on his well-improved farm of 110 acres, has lived on this place fer the past forty-two years and has acquired property at other points, including thirty-five acres near Mogadore and 111 acres in Suffield Township, Portage County. Thomas Hale was born in Springfield Township, Summit County, Ohio, March 22, 1839, and is a son of Austin M. and Samantha (Bellows) Hale. Austin M. Hale was born also in Springfield Township, in 1814, on what was known as the Christ place, and was a son of Thomas and Laura (Moore) Hale. The Hale family is of Welsh extraction, but the first Samuel Hale of whom there is record, settled at Glastonbury, Connecticut, in 1637, sailing from an English port as a resident of Glastonbury. He acquired much land and a part of it has always remained in the Hale family. The old homestead which has been kept for 250 years is the property of J. H. Hale, who also owns great peach orchards in Georgia, and is a man of large capital. The Samuel Hale who came to the Western Reserve from Groton, Connecticut, was the great-grandfather of Thomas Hale of Springfield Township. He was a member of the Connecticut Land Company and owned as his share, 5,000 acres of land and there are members of the family in the fifth generation, who still possess a portion of this. Great-grandfather Samuel Hale married Abigail Austin, who belonged to the old Austin family of Connecticut, which subsequently established great powder mills at Akron and Cleveland. Samuel and Abigail Hale had four sons and one daughter, the latter of whom became the wife of Martin Kent, who was one of the earliest settlers of Suffield Township, Portage County. The four sons were: Samuel, who married a member of the old Gaylord family; Thomas, who married Laura Moore; Orestes and Josiah, both of whom were accidentally killed. Thomas Hale, grandfather of Thomas Hale of Springfield Township, lived on what was known as the Kent farm. He died in 1839, aged fifty-six years. He" married Laura Moore, who died in 1864, aged seventy-three years. They had one son, Austin M., who died in 1889, aged seventy-four years. He married Samantha Bellows, who was born in Albany County, New York, and came to Ohio with her father, Ephraim Bellows, who was born at Groton, Connecticut. The mother of Mrs. Hale died when she was only eleven days old. The surviving children of Austin M. and Samantha Hale are : Thomas; Laura, who married Henry Stahl, residing at Hudson, have two surviving children, Howard, who is engaged in the banking business at Cleveland ; and Mary, who married Frank Huff, residing at Mogadore, has two children. Albert, of the above family, died in October, 1903, aged fifty-eight years. He maried Ella Smith, of Suffield Township, and they had a family of five children. Austin M. Hale was married (second) to Laura Brown, a daughter of one of the early settlers, and they had one daughter, Nellie, who married Rev. D. D. Fennel, a minister of the Disciples Church, and they live on the old homestead in Springfield Township, Summit County, where Samuel Hale, the great-grandfather settled when an old man and where he died in 1809. In 1827, his son Thomas Hale removed to Springfield Township, Summit County, this being two years after the great wind storm which had swept through Springfield and inte Brimfield Township, Portage County. It cut a swath one-quarter of a mile in width, practically destroying miles of valuable timber. Great barricades of logs lay in this path for the following fifty years and Mr. Hale has seen these logs and has also conversed with the venerable Mrs. Sax, who witnessed the havoc made by this unusual demonstration of nature's forces. No one was seriously injured, this being easily explained by the fact that the country was then so sparsely settled, 656 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY but many historic events are dated "from the year of the great storm." Mr. Hale has seen one of the great forest trees which escaped destruction, on which his grandfather, Thomas Hale, had carved his name and the date of 1828. Thomas Hale, of Springfield Township, was reared among pioneer conditions. He attended school sixty-three years ago in a little house in Mogadore, which was subsequently moved to a farm to do duty as a barn, and the old door, which so often opened to admit the bare-footed little boys and girls of his childhood to their more or less unwelcome tasks over book and slate, still swings true on its hinges. In 1847-8 a new schoolhouse was built at Mogadore, and it probably was considered the acme of modern construction and convenience, and Mr. Hale remembers being on hand bright and early on the morning of the first session, in 1848, in order to have a first choice of seat. This schoolhouse still stands. Mr. Hale assisted his father on the farm and in setting out a large amount of nursery stock. Austin M. Hale took a great deal of interest in growing fruit and for a number of years conducted a business which was considered a satisfactory one at that time, in the line of raising fruit and other trees, under the firm name of A. M. Hale & Sons. When he married he was residing on the farm on which he was born, on the Akron and Mogadore road, but afterward moved to the farm on which, as mentioned above, he has lived for forty-two years. This land was the old Sax farm, Martin Sax, the first settler, having lived here all his life. The residence, which Mr. Hale has remodeled and added to, was built by the son of Mr. Sax. Mr. Hale has continued to make improvements and in 1892 he completed the erection of his substantial barn, which has dimensions of 40 by 60 feet. He retains 110 acres in his home farm, which he devotes mainly to wheat growing, and has sold thirty-two acres to the Granite Clay Company and some land to the Colonial Brick Company. His other land, in Mogadore and in Portage County, is all very valuable. In 1865, Mr. Hale married Emily Huff, who is a daughter of James and Wilhelmina (Erdley) Huff, who came frem Pennsylvania and settled in the southern part of Springfield Township, moving later to the Sax farm, which they purchased. Mr. and Mrs. Hale have two children, Alice and Frederick. The former married Rev. G. T. Norris and they reside at Marlboro and have two sons, Wendell and Paul. Frederick Hale is a mechanical engineer in the employ of the Westinghouse Company and is statiened at Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. He received his primary education at Mogadore and then entered the Ohio University and took a course in mechanical engineering, making a specialty of as engines. He is still a young man but -has attained te a fine position with the Westinghouse people. He married Jennie Hartman, of Ashtabula County, and they have had four children: Genevieve, Marguerite, Harriet, and a son, who is deceased. In politics, Thomas Hale was reared a Republican, but in local matters, votes independently. With his wife he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church at Mogadore. HIRAM C. HENRY, senior member of the firm of Henry & Patterson, dealers in lumber and general contractors, at Akron, with business location at No. 282 Torrey Street, has been engaged in contracting for the past twenty-six years and is generally recognized as one of the ablest and most reliable men in his line, in this city. Mr. Henry was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, in 1848, was reared and educated in his native place and learned the carpenter and mill-wright trade with his father, the late Samuel Henry. In 1871 he came to Akron and for some eight years worked as a mill-wright, building mills for the Schumackers, and paper mills for other parties, continuing work also as a carpenter, and gradually drifting into contracting, which later became his main interest. It is estimated that Mr. Henry has pro-ably done a larger amount of building here than any other individual contractor. For the past fourteen years he has also been handling lumber, and the firm of Henry & Patter- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 657 son operates a planing mill in connection with their other werk. The firm was established in February, 1907. Mr. Henry employs from twelve to twenty men and divides them into three gangs. He gives his personal attention to all his contracts and has been careful to keep up the standard which he established when he first started into business. In 1873, Mr. Henry was married to Elizabeth Weeks, of Trumbull County. He and his wife have two children : Carrie, who married P. H. Baldwin, of Newark, New Jersey ; and Bertha M., who married Arthur Richards, of Akron, Ohio. Mr. Henry is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Akron, and for twenty years has served on its official board. BENJAMIN HART, a representative citizen of Springfield Township, where he owns a fine, well-improved farm of eighty acres, has been a resident of the village of Mogadore since 1902. Mr. Hart was born June 5, 1832, and is a son of Jesse and Freelove (Ives) Hart. Mr. Hart belongs to an old and honorable pioneer family of New England stock, his ancestors having been among the first settlers of Springfield Township and among the very early residents of Summit County, coming here a few years after the admission of Ohio as a state. Jesse Hart, father of Benjamin, was born in Connecticut, in 1773, and died in Summit County, Ohio, July 18, 1868, aged ninety-four years. When twenty-eight years of age he married Esther Warner, in Connecticut, and they had the following children : Worthy, who was born March 12, 1803 ; Amy, who was born January 29, 1805 ; Esther, who was born January 15, 1808 ; Patience, who was born April 10, 1809 ; and Welcome, who was born February 19, 1811. The mother of these children died March 28, 1811. Jesse Hart was married (second) also in Connecticut to Freelove Ives, September 15, 1811. She was horn in Verment and died in Summit County, Ohio, November 7, 1863. The children of Jesse and Freelove Hart were : Louisa, who was born August 2, 1812, married Homer Root; Jesse, who was born April 27, 1813, married Rachel Richards; Phoebe, who was born September 17, 1816, married Otis Merriman; George, who was born October 22, 1818, married (first) Eliza Nelson, and (second) Mrs. Lizzie (Hile) Bean ; Elizabeth, who was born October 18, 1821, married John Hixon ; Amos, who was born April 28, 1824, died from an accident, when two years of age ; Harriet, who was born August 27, 1826, married (first) William Chapman, and (secend) John Smith ; Sarah, who was born August 1, 1828, married (first) Joseph Conrad, and (second) Robert Fisher; and Benjamin, who was born June 5, 1832, the youngest of a family of fourteen children. In 1812, Jesse Hart left Conecticut with his family and made the journey to Summit County, Ohio, in covered wagons, bringing along many household treasures, and prebably, as did many other early settlers, his cows and horses. He settled on what became known as the Hart homestead, in Springfield Township, west of Logtown, where the remainder of his life was passed. He found only a small portion of the land cleared, heavy timber covering the balance, and it required years for himself and sons to cut down this timber, blacken and then grub out the stumps and place it all under cultivation. His experience was that of other pioneer settlers, a little easier in his case because he possessed more ample means than many others. His older children, however, were all daughters and years passed before his sons could materially assist in the heavy labor. He first erected a log house of fair dimensions, and in this the family lived and increased for ten years. About 1822, he erected a substantial brick house, in which he lived until he died and which still remains on the farm in habitable condition. In all that went to promote the civilization of this section and to advance the welfare of the community in which he had been an early pioneer, Jesse Hart was a man to be depended upon. He lived to witness wonderful changes in the country to which he had come so early, and on which he left an impress on 658 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY account of his sterling character. The Hart connections are found all over this section, almost all of his children having married and left descendants. Benjamin Hart was born in the brick house above mentioned and resided in it until 1892. His education was obtained in the early district scheols near his home and he enjoyed one term's instruction at a private school in Mogadore. He continued to cultivate the patrimonial farm until 1892, when he passed it on to his children and grandchildren and at last the old place was sold, but it is still called the old Hart homestead. In 1892, Mr. Hart moved from the old farm, which contained 150 acres, to a farm of eighty acres, which he purchased of R. L. Ewart, and that farm he occupied and operated until he moved to Mogadore, in 1902. On November 15, 1855, Benjamin Hart was married to Mary L. Meacham, who is a daughter of Benjamin and Prudence (Force) Meacham. Benjamin Meacham was born in Connecticut, came as an early settler to Summit County, and lived in both Tallmadge and Springfield Townships. The mother of Mrs. Hart died when she was two years old, but her father survived some forty years. The children born to Benjamin and Mary L. Hart were the following: Alice, Clara, Mary L., Sarah L., Wilbur Judd, and Raymond. Alice, who married Clark Woolf, resides in Springfield Township, and they have three children, May, Mahlon and Bessie. Clara, deceased, married Edward Daugherty, and at death, December 12, 1886, left two sons, James Benjamin, who has become a prominent citizen of New Berlin, and Irvin Garfield, who is a successful dentist residing at New Berlin. May L., who married Homer L. Hudson, October 7, 1882, died September 7, 1888, leaving one daughter, Clara Louise ; Sarah L.; was married August 27, 1885, to Amos K. Douglas and they have four children, Rosa- mond, Ray Hayes, Ethel and Helen. Wilbur Judd Hart was married June 3, 1890, to Viola Punt, and they 'have eight children, Jennie, James, Edith, Clara, Gertrude, Irvin (deceased), Elwood, and Florence V. Wilbur Judd Hart is engaged in farming in Tallmadge Township. . Raymond Hart, the youngest member of the family, conducts a meat-market at Mogadore. On October 14, 1900, he married Mrs. Maggie (Flick) Kline. Benjamin Hart has been a life-long Republican and was a strong supporter of the policies of the late Governor Pattison. He has always been a vigorous fighter for the cause of temperance and lives up to his convictions. He has never used intoxicants nor tobacco, and in the vigor of his seventy-five years may be read an excellent and convincing temperance lecture. Mr. Hart is one of the prominent and substantial men of this part of Summit County, not only on account of his material possessions, but for the sturdy qualities and sterling attributes 'which have marked the family name. The years have touched him kindly, silvering his hair but leaving his heart young. In the friendly clasp of his hand and the hearty sound of his voice is a cheer that speaks of a well regulated life, a clear past and a hopeful future. ROSSEAU HESS, proprietor of the Akron Nurseries, which are located on Butler Avenue, North Hill, and include seven and one-half acres, was born in Guilford Township, Medina County, Ohio, July 30, 1865, and is a son of Henry and Charity (Howe) Hess. When Rosseau Hess was eight years of age, his father, who was a blacksmith by trade, moved to Akron, and the son enjoyed excellent school advantages there. Subsequently, he attended. Buchtel College and later en- gaged for some years in teaching school, beginning in Geauga County. Later he became principal of the schools at Frontenac, Kansas, and from there went to Montana, where he taught school for three years on a government reservation. When Mr. Hess returned to Akron, he bee. ame secretary and treasurer of the Akron Soap Company for one year, and for two following years conducted a roofing business under the firm name of Kasch & Hess. When he sold out his inter- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 661 est in this concern, he embarked in his present line. Mr. Hess makes a specialty of ornamental trees, shrubbery of all kinds and perennial plants. He employs five agents and is doing a large business. His natural bent led him into landscape gardening, and during the eight years in which he has been in the nursery business, he has done a large amount of work in this line, being the only landscape gardener at Akron. lie is frequently (ailed to different parts of the county to lay out grounds around country houses. On May 26, 1892, Mr. Hess was married to Mamie Rockwell, who is a daughter of Dr. J. W. and Elvira (Van Evera) Rockwell. Dr. Rockwell is one of the leading physicians of Akron. Mrs. Rockwell died July 20, 1.907. Her father, Reinhardt Vim Evera, operated for many years the old stage coach hotel at Copley Center. Later he became proprietor of the old Exchange Hotel, at Akron, and: after it burned down, he bought a farm in Tallmadge Township, but later returned to Akron. lie died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Peterson, who is the mother-in-law of Bon. Charles Dick. Mr. and Mrs. Hoes have two children: Hazel R. and J. Ross. Mr. Hess belongs to the Modern Woodmen and the Odd Follows. DAVID J. THOMAS, coal dealer, at Cuyahoga Falls, is an honored survivor of the great Civil War, from which he safely emerged after many thrilling adventures and innumerable dangers- and hardships. Mr. Thomas was born at Palmyra, Portage County, Ohio, March 14, 1841,, and is a son of John and Anna (Rees) Thomas. John Thomas, his father, was born in Wales, came to America in 1835, and died on the farm which he had cleared from the virgin forest, in Portage County, when aged seventy years. Prior to emigrating he had met with an accident which necessitated the amputation of a leg, and, as typical of his character and showing his physical courage, he calmly watched the surgeon at his work, disdaining to even deaden his senses with. the alcohol, which, at that time, was the only merciful help known in surgery. Although disabled, he held his own with men who had more advantages, and in addition to clearing up his pioneer farm and carrying on its cultivation, he worked as a blacksmith and was employed in this line on the old Ohio and Pennsylvania Canal. After coining to America he became interested in polities, and up to the time of the formation of the Republican party, was a strong Whig, later giving active support to the new organization, and for years was one of the two Republicans in his township. He married Anna Rees, who died in 1867, aged seventy-one years, and they had ten children, namely: Sarah, now deceased, who married David Williams; Rees, deceased; Ann, who married Henry Barris, both being now deceased; Margaret, who married Evan Hughes, of Braymer, Missouri; David J., John, deceased; Martha, who married David Jenkins, both of whom are deceased, and three others that died in infancy. David J. Thomas remained at home assisting in the farming, until he was nineteen years of age. He attended the district school,. had one year's instruction in the High School, and then went to Tallmadge, where he worked in the coal mines until 1862. Early in this year, Mr. Thomas enlisted for service in Company C, 115th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which organization he served in the Civil War for three years, lacking a month: This regiment was kept actively engaged and Mr. Thomas took part in all its movements until he was taken prisoner at Lavergne, Tennessee, during General Hood's raid on Nashville. After ten days, with two other members of the regiment, he escaped, and a recital of the way in which this was managed is very interesting. The weather at this time was very cold and the prisoners were guarded in the Court House at Columbia, Tennessee, in which they huddled around one little fire which was tetally inadequate for the space it was supposed to heat. The Union prisoners were sent out to gather the wood to burn and these expeditions gave them the opportunity to learn 662 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY the lay of the land and to secure other information necessary in effecting their escape, which was foremost in the minds of all. Mr. Thomas remembers saying to his fellow prisoners, on the day of capture: "If they get me to Andersonville, they are smarter than I think they are," and to this significant remark Samuel Perry replied: "Davie, I am with you," and they shook hands on it, meaning that each one should watch for an opportunity and follow up any advantage gained. The other comrade, James Cassidy, soon joined in the compact, all three deciding to stand together. While the prisoners were stamping about the room, in this way trying to keep up a circulation, Mr. Thomas and his companions were able to secretly remove the nails from a barricaded door, which happened to be unguarded, and they managed to place their blankets on the floor right by this door, pretending to go to sleep there, but they were never more wide awake. The night guard became drowsy, and Cassidy managed to slip the cap from his gun, in this way preventing his shooting if he awakened while they were getting away. As all preparations had been made to take the prisoners to Andersonville, Mr. Thomas and his comrades felt there was no. time to be lost. In the afternoon they had all been given full rations. As Mr. Thomas and his two friends slipped out, he threw his blanket, for which he had swapped his overcoat, over his shoulders, a common practice among the thinly-clad Confederates, and picking up an old musket, which was really entirely useless, he marched his two comrades, apparently prisoners, down the street in front of him. It was a daring venture, the night being one of bright moonlight, but the ruse was never suspected by the many Confederate soldiers whom they passed, and on and on they went, crossing rivers and barely escaping capture on many occasions. Once they came face to face with a Confederate officer, whom they had thought was a Union man, but escaped from him, although fired en a number of times. On another occasion they just got over a fence in time to escape a marching regiment of Confederates. They suffered greatly from the drenching rains and from fording creeks where the water came up to their armpits, the intensely cold weather but adding to their misery. By means of a compass which they had secured through trading an overcoat, they were able to shape their course, traveling by night and secreting themselves by day. On one occasion they overheard one man tell another, unconscious that three half-famished Union soldiers were lying behind the cedar log by the roadside, the good news that the Confederates were retreating from Nashville. Before the conversation ended, a third man joined the others, and the horse he rode came so near Mr. Thomas that the latter thought every moment his brains would be crushed out by his hoofs. Not daring to make a motion, Mr. Thomas thinks that ten or fifteen minutes was about the most perilous of his life. Under such circumstances Mr. Thomas and his comrades managed to make their way to a point three miles back of Lavergne, where they met kind treatment from a Mr. Austin, who hid them for several days, and. in the meantime their locality was brought within the Union lines. Ever since the close of the war, these three old veterans have held an annual reunion, and it is a privilege indeed, when one of the younger generation is permitted to hear this story from the lips of the participants. Mr. Thomas is a member of Eddy Past, Grand Army of the Republic. After the close of his army service, Mr. Thomas returned to Tallmadge, where he lived until the fall of 1867, when he came to Cuyahoga Falls and embarked in the grocery business, in partnership with John I. Jones, under the firm name of Jones and Thomas. Fourteen months later, Mr. Thomas sold his interest and started a pottery opposite his present ceal office, where, in partnership with his brother, R. J. Thomas, he engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of stoneware, under the firm name of Thomas Bros. Until the plant was destroyed by fire, several years later, the firm AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 663 did a large business. Mr. Thomas .then opened up his coal office, which is the oldest coal business in the town, and his yards are favorably located just opposite the wire mill. Mr. Thomas married Ruth Williams, who is a daughter of William H. Williams. She was born in Wales, where her mother died, and she was five years old when she and a sister were brought to America by her brother-in-law and her sister. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have had seven children, the four to reach maturity being: Ella, who married William Graham, residing at Akron ; Elizabeth, who married Dr. L. J. Kehres, residing at Cleveland; Sarah Josephine, deceased, and Tracy David, residing at Massillon. Mrs. Thomas is a member of the Congregational Church. Politically, Mr. Thomas is identified with the Republican party, and he has served some seven years as a member of the School Board at Cuyahoga Falls, and one term in the Town Council. He is one of the directors of the Agricultural Society. JOHN GIRDEN BRITTAIN, a representative member of one of the honorable old families of Springfield Township, which has been established here for a period of seventy-five years, was born June 16, 1847, in Springfield Township, Summit County, Ohio, and is a son of John Thomas and Hannah (Rodgers) Brittain. John T. Brittain, residing on his farm of 135 acres, in Springfield Township, was born in Pennsylvania in 1823, and was about seven years of age when he accompanied his father, John Brittain, to Ohio. He has been married twice, and has had ten children, thirty grandchildren 'and forty great-grandchildren, and in this large family, up to the present writing, there has been but one death, a remarkable proof of vitality. Mr. Brittain has long been regarded as one of the most substantial men of his community. John G. Brittain was the second eldest and only son 'born to his father's first marriage, there being three daughters, all of whom survive. His education was obtained in the dis trict 'schools. He was only sixteen years of age when he offered his services to his country, enlisting in Company D, First Ohio Regiment, Volunteer Light Artillery, in February, 1864, the officers of which were : Captain Cockrell, First Lieutenant Reid and Second Lieutenant Palmer. After the company was mustered in at Cleveland, it proceeded to Columbus, and thence to Knoxville, Tennessee. It took part in the engagements from Chattanooga to Atlanta, participated in the battles ef Resaca and Big Sandy, and at Atlanta assisted in cutting the railroad communication. From that city the regiment returned to Tennessee, where Mr. Brittain was detained for a time by sicknes, but rejoined his regiment at Moorehead, North Carolina, and continued to perform his duty as a brave and effective soldier until the expiration of his term of service, and in July, 1865, was mustered out at Cleveland. That was a very strenuous period for a youth of sixteen years, but Mr. Brittain has a record that would do credit to a seasoned veteran. In 1869 Mr. Brittain was married to Frances A. Demass, who is a daughter of Jacob and Lucy Demass. Jacob Demass was a soldier in the same regiment with Mr. Brittain and he still survives, aged seventy-eight years. Mrs. Brittain was reared in Portage County. Mr. and Mrs. Brittain have the following children: Thomas R., who married Minnie White, has five children; Judson who married Margaret Selser, has three children: Dilla, who married Clement Chew, has three children ; Mead, who married Lizzie Roberts, has four children ; Wand John, who resides at home. Mr. Brittain owns a comfortable home in one of the allotments Of East Akron, in Springfield Township. He is a carpenter by trade. He belongs to Buckley Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Akron; In politics, he is a Republican. ALBERT H. RUCKEL, general farmer, residing on his Valuable farm of fifty-one: acres, is a well known citizen of Talmadge Township, where his father settled in 1849. 664 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY Albert H. Ruckel was born on the Susquehannah River, in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, November 4, 1843, and is a son of George and Hannah (Crivling) Ruckel. The father of Mr. Ruckel was also born in. Columbia County, Pennsylvania, and resided there until after his marriage, when he and family started to Michigan in one of the great covered wagons of pioneer days. He proposed to buy 640 acres of land at $1.25 per acre, but, after reaching Michigan, he found that climatic conditions were such that it would be difficult to establish there a comfortable home. In six weeks' time the wagon was again on its way in the direction of Medina County, Ohio. Mr. Ruckel settled in Sharon Township, Medina County, and lived there for three years, removing then to Tallmadge Township, Summit County. Here all the five children were reared, namely: Andrew, who died in 1856; Abner, who has resided at Whitehall, Illinois, for the past thirty-five years, engaged .with his son in the manufacture of pottery, married Emma Adams of Akron; Clinton, who carries on farming on his property at Fairlawn, west of Akron, married Frances, a daughter of John Hart; Albert H.; and Washington, the latter being the only child born after the family came to Ohio. He married Delia Baldwin and resides with his father-in-law at Akron, and is engaged in the manufacture of sewer pipe. George Ruckel died August 25, 1878, in his sixty-eighth year, having long survived his wife, who died in 1855, aged forty-four years. Albert Ruckel assisted his father in cultivating his farm of 110 acres, and, after his marriage, he purchased fifty-one acres of the homestead. In addition to learning to be a first-class farmer, Albert H. Ruckel worked for some time at the carpenter trade, and also traveled for a pottery firm after finishing his education in the Sixth Ward School at Akron. However, for the past twenty-eight years he has devoted his attention to cultivating and improving his land. In 1873 he built the comfortable farm residence and as they were needed, has added the other substantial buildings. Mr. Ruckel makes something of a specialty of growing potatoes and he also raises timothy hay. On August 30, 1873, Mr. Ruckel was married to Mary Greenman, who was born at North East, Erie County; Pennsylvania, an is a daughter of Norton and Elizabeth (Irish) Greenman. Both parents of Mrs. Ruckel were born in Washington County, New York. Her father died March 22, 1901, aged eighty-five years, and the mother died February 10, 1903, at the age of eighty-nine years. The four children of Norton Greenman and wife were: Cynthia, who is the widow of Leonard Cole; Mary, who is Mrs. Ruckel; Job, residing at Bradford, Pennsylvania, married Adell Cole; and Josephine Cole, who is deceased. The family record of Mrs. Ruckel can be traced far back. Her great-grandfather Bassett followed the sea and lived at Martha's Vineyard. He was commander of a coasting vessel that touched many shores in the course of his voyage. The paternal grandfather was Job Greenman, a farmer, and the grandfather on the mother's side was Charles Irish, who was also a farmer. All seem to have been men who left an impress that recalls them to their descendants. Mr. and Mrs. Ruckel have two daughters, Nora and Edith. The former is employed in the office of the American Cereal mill. The latter married Harry Feudner, who is the son of the vice-president of the M. O'Neil Dry Goods Company, one of the largest business houses of Summit County. Both daughters of Mr. Ruckel were educated at Akron. The Democratic party claims Mr. Ruckel as a member, but he is very liberal and broad-minded and usually exercises his right to support those candidates for office, who, in his judgment, will best provide good government and make wise laws. FRANCIS HANMER WRIGHT, a leading citizen of Talmadge; was born in Tallmadge Township, Summit County, Ohio, July 7. 1834, and is a son of Francis H. and Clarinda (Fenn) Wright. In 1810 the grandparents of Francis Han- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 665 mer Wright, Elizur and Rhoda (Hanmer) Wright, came to Summit County. They settled on what was known as the Southwest rook, along which Mr. Wright bought a large tract of land. He built here the first frame barn in Tallmadge Township, and this structure was utilized for a time as a place in which to hold religious exercises. He continued to acquire land, until he owned a large portion of the western half of the township, including the valuable property known as Coal Hill. He had been a prominent man in both church and public affairs at Canaan, Connecticut, and he continued to be held in high esteem after settling in Summit County. He reared a. family of five daughters and four sons, all of whom became more or less noted in their various communities. They were: Philo, Elizur, Francis H., James, Polly, Clarissa, Harriet, Amelia and Lucy. Philo Wright married Sally Owen and they resided in Tallmadge Township, where he practiced medicine for many years. Elizur Wright (2) was a distinguished man. He resided for a time in the city of New York and was the able editor of a strong anti-slavery paper there. He became professor of mathematics at the Western Reserve University, at Hudson, which position he was obliged to resign on account of his radical views against slavery. He then removed to Denham, Massachusetts, and had an effice in Boston, where he was an actuary of life insurance, and for several years was Commissioner of Insurance for the state. He died in 1890, aged eighty years, at which time a biographical sketch of his life was produced in McClure's Magazine. James Wright became a minister ef the Congregational Church. After a pastorate at Napoleon, Henry County, Ohio, he went to California and died there in 1900. Polly Wright married Dr. Daniel Upson, then of Worthington, Ohio, who later came to Tallmadge, and they were the parents of William, Daniel A., James W. and Francis H., the latter of whom died in Cleveland, and left a family of children. Clarissa Wright married a Mr. Burrell, of Elyria, Ohio. Harriet Wright married Rev. John Seward, who became a minister of the Congregational Church, who was stationed at Hudson and at other points. Amelia Wright married Rev. William Hanaford, who entered the Congregational ministry, and after serving pastorates at a number of places, died at Tallmadge. Francis H. Wright, father of Francis Hanmer, was born at Canaan, Litchfield County, Connecticut, July 16, 1795, and died in Tallmadge, in 1886, aged ninety-one years. He accompanied his parents to Summit County and subsequently inherited a part of the valuable Coal Hill property. In partnership with his brother-in-law, Dr. Daniel Upson, he was engaged for many years in developing coal mines here, shipments being made to Cleveland and Chicago, Mr. Wright accompanying the first load of coal ever shipped to the latter city. He married Clarinda Fenn, who was born in 1802, and died in 1888. Francis Hanmer Wright was reared in Tallmadge, attended the Tallmadge Academy and spent one year in the Cleveland Agricultural College, leaving when nineteen years of age and teaching school for a year. He then started to farm and subsequently went into a dairy business, which latter industry he continued until the spring of 1897, supplying patrons at Akron for a period of twenty-two years. During the Civil War, when the governor of Ohio called out men to serve for 100 days, Mr. Wright responded and became a member of Company D, 164th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered in as first lieutenant. He was "flustered out at Cleveland, after assisting in the defense of the forts around Washington city. He is a member of Buckley Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He belongs to the Grange. Mr. Wright married Harriet Kilbourn, of Akron, who was a daughter of Lewis and Eliza Kilbourn. Mrs. Wright died July 27, 1904, at the age of sixty-six years. They had four children, namely: Winnifred B., who died in 1882, at the age of nineteen years; Elberta, who married E. R. Hine, died in 1900, aged thirty-five years, leaving one son and two daughters, Leland W., Winnifred 666 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY and Leora; Francis H., who was born in 1868, married Frances Parmalee, a daughter of Charles P. Parmalee, and has five children, Julia, Geneva, Kathryn, Dorothy and Francis IL, resides with his father at Tallmadge; and Ida, who married W. A. Osborn, lives at Akron, Ohio. CLARENCE M. ZWISLER, a leading citizen of Springfield Township, who is engaged in farming and also follows butchering, is a representative on the maternal side of one of the oldest families in Summit County. He was born in Summit County, Ohio, November 2, 1867, and is a son of John and Irene (Norton) Zwisler. John Zwisler, father of Clarence M., was born in Wayne County, Ohio, and came to Summit when a young man, where he died in March, 1900, at the age of seventy years. He was a son of Charles and Rebecca Zwisler. He followed agricultural pursuits all his life. On January 7, 1864, John Zwisler married Irene Norton, who was a daughter of Lester and Susan (Johnson) Norton. The earliest records of the Norton family trace to one De Norville, who was a soldier and who accompanied William the Conqueror to England in 1066. His descendants were early American colonists, coming from Bedfordshire to Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts, to Guilford, Connecticut, and to points in New Hampshire. Tracing the generations back, it is found that from Richard Norton descended John (1), John (2), Ebenezer, Bethuel, Peter and Lester, the latter being the grandfather of Clarence M. Zwisler. Ebenezer Norton, son of John, had children : Christiana, Sarah, Freelove, Bethuel, Ebenezer, Isaac and A. Norton. Bethuel Norton, son of Ebenezer, had these children: Peter, Zenas, Hart, Ashbel, James, Eunice and Sally. Peter Norton, son of Bethuel, had these children: Anna P., Anderson, Lester, Lois, Thomas and Seth D. Lester Norton, son of Peter, married Susan Johnson, in 1821, and they had the following children : Lois, Amanda, Perry, Lucinda, Harvey, George, Irene and Susan. The two survivors are Amanda and Mrs. Zwisler. Lester Norton accompanied his father to Ohio and they located first in Trumbull County and then carne to Summit, Peter Norton purchasing the Thomas Cook place in Akron, where he died. In 1822, in the year following his marriage, Lester Norton settled on the farm on which his grandson, Clarence M., now resides. In 1832 he built the house and made many improvements during his active years. He died in 1881 at the age of eighty-two years, survived by his widow until 1894, she dying aged ninety-two years and six months. John Zwisler and wife had two children, Lester N. and Clarence M. The former resides on Newton Street, Akron. He married Alice Hearty. Clarence M. Zwisler attended the district schools and applied himself to agricultural pursuits. With the exception of a short time passed in Tallmadge Township, he has lived his life on his present farm in Springfield Township. In addition to farming he carries on a lucrative meat business. Mr. Zwisler married Minnie Rhodes, who is a daughter of Frederick and Louisa (Reprogle) Rhodes. Her father was born in Pennsylvania, and her mother in Stark County. Mr. and Mrs. Zwisler have three interesting children : Esther L., who was born July 22, 1900; Milford, who was born August 4, 1903; and Herbert N., who was born January 7, 1007. Politically, Mr. Zwisler is an active member of the Democratic party. For seven years he has been a member of the School Board. JOHN L. CHAPMAN, president of the Tallmadge Township School Board and a prominent citizen of this section, resides on the old homestead farm of eighty-five acres and in the old brick residence which was built seventy-six years ago, all the material for its construction having been produced on the farm, With the exception of the lime. Mr. Chapman was born at Akron, Summit AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 667 County, Ohio, January 6, 1859, and is a son of John and Phoebe (Budd) Chapman. The Chapman family is of English extraction. The paternal grandparents of Mr. Chapman were John and Elizabeth (Burt) Chapman. They came to America with their children and settled at Oswego, New York, where both died. They had the following children: Richard, who lived and died near Bloomfield, New York; Mary, who married John Rowe, lived and died at Oswego, New York; Margaret, who died unmarried, in New York; William, who died at Wilton, Wisconsin, in 1875; Susan, who survived her husband, William Merchant, who disappeared and was supposed to have been killed for a sum of money in his possession; Charles, who died at Oswego, and John. The sons all learned the milling business with their father and they ran the same mill, an old tide-water one, which had been in the possession of the family in Cornwall, England, for generations. As some families were farmers as far back as can be traced, the Chapmans were millers. John Chapman, father of John L. Chapman, of Tallmadge, was born in Cornwall, England, in 1812, and was nineteen years of age when he left England, and with other members of his family, settled at Oswego, New York. Although little more than a boy in years, he had a good knowledge of his trade and found immediate employment in the flour mills of that place, where he remained until 1832, when he came to Akron. He was a practical mechanic, a natural one, and understood the wheelwright trade and everything concerning not only the operating but the construction of mills and mill machinery. He came to Akron at first to start in operation the old stone mill, which was then being erected, but it had not been completed when he arrived, and he went to Middlebury and worked some time for the firm of McNorton & Noble. When the stone mill was completed, John Chapman took charge and he made the first flour ever ground in Akron proper, and continued to operate that mill for one year. In 1833 he returned to New York, and for one year operated a mill at Rochester and then came back to Akron, and for a short time resumed work at the stone mill. He was called to different points to superintend the building of mills and many of those scattered over Summit County, which, in their day, were valuable adjuncts to the comfort and convenience of settlers, were either built by him or under his supervision. Mr. Chapman then bought a farm on which he lived for twenty-five years, and in 1872 he purchased the farm on which his widow and son still live. In 1857 John Chapman married Phoebe Budd, who still survives, and they had six children: John, Nellie, Carrie, Cora, Alva and Charles, the latter two dying in infancy. John Chapman died in April, 1881, after a short illness, from pneumonia. His age was sixty-nine years and ten months. He was a man who commanded the respect of all who knew him. The Budd family, of which Mrs. Chapman is a member, is an old one of the Empire State. Her grandfather, Underhill Budd, is on record as being a highly respected resident of Ithaca, New York, which city he left to accompany his son, Solomon Budd, to Ohio. He married Rebecca Tewnsend, and both he and wife died at Akron, Ohio. They had the following children: Debby Ann, who is deceased; John, who died in New York; Solomon, the father of Mrs. Chapman ; Phebe, who married William B. Doyle; Hannah, who married Daniel Teeter, both died at Jonesville, Michigan; Elizabeth, who married Charles Stetson, died at Cleveland, and Erastus, who died at Akron, aged twenty years. Mrs. Phebe J. Chapman was born at Elmira, New York, June 15, 1838, and is a daughter of Solomon and Emmeline (Jarvis) Budd. The father of Mrs. Chapman was born in New York, July 4, 1813, and died at Akron, Ohio, May 21, 1891. His wife, was born in New York, April 16, 1816, and died at Akron, May 1, 1883. He was a manufacturer of shingles, in the days when it was a hand industry. In 1839 he came to Ohio 668 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY and lived for one year at Canal Fulton, then returned to the East for a year. In 1842 he came back to Ohio with his wife and they lived at Akron during the remainder of their lives. The children of Solomon Budd and wife were the following: Phebe J., who became Mrs. Chapman; Mary E., born September 19, 1840, who died in childhood; Townsend C., born December 19, 1842, married Ellen Goodman, of Cleveland, and they reside at Akron; William H., born November 10, 1841, died in childhood; Aurelia A., born January 3, 1846, who is the widow of Jacob Denaple, who died in 1889, and Julia E., born April 18, 1848, who resides at Akron. John L. Chapman, who bears his father's and grandfather's name, lived in the city of Akron from his birth until 1872, when he removed with his parents to the present farm in Talmadge Township. He was educated in the public schools of Akron, attended school in Tallmadge Township and spent several terms at Buchtel College, which institution he left in 1878. Mr. Chapman engaged immediately in farming and has made many improvements on the property. This farm is an old settled one, its first owner having been a pioneer named John Lane, who sold it to Samuel Keller, from whom John Chapman bought. It is good land and is favorably situated. Mr. Chapman raises grain, hay and potatoes and enough stock for his own use. He works along modern lines and meets with satisfactory results. In June, 1901, Mr. Chapman was married to Emma Blackburn, who is a daughter of William T. and Mary (Hurst) Blackburn, of Berea, Ohio, William T. Blackburn was born at Kent and his wife at Ithaca, New York, and both are deceased, the mother dying in 1900, aged sixty-eight years, and the father in 1904, at the age of seventy-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Chapman have one son, Earl, who was born September 9, 1905. In political sentiment, Mr. Chapman is a Republican and usually gives his support to candidates of that party, but in local matters occasionally votes for the man he is best qualified for the office. He is seeker for political honors for himself, tastes lying in a different direction. He is connected with several fraternal organizations, belonging to Elm Grove Lodge, No, 501, Tallmadge, formerly of the Aetolia Lodge, Knights of Pythias, Apollo Lodge, No. 61, Akron, of the Odd Fellows, and to the Pathfinders. In 1904 he was elected a member of the School Board under the new law, for a term of four years, and is its president. ZIMMERLY BROTHERS, the leading pork packers and dealers in cheice meats, in Summit County, with a large retail establishment at Akron and a five-acre packing plant at Kenmore, have built up their business from a small beginning to the command of a market which covers all this section of Ohio. This success is a monument to their business ability, clear foresight and unflagging industry. The firm of Zimmerly Brothers is made up of John, Jacob, Gottleib and Herman, all experts in the meat business. They were all born in Switzerland, and are sons of Samuel Zimmerly, who died in that land. John Zimmerly, the eldest member of the firm, was born in 1855 and was fifteen years of age when he came to Summit County. From 1874 until 1878, he lived at Wadsworth, coming to Akron in the latter year. Here he worked for twelve months at the harness business, and for the same length of time at the marble business. From then until 1891 he was in the employ of the Akron Iron Company, and in the year last mentioned became associated with his brothers in the establishing of the meat business which has grown to such large proportiens. In 1905 John Zimmerly was married to Mrs. Augustus Reishler. He is a member of the German American club. With his brothers he belongs to the German Reformed Church. Jacob Zimmerly, of Zimmerly Brothers, wholesale and retail pork packers and meat dealers, was born in 1863, and remained in Switzerland until he had completed his edu- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 671 cation. After reaching the United States he settled in Akron, and for seventeen years after was employed in the Buckeye Works, in the meanwhile becoming interested with his brothers in the founding of their present business, to which for the past seven years he has devoted his exclusive attention. He belongs to the German Reformed Church, as above intimated, while his social connections include a number of German societies. In 1904, Herman Zimmerly was married to Emma Brodt. The brothers are interested also in the Depositors Savings Bank and the Akron Brewery Company. The Zimmerly Brothers' business, started in a small way, as above mentioned, soon required additional buildings, and the brothers accordingly erected a brick structure 20 by 50 feet, two stories in height, at No. 215 West Main Street, Akron. By 1904 the business had further increased to such an extent that the firm found it necessary to erect and equip a three-story brick building, 30 by 62 1-2 feet, at the same time adding a story to their former structure. This firm was the first in Akron to put in a refrigerating machine for the cooling of their meat. They own also five acres of land at Kenmore on which they have a pork-packing plant located, which is finely equipped, being installed with all modern appliances. The main building is of brick, 100 by 40 feet, and there are three refrigerating rooms attached. The thorough sanitary condition of all the surroundings ensures the wholesomeness of the meat, which has an extensive sale all over this section. The firm slaughter 100 hogs a week and manufacture at least 3,000 pounds of Bolougna. sausage. Their name is a satisfactory guarantee of the quality and purity of their goods. EDWIN SEEDHOUSE, president and general manager of the Falls Rivet and Machine Company, of Cuyahoga Falls, one of its most important industries, was born at Birmingham, England, April 4, 1864, and is a son of John and Mary (Cox) Seedhouse. The parents of Mr. Seedhouse came to America in 1868, and settled at Wadsworth, Ohio, where he attended the public schools. He afterward became station agent for the Erie Railroad Company, at Sherman, where he served from 1884 to 1887. Mr. Seedhouse was then shipping clerk for the Akron Iron Company, holding that position for two years and then becoming salesman for the branch of this company, at Boston, Massachusetts, where he remained until 1892. He occupied the same position in New York, for the New York branch, from 1892 until 1893. His return to Akron was in the capacity of contracting agent for the same concern, but in 1897 he severed his relations with the above company, as it had been affected by the prevailing business depression, and went to New York as general eastern manager for the Falls Rivet and Machinery Company, where he continued until 1903. Then returning to Ohio, he became president and general manager of the Falls Rivet and Machine Company, which was organized. May 16, 1903. It succeeded the old Falls Rivet and Machinery Company,. that had been in existence for thirty years. The business was incorporated by the present board of directors—Edwin Seedhouse, Charles H. Wells and Theophilus King. This concern is one of the largest of its kind in the whole country. One plant is located at Cuyahoga Falls, where it covers four acres, with its own foundry and buildings of two, three and four stories in height., where employment is given 250 men. Power is transmitted from the falls to the other plant, which is located at Kent, where employment is afforded 150 men. The product--rivets and bolts—are sold all over the world. The management of this large industry requires the handling of a large amount of capital and the exercise of rare business capacity. In addition to his interests connected with the above business, Mr. Seed-house is vice president of the Cuyahoga Falls Savings Bank. Mr. Seedhouse married Lucy M. Miller, who is a daughter of Jacob H. Miller, of Norton Township, and their one child, Edna A., is deceased. Both Mr. and Mrs. Seed- 672 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY house are members of Trinity Lutheran Church, and he belongs to the Church Council and to the Music Committee, of which he is chairman. The family home of Mr. Seedhouse is a handseme residence situated on North Hill, Akron. He is a member of the Portage Country club. Mr. Seedhouse has been the architect of his ewn fortune. His parents returned to England when lie was seven years of age, and the death of his mother following, he was reared by an uncle, and after maturity practically made his own way in the world. JOHN W. BRADY, who has resided in Tallmadge Township for many years and has lived on his present place for a half century, was born in Orange County, New York, on the Hudson River, in December, 1831, and is a son of James and Elizabeth Brady. The father of Mr. Brady was born in the north of Ireland, and the mother was born in Scotland. They were married in America and they had four children : Bennett, James, Elizabeth and John W. About 1850, James Brady went from Albany, New York, to St. Louis, by way of the Erie Canal, the trip consuming six weeks, including visits to Cleveland, Cincinnati and East St. Louis. He remained at the latter point, where he bought 100 acres of land and engaged in gardening. From there he removed to Jonesboro, Illinois, where he bought a half section and made a business of raising peaches for a time, but later sold this land, the timber having been bought by the railroads, and moved then to Hamilton County, Ohio. The wife of James Brady died in Illinois, and he died in Hamilton County, Ohio. John W. Brady is the only survivor of his parents' family. He came to Akron prior to the Civil War, and worked at his trade of stone-mason until after his marriage in 1862, when he went to Pittsburg, where he was an employe of Andrew Carnegie for a time, and then returned to Akron. He served as a member of Company E, 50th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under General Hayes, and remained in the service until after the battle of Fort Donelson, in which he was severely injured. Owing to the disability thus caused, he was honorably discharged. He returned to Akron and purchased his present place on which he has lived for fifty years. In 1862, Mr. Brady was married to Ellen O'Neill, who died March 21, 1907. She was a daughter of John O'Neill. They had the following children : John, who died in the far West; Lois, who is deceased; Charles; Grace, who married Ernest Crouse, resides at Massillon ; and Bennett and Agnes, belle of whom are deceased. In political sentiment, Mr. Brady is a Republican. Among his many interesting reminiscences of the past, he recalls the time when the C. A. & C. 'Railroad was the only transportation line that entered Akron. HIRAM F. KREIGHBAUM, sole owner of the Barberton Artificial Stone Company, and the People's Coal and Feed Company, at Barberton, was born in Green Tewnship, Summit County, Ohio, November 29, 1850, and is a son of Levi and Nancy (Gayman) Kreighbaum. The father of Mr. Kreighbaum was also born in Green Township and both paternal and maternal grandparents settled there at an early day, when they came west from Pennsylvania. They were all people of solid character, honest and industrious and their descendants have been noted for the same virtues they possessed. They did much to hasten the development of the agricultural regions in the vicinity of Barberton. Hiram F. Kreighbaum attended the district school and helped on the home farm until he was fifteen years of age, when he learned the carpenter trade, and it is estimated that during the time he worked at the same he built a larger number of bank barns than any man in the township. They still stand strong and true to line and compass, testifying silently to Mr. Kreighbaum's mechanical skill. He settled on his present home place in 1875 and for a number of years followed contracting. In August, 1905, he purchased the People's Coal and Feed yard, which had AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 673 been the property of Mr. McDowell, and has made a success of this business. Since the spring of 1904 he has been manufacturing artificial stone, and he has built up a very large and important industry. in 1874, Mr. Kreighbaum was married to Ann Louisa Sholley, who was born in Coventry Township, Summit County, Ohio, and is a daughter of Emanuel Sholly, who, with his wife, was born in Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Kreighbaum have four children, namely: John Wesley, residing at Barberton, a contractor and builder; Louis Franklin, residing at Reno, Nevada, a cigarmaker; Amos, residing at Elyria, Ohio; and Harry, who works as a carpenter for his eldest brother. Mr. Kreighbaum's sons are all practical, successful business men. The family belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church. A. S. GREENBAUM, proprietor of the Greenbaum Foreign Exchange Bank and Steamship Agency, and a large real estate dealer, at Barberton, is one of the leading capitalists of the town and one of its enterprising and progressive business men. Mr. Greenbaum was born October 14, 1877, in Austria-Hungary, where his parents still reside. The story of Mr. Grenbaum's life is one of unusual interest, proving as it does, the intrinsic value of personal effort, for he has climbed from almost penury to affluence entirely through his own efforts and by steps which are everywhere recognized as entirely honorable. The old home in Hungary was a humble one and its resources so scant, that when the lonely boy was able to earn fifty cents a day, in a foreign land, he brought his own expenses down to five cents a day so that he could send the balance to help eke out the small amount his father was able to make by conducting a little store. He was about fourteen years of age when he left home, being the eldest of the family, and came to America, relying on himself to make his way in a country the language of which was even unknown to him. The courage of youth is sometimes sublime. It was at Pittsburg that Mr. Greenbaum was able to find his first steady employment, but he desired to get farther west and after securing the means, he went to Akron, where he was engaged in the clothing house of Henry Krouse. His education, thus far, had been neglected, but he soon remedied this, at. tending night school and devoting every spare moment to study. Thus he not only educated himself in literature, but also in law and has practiced in the local courts for some years. While at Akron, his knowledge of different German dialects made him valuable as an interpreter. At present Mr. Greenbaum has command of six languages without including English, namely: Hungarian, German, Slavish, Croatian, Servian and Krainer. He continued to reside at Akron and be connected with clothing interests in that city 'until 1900, when he came to Barberton, where he is, as above stated, a prominent and influential business man. Mr. Greenbaum is a very valuable assistant to his fellow-countrymen in their purchases of real estate, giving them legal advice and watching their investments, and there are now more than 200 foreign-born settlers in Summit County, who own their farms and homes through Mr. Greenbaum's agency. Mr. Greenbaum recognized how easy it was for even hard-working people to spend their money carelessly and heedlessly, and it has been his aim to show these how a small investment will result in later independence. On October 16, 1901, Mr. Greenbaum was married to Minnie Fuerst, who is a daughter of M. W. Fuerst, one of the pioneers of Akron. Mr. Greenbaum is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He has served as a member ef the Barberton Humane Society, having been one of its organizers. In a contest recently held by the Akron Beacon-Journal, the prize of a handsome gold watch was awarded to Mr. Greenbaum, as the most popular man of Barberton. Mr. Greenbaum resides at No. 616 Sixth Street, Barberton, one of the popular streets of this city. 674 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY WALTER C. HOLLINGER, secretary and treasurer of the Hollinger Company, at Barberton, which does a general real estate, investment, loan, collection and insurance busi- ness, has his offices at No. 209 North Second Street. Walter C. Hollinger was born May 30, 1865, at Clinton, Summit County, Ohio, and is a son of' David D. and Mary N. (Housman) Hollinger. David Hollinger, father of Walter C., resides on the farm on which both he and his father, Jacob Hollinger, were born, in Frank- lin Township, Summit County, Ohio, the latter's father having been a pioneer from Pennsylvania. He toek up 640 acres of government land and part of this property is now owned by his son, David D. Hollinger. It was bought for $1.25 an acre, but it would take a large amount of money to purchase it now. The mother of Walter C. Hollinger was also born in Franklin Township, and is a daughter of Jacob Housman, who was a native of Pennsylvania and an early settler in Summit County. The three children of David D. Hollinger and wife are: Walter C.; Lloyd Jacob, residing on the home farm; and Charles A., residing on a farm in Franklin Township. Walter C. Hollinger was reared on his father's farm and attended the district schools of the neighborhood. He was about eighteen years of age when he began to teach school and for ten years spent his winters in teaching and his summers in farming. In January, 1894, he left the educational field to accept an appointment as deputy sheriff under Sheriff Griffin, but returned to teaching after serving in that office for two years, but was subsequently reappointed deputy sheriff and served under Sheriff Frank G. Kelly, for four years. Mr. Hollinger then entered the Guardian Savings Bank at Akron, as bookkeeper, and upon the consolidation of that bank with the Central Savings and Trust Company, he came to Barberton, and when the Hollinger Company was organized he was elected to his present position. This company was incorporated under the laws ef the State of Ohio, in 1904, with a capital stock of $10,000, its of ficers being: H. M. Hollinger, of Akron, president; C. A. Brouse, of Akron, vice president, and Walter C. Hollinger, secretary and treasurer. The board of directors is made up of the following leading men: Fred J. Steinert, of Akron, H. M. Hollinger, of Akron, Thomas Clemenger, of Akron, Walter C. Hollinger, of Barberton, L. N. Oberlin, of Clinton, Ohio, and C. A. Brouse, of Akron. The company's books were open for business on September 14, 1904. On July 11, 1907, Mr. Hollinger was united in marriage with Cora E. Grove, a native of Franklin Township, Summit County. Mr. Hollinger taught school in Summit County for a period of fourteen years, seven of which was in the public schools of Barberton. Mr. Hollinger has many pleasant social connections at Barberton, and he is fraternally ass ciated with the Elks and the Odd Fellows. WILLIAM H. LAHR, one of Norton Township's prominent citizens, and the owner and operator of ninety-three acres of excellent farming land, situated on the Wadsworth road, about one-quarter of a mile west of Norton Centre, was born April 16, 1850, on his present farm in Summit County, Ohio, and is a son of John and Mary Margaret (Miller) Lahr John Lahr, who was a son of John Lahr, Sr., was born in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and came to Norton Township in 1845 when a young man of twenty-three years. After his marriage for four years he resided at Norton Centre and then removed to the present farm of William H. Lahr, where his death occurred January 21, 1897. In 1846 John Lahr was married to Mary Margaret Miller, who was born October 19, 1825, in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and is a daughter of John and Susan (Bauer) Miller. Mr. and Mrs. Miller had come to Summit County, Ohio, in 1853, with a party of fifty people, but eight of whom are now living, and settled on the farm now owned by Samuel Miller, Mrs. Lahr's brother. Mrs. Lahr still survives, and makes her home with her son, and although having reached ad- -Row 1, Cell 1-