HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 25 grand chancellor ; he has served ten years as captain of the Pythian Military Company, and is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Masonic fraternity, having attained the degree of a Knight Templar in the latter order. Another mark of distinction fell to Mr. Ritezel in 1896 when he was chosen by Governor Bushnell as one of the seven members of the Ohio Centennial Commission, of which he was later appointed secretary. Associated with him on the commission are such well known men as R. F. Dawes, of Marietta, Samuel Mather of Cleveland, Guy G. Major of Toledo, Frank T. Huffman of Dayton and Ralph Peters of Cincinnati. Mr. Ritezel's intimate acquaintance with leading party workers and politicians of the state places him in the foremost rank. At the declaration of war between the United States and Spain, Mr. Ritezel enlisted a company of volunteers and was commissioned a captain by Governor Bushnell. The company was unattached to any command and participated in no active service outside of the state. At the reorganization of the Ohio National Guard after the Spanish war, Mr. Ritezel was commissioned a captain in the Fiftieth Infantry, 0. N. G., and in 1899 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and assigned to division staff, 0. N. G., Major General Chas. Dick, commanding. He holds a life commission with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and at present is chief signal officer of the Division of Ohio. He has had eleven years of military experience. He married Isabella Graeter, the daughter of one of the early and substantial citizens of Warren, the Graeter House being one of the hos- telries in the stage coach days. They have two sons just entering college life, who promise to become useful citizens. GEORGE W. SNYDER.—No citizen of Trumbull county has served more continuously or more acceptably in public positions tending to conserve the good order and fair government of the community than George W. Snyder, of Orangeville, Hartford township. This splendid example of American citizenship is a lawyer of forty-eight years' practice, served twenty-six years as mayor of Orangeville and for the past eighteen years has been an honored justice of the peace—which is a record of private faithfulness and public usefulness which it would be difficult to duplicate. Mayor Snyder was born in Hartford, September 22, 1838, son of George Snyder, a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, who, as a youth of eighteen, located in Trumbull county. The sole possessions of the young Pennsylvanian were then an English shilling and a good ax, and the latter he found of great value to him in Brookfield and Hartford townships. He married within a few years of his coming to Trumbull county, spent several years as a furniture and pump maker, and eventually owned a sawmill and 340 acres of timber land. He was also an active Democrat and a member of the Lutheran church. George Snyder's wife was formerly Miss Elizabeth 26 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY Carnes, daughter of Godfrey Carnes, a resident of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, who had the honor of serving as a general in the Revolutionary war. The eight children born of this union were as follows: Mary, who married Daniel Artherholt, and is deceased; Margaret, who died as the wife of Asa Artherholt; Jane, who married Warren Alderman and is now a resident of Sharon, Pennsylvania; Ruhama, now Mrs. Aaron Vinton and living in Vienna ; James, who resides at Brookfield; A. Cornelius, deceased; Uriah, who lives at Hartford, and George W. Snyder, of this review. Mr. Snyder received his education, in its early stages, through the public schools of Hartford township. He afterward graduated from the Hartford Academy, and in 1858 completed a course at Folsom's Mercantile College, Cleveland, Ohio: The year 1860 was very important in the life history of the mayor, for it marked his birth as a voter and the casting of his first ballot for Abraham Lincoln, as well as the commencement of his legal studies. In the year 1862 he enlisted in Company C, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and although he was on duty as a three months' soldier, he was not called into action. He commenced and completed his legal studies with L. C. Jones, of Hartford, and has since continuously practiced in the local courts, his professional specialty being that of collections. The judge has also a long and honorable record as a school teacher, commencing in his eighteenth year (when he received one dollar per day, exclusive of board) and covering sixteen terms, all in Trumbull county. His first school was at Tyrrell. Since he cast his first vote for Lincoln, forty-eight years ago, Mr. Snyder has been active supporter of Republicanism and his long and able service as mayor and justice of the peace has been both as a representative of that party and as a strong champion of honest government and impartial justice. Aside from the performance of the duties connected with his profession and judicial offices, he gives considerable of his time to the cultivation of bees and has now about forty colonies on the home place. On the 25th of December, 1872, Mr. Snyder wedded Miss Julia A. Wilson, daughter of Nathaniel Wilson, a native of Vermont, and Betsey Brockway Wilson, a native of Ohio. Mrs. Snyder was born, raised and educated in Hartford township, and has become the mother of the following children : Sharlie L., deceased; Blaine C., who resides in Hartford township; Vera E., who is a stenographer in Akron, Ohio, and Bessie J., who married Professor F. O. Pinks and lives at Scranton, Pennsylvania. CHARLES HARSHMAN, a retired farmer of Southington township, and quite recently incapacitated from work by a stroke of paralysis, is one of the prominent citizens of this section of the county, both as regards its progress in agriculture and the administration of county affairs. He was born April 5, 1833, in Jackson township, this county. David Harshman, the father, was a native of Pennsylvania, coming to Trumbull county with the grandfather of Charles, was reared in this locality and married Miss Rosanna Stewart, a native of Ireland and of Scotch-Irish descent. The HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 27 children of this family were as follows: Mary, who married W. B. McConnell, of Garretsville, Ohio, and has now reached the age of eighty-seven years; John, who died at the age of twenty-one; Mathias, who, at the age of eighty, is a resident of Dunn county, Wisconsin; Jacob, who is a resi-dent of Pierce county, Wisconsin; Margaret, who married Ezra Wildman, and is now deceased, and Charles, the sixth and youngest, who is now in his seventy-sixth year. David Harshman, -the father of this family, was an active Democrat until 1840, when he became a Whig and afterward joined the Republican party. He was a life-long farmer and died a stanch Methodist. Charles Harshman was educated in Southington township and after taking all possible advantage of the district school entered Hiram College, at -West Farmington, for several terms. During this period James A. Garfield was a teacher in that institution and Mr. Harshman was a pupil in several of his classes. Mr. Harshman has engaged in farming nearly all his life, commencing for himself at the age of twenty-one years. About twelve years ago he had reached such a position that he was enabled to retire from active work, but a stroke of paralysis on March 13, 1903, in-capacitated him from even active recreation and he 110W lives in quiet at his home in Southington Center. During the Civil war Mr. Harshman served as a member of Company B, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. His year (1862) of active work, both as a private and as lieutenant of his company, so shattered his health that he was un-able to work for three years after the close of the war. In 1871 he was elected commissioner of Trumbull county and served in that capacity for two terms of three years each. He also held various township offices and served as justice of the peace for about twenty years. It will thus be seen that he has lived a life of great activity and broad usefulness. On September 5, 1854, Mr. Harshman married Eda White, a daughter of Dennis White and a native of Southington township. They became the parents of five children, as follows : Ida, who married Eli Overly and lives at Youngstown, Ohio; Lenora, Mrs. Evander Heathman, but recently deceased; William, who is a resident of the township ; Lydia Naomi, who married Edwin Mercer and is now deceased, and Mary, who married Clar-ence Viets and is a resident of this township. Mrs. Eda Harshman died in 1894 and her husband afterward married Mrs. Nancy Ann Haughton, who is still living. They are ardent members of the Methodist church. Mr. Harshman is a member of Hall Post, G. A. R., and was formerly identified with the Old Erie Lodge No. 3, of Warren, Ohio, but has taken his demit. WILLIAM L. CHRISTIANAR, member of the firm McConnell and Christianar, proprietors of the Colonial Hotel, Warren, is a native of the city, where he is highly honored for his life of industry, intelligence and usefulness. His birthday is January 14, 1853, and his parents were Henry and Eliza (Bishop) Christianar, both of whom were natives of Germany and 28 -HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY came to the United States in the earlier period of their lives. They were married in Warren. The father, when he came to this country in his young manhood, located at Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he worked at his trade of wagon making for several years. He came to Warren about 1850, and was employed for some time by H. C. Belden. In 1860 he established a shop on East Market street for the manufacture of wagons and carriages, and continued to be thus engaged until his death in 1891, at the age of sixty-seven. His wife also died in Warren, at the age of sixty-nine. They were the parents of the following six daughters and two sons: William L.; Emma, wife of A. R. Hunt, of Homestead, Pennsylvania ; Frederick and Mary, deceased ; Alice, a teacher in Cleveland, Ohio; Lucy, deceased; Laura, also a teacher at Cleveland, and Carrie, who lives in Warren. William L. Christianar was reared in Warren, and from 1871 to 1890 industriously and profitably followed his trade as a blacksmith. He then founded his own establishment, and continued both as master workman and proprietor for some time. He worked for the Homestead (Pennsylvania) Steel Works for about two years, or until the great strike of 1892, when he returned to Warren and for several years was engaged in the grocery business. In February, 1908, with Mr. McConnell, he purchased the Elliott Hotel, which was remodeled and greatly improved and, under the name of the Colonial Hotel, has taken its place as a first-class hostelry. In September, 1883, Mr. Christianar married Miss Ella Linn, a native of Warren, Ohio, who died in 1884. He has always stanchly supported the Republican party with his vote and expressed sentiment, although he has never sought public office. For twenty-five years he has been a member of the I. 0. 0. F., but otherwise is unconnected with the fraternities. SERVETUS W. PARK, the venerable and venerated citizen of Warren, Trumbull county, has been, until a comparatively recent day, an active participant in the mercantile and financial life of his community. He is still in superintending touch with many of its large interests, but as he is approaching his eightieth birthday and his long career has been surcharged with stirring and wearing events, it is but natural that he should now crave repose. As a business man he has achieved such success as come to but few, for during the forty-six years of his activities and developments in that field, while a resident of Warren, he has guided his many- enterprises safely through the depressions and panics which have swamped so many of his associates, without ever having a note protested, or compromising a single dollar of just indebtedness. Neither has Mr. Park confined his vigorous mind to the successful conduct of such practical affairs, for he is a liberally educated and a liberal-minded man ; through all his pressing duties of business and finances has continued his studies in literature, arts and the sciences; has always been a sturdy promoter of education in all its forms and a hearty and efficient worker for the public good in general. His good, substantial British blood has always been in evidence. That his great-grandfather was Scotch-Irish can well be credited, as Mr. Park HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 29 has all the persevering, thrifty moral traits of the one race combined with the keen, versatile, elastic qualities of the other. S. W. Park is a native of Moriah, Essex county, New York, born on the 5th of July, 1829, his infant home being near Fort Henry. He is a son of John and Sophia (Broughton) Park, of Wells, Vermont, who, in 1831, journeyed from their. New York farm in a covered wagon to the homestead which was purchased in Weathersfield, Ohio. There they spent the remainder of their peaceful and useful days in the agricultural community of that "far western" country. The father lived to be ninety-seven years of age; was a great reader, as well as a deep thinker and fair investigator; was a consistent supporter of educational and progressive movements, and, as a man of generous and tender impulses, was a defender of the oppressed—therefore, in politics, an earnest Free Soiler, a rank Abolitionist and a stanch Republican. The son of such a father naturally received, as a preliminary mental training, a thorough course in the common schools, and was afterward a student in the old academy at Warren. He maintained a proper balance between the physical and mental by working on the farm in summer and teaching school in the winter, from the age of seventeen until that of twenty-one. In the summer of 1850, when he attained his majority, Mr. Park commenced reading medicine with Drs. Daniel B. Woods and John R. Woods, of Warren, and during the progress of his studies also clerked in the drug store of W. W. Collins. In February, 1853, however, the California fever proved too contagious for his peace of mind and body, and, relinquishing his professional ambitions, he formed a small party and started for the gold fields via the Panama route. Instead of going into the diggings he took the more conservative and the wiser course of engaging in business at San Francisco. From 1854 until his return to the States in 1858 he was a partner in the prosperous book and stationery firm of Park & Tyler (C. W.). It is not to be supposed that Mr. Park could live in San Francisco in those stirring times without becoming an active factor in them. He was, in fact, a member of the vigilance committee of 1856, which saved the city from the rule of thugs, gamblers and ballot-box stutters and made it one of the best governed cities of the west for many years. On the 14th of May of the year named the long series of outrages by the criminal element culminated in the assassination of James King, editor of the San Francisco Evening Bulletin, by James P. Casey, an ex-convict from the Sing Sing (New York) penitentiary, who had earned a record in San Francisco as one of its most notorious gamblers and ballot-box stuffers. His cowardly murder of Mr. King aroused the citizens to a white heat, with the result that they organized what is known as the Second Vigilance Committee, whose work was so prompt and thorough. Of this, Mr. Park had the honor to be one of the organizers.. Upon his return to the east Mr. Park married, located in Louisville, Kentucky, and for two years engaged in a mercantile business under the firm name of N. S. Glore & Company. While thus engaged he traveled largely through the southern states and, foreseeing the Civil war, con- 30 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY eluded to sell his interests in the Louisville concern and return to his old northern home in Warren. In 1860 he therefore re-located there, becoming a member of the firm of O. H. Patch & Company, wholesale dealers in carriage and saddlery hardware. At the breaking out of the war one of the partners, Emerson Opdyke, enlisted in the Forty-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and within three years had reached the rank of a general. In 1861 Mr. Park took over the entire business, adding general hardware to its scope and doing both a wholesale and retail business. This was the establishment of the house which he conducted and developed in such masterly fashion for forty-six years. Although Mr. Park did not "go to the front" during the Civil war, his services at home were of an invaluable character. As his business required his constant attention he sent a substitute, and was tireless in his work of raising troops and money for the support of the Union cause. As his, own contributions were always generous, he accomplished far more for the north than if he had merely shouldered a musket. In 1863 he was chosen first lieutenant of Company B, First Regiment, Ohio Militia, under Governor David Tod, and although not called into the service in that capacity, was active in raising men for the 105th, 41st, 19th and 125th regiments. Besides founding the substantival business house with which his name was identified for nearly half a century, Mr. Park was one of the organizers of the Trumbull National Bank, of which he is still a director. He is also president of the Western Reserve National Bank and of the Warren Paint Company. With Marshall Woodford and B. J. Taylor he organized the present public library, sustained the enterprise until it reached a sound footing, and is still a trustee of the Warren Library Association, as well as of the Warren Opera House Company. He is, further, interested in several corporations of the city not mentioned; in fact, it would be difficult to mention any large interest or beneficial public movement to which he has not contributed. In 1858 Mr. Park was united in marriage with Miss Priscilla A. Welch, a native of Pulaski, Pennsylvania, and the children born to their union were as follows: Illa W., September 8, 1859, at Rockport, Indiana; Carrie L., June 20, 1862, at Warren, Ohio. The tender and beloved wife and mother died June 5, 1875, and on September 17, 1885, Mr. Park married as his second wife Miss Lucia A. Darling, of Akron, Ohio, a niece of Governor Sidney Edgerton. She was a graduate of Oberlin College, for eleven years principal of the ladies' department of the Berea (Kentucky) College and a lady of broad culture and of remarkable practical abilities as well. Mr. Park was naturally attracted to such a woman, having never allowed his business responsibilities to overwhelm his intellectual duties. His private reading has always been constant, and covered a broad field, and he has been connected with several literary societies. He is an old member of the Odd Fellows fraternity, joining the order in 1859, at Louisville, Kentucky, and being at present identified with Mahoning Lodge No. 29, through all of whose chairs he has passed. Although never HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 31 a denominational member, Mr. Park has assisted in the support of different churches, his attitude toward them being one of liberality based on his belief that they are all engaged in good works which he may conscientiously further. HON. W. AUBREY THOMAS, of Niles, Trumbull county, who since 1904 has been a representative in Congress from the nineteenth Ohio district, was for many years an active iron manufacturer of substantial standing. He is of Welsh lineage, born on the 7th of June, 1866, being a son of John R. and Margaret (Morgan) Thomas. The family resided for many years at Youngstown, where the father was a manufacturer both of iron and. brick, being one of the pioneers of the former industry in the Mahoning valley. In the seventies the Thomas homestead was removed to Niles, and there the father died in 1898. The mother is still living, with children as follows: John M. Thomas, of the Thomas Furnace Company, Mil-waukee, Wisconsin; T. E. Thomas; W. Aubrey Thomas; Mrs. Dr. T. O. Clingan and Miss Mary A.. Thomas, all residents of Niles, Ohio. Mr. Thomas of this review, was educated at the Niles high school (graduating in 1883), and at the Mount Union College and Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, making a specialty of metallurgical chemistry. He has resided continuously at Niles, since completing his edu-cation, except while actively engaged with the Thomas Furnace Company at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the Jenifer (Alabama) Furnace Company. For some years he was manager of the Thomas furnace at Niles, and is still interested in the plant at Milwaukee, managed by his brother, John M. Thomas; in the furnace at Jenifer, Alabama ; in the Niles Fire Brick Company, managed by his other brother, T. E. Thomas, and in other enter-prises of a related nature. Mr. Thomas has been a lifelong Republican, and in 1892 was elected to the Niles city council, serving as president of that body. He held no other office until elected to Congress in 1904, although he had been active and influential in party affairs since attaining his majority. As a member of the naval affairs committee and as a general representative of the nine-teenth Ohio district, he has proven a hard-working member of the house, faithful in the performance of his committee duties, and meeting with promptness and practical suggestions the requests for legislation made by his constituents and interests of his district. He has been elected for a third full term. Mr. Thomas has also attained much prominence as a fraternalist. He became a Mason in 1887, and when serving as the head of his lodge for two terms was the youngest Master in the state of Ohio. He is also a member of the chapter, council, commandery and consistory and Mystic Shrine. Further, he is identified with the Royal Arcanum; became a member of the Elks at Youngstown in 1892, helped organize the Niles lodge of that fraternity and was its first exalted ruler. In his relig-ious faith he is a Presbyterian. Vol. II-3 32 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY CHARLES P. KINSMAN, retired, residing at Warren, Ohio, comes of a family whose ancestors were English people, and trace the line from the time of leaving that country and embarking in the ship "Mary and John," at Southampton, which boat landed at Boston, Massachusetts, about 1634. Frederick Kinsman, land agent and farmer, of Warren, Ohio, was born in Kinsman, Trumbull county, March 14, 1807. His education up to 1825 was confined to the common district school of the township, with the exception of a summer at Burton Academy and two winters at the academy at Warren. In February, 1825, he, with his eldest brother, took horses and rode on horseback to Hartford, Connecticut, where he sold his horse and entered Plainfield Academy in that state. He remained there nearly a year, and was then transferred to the Military Academy of Captain Partridge at Middletown, Connecticut, where he remained another year. In 1826 he, with about three hundred of his fellow cadets, under the lead of their captain, on the 3rd of July embarked on board a steamboat (camping out for the night on deck) for New York City, to participate in the first Fifty Years' Jubilee of American Independence. Arriving at the city on the morning of the 4th fully armed and equipped, they were marched to the battery under an escort from the City National Guard, there meeting a large display of military companies, which were reviewed by the governor and many other notables. Aaron Burr, a small man with keen black eyes and long white locks, was pointed out in the crowd, apparently unattended by anyone. Mr. Kinsman regarded this day as one of the great and eventful periods of his school boy years. On that day two of our venerable ex-presidents, Adams and Jefferson, closed their long and useful lives. His time at Middletown was principally devoted to the study of mathematics and engineering. Late in the fall of 1826 he, with his class in engineering, was engaged in making a topographical survey of the country. While thus employed, one bright morning, he started alone for Durham, to establish a flag station on a high point of Meriden Mountain, some eight or ten miles distant. He there found a point from which could be seen Hartford, New Haven, Middletown, Guilford, etc., where he set up a flag, fixed a post for observation, and then returned at night to Middletown, making a trip of some twenty miles, in part through woods, brambles and rocks. The next day found him unable to attend to military or other duties. Typhus fever set in, from which he slowly recovered ; and without pursuing his studies further he returned home, and held a position as clerk in his brother's store until 1830, when he engaged in a similar capacity in the land office of General Perkins, of Warren. In 1832 he married Miss Olive D: Perkins, daughter of General Perkins, and soon after assumed a position as partner in the office. This agency of Western Reserve lands was one of the most extensive of any in the state, General Perkins at one time paying over one-fifteenth part of all the land tax in the state of Ohio. The agency was nearly all, in the end, transferred to Mr. Kinsman. The Erie Company and the agency for Daniel L. Coit (Mr. Coit being president of the Erie Company) were among the leading agencies that induced General Perkins to make his HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 33 home in Ohio. The Erie Company Agency was settled up in his life time. The Daniel L. Coit Agency was continued after his decease by his executors in the hands of Mr. Kinsman until 1872, when, as the very last of his agencies, it was closed out, having covered a period of over seventy years in one direct and continuous line. In 1845 Mr. Kinsman was appointed associate judge of the Court of Conimon Pleas for Trumbull county. He was one of the original directors of the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad, and was chosen a director of the Western Reserve Bank, of which his father had been one of the founders twenty-five years before. For four years he was a member of the Warren city council, and during that period was active in forwarding measures for the improvement of the city in paving, sewering and similar work. His efforts did not cease with his term of office, but were long continued, with large expenditures of time and labor, to the great benefit of the town. A Republican in politics, he was a delegate to the Baltimore convention that nominated Mr. Lincoln for the second term; and was chosen presidential elector to cast the vote of the nineteenth district for General Grant in 1868. During the rebellion he was an ardent and energetic Unionist, laboring and contributing freely in the cause of the Union. He regularly attended the service of the Episcopal church and supported that organization with work, money and example. In agricultural matters he took a deep interest and was himself an agriculturist on a considerable scale, being the owner of several hundred acres of grazing land and fine farms. His death occurred in 1884. He was twice married : first to the daughter of General Perkins, as mentioned, who died in 1838, their three children also dying young; and in 1840 to Miss Cornelia G. Pease, daughter of Hon. Calvin Pease, chief justice of Ohio. She died in 1873, leaving five sons, four of whom are living : John, Thomas and Charles P., residents of Warren, Ohio ; and Frederick, residing in New York City. Charles P. Kinsman, the fourth son, was born in Warren, December 17, 1847. He was reared and educated and has always been a resident of this city. He is the owner of much property in the way of farming lands in Trumbull county. He is unmarried and is now retired from active labors. - John Kinsman was born in Warren, April 2, 1843, and was reared and educated in his native county. After finishing his education he began farming. He married October 12, 1866, Mary E. VanGorder, daughter of Cyrus J. and Jane W. .(Seeley) VanGorder. The father was born in Portage county, Ohio, in 1815, and died February 7, 1907. The mother born in Trumbull county, at Howland, died June 24, 1906. Mrs. Kinsman was born in Warren, August 8, 1845, and obtained her education in the local schools. Mr. Kinsman farmed on land which is now within the city of Warren, beginning to work this land in 1866, just after his marriage and continuing until recent years to reap from the fertile lands in his possession. Much of this land has now been platted into town lots and disposed of at good figures. During the Civil war he was a soldier in the One Hundred Days' 34 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY service, being a member of the One Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio Volun-teer Infantry, Company A. He was wounded in Kentucky. He is a mem-ber of the Masonic fraternity, being a Knight Templar. Two children were born to Air. and Airs. John Kinsman: Mary, born June 24, 1873, wife of John D. Wick; Jennie C., born December 31, 1875, wife of James A. Reeves; they have one child, Mary Kinsman Reeves. DANIEL A. GEIGER, cashier of the Western Reserve National Bank, at Warren, Ohio, well and most favorably known among bankers and business men throughout Trumbull and adjoining counties, is a native of Calhoun county, Michigan, born February 8, 1866. He is numbered among the enterprising and vigorous business men of his time. He is the son of Eseciah Geiger, a native of that historic old place, Germantown, Pennsylvania, now a part of Philadelphia. He accompanied his parents to Trumbull county, Ohio, locating in Howland township, where he was reared 'midst the rural scenes of the then New West, which was within the great timbered section of Ohio. When twenty-one years of age he went to Michigan, settling in Calhoun county, where he purchased a tract of land which he improved into an excellent farm. In Trumbull county he married Polly Camp, a native of the county, her parents being old settlers there, having emigrated from Pennsylvania at an early day. Daniel A. Geiger's parents lived in Calhoun county, Michigan, until 1870, then returned to Trumbull county, Ohio. They located at Farmington, where the father built a flax mill, which enterprise he carried on about five years, then sold and moved to Cortland, and in 1883 to Warren, where he still resides, now in his sixty-eighth year. The wife and mother still survives. Three children were born to this union: One daughter who died at the age of eight years ; Daniel A., of this sketch, and Fred L., of Warren, a contractor. Daniel A. Geiger, the eldest in the family of E. Geiger and wife, was about five years of age when his people removed to Trumbull county, Ohio. He received a good common school education at the local schools of Farm-ington and Cortland; also attended school at North Lewisburg, Ohio, and Union City, Pennsylvania. When he graduated from the high school he went to Mt. Union College, in Stark County, Ohio, graduating in the busi-ness department in 1883, coming the same year to Warren and beginning work in the old Trumbull National Bank as collector and assistant book-keeper. He has been associated with banking ever since. In 1885 the Western Reserve National Bank was organized and Mr. Geiger started in as its bookkeeper, and in 1892 was made teller. and in March, 1894, was made cashier, which important position he still holds, being in charge of the $300,000 capital and surplus. The president of the bank is S. W. Park; vice-president, Charles Fillius; assistant cashiers, J. H. Nelson and E. F. Briscoe. This is one of the old and solid financial institutions in Ohio, and has during its existence built up a reputation second to none for honor and business enterprise. HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 35 Mr. Geiger is a member of B. P. O. E. No. 295, of Warren. Politically he is a Republican, but not active in party work. He is one of the directors of the Warren Rubber Company. He was united in marriage March 16, 1887, to Jessie L. Frisbee, daughter of Henry and Mary C. (Moore) Frisbee. She was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, where she was reared. THOMAS H. DEMING, editor of the Warren Daily and Weekly Tribune, is a native of Mt. Olivet, Kentucky, born April 28, 1874, a son of O. S. Deming, who was a native of New York, but who moved to Kentucky prior to the war of the rebellion. He was a prominent attorney and well known in Republican circles. He was elector-at-large for the state in 1896. He was president of the only Republican electoral college the state ever has had. He was honored by a seat on the bench, serving several years, and was also prosecuting attorney and held various local offices. He came to Warren in 1904 and is now retired from active business cares. The wife of Judge Deming was Leona Rigg, born in Kentucky, in Nichols county, the daughter of Rev. Thomas Rigg and wife. She is still living. Thomas H. Deming is the third child in a family of one daughter and three sons.. He was reared and educated in his native place, attending the home schools and Allegheny College, of Meadville, Pennsylvania: In 1896 he went to Warren, Ohio, where his brother, W. C. Deming, was editing the Tribune. The brother went to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and purchased the Tribune of that city, of which Thomas H. is now owner, in partnership with his brother. In 1903 Thomas H. became editor of the Warren Tribune. It has a circulation of 2,750 daily and 3,000 weekly, the publication being the leading paper in the city and Republican. Mr. Deming is a member of the Elks order, Lodge No. 295, and of the Knights of Pythias, at Warren; also belongs to the Trumbull Club. He commenced his first newspaper venture at the age of eighteen years, in Kentucky, by leasing a weekly paper called the Tribune-Democrat, at Mt. Olivet. JOHN E. BRADY, ex-treasurer of Trumbull county, Ohio, was born in Geauga, Ohio, July 3, 1842, a son of Barney Brady, a native of Ireland, who came to America when a mere lad, locating in Ohio, where he married Jane McCain, a native of Pennsylvania, after which they moved to Geauga county, Ohio, in 1829, and there reared five sons and three daughters, John E. being the sixth child and fourth son in the family. He was reared on the farm and obtained a common school education. In 1877 he went to Warren and there embarked in the hardware trade, continuing therein for thirty years, still having an interest in the firm of Brady, Drenner & Morgan Hardware Company. In 1905 he was the successful candidate for the office of county treasurer of Trumbull county, having run on the Democratic ticket. He has also served on the city council of Warren. In the month of May, 1878, he 36 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY was married to Martha Williams, by whom there is no issue. For thirty-one years he has been identified with the interests of Warren and Trumbull county. It is not infrequently the case that a man who has been absorbed in business affairs for a long term of years is chosen by the people as the proper custodian of the public funds, in the place of some perpetual, professional office-seeker, who ofttimes is unfit for the trust reposed in him. Years of business in a given community, where one is correct in his affairs, insures the people a character at once trusty and reliable in business methods. CHARLES W. MOSER, the capable sheriff of Trumbull county, residing at Warren, is a native of Warren township, and was born October 26, 1859. He is a son of Owen Moser, a native of Ellentown, Pennsylvania, who was born in 1827 and went to Trumbull county in 1834. For many years he was engaged in the restaurant business, and is now eighty-two years of age, being one of the oldest men within the town of Warren. He is of German descent, his grandfather coming from the Fatherland. Charles W. Moser's mother, Laura Lane, was a native of Trumbull county, born in 1836, and died in 1907. Her father, John Lane, came from Connecticut and located in Trumbull county at an early day, in Wethersfield township, having come to America from Ireland. Charles W. Moser is the eldest of the four living children born to his parents. He was reared in Warren, attending the district schools. He learned the blacksmith's trade, which he followed for thirty years in Warren. In 1905 he was elected sheriff of Trumbull county, which important position he still holds. From the Second ward he was a councilman for three terms, and a worker in the Republican ranks. Fraternally, he is connected with the Odd Fellows order, belonging to Lodge No. 29 (Mahoning), at Warren; also B. P. 0. E. No. 295 and Eagles No. 311. In 1884 he married Anna McNulty, who is now deceased. She was the mother of two children : William C. and Laura B. JUDGE SAMUEL BAXTER CRAIG, one of the prominent attorneys-at-law of Warren, Ohio, was born in Braceville township of Trumbull county, October 2, 1844. His father, Samuel Craig, was born and reared in Ireland and, coming to America when a young man, he located first in Braceville township of Trumbull county, Ohio. This was sometime in the thirties, and he subsequently married Margaret R. Darling, a native of Pennsylvania, and reared a family of nine children, seven of whom reached mature years. He was both a stone cutter and farmer throughout life, and his early home was in the dense woods of Trumbull county, where he built a log cabin and improved his land. Samuel Baxter was his second child and first son, and in the little log cabin in which he was born and where each night he was rocked to sleep in a sap trough clusters his memory of childhood days. From the HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 37 high school of Warren, which he attended for two years, he passed to the Western Reserve Seminary, and studied in that well known institution of learning for three years, teaching school during the meantime in the winter months. Later he matriculated in Allegheny College of Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1871, in the month of June, and the following September began the study of law with Hutchings, Glidden and Stull, at Warren. He was admitted to the bar in April of 1873, and located for practice at Warren, where he has ever since remained, and is now one of the oldest attorneys within that sprightly city. For six years he held the office of probate judge, served .as chairman of the executive committee in the William McKinley campaign for governor, was for six years a member of the board of education, and during many years was the clerk of Warren township. He is one of the directors of the Union National Bank and president of the People's Ice and Cold Storage Company of Warren. His entire life has been spent in Trumbull county. Judge Craig is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Mahoning Lodge No. 29, and is a representative to the Grand Lodge of Ohio. In Masonry he belongs to the lodge at Warren. In his church affiliations he is connected with the Methodist Episcopal faith, and is an active worker and a steward in his church. Judge Craig married in 1874 Mary Ellen Forbes, a daughter of James and Lavina (Covert) Forbes, from Pennsylvania. Mrs. Craig came to Trumbull county when very young, and their union has been blessed by the birth of four children : Alice Belle, wife of George W. Phelps, of Warren; Ella Florence, at home; Eugene F., of Warren; and William Benjamin, of the same place. LEMUEL DRAY. the present city treasurer of the city of Warren, Ohio, is a native of Columbiana county, born in Yellow Creek township, June 2, 1837, a son of Thomas Dray, born in 1804, who was a native of Boardman township, Trumbull county, Ohio (now in Mahoning). His father was Charles Dray, born in Ireland. The father of Charles was Edward Dray, the name being spelled at that date as Drake. Thomas Dray was reared in Trumbull county and became a farmer, as well as a machinist; was a successful business man who reached his eighty-ninth year, dying in Hancock county, where he was at the time engaged in farming. His father lived to be about a hundred years old; he was a true pioneer of Trumbull county, Ohio. Lemuel Dray's mother was Hannah (Willock) Dray, of Dutch descent, born in 1812. When but thirty-six years of age she was the mother of five children, and during that year, 1848, she died. Mr. Dray married for his second wife Mellissa Sheffleton, by whom four children were born. Lemuel is the second child of the first marriage. He was twelve years of age when he went to Trumbull county. He first attended school at Wellsville, Ohio, and after coming to Trumbull county attended school at Girard and at Niles, where he completed his education. He applied himself to 38 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY the moulders' trade, which he mastered, and also clerked in stores and in other ways earned money, which he wisely saved until he was able to attend Duff's Business College, at Pittsburg, 'Pennsylvania, where he took the regular full course. In 1857 he returned to Niles and was, the following year, married to Martha E. Wilson, daughter of James and Mariah Wilson, of Girard, Ohio. He then located in Warren, where he began housekeeping in the month of May, 1858, and has been a resident of Warren ever since. At first he took charge of James Ward's foundry as manager. He was with that concern about two years and a half, after which he was with James B. Dunlap, as the bookkeeper of his wholesale grocery house. After remaining there seven years Mr. Dray was then employed in the grocery business as a partner of Charles Wilson ; this continued three years, when he sold to Mr. Wilson and then engaged in the meat business from 1870 to 1878. He was shipping clerk for the Westlake Iron Company from 1879 to 1883, when that company failed, and Mr. Dray closed up the business in November of the year named. He then went with the Trumbull Iron Company at Girard, as their shipping clerk, and was with the Union Iron and Steel Company, of Youngstown, until 1896, when he went with the American Steel Hoop Company and the U. S. Steel Company and the Carnegie Company. In November, 1905, he resigned, since which time he has practically retired from active business operations. March 3, 1908, he was appointed city treasurer of Warren by Hon. William Kirkpatrick, mayor. Mr. and Mrs. Dray are the parents of ten children, seven of whom are living : Frank W., of 'Warren; Hon. William O., of Victor, Colo., representative of the third congressional district; Harry T., of Akron, Ohio, the Falls Rivet & Shaft Co.; Clarence J., with the B. & O. R. R. Co., at Cleveland; Bert A., general clerk of the Carnegie Company, at Youngstown; Minnie, at home, and Edith M., secretary of the Youngstown City Hospital. Those who died are: Mattie E., died aged one year; Charles L., aged nine years, and Emma Belle, aged forty-four years. Mr. Dray has lived in Warren for a' half century and now resides at No. 504 E. Market street. At one time he served on the city council from the Fourth ward, it being in 1896-97. FRANK H. FLOWERS, chief of police at Warren, is a native of Vernon township, Trumbull county, Ohio, born March 23, 1868, a son of Henry and Anna (Culp) Flowers. The father was born in Brookfield township, Trumbull county, and his father was one of the early pioneers of this county, who came from Pennsylvania and was of German descent. Anna Culp was a native of Trumbull county, the daughter of Thomas Culp, an early pioneer of the county. The father of Frank H. Flowers died at the age of seventy-four years, while the mother is living, aged seventy-eight years. They were the parents of nine children, and six sons are now living, Chief Flowers being the fifth child and fourth son. He was reared on the old homestead in Vernon township and educated HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 39 at the public schools and high school. He continued to live at home until he wa.s twc-nty-one years of age, when he engaged in business for himself, working at. various kinds of employment. He was engaged with his brother-in-law, Robert J. Hamilton, of the firm of Hamilton & Daily, stone and bridge contractors, constructing bridges in various parts of the country. He finally- came to Warren and became a stationary engineer, which he fol-lowed a year and a half. His next employment was with the Denison Manufacturing Company, of Warren, and while there engaged he was appointed special police, serving two years, and was then made a regular patrolman, serving six years as -night patrolman and two years on the day force. Having proven his competency, he was made chief-of-police.   Politically, Mr. Flowers is an active Republican and is the county detective. He belongs to the following fraternal societies : Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias.. He is a life-long resident of Trumbull county, and comes from one of the pioneer families. He was united in marriage in 1890 to Hannah D. Hamilton, daughter of James and Betsey Hamilton. One son is the fruit of this union—Harold Webster. LUMAN EASTON was born in Mesopotamia township many years ago, on the 15th of December, 1836, and he is a member of one of its earliest pioneer families. It was in August of 1816 that Joseph Easton, his grand-father, came with his family drawn by oxen to Mesopotamia township, Trumbull county, Ohio, and here his wife died just two years later, in 1818, and was the second to be buried in Mesopotamia cemetery. He had traded his farm in Massachusetts for timber land here, and he cleared a portion of this land. The parents of Luman Easton were John and Sophia (Densmore) Easton, from Massachusetts, and the mother was a daughter of Randolph Densmore, also from that state. John and Sophia Easton were the first of the family to come here, and they always lived in a little settlement of Massachusetts people. The .father, born on the 8th of December, 1790, died in 1875, and the mother, born in 1797, died in 1887. Luman Easton, the youngest of their five sons and four daughters, resided with his parents until he was thirty-five years of age. In 1873 he bought a farm of improved land in this township, and he at one time also owned another tract of land here, and after coming to his present homestead he worked at the carpenter's trade much of the time in addition to his farm labor. In March of 1865, he enlisted in Company F, Thirty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry-, for the Civil war, and his services were principally in North Carolina, Virginia and. Kentucky, receiving his dis-charge from the service on the 3d of July, 1865. On the 13th of September, 1859, Mr. Easton was married to Martha Cole, also a native of Mesopotamia township, a daughter of John. and Nancy (Lepper) Cole, the father born in 1812 in Buffalo, New York, and the mother in .Amsterdam that state. The children of this union are: Edith, now the Widow Hathaway of Cleveland, Ohio; Emery, of Mesopo- 40 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY tamia township; John, of Coalbrook, this state; Bertha M., who became the wife of Fred Goodin and died on the 24th of February, 1907; Bert J., a twin of Bertha, who died when but two years old; and Carl R., of Painsvile, Ohio. In political matters Mr. Easton is allied with the Republicans, and he has served as a road supervisor and as a school director. JOHN CAMPBELL, postmaster at Warren, Trumbull county, not only represents a family whose activities are woven into the pioneer history of Ohio, but is intimately associated with the McKinleys, being himself a cousin of the lamented president. He was born in Niles, this county, on the 2nd of October, 1830, son of David Campbell, a native of Lisbon, Columbiana county, Ohio, who came hither in 1825 with William McKinley, the father of the future chief executive of the United States. The two neighbors and friends were first associated in the conduct of the old Eaton furnace, and engaged for some time in the manufacture of charcoal iron. About ten years thereafter David Campbell removed to Akron, Ohio, and subsequently operated various furnaces at Millville (seven years) and Salem (two years). He then returned to Niles, and for the remainder of his active life was connected with various sawmill enterprises at that place, Vienna, Bristol and Fowler, his death occurring in the town last named, at the age of seventy-nine. President McKinley's mother and the father of Postmaster Campbell were first cousins, and the father of the late president and Mr. Campbell's mother (Elizabeth McKinley) were brother and sister. Mrs. David Campbell was born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, and was the daughter of James McKinley. Her parents died at South Bend, Indiana, and as they were separated by death for only two hours, they • were buried in the same grave. They also were about the same age, seventy-nine years. They had given eight children to the world, seven of whom reached maturity and three of whom are living at this writing—Sarah, Aldrich and Alexander. Postmaster Campbell is the second child and the second son of his family, and he remained at home assisting his father until he himself married, at the age of twenty-two, and established a household of his own. By his first wife (nee Losina Jordan), who died in 1856, he had two children: Charles, now deceased, and Lewis, an Ashtabula county farmer. In 1866 Mr. Campbell married as his second wife Miss Eliza E. Kingdom, and their four children were as follows : Frederick, deceased ; George D., a resident of Washington ; Allen J., assistant postmaster of Warren; and Alice J., now Mrs. F. H. Buchanan, of Terre Haute, Indiana, whose husband has been connected with the Vandalia Railroad for more than fifteen years, his present position being that of signal inspector. The two children of the Campbell family last mentioned (Allen and Alice) are twins. The postmaster commenced his active business life in 1862, when he became connected with the sawmill business at North Bloomfield, Ohio, and afterward built and operated a cheese factory at the same place. He then entered the hotel field, conducting various houses at North Bloomfield, HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 41 Orwell, Youngstown and Warren, his career in this line at Warren covering a period of twelve years. Mr. Campbell's long business experience and his natural sociability made him an ideal landlord, added greatly to his popularity, and caused his appointment to the postmastership, April 1, 1900, to be an act most gratifying to his old friends and fellow citizens. His kinsman, President McKinley, appointed him to his first term, and his marked resemblance to the honored and beloved chief executive materially increased the warmth with which the citizens of Warren always looked upon McKinley and his administration. It seemed like a strong and intimate bond of union stretching from Warren to Washington, and no part of the country was plunged into more profound grief over the tragedy which so shocked the world. WILLIAM HENRY DANA, R. A. M., F. C. M.—Professor William H. Dana, Fellow of the American College of Musicians of the University of New York and president of Dana's Musical Institute at Warren, has earned wide fame in both the fields of music and literature. His family is of fine New England stock, the New Hampshire branch including Professor James S. Dana, of Yale College, and Charles A. Dana, who for so many years made the New York Sun one of the greatest journalistic powers in the country. On his mother's side he is related to the Potter family, whose members have been prominent as jurists, theologians, educators and literati. William H. Dana was born at Warren, Ohio, on the 10th of June, 1846, son of Junius and Martha (Potter) Dana. Was a student at the local high school, when he left school and entered the army ; he was also a student at the Williston Seminary, near East Hampton, Massachusetts. In his sixteenth year left his studies and entered the ranks of the One Hundred and Seventy-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving in the Western department under General Burbridge until the expiration of his term of enlistment, when he joined the One Hundred and Ninety-sixth Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry, regular army, which was attached to General Hancock's command and operated in the valley of the Shenandoah. Young Dana served on the staffs of Generals Hancock, Brooks and Shoepf, being with the latter commander at the close of the war. At the conclusion of his military service Mr. Dana enthusiastically assumed the study of music under leading masters in the East, and after spending several years both in study and teaching went abroad, where he completed his training under Professor August Haupt, of Berlin, of the Hoch Schule and at the Kullak Conservatory of the same city, and is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, London, England. On October 9, 1871, he returned to his native town of Warren and, with a small room as his headquarters and one piano as his musical equipment, he established what has come to be recognized as one of the leading musical institutes in the country. While he has been president of the institute since its founding and provided the musical instruction, his father, Junius Dana, has supported it financially and been its treasurer. Plans are now afoot to 42 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY erect a fine five-story building to accommodate its large patronage and provide the elegant studios and other accessories of the modern school of music. Although its accommodations are now strictly up to date, they fall far short of the requirements in point of space. A notable feature of Dana's Musical Institute is its military band department, which is the largest in the United States and numbers numerous noted leaders and soloists among its graduates. The curriculum includes instruction in voice and instrumental music of every description, and the school is patronized by students from all sections of this and foreign countries. Professor Dana has also a wide reputation as a lecturer and author on musical topics. In 1880 he began a series of tours covering Scandinavia, Russia and other portions of Europe, as well as a considerable portion of the Arctic regions, collecting much material which he has used to advantage in Chautauqua and other lecture work. He is a member of the National Educational Association of the United States, before which he presented a paper in 1889, but it is in his special field as a scholarly and masterful musician that he is best known on the platform and in literature. His list of books includes the following : "Dana's Practical Thorough Bass," 1874; "Dana's Practical Harmony," 1880; "Dana's Practical Counterpoint," 1885; "Guide in Orchestration," 1879 ; "Guide in Military Band Arranging," 1880; "The National School for Cornet," 1890. Professor Dana was also the American editor of the "Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians," published in Glasgow, Scotland; has assisted in the preparation of other works, and is a valued contributor to magazine literature. In 1888 the Universal Exposition of Music, held at Bologna, Italy, awarded him a diploma in recognition of the clearness and practical value of his text-books. He is distinguished as one of the three founders of the Music Teachers' National Association, of which he has been treasurer for a number of years; is a graduate of the American College of Musicians and one of its examiners; and is a fellow of that institution, as well as a member of the Royal Academy of Music, London, England, to which he was elected in 1906. Mr. Dana is also deeply concerned in public questions. He is an ardent Republican, and has for a number of years been a member of the city council. Mr. Dana was married in Olean, New York, to Miss Emma J. Tuttle, daughter of Rev. William S. and Jane (Pratt) Tuttle, and the three children of their union were Junius L., now a geologist at Golden, Colorado; Lynn B. and Martha L. Dana. Bess Dana is a daughter adopted into the household. DELOS K. MOSER, chief of the Warren fire department, is not only a native of the city, but has been connected with the department ever since he was a youth. He is therefore a thorough fireman and is especially conversant with every detail, past and present, connected with the local department; as he is, moreover, a good executive and popular both with his HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 43 men and with the public of Warren, it is evident that the city government has made no mistake in keeping Mr. Moser in office for nearly a decade. Chief Moser was born in Warren on the 22nd of October, 1862, and is a brother of the well known C. W. Moser, whose sketch may also be found in this history. Delos K. is the fifth child and the fourth son in a family of nine, and received his education in the home schools.- When nineteen years of age he joined the Warren Packard Company and for the succeed-ing twelve years made himself master of the lumber and planing mill business. He then formed a partnership with C. B. Loveless, under the name of Loveless and Moser, but about two years thereafter the firm sold the business to the Warren Packard Company. Mr. Moser's next venture was in the grocery line, as senior member of Moser and Garghill, this enter-prise being successfully conducted until 1899, when he was appointed first chief of the paid fire department. At this time Mr. Moser has been identified with the department for twenty-six years, his first connection being with the volunteer brigade when he was in his twentieth year. He was also a member of the fire board for some four years and continued active in the affairs of the department until it became a paid branch of the city service, and he was elected as chief. He has been for years a stanch Republican. His wide acquaintance and popularity- have also been extended by his activity in the fraternities, his membership embracing the Elks, Eagles, Modern Woodmen and Knights of Columbus. His marriage to Miss Rose A. Garghill occurred in 1883, Mrs. Moser dying in 1890, the mother of Philip and Isabel Moser. BENJAMIN J. TAYLOR.—Identified with the Western Reserve Chronicle for a period of forty-two years as a printer, editor and publisher, Benjamin J. Taylor is one of the widely known successful newspaper men in this section of Ohio, having made journalism his life work. He has otherwise been prominently identified with the civic progress of Warren, where he has resided since 1863. In late years be has been zealously devoted to the expansion of the educational facilities of the city, among the foremost of which is placed the Public Library. Mr. Taylor was one of the founders of that institution, and has served on its Board of Trustees from its organization, twenty years ago. He was elected to the presidency of the board in 1895, and has been honored with a re-election to this office annually for the past thirteen years. It was through his personal solicitation that the generous gift from Mr. Carnegie was secured for the erection of the present elegant library building. During the construction of the edifice, to which he gave careful supervision, in conversation with a friend, he made the significant observation : "An enduring monument in the busy industrial mart is more to be desired than a marble shaft in the cemetery." From his youth a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, for more than thirty years Mr. Taylor has been a member of the official board of the local organization, and has long been a trustee and steward. In 1907 he was elected a delegate to the General Conference of the Metho- 44 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY dist Episcopal Church of America, a body composed of delegates from world-wide Methodism, and which field its twenty-fourth quadrennial session in Baltimore, Maryland, in May, 1908. This is the supreme and only law-making body of this denomination, and the "Court of Last Resort" in the administration of church law. At this session of the General Conference Mr. Taylor was elected a member of the Board of Publication of the Pittsburg Christian Advocate. Mr. Taylor is also an honored member of the Masonic fraternity, having filled, by election, the presiding officer's station in all the local Masonic bodies. He is Past Eminent Commander of Warren Commandery No. 39, Knights Templar. Politically he is a life-long Republican, having cast his first presidential vote for Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Mr. Taylor was born in Smith's Falls, an inland town on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence river, April 27, 1848, a son of Thomas and Margaret Foster Taylor, his ancestors being of Irish-English nationality. His parents commenced their long and happy married life in Canada, but in 1852 migrated to the United States, and settled at North Bloomfield, Trumbull County, where Benjamin J. of this sketch passed his boyhood days. Mr. Taylor is a fine type of the "self-made man," his principal educational advantages being such as the earlier day village school afforded. At the age of fifteen he went to Warren, the county seat, to learn the printer's trade in the office of the Western Reserve Chronicle, and served an apprenticeship of three years. In this connection it is of interest to note, by way of comparison-between the times then (forty-five years ago) and now, that Mr. Taylor, as apprentice boy, received for his first full year's services the sum of $30 "and board." Such were the conditions prevailing in those days in the employment of apprentices, and was the sum total of Mr. Taylor's financial start in the struggle for ascendency in public life. He relates, with a feeling of pardonable pride, that, as a Chronicle carrier boy, in his weekly rounds, he delivered the paper to the hands of its first editor, Hon. Thos. D. Webb, who founded the paper in 1812. In 1868, when Hon. William Ritezel, the then sole editor and pro prietor, was elected to the State Legislature, Mr. Taylor, who was then employed on a Cleveland paper, was called to assume the general management of the Chronicle during Mr. Ritezel's attendance upon the session of the Legislature. He continued his connection with the paper, and in 1877 bought an interest in the business, and thus became one of its editors and proprietors. At the time of the death of Mr. Ritezel, in 1900, he formed an equal partnership with Mr. Frank M. Ritezel, a former business partner with his father, and who is now the controlling editor of the paper. In 1905 Mr. Taylor sold his interest in the business to. Mr. F. S. Van Gorder, and thus severed his long and successful career with the Chronicle, twenty-eight years of which he had well served its interests as associate editor and proprietor. In 1877 Mr. Taylor was united in marriage with Miss Gertrude Tayler, daughter of the late Matthew B. Tayler, one of the earlier day leading HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 45 bankers of Warren. Mrs. Taylor is a native of the city where she has always resided. They have two sons, Dean and Alfred Wheeler Taylor, who are now the editors and publishers of the Fairfield, Iowa, Daily Journal. ROBERT T. IZANT, secretary and attorney of the Trumbull Savings and Loan Company, has been a resident of Warren for the past thirty-six years, and, fully appreciating the benefits of being a fixture in such a progressive community, himself has done as much as any one citizen to add to the attractiveness and desirability of the city as a place of residence. While a fixture in Warren, he has been one of the most active of its residents, and as his activities have been guided by a sound judgment and a thorough legal training they have been directed into practical channels and have redounded to the public good and to the encouragement of private exertions and enterprise. Mr. Izant is an Englishman, born March 18, 1855, son of Walter and Martha (Rossiter) Izant, and in 1872 accompanied his parents from the mother country, locating at Warren. There the father died at the age of seventy-four years and the mother is still living, aged ninety years. Robert T. is the sixth child and the youngest son of the family and had already received a fair education when, at the age of seventeen, he became a resident of Warren. He soon entered the law office of the late Hon. John M. Stull, and in 1878 was admitted to practice before the district court, continuing in active and profitable professional work for twenty years. He had. already assisted in the organization of the Trumbull Savings and Loan Company and in 1898 became its secretary and attorney, since which time he has virtually devoted his entire time to the upbuilding of its interests, which have become so large and beneficial as to constitute a notable city institution. In 1899 the business was incorporated under Ohio state laws and, chiefly through Mr. Izant's exertions and under his direct supervision, the fine block on the corner of Park avenue and High street was erected which is still the home of the Trumbull Savings and Loan Company.' The concern was first organized as a building and loan association, but in 1891 it assumed its present style and scope, and under its present system persons of moderate means can secure homes by making small monthly payments at a low rate of interest. The company has now an authorized capital of $500.000, a paid-up capital of $130,000 and a profit fund of over $17,000, its officers being as follows: President, John W. Masters; vice president, W. H. Kirkpatrick : secretary and attorney, Robert T. Izant, and treasurer, Dr. H. M. Page. Mr. Izant is also secretary and treasurer of the People's Ice and Cold Storage Company. He is prominent in the Masonic order, being. grand patron of the Eastern Star of Ohio, and is a leader in the work of the Methodist church, being one of the trustees of the local body and secretary of its board. In 1888 he was united in marriage with Miss Sadee King, daughter of James M. King, a farmer of Kinsman, Trumbull county, and he has become the father of one child, James R. Izant. 46 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY JOHN W. MASTERS, of Warren, pioneer grocer of Trumbull county, is president of the Masters Brothers Company, and is also at the head of the Trumbull Loan Company. More, he is a brave old soldier, carrying two wounds in his body as a tribute to his patriotism and his fidelity to the Union cause. Whether in the field of business, or the field of battle, he has always been well to the front, and has cheerfully carried his full share of all the burdens of life, either private or those pertaining to his community. Mr. Masters is a native of Somersetshire, England, born on the 3rd of November, 1841, and in 1856 he accompanied the family to the United States, the homestead being at once fixed in the woods along the River road, Warren township. In a little log house built in that locality the youth of fifteen continued his education begun in England by attending the nearest district school, assisting also in all the work attaching to the founding of a pioneer's home. In 1861, before he had reached the age of twenty, he enlisted in Company C, Nineteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served for three years in the terrible battles and campaigns of the southwest. At the battle of Shiloh he received a gunshot wound in the right leg, was sent to the Louisville hospital and thence to his Ohio home, but after a furlough of two weeks he returned to the ranks of his company. At Chickamauga a bullet from a Confederate gun penetrated his right hip, and the injury sent him to the military hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, but he returned to the field and finished his three years' term of enlistment. Returning to Warren the young soldier resumed the activities of civil life with characteristic industry and fidelity, and in 1868 formed a partnership with Mr. Nettlefield in the grocery business. After about six months this association was concluded by Mr. Masters' purchase of his partner's interest and the formation of business relations with his brother, E. H. Masters, under the name of Masters Brothers. The enterprise was conducted and steadily developed under that style until 1902, when the business was incorporated under its present name, with John W. Masters as president. He was also one of the organizers of the Trumbull Loan Company, of which he has been president since its founding, and he is one of the directors of the Union National Bank of Warren. Mr. Masters joined the Grand Army of the Republic at an early period of its history and was one of the charter members of the Bell-Harmon Post No. 36, of Warren. He served as its treasurer for a long time, was its quartermaster and, in fact, has filled most of its offices. Mr. Masters has also been connected with the I. O. O. F. since 1869. He is a life-long Republican and was treasurer of Warren township for a quarter of a century. As an active and faithful Methodist, he has long been officially identified with the local church, and his religion is carried into all the practical affairs of his life. In 1868 Mr. Masters wedded Miss Laura T. Wilson, daughter of James and Nancy Wilson, of Warren township, and five of the six children born to them are still living, viz.: Welty J., now secretary and treasurer of the Warren Hardware Company; Fred; Charles C., who is in business with his father, and Mary E. and Jessie Masters, who are living at home. Paul died HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 47 when two years of age. The family is considered one of the most substantial and honorable in Trumbull county and John W. has the credit of being its most prominent representative. His property includes his resi-dence and two business blocks on Main street, Warren; he is a. stockholder in other institutions than those mentioned, and, although his worldly station is one of decided prosperity he has reached his position by many years of industry, unrelaxing effort and honorable methods, ably conceived and perseveringly executed. EPHRAIM BROWN was one of the real pioneers of Trumbull county and at one time was the principal owner of the township of Bloomfield. He was the son of Ephraim and Hannah (Howe) Brown and a descendant of Thomas Brown and John Howe, his pioneer ancestors, who coming from England settled at Sudbury, Massachusetts; about 1637-8. He was born October 27, 1775, at Westmoreland, New Hampshire, and received an aca-demic education in his native state, and his habit through life of reading much from well chosen books added greatly to the culture which he at-tained, and which made him at an early age one whose judgment and ad-vice was frequently sought, even by his elders. Evidence of this is found in the many letters addressed to him on various subjects by men of promi-nence and ability. He married November 9, 1806, Mary Buckingham Huntington, a native of Windham, Connecticut. She was a daughter of Gurdon and Temperance (Williams) Huntington, and was born on the 29th of August, 1787. In the summer of 1814, Mr. Brown, with his uncle, Thomas Howe, made a journey in a chaise to Ohio for the purpose of buying land. After stopping at the then small village of Cleveland for a few days they decided to look farther before locating and finally settled upon a township then known as "No. 7, 4th Range"—afterward called North Bloomfield—then an unbroken wilderness. On their return to New England they made the purchase of the township of Peter C. Brooks, of Boston. In the following summer, 1815, Mr. Brown moved his family to the new home, the first family to arrive except one which came a few months earlier. Mr. Howe himself came in March, 1815, accompanied by several young men, who cleared a space in the wilderness and erected comfortable cabins for the reception of Mr. Brown's family in July. Soon other families followed Mr. Howe's in 1817. Later Mr. Howe retired from the partnership, re-taining, however, some twelve hundred acres of the purchase and Mr. Brown assumed the debt, which in a few years he succeeded in discharging. He sold a large portion of his land to settlers who came mostly from New England, but retained during his life two or three. thousand acres. His first residence was of course a log cabin, but within the first year a frame structure was added and which is still a part of the present dwelling. More additions have been made from time to time and it is still 'a very attractive home. By Mr. Brown's efforts a postoffice was early secured, and he was Vol. II-4 48 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY active in the construction of the Trumbull and Ashtabula turnpike, which for years, or until railroads were built, was a part of the favorite route between Lake Erie and the Ohio river. Fine coaches daily passed to and fro, filled with passengers. A saw mill was soon built, also a grist mill, and his small store of goods sufficed for the needs of the people for a long time. His activities did not end here, for he served several terms in both houses of the legislature of Ohio, as he had previously served in his native state. The title of Colonel, by which he was sometimes addressed, was given him when he was on the governor's staff in New Hampshire, not on account of any military service. Originally a Jeffersonian Democrat, he was always an uncompromising opponent of slavery, and after he came to Ohio his farm was one of the stations of the Underground Railway to Canada. He never united with any church, but his moral and religious principles were very strong. As his rectitude and ability were unques- tioned he retained to the last the confidence and leadership of his community. His death occurred on March 1843, and his faithful wife passed away January 26, 1862. Mrs. Brown should be 'named as one of the "real pioneers," for she shared with her husband the privations incident to the life of a pioneer, and these she felt most keenly, her tastes leading her to enjoy a more developed and refined civilization. But she found, among other pioneer women, much to prize in their sisterly and kindly ways and formed some lasting friendships among them. She suffered much from homesickness during the first two years, when it was decided that she should go east for a visit when her husband went for goods for his store. They accordingly rode to Painesville or Fairport on horseback, expecting to take a boat (a schooner) there for Buffalo, but on their arrival they found the boat had passed. Mr. Brown then gave his wife the choice between returning to her home or going on to Utica on horseback. She chose the latter alternative and they proceeded to Utica, whence they went on by stages. The visit proved very satisfactory and she found on her return to the hopeful, active life of the pioneer, a pleasant contrast to the inactive life of the older settlement. It is due to the memory of such a woman to insert in this history some appreciative words written at the time of her death by a friend who knew her well. He said of her: "She was a woman possessed of the highest and purest qualities of head and heart, and was beloved and respected during all the years of her long and well spent life by all who knew her. Possessing a well balanced and vigorous mind, she united thereto a kindliness of feeling and comprehensive benevolence, wide as humanity itself; and never during her life came up to her the cry of the needy and oppressed unheard or unheeded. To these distinguished natural gifts she added the charm of a high and refined cultivation, in so much that few indeed could rival her in the acquirements of knowledge and taste. The remarkable powers of her mind continued up to the time of her death unimpaired and never did the high sentiments of the philanthropist and true patriot cease to animate her HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 49 noble heart till its pulses were stilled by the cold hand of Death." Her husband appreciated and was in sympathy with all these fine attributes. Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim Brown were the parents of the following children : Ephraim Alexander, born December 1, 1807, who died August 10, 1894; George 'Washington, born May 24, 1810, died April 12, 1841; Mary, who became Mrs. Joseph K. Wing, born May 28, 1812, and died' December 15, 1887; Charles, born August 9, 1814, who married Julia Anne, daughter of Judge Lester King, of Warren, Ohio, and died October, 1880; Elizabeth Huntington, born April 12, 1816; and died June 19, 1904; James Munroe, born April 2, 1818, died in October, 1867; Marvin Huntington, born August 12, 1820, and died in August, 1892 ; Fayette, born December 17, 1823, a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, and president of the Brown Hoisting Company; and Anne Frances, born on May 30, 1826, and resides at the old homestead. This, the youngest child, has always resided in the house where she was born, more than eighty-two years ago, and retains her faculties remarkably. She owns two hundred and thirty acres of the nine hundred acre farm on which her father lived at the time of his death in 1845. C. C. CLAWSON.—As is fitting, C. C. Clawson, of Warren, ex-county auditor, is representative of the best citizenship of Trumbull county, and his executive and business experience has admirably adapted him to perform his official duties with promptness and all-around ability. He is a native of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, born on the 8th of January, 1849, son of William H. and Melinda (Humason) Clawson. His father, who was a native of Virginia, was by trade a tanner and harness-maker, but in 1865 settled on a farm in Fowler township, Trumbull county, and thereafter gave his main efforts to matters of an agricultural nature. The family is of Scotch-Irish descent. The mother was a native of Fowler township, of which her parents were old settlers. They moved to Pennsylvania some time in the forties, the mother dying at the age of sixty-three and the father in his ninety-first year. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. William H. Clawson, of whom C. C. Clawson was the eighth child and the fifth son. The latter was about fifteen years of age when the family came to Trumbull county, and the youth completed his education in the district schools of Fowler township and at Hiram College. When nineteen he became a clerk in a general store at Fowler, and four years afterward was appointed an agent of the United States Express Company at Titusville, being at that time the youngest incumbent of that position between New York and that city. He held the agency at Titusville for about three years, and then went into a general store at Jackson Center, Pennsylvania, and Cortland, Ohio, remaining at the last named place some eight years. In 1884 he removed to Warren and engaged in the dry goods business from that year until 1901, when he was elected county auditor. He is also vice president of the People's Ice Company, a director of the Union National Bank and the Warren and Niles Telephone Company, and altogether one of the respected men of the