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Biographies
Source:
Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and
Cleveland, Ohio
ILLUSTRATED
Publ. Chicago:
The Lewis Publishing Company
1894
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BIOGRAPHICAL INDEXES FOR CUYAHOGA COUNTY >
J. C. Sanders
pg. 123 |
JOHN CHAPIN SANDERS, M. D.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 123 |
C. C. Schellentrager
pg. 361 |
C. C. SCHELLENTRAGER Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 361 |
Ernst A. Schellentrager
pg. 362 |
ERNST A. SCHELLENTRAGER Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 362 |
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E. C. SHELDON, the paymaster of the
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, for the Buffalo
division, began railroading as early as 1861, as messenger boy
in the office of Agent T. S. Lindsey, whom he now
succeeds as paymaster. His first promotion placed him in
the general freight agent's office as a clerk, where he remained
until the consolidation of the roads forming the Lake Shore &
Michigan Southern system then entering the local freight office.
A year afterward he was transferred to the treasurer's office,
where he remained until June 1873, when he went with the late
General J. H. Devereux, president of the Cleveland,
Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company, as private
secretary, and in February, 1875, received the appointment of
paymaster of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis
Railway Company, and continued with that company until December,
1886, when he became cashier for the local treasurer of the Lake
Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, succeeding his father
in this position. Upon the resignation of T. S.
Lindsey, Mr. Sheldon was made his successor, Jan. 5, 1894.
Nov. 22, 1846, Mr. Sheldon was born in Genesee
county, New York. Not long after this date his father,
Edward Sheldon, returned to his native town, Hartford,
Connecticut, and engaged in railroading on the Hartford,
Providence & Fishkill Railroad, where for a number of years he
was conductor. In 1852 he came to Cleveland, and as
passenger conductor took the second train out of this city on
the Cleveland & Toledo Railroad.
On retiring from the operating department of the road
Mr. Sheldon entered the treasurer's office, and at his
death in1886 was cashier of that office. He was born in
1823 and in his youth was trained in hsi father's store for a
drygoods merchant, and engaged in that line for himself for some
time, but at length preferred to turn his attention to something
more exciting and less confining to a narrow rut. The
Sheldons were originally from England, coming to America in
Colonial times and probably making their settlement in
Connecticut. The most remote ancestor of whom anything is
definitely known was Charles Sheldon the grandfather of
E. c., our subject. He was born in or near
Hartford, and was a merchant of the old capital town. He
married a Miss Lawrence and died in 1856, aged about
sixty-five years. They had ten children, of whom four are
now living, in their native State. Edward Sheldon,
father of E. C., married Harriet Curtiss, whose
father, Icabod Curtiss, moved to Ashtabula county, Ohio,
upon the settlement of the Western Reserve, and died their in
1865, aged sixty-eight years. Edward's children
were: E. C. (our subject); and Harriet C.,
who married E. C. Wheelock, of Chicago; the other two
died in infancy.
Mr. E. C. Sheldon was married in Ashtabula
county, Ohio, Nov. 4, 1874, to Miss Ella S. Newton, whose
father, H. P. Newton, residing near Kingsville, is a
farmer and a pioneer settler from the State of Massachusetts.
Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon have the following named children:
Harvey D., paymaster's clerk in the service of the Lake
Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company, and born in 1875;
and Minnie E., born in 1878.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 598 |
J. C.
Shields |
JOSEPH C. SHIELDS,
Treasurer of Cuyahoga county, was born in New Alexandria,
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1827. His
parents were John and Elizabeth (Skiles) Shields, both
natives of the Pennsylvania, his father being of Irish and his
mother of German descent. He served as a private in the
war of 1812. The paternal grandfather of our subject was a
Colonial soldier of the Revolution.
Joseph C. Shields was given a fair common-school
education, and served an apprenticeship of five years and eight
months at the trade of tanner and currier, which trade he
followed for a period of two years after serving an
apprenticeship. He then went to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in
1845, and there followed the trade of mechanic till the spring
of 1852, when he came to Cleveland to accept a position as hotel
clerk, which position he gave up some nine months later in order
to accept employment in the service of the Cleveland Transfer
Company, with whom he was engaged till September, 1853.
Next he was in the employ of the Cleveland & Toledo Railroad
Company until the fall of 1858, when he went to Central America
to superintend a stage line across the isthmus of Tehuantepec.
He was engaged there till the winter of 1860, when he accepted
employment from the Adams Express Company at New Orleans.
In April, 1861, he again entered the service of the Cleveland &
Toledo Railroad Company.
In the same year Mr. Shields enlisted as a
private in the Cleveland Light Artillery, and after an army
service of three months he again took up railroading. In
July, 1862, he recruited the Nineteenth Ohio Battery, better
known as "Shields" Battery," with which he left for the seat of
war Oct. 6, 1862. This battery was engaged in upward of
fifty fights and skirmishes, some of the most important being
Rocky-Face Ridge, Resaca, Dallas, Pine mountain, Stone mountain,
Kenesaw mountain, Atlanta, Jonesborough, Lovejoy "Station,
Franklin, Nashville and others. The battery was ordered to
North Carolina from Nashville by way of "Washington, reaching
Washington with the close of the war. The battery returned
home to Cleveland, where they were mustered out of the service
June 27, 1865, Mr. Shields with rank of Captain.
Upon the close of the war he again took up railroading
on the same road where he was master of transportation, and then
for seventeen years he was a passenger conductor.
In August, 1886, he entered the County Treasurer's
office as a deputy, and as such served until he was elected
County Treasurer as the Republican candidate in the fall of
1889; and to this office he was re-elected in the fall of 1891,
his second term expiring in September, 1894.
Mr. Shields is a member of the Forest City Post,
G. A. R., of which he served two years as Commander. He is
also a member of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' & Sailors' Union,
Loyal Legion, and other societies pertaining to soldiers.
In many ways he has been prominently connected with public
measures, both social and political. In 1867-'68 he served
as a member of the City council for Cleveland, and he has long
since held a very high station in the esteem and confidence of
his fellow-citizens.
In 1862 Mr. Shields married Miss Ellen S.
Crawford; they have no children.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 75 |
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ALVA J. SMITH,
general passenger and ticket agent of the Lake Shore & Michigan
Southern Railroad Company, is a worthy representative of that
familiar and most numerous family, ever foremost in the history
of our country, beginning with Captain John Smith at the
settlement of Virginia and founding of Jamestown, just a quarter
of a century before the appearance of Lieutenant Samuel Smith,
eight generations in advance of our subject, and reinforced by
countless numbers from all Europe during the two and a half
centuries or more of our existence as a nation.
A record in possession of the family records the lineal
heads of families from Lieutenant Samuel Smith, who
emigrated from England in the ship Elizabeth of Ipswich, Apr.
30, 1634. He is supposed to have died in 1680. His
son Philip became one of the leading men of his
community, was a lieutenant (probably from serving in the Indian
wars of New England), represented his bodies and held the office
of deacon in his favorite church society. He murdered in
accordance with a decree of Cotton Mather about 1685, on account
of the troubles with witchcraft. His wife was Rebecca,
a daughter of Nathaniel Foote.
Jonathan Smith, son of Philip, married
Abigail, a daughter of Joseph Kellogg. He died
in Whately, in 1734. His son Elisha married
Sarah Field. The wife of Benjamin was
Mehitable. Benjamin's children were: Philip who
married Eliza Graves; Rev. Paul, who married a
lady of his own name, Elizabeth Smith; Silas took for his
Lavina Houghton; Elisha, who married and left New England
for the West; Jonathan married Elizabeth Chauncey;
and Gad's wife was Irene Wait.
Roswell Smith, son of Benjamin Smith,
married Mary Craft, and his following six brothers
married, - Elijah to Miriam Morton, Isaac to
Roxa Morton, Bezaleel to Lavina Munson, Asa to
Judith Graves, Adna to Keziah Humes, and Rufus
our subject's grandfather, married Anna Munson.
His son, Ashley Smith, father of Alva J.,
was born in Massachusetts in 1796, and Nov. 25, 1819, married
Miriam Russell, whose father, Elihu Russell,
married Miriam, a daughter of Thomas Sanderson.
Joseph Sanderson, an ancestor of the latter, came
from Norfolk county, England, in 1637, was Master of the Mint at
Boston in 1652, and made the celebrated and now very rare
"pine-tree" shillings. His descendants were William
Sanderson, leaving Joseph Sanderson, leaving
Joseph Sanderson, born Aug. 30, 1714, and died Mar. 20,
1772, who left Thomas Sanderson born in 1746, who was the
father of Miriam Sanderson, who married Elihu Russell.
Elihu Russell's children were Polixena,
Lucy, Betsy, Delia, Miriam, Levi, Elihu, William S., Austin,
Wellington, Emery, Esteven, Sumner, Ashley and Mary.
Ashley Smith became a millwright and during
our second war with England was a Federal soldier from
Massachusetts. He emigrated to New York in 1822 and
settled at Churchville, Monroe county, where he died in 1854, at
fifty-eight years of age. His wife preceded him three
years, aged fifty-one. Besides Major Smith,
Ashley Smith was the father of Francis, who
died in 1887, at sixty-eight years of age; Charles
Augustus, a farmer, who died in 1894, at Merrill, Wisconsin,
aged seventy-two; Levi L., at Maple Rapids, Michigan;
Fidelia M., now Mrs. Benjamin T. Richmond, of Grand
Rapids, Michigan; Austin R., who died in Cleveland in
1881, at forty-seven, and was ticket agent at the union depot;
George W., a farmer near Grand Rapids, Michigan, and two
others who died very young.
Alva J. Smith was born at Churchville, Sept. 30,
1840, and was a pupil of the Churchville village schools until
thirteen years old, when by the death of his father he was made
an orphan and went to Wisconsin, where he resided for a time on
a farm with his brother. He returned to his native town
the next year and clerked in his brother's store until the
spring of 1858, when he went to Albion, New York, and secured a
clerkship, which he held till the breaking out of the Civil war.
On the 13th of April, 1861, the day following the
firing on Fort Sumter, Mr. Smith in company with a
number of young men organized a company for service in the Union
army, but disbanded after a short period of drill. The
following spring Mr. Smith enlisted at Rochester,
New York, in the Fourth New York Artillery, being ordered to
report at Washington, where the regiment was stationed during
that summer. A complete review of his military service
given without comment is as follows: Enlisted as private
in Company C, July 29, 1862; promoted Corporal Sept. 1, 1862; in
service in the defense of Washington, to June 1863,
Abercrombie's division. Twenty-second Corps;
commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Eleventh New York
Volunteer Artillery June 21, 1863; engaged in the organization
of
a regiment at Rochester till October, same year, where, on 16th
of the same month he was transferred to Fourth New York
Volunteer Artillery; and was in defenses of the capital till
April, 1864, in DeRussy's division of the Twenty-second
Corps. His engagements were: Wilderness, May 5 to 7;
Corbin's Bridge, May 6; Spottsylvania, May 8; Ny river, May
9 and 10; Po river, May 11; North Anna, May 23 to 27; Tolopotomy,
May 28 to 31; Cold Harbor, June 1 to 12, 1864; before
Petersburg, June 16 to 19; Weldon Railroad, June 22 to 23: Deep
Bottoms, June 27 and 28 (was promoted First Lieutenant July 27,
1864); Mine Explosion, July 30; Strawberry Plains, August 14 to
18; White Oak Swamp, August 25; Poplar Springs Church, September
30 and October 2; Boydton Road, October 27 and 28 (was promoted
Captain Nov. 5, 1864); reconnoitre to Hatcher's Run, December 8
and 9; assigned to duty as Aide on the staff of Fourth Brigade,
First Division of Second Corps, Dec. 25, 1864; relieved in
February, 1865; Dabney's Mills, February 5 to 7, same year;
acting Brigade Inspector, Fourth Brigade, First Division,
Secovnd Corps, February to April, 1865; Peeble's farm,
March 25; Hatcher's Run, March 29; Boydton Road, March 30
and 31; White Oak Road, March 31; Southerland Station, April 2;
fall of Petersburg, April 3; siege of the same during the year,
April 16, 1864, to Apr. 3, '65; Amelia Springs, Apr. 5, 1865;
Deatonville, April 6; Sailor's Creek, April 6; High Ridge, the
7th; and Appomattox Court House, the 9th of the same month;
grand review at Washington, May 23; acting Ordinance Officer of
First Division of Second Corps, June 23 to 26; mustered out of
service Sept. 26, 1865; and Brevetted Major of United States
Volunteers, Mar. 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious conduct
during the war. Colonel Smith came to Ohio
in 1866, and on Aug. 4, 1877, was appointed Aide-de-camp on the
staff of Governor Thomas L. Young; with the rank of
Colonel.
In the summer of 1866 Mr. Smith began his
successful railroad career in the general ticket office of the
Bee Line at Cleveland; was made chief clerk of the office the
next year, and performed those duties till August of 1874, when
the office of assistant general ticket agent was created for him
in recognition of his faithful and efficient service; and in the
same month, five years later, the office of general passenger
agent was tendered to him and accepted. Upon the
consolidation of the passenger departments of the Cleveland,
Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad and the Indianapolis & St. Louis
Railroad in January, 1881, his jurisdiction was extended over
that line. He was appointed general passenger agent of the
Dayton & Union Railroad Jan. 2, 1882. When the Cincinnati,
Hamilton & Dayton was made a part of the Bee Line, Colonel
Smith was made general passenger agent of that line also,
and held the office from Dec. 31, 1881, till May, 1882, when the
departments were again made separate.
Mar. 1, 1887, Colonel Smith severed his
long connection with the Bee Line and became chief of the
passenger and ticket department of the Lake Shore & Michigan
Southern Railroad Company. Colonel Smith is
a prominent member of the Association of General Passenger and
Ticket Agents, was elected its secretary in 1879, and has served
continuously for fifteen years, being annually re-elected.
Colonel Smith is progressive and
remarkably industrious. He understands the needs of the
traveling public and has so equipped and fitted up the passenger
service of his line as to make it equal to any and superior to
many metropolitan lines.
Sept. 7, 1865, Colonel Smith married, at
Warsaw, New York, Miss Harriet L., a daughter of
Zelotes Cornwell, whose wife was Polixena
Russell. An ancestor, Susanna Robinson,
who came over in the Mayflower, had a grandchild named
Chapman, who married Cornwell, the father of
Zelotes.
Mr. Cornwell was born in Massachusetts
and was a farmer. He died in 1866, at the age of
sixty-eight, and his wife in 1857, being fifty-two years old.
Mr. Cornwell's children were: Darius;
William; Anna Elizabeth, now Mrs.
John W. Richmond; George, who died in 1888, at the
age of fifty-two; Zelotes; Charles, who died in
1891, at the age of fifty; Hiram, and Harriet
Louisa.
Colonel and Mrs. Smith's family consists of
three children, viz.: Amy E. Smith, an art teacher in
Oberlin College; Miriam C.; and Alva C.
Colonel Smith is a member of the Loya
Legion and of the Grand Army of the Republic; also of Woodward
Lodge, A. F. &. A. M. of Cleveland.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 741 |
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ALFRED SMITH,
general foreman of the Globe Iron Works ship yard, was born at
Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Apr. 15, 1853. He is
a son of Thomas and Mary Ann (Williams) Smith, who were
the parents of ten children, Alfred being the seventh
son. Thomas Smith was a ship carpenter and died in
Wales.
At sixteen years of age Alfred Smith,
accompanied by his brother, John H., now superintendent
for the Globe Company, came to the United States and stopped
first at Buffalo, where he learned his trade of fine
shipbuilding, with the Anchor Line people. On leaving
Buffalo Mr. Smith went to Pittsburg, and a few months
later on to Crown Point, New York, and was there employed in a
blast furnace two years. He then returned to Buffalo, and
after a stay of about a year went to Point Edward, Canada, where
he was engaged in the building of the steamer Huron for the
Grand Trunk Railroad Company. His next employment with
this company was in the building and repairing of iron bridges,
and he covered in his travels most of the territory of western
Canada. In 1880 Mr. Smith came to Cleveland and
secured employment with the Globe Iron Works as foreman and
filled that position till he was promoted as general foreman.
Mr. Smith married, Apr. 17, 1875, at
Sarnia, Canada, Ester, a daughter of Henry Nash, a
ship carpenter. Of this union have been born, Henry
(deceased), Charles G., William, Albert, and Irene,
besides one other deceased.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 818 |
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C. P. SMITH,
proprietor of the Bedford News Register, which was established
at Bedford, Nov. 27, 1891, by Mr. Smith, as an
independent paper in politics, devoted to home interests, was
born in Summit county, Ohio, June 8, 1858. His father,
R. C. Smith, was born at Monkton, Vermont, and his mother,
whose maiden name was Isabel Deisman, was born in
Columbiana county. When a boy of five years his parents
removed to Bedford, and here Mr. Smith was
educated. When a young man he became general agent for the
Cassell Publishing Company, of New York, at that time
conducting the largest publishing business in the world, and at
Danville, Illinois, he located in 1883. Subsequently he
returned to Bedford, and there, preparing himself for doing job
printing, opened an establishment and continued at job printing
with success; and in connection with the publication of the
above named paper he still does a considerable amount of job
printing. At one time he ushered into existence the
Bedford Bee, a small folio which did not prove a success, and
hence had but a short existence.
Since 1891 Mr. Smith has been a Notary
Public. He is a member of the order of Knights of Pythias,
belonging to the uniform rank of that order; is also a member of
the Royal Arcanum and of the uniform rank of that order; and a
member of the Junior Order, United American Mechanics, and of
the Sons of Temperance, of which order he was, for two terms.
Grand Worthy Patriarch of the State of Ohio.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 125 |
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DWIGHT SMITH,
deceased, formerly a farmer of Middleburg township, Ohio, was
born in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1819, and when he was a boy
of seven years his parents moved to the State of New York, and
four years afterward to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, settling in
Middleburg township, where they passed the residue of their
days.
Dwight Smith continued to reside in this
township, and was married in Liverpool, Ohio, Oct. 25, 1848, to
Miss Sarah Lillie who was born in Vermont, Jan. 8, 1826.
They commenced housekeeping in Middleburg, which was then an
unsettled country. He chopped down then an unsettled
country. He chopped down a few trees and erected a little
frame house which was occupied for many years, having been
destroyed by fire on the 4th of July, 1873; he then erected a
commodious residence. He was actively engaged in farming
until his death, which occurred at his residence, Aug. 22, 1881.
He had eight children: Alice, who is the wife of
Wesley Humphrey, a resident of Middleburg;
Solon D., deceased; Julia A., wife of Louis
Busse, a resident of Middleburg; George F., who died
in infancy; Clara A., wife of Willis Smith, a
resident of Middleburg; Sarah L.; Burrett J., who
married Gertrude Wing, is also a resident of Middleburg;
and Minnie O.
Mr. Smith was very fond of music, and could play
skillfully on the violin, fife and snare drum. He was a
member of the Methodist Church, and was a great worker in the
church and Sabbath-school.
The father of Mrs. Smith, Anson
Lillie, was a soldier in the war of 1812, where he lost a
leg. He died in Liverpool, Lorain county, Ohio. His
wife, whose name before marriage was Anna Dike, died in
Middleburg township, Ohio.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 774 |
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ELIJAH SMITH,
who was for many years identified with the buiding
interests of Cuyahoga county, is a native of the State of
Connecticut, born New London county. He came to Cleveland,
Ohio, in 1832, arriving May 20th of that year. The family
had lived for six years previous to this time in New York city.
His parents, Erastus and Salome (Swift) Smith, were both
born in Connecticut; the father was a contractor and builder,
following this business all through life. He took a deep
interest in local politics, and held the office of Coroner,
Deputy United States Marshal, Justice of the Peace and
Constable, being widely and favorably known. He was born
in 1790, and died at the age of ninety-one years; his wife died
July 6, 1877. They reared a family of three sons and three
daughters. The subject of this sketch and two sisters
still survive. Arriving at the age of twenty-one years
Mr. Smith embarked in business for himself, and since
that time has filled a large and important place among builders
and contractors. He has erected several handsome brick
structures in Cleveland, and has won an enviable reputation for
the fidelity with which he carries out his contracts to the
minutest detail. He has also given especial attention to the
erection of monuments for the dead, and his services have been
in demand throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Indiana.
He has had no aspirations for public office but discharges his
duty as a loyal citizen of the republic.
Mr. Smith was united in marriage, Dec. 2.
1845, to Miss Emily Amelia Cheever, a daughter of Isaiah
and Maria Cheever, natives of New York and Vermont
respectively, both of whom are now deceased. Mrs.
Smith is the oldest of a family of five children, and is
the only one surviving; she is now seventy-four years of age, is
active in mind and body, and disposed to view only the roseate
side of life. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the parents of
six children: Maria, died at the age of two years;
Jennie, died at the age of two months; Fanny is
the wife of C. G. Taplin, of Cleveland, and the mother of
four children; Clara L., Frank E., Farrand
and Grace; Neander died at the age of thirteen
years; L. W., who has succeeded to his father's business,
married Miss Nail, and they have one child,
Emily A.; Frank P. married Miss Katie Hiscock.
Both the father and mother are consistent members of the Baptist
Church, with which they have been identified for many years.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 785 |
| |
FRED C. SMITH.
- Among those men, who born and reared to man's estate in
Rockport Hamlet have continued their residence in the locality
where first they ope'd their wondering eyes, and who have
attained to success and honor in the place of their nativity,
the subject of this review merits particular recognition.
HE was born in that portion of Rockport township which is now
known as Rockport Hamlet, on the 6th March, 1858, being the son
of Jacob F. and Frances (Wagner) Smith (or Schmidt,
as the name was originally spelled). The father was born
in Wurtemberg, Germany. They were married in Cuyahoga
county, and for three years resided in Brooklyn township,
removing thence to Rockport township, where the family home has
ever since been maintained. Here the father died, Apr. 5,
1891; the mother still survives. They were the parents of
six children, namely: Fred C. Frances M., Louis R.,
Anna L., Emma E. and William.
The subject of this sketch, the
oldest of the children, was reared in Rockport township,
receiving his education in the common schools. In 1881 he
was apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade, serving three
years and becoming a master of the business. As testifying
his particular ability it may be noted that during the last
eighteen months of his apprenticeship he acted as forem in for
hi employer. He ha continued to follow this important line
of occupation until the present time and his services have been
in ready demand in Rockport Hamlet and vicinity, where many fine
.structures stand in evidence of his skill as a carpenter and
builder. Since 1884 he has conducted business for himself
and has met with abundant success.
Mr. Smith was married, in
Rockport Hamlet, in June, 1886, to Miss Lena Klaue, who
was born in Cleveland. The father died in Cleveland, and
the mother is still surviving. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
are the parents of two children: Walter H. and
Herman H.
Our subject has maintained an active interest in the
general political questions and policies of the day, advocates
the principles of the Republican party, and has been prominent
in local affairs of a public nature.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith are zealous and devoted members of
the First Congregational Church of Rockport Hamlet, and in the
line of fraternal associations the former is identified with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a member of Amazon
Lodge, No. 567.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 769 |
| |
J. E. SMITH,
passenger conductor on the Valley Railroad, was born in Xenia,
Ohio, Mar. 1853, and at the age of fifteen years applied himself
to the study of telegraphy at Milan, Indiana, and in 1869 was
able to do acceptable work. Then for three years he was
operator for the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad Company at Milan.
Next he was employed as clerk in the roadmaster's office at
Meadville, Pennsylvania, for the Atlantic & Great Western
Railroad Company, and in the course of two months he was sent to
Cleveland in charge of a construction train, to do
dock-repairing about the old river bed, requiring a few months.
July 6, 1874, he went regularly upon the road as a brakeman, and
in 1876 was made a freight conductor, which position he filled
until 1886, when he entered the service of the Valley Road, in
November. He is a member of the O. R. C., a Master Mason,
being a member of Ellsworth Lodge, and also a member of river
Ellsworth Lodge, and also a member of Riverside Council, Royal
Arcanum.
Mr. Smith's father, Adam Smith,
was an old railroad man, who was track superintendent for the
Cincinnati, Wilmington & Zanesville Railroad, now the Cincinnati
& Muskingum Valley, and was afterward a roadmaater on the Ohio &
Mississippi Railroad. He died in 1892, at the age of
seventy-two years. He was born in the north of Ireland, and came
to Ohio in 1845, locating in Greene county, where he married
Sarah Galigher, of Irish birth, and now a widow of Seymour,
Indiana. Their children were: Anna, of
Seymour, Indiana; James E., of Cleveland; Adam, of
Colorado City, Colorado, and employed on the Colorado Midland
Railroad; William J., an engineer on the Cincinnati
Southern Railroad; Mrs. Sarah E. Proctor, of Dillsborough,
Indiana; Kate, wife of John Myers, a conductor on
the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, of Seymour, Indiana; Mrs.
William Cox, whose husband is a conductor on the same road
and residing at the same place; and Joseph, another
railroad man of the same city.
Mr. Smith, whose name heads this sketch,
married, in Cleveland, in 1878, Miss Sarah E. Moore, who
was born in Wilmington, Delaware, a daughter of Louis A.
Moore, who was a cooper by occupation. Mr. and Mrs.
Moore came to Cleveland in 1869.
The children of Mr. J. E. Smith are: Iris M.,
James C, Charles Adam and Edward B.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 259 |
| |
J. T. SMITH,
physician and surgeon, Collinwood, Ohio, was born in Hartford
county, Maryland, Nov. 30, 1830, the son of Rev. John T. and
Esther S. (Cheney) Smith, natives of Maryland and
Pennsylvania respectively. The father was a minister in
the Christian Church from early life, and was associated with
Alexander Campbell, and other notable lights of that
faith. He emigrated to Ohio with his family in 1812, and
became widely known as a faithful and efficient missionary.
He died at the age of fifty-seven years, his funeral sermon
being preached by the Hon. James A. Garfield, who was
then State Senator. Esther S. Smith died at Hiram,
Ohio, in 1874, aged sixty-five years. She was a woman of
rare traits of character, and to her zeal is due much of the
success that crowned her husband's efforts. They reared a
family of seven children: Edith, widow of David
Rolins; Dr. J. T., the subject of this notice;
William
H., who served in the late civil war, was taken ill at
the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and finally died in August,
1863, aged thirty years; Frances Cheney was for a
number of years matron and nurse in the Children's Hospital,
Staten Island, New York; she accompanied Mrs. Dr. Lukens
to Europe as private secretary, filling the position with great
tact and judgment; Hettie J. is the wife of Dr. Clark
of Youngstown; John H. served three years in the late
war, enlisting in 1861; he returned home Aug. 4, 1863, and Sept.
4, 1864, passed to the unknown country; Rev. Clayton C.
is an able clergyman, now secretary of the board which has for
its object the education and evangelization of the colored
people of the South.
Dr. Smith received his elementary education in
the common schools, and began the study of his profession under
the guidance of Dr. Justin Hayes at Shalersville, Ohio.
He afterward entered the medical department of the Western
Reserve University, at which he was graduated in 1855, and
immediately thereafter engaged in practice in Kent, Ohio; thence
he removed to Warren, where he was residing when the dark war
cloud spread like a pall over this land. He enlisted in
1861 as assistant surgeon of the Second Ohio Volunteer Cavalry,
and in May, 1863, was promoted to the position of surgeon of
that regiment. In July, 1864, he was detailed
surgeon-in-chief of the Second Brigade of the Third Division
Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and in the spring of
1865 he was promoted to the position of Surgeon-in-chief of the.
Third Division of Cavalry of the Middle Military Division, which
he filled until the close of the war. He was thus a member
of General Custer's staff, as the latter was in command
of the division.
He returned to his home and was engaged in practice,
but afterward returned to the South for the purpose of raising
cotton. In 1869 he
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 621 |
| |
JOSEPH W. SMITH,
deceased, was for many years a well known and highly esteemed
citizen of Cuyahoga county, Ohio. A brief sketch of his
life is herewith presented. Joseph W. Smith was
born in New York State, July 21 1837, the eleventh son in the
family of twelve children of Doton and Fannie (Worden) Smith.
He was eight years old when he came with his parents to Cuyahogo
county, Ohio, and located on the farm where his widow now
resides. When a young man he was for some time employed as
deputy in the Chagrin Falls post office. The greater part
of his life, however, was devoted to agricultural pursuits.
In politics, he was a Republican and he filled most acceptably
some of the township offices. Fraternally, he was a Royal
Arch Mason.
Mr. Smith died Feb. 13, 1892, after a life of
useful activity, and was buried by the Masons, the order he
loved and of which he was an honored member.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 504 |
| |
JOSEPH SMITH,
one of the representative citizens of Royalton township, was
born at this place, Sept. 24, 1819, a son of John and Lucy
(Sprague) Smith, natives of Vermont, the former born in
1792, and the latter in 1798. One child, Amanda,
was born in this family in that State. When the daughter
was six months old they came with o teams to Ohio, where Mrs.
Smith's father, Knight Sprague, had previously
located They named Royalton township in honor of their
home in Vermont. Mr. Smith located on a part
of his father-in-law's land, remaining there until death, June
19, 1824, which was caused by a falling tree while assisting in
cutting, the Auglin Road from Royalton to Bennett's Corners.
Three children were born in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Smith
in Ohio, namely; Joseph, our subject; Eliza,
deceased at the age of four years; and Sally, who died at
the age of forty years, was the wife of Nelson Ferris.
After her husband's death, Mrs. Smith married Luther
B. Bosworth, and she departed this life in 1859, at the age
of sixty years.
Joseph Smith, the subject proper of this
notice, received a limited education, having attended school
only about seven weeks in the year. At the age of
twenty-five years he sustained an injury of the right knee,
which made him a cripple for life. Thus compelled to
abandon agricultural pursuits, Mr. Smith learned
the shoemaker's trade, and followed that occupation until 1872.
In that year he purchased a small farm in Royalton township,
remaining there about sixteen years, and now lives a retired
life at Royalton Center. Politically, he was formerly a
Whig, his first presidential vote having been cast for
William H. Harrison, and has been a Republican since the
formation of that party. He resigned the office of Justice
of the Peace after forty-two years, and held the office of Clerk
eighteen years. He was also Postmaster eight years.
He was married Sept. 24, 1843, to Louisa Gordan
who was born in Royalton township, Mar. 20, 1824, a daughter of
O. C. and Polly (Howe) Gordon, and they have had the
following children: Mariah now Mrs. Dinsmore;
Bratton, a resident of Elkhart county, Indiana; Mary H.,
wife of J. N. Webber, of Royalton Center; Orrin
deceased in infancy; John a resident of Cleveland, Ohio;
Sarah R., wife of Ora N. Porter, of Parma
township, Cuyahoga county; Dayton W. of Elyria; and
Fred C., a resident of Collinwood, this State. Mrs.
Smith is a member of the Disciple Church. Mr. Smith
is one of the highly respected pioneer citizens of Royalton
township, and is widely and favorably known.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 389 |
| |
ORANGE V. SMITH,
a farmer of Orange township, Cuyahoga county, was born in this
township, Jan. 27, 1844, a son of Captain Almon Smith, a
native of Connecticut. He was one of the pioneer settlers
of Orange township, and was an officer in the late war.
His father, Captain Smith, Sr., was an officer in the
Revolutionary war, and was a member of an old and prominent
family. The mother of our subject, nee Susan
Henrietta Squires, was a native of Connecticut, and a
daughter of Morris Squires. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
were married in Connecticut, but soon afterward located in a log
cabin in the woods of Orange township, where they immediately
began clearing a farm. The father died of cholera in 1849,
in middle life, leaving a widow and six children, viz.:
Sidney, who was killed by lightning at the age of nineteen
years; Sarah Bennett, a resident of Twinsburg,
Ohio; Susan Whitham, of Cleveland; Orville W. and
Orange V., twins; and Lyman, deceased when young.
Orville W. was a soldier in the Ninth Ohio Battalion
during the late war, was a gallant officer of his company, and
served through the entire struggle. He died at the old
home farm in 1872, leaving a widow and two children, — Cora
and Florence. After the father's death, Mrs.
Smith married James Henry, and they resided at Solon.
She died at Twinsburg, Ohio, at the age of seventy- six years.
Captain Smith was a Whig in his political views,
was elected the first Assessor of Orange township, was a member
of the Masonic order, and both he and his wife were members of
the Methodist Church.
Orange V. Smith, the subject of this sketch, was
reared to manhood on the old home farm. After reaching a
suitable age he was employed in a cooper shop four years.
In 1873 he came to his present farm of 122 acres in Orange
township, where he has a good, new residence, 16 x 27 feet, with
an L 16 x 22 feet, another addition, 16 x 16, and the structure
cost $1,650. Mr. Smith is engaged in general
farming and stockraising, and also conducts a large dairy.
In March, 1867, he was united in marriage with
Sophia G. Myers, who was born and reared at Streetsborough,
Ohio, a daughter of John Myers, a native of
Virginia. He was first married to Permelia Hazen,
and they had two children. Mr. Meyers was
afterward united in marriage with Nancy Tucker, a
native of Mahoning county, Ohio, and a daughter of John
Tucker, one of the first settlers of that county.
Mr. and Mrs. Myers had seven children, viz.: George
Wallis, who served in the Ninth Ohio Battalion during the
late war; Amelia; John; Sophia, wife of our
subject; Mary Esther and Rebecca, twins.
John Myers died at Streetsborough, at the age of
seventy-one years, and his wife died at the age of sixty-eight
years. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have four children: A.
E., a traveling salesman for the firm of B. Drehers &
Sons, of Cleveland; Rollo O., engaged in engineering;
Myrtle B.; and Jamie H. Mr. Smith
is identified with the Republican party.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 49 |
R. C. Smith
Pg. 457 |
ROLLIN CHASE SMITH,
youngest son of Hiram and Anna Smith, was born at the
foot of the western slope of the Green mountains, in Monkton,
Addison county, Vermont, Mar. 12, 1827. On his mother's
side he is the seventh in descent from Aquila Chase, who
emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1630. The stock
from which he descended was prolific in eminent men, the
greatest of whom perhaps was Salmon Portland Chase, who
was twice elected Governor of Ohio, twice United States Senator,
was Secretary of the Treasury in the cabinet of Abraham
Lincoln, and subsequently Chief justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States.
The subject of this sketch has been both fortunate and
unfortunate, fortunate in being both able and willing to absorb
some of the honor necessarily derived from so noble an ancestry,
and unfortunate in not being able, though willing, to contribute
anything, as he says, to the common fund; but he has contributed
considerable, as we shall see.
His paternal grandparents had twelve children, - eleven
sons and one daughter. In his father's family were two
sons and one daughter, namely: Phebe, born in 1819
and died in childhood; Philemon Brown, born in 1821, and
died in Missouri in 1887; and Rollin C., who alone
survives.
In the spring of 1835 his father determined to
anticipate Horace Greeley's advice and "go West."
Accordingly he with his family and household effects embarked on
a canal-boat at Vergennes, Vermont, which was towed by the
steamboat Com. McDonough down Otter creek six miles, to Lake
Champlain, and then across that lake to Whitehall, New York,
where they exchanged the Commodore for mules, which drew them by
way of the Champlain canal to Troy, New York, thence by the Erie
canal to Buffalo, and thence they came by the steamer
Pennsylvania to the then village of Cleveland, Ohio, where they
arrived June, 1835, weary but undismayed, and all, save the
youngest boy, fierce for the coming conflict with the almost
unbroken forest. The family first settled in the township
of Mayfield, Cuyahoga county, where they remained three years,
and then removed to Bedford in the same county. Here
Mr. Smith divided his time between hard work - "when he
could not evade it," he says - on his father's farm, and hard
study, which he seemed to relish more, in the district school,
and in a select school at Bedford village, taught at different
periods, by Professors Whipple, Adams and Hawley.
Subsequently he continued his efforts to obtain the necessary
qualifications for teaching by attending the Twinsburg
Institute, a somewhat noted school at Twinsburg, Ohio, managed
by Rev. Samuel Bissell and later at Alleghany College, at
Meadville, Pennsylvania.
He read law two years under the direction of Samuel
Adams, Esq., of Cleveland, and medicine one and a half years
under Dr. S. U. Tarbell, of Bedford, this State,
but abandoned the visions both of the woolsack and of a life as
life as "aid to the undertaker," and returned to his "first
love," the school-room.
He began his long career as a schoolmaster in the
autumn of 1845, in the township of Orange, Cuyahoga county, and
ended it in the high school in the township of Warrensville,
same county, forty-three years later, having spent his entire
life as a pedagogue in the two counties of Cuyahoga and Summit.
He has the satisfaction of knowing that he was almost always
called, and generally chosen, never having applied for more than
three schools in his life. In the meantime he served two
terms of three years each on the Board of County School
Examiners in Summit county, and four terms in the same office in
Cuyahoga county, also several terms as president of the County
Teachers' Institute.
On Nov. 10, 1853, he made the happiest hit of his life
by leading, "of her own free will," to the matrimonial altar
Miss Isabelle R. Deisman, second daughter of H. L. and
Letitia Deisman, and for which stroke of good policy
he has been "proud of himself " ever since. He has had
seven children, namely: Ida Bell, born in 1856;
Charles P., 1858; George S., 1865; Henry L.,
1868; Lettie M., 1871; James W., 1875; and
Rollin C, Jr., 1879,—all of whom are living except the
youngest, who died of scarlet fever at the age of three years
and seven months. Ida B. is married to James S.
Viers, Esq.; Charles P. is editor and proprietor of a
newspaper, "The Bedford News- Register;" George S.
is an upholsterer in the chair factory of Hon. V. A. Taylor;
Henry L. is a civil engineer; Lettie M. is a
compositor and the forewoman in the office of the News-Register;
and James W. is a student in the Bedford high school.
About the year 1864 Mr. Smith was again
fortunate, in joining Summit Lodge, No. 213, F. & A. M., and
soon thereafter became a member of Summit Chapter, No. 74, R. A.
M. He had the honor to preside as M. E. H. P. over his
chapter for three consecutive terms. Subsequently he
dimitted from Summit Lodge and became a charter member of
Bedford Lodge, No. 375, F. & A. M., and is now serving his third
term as Worshipful Master of the same. He is also P. W. P.
in Bedford Division, No. 81, S. of T., and is also " high
private" in the "rear rank," as he terms it, in Goldenrod Lodge,
No. 467, Knights of Pythias.
In 1882 he was elected Justice of the Peace, served a
term of three years and retired, but crowned with all the honors
that he craved in that direction.
He is now approaching the evening of life, and is
endeavoring so to live that when the summons comes to join the
innumerable caravan, he may, sustained and soothed by the belief
that his life has not been all in vain, put his hand in that of
the grim messenger, and in friendly companionship, without a
murmur and without regret, pass on to the great majority, "where
the wicked cease from troubling and where the weary are forever
at rest."
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 457 |
| |
R. F. SMITH,
President of the Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad Company, was
born in Windham, Connecticut, June 20, 1830. His father,
Edwin Smith a merchant, brought his family to Cleveland
in 1840. Here he resided until 1870, when he returned to
Connecticut. He died in July, 1873, aged seventy-three
years. Pursuing his genealogy still further, we find that
Nathaniel Smith, grandfather of our subject, was a
soldier in the Colonial army, and among the battles participated
in by him was the one at White Plains, New York. He was
born in Windham, Connecticut, and died there in 1823, aged
sixty-three years. His wife was Submit
Huntington, who bore him eleven children. Edwin
Smith married Amanda Frink. Five children
resulted from the union, one of whom besides our subject was a
railroad. man. It was Edwin Smith, Jr. who was for
some years with the Cleveland & Pittsburg Company, but lastly
with the Southern Pacific Company, and died in East Oakland,
California, in 1892.
R. F. Smith is the sole living member of his
father's family. He was educated liberally in public and
private institutions and at fifteen
years of age began life as a clerk in a hardware store conducted
by George W. Penny & Company, at Newark, Ohio. He
assisted his father for two years after this, and in 1851
engaged with Raymond North & Company as bookkeeper and
cashier, and continued with this firm in this city four years.
Then his railroad career began: it was in 1855, and his first
position was in the capacity of paymaster for the company.
He filled this until 1865, when he was promoted to be auditor
for the company. Four years from that date he was elected
vice-president of the company, continuing to act as auditor
until 1871. That year he assumed the duties of
vice-president to the exclusion of any other work, and when upon
the leasing of the road to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company the
office of vice-president was abolished Mr. Smith
became assistant general manager under the new company. He
was previous to this a director of the company for a period of
one year, and again became a director in 1886, continuing until
the present time. In 1887 he was made general agent of the
lessee company. In 1889 he was made superintendent of the
relief department of the lessee company, which position he still
holds. In February, 1891, President McCullough
died, and Mr. Smith was elected as his successor
in that office in May of the same year.
On Sept. 30, 1856, Mr. Smith was married,
in Colchester, Connecticut, to Rebecca W., a daughter of
General John T. Peters. Four children were born by
this union, viz.: Clifford C., a mechanical engineer;
Augustus F., chief clerk of the Pennsylvania relief
department; Carrie Belle, student in Painesville (Ohio)
Seminary; and the other, the first born, died in infancy.
Mr. Smith has been a member of the First
Presbyterian Church of this city since 1851, and was for six
years superintendent of the Sabbath-school, and has been an
Elder in the same since.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 889 |
| |
RUFUS WAY SMITH,
landscape, marine and animal painter, was born in Bedford,
Cuyahoga county, Ohio, May 26, 1840. His father, Dr.
Alvah Smith, married Mary Hamblin Way, from whom the
subject of this sketch takes his middle name. On the
father's side his ancestry were of Revolutionary stock, his
grandfather having served honorably through the entire war for
independence, - entering the service at the age of sixteen,
passing through the terrible winter at Valley Forge, and being
present at the surrender at Yorktown, Virginia.
Another ancestor on the father's side left England in
1643, because of his adherence to liberal principles in regard
to church and State, settling in the colony of Massachusetts.
His father's mother, whose maiden name was Chloe Van Huysen,
was from Holland, a member of her family having been an artist
of eminence; and through her it is probable that Mr.
Smith inherits his artistic talent. She was a woman of
refinement and rare culture for those days, as is shown by
evidences in the possession of the family, speaking and writing
both her own and other languages with ability. On both
sides Mr. Smith's parents were from New England,
his mother having settled in the Connecticut Western Reserve in
1814, and his father in 1828.
They removed to Cleveland in 1850, and the son entered
the studio of the late Jarvis F. Hanks, an artist of
considerable local repute at that time, and personally standing
very high among his fellows. Here were passed many
pleasant, happy days, drawing from the flat and from the
antique, varied now and then by paint grinding, brush-washing
and other drudgery incidental to "life in an artist's attic."
But the death of his teacher and kind friend prevented at that
time his further study of art; and the removal of his parents to
Cincinnati, where educational advantages were supposed to be
superior, and the determination of his father that his son must
begin life with a good education, placed many years between the
boy's first efforts toward art and his subsequent renewal of
those studies.
After leaving Cincinnati the family settled in Bedford
once more, and at the age of fourteen Rufus entered
Twinsburg Institute. After a year there he went to Hiram
College, in which the late President James A. Garfield
was a professor, whom to know was to love and revere. Here
the grand manhood of Garfield served as an inspiration,
and to his brave and cheering words, his forceful, clear and
logical teaching, Mr. Smith ascribes very much
that has been most truly serviceable to him in the battle of
life.
While at college he began writing for publication,
contributing a number of articles to the Cleveland Plaindealer,
then edited by J. W. Gray, and upon which Charles F.
Browne ("Artemns Ward") was an editorial writer, and
later to the Cleveland Herald, before its consolidation with the
Leader. When nineteen years old Mr. Smith went to
Illinois and taught school; was offered the position of head
master in the seminary then flourishing at Lake Zurich, which he
declined, fearing that it would interfere with the line of study
he had marked out for himself, and possibly induce him to
continue life on a pathway entirely different from that which he
wished to walk. Somewhat subsequent to this, while still
in Lake county, he was offered the nomination for School
Commissioner, which also he declined, on the score of youth.
During his last year at school, and while teaching, he
had procured law-books and read them as chance offered, having
been led to this field by the advice of friends who believed him
possessed of very marked ability in that direction.
Dec. 13, 1860, he married Miss Martha A.
White, of Bedford; and now the urgency of new duties
hindered to some extent his legal studies; but after a time he
entered his name as a student in the office of the Hon.
William Slade, Jr., and Hon. N. B. Sherwin, and also
in the Ohio State and Union Law College, then under the
presidency of the late General John Crowell. Mr.
Slade's absence in Europe as consul to Nice, and
the taking of office by Mr. Sherwin, made it
necessary to seek another opening, and he entered the office of
the late Albert T. Slade, one of the finest men and among
the first lawyers then at the bar. Here again the
"exigencies of war" interfered with study; but on the 28th of
June, 1864, after a most thorough examination by a committee
appointed by the District Court then sitting at Newark, he was
admitted to the bar of Ohio; and Mr. Smith feels a
justifiable pride in the fact that one of that committee was the
Hon. Allen G. Thurman.
After acting as Deputy Clerk of the Court of Common
Pleas of Cuyahoga county for a year or more, he "hung out his
shingle" as an attorney, and 80 continued until his love for art
became a force too potent to be resisted, and against the
warmest remonstrances of his friends he abandoned the law,—"not
that he loved Caesar less, but that he loved Rome more."
During his legal studies and practice he had written
occasionally for the Cleveland Herald, the Rural New Yorker, and
the Nation during its first year; but his first and true love
was art, and under its influence he relinquished a career
already quite assured for one that was new and untried, and in
which failure would be disgrace, —this, too, at a time in life
when many a man would have faltered, and perhaps looked
longingly back to the known and certain; but, having made the
decision and started, there has been no moment in which he has
hesitated or felt tempted to return.
With the exception of two years' study in Philadelphia
and New York, Mr. Smith is entirely self-taught,
as are many of the best American artists. Nature has been
his inspiration.
It might be interesting if we could recite the story of
the sadness of these days of struggle, —the fatigues and
failures,—the heartaches, and his determination to win against
it all, and the final "coming out of bondage;" but Mr.
Smith reserves these episodes, feeling that, if through them
all there runs a thread of pathos, it is no more, perhaps, than
is common to many lives, nor more pathetic than the events
"incident to the venture" usually are when one "swaps horses
while leaping with them over a stream." Viewed from his
present position, however, there is much sunshine and gladness:
there certainly are no regrets, even though so many days were
dark.
Among the first works of this artist which attracted
the favorable notice of the critics while on exhibition in
Philadelphia, was "The Old Mill," illustrating a verse or two
from the ballad of Ben Bolt, one notice of which
closed as follows: "This picture, painted by Mr. Rufus Way
Smith, is one of the most perfect idealizations of landscape
that can be found, — at least such is the opinion of
connoisseurs and art critics of note. Indeed, for graceful
drawing, strong but fine grouping and a wonderful vividness of
color that is yet without a glaring element, it cannot be
excelled."
After returning to Cleveland Mr. Smith devoted
himself almost exclusively to landscapes for some years, but
finally turned his attention to animals, more especially sheep,
and with such decided success that he is now best known in that
line. Many of his pictures are owned in New York, Boston,
Philadelphia, Washington, Rochester, Toledo, St. Louis, Chicago
and other cities, but chiefly in the city of his residence,
where their possessors are among the most refined and wealthy
people,—such as Mrs. President Garfield, Hon. R. C. Parsons,
Hon. Charles A. Otis, Hon. C. C. Baldwin, Hon. William E.
Sherwood, Hon. B. D. Babcock, George Hoyt, W. P.
Southworth, Hon. W. S. Streator, H. C. Ranney, Hon.
Rufus P. Ranney, Dudley Baldwin, Colonel
Myron T. Herrick, Hon. John C. Covert, James B.
Morrow, Samuel B. Mather, Levi T. Schofield,
Richard Bacon, Hon. James D. Cleveland, E. I.
Baldwin, John D. Rockefeller, Professor Cady
Staley, Professor Potwin, Professor C. F. Olney,
William Bowler, Hon. John
Huntington and scores of others.
Mr. Smith was also connected for one year
with the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, as teacher
of landscape painting, and delivered a series of lectures before
the school upon the more practical methods in art. In 1884
he was appointed by President Arthur as one of the
Art Commissioners of Ohio for the New Orleans World's Fair and
Cotton Centennial.
His work has been exhibited at the galleries of the
American Art Association, the New York Water-Color Club,
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and at the various
expositions about the country whenever the demands of his
patronage would permit. For a year or more he was the art
editor for "Town Topics," his articles gaining for him
flattering recognition as a critic, showing discriminating and
analytical powers of a high order.
During his summer trips to the coast of Maine, the
island of Nantucket, and along the shores of New England, in
search of motifs for his more important works, he has found time
for a pleasurable indulgence in literature, contributing a
poem now and then to the Ladies' Home Journal of Philadelphia,
and as an honored special correspondent of the Cleveland Leader,
to the columns of which he has always found a generous welcome.
In speaking of Mr. Smith's work in art we
could hardly do better than to quote the words of a recent
critique upon them: "His last, however, upon which unusual
thought and care have been expended, will be recognized as a
great study by those who appreciate the quiet sentiment and
poetry of nature. His pictures are not noticeable for
size, strange, far-fetched scenes, or for unusual and odd
methods of treatment; but they are noticeable and wonderful for
their simplicity, sincerity and beauty, and in these days of
temptation, noise, hurry and want of study in art a man is
remarkable who resolutely sets himself through years of patient
waiting and labor to express any good purpose. To this
object Mr. Smith has devoted himself; and, since
deciding to make a specialty of expressing the subtle and
mysterious sentiment of out-door nature, the approval that has
met his efforts speaks volumes for his present and for his
future."
Mr. Smith possesses a "scrap-book" filled
with favorable notices of his work, clipped from the
Philadelphia Press, the New York Graphic, the New York Sun and
other journals, which he prizes very highly.
In personal appearance Mr. Smith is of
medium height, with broad shoulders, a well shaped head, with
extra depth from the high forehead to the base of the brain,
dark-hazel eyes which light magically when in the presence of
congenial friends or when inspired by some theme of interest,
brown hair and moustache tinged with gray, mobile lips
moderately full but expressive, and a chin which shows a firm
will and unlimited perseverance.
Among his personal characteristics are: Sincerity,
appearing to be almost an assumption of brusqueness to those who
do not know him well; an intense hatred of all shams, social or
otherwise; a detestation of cant and bigotry; an absolute
devotion to those friends who are worthy; and a decided tendency
to liberalism in thought, believing that others may hold
opinions in opposition to his own and yet be sincere. He
does not "wear his heart upon his sleeve," and therefore has
never made—has never cared to make—a multitude of summer
friends; but those he has made are among the chosen few who know
him as he is; and these friendships have been beatitudes: they
are firm and eternal.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 12 |
| |
SOLON WRIGHT SMITH
was born in South Amherst, Massachusetts, Feb. 21, 1816, where
he lived the first twelve years of his life. He then
removed with his father's family, of which he is the eldest
child, to Marion, Wayne county, New York, where they remained
four years. In the spring of 1832 the family emigrated to
Ohio and settled in Middleburg township, this county, on the
farm where the subject of this sketch sill resides, he having
been at the time sixteen years old. For fourteen years
they lived in a log house, which in 1847, gave place to a
commodious frame dwelling.
The country at that early date was covered with an
almost unbroken wood, with but few roads laid out. The
Bagley road was not chopped out, and was not made passable for
teams until some years afterward. Mr. Smith helped
to cut out and open up all the roads in the east part of the
township, where he lives, running from the pike, the latter of
which he has lived to see a fine paved avenue. He carried
surveyor's chain and ax in the surveying of lots on each side of
the pike, from the Parma line to the home of the late Ami
Lovejoy. This
was in the year 1833, the lots having previously all been taken
up. On the street were then located Messrs. Lebbeus
Pomeroy, Daniel Smith with his seven sons,
Charles Peebles, Major Bassett,
Andrus Green, the Hutchinsons, Fullers
and others, who soon gave to that part of the township quite a
cultivated appearance, transforming the dense forests into a
beautiful land of smiling meadows and fields of waving grain.
The country abounded in game. Mr. Smith
was a good marksman and was one of the famous hunters of
those early days, having brought down a large number of deer,
turkey and other game. One time he had been gone from the
house only thirty minutes when he returned having shot and
secured two large deer. He is acquainted with much
interesting general history of the early settlement of the
township. As a resident of sixty-two years, he has
witnessed the great changes transpiring in that time. He
was a Trustee of the township six years, until he declined to
serve longer. Has been a life-long and successful farmer,
has always been a stanch Republican, his first vote for
president being cast for General William Henry Harrison.
His mother, whose maiden name was Nancy
Williams, was born in Easton, Massachusetts, May 30, 1794,
and died in Middleburg, Ohio, Mar. 24, 1890. She was
remarkable for her healthful life and for her pleasing, happy
disposition. Although nearly ninety-six years of age, she
passed away while yet in the height of her beauty and
loveliness.
His father, Daniel Smith, was born in Amherst,
Massachusetts, Nov. 15, 1791, and died in Middleburg, July 17,
1866. He was a noted musician, was fife Major in the war
of 1812, also a well-known and popular shoemaker in the early
history of the township.
The parents were both members of the Presbyterian
Church. They had nine children: Solon W.;
Emeline E., wife of Charles W. Bailey, died in
Middleburg; Dwight C., who died in Middleburg; Daniel
W., a resident of Delta, Ohio; Orman L., of
Middleburg; Orus F., died in Mineral Ridge, Ohio;
George E., died in Middleburg: Lyman J., of Toledo,
Ohio; and Charlotte E., of Middleburg, Cuyahoga county,
Ohio.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 573 |
| |
W. S. SNYDER,
chief deputy Sheriff of Cuyahoga county, Ohio, Aug. 9, 1865, and
was educated liberally in the public schools of Brimfield and
Ravenna. At fifteen years of age he entered the shoe house
of E. D. Sawyer, of Cleveland, as a clerk and remained
five years, or until Mr. Sawyer's election to the
sheriff's office, when he was made a deputy, and on Sheriff
Ryan's accession to office Mr. Snyder was appointed
chief deputy.
T. E. Snyder, our subject's father, was born at
Rootstown, in 1842, and engaged in the shoe business in
Cleveland for a number of years, but is now a merchant of
Brimfield. Peter Snyder, grandfather of W. S.,
was born in Snyder county, Pennsylvania, the original home of
this German family. He emigrated to Portage county, this
State, in 1836. He married Henrietta Wagner, and
they had eight children, six of whom are still living. The
ancestor to whom are still living. The ancestor to whom
credit is due for the settlement and naming of Snyder county,
Pennsylvania, was Peter Snyder, a German subject, who
emigrated to this country in old colonial days.
T. E. Snyder married Miss Alice, a
daughter of William Kelso one of the first settlers of
Portage county and proprietor of the old Union Hotel. The
children of this union are: Carrie, wife of V.
E. Underwood; W. S.; Howard and Clarence.
W. S. Snyder married June 6, 1889, in St. Louis,
Missouri, Miss Annette, a daughter of F. W. Rosenthal,
a wholesale carpet dealer of St. Louis. Mr. and Mrs.
Snyder have one child, William Robert.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 328 |
C. N. Sorter
pg. 241 |
C. N. SORTER
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 241 |
| |
JOHN G. SPEAR, a
prominent farmer of Warrensville township, Cuyahoga county, is a
native of that township, born November 28, 1852. His
father, John Spear, a native in 1845, locating in
Cuyahoga county, a poor man. He was married in England, to
Miss Ann Fry, also a native of that country, who died in
Warrensville township, this county, Apr. 12, 1866, at the age of
fifty-five years. They had three children: Ann,
wife of J. S. Stoneman; Elizabeth, who married Jacob
Stoneman; and John G.
The last mentioned was reared in
his township, receiving a common-school education, at Chagrin
Falls. He was married Apr. 19, 1876, to Miss Jennie
Brew, also a native of Warrensville township, and they have
one son, by name George A.
Mr. Spear has one of the finest farms in the
township, comprising eighty acres and well improved. He
also has a farm of seventy-two acres in Orange township.
His farming operations embrace general agriculture, in which he
has been very successful, being now able to lend considerable
money of his own. For his residence he has a modern frame
house, and for farm houses he has an excellent barn and other
outbuildings.
In his political principles Mr. Spear is a
Republican, and as to religion he is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 436 |
Henry B. Spencer
pg. 588 |
HENRY B. SPENCER
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 588 |
| |
LORINDA E.
(DEMING) SQUIRE, widow of Charles R. Squire, was
born in Brunson, Huron county, Ohio, July 31, 1822, a daughter
of Amos Deming, who was born in Saundersfield,
Massachusetts, Mar. 12, 1800. When Mr. Deming was
yet very young the family moved to Avon, Livingston county, New
York; and when eighteen years of age he bought the remainder of
his time from his father and walked thence to Brunson, Ohio,
where he worked for Major Underhill, on a farm and in his
sawmill, at $10 a month, until he paid for fifty acres of land
near that place. Two years later he returned to New York
and was married to Miss Fannie Witherell, and with her
came back to Ohio, settling on his new farm. He died
there, in 1885; his wife had died many years previously, namely,
in 1850. for forty years he was a member of the Congregational
Church, and was beloved by all who knew him, as he was so kindly
in his nature and conduct. Politically he was a
Republican.
He had eleven children, three of whom died in infancy.
The living are: Lorinda E., our subject; Perry B.,
of Chicago; Lucy, widow of S. B. Fuller, of
Norwalk, Ohio; Mary, wife of Warren Buel,
of Albert Lea, Minnesota; Amos, of Sangatuck, Michigan;
Marana, now Mrs. I. T. Ray, of Norwalk, Ohio; Matilda
R. now Mrs. E. C. Johnson, of Milwaukee,
Wisconsin; Harriet E., who married John Lamkey,
of Rock Falls, Illinois.
Mrs. Squire, whose name heads this
sketch, was married December 17, 1843, to C. R. Squire,
of Brunson, Huron county, Ohio, settled in Wakeman, this State,
and a year afterward moved to St. Charles, Illinois, where for
two years Mr. Squire was employed in various
occupations. Then they came to Cleveland, where Mr.
Squire embarked in the wholesale and retail grocery
business. First he was clerk for Lemuel Wick, then
started out for himself. After a few years he
failed, owing to the perfidy of his bookkeeper and clerk, and
then he turned his inventive mind to the invention of ore
separators
(retorts) and crushing machines. Going to New York he
interested capital in his enterprise, and spent several years
there. Finally he was taken sick and died, October 19,
1891.
Mrs. Squire still resides at 37 Church
street, where she and her husband settled in 1864. They
had three sons: Charles A., Frank E. and Willie A.
Charles married Miss Mattie Bell
Cameron in 1877, and has four children,
Charles E,., Fred Eugene, LeGrand E. and Katie;
Frank married Miss Martha D. Lewis in 1874,
and they also have four children, - Leora A., Edith M.,
Luella M. and Leroy Frank; Willie
married, in 1884, Miss Mary Virginia Frazier, of North
Carolina, and has two children, Lorinda E. and Clara A.
The three sons are all engaged in railroad work, and in politics
Republicans.
Mrs. Squire's mother, nee
Fannie Witlierell, was a native of Vermont, and
was taken by her parents to New York in their removal to that
State; and Mrs. Squire's father was on the first
steamer that ever plied the waters of Lake Erie, when it was
beached at Erie during a storm, about 1819 or 1820, and Mr.
Squire's father was a Methodist Episcopal minister, and
died at the advanced age of eighty-four years.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 470 |
| |
ARTHUR
A. STEARNS, attorney at law though one of the younger
members of the Cleveland bar, sustains a good reputation as a
lawyer. He was born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, July 18,
1858, received his early schooling in the public schools and
attended Buchtel College at Akron, Ohio, at which institution he
graduated in 1879. He then attended Harvard Law School,
where he graduated in 1881, receiving the degree of LL. B.
He was admitted to the bar in 1881 at Cleveland, Ohio, where he
has continued ever since in a remunerative practice.
Mr. Stearns has been a trustee of the Buchtel
College for a period of over ten years; was financial agent for
this institution during the years 1887 and 1888, has always
manifested great interest in and rendered much assistance to his
alma mater.
Mr. Stearns was married, in 1888, to Miss
Lilian G. Platt, of Glendale, Ohio.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 217 |
| |
CHARLES FERDINAND STEARNS,
Trustee of Olmsted Township, elected in the spring of 1893, was
born in that township in August, 1846, a son of Elijah and
Martha (Usher) Stearns, his father a native of Vermont and his
mother of Massachusetts. His father came when a young man
to Cuyahoga county, in 1828, settling in Olmsted township, and
made it his home until his death, which occurred in June, 1891.
Of their eleven children eight are still living, namely: Mary
E., who married James Romps and died in 1865;
Usher, who died in 1867, in Olmsted township; Asher,
married and residing in the same township; Orphelia and
Orfila, twins - the former
now the wife of George Stearns in Ashtabula county, and
the latter the subject of another sketch in this volume;
Elijah, Jr., married and a resident of that township;
Cassius, married and also a resident of the same township;
Charles F., our subject, is the next in order of birth;
William, who died in infancy; Myron, who is married
and resides in Ridgeville township; and Louis, who
enlisted in Company I, in an Iowa regiment, in 1861, and was
killed at Vicksburg in 1863 and buried on a Southern
battlefield.
Mr. Stearns, whose name commences this memoir,
has been engaged in farming all his life, in Olmsted township.
He now owns a fine farm of seventy-five acres which he bought in
1886 and located upon in 1891. His system of cultivation
is scientific and remunerative. As a Republican he takes a
zealous interest in the political questions of the day.
March 21, 1879, is the date of his marriage to Miss
Elizabeth Bromley, a native of Olmsted township and an
adopted daughter of Wright Bromley, who came from England
in an early day to this township and died in 1879. Mr.
Stearns died about 1885, leaving one child, Mary by
name.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 872 |
| |
ELIJAH STEARNS,
a farmer and fruit-grower of Olmstead township, was born in this
township, in 1843, a son of Elijah and Wealthy (Usher)
Stearns, who settled in this township in 1826. Our
subject was brought up and educated in Olmstead township, and
has always been engaged in farming.
In 1862 he enlisted in the Union service for three
years, in the Fifteenth Ohio Independent Battery, was assigned
to the Western army and participated in the battle of Holly
Springs, and in the siege of Vicksburg. Taking sick, he
next spent a time at home on furlough, and then rejoined his
regiment at Cairo, Illinois. He made the trip to the sea
under General Sherman, and returned through the
Carolinas, and participated in the grand review at Washington,
and was honorably discharged at Columbus, Ohio, in July, 1865.
He purchased his present farm in 1873. It
contains twenty acres, three acres of which are in grapes and
two acres in other fruit. He is a member of Olmsted Falls
Post, G. A. R., No. 634, of which he has been Officer of the Day
for five or six years. In politics he is a Republican.
He was married in Middleburg Township, in November,
1880 to Miss Oella C. Pa Delford, a native of New York
and a daughter of William and Desire (Tourgee) Pa Delford;
her father was a native of Massachusetts, and her mother of
Saratoga county, New York. They came to this county in
1859. Mr. Pa Delford's death occurred in Dover,
Mar. 3, 1893, and Mrs. Pa Delford's Mar. 3, 1886, on her
seventy-fifth birthday. It is a coincidence worthy of note
that they both died on the same day of the year ,but seven years
apart. The seven children whom they reared are: William
T., who is married and resides in Denver, Colorado;
Catharine Amanda , dying in infancy in New York; Frances
Mary, married and residing in Forestville, Chautauqua
county, New York; Bernard Wellington, living in Chicago;
Augusta Rebecca, wife of Heman Perry, of Dover
township; Oella, now Mrs. Stearns; and Lydia
Ophelia, who married John Morris Ford, of Olmstead
township. Mr. and Mrs. Stearns have two children,
namely: Percy Pa Delford and Bernard Augustus.
Mrs. Stearns was a member of the Baptist Church at
Chautauqua, New York.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 417 |
| |
ORFILA STEARNS,
a farmer of Olmsted township, was born in this township, in
1840, a son of Elijah and Wealthy (Usher) Stearns; his
father was a native of Vermont and his mother of New York.
His father came to Olmstead township at the age of sixteen
years, was married in Cuyahoga county, and remained a resident
here until his death, in June, 1891, when he was eighty-five
years of age. Our subject's mother died in 1851. In
their family were eleven children, of whom seven are now living,
namely: Asher, who resides in Olmstead township;
Orfila whose name heads this sketch; Elijah, Jr.,
who also is a resident of this township; Cassius, a
resident of Olmstead township; Ferdinand, a resident of
the same township; Orphelia, twin sister of the subject,
is now the wife of George Stevens, of Ashtabula, who
lived until recently in Olmstead; and Wealthy, wife of
Thomas Hall, also a resident of Olmstead. A
half-brother, named Myron Stearns, resides in
Eaton township.
Mr. Orfila Stearns, our subject, was brought up
in Olmstead township. In September, 1862, he enlisted in
the Fifteenth Ohio Independent Battery for three years or during
the war, and, being in the Western army, participated in the
siege of Vicksburg. Being afterward transferred to the
Invalid Corps, he was stationed at Rock Island, Davenport, and
Milwaukee, and was also in the Provost Marshal's office at Fond
du Lac, Wisconsin. He was discharged at Milwaukee, June
28, 1864, and returned to Olmstead township, Cuyahoga county.
He settled upon his present farm in 1874, where he owns
thirty-seven and a half acres of good land, and has prospered in
Agricultural pursuits. A good natural-gas well is on his
place.
In 1874 he married Miss Isabella Fitch, a native
of Olmstead township and a daughter of Hudson and Abigail
(Wilson) Fitch, natives of Connecticut, who came to Olmstead
in an early day and now reside in Nebraska. Our subject
and wife have two children, - Bertha and
Gertrude.
Mr. Stearns is a member of Olmstead Post, G. A. R.,
No. 634, and in his political views is a Republican.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 431 |
| |
JAMES S. STEVENS,
one of Cleveland's prominent and successful business men, is a
native of Cambridgeshire, England, where he was born in the year
1843, the son and only child of Alfred R. and Mary A. Stevens.
His parents emigrated to America in 1850 and located in
Cleveland, where their son received his educational training in
the public schools. The father died in 1880 at an advanced
age, but the mother still survives, being a resident of the
Forest City, where the major portion of her life has been
passed. Alfred Stevens was a contractor and
builder, and a skilled operative in the line of his profession,
which he followed for many years in Cleveland.
Our subject devoted himself for some time to tile line
of work in which his father was engaged, becoming familiar with
the details of the same under the effective direction of the
latter. He later served an apprenticeship at the printer's
trade, in the office of the Plaindealer, but subsequently his
attention was again directed to mechanical pursuits, for which
he manifested a marked aptitude and distinctive genius.
For a time he was engaged in manufacturing, and while thus
employed he gave evidence of his inventive genius, by the
designing of special machinery for the manufacturing of cable
lightning rods, with which products the establishment supplied
stock to George A. Baker, who was at that time one
of the most successful and most widely known lightning rod
manufacturers and dealers in the Union. Mr.
Stevens was identified with manufacturing interests in the
city of Cleveland for a period of four years, after which he
went West. After a period of two or three years' unsettled
location in that section of the country, he finally made a
permanent location in Missouri, where he remained for three
years, within which time he conceived the idea which eventuated
in the inventing and patenting of the "Stevens Dishwasher," upon
which unique and valuable device he received letters patent July
20, 1886. This machine he has since materially improved
until it now stands at the point of maximum excellence as
accomplishing the work for which it was designed.
Cognizant of Cleveland's position as a manufacturing
and trade center, and realizing the advantages to be gained by a
location here, he returned to the city in 1887, and at once
effected the organization of a stock company for the
manufacturing of this dishwashing machine, which was soon
thereafter placed upon the market, meeting with a ready demand,
and eventually proving so popular as to extend the business of
the company into the most diverse sections of the Union, and
even into foreign countries. Mr. Stevens is
president of the company, whose business affairs he has brought
into a most prosperous and substantial condition.
In addition to this conspicuous enterprise, Mr.
Stevens has also devoted much attention to the upbuilding
of the city, no one man probably having done more to bring about
the substantial improvement of East Cleveland. Upon his
own responsibility he has secured land in that section of the
city, has platted and subdivided the same and carried vigorously
forward the work of erecting dwelling houses of the better
class, the cost of the same ranging in price from $2,000 to
$20,000. Within the past six years he has individually erected
an annual average of thirty-six houses in East Cleveland.
Having perfected all improvements upon the various pieces of
property, be places them on the market, his efforts in the line
redounding greatly to the benefit of the city. In this
important enterprise, Mr. Stevens constantly
retains in his employ somewhat less than 100 skilled mechanics.
Aside from the conspicuous interests already noted, he
has other important business relations, being a stockholder in
each, the East End and Woodland Banks, the Union Building & Loan
Association, and the Permanent Building & Loan Association.
These several interests are pointed out as being indicatory of
the fact that Mr. Stevens is an active, successful
and progressive business man.
In the year 1866 he was united in marriage to Miss
Mary Champ, who died, leaving one child, Alfred J.,
who is now connected with the Cleveland Grease & Oil Company.
In 1872 our subject consummated his second marriage, being then
united to Miss Ellen V. Anderson. They have had
five children, two of whom, George and Helen, are
deceased. The three living are Bertram J., Ernest L.
and Dorothy. They are members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
Our subject is a man of unassuming nature, devoted to
his family, averse to public or political notoriety, and yet,
withal, is a genial,
social spirit, whose friends are in number as his acquaintances.
He is a lover of field sports, being acknowledged as one of the
best wing and field shots in the city of Cleveland. The
attractive homestead of the family is located on Amesbury
avenue, and Mr. Stevens has also a tine country seat, at
Willoughby, the same being a farm of 120 acres. Here the
family are wont to pass a portion of each summer.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 186 |
Chas. H. Strong
pg. 99 |
CHARLES HENRY STRONG
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 99 |
| |
JOHN
W. SYLVESTER, a young man in the employ of the Lake Shore
& Michigan Southern Railroad Company, has risen rapidly to his
present position as a result of faithful service. He was
born at Port Clinton, Ottawa county, Ohio, Dec. 13, 1854,
received his school education in his native village, and spent
two years in the course at Baldwin University, at Berea, this
State. After teaching public school one winter, rather as
a kind of experiment, he ascertained thereby that the
pedagogical profession would not be a pleasant to him as some
other callings. He decided to try the more exciting
business of railroading, which he commenced as baggageman at
Port Clinton station. Two years later he began as a
brakeman on a work train, and in time was made foreman of a
gang, and at length conductor. In this capacity he served
five years, on the Norwalk division. Next he served for
five years as through freight conductor, or until 1889, when he
entered the passenger service, in which he is still making a
good record. He is a member of the O. of R. C., for which
he was a delegate to their national convention in 1892. He
is also a Master Mason.
The subject of this brief notice is a son of J. W.
Sylvester, Sr., who was a prominent pioneer citizen of Port
Clinton, and was born in New Jersey, in 1810. Being
ambitious to take in more of the world than he could in the old
plodding States of the East, he came in early youth to this
State. He taught school, became Treasurer of Ottawa
county, Postmaster of Port Clinton by appointment under
President William H. Harrison's administration, and was
Collector at the port of Port Clinton during the administration
of Presidents Grant and Hayes. When he first
came to Ohio he was the main support of his widowed mother with
fourteen children. Being a natural mechanic he began
taking contracts for the construction of bridges, one of which
was the old Ell bridge at Zanesville, which he, in company with
his brother, Benjamin, built more than sixty years ago;
that bridge is still in use. Previous to the war he was
engaged in the boot and shoe business in Port Clinton, and since
1868 his attention has been devoted to the insurance business.
He married Eliza Correll, a native of Pennsylvania, and
is now aged sixty-five years. Of their six children only
two are now living, namely: Miss Hattie, at Port
Clinton; and J. W., whose name heads this sketch.
The latter was married in Port Clinton, May 30, 1876 to
Miss Lucy A. Gates, a daughter of Henry Gates, who
married Eunice Cornwall and had five children.
Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester, of this sketch, are the parents of
William R., Elnora and Wallen J.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 431 |
|
