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GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO
HISTORY & GENEALOGY

BIOGRAPHIES

Source:
1798
History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio
with Illustrations
and Biographical Sketches of its Pioneers Most Prominent Men
Philadelphia - Williams Brothers
1878

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Residence of
Edwin Betts,
Hambden Twp.
Geauga Co., OH
 

Residence of
A. M. Black,
Hambden Tp.,
Geauga Co., OH
 

S. E. Bodman
S. E. BODMAN was born in Huntsburg, Geauga County, on Aug. 6, 1843, and is the youngest child of Samuel and Susan Bodman, who were natives of Williamsburg, Massachusetts, and removed to Ohio, settling in Huntsburg in 1833.  They still reside in that township.  The subject of this sketch received his education primarily at common school.  He had the advantage of two terms at Chardon Academy and the same at Burton Academy.  Upon the completion of his education he was married, Sept. 25, 1866, to Miss Lazette D., only child of Smith Wright, of Huntsburg.  After marriage he engaged in mercantile pursuits with his father-in-law, and continued until the fall of 1873, when he relinquished it to accept the somewhat arduous position of treasurer of Geauga County.  He served his first term acceptably, and was re-elected in the fall of 1875.  His term expires by limitation in the fall of 1878.  He has been an efficient and obliging officer.  In the spring of 1877 he purchased a half interest in the store of Rose & Smith, and from the court-house enters the store, under the firm-name of Smith & Bodman.  From the marriage one child was born, Aug. 15, 1868: this Mary Jenette.  Politically, Mr. Bodman is a member of that grand old Republican party.  He is a member of Chardon Lodge, No. 93, Chardon Chapter, No. 106, and Eagle Commandery, No.29, Knights Templar, of Painesville.  He is a member of the Congregational church of Chardon.
Source: History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, Publ. Philadelphia by Williams Brothers - 1878 - Page  103
  GEORGE BOUGHTON.     George Boughton came to Burton from Canfield, Ohio, in 1830, and formed a partnership with James Peffers, Esq., for the purpose of transacting general trading business in merchandise, produce, etc.  Afterwards he bought Mr. Peffers interest, and continued the business alone.  Mr. Boughton steadily worked at his business for thirty-five years, some of the time with partners and some of the time alone, purchasing goods twice a year in New York city, and selling them for produce of various kinds, which he converted into money at Pittsburg and Cincinnati, the only available markets in those days.
     By industry and economy he thrived, and became what is called a successful business man.  His accumulation of property was not the result of speculation, or of doing business on a large scale, but steady application, and the prudent saving and investment of his earnings.  In 1864 he admitted his two nephews - George H. Ford and Robert N. Ford - into his business as partners, under the firm-name of Boughton, Ford & Co.  This firm continued business as merchants until May 1, 1873, when the character of the business was changed to that of banking.   Colonel H. H. Ford became a general partner at that time, and the business has since been carried on without change of name of firm.  The firm is well known throughout the country, and does a very large business.
     Mr. Boughton married a younger sister of Mrs. Governor Ford.
Source: History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, Publ. Philadelphia by Williams Brothers - 1878 - Page 135-136
  DAVID T. BRUCE AND THE BRUCES.
     David T. Bruce was born at Winchinden, Franklin county, Massachusetts, Dec. 15, 1784; was married to Lydia Forrester, Aug. 12, 182 ; and died at Chardon, May 12, 1857.
     His childhood, boyhood, and young manhood were passed in Massachusetts, at the close of the last and beginning of the present century.  His education must have been fair, and in addition to the common branches he understood surveying.  In 1820 he visited the Western Reserve, was at Madison, Lake County, went back, was married, and returned to Ohio with his young wife.  For one or two years he lived in Newbury, on the place now owned by W. A. Jenks, and was engaged as a partner with Amos Parker in a distillery, a business which he understood.  He was at one time concerned in the distillery in the northern part of Claridon, and must have lived there for a time.  In 1824 he removed to Chardon, purchased and built a residence on the north side of Water street, opposite the large spring, where he lived all his after-life.  He and Merrick Pease were partners in merchandising, which he carried on in his dwelling-house, and they built the old brick store, on the west side of the square, north of the old academy, some time about 1827.  Mr. Pease died in 1830, when Bruce established the first tin shop in the present limits of Geauga.  With this was connected a grocery store.  In 1842 he sold out that establishment to his eldest son, John Forrester.
     In November, 1842, he purchased the printing establishment and paper, known as the Geauga Republican, of J. W. White, and in company with his younger sons, W. W. and Eli Bruce, he edited and published the paper, and carried on a general job office, till the infirmities of age induced him to retire.
     For quite all his life Mr. Bruce was one of the widest known, most active, and influential men of the county, through filling no official positions, except in the township, where he was clerk, trustee, and justice of the peace.  I think he never sought office.  He was a man of more than ordinary intellect, well in formed, a large reader, of positive opinions, frankly expressed, always defended.  Nor was he free from dogmatism.  The kindest-hearted of men, a highly esteemed neighbor, a sturdy friend, a liberal and public-spirited citizen.  In religion, Universalist; in politics a Whig and Republican; zealous in all.  He was a man of great activity and industry.
     Early in his career he began to appear as counsel in the magistrates’ courts.  Fluent of speech, with a quick, shrewd mind, of much resource, and that knowledge of law picked up from the statutes and the hand-books of practice in the magistrates’ courts, a wide knowledge of men and acquaintance with affairs, not underestimating himself, he soon came to be widely known and greatly sought after in this class of cases.  For many years he transacted a larger business before the magistrates than was ever before or since done by any man in or out of the profession in northern Ohio.  Very popular with the mass, having the confidence of the magistrates, a full command of the language which might overwhelm an adversary, a master of all the arguments likely to lead or influence the common mind, he was in these forums a most formidable and often a dangerous advocate.  He was generally treated with respect by the regular profession, whom he often met, and for whom as opponents he expressed a preference which they doubtless reciprocated.  After he became connected with the press he gradually withdrew from this practice.  Probably the diminution of small litigation incident to an older stage of social life and manner of transacting business had much to do with it. In the heyday of his fame the country was full of anecdotes of his sayings and doings in the lower courts, and men went miles to see and hear him on these occasions.
     Mr. Bruce was a born politician, and not averse from controversy.  His information was extensive and quite accurate.  Without attempting to write many leaders, he was a terse, pointed writer of paragraph-like articles.
     Mr. Bruce was of the old Masonic fraternity, and, of course, on that side of the old profitless controversy; was one of the first to revive the lodges.  In his day, he was the associate, friend, or opponent of the elder Paines, Canfields, Kings, Phelpses, Squires, and that set of men who have passed away, and their friend ships and feuds have passed with them.  He had a vigorous dislike of a Democrat, little respect for orthodoxy as a dogma, but tolerant of the personal failings of even his opponents.  Stout champion and bitter partisan, he was full of kindliness, and the older Chardon lost few better men.
     Mrs. Bruce was widely esteemed as a true woman, full of kindliness and charity.  Of the daughters, the eldest, Charlotte, became the wife of Charles L. Knowles, and has resided most of her life since in Brooklyn, and survives her husband with several children.  The youngest, Lydia, with much of the vigor and force of character of her father, resides in Chardon.
     J. F. Bruce, the eldest, born June 6, 1822, was bred by his father to the tinner’s business, which he still prosecutes in Chardon.  His first wife, now many years deceased, was Amy Rockafellow, of Chardon, of whom were born two sons.  The younger of these is in company with his father.  His second wife is Laura, daughter of Moses HaydonMr. Bruce is a man of great personal worth, and highly esteemed.
     William Wallace Bruce, second son, born in 1825, was bred a printer, and pursued the business, with his father and younger brother, Eli, for many years in Chardon and Cleveland, of which latter place he is a resident.  He was a man of more than ordinary ability, and of extensive cultivation.  A fine writer, though of retiring manners, William Wallace was well prepared to fill any position in life.  For many years he was the efficient superintendent of the Cleveland post-office, which he filled with great credit to himself and usefulness to the public:  His wife was Maria, daughter of Judge B. F. Avery, a woman of much excellence.  She died at Cleveland in the early part of 1878.  The four surviving children,
two sons and two daughters, reside with the father.  As a family, they are noted for their devotion to each other.
     Eli, the third son, born in 1827, also by profession a printer, publisher, and editor, and associated with William Wallace, married Caroline, daughter of Eleazar Paine, and granddaughter of Judge Noah Hoyt, for his first wife, and Caroline Eldridge became his second wife.  By the last he leaves three sons. He died several years ago; was a man of rare excellence of character, fair ability, and universally esteemed.  The Bruces have worthily filled their fair positions in life, and will leave excellent records for integrity and good citizenship.
Source: History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, Publ. Philadelphia by Williams Brothers - 1878 - Page 122
  WELCOME BULLOCK was of good Massachusetts blood.  His mother was a. sister of Hosea Ballou, Mary; his father was David Bullock, and he was born at Royalston, Massachusetts, May 12, 1775.  He and Grace Fay, of Athol, Massachusetts, were married about 1798, and he died in Newbury, Feb. 6, 1858.  She was of a good family, a daughter of Solomon Fay, born in 1776, and died in Newbury, Jan. 28, 1842.  In the war of 1812, Mr. Bullock enlisted in the company of Captain Field, at South Orange, for the war, - a strong Republican of the war party.
     Immediately on his discharge, with his wife and children, Hiram, Susan, Sabra, Mary, and Luceba, be packed in a two-horse wagon, and started for the Western Reserve and reached Newbury in December, 1815.  Here he took up land and built a cabin, near where now stands the house of Ray Munn, son of William Munn.  Here he remained till the spring of 1818, and then purchased about a mile east of the centre, where he built his cabin, and on the farm spent his days.  At the celebration of Independence in Newbury, in 1816, he delivered an oration.  An ardent hater of Great Britain and the Federalists, he remained a stanch Democrat, and was appointed the first postmaster at the centre by Mr. Peirce.  He was a man of powerful frame, striking features, and dark, robust, with a strong voice; of considerable intellect, he had his uncle’s religious views, and used occasionally to deliver them in public.
     He became a famous hunter, killed hundreds of deer, many elk, and was a trapper of bears and wolves.  A story is told of his being assailed by wolves at near morning of one night in his sugar camp.  He was making sugar, and boiling with his kettles hung between two large logs, as the old way was.  He was asleep on a board on the ground.  The fire had burnt out, and the forest dark and still.  His old hunting dog was with him, sleeping between him and the quite-extinguished fire.  Evidently the wolves crept upon him, and were about to seize him, when the dog, awaking, leaped over his prostrate form and commenced a fierce battle with the wolves.  Bullock sprang up, seized one end of the boiling log near him and turned it over with its burning side out, and by the light saw the wolves as they fled into the woods.  Had he been alone, notwithstanding his immense strenth, they doubtless would have overcome and devoured him.
     He was a noted man in the days of old Newbury, and many anecdotes of him and his hunting exploits could be told.  Hiram was an ingenious mechanic; in time he built new buildings, and also a grist-mill, near where the present saw-mill of Abiatber Alexander stands.  He also was a hunter, and remained unmarried.
     Susan became the wife of Dad Loveland, Jr.  Sabra died as she was about to be married.  Mary became Mrs. Sirenus Hawley.  Luceba was the first wife of Roswell Jones.  All of these are deceased years ago.
     James Monroe Bullock was born Nov. 1, 1817, in Newbury, the youngest and sole survivor of the family.  He grew up in Newbury and became the owner of the farm.  In May, 1842, he married Grace Ann Bittles, of Newbury.  In 1860 he sold the old farm and moved to Chagrin Falls, where he still lives; is a man of much intelligence, and an enthusiast in matters of pioneer history.

Source: History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, Publ. Philadelphia by Williams Brothers - 1878 - Page 184-185

  JOSHUA M. BURNETT*     Joshua M. Burnett was born in Warwick, Franklin county, Massachusetts,
May 8, 1772.  Early in life he married Miss Mehitable Cobb, daughter of the Hon. Josiah Cobb, who was for twenty-one years member of the Massachusetts State Legislature.  Nine children, eight of whom were born upon New England soil, were the offspring of this marriage.
     In January, 1815, my grandfather, together with his oldest son, Harry, and Miss Hannah Wilber, the son’s bride elect, left Warwick for the west.  Owing to some detentions on the way, four weeks were occupied in making the journey, which still lives in the memory of the then happy maiden as one long continuous sleigh-ride.  At this time there were seven settlements and five families in New bury township.  A double log house was erected, and the struggle for existence began.
     The 4th of July following, my grandfather returned to Massachusetts for his wife and the remainder of his family, with whom he again reached Ohio in October of the same year, - 1815.  In 1819 he erected the first frame dwelling house in the township.  Previous to this, however, Mr. Lemuel Punderson's saw-mill, grist-mill, and barn, all frame structures, had been built.
     Jan. 19, 1825, my grandmother died, aged fifty-two years.  My grandfather married for his second wife Mrs. Huldah Jackson.  He died Dec. 20, 1851, aged seventy-nine years.
     Of his nine children, six are living.  Harry, the oldest, was born in 1794.  In November, 1816, he was married to Miss Hannah Wilber, who accompanied them from the East.  Seven children were born to them, two of whom only are now living.  This uncle and aunt are still living, aged respectively eighty-four and eighty-five years.  They retain to a remarkable degree their vigor of mind, and are devotedly attached to each other.  For many years they have been residents of Russell, Ohio.
     My Uncle Josiah was born May 26, 1797, in Warwick, Massachusetts.  In June, 1818, he was married to Diadama Johnson, who died May 6, 1870, aged seventy-one years.  Of their eight children, four are living.  In 1874, my uncle sold his farm in Newbury, and moved to Mantua, Portage county, where he has since resided.  He is still very active, retaining much of the natural vigor of both his body and mind.
     Aunt Calista was born in Warwick, Jan. 23, 1800.  Sept. 15, 1816, she was married by John Ford, Esq., to Eliphalet Gay.  This was the first marriage ceremony performed in the township.  She taught the second term of school taught in the new log school-house, Chloe Umphrey having taught the first.  Previous to the building of the school-house, Miss Umphrey taught in a part of my grandfather's log house.
     Eliphalet Gay was born in New Salem, Massachusetts, Aug. 27, 1795.  He died Aug. 23, 1844, aged forty-nine years.  Nov. 1, 1849, my aunt was married to George Parker.  He died Jan. 30, 1863, aged sixty-seven years.  Mrs. Parker is still living.
     Aunt Serintha was born in Warwick, Apr. 26, 1803.  She was married in Newbury, Ohio, August 4, 1822, to Lorin Snow, of Auburn, Ohio.  They had five children, two of whom are living. Mrs. Snow died Sept. 11,1865, aged sixty-two years.
     Lorin Snow was born in Becket, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, Jan. 21, 1796.  He died in Auburn, Ohio, Nov. 22, 1863.
     Aunt Lauretta was born in Warwick, in May, 1806.  In May, 1822, she was married to Amos ParkerMr. Parker died Jan. 29, 1856, aged fifty seven years.  This aunt afterwards married Ebenezer Richardson, of Tallmadge, Summit county, Ohio.
     Uncle Detroit was born in April, 1809.  Aug. 4, 1830, he was married to Miss Malinda Munn.  After her death (the date of which I am sorry I do not now find) he married Miss Martha C. Bradly, of Newbury.  This marriage occurred Feb. 26, 1853.
     With his second wife he lived but a short time.  Subsequently he married Miss Henrietta E. Granger, of Chardon, Ohio.  He died Nov. 29, 1871, from injuries received when at work in his woods, aged sixty-two years.
     Nabby C. Burnett was born August 11, 1813; died June 11, 1827,
     Robert Prelate was born July 25, 1815.  In 1838 he married Miss Abigail Slocum, of North Adams, Massachusetts.  After her death he married Mrs. Betsy Glazier, with whom he is still living.
     My mother, Purleyette M., was born in Newbury, Ohio, in June, 1820.  She was married August 2, 1842, to Rensselaer Pinney, of Granby, Connecticut.
     As I mentioned in my first manuscript, there is little in the history of the nephews and nieces that would interest the public.  For my cousin, Proctor Burnett, I cherish a profound respect as a most estimable gentleman.  He was also a man of superior business qualifications.  At the time of his death, and for a number of years previous, he was a member of the firm of Rice & Burnett, crockery merchants, of Cleveland.  He was the son of Josiah Burnett, and married a daughter of Hon. Harvey Rice, of Cleveland, - Miss Fannie RiceAlmira M., his sister, married Isaac Reynolds, of Cleveland, a gentleman of excellent business capacity.
     Wm. H. Parker, a son of Amos and Lauretta Parker, has for many years been a resident of Hartford. Connecticut.  He is a man of fine business capacity, genial manners, and pleasing address.  His sister, Etta B., married Earl Herrick, of one of the first families of Twinsburg, Ohio.  For a number of years they have resided in Cleveland.
     My oldest brother, Delos B., was a private in the late Rebellion.  He died in Baltimore, Maryland, Oct. 12, 1862, aged nineteen years.                     EVA P.

     The senior Burnett, without much cultivation, was a man of unusual quickness of apprehension in all matters pertaining to his immediate interests, and possessed much keenness and shrewdness, and many pleasant anecdotes could be related of his peculiarities.  He was a man of much thrift, and accumulated a handsome property.  All the sons, with more culture, had the shrewdness of the father, while some of the third generation were excellent business men.  The daughters were comely, and married well.  The youngest is the postmistress at South Newbury, and the preceding sketch from her daughter’s pen is so neat and graceful that we give it as it came from her hand.

---------------
     * By a granddaughter.

Source: History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, Publ. Philadelphia by Williams Brothers - 1878 - Page 179-180

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