BIOGRAPHIES
COMMEMORATIVE
BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
OF THE COUNTIES OF
HURON AND LORAIN, OHIO
CONTAINING
Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens
and of Many of the Early Settled Families
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO
J. H. BEERS & CO.
1894
<
CLICK HERE to
RETURN to 1894 BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
>
J. S. Case |
DEACON JOHN
SEWARD CASE, one of the oldest citizens of
Wellington township, is a native of Connecticut,
having been born in the town of Granby, Hartford
county, July 1, 1808.
He is a son of Dr. Gideon Case, who was born in
Canton, Conn., and who became an eminent physician
and surgeon, educated probably in Simsbury, that
State. He practiced in his native State until
he came to Ohio, in 1818, when he resumed practice
in Hudson, Portage county. He was killed by
the kick of a horse, about the year 1822. His
entire journey from Connecticut to Ohio was made in
a three horse wagon. He married Miss Persis
Seward, a native of Granville, Mass. (and
daughter of Capt. John Seward, of
Revolutionary fame), who died at the age of
eighty-six years. Seven children were born to
them, of which the following is a brief record:
John Seward is the subject proper of this
sketch; Gideon W. resides near Nauvoo, Ill.;
Otis P., resides in Aurora, Portage county,
on the old Grandfather Seward homestead;
Jane married Mr. Nix, and died in Portage
county, Ohio; Lucia married Mr. Demming
of Rootstown, Portage Co., Ohio (she is now
deceased); Albert died in Michigan a year or
two ago; Dr. Almon Case was a member of the
State Legislature of Tennessee in the period of the
Civil war, during which time he was killed by
bushwhackers, it is presumed on account of his
antislavery views. The mother married, for her
second husband, Ariel Case (no relative of
her first husband), and they afterward lived in
Rootstown, Portage Co., Ohio, where two sons were
born to them.
The subject of this sketch was, as will be seen, ten
years old when his parents came to Portage county,
Ohio. After his school days he commenced
learning the trade of tanner and currier, finishing
the same at Kent, Portage county. In November,
1829, he came to Lorain county, and commenced the
tanning business, in 1830, in the town of
Wellington, opposite where the ice house now stands,
and successfully operated the same until some twelve
or fifteen years ago, when he retired from business.
He taught school during the winter of 1829-30 in an
old log house, where Mallory's store now
stands, which cabin was also used as a church at the
same time. Shortly after his arrival he became
associated with the Congregational Church, in which
he has been a deacon since 1846, and to which he has
contributed liberally of his means, as well as to
all charitable institutions. Mr. Case
has been twice married; First time in October, 1832,
to Miss Diantha Blair, a daughter of James
Blair of Massachusetts, and sister to the mother
of Gov. Fairchild of Wisconsin. The
record of the children of this union is as follows:
(1) Celia is the wife of Mr. Stewart,
and lives in Romney, Tippecanoe Co., Ind.; she
taught school for many years in Tennessee, and in
Romney. (2) Helen married Mr. Luther
Miller of Cedar Hill, Ohio, but nearly all of
her married life was spent in Romney, Ind., where
she was buried in 18__; she was the mother of three
children: she was the mother of three
children: Mary, now Mrs. U. Z. Moore
of Columbus; Frank Case, a recent graduate of
the Ohio State University, and a civil engineer in
Columbus; and Cassius, named after
Gen. Cassius Fairchild, of Wisconsin, a farmer
of Cedar Hill, Ohio. (3) Col. Frank S.
(now deceased) was an officer in the Second Ohio
Cavalry during the Civil war, being captain of a
company, and was shot through the lungs; after the
war he was colonel in the Seventh Ohio State Guards,
and on Gov. Fosters staff; he was present at
Garfields inauguration at Washington, D. C.,
and his was the largest regiment out at the funeral
of that President in Cleveland. He was born
Dec. 21, 1838, received his education at Wellington
and Oberlin. He was a good stump speaker, and
was chairman of the Republican committee of Logan
county. He died Aug. 9, 1887, from wounds
received in battle. At the time of his death
he was treasurer of Logan county, Ohio. His
widow, formerly Miss Clara Burr, of Brighton,
to whom he was married in 1864 while home on leave
of absence, now resides in Bellefontaine. (4)
Emma married Rev. Charles E. Manchester,
D. D., pastor of the Broadway M. E. Church,
Cleveland, Ohio; they have children as follows:
William C. (twenty-one years of age) and
Frank S. (aged seventeen). The mother of
this family was born, in 1807, in Blandford, Mass.,
and died Oct. 19, 1848. For his second wife
Mr. Case married Miss Lucinda A. Ely, of
Elyria, who was born Dec. 25, 1819, in Deerfield,
Ohio, and died Jan. 24, 1893. To this union
there were two children, both of whom died young -
one in infancy, the other, Mary, at the age
of six years. In his political preferences
Deacon Case is a stanch Republican, originally
an Old-line Whig, his first vote being cast for
John Quincy Adams.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the
counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 894 |
| |
HERBERT CHAPIN, a
representative wide-awake native born agriculturist
of Lorain county, first saw the light of day in
North Amherst, Feb. 25, 1854.
He is the son of A. and Julia (Broughton) Chapin,
the former a native of Massachusetts, born in
1816, the latter of Carlisle township, Lorain Co.,
Ohio, born in 1831. The father came to Lorain
county in 1835, and in 1851 married Julia
Broughton, who bore him children as follows:
Emma; Herbert; Charles; Anna, wife of Frank
Starr of Camden township, Lorain county; Mary,
at home; and William, attending college at
Oberlin. The father of this family was a
tanner by trade, which he followed for some years in
North Amherst, and then removed to Brownhelm
township where he is yet living with his son
Herbert. His wife died in 1886. Aaron
Chapin, grandfather of our subject, came to
Lorain county in an early day, and died here:
grandfather Broughton was also an early
settler of this county.
Herbert Chapin since four years of age has lived
in Brownhelm township, where he received his
education and was inducted into the mysteries of the
farm. He is one of the active young men of his
township, and takes a lively interest in all matters
pertaining to the advancement and prosperity of the
county, advocating good schools, good roads, and all
else tending to public improvement. He is a
Republican in his political affiliations, and a
member of the Farmer's Alliance. Mr. Chapin
is owner of a snug farm of seventy-five acres,
all under fine cultivation.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 885 |
|
|
JOHN CHAPIN
was born in Sheffield, Berkshire Co., Mass., in
1804. At the age of eighteen he was
apprenticed to a Mr. Catlin,
of the adjoining town of New Marlboro, to learn the
trade of tanner and currier.
In 1827 he was married to Miss Eliza Clark, a
native of Norwich, Conn., though reared in New
Marlboro. They had five daughters and two
sons. In 1836 Mr. Chapin moved to Ohio,
then the "Far West," and located in Brownhelm.
In 1839 he removed to North Amherst, where he spent
the rest of his life. Mr. Chapin and
his wife united with a few others to organize a
Presbyterian Church in North Amherst, and Mr.
Chapin was elected deacon, an office which he
held till his death in 1852. Deacon Chapin
was a man of strong convictions, a thorough
temperance man, and an Old-line Whig. He was
strongly antislavery in his views and took the round
before his death, which became the platform of the
Free-Soil party in 1856.
The Deacon was a strong, well-built man, and was
considered very desirable help at the raising of
buildings in those days. Whiskey was usually
served freely, and at the first important "raising"
to which he was invited the men were nearly all
under the influence of Whiskey before the work was
half done. Deacon Chapin and a Mr.
Rose were the only total abstainers in the
party. On raising a heavy "bent" of the
frame the men allowed their pikes to slip, and the
bent fell, crushing Mr. Rose under the heavy
timbers. His back was broken, and though he
lived many years, he was a cripple. When the
men were sober, Deacon Chapin urged them to
give up the use of strong drink, citing the accident
to Mr. Rose to give weight to his arguments.
Soon after this the Deacon prepared to build a large
tannery. The timbers were very heavy, and the
building was two stories on one side and three on
the other. While the timbers were being
prepared there was another raising - a small barn.
Three brothers owned the property. They always
drank freely at raisings, but decided from motives
of economy to furnish no whiskey for their own
raising. When the men who had been invited to
assist arrived, some of them called for whiskey
before beginning work. When told that none
would be furnished, the men said the timbers might
rot before they would touch them without whiskey.
The whiskey was sent for at once, and the frame went
up. People who knew Deacon Chapin's
strong temperance principles, and that he never
tasted whiskey, wondered what he would do at his
raising. In those early days the raising of
such a building was quite an event. The
builder in charge one day asked the Deacon if he
should furnish whiskey for the raising. On
receiving a reply in the negative, he said he would
not be responsible then for the raising of it, as it
could not be raised without liquor. The Deacon
then replied that the raising would be "cold-water
raising" or none. Many friends in the
adjoining town of Brownhelm sympathized with
Deacon Chapin in his temperance principles, and
sent him a message saying that if the Amherst people
failed him, they would come to his aid. When
the time for the raising drew near, the Deacon
started on his round of invitations. Nearly
every man invited asked if he would have whiskey,
and on receiving a negative reply, answered: "Then I
will not come." As every one declined the
invitation, the Deacon invited every available man
in the village and the adjacent country.
Mrs. Chapin prepared for the entertainment of
men by brewing a barrel of root beer, and the brick
oven was kept full of good things - bread, biscuits,
cakes of all kinds, pies, puddings, chicken pies and
pork and beans. Roast eats of all available
kinds were prepared in abundance. The day set
for the raising dawned bright and still. At an
early hour the invited men began to arrive singly or
in small parties until every man who had been
invited put in an appearance. With much joking
about a "cold water raising" they set to work with
hearty good will. The small or root beer was
passed in pails, and one man told the Deacon that he
had a chunk of ice as big as his fist in his throat
from drinking the beer, and he wanted something to
thaw it out. When the bents had all be raised,
and were supposed to be securely fastened in place,
several men went to the top to fasten the large
wooden plates to the bents to bind the in position
and to support the rafters. Deacon Chapin
and Staunton Merriman, a carpenter, were on
the bent on the east side of the building, which was
three stories high. The ground on that side
was covered with broken stone, the refuse from
dressing the stone for the foundation. Soon after
they reached the top the bent began to sway with
them, but the men on the ground were all sober, and,
rallying with their pikes, held the heavy timbers in
position till they were securely fastened. All
knew that the fall of the bent would be certain
death to the men. When the work was completed
the Deacon said: "Come down to the house now and we
will have something to thaw the ice out of your
throats." Mrs. Chapin was a good cook,
and her heart was in her work. Long tables
were loaded with every good thing which she could
devise, and with tea and coffee in abundance.
Many of the men said to the Deacon: "If this is what
you call a cold water raising, I would like to go to
one every day." They said they came because
they knew he was acting from principle, that
although he was one of the best workers always at a
raising he never drank whiskey. Deacon
Chapin died in 1852 of typhoid fever; Mrs.
Chapin lived to be eighty-six years old.
The family was well represented in the war of the
Rebellion. John Clark Chapin, the
youngest son of Deacon Chapin, enlisted in
the Forty-first O. V. I., at the organization of the
regiment, for three years; re-enlisted with the
regiment, was engaged in all the battles in which
the regiment fought except Chickamauga, and was
honorably discharged at the close of the war.
Two sons-in-law, J. J. Pillen (the husband of
the eldest daughter, Eunice), and R. E.
Jump (who married the second daughter, Julia),
were also in the Union army, and were honorably
discharged at the close of the war.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 903 |
H. P. Chapman |
CHAPMAN
FAMILY. Nothing definite
is known of Robert Chapman, the first of the
family under consideration in the country, previous
to his emigration hither. According to the
family tradition, he came from Hull, England, to
Boston in 1635, from which place he sailed, in
company with Lyon Gardiner, for Saybrook, as
one of the company of twenty men who were sent over
by Sir Richard Salstonstall to take
possession of a large tract of land, and make
settlement near the mouth of the Connecticut river
under the patent of Lord Say and Seal.
At this time he is supposed to have been about
eighteen years old.
After the Indians were subdued, they proceeded to clear
up the forests and form a permanent settlement.
For about ten years after leaving England he kept a
journal. The colony records show that each of
his three sons were representatives to the
Legislature, to which he himself had also been
elected forty-three times. The eldest son
served there twenty-two Sessions, the second
eighteen Sessions, and the third twenty-four
Sessions.
Robert Chapman seems to have been a soldier, as
is name appears as a sentinel in the Pequot war in
1637. It appears from the records of Saybrook,
that he was a very large landholder in the town of
Saybrook, and East Haddam. He left at his
decease 1,500 acres to each of his three sons, which
had been received by him as one of the legatees of
Uncas, an Indian chief. Robert himself
resided on a tract of land in the Oyster River
Quarter, about two miles west of Saybrook Fort,
which has descended in the line of the youngest son
of each family, never having been bouht or sold, and
which in 1854 was occupied by George H. Chapman,
Esq., the youngest of the fifth generation.
Robert Chapman was a man of exemplary piety, and
but a short time previous to his decease he wrote an
address to his children, who were all members
of the church, in which he exhorted them to a
devoted life, and to abide by the Covenant into
which they had entered with God and his
church. Robert's parents were Puritans, whose
religious zeal had been transmitted to him.
There are several letters on file in the office of
the Secretary of State, written to Robert Chapman.
Robert Chapman was married to Ann Bliss,
Apr. 29, 1642. According to the family
tradition he was born in 1616, and died Oct. 13,
1687, aged seventy-one years. He had seven
children, as follows: John, Robert, Anna, Hannah,
Nathaniel, Mary and Sarah.
Robert Chapman, Jr., the second son of the first
settler, was born in September, 1646, at Saybrook,
Conn., and was an extensive agriculturist, owning at
the time of his decease not less than 2,000 acres of
land. The town records show him to have been a
man of extensive influence in civil affairs.
He was for many years clerk of Oyster River Quarter,
as well as commissioner and surveyor for the town of
Saybrook. He was a member of the Legislature
from 1692 to 1711. He was also a member of the
Assembly that drafted the Saybrook Platform in 1708,
a work that has preserved the purity of the
Congregational Churches of Connecticut for 185
years. Mr. Chapman was twice
married, first to Sara Griswold, of
Norwich, Conn., July 27, 1671, by whom he had nine
children. This wife died Apr. 7, 1692, and
Oct. 29, 1694, he was married to Mrs. Mary
Sheather, by whom he had four children.
His children by the first marriage were: Samuel,
Robert, Sarah, Francis,
Dorcas, Steven, one son that died in
infancy, Sarah, and a son that died an
infant. By the second marriage there was
Benjamin, Steven, Mehetabel and
Abagail. Mr. Chapman died
suddenly in the Hartford court-room November, 1711.
He was buried in the old burial ground at Hartford,
Conn., in the rear of the Centre Church, where
his tombstone now stands, about a rod north of the
monument on which are inscribed the names of the
first settlers of Hartford, with this inscription -
" Here lyeth the body of Robt. Chapman
who departed this life November ye 10th 1711 aged 65
years."
Capt. Samuel
Chapman, eldest son of Robert
Chapman, Junior, was born Sept. 12, 1672.
On Dec. 6, 1693, he married Margaret
Griswold, of Norwich, Conn., and by her he had
ten children. Mrs. Chapman died Dec.
21, 1750. Mr. Chapman was a prominent
man in civil and military affairs. He resided
in what is now the town of Westbrook, and was one of
the first fourteen persons organized into a church
at that place June 29, 1726. The date of his
death is not known. His children were Sarah,
Margaret, Samuel, Martha,
Temperance, Jedediah, Mehetabel,
Caleb, Lucy and Aaron.
Jedediah Chapman (1), the second son of Capt.
Samuel Chapman, was born at Westbrook, Conn., Oct.
9, 1703, and was married to Miss Hester Kirtland,
June 5, 1723, by whom he had eight children.
He was a very prominent man in the society of
Westbrook in military, civil and religious affairs.
He was a major of infantry, a lawyer by profession,
and held the position of deacon in the church from
1732 until his death, which took place at Westbrook
Feb. 10, 1764, in the sixty-first year of his
age. The following were his children:
Hester, Temperance, Jedediah, Ann, Reuben, Charity,
Chloe and Tabitha.
Jedediah Chapman (2), eldest son of Maj.
Jedediah, was born at Westbrook, Dec. 15, 1726,
and was married to Miss Mary Grinnell in
1755. He was deacon of the church of Westbrook
from 1771 until his death, which transpired Feb .
29, 1816, a period of forty-four years, and was for
twenty years justice of the peace. At his
decease he was ninety years of age. His
children were Dan, Jedediah, Constant, Hester,
Lucilla, Mary, Ann and Aaron.
Constant Chapman, son of Deacon Jedediah Chapman
(2), was born at Westbrook, Conn., Dec. 27, 1760,
and was married to Miss Jemima Kelsey of
Killingworth, Conn., Jan. 27, 1785, by whom he had
nine children. At the early age of sixteen he
entered the Revolutionary army, was for six years
under the immediate command of Washington,
and was for some time one of his body-guard.
He was at the battle of Long Island, Germantown,
Princeton, and Trenton, experienced all the rigors
of Valley Forge, and was at the final surrender of
Cornwallis at Yorktown. He also
followed the sea for many years. He also
followed the sea for many years, rising to the
position of captain of a merchant vessel, trading on
the coast of South America, and to Lisbon, and other
foreign ports. In 1793 the vessel, of which he
was commander, was captured by the French off Porto
Rico, scuttled and sunk, while he and his crew were
carried prisoners to the French Island of
Guadeloupe, and after four months he was liberated.
The latter part of his life was spent in Brimfield,
Portage Co., Ohio, where he died in 1850, aged
ninety years. His children were Lydia K.,
Thurot F., John K., Anna M., Cloe P., Mary C.,
Joseph G., Jemima T. and Henry C.
The children of Constant Chapman, it will be
seen, all had middle names, while none of his
ancestry were thus favored.
Thurot F. Chapman, eldest son of Constant
Chapman, was born at Old Killingworth, Conn.,
Dec. 7, 1789, and was twice married; first, Nov. 17,
1810, to Lydia Andross, by whom he had one
child; second, Oct. 16, 1833, to Elizabeth
Furray, by whom he had three children. In
the war of 1812 he enlisted in Col. Van
Rensselaer's Regiment of New York Militia, cross
the Niagara river into Canada, and was at the battle
of Queenston Heights, and taken prisoner there but
afterward paroled. Mr. Chapman was for
some time a sailor in the coasting trade, and also
in the business of codfishing off Newfoundland and
the Straits of Belle Isle. He was a man of
sterling integrity and of the most generous
impulses. The poor and the oppressed were
never turned away empty from his door, and many a
poor slave escaping from bondage was by him fed,
sheltered and helped on his way to freedom.
Mr. Chapman first set up his family home in
Smithville, Chenango Co., N. Y., but emigrated to
the wilderness of the Ohio Western Reserve in 1817,
where he followed clearing land a number of years,
having chopped, cleared and fenced nearly 300 acres
of land. Here he died Dec. 16, 1860, aged
seventy-on years, a practical Christian of the
Congregational school. His children were
Alonzo A., a sketch of whom follows; Emily A.,
wife of Lucius R. Fields of Oberlin, Ohio;
Degrass S., who enlisted, during the Civil war,
in Company K, Twenty-third O V. I., was wounded at
the battle of Antietam, and died six days later in
the field hospital, aged twenty-four years; and
Harlan P., special mention of whom will
presently be made. The mother of the three
last named children was born in New Durham, Greene
Co., N. Y., Mar. 9, 1804, and was killed by accident
in Oberlin June 12, 1876.
Alonzo A. Chapman, eldest son of Thurot F.
Chapman, was born Aug. 25, 1811, at Smithville,
N. Y., and was married Sept. 30, 1832, to Miss
Margaret Taylor, by whom he had seven children.
He was for many years a farmer in Eaton township,
Lorain Co., Ohio, and was one of the first residents
of that township, coming there with his parents in
1817. He was called upon to fill various
positions of trust in civil and religious affairs.
He was a member of the M. E. Church over fifty
years, and was a member of the first class organized
at LaPorte, Ohio. He moved his family to
Ridgeville, Henry Co., Ohio, in 1866, and was for
many years in the lumber business. Mr.
Chapman died at Ridgeville Corners, Ohio, Aug.
5, 1890, aged seventy-nine years. His children
were as follows: William T., Mary L., Henry
L. (1) Emery N., Pamila A., Facelia S.
and Henry L. (2).
William T. Chapman, eldest son of Alonzo A.
Chapman, was born in Eaton township, Lorain Co.,
Ohio, on Butternut Ridge, July 10, 1833, and was
married Mar. 21, 1854, to Miss Fidelia S.
Banistee, by whom he has had three children.
His vocation has been that of teacher, having
entered that profession in the fall of 1852, and
continuing therein until the spring of 1890, a
period of thirty-eight years. He has taught,
in all, fifty-seven terms in the following counties
of Ohio; Eighteen terms of Lorain, one in Cuyahoga,
two in Defiance, two in Lucas, twenty-three in Henry
and eleven in Fulton. In 1867 he removed with
his family to Henry County, settling in Ridgeville,
where he now (1893) resides. On Aug. 4, 1862,
he enlisted as a private soldier in the Union army
to assist in putting down the slaveholders'
Rebellion, and upon the organization of the company
he was made a sergeant. In December, 1862, he
was made orderly sergeant, and in June following
received a commission as second lieutenant of
Company H, One Hundred Third O. V. I.; in March,
1864, he was discharged for physical disability by
by order of E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
His children are Minnie E. Myra O. and Myrta J.
Emory N. Chapman, second son of Alonzo A.
Chapman, enlisted Aug. 11, 1862, in Company H,
One Hundred and Third O. V. I.; discharged Sept. 17,
1864, on account of wound received at Resaca, Ga.,
May 14, 1864.
Henry L. Chapman,
fourth son of Alonzo A. Chapman, enlisted
Dec. 24, 1863, in Company F, One Hundred and
Twenty-fourth O. V. I.; was left in tobacco shed
with the small pox at Concord Station, East Tenn.;
both feet were frozen so that the toes came off;
discharged for same May 31, 1865.
HARLAN P. CHAPMAN,
the subject proper of this family sketch, and the
youngest child born to Thurot F. and Elizabeth (Furray)
Chapman, was born in Butternut Ridge, in Eaton
township. Lorain Co., Ohio, Sept. 6, 1844.
In his boyhood and early youth he attended the
common schools of the vicinity, and Oberlin College
two terms, in the meantime being reared on the farm.
On Aug. 4, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, One
Hundred and Third Regiment O. V. I., which was first
sent to Camp Cleveland, thence to Cincinnati, Ohio,
whence they marched to Kentucky, wintering at
Frankfort. In April, 1863, they moved across
the State to the Cumberland river, where they had
several skirmishes with the Confederates, and
following August were placed under Burnside,
after which they crossed the Cumberland Mountains
into East Tennessee. Mr. Chapman
participated in the battles of Blue Spring,
Knoxville and Armstrong’s Hill, at which latter
engagement, which took place Thanksgiving Day, Nov.
25, 1863, he received a serious wound, from which he
never fully recovered, a musket ball being left
imbedded in the hip joint; after nine months’
confinement to hospital, he returned home on
furlough. Before he was ordered back to
hospital he was married Mar. 31, 1864, to Miss
Mary C. Pitkin, of Brunswick, Medina Co., Ohio,
and he was not called upon for further service in
the army. After his discharge, June 27, 1864,
he settled on his present farm in Carlisle township,
village of LaPorte. Here were born to him and
his wife three children, viz.: Erie D.,
educated at Elyria and Oberlin; Otto B.
and Oleo. Politically our subject is a
sound Republican, and for three years served as
postmaster at LaPorte; in November, 1892, he was
elected treasurer of Lorain county, and was duly
installed into said office on Sept. 4, 1893.
Source: Commemorative
Biographical Record of the counties of Huron and
Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H.
Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 790 |
|
|
H. E. CLARK,
who was born May 15, 1846, in Pittsfield township,
Lorain Co., Ohio, was a grandson of Nathan Clark,
who was one of the first two settlers in La Grange
township.
Jonathan L. Clark, son of Nathan, was
born in Jefferson county, N. Y., and when eight
years old came with his parents to LaGrange
township, Lorain Co., Ohio, where he was reared to
farm life. He married Rhoda Dale, a
native of Vermont, and they became the parents of
four children, viz.: Julia, who died at the
age of twenty-two years; H. E.; Carrie, Mrs.
Richard Gibbins, of Pittsfield township, and
John G., an attorney of Kansas City, Mo.
The father of this family was a Republican in
politics. HE died in 1877, and was buried in
Pittsfield cemetery. His widow is still living
at an advanced age.
H. E. Clark received
a common school education, in the same district
where his children now attend school, and resided at
home until his marriage. On Mar. 28,1873, he
was wedded to Miss Mary Rogers, who was born
Apr. 28, 1842, in Pittsfield township, daughter of
Edward and Ann (Bailey) Rogers; the
latter were the parents of three children - one and
two daughters - and came to Lorain county, Ohio,
from Cornwall, England. After marriage Mr.
Clark settled on the present farm, where he was
principally occupied in general farming and
dairying; he also took considerable interest in
stock raising, and was formerly engaged in breeding
fancy poultry, Oxford-Down registered sheep,
Ayrshire cattle (registered) and Poland-China hogs,
having experimented with various strains, all
eligible to record. He also raised fine dogs -
Scotch collies, Newfoundland dogs and English pugs -
as well as ferrets, sending his stock to all parts
of the United States and Mexico. He owned four
imported horses, one Percheron and one Norman
stallion (French coach stallions), and two mares.
The farm now comprises 253 acres, and the stock
enterprises 253 acres, and the stock enterprises
netted him no small amount of clear annual profit.
In addition to general farming he carried on a
creamery of his own, having regular customers who
bought the products of the same. His extensive
business was built up entirely by himself, and his
fair, honest dealing, business-like methods, and
complete practical knowledge of the business were
important factors in his success. To Mr.
and Mrs. Clark had been born four children:
Rhoda A., Carrie M., Edward L., and Rosella
M. (who died when five years old). Mr.
Clark died July 21, 1893, a member of the
Methodist Church, as is also his widow.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the
counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 925 |
|
|
HORACE J.
CLARK, dealer in general merchandise, and one
of the prominent and influential citizens of
Oberlin, is a native of Ohio, born in Medina county
Jan. 27, 1839, a son of John and Betsey (Tyler)
Clark and of Massachusetts descent through his
paternal grandfather.
John Clark, father of subject, was born in New
York State, whence in the pioneer days of Ohio he
came to Medina county, where he passed the rest of
his days in agricultural pursuits. He was a
very active, aggressive and prosperous man, a Whig
in politics, and in religion a Congregationalist.
He married Miss Betsey Tyler, a native of
Poultney, Vt., who with him and their children came
west to Ohio, driving an ox-team. After his
death in 1845 Mrs. Clark with her children
revisited the old home, traveling the same route,
this time with a horse team. Mr. Clark
lived to be seventy-seven years old, the mother of
nine children, five of whom - William P., Mary
E., Merrit, Lucinda B. and Horace J. -
reached mature age, and of these the following is a
brief record: William P., who now lives
on the old homestead in Medina county, Ohio, for
many years owned and conducted a select school at
Medina, and afterward was superintendent of Norwalk
(Ohio) public schools, and also of the public
schools at Hillsdale, Mich.; Mary E. is
unmarried, and now lives on the old homestead with
her brother; Merrit married and settled in
Covington, Ohio, where he died in 1852; Lucinda
B. died in 1846 at Medina, Ohio, at the age of
twenty-four years.
Horace J. Clark, the subject proper of this
sketch, received his elementary education in the
select school of his brother at Medina, Ohio.
At the age of nineteen he entered Western Reserve
College, where he graduated in the class of 1861.
After this he had charge of the Shaw Academy at East
Cleveland two years; then had charge of the
Tallmadge (Ohio) Academy, four years, at the end of
which time, finding his health impaired, he
abandoned teaching for a time, and embarked in the
business of manufacturing stoneware, building the
first works of the kind in Tallmadge, Ohio. On
regaining his health at the end of two years, he
accepted the position of principal of Poland (Ohio)
Union Seminary, an incumbency he filled during the
greater part of a decade. For eight years he
was a member of the board of examiners of Mahoning
county. For the next two years he was
traveling agent for the publishing house of Van
Antwerp, Bragg & Co., at the close of which
engagement, in 1879, he was appointed superintendent
of public schools at Oberlin, Lorain county, in
which capacity, he served three and one half years,
when he resigned, and was reappointed by election to
his old position in the Poland Seminary. At
the end of two years, however, he resigned this
position, and returned to Oberlin in order to give
his children the advantages of Oberlin College.
Here for the past eight years he has successfully
carried on a general merchandise business.
In 1861 Mr. Clark was united in marriage at
Hudson, Ohio, with Miss Lizzie P. Blackman,
who was born in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and whose parents
emigrated from England before the days of
steamships, being nine weeks on the ocean. To
this union have been born five children, as follows:
(1) Mary A. is a graduate of the classical
course of Oberlin College, class of 1886, has since
been engaged in teaching, and was at one time
assistant principal of the high school in
Wellington, Ohio. (2) Frank S. is a
graduate of the classical course of Oberlin College,
class of 1887; he took the medical course in the
Medical School of Western Reserve University,
Cleveland; he was for one and one-half years in
charge of Lakeside Hospital, for one year of the
time as house physician; for one year had charge of
the Charity Maternity Hospital, and is now a member
of the staff of St. Alexis Hospital, Cleveland,
Ohio, where he is practicing medicine. (3)
Edward W. is also a graduate of the classical
course of Oberlin College, in the class of 1889; for
two years he has been employed as tutor of Latin in
the College; is now pursuing his studies in Leipsic,
Germany, perfecting his preparation to teach College
Latin and German; he married Miss Lottie Life,
daughter of the late S. Life, of Oberlin, and one
child has come to brighten their home, named
Gertrude. (4) Anna Ida died at the
age of five years at Poland, Ohio, and (5) Alice
Gertrude died in Oberlin in 1886, when seven
years old. Politically our subject is a
Prohibitionist. He and his wife are members of
the First Congregational Church.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the
counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 859 |
|
|
THOMPSON
CLARK, a well-known, native-born
agriculturist of Avon township, first saw the light
April 7, 1822, on the farm where he yet resides.
He is a son of Samuel and Polly (Seward) Clark,
the former of whom was born in Connecticut, at the
age of thirteen years removing thence to Vermont,
where he was married in 1816. In the fall of
the last named year he set out with a team for
Ridgeville township, Lorain Co., Ohio, and in the
spring of the following year settled on a farm, then
entirely in the woods, where he built a log cabin
and passed the remainder of his days. He
passed from earth in 1867, preceded to the grave by
his wife in 1865. They had born to them eight
children, as follows: Samuel, who died
here at the age of thirty-two; Lyman who died
Sept. 14, 1876, in Steuben county, Ind.; Daniel,
who married and removed to Indiana, where he died
1889; Thompson, whose name introduces this
sketch; Clarissa, Mrs. Anna Moon, who
died in Avon township; Anna, who married
Justus Butler, and died in Indiana in 1885;
Orilla, who married David H. Barnard, of
Ridgeville, and died in Olmstead, Ohio, in 1855; and
Naomi who became the wife of Wilkes
Rathbun, and died in 1885 at the home of our
subject. Grandfather Gaylord Clark was
a native of Connecticut, and in an early day removed
thence to Addison, Vt., where he died.
Thomas Clark received his early educational
training in the log cabin subscription schools of
that early period, and was reared from boyhood to
agricultural pursuits, which he has made his life
vocation. In 1841 he was married to Miss
Jane Young, also natives of that State, and
early settlers of Medina county, Ohio, where both
died. In 1871 this wife died, leaving no
living children, and in 1873 Mr. Clark
wedded, for his second wife, Miss Amelia
Chandler, daughter of Harry and Beulah
(Terrell) Chandler all natives of New York
State, whence in an early day they came to Ohio,
locating first in Huron county, and subsequently
taking up there home in Grafton township, Lorain
county, Harry Chandler died in 1885 at
the home of our subject, preceded to the grave by
his wife, who died in Huron county, Ohio. By
his second marriage Mr. Clark has one child,
Samuel. Our subject now owns the old
home farm, comprising forty-eight acres of fertile
land, all in a good state of cultivation. In
his party preferences he is a liberal Republican,
though in local politics he takes an independent
stand. In religious connection Mrs.
Clark is a member of the Congregational Church.
Mr. Clark is now the only
representative of one of the first six families who
settled in Avon township. On the paternal side
the family is of English origin, while on the
mother's side they come of Scotch and French
ancestry, who located in Connecticut in Colonial
days. William Seward, an uncle of our
subject, was a soldier in the war of 1812.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the
counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 1133 |
George Clifton |
GEORGE CLIFTON Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of
Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago:
J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 888
|
|
|
DAVID
CURTICE, who for almost the past sixty years
has been a resident of Lorain county, is a native of
the "Empire State," born May 4, 1812, in Cayuga
county.
His father, Hosea Curtice, was born Feb. 13,
1774, in Massachusetts, and was married, in 1794, in
his native state to Catherine Moore, who was
born May 7, 1776. Shortly afterward they moved
to New York, locating near Syracuse, where four
children - all sons - were born to them, and from
there moved to Cayuga county, where they remained
forty-two years on one farm. Here they had
eight more children - five sons and three daughters
- making twelve in all, eleven of whom lived to rear
families, and of whom our subject is the oldest one
now living. The father migrated to Ohio in
1843, the mother shortly afterward, and here they
passed the remainder of their days at the home of
their son David, where she died in 1850, he
in 1863; they lie buried in Center cemetery.
The first of the family to locate in Ohio was a son
Joel, who came in May, 1833, and settled in
LaGrange township, Lorain county. On July 14,
1839, Joel Curtice was married, in Cayuga
county, N. Y., to Malissa Allen, who died in
LaGrange township in 1871, leaving four children,
viz.: Catherine, now Mrs. Charles
Hastings, of LaGrange; David A., a farmer
of LaGrange; Morton B., of Florida; and
Barton E., a farmer of La Grange.
David Curtice came to Lorain county, Ohio, in
October, 1834, and hired out as a farm hand, after
working at coal burning near Elyria. Some time
later he returned to New York State, where he was
married, and in 1839 he and his wife came in a buggy
to the home he had prepared in Ohio, where his
parents also passed their declining years. On
their arrival in Ohio Mr. and Mrs. Curtice
had just seventy-five cents with which to begin
housekeeping. He had purchased one hundred
acres, for which he was obliged to go in debt, but
he bravely set to work, and from a start of nothing
prospered; he cultivated and improved his land, and
his hard labor and unceasing industry brought their
reward, for he has added to his property until he
now has 365 acres of excellent land, besides a
pleasant home in the village of LaGrange.
On Mar. 16, 1873, Mr. Curtice was married in
Kendall county, Ill., for his second wife, to
Mrs. Annie Pooler, widow of Otis Pooler,
who had moved to Kendall county, Ill. Mr.
Curtice is one of the best-known citizens of
LaGrange, well-preserved and active for a man of his
years. Since 1883 he has lived retired.
In politics he is a Democrat, and has served as
township trustee, but is not particularly active in
party affairs.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the
counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 1211 |
|
|
E. A. CUYLER,
a well-known fruit-grower of Avon township, where he
has resided for almost the last half century, is a
native of New York State, where they both passed
their entire lives, the father dying in 1838, the
mother forty years later, in Essex county.
John B. Cuyler was a sergeant in the war of
1812.
E. A. Cuyler, the subject proper of this memoir,
was reared in his native county up to the age of
twenty-one, receiving his education in the common
schools. After coming, in 1843, to Avon
township, Lorain Co., Ohio, he commenced sailing on
the lakes, in which he continued for seventeen
seasons, on boats plying between Cleveland and
Buffalo, and also Detroit. In an early day he
opened up a farm in Sheffield township, Lorain
county, where he resided for some years, thence
removing to Avon township, where he has since had
his home. In 1847 he was married, in Avon
township, to Miss Ruth J. Titus, who was born
in New York State, daughter of Anson and Hannah
(Moore) Titus, natives, respectively, of
Massachusetts and Connecticut, and early settlers of
Avon township, where they died. To this union
were born four children, as follows: Minerva,
who was first wedded to Lorenzo Miller, and after
his decease to Frank Nesbitt (she had two
children by her first husband, Vernon and
Carrie, and one by her second husband, Little
Elbert, named for his grandfather; she died in
1892); Jane, wife of William J. Curtis,
living in Avon township; Sumner, who was
drowned when five years old; and Edward,
residing on the home farm, who is married and has
two children - Lou and Melinda. The
wife of E. A. Cuyler died in 1879. In
his political connections our subject is an active
Republican (casting his first vote for James G.
Birney), and has served three terms as trustee
of Avon township. In religious faith he is a
member of the Episcopal Church, and socially he
belongs to King Solomon Lodge, No. 56, A. F. & A.
M., Elyria, and to Marshall Chapter No. 47. Mr.
Cuyler owns a fertile farm of sixty-two and a
half acres in Avon township, and twenty acres of
another farm; he has twenty-one acres devoted
exclusively to grape-culture.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the
counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 717 |
|
