TOPOGRAPHY.

COL. JAMES SMITH.

     Perhaps no more fitting preface to the history of the early settlement of the township of Elyria could be procured than a brief sketch of the above named person, who was doubtless the first white man who ever lived for any considerable time in what now constitutes the above township.  We are indebted for the facts to a book called "Our Western Border," written by Charles McKnight, and published during the centennial year, which was kindly loaned us by G. G. Washburn, Esq., and also to an article published in the Elyria Republican, in 1876.  We have not space to publish the entire narrative of Col. Smith, but shall, as far as possible, give it in his own quaint and terse language:

     "In May, 1755, the Province of Pennsylvania agreed to send out three hundred men in order to cut a wagon road from Fort London Fort Loudon to join Braddock's road near the Turkey Fork, or the three forks of the Yohoguina Yohoghania.  My brother-in-law, William Smith, was commissioner, and though but eighteen years of age, I concluded to accompany the expedition  We went on the road without interruption until near the Alleghany mountains, when I was sent back  in order to hurry up some provision wagons that were on the way after us.  I proceeded down the road as far as the crossing of the Juniata, were, finding that the wagons were coming on as fast as possible, I returned up the road toward the Alleghany mountains in company with one Arnold Vigoras.  About four or five miles above Bedford three Indians had made a blind of bushes stuck in the ground as though they had grown naturally, where they concealed themselves, about fifteen yards from the road.  When we came opposite to them they fired upon us at this short distance and killed my fellow traveler; yet their bullets did not touch me, but my horse making a violent start threw me, and the Indians immediately ran up and took me prisoner.  The one that laid hold on me was a Cunasataugee Canasauga, the other two were Delawares.  One of them could speak English.  Two of them stood by me while the other scalped my comrade.  We slept on the Alleghany mountains that night without fire.  The next morning they divided their remaining provisions and gave me an equal share, which consisted of two or three ounces of mouldy biscuit.  They continued their journey to Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh) and when they reached the bank of the Alleghany the Indians gave the scalp halloo, which was answered by the firing of guns and the shouts of the French and Indians who were in and about the Fort."

HE RUNS TE GAUNTLET.

     "I saw numbers of the Indians running towards me stripped naked except breech-clouts, and painted in the most hideous manner.  As they approached they formed themselves in two long ranks about two or three rods apart.  I was told by an Indian who could speak English that I

[Page 104] -
must run between these ranks, and that they would flog me all the way as I ran, and if I ran quick it would be so much the better.
     "There appeared to be general rejoicing around me, yet I could find nothing like joy in my breast; but I started to the race with all the resolution and vigor I was capable of exercising, and found it was as I had been told, for I was flogged all the way.  When I had got near the end of the race I was struck by something that appeared to me to be a stick, or the handle of a tomahawk, which caused me to fall to the ground.
     "On my recovering my senses I endeavored to renew my race, but as I arose some one cast sand in my eyes which blinded me so that I could not see where to run.  They continued beating me most intolerably until I was at length insensible, but before I lost my senses I remembered wishing them to strike the fatal blow."

     He was conveyed to the Fort and the French doctor dressed his wounds and applied remedies.

     "Soon after I was visited by a Delaware Indian who could speak broken English.  I ask him if I had done anything that offended the Indians.  He said no, it was only an old custom the Indians had, and was like 'how do you do?'  After that, he said, I would be well used.'

     After this Smith was taken by his captors to an Indian town on the banks of the Muskingham river in Ohio.

HIS ADOPTION INTO THE TRIBE.

     This ceremony being somewhat interesting we take the liberty of giving it at length in his own words:

     "The day after my arrival at the aforesaid town a number of Indians gathered about me, and one of them began to pull the hair out of my head.  He had some ashes on a bark in which he frequently dipped his fingers in order to take a firmer hold, and so he went on as if he had been plucking a turkey, until he had all the hair clean out of my head, except a small spot, three or four inches square, on the crown.  This they cut off with a pair of scissors, excepting three locks, which they dressed up in their own mode.  Two of these they wrapped around with a narrow beaded garter, made by themselves for the purpose, and the other they plaited at full length and stuck it full of silver brooches.  After this they bored my nose and ears, and fixed me off with nose and ear jewels.  Then they ordered me to strip off my clothes and put on a breech-clout, which I did.  they then painted my face, hands, and body in various colors.  They put a large belt of wampum on my neck, and silver bands on my bands and right arm, and so an old chief led me out in the street and gave the alarm halloo several times repeated quick, "coo wigh!" and on this all that were in the town came running and stood round the old chief who held me by the hand in the midst."

     "As at that time I knew nothing of their mode of adoption, and had seen them put to death all they had taken, I made no doubt but they were about putting me to death in some cruel manner.  The old Chief, holding me by the hand, made a long speech, very loud, and, when he had done, he handed me to three young squaws, who led me by the hand down the bank into the river, until the water was up to our middle.  The squaws then made signs to me to plunge myself into the river, but I did not understand them.  I thought the result of the council was that I was to be drowned, and that these young ladies were to be the executioners.  They all three laid violent hold of me, and I for some time resisted them with all my might, which occasioned loud laughter by the multitude that were on the bank.  At length one of the squaws said, no hurt you; on this I gave myself up to their ladyships, who were as good as their word, for, though they plunged me under the water, and rubbed me.  I could not say they hurt me much.  They then led me up to the council house, where the tribe were ready with new clothes for me.  They gave me a new ruffled shirt, which I put on; also a pir of leggins done off with ribbons and beds; also  pair of moccasins and a tinsel-laced cappo.  They again painted my head and face with various colors.  When I was seated the Indians came in dressed in their grandest manner.  At length one of the chiefs made a speech as follows: 'My son, you are now flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone.  By the ceremony of your veins.'  After this ceremony I was introduced to my new kin and invited to attend a feast that night, which I did."

     We must omit many of the events that occurred at the camp on the Muskingum.  The name of one of the chiefs was Tecanyaterighto, alias Puggy.  During the fall Pluggy headed a war party to the frontiers of Virginia.  while they were absent, Smith and a party of Indians went south on a hunt.  On this hunt they encamped at Buffalo Lick, where they killed several buffaloes.  This lick must have been in the Hocking valley, between the Muskingum and Scioto rivers.  While here with their small kettles they made about a half-bushel of salt.
     It was here that our hero, while following buffalo, got lost in the woods, where he spent the night.  The Indians found him in the morning.  For this offense his gun was taken from him, and he was reduced to a bow and arros for nearly two years.
     They were on this tour for about six weeks.  When they returned, Pluggy and his party had got back bringing with them a number of scalps and prisoners.  They also brought with them an English Bible, which they gave to a Dutch woman who was a prisoner, but as she could not read English, she made a present of it to Smith, which was very acceptable.

     "I remained in this town until some time in October, when my adopted brother, Tontileaugo, who had married a Wyandotte squaw, took me with him to Lake Erie.  On this route we had no horses with u, and when I started from the town all the pack I carried was a pouch containing my books, a little dried venison and my blanket.  I had then no gun, but Tontileaugo, who was a first-rate hunter, carried a rifle gun, and every day killed deer, raccoons or bears.  We left the meat, excepting a little for present use, and carried the skins with us until we camped, when we dried them by the fire."

     They struck the Canesadooharic (Black river) probably near its source, and followed it down for some distance, when they must have left it as they reached the lake shore some six miles west of its mouth.  As the wind was very high the evening they reached the lake, our traveller was surprised "to hear the roaring of the water and see the high waves that dashed against the shore like the ocean."  They camped on a run near the shore like the ocean."  They camped on a run near the shore, and, as the wind fell that night, they pursued their journey in the morning towards the mouth of the river on the sand along the side of the water.  They observed a number of large fish that had been left in the hollows by the receding waves, and numbers of gray and bald eagles were along the shore devouring them.
     Some time in the afternoon they came to a large camp of Wyandottes at the mouth of the Canasadooharic, where Tontileaugo's wife was.  Here they were hospitably received and entertained for some time.  Smith says: "They gave us a kind of rough, brown potatoes, which grew spontaneously and were called by the Caughnewagas, ohenata.  These potatoes, peeled and dipped in raccoon's fat, tasted like our sweet potatoes." (Query: what were they?)  They killed while here some deer and many raccoons which were remarkably large and fat.  They kept moving up the river until they came to the great falls.  These were, doubtless, the east falls of Black river, now within the corporate town of Elyria.  They buried their canoe and erected a winter cabin.  This was probably located on Evergreen Point, somewhere in the vicinity of the present residence of T. L. Nelson, Esq., The narrative proceeds:

     "It was sometime in December when we finished our winter cabin but then another difficulty arose, we had nothing to eat.  While the hunters were al out exerting their utmost ability, the squaws and boys (in which class I was,) were scattered in the bottom, hunting red haws and hickery nuts.  We did not succeed in getting many haws, but had tolerable success in scratching up hickory nuts from under a light snow.  The hunters returned with only two small turkeys, which were but little

Residence of A. Beebe,, Sr., 26 Broad St., Elyria, O.

Residence of Edwin Hall, East Ave., Elyria, O.

[Residence of A. Beebe, Jr., East Ridge St., Elvira, O.]

Beebe House, Elyria, O.

Tavern Opened, 1820 by A. Beebe, Sr., Broad St., Elyria, O.

----------

Artemas Beebe, Sr. and Portrait of P. M. Beebe

ARTEMAS BEEBE, SR.

 ----------

[Page 105] -
among eight hunters, and thirteen squaws, boys and children.  But they were divided equally.  The next day, the hunters turned out again, and succeeded in killing one deer and three bears.  One of the bears was remarkably large and fat.  All hands turned out the next morning to bring in the meat.
     "During the winter, a war party of four went out to the borders of Pennsylvania, to procure horses and scalps, leaving the same number in camp, to provide meat for the women and children.  They returned towards spring, with two scalps and four horses.  After the departure of the warriors, we had hard times, and though not out of provisions, we were brought to short allowance.  At length, Tontileaugo had fair success, and brought into camp sufficient to last ten days.  Tontileaugo then took me with him in order to encamp some distance from the winter cabin.  We steered south up the creek ten or twelve miles, and went into camp."

     This was probably in La Grange.  They went to bed hungry the first night, but the next day, succeeded in killing a bear, and the day after, a bear and three cubs.  They remained here about two weeks, killing an abundance of game, and then returned to the winter cabin.  On their arrival, there was great joy, as all were in a starving condition.
     About the first of April, they dug up their canoe, but were forced to make an additional one to carry all their riches - left their winter cabin at the falls, and proceeded to the lake - Tontileaugo by water, and Smith on horseback.  On reaching the mouth of the river, they proceeded west along the shore to Sunyeu-deauk (Sandusky), where was another Wyandotte town.  Late in the fall, Smith joined a hunting party, and proceeded to the Cuyahoga river.  At the distance of about thirty miles from its mouth, they formed an encampment near a small lake, and spent the winter in catching beaver.  In the spring of 1757 they returned to Sandusky, and soon proceeded by water to Detroit, where they disposed of their peltry to the French traders.
     In 1759, Smith accompanied his Indian relatives to Montreal, where he was finally exchanged, and returned home in 1760, to find his old sweetheart married, and all supposing him dead.  He afterwards became a captain in the regular British army, and was engaged, principally, in protecting the border settlers against Indian raids.  During the revolutionary war, he joined the patriot army, rose to the rank of colonel, and did good service, both against the British and their Indian allies.  In 1788, he migrated to Bourbon county, Kentucky, where he represented his district in the assembly down to the present century.
     After his long digression, we return to the history of Elyria in later times.

ORIGINAL OWNERS.

     The township of Elyria was, in in April, 1807, drawn by the following individuals of the Connecticut land company, viz:  Justin Ely, Roger Newberry, Jonathan Bruce, Elijah White, Enoch Perkins, John H. Buel, Jonathan Dwight, and others, whose names are not mentioned.
     At the September term of the supreme court, in Portage county, in 1816, the south part of the township (about one-third of the whole, was set off to Justin Ely; the central part to Elijah White.  a tract of two thousand, one hundred and ten acres, lying immediately north of this, was assigned to Jonathan Bruce, and the remaining portion of the township to Enoch Perkins and Roger Newberry.
     White conveyed his tract of Justin Ely, and he, in turn, to Heman Ely, his son, who purchased the Bruce tract, making him the owner of twelve thousand five hundred aces lying in a single body.  The following history of the settlement of the township of Elyria is prepared from reminiscences of the venerable Artemas Beebe, the Hon. Heman Ely, the address of the Hon. W. W. Boynton, and from personal interviews with N. B. Gates and such early settlers as are now remaining in the township.

SETTLEMENT.

     In the spring of the year 1816, HEMAN ELY, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, came to Ohio to look after his estate.  He came in a sulky, until he reached Buffalo, where, leaving his sulky, he completed his journey on horseback.

A NARROW ESCAPE.

     "In following the trail which wound along the lake shore, through the unbroken forest, the ground gave way, his horse's hind feet were thrown over a high wash bank.  The horse, however, clung with his fore feet; Mr. Ely clung to the bridle and mane, and a vigorous use of the whip probably saved the life of the founder of Elyria."

     He made his home, temporarily, with Moses Eldred, father of Clark Eldred now of Elyria, who then kept a tavern some two miles east of the river, in Ridgeville township.
     Mr. Ely immediately set about the work of improvement.  First of all, he contracted with Jedediah Hubbell, and a man named Shepard, of Newburgh, Cuyahoga county, to build a dam, and erect a grist and saw mill.  These were located on the east branch of Black river, near the foot of the present Broad street.  There was also erected a large log house, which stood near where Mr. Beebe afterwards built his tavern stand.  This was occupied by John Bacon, late of Carlisle, who boarded the men who were engaged in the construction of the mills.
     During his first visit, Mr. Ely, while examining his lands, in company with Clark Eldred, then a young man, came upon a spot, some two and a half miles west of the river, which pleased young Eldred, and which he selected for his future home.  Though as yet unsurveyed, he made a verbal contract for it, and after its survey, secured a deed.  Mr. Eldred occupied this farm for fifty-five years, and for many years kept a hotel.  He now, after a long and useful life, resides in the village, retaining his full powers of mind and memory.
     Mr. Ely returned to Massachusetts, in the fall of 1816, and immediately commenced making preparations for his removal to his wilderness possessions on Black river.
     About the first of January, 1817, Mr. Ely sent on three men, with axes in their hands, to commence clearing land.  They made the entire distance on foot

[Page 106] -
(about six hundred miles), and before Mr. Ely arrived with his party, in March, they had made quite a hole in the woods.  Their names were Roderick Ashley, Edwin Bush, and James Porter.
    On the 20th of February, 1817, Mr. Ely and his party commenced their weary journey, much of the way by a wood route, barely passable at any time, but especially difficult at that season of the year.  We who live in this age of telegraphs and railroads, and can to-day take our breakfast in Elyria, and to-morrow morning, after a comfortable night's rest in a sleeping-car, take the same meal in New York City, have but a feeble conception of the trials and difficulties attending the same journey, from the east, sixty-one years ago.   The mode of conveyance of these pioneers was, by a stout pair of horses harnessed to an equally stout wagon.  This vehicle was covered with homespun tow-cloth over the bows, in the prevailing emigrant style.  The party, six in all, started from their New England homes in high spirits.  It consisted of Heman Ely, the founder of the present township and village of Elyria, Ebenezer Lane, afterwards chief justice of the supreme court of Ohio, Miss Anna Snow, housekeeper, Luther Lane, who drove the team, Artemas Beebe, a house joiner and carpenter, who had been engaged to accompany the expedition; and a colored servant of Mr. Ely's named "Ned."  they proceeded as far as Seneca Falls when, the sleighing being good, they halted, and made a sled.  Loading teh wagon and goods on the sled, they pushed on to the vicinity of Buffalo, when the sleighing left them.  From Buffalo to Cattaraugus creek, they traveled on the ice.  They arrived at Cleveland, without accident or material incident, on the 16th of March, and a few days subsequent at the Mecca of their pilgrimage, where they were duly installed in the log house, before mentioned.  I quote from the interesting reminiscences of Mr. Beebe:

     "Mr. Bacon and family went to their home in Carlisle, and Mr. Luther Lane went with the team for straw to fill the beds.  When the river fell so that the load could be brought over, two beds were made, and a description of them will not be out of place.  Mr. Ely had brought some bed-ticks from the east, ready-made, and the cover of the wagon was also converted into ticks.  The bedsteads were made of poles, with bark stretched across them for bottoms, and pillows were scarce.  Some coarse cloth was used for sheets."

     A family named Beach made a settlement, in 1816, in the western part of the township,  near the site of the present Haag's mill.  This was the first white family to settle in the township.  On the 10th of September, 1817, Mrs. Beach gave birth to a son, the first white child born in the township.  He was named Henry, and was living, at a recent date, in Rockport, Cuyahoga county, and with him, his aged mother.  Mr. Beach was taken sick soon after the birth of the child and died on the 22d of the succeeding November.  Mrs. Beach took her family, and the dead body of her husband, to the log school house, opposite Captain Eldred's.  He was buried in a sandy ridge, a little east of the center of Ridgeville.  Mr. Beebe made the coffin.  This was, doubtless, the first death of a white person in the township.
     Mr. Beebe says the first improvement in the way of chopping, was made by Clark Eldred, who had about two acres chopped down when the improvements were commenced in the village.  The first Clearing in the village was made at the foot of Broad street, and progressed westward as required.  In this clearing, the houses of Mr. Ely and Mr. Beebe were built.  George Douglas and Gershom Danks, carpenters, arrived from Westfield, Massachusetts, about the first of April, 1817, and soon after the work of building was commenced.  The first framed building erected was to be occupied for a store.  This was located on the southwest corner of the Ely homestead lot, at the corner of Cedar and Broad streets.  It was about twenty by forty feet, one story high, and without a cellar.  During the year 1817 it was used for a joiner shop, but the next year it was filled with goods by Edmund West & Co.  This was the pioneer store in Elyria which has since been "noted for its trade in dry goods, and for the success which has attended the enterprise of some of its early merchants."  The next building was the residence of Mr. Ely, and is the same now occupied by his son, Hon. Heman Ely.  This house was forty-five feet front by forty feet deep, with a kitchen and wood-house in the rear and a cellar under the main building.  It has undergone various changes and improvements both externally and internally, and its present fine architectural appearance and beautiful surroundings are in striking contrast with the picture it presented in the dense forest sixty years ago.  The siding of the house was all made from one whitewood tree that stood at the turn of the street near where the large willow now stands.
     On the 29th of May, 1817, Captain Festus Cooley, father of Festus Cooley late of Elyria but now of Kansas, arrived from Westfield, Mass., and took charge of both the saw and grist mills.  He came the whole distance on Foot.  In the summer Enos Mann came to Elyria.  He was from Becket, Mass.  He located on the farm east of the river, since owned by Deacon Lane.  Mr. Mann was a turner of wooden bowls, and, it is said, followed this vocation for a number of years after his arrival in Elyria.  During the fall following their arrival Mrs. Mann gave birth to a son, the second born in the township.  Mrs. Mann died on the 9th of March, 1823, and her remains were the first interred in the Elyria cemetery.  A plain sandstone slabs marks the spot, and upon it the following inscription:  "In memory of Mrs. Clamancy Mann, consort of Mr. Enos Mann, who died Mar. 9, 1823, in the fortieth year of her age."  A simple collection of words and figures, yet of what terrible significance to the bereaved ones, hundreds of miles from relatives, in a comparative wilderness.  Friends were raised up for them, and kind, though strange hands, ministered to the wants of the motherless ones.

     Neri Gulpin Galpin, from Litchfield county, Conn., settled in Elyria in November, 1822, on the farm now occu-

[Page 107] -
pied by Anson Pangburn.  Seven children came with him.  Of these but one resides in Elyria: Marcus D., who married Amanda Ely, daughter of Lewis Ely, who came to the reserve in Deerfield, now Portage county, with his parents, Lewis and Anna (Granger) Ely.

     Lewis Ely, Jr., came to Elyria in 1823, purchased two lots on West Bend street, put up a small frame house, returned, and, with his family, removed to Elyria in the spring of 1824.  Mr. Ely was killed by a runaway horse, in June, 1831.  He was sheriff of Lorain county at the time of his death.  Mrs. Ely died in 1863.

     Francis Douglas, brother of George Douglas, came from Westfield, Mass., to Elyria in 1820. He was a carpenter, and for several years a Methodist local preacher.  He built several houses, one of which is the Brick front west of the public square now occupied by Dr. Sherwood.  In 1843, he removed to Worcester, Mass., where he died in March, 1878, aged eighty years.

     Calvin Smith removed with his family from Naugatuck, Conn., to Elyria in 1819.  He built a log house east of the river on the lot now occupied by Mr. L. F. Ward, where he resided several years.  He removed from thence to Sheffield, where, after a long sickness, he died in 1826.  He was a fine singer, and led the singing in the early religious meetings in the log school house east of the river.

     Heber G. Sekins, born in Stafford, Vt., came to Elyria in the fall of 1825.  His family then consisted of a wife and two children.  Ira B., the oldest, still resides in Elyria.  He was for years connected with the military organizations.  One of his daughters is the widow of the late Thomas Childs, and still resides in the village.  Another daughter married Elizur Northrop.  They are residents of Cleveland.

     We are unable to obtain the names and history of many of the first settlers, but shall refer to some of them incidentally as we proceed.
     Immediately after the first settlement of the township, Mr. Ely and others felt the importance of establishing and maintaining religious institutions.  They had built a log school house on the triangular piece of ground between the railroad and the highway, just across the east branch of the river.  Here the pioneers assembled every Sunday and engaged in public worship.  Mr. Ely usually read a sermon; Luther Lane and William Smith were called upon to lead in prayer; Calvin Smith, assisted by Irene Allen and others, led the singing.  We again quote from Mr. Beebe's reminiscences:

     "The first sermon preached in Elyria was by the Rev Alvin Hyde, on the 5th of February, 1818.  He was a son of the Rev. Dr. Hyde of Lee, Berkshire county, Mass.  His text was from Jonah 2:9, 'Salvation is of the Lord.'  During part of the years 1817-18, he resided in Dover, where he preached half of the time and the other half in the adjacent townships.

     Our ordinary rations consisted of pork, flour and peas.  Sometimes we got venison and fresh fish.  The Indians furnished us with the first fish we had.  They caught them below the falls.  They shot the deer where they could find them, and would come riding in single file with squaws and pappooses on their ponies.  They came from Upper Sandusky to hunt and fish, and belonged to the Wyandotte and Seneca tribes.  They used to camp on the ground now occupied by Mrs. Hoyle and Col. Gates, which was then covered by a small growth of hemlocks and pines.
     "Mr. Chester Wright had established a distillery on the east side of the east branch, in the rear of the sand pits.  The Indians, being great lovers of whisky, could obtain supplies at the distillery, whisky being considered one of the necessities of life."  Mr. Beebe remarks that "distilleries were then as plenty as cheese factories are now.  Some of the Indians' names were Goodhunt, Red Jacket, Betwixt-the-Logs, etc.  they were civil and gave us no trouble."

WILD ANIMALS.

[Page 108] -

MR. ELY'S JOURNEY.

N. B. GATES

[Page 109] -

FIRST CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH OF JULY.

     CAPTAIN FESTUS COOLEY commanded a company of Massachusetts troops in the war of 1812.  He marched his company to Boston, but as Massachusetts troops were not permitted by the governor to leave the State, it is not believed that the company of Capt. Cooley were guilty of shedding any British blood.  He came to Elyria from Springfield on foot, arriving on the 29th day of May, 1817, and immediately took charge of both the saw and grist mills, that were erected in 1816.  He put them in good order, and all things seemed to prosper in the way of making improvements in the wilderness.  Mr. Beebe says "every man worked with a will; there were no drones in those days."  In the spring of 1819, Capt. Cooley went east, and returned with his family in August of the same year.  He moved into the old tavern stand, built by Mr. Beebe and George Douglas, which he occupied for about a year, until Mr. Beebe

[Page 110]
arrived with his bride.  Capt. Cooley lived in this town until the time of his death, Aug. 9, 1872, at the advanced age of eighty-six years.  Mrs. Cooley survived him several years; she died Aug. 4, 1876.  He was a kind and obliging neighbor and friend, and died without an enemy.  He was the father of several daughters, who all died soon after reaching maturity.  His only son Festus, late of Elyria, now of Blue Rapids, Kansas, is his only surviving child.

     LUTHER LANE came to Elyria with the first party of immigrants.  Being hired for only eight months, he returned at the end of that time, in company with the late Judge Lane, to Massachusetts.  They made the entire distance on foot.  He returned to Elyria, in 1821, and, in a year or two, built the house where he resided until his death.  On the 4th of July, 1826, he married Miss Ann Cooley, in West Springfield, and brought her to his new western home..  She died only a few years before her husband, ripe in years, and lamented by all, who loved her for her many christian virtues.  Mr. Lane was one of the original members of the Presbyterian church in Elyria, and was elected deacon at the time of its organization.  He was, pre-eminently, a good man.  No one spoke ill of him.  He was honest, industrious, temperate, and kind to all with whom he associated.  Children loved him, for he always had a kind word for them.  He owned the farm on the east side of the river, opposite the residence of Rev. L. F. Ward  Deacon and Mrs. Lane raised no children of their own, but they brought up a number of orphan children, who were treated with parental affection.  He died on the 23d of November, 1868.

     JAMES PORTER was an industrious, hard working man, and accumulated considerable property.  He owned the farm now belonging to I. J. Raymond, east of the river, and several houses and lots in town.  He left one child, a daughter, who was six years old at the time of his death, and is now the wife of M. B. Purnley Purmely, of Dayton, Ohio.  His widow married Dr. H. F. Hubbard, who died in Wisconsin.  She is still living, and resides with her children in Colorado.

     GEORGE DOUGLAS died young.  He is remembered, by the early settlers as an enterprising, kind-hearted man.  He died on the 5th day of November, 1829; aged thirty-five years.

     RODERICK ASHLEY went east after a year or two, and engaged in boating on the Connecticut river between Springfield and Hartford.  He accumulated a fortune, and died at an advanced age, in the spring of 1878, lamented by all who knew him.

     GERSHOM DANKS bought a farm now occupied by Sheldon Puddock, in Ridgeville, which he occupied for several years.  His subsequent history is unknown.

     EDWARD BUSH returned to the east, but afterwards removed to the State of Illinois, where all trace of him is lost.

     JOHN BACON, who kept the log boarding house for the pioneers, removed to his farm in Carlisle, where he resided many years.  He died not long ago, at an advanced age.  Uncle John, as he was familiarly called, was a generous and kind-hearted man.

     Of the first settlers in Elyria, Mr. A. Beebe is believed to be the only survivor.

ELYRIA VILLAGE

SCENERY

[Page 111] -

RELICS OF AN ANCIENT RACE.

ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIP.

     On the twentieth of October, 1819, the township of Elyria, comprising townships number five and six, in range seventeen, now Carlisle and Elyria, was, by the commissioners of Huron county, erected a separate township.  It was named in honor of its pioneer owner and settler, Heman Elyb, - Ely-ria.  The first election occurred on the 3rd of April, 1820, at which time there were twenty vote cast.  The following list gives the names of the electors at that time:  Sherman Minot, John M. Butler John F. Butler, John Bacon, James A. Sexton, Abel Farr, Dudley Starr, George Douglas, William Sexton, Enos Mann, Calvin Rice, Burton Waite, Chester Wright, J. L. Terrell, Elias Mann, Heman Ely, Roger ooley, Festus Cooley, James Ledoit, Henry Wolford and Edmund West.  James Ledoit and Sherman Minot were judges of election, and Edmund West, clerk and treasurer.  Heman Ely and Festus Cooley, overseers of the poor.  Chester Wright and Enos Mann, fence viewers.  John F. Butler and Festus Cooley, appraisers of property.  George Douglas, constable, and Heman Ely and William Sexton, supervisors of highways.  Sherman Minot was the first justice of the peace; elected, doubtless, in 1820, though the only record we find is a copy of the notice for an election of justice of the peace, "in place of Sherman Minot, whose term of office expired Dec. 23, 1822."
     From a list of taxable property, prepared in may,     MORE TO COME

ELYRIA CHOSEN AS THE COUNTY SEAT.

Mr. Ely visited Columbus in the winter of 1821-2, for the purpose of securing an act for the organization of the county of Lorain.  He traveled on horse-

[Page 112] -
back, and the first day out he became lost in the woods.  He succeeded in finding his way back to his home at night, and the next day was more successful in finding his way, and finally reached the State capital.  The new county was not formed at that session of the General Assembly, but on the 22d of December, 1822, an act was passed for its formation.  It was taken from the counties of Cuyahoga, Huron and Medina, and was named Lorain.  It took its name from Lorraine in France, in which province Mr. Ely spent some time while in Europe, and with which he was greatly pleased.  It will be observed that the name is somewhat anglicised.  It originally embraced the townships of Homer and Spencer now in Medina, and Sullivan and Troy now in Ashland county.  At the same session a board of three commissioners was appointed to locate the county seat.  Black river and Sheffield were competitors with Elyria, and the commissioners visited both of those townships; but, after a fair consideration of their claims, fixed upon Elyria as a seat of justice for the new county, and on the 14th of February, 1823, drove the stakes for the location of the new court house.  It was located at the north east corner of Middle avenue and Broad street, and occupied the ground where J. A. Bean's grocer store now stands.  Mr. Ely agreed to furnish buildings for the court house and jail, and to pay two thousand dollars towards the erection of a new court house whenever the county commissioners should see fit to build one.
     After the erection of the new court house, the original building was removed to a lot fronting Broad street, and was used for a time a a school house and afterwards as a Presbyterian church.  It now stands in the rear of Snearer and Waldeck's cabinet shop.  The jail was erected on what is now the South public square, nearly opposite the present residence of N. L. Johnson.  It was a two story frame building, the inside of one end lined with square-hewn logs, which was used as a prison.  The other end was used by the family of the jailor.  It answered its purpose very well, few if any prisoners having escaped from it.  It now stands on East Third street, and is owned and occupied as a dwelling by R. W. Pomeroy.

ELYRIA IN 1825.

WM. H. TUCKER

IRAL A. WEBSTER

[Page 113] -

     Zenus Barnum built a forge on the west side of the river, where Gates' saw-mill was afterwards built in 1818, and carried on teh business of manufacturing wright iron until 1832.  He then removed to Rockport, where he died many years ago.
     Elias Mann came to Elyria in 1819.  He married a daughter of Major David Beebe, of Ridgeville and removed to Amherst, where he lived to an good old age.
     John Gould and Ebenezer Perry settled on the east side of the river, on the ground now occupied by the cemetery.  Both died many years ago.

ELYRIA VILLAGE
INCORPORATED IN 1833.

     Section first of an act to incorporate the town of Elyria, reads as follows:

     Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That all that part of the township of Elyria, in the county of Lorain, which is included within the branches of Black river, be and the same is hereby created a town corporate, and shall hereafter be known and distinguished by the name of the Town of Elyria.  The above was passed Feb. 23, 1833.  Signed,
                        DAVID T. DISNEY, Speaker of the House of Representatives.  SAMUEL P. MILLER, President of the Senate.

MORE TO COME .......

ELYRIA NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.

     Sometimes during the year 1844, the above society was organized.  It rented a large hall in the Ely

[Page 114]
block, furnished each side of it with glass cases, for the reception of specimens - a platform and desk occupying the front of the room.  It was also supplied with seats, to accomodate about three hundred persons.  The glass cases were generally filled with choice specimens, illustrating geology, mineralogy, conchology, orinthology, and botany.  Many Indian relics were also collected, together with a small library.  In this room, weekly public free lectures were given for about four years, except during the month of August.  The lecturers were mostly residents of Elyria, among whom were Drs. N. S. Townshend, Eber W. Hubbard, and  L. D. Griswold; Joel Tiffany, A. A. Bliss, P. Bliss, and Woolsey Wells, attorneys; Rev. D. A. Grosvenor; and H. A. Tenney, editor, and others, not recollected.  The lecturers were all volunteers, and performed their duties without compensation.  During the existence of the association, several distinguished scientists from abroad were employed, who delivered courses of lectures upon chemistry and geology.  For nearly four years, the hall was filled, weekly, by the young and middle-aged citizens of Elyria, who were constant attendants upon the young people of our village, resulting from these lectures.  Elyria has ever been celebrated for the literary and scientific culture of its inhabitants, and it is believed that, its reputation is, to a great extent, due to the influence of this society. 
     After about four years of prosperity, several gentleman, who had been prominent in conducting its affairs, removed from town, the regular lectures were discontinued, and it gradually fell into decay.  In 1852, a fire consumed the block and what specimens remained in the room.

CHURCHES IN ELYRIA.

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH *

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

     The following brief sketch of this religious society is prepared from data furnished by Clark Eldred and Mrs. W. O. Cahoon.  Occasional services were held in Elyria, at the houses of the settlers, by preachers of this faith, soon after the settlement, prior to 1820.

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Elyria, Ohio.
Arthur M. Backus, Rector

[Page 115]
From 1820 to 1823, Elyria was included in Huron circuit and was supplied by the following ministers:

     In 1820 and 1821, Dennis Goddard; 1822, Philip Green; 1823, N. and John Warner.

From 1824 to 1831, Elyria was included in Black river circuit, and supplied by the following ministers:
 

MORE TO COME

ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH.

[Page 116] -

BAPTIST CHURCH.

GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN. - ST. JOHN'S CHURCH.

UNITED EVANGELICAL. - ST. PAUL'S CHURCH.
(GERMAN.)

[Page 117]

DISCIPLE CHURCH.

ROWAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

HISTORY OF ELYRIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

[Page 118]
Elyria township, except that Mr. Ely's property was exempt on account of his liberal donation toward the enterprise

MORE TO COME then skip down to Page 119

----------

E. G. Johnson

JUDGE JOHN C. HALE

----------

JUDGE WASHINGTON W. BOYNTON.

     Among the other New England States that sent their hardy sons to mould the early history of Lorain County, Maine sent her representative in the Boynton family.
     Lewis D. Boynton, father of Judge Boynton, was born in the State of Main, in August, 1802.  Emigrating to Ohio in 1826, he purchased a farm in Russia township, Lorain Co., where and in Elyria he resided until his death, which occurred in September, A. D. 1875.
     Washington W. Boynton was born in Russia township, Jan. 27, 1833, and spent his early years upon his father's farm.  His father being of limited means, and charged with the support of a large family, did not think it practicable to send young Boynton to college, and he was forced to content himself with such advantages as the common school of his district provided.  Adding to this, constant study and close application, maturity found him eminent in scholarship, although no college had added a title to his name.  From that time until the present he has been a hard student.  For several winters he taught school, in the mean time pursuing the study of the law, which he early chose as his profession.  He was for a number of years a member of the Board of School Examiners of Lorain County.
     He was admitted to the bar in 1856, and he soon became prominent in his profession, a position which he held until chosen Common Pleas judge.  In 1859 he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of prosecuting attorney, which office he held for two successive re-elections until the fall of 1863, when, on account of ill health, he resigned.  A trip of Minnesota, where he remained during the winter of 1863-64, gave him necessary rest, which, together with the change of climate, greatly improved his health.  Returning to Elyria, he again opened a law-office, and soon found himself in the midst of an extensive and lucrative practice.
     In 1865, Judge Boynton was elected to represent Lorain County in the Legislature for a term of two years.  In 1867 he was the unanimous choice of his party for re-election, but he declined it and continued in the practice of law.
     While a member of Legislature, Mr. Boynton had the honor and pluck to introduce a resolution proposing an amendment to the constitution of Ohio to strike the word "white" from the clause relating to the election franchise.  After a stormy debate in a House largely Republican, the resolution was defeated, lacking a few votes of the necessary two-thirds majority required to submit it to a vote of the people.  This debate aroused such a sentiment throughout the State that, in a few weeks after, a similar resolution was introduced into the Senate by Hon. Abner Kellogg, of Ashtabula, and having passed that body, was sent to the House, and after a heated debate finally adopted and the question submitted to the people.  The proposition was lost, but it was soon followed by the amendment of the Federal constitution which forever put the question to rest.
     In February, 1869, Mr. Boynton was appointed by Governor Hayes Common Please judge of Lorain, Medina, and Summit Counties, on the resignation of Judge Burke.  At the ensuing fall election he was elected to fill the vacancy, and two years thereafter was re-elected for the full term.  As judge of the Common Pleas Court, Mr. Boynton won a fame as wide as the State, and at once stepped into the front rank of the legal profession of Ohio.  In 1876 he was elected judge of the Supreme Court of the State, which position he still holds.
     Mr. Boynton was married Dec. 20, 1859, to Miss Betty A. Terrell, daughter of Ichabod Terrell, of Ridgeville, Lorain Co., Ohio.
     Mr. Boynton is a man whom his friends and fellow-citizens hold in the highest esteem.  His record both in public and private life is free from blemish.  He has been honored by the people with offices of trust and high responsibility, and in every capacity has proved himself a competent and fearless officer, and an upright and honest man.
     As a lawyer, legislator, and jurist he has achieved a success that reflects great credit upon himself and honor upon Lorain County, whose representative he is.

[Page 119]
different schools, with fifteen teachers besides the superintendent, and special teachers of German, music and penmanship.
     At a meeting of the board of education held November 17, 1859, a course of study for all the departments was adopted.  In the grades below the high school provision was made for instruction in reading, spelling, writing, drawing, vocal music, arithmetic, geography, grammar, composition, declamation, physiology, United States history, and morals.  For the high school a three years' course of study was laid down, and provision was made for a fourth year, which was to be optional.  The board then declared that pupils completing the full course of four years in the high school should receive a diploma from the president of the board, signed by its members, and also by the superintendent and examining committee.
     The first class which graduated from the high school course was that of 1863, consisting of Lydia A. Ball, Beza N. Boynton and Henrietta C. Schaibly.   A class had graduated in the year 1861, having completed some of the studies contained in the course before its adoption by the board.  This class consisted of Cyrus Y. Durand, Thankful D. Boynton, Frances W. Sanford and Louise Terrell.
     At a meeting of the board, held Sept. 3, 1867, the course of study was revised.  At the same meeting, a set of rules regulating the board meetings, and specifying the duty of members of board, of superintendent, teachers and pupils, was adopted.
     After stating the duties of members of the board, the minutes of the meeting above mentioned read as follows:

     "Public schools are expensive.  They cost the young people a great deal of valuable time.  They cost teachers and other friends of education a great deal of labor and care.  They cost tax-payers a good deal of money. But schools are worth all they cost.  No community can afford to do without them.  It is cheaper to support schools and churches than penitentiaries and infirmaries.  Free public schools are the palladium of liberty.  Universal education is the surety for the permanency of free institutions.  Every good citizen feels a direct interest in the prosperity and efficiency of schools, and should also feel a personal responsibility therefor.   Good schools are not only worth what they cost; they are worth understanding and caring for.  The best way to know them is to go and see them.  Any one may learn more about schools by visiting them a few hours, then by much fault-finding with the teachers and board of education."

     The above quotation

MORE TO COME.........

[Page 120]

[Page 121]

[Page 122]
turning out ten tons per year, and an equal quantity of pot and pearl ashes.  He has four thousand two hundred dollars invested, and employs four workmen.

ELYRIA LIBRARY.

BANKING INTERESTS.

Residence of Geo. G. Washburn, Esq., 34 Washington Avenue, Elyria, Ohio

Union Hall Clothing House
Property of Charles Spitzenberg, Elyria, Lorain County, Ohio

[Page 123]
people and not in the interest of a ring or individuals.  It has, from its inception, done an honorable and prudent business.  The Bank Examiner speaks in terms highly commendatory of its management.
     THE SAVINGS DEPOSIT BANK OF ELYRIA

MERCANTILE HISTORY OF ELYRIA.

     Edmund West opened the first store in Elyria.  Heman Ely (the founder of the township) was his partner, though he took no active part in conducting the business.  Theodore W. Ely, from West Springfield, Mass., became a partner of Mr. West, June 1, 1825.  Theodore W. Ely died May 2, 1826, at the age of twenty-three years.  Mr. West died July 15, 1825 at the age of twenty-nine years.  He was succeeded by Norris O. Stow, who associated with him Theodore W. Ely whose early death is above stated.  Mr. Stow conducted the business until his death, which occurred on the 12th of April, 1830.  He was succeeded by Addison Tracy and Johnson, under the firm name of Tracy and Johnson, who conducted the business until 1832, when they became members of the Lorain Iron Company, and their stock of goods was removed to the company's store as part of its stock in trade.  When the Lorain Iron Company suspended business, Isaac M. Johnson purchased their stock of goods, and continued in business but a year or two when he sold out to Thomas Wilcox and William M. Beebe, under the firm-name of Wilcox and Beebe.  They in turn sold, in 1840, to Baldwin & Company.  At an early period in the history of Elyria, probably in 1823 or '24, Stanton Sholes established as store in the building now occupied by Mr. Monroe, on the north side of Broad street, between Middle and East avenues.  In two or three years he sold out to Thompson Miles, who soon after built a brick store at the northwest corner of Broad street and East avenue, where he transacted business until 1832, when, having secured a competence, he retired from business.  About the year 1827, two brothers, Sheldon and C. B. Guthrie, established a store in a frame building on the north side of Broad street, about midway between Middle and East avenues.    They continued in business for about three years.  Sheldon Guthrie is now living in New Orleans.  His brother, C. B. Guthrie died recently in Washington City.  Raymond Starr commenced trade in Elyria in 182, and continued in business until 1835, when he retired.  The brick building adjoining the one now occupied by the Elyria Republican printing office, was erected by him and occupied for several years as a store.
     HORACE K. KENDALL - This gentleman deserves more than a passing notice, for he revolutionized trade not only in Elyria in the spring of 1832, and opened a store in the brick building erected by Captain Sylvanus Parmely, on the corner where the present Beebe House stands.  The merchants of Elyria having been accustomed to sell goods to the farmers on credit, and as they expected to lose form thirty to fifty per cent, marked their prices on that basis.  Mr. Kendall sold his goods only for cash, and fixed his prices very much lower than they had ever before been offered in this market.  He soon had a rush of customers, and in a year or two built the large brick store on the north side of Broad street, now occupied by Hannan & Obits.  He purchased all kinds of farmers' produce, paying cash; but most of it was left in the store in payment for goods.  Soon trade flocked in, not only from the extreme parts of this county, but from Medina, Wayne and Cuyahoga counties, and Elyria became a center of trade.
     He possessed a great deal of dash and enterprise, and was not afraid of the liberal use of printer's ink.  He, for a considerable time, published a monthly paper filled mostly with his advertisements, but containing in addition a great deal of miscellaneous and entertaining reading matter.  This was distributed gratuitously, and eagerly sought for.  His advertisements were striking, ingenious and amusing.
     IN the spring of 1842, Henry E. Mussey, who had long been his confidential clerk, became associated with him in the business.  Mr. Kendall had been for many years an active and influential member of the Baptist church, and contributed liberally towards the erection of their fine brick church building,  which stands on the corner of Second street and Middle avenue.
     Mr. Kendall died on the 4th of June, 1850, at the early age of forty-one years.  He left a handsome fortune.  In his death, Elyria and Lorain county sustained a great loss.  After his death, Mr. Mussey, who associated with himself Hiram Fuller, conducted the business successfully until 1858, when they sold out to Seymour W. Baldwin, T. W. Laundon and T. L. Nelson, under the firm name of Baldwin, Laundon & Nelson.  Mr. Mussey retired from mercantile business.  Mr. Fuller removed to Akron, where he now resides.

     OZIAS LONG. - This gentleman obtained the contract to build the court house, in 1828, and started a store principally, it is believed, for the payment of his workman.  After completing his contract, he

[Page 124]
continued mercantile business successfully for several years.  In 1833 or 1834, John M. Gillett, S. R. Darling and S. B. Wolcott, under the firm name of Gillett, Darling & Wolcott, became his successors.  Mr. Long was for six yeas one of the associate judges of the court of common pleas for Lorain county, and afterwards served as postmaster for the term of four years.  He died Feb. 21, 1859, aged sixty years.  Gillett, Darling & Wolcott were his successors, and conducted the business for two or three years, when they sold out to William F. Church.  After a year or two, Mr. Church removed his goods to Sullivan, when our present mayor, Hahum B. Gates, put in a stock of goods.  He sold out at the end of a year to Messrs. Castle & King of Medina, and the goods were removed to that place.

     In 1832, the following merchants were doing business in Elyria:
     A. Beebe, afterwards Beebe & Gates; Horatio N. Gates and Charles Green, Gates &Gree; the Lorain Iron Company, Isaac M. Johnson, Thompson Miles, H. Guthrie, Raymond Starr and Ozias Long.

     We are unable to tell from any data we can obtain when all those gentlemen commenced or discontinued business.
     Between the years 1832 and 1842, the following merchants were doing business:
     Ransom Redington, Erastus and Edwin Hall (E. & E. Hall), W. F. Church, H. K. Kendall & Co., S. W. Baldwin, Enoch Clark, Cowles and Ryder, Sanford and Andrews, Gillett, Darling & Wolcott, Andrews and Morse, Cowles, Merwin & Hull, Nichols & Knowles, and Henry Bush.

     In 1852, the merchants were:
     Orrin Cowles, J. B. Merwin & Co., H. Brush & Co., Baldwin & Co. and H. E. Mussey & Co.

     SEYMOUR W. BALDWIN. - In the fall of 1834, Orrin Cowles opened a store, under the firm of Baldwin & Cowles.  S. W. Baldwin, the senior member of the firm, did not come to Elyria until the spring of 1835.  They conducted a successful business until 1839, when the firm was dissolved, and Mr. Cowles opened a new store.  Mr. Baldwin associated with him William M. Judd, and subsequently David B. Andrews, under the firm name of Baldwin & Co.  In 1840, they bought out Wilcox & Beebe for the sake of getting the corner store.  Soon after, D. B. Andrews left him, and was associated for a few years with F. B. Sanford (Sanford & Andrews).  They dissolved, Sanford continuing the business, and Andrews opened a new store, associating with himself Levi Morse.  Cowles took for a partner Mr. Erastus Hall.  Subsequently they dissolved, and Cowles associated with himself Olver R. Ryder (Cowles & Ryder).  Erastus Hall formed a co-partnership with his brother Edwin Hall ( E. & E. Hall). 
     In the year 1840 o4 1841, Mr. Baldwin formed a partnership with George R. & Horace C. Starr, under the firm name of Baldwin & Co.  Subsequently they gave Thomas W. Laundon and Thomas L. Nelson an interest in the business.  This firm did a very successful business until 1852, when Mr. Baldwin, having secured a competence, retired from the firm, and returned to his former home, in Meriden, Connecticut.  After three years' absence, Mr. Baldwin, having become tired of a life in inactivity, returned to Elyria in 1855, and renewed his partnership with Starr Brothers & Co.  This continued for the limited term of three years, when Mr. Baldwin, associating with himself Messrs. Laundon and Nelson, purchased the stock of goods of Henry E. Mussey, and commenced business under the firm name of Baldwin, Laundon & Nelson.  This firm was dissolved in 1870, Mr. Nelson becoming president of the Elyria Deposit and Savings Bank.
     Mr. T. W. Laundon lives a quiet, retired life, enjoying the fruits of many years of industry and enterprise.  Soon after the dissolution of the firm, Mr. Baldwin made the tour of Europe with his son.
     In the year 1858, S. W. Baldwin, T. W. Laundon, S. K. Laundon, and T. L. Nelson, formed a co-partnership and opened a store in Wellington which has done a very successful business and is still continued.  It is conducted by Mr. S. K. Laundon.
     Of all the young men who were trained in the store of Mr. Baldwin and his partners it is believed not one has turned out badly.  All of them occupy prominent positions in business and in society.  This is due mainly to the fact that their morals were carefully guarded and they acquired habits of industry and integrity.  Many of them boarded with Mr. Baldwin.  They were furnished with the best of reading matter and had no inclination to spend their evenings in idleness or on the streets.  Mr. Baldwin has become wealthy and enjoys most fully the respect and confidence of the people of Elyria and of Lorain county.

     George R. Starr and Horace C. Starr were clerks of S. W. Baldwin & Co.  Their former business connection with him has been already stated.  After the dissolution of the firm of Baldwin, Starr & Co. they associated with themselves Mr. John L. Cole and their brothers Frank and Alonzo Starr.  The latter withdrew from the firm in three yes, but Mr. Cole continued a member until 1872.  They did a large business and enjoyed the friendship and esteem of the people to a remarkable degree.  In the year 1873 their store and its entire contents were consumed by the disastrous fire which destroyed the entire block, containing some eight or ten business rooms.  Their loss by this fire was fifty thousand dollars over and above their insurance.  With their usual pluck they at once fitted up a store in the town hall, purchased a new stock of goods and again commenced business.  they continued in business in the town hall for about a year, when, the new block being completed, they returned to their old quarters.  though greatly crippled by the fire they continued until February, 1878, when they retired.  Few men, if any, have done as much to adorn and beautify our village, and none are more respected by its citizens and the people of the county.
     The firm of Cowles & Ryder was dissolved in 1847, and Mr. Cowles continued the business until 1856,

[Page 125]
when he removed to Fulton, Ill., where he still resides.
     Stephen B. Wolcott succeeded Mr. Cowles and continued in business until the present year when he sold out to John Murbach.

     DRUG STORES -

     DR. ELIJAH DEWITT

MORE TO COME......

FIRE DEPARTMENT.

[Page 126]

TOWN HALL.

SOCIETIES.

     FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS. -

     MARSHALL CHAPTER NO. 47,

     INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS. -

     ENCAMPMENT. -

     KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS. -

[Page 127]

     INDEPENDENT ORDER OF GOOD TEMPLARS. -

     ANCIENT ORDER OF GOOD FELLOWS.

     KNIGHTS OF HONOR. -

     ROYAL ARCANUM. -

SKETCHES OF SOME OF THE EARLY SETTLERS.

     SYLVANUS PARMELY came to Elyria as early as 1822, and was engaged for several seasons in brick-making.  He excavated a hole in the rock at the east fall, some twenty-feet in depth, into which a portion of the steam was turned.  The water wheel was at the bottom of the excavation, which furnished the motive power for running the old red mill.  Mr. Parmely built a two-story brick dwelling hosue on the corner where the Beebe House now stands, the corner room of which was used as a store.  He removed to Sullivan, now in Ashland county, in 1832, where he owned a large farm.  He spent much time and money in efforts to secure the formation of a new county of which Sullivan should be the county seat, but failed to obtain success.  He was at one tie a representative to the State legislature for Lorain county.  He was a man of unbounded energy and perseverance.  He raised a highly respectable family, and died some ten years ago at an advanced age.

     ASAHEL PARMELY, from Somerset, Vt., came to Ohio, arriving in Sullivan township August 7, 1817.  He came with an ox team conveying his father, mother and two brothers, his wife and two children.  These were Amandrin M. and Hannah, the later of

[Page 128]
whom died on the road.  The former in due time married Emily Thomas, of Massachusetts, and now resides on thirty-four acres of land, lot thirty-five, Elyria township, it being the old family homestead.  Mr. Parmely, senior,, came through without material incident (driving the family cow), until he arrived at Harrisville, now Medina county, from which point to Sullivan township there was an unbroken forest, through which he was obliged to cut a road some ten miles in length.  Arriving at his destination, he made a selection of some four hundred acres of land in different sections.  He located on one hundred and fifty acres, in lot forty-seven.  With the assistance of his family he prepared a cabin of puncheons, placed on stakes driven in the ground.  In this the family lived for three months, when a log house was erected and the family moved in.  He remained in Sullivan until 1829.  On the 17th of April of this year he removed to Elyria, locating on the land now occupied by his son Amandrin M.  Here, after a long and peaceful life, he died Jan. 4, 1859.  Mrs. Parmely died Oct. 18, 1875.  The children born in Ohio were Ashley, who lives on the old homestead in Sullivan; Lovilla H. and Rexaville E., both deceased; Freeman and Stanley M.  The last two and their elder brother, Amandrin M., have pleasant homes within a stone's throw of each other.  All are prosperous and valuable citizens.

     WILLIAM O. CAHOON came, with his father Joel Cahoon, to Dover, Cuyahoga county, in 1810, when four years of age.  He grew to manhood on his father's farm.  He first came to Elyria in 1826, and worked at chopping, but did not settle in town with his family until 1831.  His wife was a daughter of Judge Moses Eldred.  He was a stone mason by trade, and followed that business until his death.  He owned a stone quarry on the east branch of the river, and a very large portion of our excellent sidewalks were put down by him.  He was a model of industry, and worked until the day of his death, which occurred on the 20th of July, 1878.  He was seventy-two years of age.  MR. Cahoon was for many years a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

     HARLOW WELLS came from Connecticut with his brother-in-law, Hezekiah Kelsey, to Elyria in 1827, and settled on the farm where he now resides.  It was then an unbroken forest, but he cleared up the land and made himself a pleasant home.  He has lived a life of quiet industry, and now at an advanced age, is enjoying the fruits of his labor.

     JONATHAN T. PARSONS came also from Connecticut to Elyria in 1828.  He settled on teh farm on Lake avenue which he afterwards sold to Arad Smith.  He died Oct. 31, 1838, leaving a wife and two sons, one a babe and the other five years of age.

     EDSON A. GRISWOLD was born in Wintonbury, Connecticut, in the year 1805.  He removed to Elyria in 1832, and bought the farm on Lake avenue on which he now resides.  It was at that time a wilderness.  He has served two terms as a magistrate, and been a prosperous farmer.  He has retired from active labor, and has transferred his farm to his son Arthur E.  He still lives, at the age of seventy-three, in the enjoyment of good health of body and mind.

     ARAD SMITH, of Amherst, Mass., married Miss Saloma Elmer, of Virginius, Vt., in 1799.  He removed to St. Lawrence county, N. Y., where he remained till 1833,when he came to Elyria and purchased the farm of Jonathan T. Parsons, lots thirty-seven and thirty-three, west of the river, sixty-six acres now occupied by his son Stephen Smith.  He died in 1859, his wife having died in 1827.  He was the father of thirteen children, five of whom are living.  Stephen Smith has added to the old homestead, and now has one hundred and fifty-five acres. 

     COL. WILLIAM GREGG, from Londonderry, N. H., came to Elyria in 1834, and settled on the ridge road south of Arad Smith.  Col. Gregg died Aug. 31, 1874, at an advanced age.  He was a valuable citizen.  The children were William B., who married Mary Ann Bailey; they reside on the old homestead; Henry B. died in 1839; John died in California.  Mrs. Gregg, relict of Col. Gregg, is still living, at the age of seventy-five.

     EBENEZER WHITON came to Elyria from Lee, Mass.  We are unable to give the time of his arrival.  He was appointed clerk of the court of common pleas at its first session, which commenced Aug. 12, 1824, and held the office until the time of his death, which occurred Aug. 31, 1834.  He purchased lots sixty-two and sixty-three, and built the house next west of Mrs. Haines, which is still occupied.
     Mrs. Whinton removed with her children to Wisconsin many years ago, and died in December, 1878, aged eighty years.

     EBENEZER GRIFFITH came from Allegany county, N. Y., to Elyria, in 1827, and in company with his brother, Luther N. Griffith, purchased the hotel built by George Douglas, then standing on the site of the present Union Block.  After a few years the brothers dissolved, and Reuben Nichols (who came with his family from Vermont) became the partner of Mr. Griffith.  They soon erected a new brick hotel on the same ground, called the Mansion House.
     This was considered a fine building for that day.  It was two stories in height, with a veranda occupying the entire front, supported by massive columns.  This hotel was kept by the parties for many years, and was the best in town until the erection of the Beebe House.  Mr. Griffith filled the office of sheriff for one or two terms, and other positions of honor and responsibility.  He raised a family of eight children, five of whom are living.  Of these, two only reside in Elyria, viz:  Lomida M., wife of S. Bodwell, and Arvilla L., wife of Ira B. Sekins.  Mr. Griffith died in December, 1866.

     CLARK ELDRED. - This venerable relic of pioneer times has been noticed in preceding pages of this

[Page 129]
history.  He was the son of Moses Eldred, who settled two miles east of the village in 1813, and for many years kept a hotel.  The subject of this sketch, though a boy of sixteen, was for a short time a soldier in the war of 1812.  After Hull's surrender of Detroit, there was great alarm among the pioneer settlers along the south shore of Lake Erie.  They were but few in number, and their dwellings were isolated and scattered.  The British had induced all or nearly all of the Indian tribes of the west to become their allies.  The savage murder of defenceless families was a common occurrence.
     The people of Ridgeville, with their wives and little ones, fled through the forest, driving their live stock, and took refuge in a log fort that had been built in Columbia.  Young Eldred's father had been severely wounded in a skirmish with the Indians on the Peninsula, and was borne from the field to the late Joshua R. Giddings.  It was under these circumstances that the boy Eldred went to the front and commenced the life of a soldier.  The capture of the British fleet by Commodore Perry, on Lake Erie, soon after relieved the pioneer settlers of all their fears, and those who had joined the army returned to their homes.
     The first brick manufactured in Elyria were made by Mr. Eldred.  The first land sold in the township was purchased by him; the first clearing was made by him; the first frame building raised without the aid of whisky was his.  He was one of hte first members of the Methodist Episcopal church in this place, and has continued a faithful member to the present time.

     RANSOM REDINGTON was the son of Eliphalet Redington, who removed from Massachusetts and settled in South Amherst, in this country, at an early day.  He came to this township as early as 1819, then a young man.  He was for several years a clerk in the store of Thompson Miles, and afterward a partner.  He was also in partnership with Raymond Starr, after Mr. Miles retired from business.  In 1832 or '33, he opened a dry goods store in the Ely Block, and continued in trade for eight or ten years, when he sold out.  In 1842, he, in company with Charles Parsons, opened a book store - the first in Elyria.  In 1844, they sold out to E. C. Griswold, who continued the business until 1877.  Mr. Redington, for the rest of his life, was engaged principally in the law book trade through Northern Ohio.  At the same time, he purchased of miscellaneous books for himself and friends every book that was rare, ancient or valuable, and many choice pictures and works of art.  There is scarcely a pleasant home in this part of the State that is not adorned with pictures of his selection.  He possessed remarkable taste in making such selections.  He was also an amateur in the cultivation of choice flowers, and supplied himself and friends with the choicest bulbs and flower seeds.  The influence of such a life for good in any community can hardly be over-estimated.  He was a profound thinker, and speculated much on theological subjects.  He was married in 1826, to Miss Pamelia Manter, sister of Dr. Manter, who is still living at the age of seventy-eight, in full possession of her faculties of mind and memory.  She is a highly cultured Christian lady, and, with Mr. A. Beebe, is the only remaining pioneer of this township.  Mr. Redington died May 9, 1870, aged seventy years.

MEDICAL HISTORY.

     DR. JOHN F. BUTLER must have come to Elyria as early as 1819, as he was a voter at the first election in the township of 1820.  We are unable to state the place of his nativity, and only know that he was a graduate of the Fairfield Medical College, in Herkimer county, N. Y.  He was a man of fair attainments, and a faithful, attentive physician, thoroughly devoted to his calling.  Families who employed him had great confidence in his skill, and cherish his memory.  He removed to his farm in Ridgeville, where he continued in the practice of his profession for many years.  He died in 1858.

     DR, AUGUSTUS WOLCOTT came to Elyria, also, in 1819, and practiced his profession for several years.  He too graduated at the Fairfield Medical School.  He retired from practice and settled on his farm in Sheffield in 1829.  He was a man of close observation and sound judgment, and his prognosis in a case of disease, in the opinion of his patrons, settled the question of life or death.  He died of cancer of the face May 17, 1841, aged sixty-one years. 

     DR, NATHAN MANTER was born at Ashfield, Mass., Aug. 23, 1792.  His father, Dr. Francis Manter, died early, leaving him to the care of a devoted mother, who carefully trained him for a life of usefulness.  The love and care of this faithful mother were met by the filial affection of the son, which was strikingly manifested during the whole course of her life.  Dr. Manter was educated at the Fairfield Academy, in Herkimer county, N. Y.  He pursued his medical studies with his uncle, Dr. Nathan Harwood, of that State.  When he had completed the usual course of study, he came to Ohio, then almost a wilderness, and settled in Euclid, Cuyahoga county, in 1815.  Here he secured a successful practice, and remained until 1824, when he removed to Elyria.  In 1823, he married Miss Susan Miles, mother of his four children, who died Nov. 29, 1836.  She was a devoted wife, a tender and careful mother, and a faithful Christian.  He afterward married Mrs. Pamelia Clapp, who died July 29, 1848.  Dr. Manter was fortunate in both of his marriages; he was happy in his domestic relations.  Pure refinement and affection characterized his home life.
     He had an extensive practice, and for many years was recognized as the leading physician in this section of the country.  He was a skillful surgeon, and did most of the business in that branch of his profession until younger men relieved him, by his own request, in the more difficult and delicate operations.  We quote

[Page 130]
from an obituary notice written by a professional friend,* published after his death:

     "After continuing in what is called regular practice for more than thirty years, Dr. Manter gradually changed to the system of Hanneman.  This change, while it deprived him of the professional sympahy of his former medical associates, did not deprive him of the personal friendship or esteem of any one of them; whatever reasons or motives others may be supposed to have for a similar change, no one doubted the conscientiousness of Dr. Manter.  Two years before his death he was stricken with paralysis.  This attack was doubtless brought on by the death of his son, Col. Frank H. Manter, in teh army.  During his two years of suffering he exhibited a remarkable degree of patience and resignation.  HE was tenderly cared for by his children, who with devoted affection ministered to every want.  He died Feb. 19, 1866, aged 73.  Dr. Manter was a close student during his whole professional life, and was thoroughly conversant with the medical literature of his day.  He was a man of close observation, and faithful in his attention to his patients.  His mind was not distracted by political ambition or disturbed by outside influences.  He was not only "the good physician" to most of the early inhabitants of the village, but their confidential friend.  He was genial and courteous in his manner, polite and dignified in his social intercourse with all.  In short he was an accomplished christian gentleman of the old school.  Fro more than thirty years he was an influential member  of the Presbyterian church, and by his life he adorned his profession."

     DR. SAMUEL STRONG was educated at the Fairfield Medical School in the State of New York, and removed to Brownhelm in this county, about the year 1828.  After two years of successful practice he changed his residence to Amherst, where he remained about two years.  In 1833 he removed to Elyria and formed a co-partnership with Dr. N. H. Manter.  This connection continued six or eight years, when it was dissolved.  He continued in practice in Elyria until his decease.  He died Mar. 26, 1850, aged forty-four years.
     Dr. Strong was in many respects a remarkable man.  He was an enthusiast in his profession and obtained a reputation for carrying through safely apparently hopeless cases of disease.  He pursued the heroic plan of treatment, and would sit by the bedside of important and dangerous cases for whole days and nights watching the course of disease and the effect of remedies, and in this way would generally carry them through in safety.  He was a decided optimist, always looking on the bright side.  This led him into some unfortunate speculations, but he enjoyed the respect of the community and the love of his friends while he lived.  He was warm-hearted and generous, and seemed to enjoy more pleasure in performing acts of kindness for others than in promoting his own interests.  He left a widow and two children.  Mrs. Strong afterwards became the wife of Mr. Otis Briggs, and is still living.  His daughter, Carrie, married Mr. Edwin Mussey, who was for a long time a merchant in Amherst.  His son, Samuel, has for many years been at the head of the great wholesale drug house in Cleveland of the firm of Strong, Cobb & Co.
     DR, ASA B. BROWN, a native of Vermont, and a graduate of Berkshire Medical College, settled in Elyria, in 1832, and soon built up a respectable practice.  In the fall of 1834, having lost his young and beautiful wife and feeling greatly depressed, he retired from practice, and soon after took charge of the Elyria High School.  He conducted this school for several years, when he removed to the State of Michigan, where he soon died.  Dr. Brown was a man of more than ordinary ability.  Had he adhered to his profession he would doubtless have risen to eminence.

     DR. RICHARD L. HOWARD was the successor of Dr. Brown in the practice of his profession in Elyria.  He was born in Andover, Vt., in the year 1809.
     At the age of seventeen his father died, and he was left with the care of a widowed mother.  With that indomitable energy which characterized his whole life, he discharged the new responsibilities with prudence and entire success.  He began the study of medicine when quite young, and graduated with honor at the Berkshire Medical College at the age of twenty-two years.  He moved to Windham, Portage county, and commenced the practice of his profession, and on the retirement of Dr. Brown from practice in 1834, he came to Elyria and took his place.  He soon gained a large practice both as a physician and surgeon, and remained in Elyria until 1844, when he removed to Columbus, Ohio, where he soon secured a leading practice.  He was mainly instrumental in establishing the Starling Medical College in that city, of which he became Professor of Surgery.  The late Lyne Starling, a wealthy citizen, donated the munificent sum of thirty thousand dollars, which, with an additional amount, mainly furnished by Dr. Howard, was expended in the erection of that beautiful college building which now adorns the Capital City.
     During the time he occupied the chair of surgery, he visited France, and spent some time in the famous hospitals of Paris.  He returned richly laden with the latest improvements in modern surgery.  He died in the prime of life, at Columbus, Jan. 16, 1854.  He was, for several years, considered teh leading surgeon of Central Ohio, and was an excellent teacher.  Until his health failed, he edited the Ohio Medical and Surgical Journal.  Dr. Howard was, in many respects, a remarkable man.  Not naturally brilliant, he made it up by his indomitable energy and perseverance.  He was ambitious, but his ambition run only in the line of his chosen profession.  He placed his standard high, and turned neither to the right nor left until he had reached the object sought  He had accumulated a handsome property, which he left to his widow and children.
     A sketch of the life of DR. LUTHER D. GRISWOLD is given elsewhere in this volume.

     DR. EBER W. HUBBARD was a graduate of the Fairfield Medical College.  He located in La Grange, near the time of its first settlement, and had a large practice in that and adjacent townships.  He removed to Elyria, in 838, and from that time until 1852, when not in public life, practiced in his profession.  He was one of the associate judges of this county, for six years, before he settled in Elyria.  He was three times elected to the lower branch of the general assembly, and was an able and influential member.  He served for three years as bank commissioner, and the same length of time as fund commissioner.  While

* Dr. Norton S. Townshend.

----------

Edwin C. Perry

     The falsity of old proverb or trite sayings are often shown in the history of men.  "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country" is altogether wrong, as applied to DR. EDWIN C. PERRY.
     Abel R. Perry and Lucy Ackley moved into Ohio, from Ferrisburg, Vt., in 1833, settling at Ridgeville, Lorain Co., Ohio.  Mr. A. R. Perry removed to Elyria in 1854.  His family embraced six children, all of whom are dead except the fifth (whose genial face heads this article).  He yet remains, with his wife, at Elyria, a respected citizen, and justly proud of the success of his remaining child.
     Dr. E. C. Perry was born in Ridgeville, as above, Jan. 20, 1840.  The doctor owns much to the "New England energy" that he made a moulded so much Lorain County character.
     His mother, in the early life of her son, gave him to the home teachings of Mrs. Adelia Ferris, who was more competent than the common-school teacher.  This, however, was but limited, and not until the removal of his father did he get much educational privilege.
     Under the teachings of Mr. Oatman, Mills, and others, at the Union School of Elyria, he distinguished himself as a scholar, graduating with honors.  Soon looking the "problem of life" in the face, he determined to become a physician.  Reading medicine in Elyria the proper time, he attended teh full course of lectures at the Eclectic Medical Institute, of Cincinnati, Ohio.  With high standing he graduated Feb. 6, 1861, at the early age of twenty-one.
     Commencing at once the high function of a physician, in spite of any and every prejudice, so often existing in all communities against the "boy" who essays his mark, he was not long in gaining his reputation of a "careful healer," - one hose mere kindly presence ever brings relief to the sufferer.
     Dr. Perry was married May 30, 1871, to Eliza Holbrook, daughter of Dexter and Jerusha Pomeroy Holbrook, both of New Fane, Windham Co., Vt.  Mrs. Perry's parents, at an early day, moved into Pittsfield, Lorain Co., Ohio, removing to Elyria, where they now reside.
     Mr. Perry, with justifiable pride, remembers that his wife, on the mother's side, was a great-grandchild of General Pomeroy, who, at the battle of Bunker Hill, stepped into the place of General Warren as he was slain; and on the father's side, great-grandchild of Mr. Holbrook, who was with General Ethan Allen at the surrender of Ticonderoga.
     Not conforming always to teh rule of his particular school, Dr. Perry is everywhere an eclectic in its broadest sense.  Ever ready to consult with the disciples of other schools, he lives to learn from all that which shall enable him to become of greatest service to his fellow-man in his profession.
     As a citizen, he is notably charitable.  During the war of the Rebellion he procured a man to fill his place in the field.  He is ever ready to lend a helping hand to all Elyria's improvements.  He is the medical examiner of Council No. 57 of the Royal Arcanus of Elyria.  Possessing a reputation unsullied by any act as a man, private or professional, he is a living example of one of Elyria's present self-made men.

----------

Dr. Charles F. Cushing

Frederick S. Reefy

----------

[Page 131]
he was acting in the latter capacity, the legislature authorized a loan of three million dollars, at seven per cent interest, provided Ohio bonds could be sold at par.  For some time, the bonds of the State had been worth but fifty cents on the dollar, in the New York market.  Under these discouraging circumstances, Dr. Hubbard and the late Governor Brough (then auditor of State,) proceeded to New York and Boston and in six weeks negotiated for the entire amount.  On reaching the city, they issued a pamphlet, showing the wealth and resources of Ohio, and the additional fact that, she had never failed promptly to pay the interest on her bonds when due.
     In 1851, Dr. Hubbard removed to Tottenville, Staten Island, where he continued in practice until the time of his death, in 1872, at the age of seventy-three years.
     Dr. Hubbard was a man of much more than ordinary ability.  He was not only well versed in his profession, but as a scientist, he enjoyed, to a considerable extent, a national natural population.  He did not commence the study of the national sciences until he was forty years of age, and engaged in the practice of a laborious profession, and yet he became thoroughly familiar with the botany of this country, was well posted in geology and mineralogy, and as a couchologist had one of the finest collections of fresh water and marine shells in the country.  His cabinet attracted visitors from a distance, and they were amply repaid for their trouble.  He was genial and pleasant in the discharge of his professional duties, and his presence in the sick room was cheering, and added much to his success in the treatment of his patients.

     DR. NORTON S. TOWNSHEND is still living and in the midst of his usefulness.  We do not feel competent to write a sketch of his life and do him justice.  We shall briefly recapitulate the important positions he has held, without much comment.  His father emigrated from England to this country when Norton  - an only child - was fourteen years of age, and settled in Avon, in this county, on the beautiful farm which the doctor still owns.  What advantages for obtaining an education he enjoyed before coming to Ohio, we do not know; but, after the family settled in Avon, his labor was needed on the farm, so that he never found time to attend even the district schools  of that day.  Perhaps he did not need the aid of teachers as most persons do.  His mind was capable of grasping and mastering any branch of study that lay in his way.  We first heard of him as a well grown boy aiding in organizing a literary society and then a book club among the young people of his own age, and the influence for good, especially of the reading club, is felt in Avon to this day.
     In 1837, he entered the office of Dr. R. L. Howard, in Elyria, as a student of medicine.  He was then about twenty-one years of age.  In the fall and winter of that year he attended a course of medical lectures in Cincinnati.  He returned to Elyria in the spring, and continued his studies until the fall of 1839, and, after attending a course of lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, graduated in the spring of 1840.  He immediately sailed for Europe and spent the succeeding year and a half in attending the hospitals of Paris, London, Edinburgh and Dublin.  At the close of this time, he returned to Ohio, and, for a short time, practiced medicine in Avon.
     In 1843, he was married to Miss Harriet Wood, an estimable lady, and moved to Elyria.  Here, as everywhere, his influence was felt.  He took a prominent part in organizing and carrying on the Elyria Natural History Society, and delivered more and better lectures before that society than any other person.  Whenever a lecturer failed to appear, Dr. Townshend was called on to fill the place, and he was always ready to deliver a most interesting and instructive lecture.  While in practice he performed a number of capital surgical operations, such as lithotomy, amputations of the thigh, shoulder, etc.
     In 1848, Dr. Townshend was elected to the house of representatives of the State by the free soil party.  It so happened that he and the Hon. John F. Morse, of Lake county, were the only free soilers elected, and that they held the balance of power between the whig and democratic parties.  They used this power to great advantage, and, with the aid of the democracy, secured the repeal of the odious "black laws," which had disgraced the statute book of Ohio for many years.  They also secured the election of Salmon P. Chase to the United States senate - which was the beginning of his public life - as well as the appointment of several other anti-slavery men, to prominent positions in the State.  The doctor was understood to be the controlling spirit in bringing about these results.
     In 1850, Dr. Townshend was elected a member of the constitutional convention which formed our present excellent constitution, and occupied a prominent position in that body.  In the fall of that year he was elected a member of the thirty-second congress.  Being a young man and an abolitionist, he was cut by the lordly slaveholders, who then had a controlling influence in congress.  Mr. Stanley, of North Carolina, condescended to attack him in a speech on the floor, to which the doctor replied; and it is said that after the reply the gentleman from North Carolina was known as "the late Mr. Stanley."  At the end of his congressional term he was nominated for re-election, but the democracy had so gerrymandered his district that he was defeated.
     In 1853, he was elected to the State senate.  During the session, he introduced a bill to establish an asylum for imbecile children and youth.  It passed at the next session, and he was appointed a member of the board of trustees, which position he held, by re-appointment, until 1878.
     In 1858, while living on his farm, in Avon, he was elected a member of the State board of agriculture, and, by re-election, this office was held by him for

[Page 132]
eight years, he being twice elected president of the board.
     In 1863 he was appointed, by President Lincoln, a medical inspector in the army, with the rank of colonel of cavalry, which position he held until the close of the war.
     In 1867, he accepted a professorship in the Iowa agricultural college, which position he resigned at the end of two years.
     In 1870,, he labored earnestly and successfully to secure the passage of a law to establish an agricultural and mechanical college for this State, and when the bill passed, he was appointed a trustee.
     In 1873, when the college buildings were completed, and the institution ready to be opened, he accepted a professorship, and removed with his family to Columbus.  He is still an honored and useful member of the faculty.
     In the winter of 1854, his first wife died, leaving a son and daughter.  He was subsequently married to Miss Margaret A. Baily, of Clarksburg, Virginia, who is a highly cultured and excellent lady, and makes the doctor's home very pleasant.
     Few men in Ohio can show such an honorable record, and few have done more to promote the general welfare of the people.  Dr. Townshend is yet in the prime of life, possesses a robust constitution, and has, we trust, many years of usefulness before him.

     DR. EDWIN KELLEY

     DR. JAMIN STRONG

SKETCHES OF FORMER RESIDENTS OF ELYRIA
WHO HAVE ATTAINED DISTINCTION HERE OR ELSEWHERE.

     In the year 1855, there were in the Elyria High School a class of boys who will be long remembered by our older citizens as the brightest and most intelligent of any who have passed through our union schools.  Their names are: Charles C. Goodwin, Osceola Bliss, Henry Joy, Thomas J. Boynton and Charles C. Parsons.  They organized a school lyceum, and their debates and other exercises attracted the attention and admiration of many of the best cultured minds in this community.
     CHARLES C. GOODWIN

     OSCEOLA BLISS

     HENRY JOY

     THOMAS J. BOYNTON was the son of John H. Boynton, Esq., and was born in Amherst, Aug. 31, 1838.  When twelve years of age, he removed with his father's family to Elyria, and was educated in our union schools.  He studied law with the Hon. L. A. Sheldon, and was admitted to the bar when twenty years of age.  He opened an office in St. Joseph, Missouri, and during the winter of 1858-59, was a correspondent of the Missouri Democrat.  His letters attracted much attention on account of their ability and brilliancy.  In March, 1861, he was appointed by President Lincoln marshal of the southern district of Florida.  This office he filled with prudence and

[Page 133]
ability for two years, when in 1863, on the resignation of Judge Marvin, he was appointed United States judge for the above district.  It is believed that "he was the youngest person ever appointed United States judge for the above district.  It is believed that "he was the youngest person ever appointed to that position in the history of this country."  He discharged his duties with eminent satisfaction until 1869, when failing health compelled him to resign.  He hoped that a change of climate would result in the restoration of his health.  He spent most of his time, after his resignation among the mountains in the western territories, but without receiving any benefit.  His disease - which was a bony tumor pressing upon the brain - steadily progressed.  He submitted to an operation for its removal, at the Bellevue Hospital, in New York.  The operation was performed by the celebrated surgeon, Dr. Wood, and for ten days there seemed a fair prospect for his recovery; but at the end of that time, inflammation set in, which soon destroyed his life.  His parents reached his bedside while he was able to recognize them, but was unable to speak.  He died on the 2d of May, 1871, aged thirty-two years.  His remains were brought to this village for interment.
     This is a brief history of the brief life of an estimable young man, but how precious is his memory to his family and surviving friends.  Few young men have left such a record.  Perhaps non have done more honor to the town where he was raised and educated.  The following are the closing paragraphs of an obituary notice published in the Missouri Democrat:
     "Judge Boynton was a man of remarkable promise.  He was unusually talented, and if health and the ability to use his faculties had been granted him, he would doubtless have achieved a wide reputation.  He was an earnest and eloquent speaker and a peculiarly facile and vigorous writer.  When but twenty-one years of age he was employed as a campaign speaker in New York, and the same year was appointed to welcome Governor Seward to St. Joseph, on the occasion of his visit to that city.  He was for several yeas an able and always interesting correspondent of the Missouri Democrat.  His early demise willbe deeply regretted by a very large circle of warm friends."

     CHARLES CARROLL PARSONS was the son of Jonathan Trumbull and Mary C. Parsons, who removed from Bloomfield, Hartford county, Connecticut, to Elyria, in 1827, and settled on the farm now owned by Stephen Smith.  Mr. Parsons died Oct. 31, 1838, and the subject of this sketch, then a babe of six months old, with his mother and a brother aged five years, became members of the family of his uncle, Dr. Griswold.  His mother married the Rev. William Butlin, after three or four years, but Charley, as we loved to call him, remained most of the time in the family of his uncle, who considered him a foster son.  He was educated in our public schools, and was distinguished as a bright, active boy, and an excellent scholar.  In 1857 he was appointed by Judge Bliss (who was then in Congress) a cadet at West Point.  He graduated in 1861, and was at once commissioned a first lieutenant and assigned to the Fourth regiment U. S. Artillery.  He served a few months in the mountains of West Virginia, and then joined Gen. Buell's troops, who by a forced march reached the battle field of Shiloh at the close of the first day's battle, when the Union troops were defeated and greatly demoralized.  Gen. Buell's troops crossed the river as soon as possible, the army was rallied and before morning took their position for the second day's battle.  Lieut. Parsons commanded a battery of U. S. Troops in that battle, which resulted in a victory for the Union army, and the net day a detail of officers was appointed to examine as to the execution of his battery, who reported a hundred and fifty dead rebels on the field killed by his guns.  For distinguished bravery in this action he was promoted and made a captain.  In the early summer he obtained a "leave of absence," returned north and was married to Miss Celia Lippett, of Brooklyn, New York.  Returning to duty he reached Louisville, where he found communication with his battery cut off by the rebel General Bragg.  General Terrel, then in command, made a detail of two hundred men from the raw troops of the infantry regiments, and ordered them to report to Capt. Parsons for duty.  Out of his material he organized an eight gun battery.  He commanded this battery at Perryville.  Gen. Jackson, his division commander, and Gen. Terrel, who commanded a brigade, were killed almost at his side.  His men, though raw, seem to have been brave, as forty of them were killed or wounded.  The rest, with the regiment supporting the battery, retreated.  His horses were nearly all killed and still Capt. Parsons stood by his guns.  It was emphatically a one man battery.
     At this juncture a column of rebel troops advanced to take the battery, and the Captain with his face to the enemy, retreated backwards.  A hundred guns were raised to shoot him, but the rebel officer, admiring his bravery, ordered them not to fire, and the two officers, giving each other the military salute, Capt. Parsons walked deliberately away.  The next morning he re-took part of his battery.  For distinguished bravery in his battle he was breveted major.  His next battle was that of Stone River.  Gen. Palmer (since Governor of Illinois) says of him:  "During the whole day I regarded the battery under command of Capt. Parsons as my right arm.  My orders to Parsons were simple: "Fight where you can do the most good!"  Never were orders better obeyed."  For this battle he was breveted lieutenant-colonel of the regular army.  Soon after this battle he went to New York to submit to a surgical operation and soon after was detailed as an instructor at the West Point Military Academy, where he remained until the close of the war, at which timehe was ordered to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he served for two years, part of the time on the plains, when he was again ordered to West Point as a teacher.  While there he became acquainted with Bishop Quintard of the diocese of Tennessee, under whose guidance he began the study of theology.  He resigned his position in the army and repaired to Memphis, where he took holy orders in 1870.  He was for a time rector of St. Mary's in

[Page 134]
Memphis, but was soon called to St. Mary's in the Highlands, at Cold Spring, opposite to West Point.  He served the church faithfully and acceptably for about two years, when he was called to the Church of the Holy Innocents, at Hoboken, N. J.  He served here for three years, when the death of his beloved wife making a residence at that place painful to him returned to Memphis, and became canon of St. Mary's cathedral.  Here he labored with the zeal and earnestness, which had characterized his whole life, until that fatal scourge (yellow fever) which made Memphis a charnel house, took possession of that doomed city.  At the commencement of the disease, and before it became epidemic, he sent his wife and two children (he had re-married in Memphis) to friends in the country, but he remained faithul at the post of duty laboring night and day in comforting the sick and administering the consolations of religion to the dying.  We quote from an article published in the Chicago Tribune, written by a former comrade:

     "A man of polished intellect, of beautiful soul, the possessor of every grace, Parsons seemed to have been created for the sweet offices of charity and friendship.  From the outbreak of the plague until he became one of its victims  he had been constantly busied, (as he wrote me a few days ago)  "In caring for the dead, the dying and forsaken."  He has been winning the useful victories of peace; he has stood by his guns, but also, the invisible enemy, less generous than the visible, has not held his fire."

     Another writer, in the Madison (Wis.) Democrat, says:

     "He looked death calmly in the face, and when his turn came, died as a true soldier of Christ, at his post of duty.  Let no one sorrow over such a death.  It rounds out the full perfection the record of a hero's courage and a martyr's steadfastness."

     The Memphis Avalanche says of him:

     "He died to save those against whom he fought."

     He died Sept. 6, 1878, leaving a disconsolate widow, and a son and daughter, the eldest but four years of age.

     COL. FRANK H. MANTER

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

CHARLES A. ELY

Portrait of C. A. Ely

Residence of Mrs. Chas. Arthur Ely, Elyria, Lorain Co., Ohio

[Page 135]

[Page 136]

-------

P. Bliss

[Page 137]

     HON. PHILEMON BLISS

[Page 138]

-------

L. D. Griswold

     DR. LUTHER DWIGHT GRISWOLD was born Feb. 7, 1809, in Bloomfield, Hartford county, Conn.  His father, Elijah Griswold, was a soldier of the revolution, having entered the patriot army when but sixteen years of age.  His mother, Lydia Adams Griswold, was a native of Massachusetts.  The subject of this sketch was the youngest of a family of eleven children, of whom five boys and six girls.  All save one grew to maturity and became heads of families.  But three of the number are now living.
     His father was a farmer and horticulturist.  He spent a long life in collecting and cultivating the choicest varieties of fruits of that day, and probably had at one time the best collection in the State.  The doctor was raised on the farm and acquired a taste for fruit growing and the cultivation of flowers, which he has retained through life, but circumstances have prevented its gratification to any great extent.  His educational advantages were very limited.  He attended the common district school summer and winter until he was ten years of age, and in the winter season until he was fifteen.  At the age of sixteen he passed an examination, and though poorly qualified, taught a country school through the winter.  He had a number of scholars from eighteen to twenty years of age, but had no difficulty in governing the school.  At seventeen he determined to obtain better qualifications as a teacher, and attended a school of a higher grade.  From that time until twenty-one years of age he taught every winter.  While filling the position of a teacher he was an earnest student, and most of the limited education he obtained was acquired by the fireside and by the light of a tallow-candle.  He worked on the farm summers until twenty-one years of age, at which time, with twenty dollar in his pocket, he started for the west.  He stopped at Ludlowville, Tompkins county, N. Y., to visit a brother, where he remained and taught school for one year.  In September, 1831, he came to Elyria to visit two sisters who were at that time residing in that township.  During the winters of 1831-2, and 1832-3, he taught school in the yellow school-house, it being the only school in the place.  In the spring of 1832 he commenced the study of medicine with the late Doctor Samuel Strong, who was then residing in North Amherst.  He completed his preliminary studies under the tuition of the late Dr. Asa B. Brown.  In the fall and winter of 1834-5, he attended a course of lectures at the Berkshire Medical College, located at Pittsfield, Mass., and at the close of the term received a license from the Massachusetts Medical Society.  He was married on the 25th of March, 1835, to Miss Jerusha H. Smith, a former resident of Elyria.  She died at Dayton, Ohio, on the 11th of March, 1875.  For almost forty years she was to him a true and faithful wife and a wise and prudent counsellor.  Though a great sufferer from ill health during nearly the whole period of her married life, by her energy and force of character, she discharged the duties of a wife and foster-mother with such prudence and sound judgment as to win the love and confidence of her household and of her numerous friends and acquaintances.  The memory of such a wife and mother is blessed.  In the spring of 1835, he returned to Elyria and entered into partnership with the late Dr. R. L. Howard.  Business being very dull through the summer, the partnership was dissolved by mutual consent in the fall and Dr. Griswold removed to Grafton, where he continued in practice for one year.  In the fall of 1836 he was elected auditor of Lorain county, and returned to Elyria.  At the close of his official term, in 1838 he entered into partnership with the late Dr. Luman Tenney, and removed to Amherst where he remained two years.  In 1840 he returned to Elyria.  He continued in practice most of the time in connection with the late Dr. Eber W. Hubbard (with the exception of two years which he spent in Cleveland,) until the summer of 1862, when he entered the military service as surgeon of the one hundred and third regiment of Ohio volunteers.  In 1844 the Cleveland Medical College conferred on him the honorary degree of M. D.  In 1856 he was appointed by Governor Salmon P. Chase, a trustee of the Northern Ohio Lunatic Asylum.  In 1860 he was re-appointed to the same office by Governor Dennison.  He held that position for the period of ten years, and became deeply interested in that as well as the other benevolent institutions of the State.  He was one of the active agents in the organization of the Elyria Natural History Society, as well as one of the volunteer lecturers before that institution.
     In reference to his military services, the doctor, while his regiment was stationed at Frankfort, took possession of a comfortable dwelling house and converted it into a regimental hospital, which was complimented by the medical inspector as a model institution.  While here an event occurred which may be worth relating.  It was during the era of slavery, and the troops were ordered to drive all negroes from their camps, which order was not very rigidly enforced.  A poor fellow named Ben, who had joined the regiment some forty miles in the rear, was brought to the hospital by the chaplain with the request that he should be taken care of.  So the doctor set him at work.  Some two weeks afterwards Ben came trembling into the office saying his master was after him.  The surgeon placed a revolver in his breast pocket, with the handle projecting so that he be prepared for any emergency.  Soon the owner came in, accompanied by two city marshals and a Catholic priest, and said very blandly:
     "You have my boy here, and I have come after him."
     "Your boy," said the doctor; "you may be some of the negro thieves that are following the army, and arresting colored men in order to get the reward offered.  I don't know you, sir.  You must do two things before you can have him.  First, you must prove your loyalty; and second, you must prove before the court your title to him, and if you, or either of you, lay a hand on him before you comply with these terms, I will shoot you."
     After conferring together for a few minutes, the owner, the priest and one of the marshals retired, and in about two hours returned with two writs, one commanding the doctor to appear before the court, and, on the owner's giving bond in the sum of sixteen hundred dollar, to appear before the court at its next term,  and prove his title to Ben, he was to be given up.  The other writ was for the doctor to appear at the same term, and prove his title to the slave.  By this time, a mob of about one thousand people had gathered in front of the hospital, and a company with the regimental band had paraded, also, in front, for the purpose of escorting the doctor to the court house.  He sent them back to camp, mounted his horse, with Ben at his side, surrounded by a howling mob, and reported in court.
     The officials were exceedingly polite, and presented a bond for his approval, which probably represented half a million of dollars, and Ben was handed over to his master.  Had not the doctor been backed by a regiment of bayonets, he would, doubtless, have been torn to pieces by the mob.
     The doctor placed his own law suit in the hands of John M. Harlan - a brother of Justice Harlan, of the supreme court - who took him before a notary, and he subscribed an oath that he was in the military service of the United States, which put the case off till the close of the war.  In about a month, the doctor received a latter from Ben's master, proposing that, if he would pay the costs, he would withdraw the suit.  The surgeon replied that, if the court at Cleveland decided, after the war, that he should pay the costs, he would do so.  In about a year, while in East Tennessee, he received a letter from Mr. Harlan, stating that the case had been dismissed at the plaintiff's cost.
     So ended his Kentucky law suit.
     In August, 1863, the regiment, (with the twenty-third army corps,) crossed the Cumberland mountains into East Tennessee, the rebel army retiring before  them.
     Early in November, the Union army was all concentrated at Knoxville, indulging the vain hope that they were going into winter quarters.  Before the cabins for quarters were completed, General Longstreet appeared before the city, with ten thousand troops, and the seige of Knoxville commenced.  The skirmishers, on both sides, were under fire, day and night, for twenty-two days.  Several battles occurred during the time.
     The battle of Armstrong's Hill was fought on the the 27th of November, in which the one hundred and third bore a conspicuous part.  The rebel assault was repulsed, with great loss to them.  The one hundred and third lost, in that engagement, two killed and thirty-two wounded, many of whom died of their wounds.  Surgeon Griswold made temporary dressings of their wounds, as they were brought in, treating union and rebel soldiers alike, and sent them in ambulances to a new hospital in the city.  He visited the hospital the next day, and found the wounded lying on the floor, in their bloody clothing, without even blankets to cover them. He proposed at once to take charge of his own men, and soon after was appointed surgeon in charge of the hospital.  He soon procured, through the quartermaster, a supply of wooden bunks, and the union ladies of Knoxville, (of whom Mrs. Smyser - a daughter of Parson Brownlow and now the wife of Dr. Boynton, late of this place - was a leading spirit,) a quantity of bed-ticks.  He also secured a load of straw and blankets, and the poor wounded soldiers soon had comfortable beds.  He was also appointed surgeon in charge of hospital No. 4, which contained five hundred patients, and, for a time, had charge of two hospitals, containing, in the aggregate, eight hundred sick and wounded soldiers.
     The men suffered greatly for want of proper nourishment, during the siege, but after the seige was raised, and in railroad communication opened, by aid of the government and the christian and sanitary commissions, they were supplied with everything necessary for their comfort.
     On the first of May, the twenty-third army corps started on the Atlanta campaign.  The one hundred and third regiment fought its first great battle on the 12th of May, at Resaca, Georgia.  It went into the fight three hundred strong, and came out with a loss of twelve killed and eighty-two wounded.
     Surgeon Griswold, was ordered to the rear, at the beginning of the fight, to establish a field hospital for the third division.  As fast as hospital tents could be put up, they were filled with wounded, and in about three hours the hospital contained three hundred and sixty-two wounded men.  The hospital of the second division, near by, contained about the same number.  The doctor being at the time chief operator for the division, was engaged for thirty-six hours, with a corps of assistants, in performing the necessary operations and in dressing the wounds.  He performed a number of capital operations, including three amputations of the thigh and two of the shoulder.  As soon as possible, the field hospital was broken up, and the patients sent to Chattanooga, as the army had moved on in pursuit of Joe Johnson, the rebel general.  He was then placed in charge of the corps hospital, which in about two weeks was also broken up, and the patients sent to the rear.  He soon joined the main army, which was about forty miles in advance.  As a line of skirmishers was kept constantly in advance, who were day and night exchanging shots with the rebel skirmishers, wounded men were brought to the rear for treatment every day, and the surgeons were not idle.  During this campaign, Dr. Griswold slept on the muddy ground, under a dog kennel tent, almost every night.  It rained twenty-two days in succession, and his blanket and clothing were never dry during that time.
     At length, after crossing the Chattahoochee river, having arrived within eight miles of Atlanta, the objective point of the campaign, Dr. Griswold found himself so reduced in strength by the diseases and fatigues of the camp and field, that he very reluctantly resigned his position in the army and returned home.  After regaining his health, he again entered upon the practice of his profession.
     In 1865, he was elected to the Ohio senate, and was re-elected in 1867.  During his four years' service as senator, he was faithful in the discharge of his duties, being always in his seat, and gave general satisfaction to his constituents.  He was principally instrumental in securing the passage of a law for the establishment of the Reform and Industrial School for Girls.  He had felt for years that the interests of the people of the State demanded a home for incorrigible and vicious young girls, where they could be reformed, educated and fitted for lives of usefulness.  In order to carry these views into effect, during the session of 1868, he offered a resolution for the creation of such an institution, and for the appointment of a committee to fix upon a location, and to report at the adjourned session.  the resolution was agreed to, and the doctor was appointed a member of the committee.  The work of the committee was thrown principally upon him, and during the summer recess he corresponded extensively with the authorities of kindred institutions in this country and England.  Soon after the general assembly re-assembled, he presented a report which attracted considerable attention, and a large number of extra copies were ordered to be printed.  The bill accompanying the report became a law, and thus was established one of the most beneficient institutions of the State.
     After the close of the war of the rebellion, Dr. Griswold, with many other members of the grand army of the republic, felt a deep interest in the welfare of the orphans of our dead soldiers, many of whom were homeless and inmates of county infirmaries.  At a meeting of the grand armyat Sandusky, in the spring of 1869, measures were instituted for the establishment of a home for soldiers' orphans, where they could be provided for and educated.  The Rev. Geo. W. Collier was appointed a general agent of the society, who traveled extensively through the State, addressed public meetings, and collected considerable money for the establishment of such a home.  In December following, the home was opened in the city of Xenia, and sustained for several months by contributions of the grand army of the republic.  In the spring of 1870, it was adopted by the general assembly as a State institution, and Dr. Griswold was appointed its first superintendent.  The people of Xenia and the county of Greene has donated to the grand army one hundred acres of excellent land, located within half a mile of the city, composed of clear land for cultivation, and an open forest, and commanding a fine view of the city.  They had also agreed to put up buildings for the accommodation of two hundred and fifty children.  The grand army had erected two brick cottages, and got out timber for a large barn.  Xenia put up the frame, and in a very rough manner converted it into school rooms and a home for the children.  This was the condition of things when the doctor took charge of the home.  The grand army had previously turned the entire property over to the State.  The grounds required to be cleared up; tree tops, brush, chips and stumps were gathered and piled in large heaps by the children.  The burning of these piles at night afforded them great delight.  The doctor remained in charge of the home a little more than four years, when he was superceded from political considerations only.
     During his administration, the number of children increased from one hundred and fifty to six hundred.  A large central building was erected, with an extension to the rear of one hundred and thirty feet.  The basement of this contained a kitchen and bakery; the second story a dining room, one hundred and thirty feet in length.  The third story was used for a storeroom, sewing rooms and sleeping rooms for the employees.  Twenty brick cottages were erected, each
 

Page 139]

Page 140]

photo
 

E. D. HOLBROOK               WM. W. ALDRICH
E. P. HAINES          L. C. KELSEY

[Page 141] -

DR. L. C. KELSEY - 141

WILLIAM W. ALDRICH - 141

PHOTO
 

M. W. POND       MRS. M. W. POND

RESIDENCE of MARTIN W. POND, West Ave., Elyria, O.

MARTIN WEBSTER POND - 143

HON. STEVENSON BURKE - 144 w/ Portrait

ELWOOD P. HAINES - 145

EDWIN DORR HOLBROOK - 146

H. H. POPPLETON

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

ELYRIA

HOUSTON H. POPPLETON

     Houston H. Poppleton was born near Bellville, Richmond county, Ohio, Mar. 19, 1836, and is the youngest son of Rev. Samuel and Julia A. Poppleton.
     Rev. Samuel Poppleton was born in the State of Vermont, July 2, 1793, but while quite young moved with his father to Genesee county, New York, where he lived until 1820, when he moved to Ohio.  He lived in Richland county, Ohio, from 1822, until March, 1853, when he moved to Delaware, Ohio, where he continued to reside most of the time until his death, which occurred at Delaware, Sept. 14, 1864.  He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and served with honor and distinction.  Shortly after its close he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, and continued to preach, as his health would permit, for nearly fifty years.  He was twice married.  His first wife was Miss Partenia Steinback, of Genesee county, New York, and his second, Miss Julia A. Smith, of Richland county, Ohio.  By the first marriage, four children were born, to wit:  Rowena L., intermarried with F. W. Strong, of Mansfield, Ohio; Samuel D., killed in 1864, at the battle of Atlanta, Georgia; Mary Ellen, intermarried with Daniel Fisher, of Bellville, and Andrew J., who died at West Unity, Ohio, Sept. 25, 1850.
     By the second marriage, six children were born, to wit:  Emory E., Partenia P., Damaris A., Earley F., Houston H., and Zada C.
     Emory E. has been engaged in business in Detroit and Chicago, and is now the secretary of the Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railroad, residing at Cleveland.
     Parthenia P. married Hon. S. Burke, long prominently identified with the Lorain bar, and after residing in Elyria for over twenty-two years, moved to Cleveland.  She died at Salt Lake City, Utah, Jan. 7, 1878, and is buried in Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland.
     Damaris A. was married to Hon. George B. Lake, formerly a member of the Lorain bar, and now chief justice of the State of Nebraska.  She died in April, 1854, and is buried in the cemetery at Elyria.
     Earley F. read law, and was admitted to the bar at Elyria, and after practicing there several years, moved to Delaware, Ohio, where he has ever since been actively and successfully engaged in law and politics.  He was elected State senator from the counties of Licking and Delaware, and after serving one term was elected on the democratic ticket to the forty-fourth congress, from the ninth Ohio congressional district.  Although one of the youngest members of that body, he was active and industrious, and served with ability, and with credit to himself and to his party.
     Zada C. was married to Thomas H. Linnell, of Elyria, and resided there during the whole of her married life.  She died Mar. 29, 1875, and is buried in the cemetery at Elyria.
     Houston H. Poppleton received his early education in the common schools at Bellville, but entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, in the spring of 1853, and, although his attendance was not continuous, he graduated from that institution in June, 1858.  He taught school several winters in the counties of Delaware and Richmond, while pursuing his studies at the university, and also had general charge of his father's mercantile house at Richwood, from April, 1855, to February, 1857.  In September, 1858, he entered the law office of Hon. S. Burke, at Elyria, and prosecuted his studies there until October, 1859, when he entered the Cincinnati Law College.  Completing the prescribed course there, he graduated from it Apr. 16, 1860, and was admitted to the bar at Cincinnati the same day.  Returning to Elyria, he formed a law partnership with Judge Burke, and commenced practice May 2, 1860.  After Judge Burke's election to the bench, he formed a law partnership with Hon. H. D. Clark, which continued about two years.  On the 10th of February, 1864, at Cincinnati, he was married to Miss Lucina H. Cross, of that city.  He resided on the northwest corner of Broad and Chestnut streets, in Elyria, until Sept. 24, 1875, when he moved with his family to Cleveland.
     From the latter part of 1864 he continued in active general practice at Elyria, without a partner, until November, 1873, when he was appointed general attorney of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis railway company, with headquarters at Cleveland, which position he still holds.  He was prominent, active and successful in his practice, as the records of the courts of Lorain and adjoining counties abundantly show, and in his removal the bar of Lorain county sustained a serious loss.  By accepting the position of general attorney of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis railway he became the head of the legal department of that corporation, and has had entire charge of its legal business along the whole ine, as well as elsewhere.  Giving his personal attention to the details of all the litigation of the company- trying only causes that should be tried, and settling those that should be settled - he has, by his fair, honorable and judicious course, made many friends for himself, and secured for his company a reputation and good will that any railroad in the country might well envy.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

CARLISLE

DAVID BENNETT

was born in Westmoreland, Cheshire county, New Hampshire, May 26, 1788.  He was the second son of David and Abigail Bennett, and third in a family of fifteen children.  When about fifteen years old, he was apprenticed to a man named Dutton, living in Dummerston, Windham county, Vermont.  Becoming dissatisfied with the treatment he received, he ran away soon after he was sixteen, and went tho Homer, Cortland county, New York.
     On the 6th of December, 1810, he married Miss Polly Wheeler, and lived in Londonderry, Vermont, on a farm on the east slope of the Green mountains.  He came west, to look for a farm, in 1827, and moved from Londonderry, Apr. 21, 1828, with his family, consisting of himself and wife, his wife's step-father, and his neice, Miss Malvina F. Bennett.  They came by wagon to Troy, New York, in two days, thence by canal boat to Buffalo, by schooner to Cleveland, which took three days, then by wagon to Carlisle, - in all, a journey of three weeks.
     On the 23rd day of August, 1828, he purchased of Joseph and Mary Perkins the south one-half of the southwest quarter of section twelve, town five, range seventeen, where he spent the remainder of his life.
     His wife died Aug. 10, 1829, without children.  He married, the second time, Feb. 6, 1830, Miss Jane Gilpin, of Elyria, daughter of Neri and Betsey Galpin.   They had six children, four of whom are living.  He held various township offices from 1830 to 1860, being three times elected justice of the peace.  He was a man of strict integrity, and his word was as good as his bond.  He died July 16, 1863, of paralysis.

     JANE GALPIN was born in Woodbury, Litchfield county, Connecticut, Aug. 11, 1810.  She was the daughter of Neri and Betssey Galpin, and the eldest in a family of nine children.  Her parent moved to New Milford, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, when she was about nine months old.  In May, 1818 they moved to Center township, Indiana county, Pennsylvania.  In November, 1822, they left Center for Carlisle, Ohio, then called Murraysville, Huron county.  They moved in a covered wagon drawn by a yoke of steers and a span of old horses.  They were three weeks on the road and had but two pleasant days in the whole time.  In come places the wagon hub would roll on the mud.  they moved in with Abner Murray's family until Mr. Galpin built his house, which stood just over the line in Elyria township.  Feb. 6, 1830, she married David Bennett and moved on to the farm in Carlisle, where she still lives.

[Page 147] -
front of his office, which he had surrounded by forest trees, dreaming his happy dreams of the future, Charles H. Douglas lurked behind him and fired a fatal shot.  The wounded man struggled to his feet, attempted to raise his arm, but aimed to low.  He was borne into his office, where in intense pain he calmly awaited death, saying, "I am not afraid to die, but want ot see my brother before I go.  Am glad I did not hit Douglas when I fired, on account of his wife and little ones."  Asking again if Theodore had come, for whom a messenger had been dispatched, he fell into a calm sleep, and as the Sabbath day dawned his spirit took its flight.
     Marks of respect and tenderness were shown by the warm-hearted people, and with aching hearts loving hands consigned him to his resting place.  And while the breezes of his mountain home chant the requiem above his grave, loving hearts will entwine and bedew with their tears an imperishable garland to the memory of Edwin Dorr Holbrook.

- END OF ELYRIA -