THIS TOWNSHIP was named for its principal
proprietor, the late Hon. Heman Ely. It
originally embraced the territory now contained in
Carlisle, number five, and Elyria, number six in
range number seventeen, of the Connecticut Western
Reserve. It is situated on and between both
branches of Black river, in north latitude forty-one
degrees and forty-five minutes. It is
twenty-four miles west of Cleveland, and eight miles
above the mouth of the river.
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
![](../graphics/1879_beebeASr_res.jpg)
Residence of A. Beebe,, Sr., 26 Broad St., Elyria,
O.
![](../graphics/1879_HallEdwin.jpg)
Residence of Edwin Hall, East Ave., Elyria, O.
![](../graphics/1879_beebeAJr_Res.jpg)
[Residence of A. Beebe, Jr., East Ridge St., Elvira,
O.]
![](../graphics/1879_beebeHouse.jpg)
Beebe House, Elyria, O.
![](../graphics/1879_BeebeA_TAvern_BroadSt.jpg)
Tavern Opened, 1820 by A. Beebe, Sr.,
Broad St., Elyria, O.
----------
![](../graphics/1879_BeebeArtemas_PM.jpg)
Artemas Beebe, Sr. and Portrait of
P. M. Beebe
ARTEMAS BEEBE, SR.
This day, Mar. 17, 1879,
brings to the memory of an aged man Mar. 7, 1817.
Sixty-two years ago, this day, Mr. A. Beebe
first visited the log house, only sign of the now
pleasant town of Elyria. Only living member of
the little band that first settled Elyria, in his
eighty-sixth year, he alone is left to tell the
birth and growth of said town. Of a family noted for longevity, his father was born at
Waterbury, Conn., and removed to West Springfield,
Mass., where he died at the advanced age of
eighty-six, in the year 1852. His faithful
wife died in 1851, seventy-nine years of age.
Mr. Beebe, of whom we write, was born at
Russell, Hampden Co., Mass., Oct. 7,
1793. Scanty were his educational
opportunities. A clerkship in his father's
store, and the district school, however, gave to him
much that in after-years he used so well. Like
many young men of his day in New England, he had a
strong desire to "go West." Ohio then was
almost the end of western civilization. A
fellow-townsmen coming into possession of a large
tract of land on the Western Reserve afforded a
chance to gratify his wish. On the 20th of
February, 1817, a company of six left West
Springfield, Mass., for Ohio, composed as follows:
Heman Ely, founder; Ebenezer Lane,
(afterwards chief justice of Ohio); Mr. A. Beebe;
Luther Lane (so well known in after-years as
the good deacon); Ann Snow, housekeeper; and
Ned, a colored boy.
Mr. Beebe received twenty dollars for expenses,
and the privilege of riding as far as Buffalo, N. Y.
From that place through the forests, over unbridged
streams on foot, he arrived at the "log
house" on the aforesaid date, late in the
day. Using his own words: "On the
morning of the 18th of March, 1817, I got up
to see where the sun came from, and found it
came up all right, and it has ever since."
No time did he have to regret the comforts
of a New England life. A new life was
a commence; that life that did so much for
over half of a century in making Elyria what
it is. Carpenter and joiner his |
|
calling, his first work was the erection of the
first frame building in Elyria, built on the corner
of what is now Broad and Cedar Streets. In
this building were born many others. Used for
a shop for one year, it was filled in the ensuing
year, with such goods as filled the limited wants of
pioneers, by Edmund West & Co. In the latter part of the year 1817,
Mr. Beebe
and Mr. Douglas jointly purchased of Heman
Ely the first city lot ever sold in Elyria.
On this property, in 1818, they built the building
so well known to this day as the "Old Beebe Tavern"
(hotel being a term as yet unknown). For years
was this place the home of all new-comers until
their own fireside was established. Under its
roof were held many social gatherings. There
was held the first meetings of Elyria's original
Masonic lodge. At the expiration of one year
Mr. Beebe purchased of Mr. Douglas his
share of said property, and in him has the title
ever since remained. Constant work was Mr.
Beebe's mission until February, 1819, when he,
with a horse bought for the purpose, left Elyria for
the old home, via Pittsburgh, Philadelphia,
and New York, to regain health injured by constant
toil. A short visit, and the little "gray
horse" and one-horse lumber-wagon landed him once
more in Elyria. Now a few months are spent in
various activities. The following February
again witnessed his departure for New England.
This trip was performed in great share on foot.
Arriving at West Springfield, there and in its
vicinity he remained until the following October.
Of this visit came much to him, - much to Elyria.
He gained the life-partner of his early hardships,
of his later prosperity, and Elyria won one of its
truest women. One of the first meetings of Mr. Beebe with his future wife was at West
Springfield, where she was a member of the
Congregational Church. She was also a member
of the choir, of which Miss Celia Belden,
afterwards first wife of Judge Heman Ely, was
also a member. Short was the
courtship, but long and pleasant the many
years |
that followed.
Mr. Beebe was married to Miss Pamelia
Morgan Oct. 4, 1820. This marriage was
solemnized under peculiar circumstances, viz., by
the Rev. Joseph Lathrop, who for two
generations had performed the duties of a pastor in
said town. To him was it left, after
performing the marriage ceremony for the last time
in his life (then in his eighty-ninth year, totally
blind), to send out the young couple to the western
wilds with all and every good wish and fond hopes
for their future welfare. No Saratoga trunk or
useless finery filled the wagon-box that left Mrs. Beebe's early home. The plain and
substantial comprised its contents. The brass
kettle, the warming-pan, the candlesticks, the
andirons, etc., yet in the family tell their own
tale. A long journey full of incident, now
with wagon overturned, again vexatious delay from
impassable roads, or rustic bridge swept away, ended
Nov. 17, 1820. With earnest hearts a will to
do, and hands trained to work, Mr. and Mrs. Beebe
commenced life in the "Old Beebe Tavern." Many
years were there passed. To Mrs. Beebe
much of the reputation this tavern gained in early
days was due. She not only made it the place
of entertainment for the weary traveler, but many a
one homesick, and longing for the eastern home, from
her got words of healthy cheer and kind sympathy.
From this time onward, until the date of her death,
June, 26, 1878, Mrs. Beebe's life was one of
womanly work. Noted as the housewife; earnest
and active in the church; as neighbor kind, ever
ready with helping hand to aid and comfort the sick,
genial in social intercourse, she was eminently the
good woman. One of the original ten who formed
the First Presbyterian Church of Elyria, Nov. 24,
1824, she was always its ardent supporter, in word
and deed living out her profession. Her energy
and economy aided the husband in acquiring the
competency that in declining years made their home
so pleasant, and caused them both to forget the
early privations attendant upon the "first settler." She left at her death two sons and three daughters, all
in the maturity of life. An obituary notice
says of her: "She died rich in all those experiences
she had garnered up with the growth of Elyria.
To her was given the good fortune to watch, help, or
nurture a little hamlet of one or two log houses
become a town of churches, schools, and a prosperous
people." In 1826,
Mr. Beebe, in partnership with Ezra
Adams, purchased of Silas Wolverton the
contract for carrying the mail between Cleveland and
Lower Sandusky, now called Fremont. Mr.
Beebe performed the duties of said contract
between Elyria and Cleveland; Mr. Adams and
others between Elyria and Fremont. At the end
of one year Mr. Beebe purchased the entire
business. Increase of population demanded
greater facilities than the single horse, with
mail-bag, could perform. Soon Mr. Beebe,
with letters from the Hon. Elisha Whittlesey
and others, visited Washington, D. C., and from the
Postmaster-General obtained a general contract for
the transportation of mails and passengers between
the above-mentioned points. The coach seating
six, with its four horses, soon had to give way to
the more commodious coach, which gave ample room to
nine. To coach, with its
merry driver and noisy tin horn, excited as
much attention, and drew as many to the
"stage office" on its coming and departure,
in proportion to the population, as the
steam car, with more noisy steam horn, did
twenty-five years after. Fraught with
labor was this undertaking; poor roads,
poorer bridges were ever |
|
opposing him; shipwrecked
coaches and drowned horses were not uncommon.
But Mr. Beebe's untire energy overcame every
obstacle of nature and all opposing lines started by
others; and the year 1831 saw a daily line of
four-horse coaches running over his route.
Success rewarded his efforts until 1842, when he
sold his branch of his business to Neil Moore
& Co., of Columbus, Ohio. From the years 1830 to 1833,
Mr. Beebe was
engaged in teh business of general merchandise, with
H. N. Gates as partner. Shortly after
disposing of his mail contracts he purchased of Deacon L. Lane
the Eagle Mills, on the east
branch of Black River, which he successfully
operated for twenty-three yeras, selling them then
to the late I. W. Bullock. In 1846, remembering the "Old Beebe Tavern," and seeing
Elyria in need of a first-class hotel, he built the
Beebe House. A building an ornament to the
town, an honor to the builder, long and favorably
has it been known to the traveling public. Motives outside mere pecuniary gain must have actuated
Mr. Beebe in this enterprise. The needs
of Elyria for a hotel far better than any existing,
it seems, must have induced him, regardless of any
ultimate dividend, to have erected so substantial,
so complete a structure. Erected thirty-three
years ago, it yet remains in many respects a pattern
for more modern structures. At the time of its
building, nothing like it for its purpose stood upon
the Western Reserve in towns of similar size.
A similar motive must have had much to do in
influencing Mr. Beebe to build the beautiful
Beebe House on Put-in-Bay Island, so many
years and still kept by his eldest son, Henry
Beebe. In this respect he may well be
called a public benefactor. In 1847, when the
subject of a bank was agitated among Elyria's
citizens, Mr. Beebe was one of the first to
respond. An original stockholder and director
from its birth, in its change to a national bank he
has ever held both positions until the present day.
In 1849, becoming a stockholder in the Plank-Road
running from Black River, Lorain Co., to Homer,
Medina Co., he was largely instrumental in bringing
the advantage of said road to his fellow-citizens,
and in completing it, being appointed superintendent
of its construction. The latter years of
Mr. Beebe's life, although
not as full of actual labor, have been none of
idleness. The duties of bank director, trusts
confided him by his fellows, the care of a large
property, and farming interests have constantly
busied him. Such is the brief outline of the
life of the remaining link between Elyria's
beginning and its now only surviving member of the
little band of six who nearly seven decades ago laid
Elyria's foundation; he yet remains. As a man
Mr. Beebe was ever noted for strict
integrity; ever careful to aid the cause of morality
and religion, always an attendant upon religious
observances, and ever contributing to the church.
Upon May 6, 1866, making public profession of
religion, he became a member of the First
Presbyterian Church of Elyria. Now past the
allotted age of a man, hardly one remaining of his
early associates he lives Elyria's oldest citizen.
The children, ay, even the grandchildren, of those
with whom his youth and middle age were spent with
reverence and respect regard him, ever seeing the
sterling integrity, clear business decision, and
prompt action that he used so well in the building
up of the town of Elyria. |
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[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.
![](../graphics/1879_gatesNB.jpg)
N. B. GATES
Nahum Ball Gates was born in St. Alban's
Vt., Sept. 28, 1812. His father,
John Gates, and his mother, Abigail
Ball, emigrated from Northborough,
Mass., to St. Alban's in 1800, and settled
on a farm in that township. His father
was of Puritan stock, and belonged to
Revolutionary blood. The day he was
sixteen years of age he enlisted in the army
of the Revolution for three years, served
until the close of the vicinity of New York.
His three eldest brothers, Samuel, Silas,
and William, served in the same war
during its continuance.
The subject of this sketch was the youngest of twelve
children. His early education was the
best afforded in those days in the district
schools of his native town, with one term at
the St. Alban's Academy, to fit him for a
"country pedagogue," teaching district
school for three winters in his native
State.
The years of his minority were spent on his father's
farm, attending and teaching school winters,
and laboring on the farm the residue of the
year. In this way he secured for
himself an athletic frame and vigorous
Vermont constitution. Being violently
attacked on his father's farm, in the spring
of 1834, with what was termed the "Western
Fever," which prevailed at that time in
Vermont to almost an alarming extent, he, on
the 29th day of April, 1834, bade farewell
to his native heath and started for Ohio,
for the ostensible purpose of visiting his
brother, Horatio N. Gates, who at
that time was engaged in the mercantile
business at Elyria, Ohio, under the
firm-name of Gates & Greene.
After remaining
in Elyria a few weeks, he went to Cleveland
to learn more of the West and find something
to do. Whilst standing in front of the
Western Reserve Hotel, then in Ohio City, on
the west side of Cuyahoga River, a man by
the name of Swain came along, and
inquired of young Gates if he knew of
any one who would on the following day go
into the woods and score timber for him, as
he was about to erect a dwelling-house.
Young Gates volunteered his services,
and a bargain was soon struck. The
next day saw a good, honest day's work done.
His next venture was painting and glazing, in the
employ of William Wheat. At
this time the cholera broke out in its most
malignant form in the cities of Cleveland
and Ohio City. Young Gates did
not flee to the country or shut himself up
in some secluded retreat, as so many did,
but he made it his entire business for weeks
to watch with the sick, to care for the
dying, and to bury the dead. He spent
day and night in performing these duties
until the cholera subsided. At the
urgent request of his brother, H. N.
Gates, on the 1st day of September,
1834, he visited Elyria for rest and
recreation, spending the winters of 1834 and
1835 in Elyria, clerking for Gates &
Greene.
On the 17th day
of May, 1835, he went to Black River and
opened a general assortment store for
Gates & Greene, where he resided with
varying success and experience until the
fall of 1838. Here is Vermont
constitution underwent a fearful struggle; a
nine months' siege of regular old-fashioned
typhus fever and swamp ague could not
conquer it; but, in his own words, "there
was nothing left of him but his boots and
spurs."
From the year 1836 until 1844 a copartnership existed
between himself and brother, H. N. Gates,
in the forwarding and commission business,
headquarters being at Black River.
In the fall of 1838, Mr. Gates was elected
sheriff of Lorain county, removing to
Elyria. It has since been his
residence. During his residence in
Black river he filled the various offices of
constable, justice of the peace, and marshal
of Charlestown village. On the 12th
day of November, 1838, he took the oath of
office as sheriff, and entered upon its
duties. The court of Common Pleas was
then in session. This was the time of
great excitement among the bogus or
counterfeiting fraternity, who at that time
seemed to have a strong foothold in many of
the townships of Lorain County. Times
were hard. Nearly all the banks in the
country had suspended specie payment; the
paper money then in circulation was of all
grades and value. Many thought they
would take a hand in currency tinkering,
which was the order of the day.
Therefore, many resorted to counterfeiting
and the making of bogus coin. Men who
had been arrested and placed in jail,
charged with this offense, broke out and
fled for their country's good. Mr.
Israel Cash, who had turned State's
evidence, was shot through the body, but not
killed, by the son of an implicated
counterfeiter. Lorain County was all
excitement. Such was the condition of
affairs when Mr. Gates entered upon
the duties of his office. Thus they
remained for over a year. Strict
justice will ever give to Sheriff Gates,
a determined judge and efficient
prosecutor, the credit of breaking up this
nefarious gang, whose wicked ramifications
even reached into families hitherto called
honest and respectable. His prompt
action routed the whole gang, root and
branch. Many, under the kind care of
Sheriff Gates, visited Columbus,
others fled their country, some reformed,
and others died.
In 1840 a zealous Whig was Mr. Gates; active was
the part he took in that ever memorable
campaign. Zeal and ardency actuated
his every action. As marshal, on his
famous black horse Bucephalus, did he lead
the procession from Elyria and adjoining
townships that visited that imposing and
grand convention, held on the banks of the
Maumee River, June 11, 1840.
In 1840 he was re-elected sheriff of Lorain County.
Serving to the end of his term, he completed
his four years, the constitutional limit.
On the 12th day of May, 1841, Mr. Gates married
Miss Sarah S. Monteith, who
formerly had filled the position of
professor of ancient languages at Hamilton
College, New York. Coming to Elyria he
took charge of the first select school
taught in Elyria of any note. This
school, so well known as the High School, is
yet remembered with the fondest memory by
|
|
many a one who can never
forget the kindness and the many virtues of
their teacher long years since.
From this marriage numbers the issue, viz.: John
Quincy, who died in early years;
Elizabeth Monteith, wife of Dr.
Wheeler, of Cleveland; Charlotte
Augusta, wife of Rev. T. Y. Gardner,
pastor of the Congregational Church, Hudson,
Ohio; Mary Ely, who died in early
years; Charles Alexander,
graduate of Western Reserve College;
William Nahum, in business at Massillon,
Ohio; Nellie, at home; and
Frederick Hayes, the baby, but a
good-sized one, now a student at Western
Reserve College.
In 1843, Mr. Gates purchased of Mr. Heman Ely,
a mill site on the west branch of Black
River, and proceeded at once to build a
saw-mill, sash, door, and blind factory, to
which he gave his personal supervision and
much hard labor for twenty-three years,
when, in 1866, he sold out. In 1843 he
built an ashery on the west branch of the
Black River, and has kept the same in
successful operation up to the present time.
Mr. Gates thinks he may be classed as
the oldest, long-continued, and successful
ashery-man in the State. This ashery
is still smoking. On the first day of
September, 1869, purchasing of Davis M.
Clark the soap factory on the west side
of Black River, he has since been and now is
engaged in the manufacture of his celebrated
chemical erasive soap.
The Lorain County Agricultural Society was organized in
1845, and lived along at a poor, dying rate
until 1852, when Mr. Gates was
elected president of the same. He
immediately set to work to stimulate its
activities and infuse new life by inclosing
grounds, building stables and pens, erecting
sheds, revising and enlarging the premium
lists; and since that time he has served ten
years as its president, always taking the
laboring oar, and perhaps to no one more
than him is said society more indebted for
its progress, growth, and present
prosperity. Of its thirty-three annual
fairs he has been present at all of them,
actively engaged in promoting its interests.
In 1844 he engaged in the general merchandise business
at No. 1 Cheapside, Elyria. Not liking
the cares and perplexities of the business,
he made an advantageous sale of his whole
stock of goods in 1845 to Messrs. Castle
& King, of Medina, Ohio, saying, as he
closed out his goods "that he should never
engage in the mercantile business again
unless he got hard up." Mr. Gates was
among the founders and active workers in the
Elyria Union School. He has been a
member of the Board of Education the most of
the time for the last quarter of a century.
1860 saw him coroner of Lorain County, which
office he filled for two years.
He was ever active and a hard worker in the various
railroad projects which have been connected
with the history of Elyria for the last
thirty years. In 1850 he was a
director in the Lorain Plank-Road Company,
and for many years was superintendent of
said road. the year 1860 found him an
active worker for the Republican party, and
an officer in the Wide-Awake Club. In
1862 he was appointed collector of internal
revenue for the fourteenth district of Ohio,
by Abraham Lincoln, "my policy" being
in the way. Elected as mayor of Elyria
in 1843 for the first time, he has since
that time filled that position for twelve
years, and is now acting in that capacity.
In 1856, Caleb S. Goodwin, treasurer of
Lorain County, dying, Mr. Gates was
appointed to fill the vacancy, and served
acceptably for one year.
Mr. Gates's life in Elyria has been one of
constant action. For example: in the
year 1856 he was treasurer of the county,
mayor of Elyria, township trustee, member of
the Board of Election of Elyria Union
Schools, superintendent of the Lorain
Plank-Road, foreman of
Ætna
(Elyria) Fire Company, discharging the
several duties appertaining to each with
acceptance, to say the least, besides
attending to his own personal affairs, which
were neither few nor small.
He was mainly instrumental in the formation of elyria
Lodge, No. 103, of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, and was one of its charter
members. this lodge was instituted
Mar. 1, 1848, and from that day to this it
has been an honored and respected
institution. Mr. Gates is the
oldest member of said lodge, and the only
one left of its charter members, or of those
present at its inauguration.
As a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Elyria,
and society of said church, he may be termed
a pronounced Presbyterian in all its
meanings.
During the Rebellion no one was more efficient than
Mr. Gates. His quota of years
required no personal enlistment of fill any
quota demanded from Lorain County, yet it
may be truly asserted that no one not
subject to draft (and few, if any, that
were) did more than Mr. Gates, by
word, act, and money, for the republic.
Of strong and pronounced opinions, his ear is ever open
to reason's call. Commencing life with
little or nothing, prosperity has not
elevated him above the cry of the poor and
needy. Generous and self-sacrificing,
his purse is ever open to true charity, and
his hand is always found helping the
downtrodden and oppressed. Of him may
it truly be said no one in Elyria has spent
more hours in watching with the sick, in
burying the dead, in visiting the widow and
orphan, than Mr. Gates.
the writer knows of no citizen of Elyria who has spent
more time for the public at large, with less
pay, than Mr. Gates. No one can
he recall who has, according to his means,
so liberally contributed with voice, action,
and money to Elyria's various improvements.
Now at the ripe age of sixty-six years, with
commanding presence, hale and hearty, as if
yet he breathed the mountain air of his old
Vermont home, surrounded with the comforts
of life, with home graced by the dear wife
ever young, cheered by the presence of manly
and womanly children and amused by the
prattle of grandchildren, Colonel Gates
lives honored and respected by all. |
[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.
![](../graphics/1879_tuckerWmH.jpg)
WM. H. TUCKER
A young man who, with good habits and energy, says,
"This will I do," rarely fails. William H.
Tucker is a living illustration of this fact.
He was born in Windham, Portage Co., Ohio, Mar. 21,
1826, the youngest son of Jacob and Chloe Tucker.
Jacob first settled in Ohio, at Vermillion, in
1816. In 1818 he moved into Windham, as above,
from which place he removed to Eaton, Lorain Co.,
Ohio. in 1832, purchasing a farm on Chestnut Ridge.
Here with his wife he remained until their respective
deaths; Mr. Tucker dying in 1863, in his
eighty-eighth year; his wife having died two years
previous.
From the mother did W. H. Tucker get the notions
which , worked out, have made the valuable citizen.
Mrs. Chloe Tucker was a woman of uncommon
energy; the great motherly heart of a good woman, by
precept and example, left an impress on the
character of her children that to this day recalls
the memory of a mother who ever watched over them
with self-sacrificing devotion, and aided them to
become the true man or true woman.
The father, of a different mental mould, ever kind, no
matter how gloomy the outlook, was ever cheerful;
always thinking "Sufficient unto the day is the evil
thereof."
Mr. W. H. Tucker, well remembering the exodus
from Portage to Lorain County, recalls the passage
of Cuyahoga River, at Cleveland, Ohio, on a floating
bridge, the all of his parents in a lumber wagon
drawn by a yoke of oxen, those parents to work out
of the then woods of Eaton a home for selves and
little ones. Such a home, poor as it was, was
even then made so pleasant that one and all of those
children look back to it with fond memories.
Early life in Lorain County gave limited opportunities
for education. At the age of sixteen Mr.
Tucker began to think for a better education
than home schools provided. In his seventeenth
year his father gave him all he could, viz., his
time. With this and a fixed determination he
commenced the business of education, chopping
cord-wood for tuition, and doing chores for board.
He was a pupil at a select school at Ridgeville,
Ohio. The following winter found him teacher
of the common school at Lagrange, Ohio. In the
following July, to acquire further funds for
schooling, he commenced work with a traveling
threshing-machine. A week's work left him with
only one leg, and even life in danger. Good
early habits and a sound constitution pulled him
through so far as the physical was concerned;
|
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but, as he looked to the future, "black care
brooded o'er his mind." Fearing he
should become a burden to his friends, he
almost wished for death. However,
will-power and kind attention of tender
friends drove such thoughts away, and left
him with a fixed purpose. Engaging in
school teaching for the following twenty-two
years, Mr. Tucker
taught every winter, frequently fall and summer
terms, in the common schools of Ohio; now and then a
select school. All his time as teacher
he was everywhere a learner.
In the year 1864, Mr. Tucker removed to Elyria,
Ohio, where he now lives. He was married in
his twenty-third year to Miss Clarissa Andrews,
who as kind wife, with joyous and sunny disposition,
cheered his life until her death, which occurred at
Elyria, Jan. 20, 1870. She left three sons,
the youngest but eight days old, her only daughter
having died before, aged two years.
He was remarried, Mar. 18, 1871, to Mrs. M. C. Hart,
widow of Hermon Hart, of Grafton, Lorain Co.,
Ohio, who now with every womanly grace makes home
pleasant to husband and their many friends.
Mr. Tucker was elected recorder of Lorain Co.,
Ohio, in 1864, filling the position, by two
re-elections, for nine years. Retiring from
office with health somewhat impaired by close
confinement and strict attention to official duties,
for a short time he engaged in sundry business
occupations. Having, during his recordership,
reviewed his law studies under the instruction of
Judge W. W. Boynton), he was admitted to the
bar, at a sitting of the District Court, at
Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1875, Mr. Tucker was a prominent mover in the
organization of a lodge of Knights of Honor at
Elyria, and was chosen past dictator of said lodge.
In 1876 he represented said lodge in grand council,
and has ever since been a member of that body, now
being grand trustee.
In February, 1878, as charter member, he helped the
formation of a council of Royal Arcanums at Elyria,
of which he was elected past regent. He now
fills the office of grand secretary of the grand
council of said order for the State of Ohio.
Elected by his fellow-citizens as justice of the peace;
a member of the law firm of Fary & Tucker;
with an official reputation as recorder of Lorain
County unequaled either by successor or predecessor;
with the trusts of a grand officer in his hands; his
ever charitable hand; his undeviating life of
integrity in all its meaning; the universal
respect of all with whom he comes in contact, Mr.
Tucker can be well said to have grandly done his
"This will I do." |
![](../graphics/1879_websterIralA%20copy.jpg)
IRAL A. WEBSTER
William Webster was born in West Hartford,
Conn., Oct. 20, 1778, and moved to Laporte,, Lorain
Co., Ohio, May 15, 1828, from the town of Spafford,
Onondaga Co., N. Y. His son William was
born at Florence, Oneida Co., N. Y., Feb. 20, 1809.
The occupation of both father and son was that of
blacksmithing. William the father of
the subject of this sketch, worked at his trade in
Elyria, in company with George G. Gilbert,
from 1831 to 1834. His wife was born July 3,
1813, and was the daughter of Henry J. Phillips.
They were married Oct. 27, 1831, in Eaton, Lorain
Co., Ohio. Mrs. Webster died Nov. 13,
1868, leaving six children, viz.: Daniel, Edward,
Cordelia, (wife of Dr. L. C. Kelsey, of
Elyria, Ohio), Iral A., Fred, and
Will.
IRAL A. WEBSTER
was born on Butternut Ridge, Eaton township,
Lorain Co., Ohio, Dec. 22, 1840. In Iral's
youth his parents moved to the State of Illinois.
Returning from the West for a short time Cleveland,
Ohio, was their home; and in 1848, Carlisle, Lorain
Co., Ohio, became his father's residence, where he
still lives. Iral A.
Webster's early days were spent on the home
farm, in the blacksmith-shop, or in a quarry
belonging to his father, except such time as was
given to the district school, until 1861.
During this year he attended a select school at
Elyria, Ohio. In 1862 he commenced studies at
Oberlin, Ohio, where some time was spent until the
spring of 1866; the balance was passed in teaching
school at Lagrange and Amherst, Lorain Co., Ohio,
and
|
|
in reading law with J. D. Horton, of
Ravenna, Ohio. Continuing his reading, with
C. W. Johnston, Esq., of Elyria, he was, in said
place, admitted to the bar Aug. 29, 1867. In
December, 1867, he opened a law office at Oberlin,
Ohio, where his family still resides, although
Mr. Webster's time is mostly passed in Elyria,
where he started a branch office, August, 1877.
He formed a copartnership with Charles G. Finney,
Jr., in February, 1872, which lasted but a few
months, owing to the ill health of his partner.
Jan. 1, 1877, saw his uncle, H. L. Webster,
in the law business with him, which relation
continued for one year, when Mr. Webster
formed a partnership with his brother Fred,
which still continues.
In December, 1877, Mr. I. A. Webster
purchased one-half of the Oberlin Weekly News,
and continued one of its owners and publishers until
Jan. 1, 1879, his efforts having aided in a great
degree in placing it upon a sound foundation.
On Nov. 25, 1868, Mr. Webster married Miss
Lottie Robb, daughter of Jackson and Mary
Robb. Of this marriage were born Albert
M., Feb. 13, 1875; Angie L., Apr. 8,
1877. Mr. Webster
is yet young, a man of high moral standing,
and an ardent supporter of every movement
looking towards the right. He is a
prominent member of the Republican party.
Sharing the confidence and good will of all,
he enjoys that true respect of his fellows
that only follows a life of strict
integrity. |
[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.
![](../graphics/1879_StAndrewsEpiscopalChurch.jpg)
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
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![](../graphics/1879_johnsonEG.jpg)
E. G. Johnson
The truth
of the law "that like produces like" is forcibly
illustrated in the life of ELIZUR
G. JOHNSON, the seventh child of Hon.
Nathan P. Johnson. He was born at
Lagrange, Lorain Co., Nov. 24, 1836.
In those days a boy's life devoid of labor was a
remarkable exception. E. G. Johnson's
life was not the exception. His work for
twenty-one years was on the homestead, except such
time as was devoted to school and school teaching.
The district school, Oberlin, for a time during the
winter months, and an intelligent father were his
source of education.
Arriving at maturity, farm labor, the teaching of
school, and other employments occupied him for a
time. The commencing the reading of the law
under Mr. L. A. Sheldon, he was admitted to
the bar at Columbus, Ohio, making lagrange his
residence. HE there remained for several
years, practicing his profession; years more of hard
work, study, and mental gain than pecuniary profit.
Here, as his father had been before him, was he
honored by his fellow-citizens with local offices.
Elected as auditor of Lorain County in 1868, "Elyria
became his residence. So strict was his
attention to duty, and so courteous his treatment of
all with whom business brought him into contact,
that he was successively re-elected in 1870-1872,
and again in 1874.
Leaving the auditor's office with a perfect record,
Mr. Johnson again engaged in the practice
of law at Elyria, in which and where he still
remains, with a large and ever-increasing practice.
During the years 1875 and 1876, with great ability he
conducted the Elyria |
|
Republican
as its editor. His pen was always
found on the side of justice, temperance, and morality, and proved an
efficient and ever active aid to the Republican
party, of which he has been a member since its
origin.
Holding at the present time, as he has for many years,
the office of secretary of the Lorain County
Agricultural Society, none have surpassed, and abut
few equaled him in endeavor, by word and act, to
make said society the worthy organization it is.
As a citizen of Elyria he has been and is now a member
of its council and noted for his constant efforts
for the improvement of Elyria.
On Jan. 1, 1859, Miss Lydia D. Gott, of Lagrange
(daughter of Peter Gott, an original settler
in said township, yet living, over eighty years of
age), became Mr. Johnson's wife.
To him in early days of toil and hardship she was a
true companion. And now with comforts on every
side, a devoted member of the Methodist Church, with
a fond mother's eye she watches the growth and
education of seven children, ever holding in the
mother's heart the memory of the two little ones
that death took from her in childhood.
Mr. E. G. Johnson, yet in the vigor of manhood,
warm in his friendships, generous to a fault, with
private and public character untarnished, now reaps
the glorious harvest. True it is, the seed was
sown under every difficulty, but he was never
discouraged; and now, with a reputation fitting him
for any office that his neighbors and
fellow-citizens may call him to, he has well and
honestly earned the high rank he takes among Lorain
County's best men. |
![](../graphics/1879_haleJohnC.jpg)
JUDGE JOHN C. HALE
JOHN C. HALE was born at
Oxford, New Hampshire, Mar. 3, 1831. His
parents were Aaron and Mary Hale. His
mother's maiden name was Kent; she was a
daughter of Thomas Kent. John C. was
born and brought up upon his father's farm, where he
remained until he was nineteen years of age.
During this period he availed himself of such
advantages of education as the common schools of
that State then provided. Feeling the
necessity of something beyond this, he began fitting
himself for college. Entering Dartmouth
College soon after, he graduated in the class of
1857. At the end of his college-life he found
himself nearly a thousand dollars in debt, all of
which he has since paid with interest.
Immediately removing to Cleveland, Ohio, he employed
himself in teaching in the public schools of that
city. In his employment he remained three
years, in the mean time studying law with Judge
Prentiss.
On the 278th day of December, 1859, he married
Miss Carrie A. Sanborn, of Cleveland, Ohio.
In July, 1861, he was admitted to the bar, and in
October of the same year he removed to Elyria, Ohio,
and commenced the practice of the law. Here he
soon won a commanding position as a lawyer, and a
high place in the confidence of the people.
This is evidenced by the fact that in 1863, but two
years after he came to Elyria, an entire stranger to
the people of Lorain County, he was elected to the
office of prosecuting attorney, which position, by
two successive re-elections, he held for six years. |
|
During this time he also held the office of register of
bankruptcy, the duties of which he acceptably
discharged until the consolidation of districts
abolished the office.
In 1873 he was elected to the constitutional
convention, and took an active and influential part
in the deliberations of that body. In 1876 he
was elected judge of the court of Common Pleas,
which position he now holds, and fills with
distinguished ability.
Judge Hale has always taken an active part in
the promotion of every enterprise calculated to
advance the public good. As a member of the
village council and the board of education of
Elyria, he rendered valuable services in behalf of
education and economical municipal government.
As a lawyer he had no superior at the Lorain bar, a
fact that is attested by his successful and
lucrative practice. His clear perception, his
candor and strict integrity, gave him early in his
practice a strong hold upon the people, and a
commanding position in his profession.
As a judge he brings to his assistance a large common
sense, tempered by a thorough legal and scholastic
education. Just in the vigor of manhood, with
mental and physical powers undiminished, deserving
and possessing the full confidence of the people,
and guided by a strict integrity, his career of
usefulness has but just commenced, and he will long
hold the high position he has fairly won among the
foremost men of Lorain County and the State of Ohio.
|
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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.
![](../graphics/1879_washburnGeorgeG_Res.jpg)
Residence of Geo. G. Washburn, Esq., 34 Washington
Avenue, Elyria, Ohio
![](../graphics/1879_UnionHallClothingHouse.jpg)
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.
----------
![](../graphics/1879_perryEdwinC.jpg)
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.
----------
![](../graphics/1879_cushingCharlesF.jpg)
Dr. Charles F. Cushing
The early annals of Scituate, Mass., show on their
records frequently the name of Cushing.
Francis Cushing was born at Scituate, and was a
ship-builder. To him was given the honor of
being one of the master-builders of the United
States ship of war the "Old Constitution."
Charles, his son, followed the calling of
a farmer; was born at Scituate, and married Miss
Sally R. Thayer, whose ancestors were of the
Turner family, a name so common to the
antiquarian who studies the early history of New
England. Charles and his wife, Sally
R., were the parents of ten children, one of
them, DR. C. F. CUSHING, being
born in 1829.
His early life was that of the average New England boy;
work on the farm, the common school, and three
months' study in the select school found him
seventeen years of age. Then buying his time
of his father for one hundred dollars, the next four
years were spent in work as he found it, now on the
farm and again as a school teacher. Funds thus
earned repaid the debt to his father, and were used
for better educational privileges at Lewiston Falls,
Maine.
Now with the world before him, the vocation of teacher
was pursued by him at the South for three
years, - years of much pleasure and of
mental profit to him.
The spring of 1854 gave to him a new home, and greater
opportunities of self improvement.
With the exception of a short visit to the
East, the following five years were passed
in California. Varied was his
experience there; now in the city, now at
the diggings, now proprietor of a
hotel in the mountains; again, in connection
with a friend, a tract of land is taken up,
fenced prepared, and planted with
fruit-trees and the grape-vine. This
contract was made between the friends:
"He who first marries, to him shall this
property belong." The friend gained
the "ranche," Elyria won her courteous
physician.
Mr. Cushing commenced the reading of
medicine with Dr. Norman of Suisun Valley,
California. These readings were completed with
Dr. John |
|
Wheeler, at Cleveland, Ohio.
Entering the Western Homoeopathic College, of the
same city, he graduated with honor in the spring of
1861.
Soon after taking up his residence in Elyria he engaged
in the practice of his profession; his first two
winters, however, being spent at Cleveland, where,
at his Alma Mater, he was demonstrator of
anatomy, virtually filling that chair,
Commencing at Elyria as an exponent of the Hahuemann
idea of medicine, - an idea yet unpopular with the
many, - slow but sure was his steady progress in his
profession, and marked was the esteem he daily
gained on a citizen. This esteem showed itself
in this way. Requested in 1862 to form a
company of "squirrel hunters," with alacrity did he
respond. Many a young man of Elyria will ever
remember his departure from Elyria; the camp of
weeks' duration upon Gen. W. H. Harrison's
old homestead; the thanks with which Governor Tod
sent them home under Captain Cushing, who as
captain, physician, and friend performed those
various duties so well.
In 1866 he wedded Miss Mary L. Hayward, of
Brooklyn, N. Y. Thus did the grandson of the
builders of the "Old Constitution" become the
husband of the granddaughter of Mr. Lyman Knowles,
who, at the request of "Boston's solid men,"
guilt, at Amherst, Mass., the famous carriage for
General Jackson from the historical timbers of
said "Old Constitution." Of this marriage
little Charlie alone remains to make the parents'
home gladsome, two little sisters having passed
away.
Now in the full vigor of manhood, with ever-increasing
practice; honored by the Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern Railroad Company with the position of
surgeon of said road, after the death of the late
Dr. E. P. Haines, which position was filled by
Dr. Cushing until general order abolishing
such office; with the most courteous relations
existing between himself and brother physicians, no
matter of how different schools; with the respect of
all, as citizen and physician, he lives one of
Elyria's prominent men. |
![](../graphics/1879_reefyFrederickS.jpg)
Frederick S. Reefy
FREDERICK S. REEFY* was born
in the village of Boezingen, at the foot of the
Jura, in the Canton of Berue, Switzerland, Sept. 1,
1833, and the following year emigrated with his
parents to the United States, and located on a farm
year Mount Eaton, Wayne Co., Ohio. Here he
spent his early boyhood, the summers at work upon
the fields, and the winters at school, where he
received his rudimentary education in the English
language, and was instructed to read and write the
German by his parents. Being of a studious
habit he took at an early age the first rank in his
classes, and in a few years mastered the branches
taught in the district schools. In the
fifteenth year of his age the family moved to
Tuscarawas County, near Wilmot. Here four more
years were spent on the farm and at school, when he
began teaching in the winter, and during the summer
pursued the higher branches of education. This
course, alternating as a teacher and student,
continued seven years; and having acquired his
education mainly by his own efforts and means, he
was thorough and practical, and became a successful
educator. |
|
In the spring of 1860, Mr. Reefy went West, and
located at Roanoke, Ind., where he organized the
Roanoke Educational Society, and by its aid founded
Roanoke Seminary. In 1862 he married Miss
Mary Shearer. He remained at the head of
the seminary eight years, during which time it was
one of the most popular schools in Northern Indiana.
In addition to his educational labors at the
seminary, he served part of this time as
superintendent of the sub-district schools of
Huntington County. On account of failing
health, in 1868, he quit teaching for a time, and
subsequently moved to Bluffton, Indiana, and
organized the graded schools of that place, and
remained in charge as superintendent until 1872,
when he resigned, and with his family moved to
Elyria, and became editor and proprietor of the
Elyria Constitution.
As a political writer
Mr. Reefy is conscientious, bold, and
vigorous. He criticises severely and commends
generously. In the descriptive, his pen
delineates the picturesque and beautiful in nature
with happy effect.
NOTE: The German spelling was
Riffe.
|
----------
[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
![](../graphics/1879_elyCA.jpg)
Portrait of C. A. Ely
![](../graphics/1879_elychasArthurMrs_res.jpg)
Residence of Mrs. Chas. Arthur Ely, Elyria, Lorain
Co., Ohio
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P. Bliss
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HON.
PHILEMON BLISS
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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]
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W. W. Braman
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R. E. Braman
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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
![](../graphics/1879_poppletonHH.jpg)
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 - |