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BIOGRAPHIES
A Standard History
of
Erie County, Ohio
An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular
Attention
to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial,
Civic and Social Development. A Chronicle of the People, with Family
Lineage and Memoirs.
By
HEWSON L. PEEKE
Assisted by the Board of Advisory Editors
Volume I.
ILLUSTRATED
The Lewis Publishing Company
Chicago and New York
1916
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HENRY
ACKERMAN.
To mention the name Ackerman in Vermilion Township is to
name one of the oldest and best known of the substantial
German families, who since the early days have been
primary factors in the development of this section of
Erie County. Henry Ackerman has a fine farm
home in that township, on rural route No. 2 out of
Huron. Born in Black River Township of Lorain
County in December, 1862, he is a son of Frederick
and Anna E. (Kothe) Ackerman. His parents were
both born in Kurhessen, Germany, and came as young
people to America. He was a young man when he came
over in 1849 on a sailing vessel that required six weeks
to make the voyage, and going to Amhurst in Lorain
County he met and married Miss Kothe, who had
come from the same locality of Germany with her parents,
Louis and Mary Kothe. Louis Kothe
settled on a farm in Lorain County and spent the rest of
his life there. Miss Kothe was reared in
Lorain County, and after her marriage to Mr. Ackerman
they started out as farmers first in Lorain Township and
afterwards for four years in Brownhelm Township.
They then moved to Erie County, establishing their home
on the lake shore in Vermilion Township, where they
became owners of 137 acres of fine land. They did
much to make this land valuable, working; hard, often
denying themselves in order that their children and home
might benefit, and in time they had surrounded
themselves with every comfort and facility.
Frederick Ackerman died there on Mar. 22,
1881, at the age of forty-four. His widow
subsequently married Godfreid Nolte, and
she continued to live at the old homestead until her
death on Sept. 3, 1914. Mr. Nolte is
still living on the old farm along the lake shore, and
is now sixty-eight years of age. He is a democrat
and a member of the Reformed Church. Mr. and
Mrs. Frederick Ackerman were among the charter
members of the German Reformed Church or the Ceylon
Church in Vermilion Township. Besides the
Ackermans other charter members were Mr. and Mrs.
John Reiber, Mr. and Mrs. Gottlieb Knott, Sr.,
Mr. and Mrs. Adams Hast, Sr.,
Mr. and Mrs. Bernart Koch, Mr. and Mrs. George Knoch,
Mr. and Mrs. WErner Kishman, Mr. and Mrs. Christian
Hauff, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Knittel, Mr. and Mrs. Martin
Wenzel. Mr. and Mrs. Martn Ackerman, Mr. and Mrs.
George Schaub, Mr. and Mrs. Christ Huttenloeker, and Mr.
and Mrs. Henry Bickle. Frederick Ackerman was
also a man of no little prominence in his community.
He served for a number of years as township trustee of
Vermilion Township, and was a man whose influence could
be counted upon steadily to assist in every movement for
the local welfare.
Henry Ackerman, who was the oldest of four sons
and three daughters, Henry, Bertha, Carrie, Louis,
Martin, William and Catherine, all of whom
are now married. He was still a small boy when he
came to Vermilion Township, and he grew up there and
acquired his education in the public schools. When
quite young he set out on his own account and not many
years later was able to buy the farm where he now lives,
a beautiful place of fifty-five acres, all highly
improved, and productive of regular and bountiful crops.
Among other improvements he has a large barn on a
foundation 30x74 feet, furnishing ample facilities for
grain storage and stock. His home is an attractive
twelve room residence, situated within a mile of
Mittewanga Park, in which neighborhood his wife owns
some valuable property.
Mr. Ackerman married a neighbor girl,
Catherine Reiber who was born on the old Reiber
homestead in Vermilion Township Jan. 24, 1868, and
was reared and educated in that community. She has
been a most capable home maker, and has always looked
well after the duties of her household. She is a
daughter of John and Catherine (Gundlach) Reiber.
Both her parents were born in Kurhessen, Germany.
They came when young people. Miss Gundlach
only ten years of age to America, making the voyage by
sailing vesel between Bremen and New York, and
their respective families established homes in Milan
Township of Erie County. Here they met and married
and after marriage Mr. and Mrs. Reiber worked
industriously and by much labor and self denial acquired
a good home and reared their children in comfort.
They located in Vermilion Township in 1867, and the
Reiber homestead in time was a fine improved estate
of sixty acres, known as the Brundage Farm,
and still later they bought a fine home of fifty acres
on the lake shore. This Mr. Reiber improved
with a fine lot of buildings and there he passed away
Aug. 14, 1901, at the age of sixty-five. His widow
is still living, and on June 6, 1915, celebrated her
seventieth birthday. As already stated, she and
her husband were charter members of the Ceylon German
Reformed Church, in which he held the most of trustee
for a number of years. They had the following
children: Bertha Catherine, John H., Mary,
Elizabeth, Tena, Carl, Anna (deceased).
Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman are leading people in all
the activities of their home community. They
attend and support the Reformed Church at Mittewauga, in
which he has served for a number of years as trustee,
and in politics he is one of the leading democrats of
the community, being now township central committeeman.
He also served as township assessor and one term as
township trustee.
Source: The Standard
History of Erie County, Ohio - Published 1916 - Page
1120 |
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JAMES ANDERSON.
It is a grateful distinction to have spent three
quarters of a century in one community, and when those
years have been filled with worthy accomplishment and
with that old-fashioned spirit of loving kindness, such
a career becomes one deserving of admiration and worthy
of perpetuation in any history of a county in which it
has been spent. Seventy-six years of the lifetime
of James Anderson has been spent in Huron
Township of Erie County, and his home has been on his
present farm in section 22, two miles east of the
Village of Huron, on a beautiful site overlooking the
broad expanse of Lake Erie, since 1839. More than
the psalmist's span of years have given him a host of
associations and memories that make this locality for
him "the fairest part of the world." His has been
both a useful and honorable career. Within the
lines of normal but concentrated business activity he
has won the prosperity that is most men's ambition, and
with admiration for his capabilities in business affairs
his fellow citizens also commend his fine integrity and
his valuable citizenship. And the honor and credit
that go to him are also shared by his good wife, whose
life has had special distinctions of its own, and who is
one of the true noblewomen of Erie County.
James Anderson was three years of age
when his family located in this section of Erie County
and of the 150 acres acquired by his father only thirty
were in an improved condition. A log house, long since
disappeared, occupied the site, and there was a frame
barn 30 by 40 feet which is still standing and is one of
the old landmarks along the lake shore. A portion
of the 150 acres was in Berlin Township. All this
land descended to James Anderson, who now
owns 250 acres, and it comprises one of the most
beautiful farms to be found anywhere along the shores of
Lake Erie. For a distance of 1,800 feet the farm
borders on the lake shore, and in that state is found
one of the finest bathing beaches in Northern Ohio,
bearing the name by which the farm is also known:
Lake View. As a country home Lake View has
manifold attractions. Around the house is a broad
expanse of lawn and shade trees, with a beautiful hedge
of honeysuckle and many climbing rose vines. Mr.
Anderson put up a modern residence in 1880,
following the destruction by fire on July 4 of that year
of the large brick home which his father had constructed
in 1854. The home is only part of a beautiful
setting such as no description can well overdraw.
But the distinguishing character of these beautiful
material surroundings is the spirit and atmosphere lent
by seventy-five years of continuous occupation by the
Anderson family. No name means so much
in Erie County as an expression of that kindly faith,
rugged honesty and stability of character which are the
most noteworthy assets of any community, than that of "Uncle"
James Anderson, a title of affection which
descended to him from his father, who was also known by
the pioneers as Uncle James Anderson.
James Anderson, whose father was a
Scotchman and his mother an English woman, was born in
the Surrey district of England Jan. 25, 1836.
Though now rapidly approaching the age of four score he
is still vigorous and a remarkable exponent of the
rational and simple life. He has an unfaded memory
and within the last two years has made several trips out
over the state and has spent the winter in Florida.
His parents were James and Sarah (Baden) Anderson.
His father was born in Perthshire, Scotland, at
Clackmannon Oct. 7, 1798. The mother was born in
Dorking near London, England, Oct. 20, 1802. The
Anderson clan was one of distinction in
Scotland and for generations its representatives have
dignified their clanship. James Anderson, Sr.,
was married at Dorking in Surrey, and before leaving the
old country two children were born. One of
them a daughter, Sarah, was born in February,
1837. Not long after that the little family
took passage on the sailing vessel Manchester which
after seven weeks on the ocean landed them in New York
City. Thence they proceeded up the Hudson River,
across New York State by the Erie Canal to Buffalo and
then on the lake boat Reindeer to Huron. The
senior Anderson left his little
family at Huron and set out prospecting for a new home.
He went to Mansfield, Ohio, which was then a leading
market and popular center but his investigations did not
satisfy him. In the course of this prospecting he
kept in mind the advice of the captain of the Reindeer,
who told Mr. Anderson that good land could
be found in the vicinity of Huron. Such a
location would have many obvious advantages,
particularly on account of its convenience to Huron as a
market point. Mr. Anderson, Sr.,
was a man of some means and was thus enabled to give a
great deal of consideration to the matter of choice of a
future home, one which would fulfill his ideals.
After much search he located the place above described,
and in that choice made no mistake, since it was his own
happy home for many years and is still the cherished
seat of the Anderson family in Erie
County. After making his location James
Anderson, Sr., went to work with the vigor
characteristic of his nature, and in time cleared up and
improved a splendid farm. He was a fine type of
the early pioneer, attended to his business, prospered,
and at the same time was a sympathetic and kindly
neighbor and a sterling and most upright citizen.
He was a man of influence in local affairs, and in
political matters not only adopted those principles
which made Northeastern Ohio such a stronghold for the
Union, but also impressed his belief and ideals upon his
neighbors. From the very beginning of the
republican party he was one of its stanch advocates and
loyally supported its platform of principles, which he
lived to see triumph by force of the Union army.
He was one of the leading early Presbyterians of his
community, and in 1854 assisted in organizing the
Presbyterian Church in Huron, was one of its first
elders, served in various official capacities, and gave
liberally for the support of the church. James
Anderson, Sr., met an accidental death on
Oct. 5, 1866. He was driving a span of young
horses attached to a wagon loaded with barrels.
One of the barrels was dislodged from its position,
rolled down and struck one of the horses, frightening
them to a runaway. Mr. Anderson fell
and the wagon passed over his head, and he died a few
hours later. His widow survived him ten
years, and passed away in the Centennial year of 1876.
She was well fitted to bear the responsibilities of
pioneering in a new country, gave character to their
early home, and was a devoted mother and greatly loved
throughout her community. To their union, after
they came to America, were born two sons. Thomas
was born in 1843 and died the same year, while John
was born in December, 1846, and died in the following
year. The only daughter, Sarah, died in
May, 1863. a few months after her marriage to
Marcellus Atherton.
In 1863 James Anderson, Jr., was married at
Huron to Miss Miranda Bartlett. She was
born in Fairport, Ohio, Apr. 14, 1837, grew up in Ohio,
was educated in the schools of that time, and
represented a fine old family. One of her
ancestors was a signer of the Declaration of
Independence, and she was also related to the noted
Toombs family of Georgia, one of whom was
Senator Toombs, prominent as a whig senator in
the United States Congress before the war and
subsequently one of the leaders of the Southern
Confederacy. Mrs. Anderson, who died
many years ago, was the mother of five children. Sarah
is the wife of Charles Seth Brown, proprietor and
manager of the Standard Advertising Magazine of Chicago,
and well known in the field of advertising; they have a
family of one son and one daughter. The daughter,
Matie A., who is unmarried and lives at the
Anderson home, is a well educated woman and
until recently has been active in her profession as a
nurse. Carrie I. is the wife of M. H.
Laylin, a prominent railroad man of Massilon, being
assistant trainmaster and superintendent of motive power
for the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway. James
Corbin, the only living son, lives at Cleveland,
where he is purchasing agent for the E. W. Fisher
wholesale plumbing house; he is married and has one son
and two daughters, the son being James
Anderson, Jr., and it is noteworthy that this
is the twelfth James in the successive lineage of
the Anderson family. Burton Baden,
the youngest child of James Anderson, was
killed at the age of seventeen by the discharge of a gun
while he was getting upon a wagon; he was at that time
attending high school.
On June 7, 1887, Mr. James Anderson married
Miss Mary Davey, who is one of the
best know-n women of Erie County. Mrs.
Anderson is noteworthy not only for the beauty of
her face but also for the fine texture of mind and
heart, and has a cherished place in the affections of
many who were at one time her pupils when she was
engaged in educational work. Miss Davey
was born in Huron County, Ohio, near Milan, in 1848.
She comes of sturdy stock, of the class which gave to
the Middle West many of its strong men and women.
Her father, John Davey, was born in
Cornwall, England, Oct. 7, 1818, and was a descendant of
Sir Humphrey Davey. In early manhood he
came to the United States, located in Ohio, and was
married at Castalia in Erie County to Miss Elizabeth
Palmer. She was of New England ancestry and
was born Dec. 18, 1822, at Chenango, New York, and when
ten years of age came with her family to Erie County,
Ohio. She was a daughter of James and Amy (Ackhorn)
Palmer. James Palmer was born in
New York State, of Scotch-Irish stock, while his wife
was of German parentage. After coming to Erie
County James Palmer and wife spent their
lives near Castalia, where he was a hotel man, and also
a skilled mechanic. After their marriage John
and Elizabeth Palmer spent most of their lives on a
farm near Milan, where he died at the age of sixty-five,
and she passed away at the age of eighty-three in the
home of her daughter, Mrs. Anderson.
Mrs. Anderson grew up in this part of
Northern Ohio, and was well educated in the public
schools and in Normal School. She began teaching
at the age of fifteen, and spent eighteen years of her
life in that noble profession, largely in Erie County.
Her work has left many indelible influences for good
upon the lives of those whom she helped to train.
Mrs. Anderson also developed her artistic
taste, was for several years engaged in artistic work,
and has more than a local reputation as an artist with
the brush, and has more than ordinary skill and style as
a writer. Many of her old pupils keep in close
touch with her, and almost every year there are
gatherings, usually at some picnic resort, where Mrs.
Anderson once more presides over a company of her
former pupils and renews the many pleasing associations
of their earlier relationship. She naturally takes
great pleasure in the fact that some of her former
scholars have attained prominence in the professions and
in politics. In her position as head of the
Anderson home she has done much to enrich its
associations with the cultured life of Northern Ohio.
Mrs. Anderson has interested herself in
the work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in
Erie County, and has also been a prominent member of the
Patrons of Husbandry, being past master of both the
Berlin Heights and the Huron Granges. She has also
performed a valuable service as Government crop reporter
for some years, and has filled the position of assistant
steward of the State Grange. She is now secretary
of the Board of County Visitors, Mr. and Mrs.
Anderson are prominent members of the Presbyterian
Church at Huron, in which Mr. Anderson for
a number of years held the office of elder, until
declining health and the burden of years made it
necessary for him to retire. He has always been an
active republican and has voted at nearly all the
elections since the formation of that party.
This sketch should not be closed without mention of
another member of the Anderson family
circle. This is Eberhardt Liebermann,
who has for more than forty years lived at the
Anderson place, is looked upon as one of the
family, had helped to rear children and grandchildren,
and all love him as a real kinsman. He was born in
Wuertemberg, Germany, about seventy years ago, and came
to the United States when about twelve years of age.
Source: The Standard History of Erie County, Ohio
- Published 1916 - Page 482 |
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LEVI ARNOLD. The
following sketch contains the important facts in the
life and family record of a former Erie County citizen
whose name always stood for all that is honest and of
good report in this community, for successful thrift and
business integrity, and for a position which all must
respect. The Arnold family has been
identified with Erie County since pioneer days, the
early generation having made homes out of the wilderness
and the late Levi Arnold himself was a product of
a log cabin home and a log schoolhouse, but like many
ohters of that generation apparently suffered little
handicap in a life of abundant prosperity and civic
usefulness.
At the old Arnold home in Milan Township Levi
Arnold passed away Dec. 19, 1900, in his
sixty-eighth year. He was born in Ashtabula, Ohio,
Mar. 6, 1833, a son of Ira and Eliza (Harrison)
Arnold His father was born near Lake
Champlain, New York, and was reared in the home of a
well-to-do uncle in Northeastern, N. Y. In that
same locality his wife was born and reared, and after
their marriage there they moved west to Ohio about 1830.
They located on a tract of new land in Ashtabula County,
spent several years in a log cabin home, but after
effecting some improvements on their first farm they
sold out and located in Knox County, Ohio, and still
later came to Erie County, this being in about 1840.
Their first location was near Union Corners in Milan
Township, and there the children received most of their
school advantages. Later the family moved to
Spears Corners in the same township, and a year later
the parents moved to Oxford Township, where the father
purchased his last farm and home. He died there
when seventy years of age, and the mother attained the
venerable age of ninety-three. Both stood high in
their community, were loved and respected, and came to a
serene old age. In spite of her advanced years the
mother continued smart and active all her days, was a
great talker, and members of the younger generation
delighted to hear her stories of early times in Ohio.
She was very domestic, and for many years rarely left
her own home and fireside. She and her husband
were both members of the Spiritualist faith. Their
children were: Mary who died unmarried at
the age of twenty-four; Levi; Spencer, now
deceased, who served as a soldier in the Union army and
for a time was on guard duty at Johnson's Island, and is
survived by one daughter; Phoebe Ann, who died
when a child; Norman, who is now living in
Eastern Ohio and has a family of sons and daughters.
The late Levi Arnold grew up and received his
education in Milan Township. He was a small boy
when the family came to this county, and on reaching his
majority he made choice of farming as his regular
vocation. He bought over 100 acres of land in
Oxford Township prior to his marriage and during the
Civil war time. Subsequently he sold this and for
a few years was a renter. He then bought his
permanent home on the Milan Road near the Village of
Avery, containing eighty-two acres of well situated and
fertile land. Here he and his wife not long
afterward took up a special industry of growing
strawberries. At one time he had about twenty-five
acres in this crop, and many carloads of splendid fruit
shipped over Ohio and other states came from the
Arnold farm. During the season there were
frequently between 150 and 200 people engaged in picking
the berries, and a day's yield was not infrequently as
high as 300 bushels. Mr. Arnold laid the
basis of the substantial fortune as a pioneer strawberry
grower. He also conducted general farming as a
pioneer strawberry grower. He also conducted
general farming operations, getting large crops of grain
and in later years planted a considerable acreage in
potatoes. The material improvements which he
effected on the place are still in evidence. They
comprise large barns, other buildings for the shelter of
tools and implements and the storage of crops, and a
commodious two-story twelve-room house, with basement
under all and with every modern convenience. For
many years Mr. Arnold served as a director
in the County Fair Association, and the pick of his
fields was frequently exhibited at local fairs. In
politics he was a strong republican.
In 1858, at Spears Corners, he married Rachel
Everitt. Mrs. Arnold was born at Spears
Corners June 12, 1839, grew up and received her
education there and her entire life has been spent in
Erie County. when only fifteen years of age she
was given charge of a school and continued teaching four
years. She proved a most capable helpmate to her
husband, and deserves a large share of the credit for
the upbuilding of the farm and the abundance which
rewarded the efforts of herself and husband, and
deserves a large share of the credit for the upbuilding
of the farm and the abundance which rewarded the efforts
of herself and husband. She has proved her ability
as an independent manager of this fine farm since the
death of her husband. Mrs. Arnold is a
daughter of David and Abigail (Sweasey) Everitt,
both of whom were born in New Jersey, and after their
marriage and in the early '30s came to Erie County,
Ohio. Her father was a blacksmith by trade and had
one of the early shops at Spears Corners. Some
years later, about 1855, he bought a good farm in Huron
Township, and that was the scene of his alter years.
He was eight-six when he died and had been hale and
hearty up to the last. In politics he was a
republican. His wife lived to be seventy-six.
While they belonged to no church, they were people of
the finest quality of morality and most helpful members
of the community. In their family of thirteen
children one son and six daughters reached maturity,
married and had children of their own. Mrs.
Arnold has one living sister, Mrs. Abbie A.
Rowley, who lives at Lorain, Ohio, and has a son,
Allison Rowley, superintendent of the steel works.
To the marriage of Levi Arnold and wife were
born five children named Harold and Dorothy.
Charles Arnold, who has also attained prominence in
educational circles, is a graduate of the State
University at Columbus, has taken post-graduate work in
Harvard University, and is now professor of mathematics
at the University of Ohio; he married Leora
Burrington, and their daughter, Helen, is now
eleven years of age. The two other children,
Iva and Frank, both died young. Mrs. Arnold
and family attend the Presbyterian Church and her
husband was also regular in his worship in the same
denomination. For a number of years both Mr.
and Mrs. Arnold were active members of the Milan
Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry.
Source: The Standard History of Erie County,
Ohio - Published 1916 - Page 1068 |
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WILBERT H. ARNOLD.
Specialty farming is the vocation of Wilbert H.
Arnold, one of the most progressive of Erie County's
agriculturists. While he has paid attention to the
general farm crops, he is a farmer on the diversified
and intensity plan, growing crops on the fields, raising
stock to consume farm products , and also keeping a fine
herd of Holstein dairy cattle which contributes no small
amount of the revenue derived from the Arnold farm.
Mr. Arnold has two farms, one of them at Avery,
known as the homestead farm, and the other Corn King
farm of eighty acres near Milan. One of his
specialties is the raising of fine seed corn, and that
has given the name of the Corn King farm near Milan.
The product of this farm has served to seed many
thousands of acres of corn land, not only in Ohio, but
in other states. The homestead farm contains
eighty-two acres. Both are excellently improved
with buildings and are in the host of condition as to
fencing, drainage and general fertility. The
Avery farm has a barn 36 by 80 feet and other
building improvements, while the Corn King farm has a
barn 26 by 56 feet with a large amount of space devoted
to the care and storage of the seed corn. His
crops include practically all the staples of Northern
Ohio, and for a number of years he has grown potatoes on
a somewhat extensive scale. Among his stock he
feeds a large number of hogs.
Representing some of the best family stock in Erie
County, Wilbert H. Arnold was born at Avery in
Milan Township, Apr. 8, 18864. He grew up in that
locality, obtained his education at the country schools
and in the Milan Norman, and early in life chose farming
as his general vocation. He has known all the
people in that section of Erie County since he was a
boy, and his own work and achievements have been such as
to gain him the thorough respect of a wide circle of
acquaintances and friends. For the past twenty-two
years he has lived in Milan, and now occupies a handsome
twelve-room house in that village. Mr. Arnold
was the fourth son of Levi and Rachel M. (Everett)
Arnold, referred to the life of Levi
Arnold, found on other pages.
In Milan, Wilbert H. Arnold married Miss
Louise C. Lockwood who was born in Milan Village,
May 9, 1868, received her education here and at Buffalo,
New York, and has practically spent her life in this one
locality. Her parents are Stephen A. and Sarah
(Lockwood) Lockwood, one of the best known families
of Erie County. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold have
two children. Harold L. was born Dec. 21,
1897, has been a student in the Milan High School and is
still at home. Dorothy Louise, born Sept.
4, 1899, is now in the freshman class of the Milan High
School. Mrs. Arnold and her daughter are
members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Arnold
is second reader in the Christian Science Church at
Norwalk. Politically he is a republican, and has
given some capable service to the community as a member
of the school board.
Source: The Standard History of Erie County,
Ohio - Published 1916 - Page 1035 |
NOTES:
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