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BIOGRAPHIES
 Source:
1798
PIONEER and GENERAL HISTORY of
GEAUGA COUNTY
with
SKETCHES OF
some of the Pioneers and Prominent Men.
Published by
The Historical Society of Geauga County,
1880
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Newbury -
ARAD WAY.
The subject of the following sketch, son of James
and Sarah Lewis Way, was born at Plymouth, Litchfield county,
Connecticut, Dec. 20, 1776 and was one of a large and long-lived family.
He came as blacksmith with a colony to Canfield, Trumbull county, Ohio,
in 1800. Among this company was General Elijah Wadsworth and
Matthew Steele, his future father-in-law.
Esther Steele, his wife, whose paternal
grandmother was a sister of Noah Webster, was born in Cornwall,
Connecticut, Aug. 18, 1784, and came to Canfield with her father.
They were married in 1802.
Canfield at this time knew no improvements except those
made by the few families that came the year before. There was no
market nearer than Pittsburgh or Georgetown, and many were the journeys
he was obliged to make through the sixty miles of wilderness to reach
the then little villages, that he might procure the necessaries of life
for his family, and the small stock of iron and steel to carry on his
business. His was probably the first blacksmith shop on the
Western Reserve, and he worked here at his trade until Hull's surrender
in the war of 1812, when he volunteerd, made his pistols and
furnished his equipments. He was appointed quartermaster under
Colonel Raine. The good service he rendered his country
is shown in the fact that he was bearer of dispatches to General
Harrison from Sandusky through the Black swamp to Fort Meigs.
After six months' hard service he returned to his family and resumed his
business.
His old account book, now in the possession of his son,
contains the following: "1816, August 11th. Comfort S.
Mygatt, debtor, to iron door for Western Reserve Bank, $25."
In 1817 he removed to Middlebury, now a part of Akron,
and opened a blacksmith shop, putting in a power hammer to do work for
the different parties who tried to make iron from the ore mined in that
vicinity, but the iron was of so poor a quality that the enterprise was
abandoned. This trip-hammer, run by the water of the Cuyahoga, was
without doubt the first enterprise of the kind in Akron, where now we
find all the improvements known to modern methods of making iron.
Thus in a little more than sixty years a single shop with a trip-hammer
is replaced by rolling mills, machine shops and agricultural works the
largest the State can boast. In 1820 he sold out and returned to
Canfield, and carried on his farm and shop. He served three years
as a justice of the peace. In 1826 he came with his wife and
family to Auburn, purchased a farm in the northern part of the township,
on lot five, and here took up again his trade. His account books
show the names of all the early settlers for miles around, and their
jobs of shoeing oxen, making log chains, traps, etc. And when the
infirmities of age had settled upon himself and the wife of his youth,
they still remained upon the "old farm" with their eldest son, loved and
respected by all who knew them.
Mr. Way was made a Mason while living in
Connecticut. He was a charter member of Lake Erie Lodge, No. 3,
Warren, Ohio, and was borne to his last resting place by members of the
fraternity Apr. 1, 1858,* aged eighty-two. Mrs. Way
died October 27, 1857, aged seventy-three years.
Seven children were born to them. Amanda, the eldest,
was born in Canfield, Oct. 30, 1803. She married Hiram
Colton in 1827, and after his decease in 1830 she remained a widow
twelve years, when she married Elijah Bushnel, and was again left
a widow in 1859. She resides in Chardon. Athalia was
born in Canfield, June 11, 1806; married Edmond Spaulding
in 1824; he died in 1847. In 1866 she married John Ford,
and was the second time widowed. She resides in Munson. Lewis
was born in Canfield, Jan. 10, 1810; married Mary Averill
in 1835; she died in 1837, and in 1840 he married Eleanor Johnson,
and resides at the old homestead. Lucius was born in
Canfield, Jan. 27, 1812; married Mary Ann Frazer in
1845: died Apr. 27, 1871, aged fifty-nine years. Sarah was
born in Canfield Sept. 20, 1813, and died June 5, 1817, aged three
years. Elijah Wadsworth was born in Middlebury, Oct.
9, 1818; married Susan Luther in 1849, and resides in
Newbury. Lydia was born in Auburn, Apr. 25, 1827; married
John Barnes in 1845; died May 25, 1852, aged twenty-five
years.
Source:
1798 Pioneer and General History of Geauga County with
Sketches of
some of the Pioneers and Prominent Men. -
Published by
The Historical Society of Geauga County, 1880 - Page 254 |
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Burton -
1833. OBED WARREN WICKS.
The middle name of this man, dates back to the blood of
the revolution, shed on Bunker Hill. General Warren, who
fell in that battle, was an ancestor on the mother's side. His
great-great-grandfather was one of the original settlers at Providence,
Rhode Island, and lived in those dark days when houses were
supposed to be "bewitched." He was captured by the Narragansett Indians
and
burned alive. His wife's father, Edward Ellis, was in the battle of
Bunker Hill,
and recollected seeing Putnam ride back and forth, urging the raw
militia to cross
the neck onto the hill. Mr. Wicks was born in
Halifax, Vermont, Dec.
15, 1786. He emigrated to the Blackriver country in New York, and volunteered in defense of Sackett's Harbor, in the war of 1812. Going to Massachusetts about 1808, he found
Miss Sabra Ellis in Deerfield whom he
married, and
the newly made pair rode to the Blackriver country on horseback. In the
fall
of 1832, he came to Bundysburgh, Ohio, and during the month of March, in
the
following spring, settled on lot 40, in Middlefield, just east of, and
near Abel Cramton's, and was considered a citizen of Burton. He began
clearing the
deep woods, and was helped by his youngest son Obed, in turning the
wilds into
a well-improved farm. From the woods north of Eli Fowler's, the deer had
a
run-way to the south woods - a heavy body of timber lying east of Monroe
Moore's, Jolly's and the Bartholemew's farms. This run-way was about
sixty
rods east of Wick's house, and the beech trees now standing by the
roadside,
were used by the hunters to hang the deer on. One day James
Pierce, from
the
east, went out with John Johnson, who had loaded Caleb
Johnson's
shot-gun
with seven balls. Pierce was no hunter, but took the place assigned him,
to
wait for the deer when started up. Obed, then a boy, who was with the
party,
took the hounds away north, and drove out the deer in a herd. When they
came in sight, along the run-way, Pierce was told to fire. The flash of
the gun
blinded him, and its kick laid him on his back. Getting up, he growled
out
something about his shoulder being broken, but John, at this moment sang
out,
"you've killed a deer." His shoulder was well in an instant, and he ran
to the
fallen animal. He felt extremely proud of the gun that brought down game
at
both ends.
Mr. Wicks left the farm in the care of his son,
Obed,
and was for some time
in the employ of George Boughton. A quiet man, full of stories, and a
smoker,
his pipe will be remembered in that store.
His trips, of 1,000 miles, to visit his sons, at
Council Bluffs, Iowa, were often
made; and on the last round, returning from there the twelfth time, he
stopped
at the call of a Higher Power than that of man. From the wilderness of
Ohio
to the wild prairies of the west, by boat and by river, he went, and
when railroads were built, he took the trains. Returning home, to see his
youngest son,
at Cleveland, he left the cars, on the night of July 3, 1866, and
becoming bewildered, walked off the dock, near the old depot, into the lake, and
was drowned.
The body was found on the 7th, and the writer, then living in Cleveland,
was
called, with S. C. Ford, to identify the remains, which had been placed
in a room
on Water street. Word was immediately sent to his son, Obed, at Burton,
who
came quickly on the sad errand, and returned with the remains, which
were
buried in the cemetery, at Middlefield, on July 10th. He was a generous
man,
and always kind to his family. His wife died Feb. 10, 1837.
Stuteley Wicks - the oldest son, went
with the Pottawattamie Indians, as agent,
to Council Bluffs, and was the first white settler there.
Mansel - the second son, went to the same place,
in 1847, and still lives there. He was one of 'Squire
Benton's converts to the Liberty party, and stood, a first and
fearless advocate of equal rights. He was prominent in the building of
the Union Pacific railroad, and is now quite well off. When here,
he worked at tailoring, over Boughton's store, and could argue,
with his legs crossed, as well as sew, and the boys used to go in and
beg him to tell stories of whaling voyages,
and the sea.
Obed - the youngest son, was born Jan. 11, 1825.
He kept the old farm for many years, and cultivated it in an intelligent
way - reaping profits therefrom. Finally, after having sold, he
located on the place where Ira Hoadley so long lived, on
lot 49, where he now resides. The clearing of this lot was
commenced by Deacon Fabian Beard, who had worked
for 'Squire Law until it was paid for. Obed
has cleared up the swamp part of the farm, which was utilized by hunters
and trappers only, and has made of it a large pasture field.
Probably the biggest day's chopping ever done in this
township was by Obed Wicks. It is remembered by
William P. Russell. Wicks having bought a pair of fine boots
from Russell's father, which were to be paid for in chopping, he started
for the woods at sunrise, chopped until noon, and, without stopping for
dinner, concluded he could finish the job in one day. When night came,
he had cut, split and piled seven cords of stove wood. He was a very
tired youth, but the fact was, the boots were paid for by one day's
work.
Source:
1798 Pioneer and General History of Geauga County with
Sketches of
some of the Pioneers and Prominent Men. -
Published by
The Historical Society of Geauga County, 1880 - Page 579 |
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Chardon -
JUDGES HORACE AND ELI T. WILDER.
Of these honorable gentlemen held in
such high esteem here in the earlier days, there is at hand only a brief
note, clipped from a letter penned by A. L. Tinker, esq., when on
a visit to Red Wing, Minnesota, where they now reside:
"Here live some of your former citizens; citizens whom
your community could ill afford to lose. Here reside the two brothers,
Judges Horace and Eli T. Wilder, both of whom have sat upon the
bench of your judicial district as judges, upright and with unsullied
ermine. Who, acquainted with the bar of Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula
twenty years ago, does not remember them as among the foremost, and in
some respects the foremost of its most able members. What lawyer
of that day can fail to recall the remarkable, "yes", the provoking
accuracy of statement, especially the statement of the testimony which
characterized the professional practice of Eli T. Wilder.
When his opponent misstated the evidence in a case he was promptly
called to order, corrected or rebuked. He has one of those rare
legal minds which goes straight to the point, to the core of the
question, oblivious of all collaterals which tend to darken it.
Who, too, of that vicinity of twenty years ago, does not know Horace
Wilder as the accomplished practitioner and able judge. For
over twenty years Eli T. Wilder has been an honest and most
respected citizen of Red Wing. Esteemed and beloved by her people
for his public and private charities, and is justly prominent in the
State as a jurist, and one of the most, if not the most, active and
influential lay members of the Episcopal diocese. These brothers
live together under the same roof in rare amity and friendship.
With what satisfaction have I witnessed their acts of delicate
fraternal, yet respectful feeling for and towards each other.
Judge Horace is on the outer verge of a ripe and venerable old age.
His health is feeble, but his mind is clear; at times remark ably so.
What a pity that such men are so few. His life is full of years
and honors, of private, if not of public honors. An honored
graduate of honored Yale, for six years an honored judge of the common
pleas, and for a time an honored judge of the supreme court of your
State, and ever and always the finished and conscientious advocate, the
gentleman of noble, engaging and courtly manners, and the man with a
heart that never harbored ill against a human being. To think I
have looked upon that honest and noble face for the last time is indeed
to me most saddening, and when I held his feeble hand in mine I fancied
him singing:
I lift my head to watch the door and ask
If he is come ;
And the angel answers softly
In my home;
"Only a few more shadows
And he will come." |
Source:
1798 Pioneer and General History of Geauga County with
Sketches of
some of the Pioneers and Prominent Men. -
Published by
The Historical Society of Geauga County, 1880 - Page 325
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