Source:
Commemorative Biographical Records
of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio
- Illustrated -
Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.,
1894

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	PHILIP SEEL was born November 24, 1843, on his father's farm in Nassan, Germany, and received his elementary instruction in the public schools of the vicinity.  He afterward took a thorough course of study at a higher institution of learning, and fitting himself for the position of civil engineer, followed that profession for some time in his native land.  In 1870, having saved a good sum of money, he left Germany for America, embarking at Hamburg, on the steamer "Harmonia"  After landing in New York, he pushed Westward to Ohio, and renting a place in Ridgefield township, Huron county, commenced agricultural pursuits.      In 1871 he was united in marriage with Louisa, daughter of Chris Knoll, who was a native of Germany and as an early settler of Ridgefield Township, Huron County.  After his marriage Philip Seel purchased and moved upon a portion of the farm he now occupies, to which he added year by year, and the place is now one of the most valuable in the township.  It is adorned with all modern improvements including a commodious brick residence, and other substantial buildings.  Politically Mr. Seel is a Republican, and has served in various local offices, having been a school director for seventeen years.  The family are all members of the Lutheran Church, and enjoy the esteem of all who know them.  Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Seel, as follows:  Otto W., Amelia, Lydia, and a daughter that died in infancy.  Since the above was written Mr. Philip Seel died November 24, 1892, on  his forty-ninth birthday. Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894
Warren Severance	WARREN SEVERANCE, a worthy member of the Huron county bar, is a native Sandusky county, Ohio, born Oct. 9 1836.  Elisha Severance, his father, was a native of Massachusetts where he received a fair education, and passed his early life.       When a young man Elisha Severance moved to Pennsylvania with his father, and made his home in that State until 1819, when he settled at Milan, Erie Co., Ohio.  In 1830 he located at the site of the present town of Clyde, Sandusky county, and in 1839 came to Peru township, Huron county, where he purchased a farm.  Having learned the trade of cooper in Massachusetts, his time in Peru township, Huron county, where he purchased a farm.  Having learned the trade of cooper in Massachusetts, his time in Peru township was devoted to that in connection with agriculture, working at the trade in winter, and giving his attention to the farm during the remainder of the year until 1853.  In the last mentioned year he removed to Greenfield township and then remained until 1863, when he came to New Haven with his son Warren, with whom he passed the remainder of his days.      On Apr. 28, 1823, Elisha Severance, was united in marriage with Marthan Bangs, and to their union were born children as follows:  Charles F., Lucien (who died young), Clarissa, and Samuel (who died in 1883).  This wife died Aug. 12, 1829, and on May 7, 1831, Mr. Severance wedded Mrs. Phoebe (Tracy) Morgan, of Milan, Ohio, by which marriage were also born four children:  William M., who died in 1883 in Illinois; Byron who died in infancy; Warren, the subject of this memoir; and Byron, who died in infancy; Warren, the subject of this memoir; and Byron (named after the first Byron), a carpenter and joiner of Fairfield township, who died Oct. 7, 1892.  The mother of these children passed away in January, 1879, aged seventy-seven years; she was a daughter of Abel Tracy, of Vermont, in which State she was  born; a Presbyterian from the age of sixteen years to her death, she was always a consistent member of that Church.  Elisha Severance was a Whig before the war, but in 1856 or 1860 joined the Democratic party.  He passed away Oct. 13, 1892, aged ninety-eight years.      The family name was originally Severns, of Norman origin.  The ancestor of the family in America moved from England into Scotland, and came from the latter country to the United States in early Colonial days.  From the genealogy published by Rev. Mr. Severance, of Chicago, we quote:  "While no member of the family has ever arisen to any particular prominence, now have ever put any strain upon the name."  The family are the only representatives of the name in this section of Ohio, but there is a colony of Severances at Severance, Doniphan Co., Kans., while a number of the name make their home in Chicago Illinois.      Warren Severance received in his youth a practical education,and for nine years prior to 1875-76 was an instructor of high repute.  In 1863 he purchased a farm in New Haven township, four miles east of Chicago junction and near New Haven village, which he carried on without taking his attention from his profession of school teacher.  On Feb. 9, 1860, he was married to Philinda Shepard, daughter of Israel Shepard who came from New York to Ohio at an early day, and they have had two children:  Elmer W., born in 1861, who is now in the office of his father, and Clara M., wife of C. A. Weatherford, of Chicago Junction.  In 1876 Mr. Severance was offered inducements by Mr. D. H. Young, a member of the Ohio bar and for thirteen years an insurance agent, to enter the legal profession, which he accepted, entering the office as a partner in the entire business, and for two years he worked in the insurance and real estate office at Chicago Junction.  On Mar. 28, 1878, he was admitted to the bar, at Bucyrus, Ohio, and on June 3, 1880, was admitted to practice in the United States Courts at Toledo, Ohio.  In September, 1878, Mr. Young moved to Norwalk, Ohio, and Mr. Severance assumed full charge of the office.  In 1891 he was appointed local counsel for the Baltimore Ohio Railroad Company, and he has firmly established himself in the confidence of that great corporation by the close attention he gives to their local affairs in this division. Apart from this work, he commands a large and lucrative general practice, and is well and favorably known to the people of Huron and adjoining counties.  He also conducts an important real-estate business.      Mr. Severance was largely instrumental in the organization of the Presbyterian Church here in 1890.  In 1885 he was one of four of the Republican candidates for prosecuting attorney, receiving seventy-seven of the seventy-eight votes required for nomination, and as candidate for the judgeship of the Probate court he also received a very flattering support.  Almost forty-two years old when admitted to the bar, his success is marvelous, if not phenomenal.  His knowledge of the people and the universal respect and esteem in which he was held played an important part in the issue; but this alone, without the actual ability which he possesses to an unusual degree, would be of little use in a battle for precedence among the lawyers of this section, and Mr. Severance may well be proud of the brilliant record which he has made. Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 318 * See Obituary
	GEORGE SHEFFIELD, formerly of New London, Conn., was born April 4, 1786.  In the summer of 1809 he came on horseback to Ohio as far as the month of the Huron river, returning the same way the following autumn.      He followed his trade (shipbuilding) till the beginning of the war of 1812.  When the British frigate "Macedonia" was captured by Commodore Decatur, Mr. Sheffield was a member of the Home Guards.  Early in the winter of 1813 he married Betsey, daughter of the late Abishai Woodward, of New London, and on November 18, 1814, a son, George Woodward, was born.  In June, 1816, George Sheffield left Connecticut with his wife and son in a one-horse chaise, his brother, J. B. Sheffield, boy, Orrin Harris, and man with team following.  At Dunkirk, N. Y., the family boarded a schooner, and after an uneventful voyage landed at Huron, Ohio, some time in the following August.  On his land on the west bank of Old Woman creek he built a log house, where the daughter, Betsey, was born in September.  Soon after, the place being very unhealthy, the family moved to Huron, where Mrs. Sheffield died on the 18th of the following November.  The next spring Mr. Sheffield moved to Lyme township, where he, was his brothers-in-law, William and Gurdon Woodward, kept bachelors' hall for two years, during which time they were preparing separate homes.  In 1819 Mr. Sheffield, for his second wife, married Thurza Baker, daughter of John Baker of Strong's Ridge.  In 1820 he was elected to the office of justice of the peace.  In February, 1822, his house was burned, and in it his little daughter, Betsey, and the boy, Orrin Harris, together with all the household goods.  His neighbors gave him all assistance within their power.  About 1823 Mr. Sheffield sold his land in Eldridge township (now Berlin) to Daniel Benschooter.  In 1825 or 1826 he was appointed to appraise the "Firelands" for taxation.  In the autumn of 1831 he was elected treasurer of Huron county, moving to Norwalk, and he served in that capacity until his death.  On August 20, 1834,  Mrs. Sheffield was seized with cholera, and died that night; Mr. Sheffield was taken with the same disease, and died on the 23rd - three days later.  There were five children of the second marriage, viz.: James King, who died at the age of four; Betsey; James Frederick; Sarah T. and Edward.      On June 14, 1846, George Woodward Sheffield married Lucy, daughter of Gurdon and Mary S. Woodward,  of which union there were seven children, viz.: Mary, who married Henry G. Bramwell, formerly of Bellevue (they now live in Lincoln, Ill.); George, who died in 1884 (he married Mary Gertrude, daughter of the late Judge Joel Parker, of Cambridge, Mass.); Rachel, deceased in 1885; Julia, married to Ezra R. Oliver, of Norwalk; James, married to Fannie A., daughter of Samuel Bemiss, of Strong's Ridge; and Lucy and Gurdon, the latter of whom died in infancy.  Mrs. Sheffield died in 1865.  Mr. Sheffield still lives upon his farm two miles south of Bellevue, on the Western boundary of the "Firelands." Source:   Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 248
	F. M. SHEPHERD, whose name is as "familiar as household words" in the agricultural community of Wakeman township and surrounding country, is a native of Ohio, born July 4, 1844, in Lorain county, near Wellington, on the old homestead settled by his father.      Samuel Shepherd (grandfather of our subject) and his wife Rachel (Taylor) came from England to America and made a new home in what is now Belmont county, Ohio, being among the first settlers to commence farming in the then wild woods of the "Far West," bears, deer, panthers and other wild animals being numerous. They reared a family of eleven children, of whom are yet living James, in Barry county, Mich., and Mary, in Hendrysburg, Belmont Co., Ohio.  Grandfather Shepherd, in 1822, then in his fiftieth year, was killed by a falling tree near where the town of Piedmont, Harrison Co., Ohio, now stands.  He was a Whig in politics, and in religious faith a Quaker, as was also his wife.      JOHN SHEPHERD (father of F. M.), eldest son of Samuel Shepherd, was born in April, 1812, in Brandywine, Md., and when a twelve-year-old boy was taught the trade of shoemaker in Flushing, Ohio, following same in Hendrysburg, same State, several years.  On Aug. 4, 1838, he married in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, Jemima Organ, and for about four years thereafter they remained in that county, at the end of which time they came to Wellington township, Lorain county, settling on a farm of fifty acres, situated four and one half miles southwest of the village of Wellington, this farm being paid for out of savings from his shoemaking business.  There were in those days neither roads or near neighbors, naught but apparently insurmountable difficulties; but bravely did these pioneers hew out a home for themselves and future generations.  A family of six children were born to them in this wilderness, namely:  Jessie, Mary and Emanuel, all three now deceased, the first named dying in Tuscarawas county, the others in Wellington, Ohio; Lydia, in Tuscarawas county, Ohio; Manuel W., now residing on the old homestead in Spencer township, Medina county, and F. M.  The father died in August, 1890, the mother in 1889.  John Shepherd was a member of the Methodist Church for twelve years in early life, but from that time to the day of his death was associated with the United Brethren Society; politically he was originally a Whig, later a Republican.      F. M. Shepherd, whose name introduces this sketch, received a fair education at the common schools of his native township, and assisted on his father's farm until he was eighteen years old, at which time, Sept. 16, 1862, he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-fourth O. V. I., under Capt. Bullock of Elyria, Col. Oliver H. Payne commanding the regiment.  He was mustered in at Cleveland, Ohio, and honorably discharged July 9, 1865, at Nashville, Tenn., after a service of nearly three years.  He participated in the engagements at Fort Donelson, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Resaca, Buzzard's Roost, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, New Hope Church, Atlanta, Jonesborough, Franklin, Nashville, and many skirmishes between Chickamauga and Atlanta, terminating with the surrender of Hood's army.  Our subject was wounded in the fight at Dalton, and was reported "dead," but after three months confinement in hospital was again reported, this time "convalescent."  For services at that battle he was promoted from private to sergeant.  On his return home from the war he resumed farm life, buying for himself a place of forty-seven acres in the southeast corner of Wakeman township, Huron county, to which he afterward added twenty-seven acres lying to the west of it, and forty acres in Clarksfield township.  Here he has since been actively and successfully engaged in general farming, dairying and stock raising.  He has cut from the timber on his farms 4,000 cords of wood for the railroad, and made 300 pounds of sugar from the maple trees in the immediate vicinity of the house.  He has also made many substantial improvements on the property, and in 1881 built a comfortable dwelling and commodious outbuildings.      On Feb. 25, 1866, our subject was married to Miss Permelia A. Clifford, daughter of George Clifford, the first male white child born in Wellington township, and who has lived his entire life on a portion of the Clifford farm.  Children as follows were born to this union:  Three deceased in infancy and Edith A., a school teacher, living at home.  In his political preference our subject is a Prohibition-Republican, and has held various township offices.  Since he was seventeen years old he has been a member of various denominations.      M. W. SHEPHERD is now living on the old farm near where the subject of the sketch was born, and is engaged in farming and the production of honey, being the possessor of a large number of colonies of bees.  He made a trip to California in 1891, and while there made the care of bees a specialty, and upon returning home settled down to spend the rest of his days.      The maternal grandfather and great-grandfather of F. M. and M. W. Shepherd were soldiers in the Revolutionary army, the great-grandfather giving his life in defense of his country at the battle of Bunker Hill, being torn to pieces by a cannon ball while standing beside his son; the last words he uttered were "God bless my country!"  The paternal grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812, and an uncle was one of Scott's soldiers during the war with Mexico; he was badly wounded at the battle of Monterey; was at the storming of the City of Mexico, and was paid one hundred thousand dollars for previously entering the city as a spy for the American troops. Source:   Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 119
	JOHN SHEPHERD - See F. M. SHEPHERD Source:   Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 119
	M. W. SHEPHERD - See F. M. SHEPHERD Source:   Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 120
	JOSEPH SHERCK Source:   Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 473
	JOHN G. SHERMAN was born in Wakeman township, Huron Co., Ohio, Nov. 11, 1830.  His father, Justin Sherman, was one of the first settlers in Wakefield county, and a descendant, in direct line, of Hon. Samuel Sherman, who came from Dedham, County of Essex, England, in 1634.      The entire life of our subject was spent on the farm where he was born. His early years were devoted to the usual round of duties of a farmer boy, and a few months each year spent in the district school furnished him "good enough" education for a full-fledged farmer.  In the spring of 1851 he married Miss Julia Beecher, daughter of Cyrenius Beecher, an early settler of Florence township, Erie Co., Ohio, and began farm life in earnest.  After six years of labor together, Mrs. Sherman died from an attack of dropsy, leaving her husband and one daughter to mourn her early death.  In 1858 Mr. Sherman married, for his second wife, Miss Elizabeth D. Miller, daughter of John Miller a substantial farmer in New London township, Huron county, she taking up the household duties and the care of the daughter who had lost a mother's devotion.  This union resulted in the birth of one son and two daughters, who, with the exception of one daughter, together with Mrs. Sherman survive Mr. Sherman, who died May 27, 1893, from the effects of heart disease.      In the active years of his life Mr. Sherman was successful as a farmer.  Crops well cultivated; stock well bred and cared for; farm implements housed when not in use - in short everything done in season and in first-class order - formed the elements of his success.  He was a close observer, a great reader of farm publications as well as the current news, and endeavored to keep well informed on all matters pertaining to his occupation as well as the political, social and religious news of the day.  He gave more or less attention to local and State politics; was frequently a delegate to conventions, notably to the Republican National Convention at Philadelphia in 1872, to renominate President Grant.  Social in a high degree, he enjoyed the esteem of a large acquaintance.  Religious, with a deep sense of duty, the outgrowth of an early experience and training, he was for years an active member of the Congregational Church at Wakeman, and one of its deacons at the time of his death.  For years he took great interest in its Sunday-school, and assisted in its work as superintendent and teacher, ever giving it liberal support.  During all his years of farm life with its demands, he always found time to entertain friends or enjoy a day with his family at social gatherings.  At the close of day, for over thirty-five years, he recorded in his diary his failures or successes; the condition of the weather; the crops, when in season, and all the events that go to make up a family history.  More notable, possibly, was the service he rendered for over fifteen years as newspaper reporter.  On more than one occasion did he take down, in long hand, a verbatim report of political speech, or testimony given in court, and mail to paper for publication without rewriting.  His crop and weather reports were regularly mailed for many seasons.      In domestic life Mr. Sherman was a devoted husband and father - temperate, attentive to all home duties, thorough in his undertakings, economical, yet given to acts of kindness and deeds of charity. Source:   Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 103
	JOHN N. SIMMONS son of the above, was born Aug. 28, 1842, in Greenfield township, Huron Co., Ohio, of which locality he is a prominent farmer and stock grower.      His education was received in the district schools of the neighborhood, his attendance thereat being confined to a few months in winter time.  He commenced farming under the direction of his father, on the same farm which he now owns and resides upon, and remained with his parents until Aug. 28, 1863, when he enlisted, at Sandusky, in Company M, O. V. H. A., joining his command at Loudon, Tenn.  He served through Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama, and at the close of the war returned home to Huron county, where he commenced agricultural pursuits on his father's farm in Greenfield township, renting same for ten years.  On Sept. 30, 1868, Mr. John M. Simmons was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth A. Richards, who was born on Norwich township, daughter of John Richards, who came to Huron county with his parents in 1816.  To Mr. and Mrs. Simmons has come one child, George B., born Aug. 7, 1869, who resides with his father on the home farm.      In September, 1875, Mr. Simmons purchased his present farm, where he has since made his home, following general farming and stock growing.  He is practical and systematic, and has made a decided success in agriculture.  Politically he is a Republican, and his ideas here considerable weight in the local council of that party.  He has filled various township offices.  An outspoken, sincere man, he has hosts of friends who know, understand and admire him for his many sterling qualities.  He does not affiliate with any religious body, but takes the Golden Rule for his guide. Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 102
	A. B. SMITH, the courteous and efficient postmaster at Bellevue, was born Mar. 25, 1840, in Cleveland, Ohio.  His grandfather and father were both natives of New York, the former born of Holland-Dutch ancestry.      William T. Smith, father of subject was married to Frances L. Smith a native of Connecticut, and they had children as follows:  Oliver, Henry, A. B., Geo. e., F. W., Frances M., and Chas. A.  In 1835 William T. Smith established a shoe business in Cleveland, where he became a very prominent citnzen.  Politically he was a member of the Know-Nothing party, and one time, while he was absent from home, he was elected, by his Cleveland friends, a councilman as such, although always a Republican.  He died July 2, 1890; his widow still lives in Cleveland.      A. B. Smith received his education in the public schools of Cleveland, and when the Civil war opened he enlisted, in April, 1861, in the First Ohio Regiment of Light Artillery.  He was in the first battery that left the State after the fall of Fort Sumter, and he took part in the battle of Phillipi, West Va., June 20, 1861.  After the time had expired for which he had enlisted, he reentered the service in 1864, then went to Washington and remained in fortifications until the close of the war, being mustered out as sergeant.  Soon after the war he made a permanent settlement in Bellevue, and engaged in the mercantile business for about ten years.  During Garfield's administration he was appointed postmaster at that place, and served four years; was re-appointed by Harrison in April, 1891, having proved himself a faithful official and an enterprising citizen.  Mr. Smith was married Oct. 7, 1862, to Miss E. A. Lewis, who has borne him four children, viz.: William F., Albert, Frank G. and Mary L. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 364
	CHARLES S. SMITH, a grandson of Joseph Smith, son of Joseph,  was one of the two brothers who came to the United states from Baden, Germany, before his parents and the other members of the family.      Charles S. Smith was educated at the "Center School," in Peru township.  Like the majority of pioneer boys, his youth was passed between school, work and play, all merging into one another so completely that now it is difficult to remember where any one of these three parts in the youth's life began or ended.  When school days were passed forever, the realities of farm life were presented to him, and he worked on the homestead earnestly and faithfully for his father until 1869.  On Apr. 13, 1869, he was married to Miss Mary Ann Hipp, daughter of Andrew Hipp, and a native of Peru township.  The children born to this marriage are named as follows:  Edward P., Clara R. and Anna M.      The members of this family are Catholics of the German School, and their attachment to their Church has ever been noticeable.  Politically Mr. Smith is a Democrat, and is prominent in local party circles.  He has filled several township offices with absolute profit to the people and honor to himself and the township lending to the people in political affairs the same earnestness, honesty of purpose, and intelligence, on which is founded his personal success.  As an agriculturist, he shares, with his brothers, the general esteem in which they are held, and vies with them in his efforts to elevate agricultural life to the high plane which it should occupy.  His farm of 180 acres is a model farm in fact.  Not only is the land fertile in itself, but the methods of cultivation, the system of rotation of crops, and the general care bestowed upon the tract have made it one of the most productive and valuable farms of hits se in northern Ohio.  Mr. Smith also devotes attention to stock growing, and is the owner of many fine-bred cattle, sheep, hogs and horses. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 403
	FRANK J. SMITH, who is a son of Frank and grandson of Joseph Smith, natives of Baden, Germany, was born in Peru township, Huron Co., Ohio.  Frank Smith, father of subject, when a young man left his native land in 1829, accompanied by his brother Joseph and they landed in the United States.  Shortly after the brothers came to Massachusetts, while there concluded to seek a home in the newer country beyond the Alleghany mountains.  They wrote to the father in Baden, telling him of their intentions, and asking him to take his family to New York.      In 1832 the entire family met in that city, and without delay traveled westward via the Hudson river and Erie Canal.  Halting at Cleveland, Ohio, they found that land could be purchased there at eight dollars per acre, but learning that better land at lower prices, could be had farther west, they set out on the journey which ended in Peru township, Huron Co., Ohio.       The incident which urged them to locate here was a common one in the history of the settlement of the western States.  Halting at a spring to drink, they found the water exceptionally cool and clear, the land in the vicinity good, and the location on the ridge, between the sources of the Huron rivers, favorable to health and industry.  The physical features of the country corresponded with their correct ideas of agriculture, and they delayed not in obtaining a title to the land.  They immediately erected a frame building on the west side of the road leading southwest from Monroeville, and there they resided until the death of Joseph Smith (grandfather of subject) and his widow.      Frank Smith, son of Joseph Smith, purchased a tract of land from his father paying six dollars per acre for same.  He married Miss Generosa Ott, and to this union the following named children were born:  Caroline, who died when thirty years old; a son who died in infancy; Frank J., the subject of this sketch; John J., a resident of Bronson township; Charles S., of Peru township; Alvin P., of Fremont, Ohio; Joseph S., of Peru township, and Edward, who died in 1884.  Frank Smith, Sr., was a hardworking, intelligent agriculturist, and a man of fine moral ideas.  He died in 1872.  His widow, a kind, whole souled woman, died in 1888, in the midst of her children, who merited and won success.  Both were interred in St. Alphonsus cemetery.  Mr. Smith was a member of St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, in which he served as trustee and in various other positions.  In politics he was a Democrat, and from 1832 to 1872 took an active interest in national, State and local issues, and filled many township positions.      Frank J. Smith, son of Frank and Generosa (Ott) Smith, was born March 3, 1840, in Peru township, and received such an education as the schools of the district afforded.  Being the eldest son of a pioneer family, no small share of work had to be done by him; but with all this he filled the double role of pupil and farm hand without complaining.  He labored on the homestead farm until 1867, when he married Susannah Scharf, a native of New Washington, Crawford Co., Ohio.  This married was blessed with the following named children:  Frank W. (of California), Mary C., Louisa C., Peter, Julia (a teacher in the convent), Alfred, William, Henry, Jacob, John, Carl, Theresa and Hattie, all residing at home.  The parents and their children are all members of the catholic Congregation of St. Alphonsus, to which faith their ancestors have adhered almost since the Romans named the cradle of the family in Europe - "Civitas Aurelia Aquensis."  In politics Mr. Smith is a Democrat, but beyond matters relating to his township and county, is content with the constitutional right to vote.  He devotes close attention to his agricultural and stock growing interests, and is considered one of the most industrious citizens and one of the most systematic and intelligent farmers of this rich pastoral district.  He is prominent among the people of German descent, and his example and counsel are appreciated by all within the circle of his acquaintance. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 238
	H. A. SMITH - See MAJOR SMITH Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 154
Hiram Smith	HIRAM SMITH.  Banking among the first and best of the early families of Huron county is the Smith family, descended from the New England pioneer, Erastus Smith, and his wife, Fannie (Spencer) Smith.      Hiram Smith, although still superintending, and not actively engaged in farming, is one of Huron county's largest practical farmers and landowners.  He was born in Greenfield township, Huron county, Nov. 21, 1816.  His father, Erastus Smith, was united in wedlock to Fannie Spencer on the 19th day of December, 1805, and of this union were born seven children, viz.:  Martin, Lydia, Truman, Erastus, Lester, Hiram and Henrietta.  At the time of the arrival in this county of Erastus and Fannie Smith there was but one cabin in Greenfield township, and in this Mrs. Smith stayed while her husband built their log cabin.  This brave pioneer woman lived to the great age of ninety-seven years, retaining in a great measure her wonderful mental power up to the time of her death.  Erastus Smith died July 16, 1820.  Hiram Smith and family are owners of 800 acres of finely improved land in Greenfield township, the development of which is almost entirely the result of Mr. Smith's personal energy and resolution in overcoming all obstacles.      In connection with his farming interest he, about the year 1850, engaged in mercantile business at Steuben.  In this pursuit the results of his business sagacity were as apparent as in his farming and stock business.  "Uncle Hi," as he has for many years been popularly addressed, is well and favorably known among the farmers and stock-raisers of Huron county, as his wool and stock buying tended to make his a familiar and welcome figure where his business called him in these pursuits.      Mr. Smith is largely a self-educated man, and an extensive and profound reader.  His views of political and financial affairs, fluently and lucidly enunciated, are eagerly solicited by many who admire and repose confidence in his well-demonstrated judgment in these matters.  Among his most striking characteristic traits is his extreme fondness for children, his residence having been and being the chosen and favorite resort for his grandchildren; his presence and ever-open home preferred by them to that of all others.  His kindness and generosity, extended even to those past the privileges of childhood's claim, is proverbial.     Except as a matter of history, it is needless to state the esteem and confidence Mr. Smith is held in, in a business way.  His honorable career has no blemish, and no man can or does regret any dealing ever entered into with him.  In 1887 Mr. Smith, fully justified in retiring from active life, came to Norwalk, purchasing his present residence on West Main street, a quiet but luxurious home his exemplary life so richly deserves.      Hiram Smith and Polly Rockwell were united in wedlock Dec. 31, 1840; she was the daughter of Thaddeus and Polly Rockwell, then of Greenfield, but formerly of New York State.  To our subject and wife were born six children (of whom five are living), as follows:  Emma Fanette, widow of Harry C. Sturges, residing with her parents; Hiram J., in Steuben, Ohio, who has eight children, seven of whom are living - three daughters and four sons - having lost by death one son, Rollin J.; Henry Dayton, a resident of Washington, who has one child, a son, H. J.; Sarah Frances (deceased); George Rockwell, of Kansas, who has three children - one son and two daughters; and Fannie Eliza (Mrs. Frank Lamkin), living in Norwalk, who has one child, a daughter, Mary Finette.  Mr. Smith's immediate family worship at the Universalist Church, and are esteemed among the best of Norwalk's citizens. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 178
	JOHN SMITH - See JOSEPH SMITH Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 38
	JOSEPH SMITH, one of the most enterprising and prosperous of Huron county's native-born citizens, is senior member of the widely known extensive lumber firm in Norwalk, Smith & Himberger.      JOHN SMITH, father of our subject, was one of the oldest German pioneers of Huron county.  He was born Nov. 19, 1803, in Berns, a little village in the Rhine Province of the Kingdome of Prussia, then known as the Department of the Rhine, of Napoleon I French Empire.  He received a common education in the public schools of the village, and at the age of thirteen commenced his apprenticeship as a tailor.  At the age of twenty he was drafted to served his time in the Prussian army.  On Mar. 6, 1832, he was united in marriage with Maria Glasner, of the same village, born Oct. 20, 1808.  In the spring of 1833 they emigrated to the United States, their destination being Schenectady, N. Y., where they remained two years.  In 1835 they moved farther west, and located in Bronson township, Huron Co., Ohio.  Mr. Smith made the acquaintance of some of the early settlers.  Being a man without much means,  he experienced some very severe struggles, and was forced to seek employment of his neighbors.  In two years he was enabled to buy ten acres of woodland.  His time now was devoted to working for neighboring farmers, clearing his land and building a log hut for himself and family; later on he bought fourteen acres more of land, and replaced the log hut with a larger and better one, which was replaced in about 1846 with the frame building which stands now, and in which he died, Dec. 9, 1893, at the remarkable age of ninety years, after enjoying a long, healthful life, which was only darkened the last five years by total blindness.  His wife preceded him to the grave by a little over eleven years, her death occurring Feb. 13, 1882; if she had lived two weeks longer, they could have celebrated their golden wedding.  Their married life was blessed with ten children - five girls and five boys, viz.: Margurite (I), John, Joseph, Margurite (II), Maria, Louise Minnie, Katharine, Alphonse, Peter and Nick.     Of this family of children the following is a brief record: Margurite (I) was born in Berus, Prussia, Feb. 1, 1833, and died Aug. 15, 1835, in Schenectady, N. Y.  John, born in Schenectady, N. Y., Mar. 22, 1835, learned blacksmithing; he served through the entire Civil war as a volunteer in the Twenty-Fourth O. V. I., receiving an honorable discharge; he made Memphis, Tenn., his home; Nov. 6, 1865, he married Katharine Greh, in Memphis, and one child was born to them; John died July 10, 1877, after two day's illness.  Joseph is the subject proper of this sketch, and special mention of him will presently be made.  Margurite (II) was born Dec. 30, 1838, in Norwalk township, Huron Co., Ohio, and died Aug. 18, 1844.  Maria, born July 10, 1840, in Norwalk township, Huron Co., Ohio, is the wife of George Whitmill, in Michigan.  Louise Minnie, born Jan. 16, 1842, in Norwalk township, Huron Co., Ohio, is the wife of Robert Wetzatine, residing in Norwalk, Ohio.  Katharine, born Dec. 18, 1844, is the widow of Henry Brown, and is living in Peru township, Huron Co., Ohio.  Alphonse, born Aug. 15, 1846, in Norwalk township, Ohio, is a carpenter by trade; he served through the entire Civil war in the Fifty-Fifth O. V. I. under Capt. Wickham; married Sarah Bechler, of Sandusky, Ohio, June 18, 1871, and is living in Norwalk, Ohio.  Peter, born July 13, 1848, in Norwalk township, Huron Co., Ohio, is a farmer in Norwalk township; on Nov. 7, 1871, he married Katharine Zippfel.  Nick, born Mar. 17, 1851, in Norwalk township, Huron Co., Ohio, is a carpenter by trade; he served in the regular army five years, and shortly after his discharge he married, Aug. 10, 1879, Dora Nauer, of Cincinnati, Ohio; he is now residing in Norwalk.       Joseph Smith, whose name introduces this sketch, was born Dec. 4, 1837, in Bronson township, Huron Co., Ohio.  He received a liberal education in the common schools of the home neighborhood, and in early life learned the trade of house carpenter, later on also that of cabinet making.  On May 5, 1863, he was united in marriage with Katharine Rimal, who was born in Hildenhausen, in the then French Province of Lorraine, and had immigrated to this country with her parents at the age of five years.  Six sons and one daughter were born to this union, viz.:  Frank J., born Mar. 11, 1864; Louise K., born Oct. 19, 1865; William P., born Oct. 2, 1867; Otto J., born Mar. 25, 1872; Charles T., born Feb. 10, 1877; Edward, born Feb. 14, 1880; Albert R., born Sept. 6, 1884.  Of these, Louise and Otto died, the former from sickness, the latter from an injury he received through a wagon running over him.      In 1873 Mr. Smith started in business with P. D. Willoughby, the firm name being Willoughby & Smith, manufacturers of sash, doors, blinds and mouldings, the style being later changed to Smith & Co.  In 1880 Mr. W. Himberger entered as partner, the firm name becoming Smith, Himberger & Co.  In 1886 Mr. Willoughby retired, since when the style of the firm has been Smith & Himberger.  In connection with the manufacturing of sash, doors, blinds and mouldings, the firm have a convenient lumber yard. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 38
	JOSEPH F. SMITH, grandson of Joseph Smith, was born Apr. 1, 1849, in Peru township, Huron Co., Ohio, and received his primary education in the common schools.  Later he attended Bryant & Felton's Business College at Cleveland, Ohio, whence he graduated.      Returning to his native county, he worked on his father's farm for some time, then entered the employ of William & A. W. Prentiss at Monroeville, where he was a clerk for eighteen months, until stricken with small-pox.  Abandoning business he returned to the home farm.   In 1876 he came into possession of the home place, and on May 14, 1877, was married to Miss Mary Amend, who was born in Havana, Ohio, a daughter of Frank Amend, farmer of Norwich township.  The children born to this marriage are Joseph, Clarence and Amelia, all residing at home.  Since his marriage he has resided on the home farm, which is part of the "Old Johnson Farm."      Mr. Smith is one of the prominent agriculturists and stock growers of the county, is very popular among the Germans of his neighborhood, and is a highly respected citizen of his community.  His farm and buildings tell, at a glance, how far system in agriculture goes toward success.  The ancestry of the family is recorded in the biography of Mr. Frank J. Smith, of Peru township, a brother of our subject.  Mr. Smith gives the Democratic party his unflinching loyalty; but beyond the time devoted to the multiple interests of the township he does not permit politics to interfere with his business interests.  The family are members of the Catholic Church. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 438
	MAJOR SMITH (deceased) was born Aug. 17, 1809, in Onondaga county, N. Y., son of Elisha and Margaret (Matthews) Smith.      Elisha Smith was born in 1766 at Plymouth, Conn., where he married Margaret Matthews, who was born in 1776.  They lived at Plymouth, where Elisha carried on his trade of blacksmith, until 1805, when the family moved to a point near Syracuse, Onondaga Co., N. Y.  In 1811 the father, mother, three sons and one daughter set out from their New York home for Ohio, traveling by wagon road via Buffalo (N. Y.), and Erie (Penn.), and then through the wilderness to the settlement called Beef, on the Allegheny river.  There the father purchased a boat, loaded thereon the wagon and team, and then embarked with the members of his family for a voyage to Pittsburgh.  Arrived in safety, they proceeded to Cincinnati, Ohio (the a small place), whence they journeyed by wagon road to Springfield, Ohio, where they rested after a trip of forty days.  While there Elisha Smith served in the war of 1812 as artificer in Gen. Harrison's army, shoeing horses and oxen, and performing all the work assigned to him.  His wife died in Springfield July 28, 1814, he in September following, after which the eldest son, Sherman, assumed the direction of the family.      Major Smith was reared to the manner of boys of that time and place.  After the death of his parents, which occurred when he was five years old, he was occurred when he was five years old, he was cared for by his brother Sherman, and in 1815 accompanied his elder brothers to Huron county, Ohio.  The journey was made with a wagon drawn by oxen, and was attended by many hardships and privations; nor did the hardships cease with their settlement in New London township, for the brothers had to work early and late and under the circumstances trying even to pioneers.  Major resided with his brother Sherman until June 6, 1831, when he married Eliza Knapp, and settled on a farm of twenty acres in Clarksfield township, which his brother Sherman helped him to secure.  On it was a small log house in a small clearing, but the improvements were so rude that its change from the wilderness to a cultivated farm must be credited to Mr. Smith, as also the additions to the original farm.  On May 6, 1866, he located on the place where he resided until his death, Aug. 4, 1885, and it is now the property of his widow.      Mrs. Eliza Smith was born Mar. 16, 1813, at Danbury, Conn., to John and Mindwell (Wood) Knapp.  John Knapp died at Danbury, and his widow afterward married Simeon Hoyt, with whom she came to Ohio in 1816, bringing her daughter Eliza, and settling in the southern part of Clarksfield township.  Simeon Hoyt was the son of Comfort Hoyt, a merchant of Danbury, who received from Connecticut a large grant of the "Firelands" for damages his business interests sustained during the Revolution and the war of 1812.  He sent his son Simeon to survey the tract in Huron county, and the latter made his home here.      Major Smith was always a farmer, and succeeded in building up a valuable property by his own labor and industry.  His illness in 1881 prevented the celebration of his "golden wedding," for in June of that year was the fiftieth anniversary of his marriage.  Politically he was first a Jacksonian Democrat, in 1840 a Harrison Whit, and in 1884 a Blaine Republican.  He took a deep interest in political affairs, held various township offices, and was esteemed in public and private life.  The only child of Major and Eliza Smith was Dolly E., born July 27, 1835, who married Wesley Smith (son of John Smith), a native of Clarksfield township.  He died Nov. 12, 1863, leaving one child, H. A. SMITH, who resides with his grandmother on the Major Smith farm.  In 1866 his widow married W. F. Barnum, and two children were born to them: Charles P., Aug. 4, 1866, and Jay M., Aug. 29, 1870, both residing at Mica Bay, Kootenai Co., Idaho.  Their mother died Apr. 11, 1875. Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 153
	WILLIAM T. SMITH, one of the leading farmers of Greenwich township, and the most popular of all the old residents, was born June 17, 1823, in Cayuga county, New York.      WILLIS R. SMITH, his father, was the son of Daniel Smith, of Westchester county, N. Y., and himself was a native of that county.  When a young man he married Ann Underhill, also a native of Westchester, and shortly after marriage removed to Cayuga county, N. Y., There the following named children were born to them:  Alfred, who died in his twelfth year at Huron county, Ohio; Phoebe, never married, who died when fifty years old; Daniel, a farmer of Greenwich township, died here, aged sixty-five; Amelia, residing in Greenwich township; and William T., the subject of this sketch.  On May 6, 1824, Mr. Smith and his family arrived in Greenwich township.  He had been a school teacher in New York, where he graduated from college, which profession he followed after settling here, and from his small earnings saved enough to purchase one hundred acres of land.  The condition of his health permitted him to do but little work on the farm, and this resulted in his giving closer attention to school interests.  Satisfactory to himself, his services were most beneficial to the community, for boys who became distinguished men received their lessons in reading, arithmetic and penmanship from this pioneer teacher.  In Huron county an addition of three children was made to the family:  Sarah, living in Greenwich township; Mary, wife of Edward Golden, of Ripley township, and Ann, residing in her native township.  The father died on the original farm in 1871, the mother in 1874.  They were members of the Friends Church in which Mr. Smith was a minister, and they were buried in the Friends cemetery.  He was a mathematician of some note, and was as well educated as any of his contemporaries in the county.      William T. Smith was less than eleven months old when his parents brought him to Huron county.  He received an elementary education here, and at the age of twenty-two years began the carpenter's trade under Marvin Atwater.  Subsequently the relation between employer and employe was reversed, and the former employer became an employe of Mr. Smith.  In 1855 Wm. T. Smith married Asenath Rosco, who was born in 1831 in Greenwich township, and to them came the following named children:  Charity, wife of Wm. A. White, of Colfax, Wash.; Celia, a recorded minister of Friends living in Dodson, Ohio, wife of Eugene P. Rollman; Yatia?, who died December 3, 1890, at Colfax, Wash., where she was teaching school, and was buried in the Friends cemetery in Greenwich township; Alva R., residing in Nebraska; Willis J., a farmer of Greenwich township; Huron county; Linna, residing at home, and baby Garland, who died July 2, 1874.      After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Smith, located on the present farm, which was purchased with money saved from Mr. Smith's earnings.  For over forty years he has followed agriculture in connection with the carpenter's trade.  In 1889, he set out on a western tour, going by the Northern Pacific route, and returning by the Union Pacific Railroad, making short stays in the cities along each route, and on the Pacific slope.  In 1892 he undertook an eastern trip, but the condition of his health urged him to return shortly after his arrival in New York City.  His trade has proven very useful in the successful life of this pioneer, for his residence and large barn are specimens of his own work.  Out of the wilderness he carved a fine farm, and placed thereon costly improvements.  Politically he is a Prohibitionist, having left the Republican party.  He took an earnest, active part in the Prohibition movement, and yet devotes considerable attention toward developing the idea.  The family, religiously, are all members of the Friends Church.  (Since the above was written, William T. SMith, at the age of sixty-nine years ten months twenty-three days, passed from earth May 10, 1893, after a short sickness, the immediate cause of his death being dropsy of the heart.  Although his sufferings were intense, yet he was always cheerful, and often spoke edifying words about heaven to the many who came to see him.  He dearly loved his family; yet toward the last he had intense longing to depart and be with Christ.  The morning he died, he took his wife by the hand, and sweetly commended her and the children into the loving care of the Heavenly Father.  He was buried in the Friends cemetery. Source:   Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 262
	WILLIS R. SMITH - See WILLIAM T. SMITH Source:   Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 262
H. P. Stentz	HENRY P. STENTZ   Source:   Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 94
	C. F. STEWART, a well-known resident of Norwalk, of which city he is a native, was born Mar. 18, 1854.  His mother's death, when he was but six months old, was cause of his young life being spent in a family of the name of Ruggles, on a farm, where as a child and youth he remained till he was seventeen years of age, receiving the lessons of the farmer boy, with an occasional attendance at the common schools.      He had learned to work, and at an early age evinced a marked quickness in mechanics, with a handy use of tools.  When he was seventeen years of age he quitted the farm and found employment with the Lake Shore Railroad Company, and, without any other experience as a carpenter than that of a boy on the farm, he went with a carpenter's gang, and found no difficulty in competing with the best of them.  After about one year he quitted this employ, and profiting by his observation of the wants of wood workers, commenced to make and put upon the market dowel pins.  Readily seeing that turning these out by the slow process of making by hand could be improved, he invented his own pattern and machinery for making them, and this he soon had in its present perfected form.  He then opened his factory which rapidly grew to such importance that the output for one year was 7,000 barrels of pins, which were readily taken in the markets.  He next invented a machine to split the wood, and thus again facilitated the making of them, while it improved and cheapened the product.  So rapidly did this new industry grow and spread that in July, 1890, Mr. Stewart was justified in changing this business from making the pins to the more important one of manufacturing the machinery for the purpose, in which he is now engaged; and he is now in the control and operating of one of the growing factories of the city.      His goods find no competition in the market; the whole industry is one of his exclusive creation, and his machines have been introduced into many of the leading factories of the country.  The old process was for each workman to make his own pins as he had to use them, much as, originally, all nails were made by blacksmiths.  A distinguished Englishman has said that the really great men of earth are the discoverers of new truths and the inventors of new and useful machinery.  To these men alone civilization looks in all its advances onward and upward.  The discoverers and inventors blaze the way - they are the children of the immortals, they deserve to live forever.      As "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," Mr. Stewart adopted the manly sport of rifle shooting for recreation, and became so expert with his favorite arm (The Ballard rifle) that he easily won the honors for his native State of Toledo, in competition with the noted crack shots of the United States.  The next year he was declared "King of Sharpshooters" at the Detroit (Mich.) rifle tournament, for making the greatest number of "bullseyes" in the two days' competition.  This feat he repeated at Newark N. J., in 1888, where nearly one thousand riflemen were striving for the honor.      In 1879 Mr. Stewart was united in marriage to Miss Helen I. Manahan. Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 123
	CHARLES HILL STEWART, attorney at law, Norwalk, is a native of the place, born Nov. 6, 1859, a son of Hon. Gideon T. and Abby (Simmons) Stewart.      Our subject was reared amid generous and pleasant surroundings, and while he was born with no doubt the average allotment of youthful barbarism, yet the civilizing precepts and examples of a refined home, the lessons of the school and the ever-vigilant eye of the community, with its searchlight thrown upon the conduct and bearing of the young, were enough to bear him successfully to that time of life when the youth becomes the father to the man.  The boy went the rounds of the public schools with success, mixing in the days with the usual riot of a vigorous boy's life, as well as a turn as printing office boy, hunting "the type-louse," or on an errand for the "devil's shooting stick."  Like a sensible man, he regards his time in the printing office as days of his life not ill-spent - barring a sigh of regret at the way, boy-like, he would go down the stairway at about two steps, always bringing the frightened occupant of the lower floor out to see if any one was killed.  These perilous but happy times were not entirely ended by his transfer to the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, where he remained until well along in his junior year.  Returning to his home he commenced the study of law in his father's office, and on June 6,1882, he was licensed to appear in the courts as attorney.  While reading law he took his recreation in editing and publishing the Daily News of Norwalk, a vigorous and spicy paper, independent politically.  This he world to his brother, and it is now part of the Experimental News.  Graduating out of the publishing business into the law, he then spent a year seeing with his own eyes something of the wild life of the West, a large part of the time in the Dakotas and the Indian Territory.  Of all his yeas of schooling this was perhaps the necessary sand-papering - a polishing process of incalculable value.      On his return to Norwalk, he opened his law office and set about the real business of life, which was crowned from the start with more than the average professional success.  Soon he was operating in real estate, and in this line his record is remarkable for its brilliant achievements.  It is proper to explain that his operations in real estate were commenced soon after his marriage, his first venture being the purchase of a plot and laying it off in lots, which he sold on the installment plan - introducing in Norwalk the favorable scheme of helping the poor man to own his home.  Disposing of this, he next laid out an addition on Harris avenue and Olive street, followed by another on Grand avenue and Spring street, another on Courtland street, and still another on Carey place.  During all these years he has built from five to twenty-five houses each summer, selling many on the installment plan, and retaining many, until his one of the most extensive landlords of Norwalk.  Of itself this tells us of the importance this young man  has been to the city's development.  In other lines, however, he has been still more active and efficient.   He was one of the promoters of the "Home Savings & Loan Company," and its attorney and appraiser.  Resigning his official connection with this company, he helped to organize the "Ohio Loan, Savings & Investment Company," of which he is a stockholder, director and attorney; he was one of the founders of the Norwalk Savings Bank, of which he is vice-president; is president of the Norwalk Gaslight Company; was one of the active organizers of the C. W. Smith Company, of which he is director and treasurer; one of the organizers of the Lake Erie Tobacco Company, of which he is director and treasurer; helped to organize the Norwalk Metal Stamping & Spinning Company of which he is manager and director; is treasurer and director and owner of one-half of the Bellevue Electric Light & Power Co.; also assisted in the organization of the Norwalk Foundry & Machine Company, of which he is a director; established with others the Norwalk Brick Company, of which he owns one-third, and is one of the managing operators; also owns one-third of the C. H. Whitney Nursery Company, of which he is director and one of the management.      Mr. Stewart has been associated with Mr. William H. Price as his partner in most of his real-estate operations, and in several of the companies named.  While they have been actively engaged in real estate deals in Norwalk and Huron county, they have carried on their real-estate business in the city of Cleveland, owning business blocks on Euclid avenue, Sheriff street, and other property in that city.  They also assisted in organizing the Arcade Savings Bank of Cleveland, and are directors.      Combined with his dealings in real estate, here is a record of which our oldest and most successful business men need not feel ashamed, but "Charley" - that is the term used by everyone, with a kindly accent of tone - is yet but at the threshold of life; the future is before him radiant of promise.      Charles H. Stewart and Miss Mayme Carey, of St. Louis, Mo., the daughter of Gen. Man. M. G. Carey of the Wabash Railroad, were united in wedlock, Nov. 26, 1884.  This happy marriage was the outcome of the young lady's visits to her relatives and friends in Norwalk, and the whilom trans-Mississippi school-girl presides with rare accomplishments over their pleasant Norwalk home, where were born their four children as follows:  Olive, Dec. 19, 1885; Carey, Sept. 18, 1887; Abby, Sept. 7, 1889; and Mary, Jan. 26, 1891.      Mr. Stewart served as captain of Company G, Fifteenth Regiment Ohio National Guard, but pressure of business matters compelled him to resign.  He has been a working Republican for many years, and takes an active interest in politics.  He served for several years as president of The Young Men's Republican Club of Norwalk; has active many times as delegate to State and District conventions, and to State and National conventions of the National League of Republican Clubs (in which he takes a warm interest).  He is now a member of the Congressional Committee in his District, and at the last convention nominating a common pleas judge in his District, was the choice of his county for the position, but at his request his name was not presented to the convention.  He says he is too busy to accept office for himself, but is always ready to assist his friends. s Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 98
	GEORGE SWAYNE STEWART was born Mar. 25, 1866, in Dubuque, Iowa, the youngest in the family of four children of Gideon T. and Abby N. (Simmons) Stewart.      Our subject was reared to manhood in Norwalk, Ohio, whither, when he was but an infant, his parents had removed.  He was educated in the graded schools of the city, and graduated from the high school in 1884.  Leaving the high school, he pursued a special course of studies at Oberlin College, Ohio, after which he took up the study of law in his father's office, and was admitted on the bar Mar. 8, 1888, being then but twenty-one years of age.  He then entered upon the practice of law with his father, continuing in the same for about two years, when he gave up his profession for the more active field of business life to which he seemed naturally inclined.  He inherited a taste for agriculture from his mother, and on her farm near Norwalk his vacations were spent in early school life, and here his first business instincts were cultivated.  From working a small area on shares, he grew to be manager of the farm, establishing a dairy and maintaining his interest in farming matters to the time of this sketch.      In 1890 he became interested in the C. W. Smith Co., manufacturers of hardwood and furniture specialties, and as secretary and treasurer of this company helped to build it up into one of the successful and substantial business enterprises of the city, affording employment to nearly one hundred people.  In addition to his manufacturing business, Mr. Stewart is also associated with W. H. Price, president of the Norwalk Savings Bank in the manufacture of building brick, under the style of The Norwalk Brick Co., and, associated with other young men, is a dealer and contractor in stone and fire-brick, and has constructed extensive street-paving improvements in Sandusky, Elyria, Bellevue, Norwalk and other cities.  Mr. Stewart is also director and stockholder in the Norwalk Savings Bank, and stockholder in the Arcade Savings Bank of Cleveland.      Politically Mr. Stewart has never been identified with any party, but is independent, and, aside from being interested with his friends regardless of part, he takes no active part in politics.  He has abandoned the practice of law, his attention being given to the many enterprises with which he is identified.      On Jan. 10, 1893, Mr. Stewart was married to Cora Isabel Taber, of Norwalk, Ohio, daughter of B. C. Taber, of that city.  They had enjoyed an extended wedding gour in Europe, and were comfortably settled in their pleasant home in Norwalk, with all the prospects of a happy married life before them, when the Angel of Death Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 29 Sharon Wick's Note from Ohio Marriages: George Swayne Stewart, b. Dubuque, Iowa md. Marguerite Morris Rice b. 1869 in Wilmington, Del.  His father's name was Gideon T. Stewart.  His mother's name was Abby N. Simmons.   Marguerite's father was John V. Rice and her mother's name was Sarah E. Low.  George & Marguerite were married in Cuyahoga Co., Ohio. Also from Death Records: George S. Stewart, white male b. 25 Mar. 1866 in Dubrosque, IA;  d. Oct. 4, 1939 at Ridgefield, Huron, OH.  His father was Gideon Tobas Stewart, b. Johnston, NY and his mother was Abbie Simmons, b. Huron Co., OH.  George married, Marguerite Rice. - Page 1726 in Ohio Death Index.  According to Find-A-Grave, he died in Norwalk, Huron Co., OH.  He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery. In 1870 George was listed as George H. Stewart, 4 years old, living with Gideon and Abbie N. Stewart in Norwalk, Ohio. In 1920, 1930, George & Marguerite Stewart resided at 6 Church Street, Norwalk, Ohio
G. T. Stewart	HON. GIDEON T. STEWART.  The law gives us one of the learned professions, and in many respects it is calculated to best equip the young man for distinction in social, business and public life.      Lawyer Stewart may be named as "the father" of the Huron county bar.  He takes this place by virtue of his age and his long and successful practice here, as well as by his intimate knowledge of the subtleties of the law.  These are not the mere idle words of a panegyrist, but they are verified by the general judgment of his cotemporaries; a man holding an enviable place among the distinguished members of the bar of northern Ohio.  During the last twenty five years he has been employed in more cases from the "Firelands," in the District, circuit and Supreme courts, than any other lawyer.  Some who studied law in his office have become eminent in the profession.  Hon. S. W. Owen, who was judge of the Supreme court, studied law with Mr. Stewart.  To excel, even in the ordinary vocations of life, is a proud distinction, but in the abstruse mazes of the law that marks a mental equipment of rarest excellence.  Thoroughly grounded in the fundamentals of the law, he tries every case before he enters the court-room, and this careful preparation is backed by the tenacity of purpose that will brook no hint of ultimate defeat.  In many positions of life rare genius may carry all before it, but preeminence at the bar must add to even unusual gifts, those patient tasks of "the slave of the lamp," which bring the "pale cast of thought" to the devotee.      The paternal ancestors of Mr. Stewart came from the North of Ireland, originally form Scotland.  On both sides his people were of the cultured classes.  His paternal grandmother was a noted educator and scholar of her day, having taught the first school in Schenectady, N. Y., and founded the first academy of that place, a famed school, that was in time succeeded by Union College.  His mother was a daughter of the eminent divine, Rev. Nicholas Hill, Sr., who was father of the distinguished lawyer, Nicholas Hill, Jr., of Albany, head of the eminent law firm of Hill, Cagger & Porter, and who at his death, which occurred just before the Civil war, was pronounced by the New York World "the greatest lawyer of America."  Another of his mother's brothers, John L. Hill, is a leading lawyer of New York, and was a prominent counsel in the famed Beecher-Tilton trial.  His brother James F. Stewart, one of the oldest and most esteemed members of the San Francisco, Cal., bar, died on Nov. 17, 1893.  His eldest brother, Merwin Hill Stewart, graduated at Union College with the highest honors, but died when he was about entering on the legal profession.      Mr. Stewart was born in Johnstown, now in Fulton county, N. Y., Aug. 7, 1824, and was named from Gideon Tabor, a judge of the courts there.  When about eleven years old, in the fall of 1835, he removed with his parents to Oberlin, Ohio, where he was a student in that college except a year in the Elyria Institute.  He began the study of law at Norwalk, Ohio, in the spring of 1842, but the next year he went to live with his brother, Alexander A. Stewart, a merchant at Columbus, and there entered the law office of Swayne & Bates, of which firm Hon. Noah H. Swayne afterward became a justice of the United States Supreme court.  While there, when nineteen yeas of age, he wrote a poem on the occasion of the visit of ex-President John Quincy Adams to Ohio, in November, 1843, to lay the corner-stone of the Cincinnati Observatory, which poem was published in the Ohio State Journal, entitled "Ohio's Welcome to John Quincy Adams," and with some other poems from his pen was favorably received by the public.  The next year he entered actively into politics, was chairman of the "Young Men's Henry Clay Club," and published a campaign paper at Columbus in aid of the Whig party.  In the fall of 1844, being in ill health, he went to Quincy, Fla., and spent about eighteen months with his brother Nicholas Hill Stewart, who was a lawyer and an eminent teacher at the head of the Quincy Academy, the leading educational institution in the territory.  In the following year, 1845, Florida was admitted into the Union, and, having become of age, he cast his first vote at the first election held in that State.  He had strong inducements to remain with his brother and go into business there, but he could not consent to become a slaveholder; and, returning to Ohio in the summer of 1846, he was admitted to the bar of Ohio, on the 18th day of August, 1846, and began the practice of law at Norwalk.  He was also editor of the Reflector, the Whig organ, for about three years, and in 1850 he was elected, by the Whigs, county auditor, to which office he was re-elected in 1852 and 1854, the last time on the same ticket with Hon. John Sherman, who then for the first time was elected to Congress.  He purchased half of the Toledo Blade in 1856, but remained in the law practice at Norwalk, and in about three years sold his interest in the Blade.  He went to Dubuque, Iowa, in 1861, where he bought the Daily Times, the only Union Republican paper then in the north part of that State, and published it until near the close of the war.  He spent a winter at Washington in law business, and then became one of the proprietors of the Toledo Daily Commercial, of which he took the business management for the greater part of the year; then selling at a profit, returned to Norwalk and resumed his law practice at that place.  On Jan. 26, 1866, he was, on motion of Hon. Caleb Cushing, admitted as an attorney and counsellor of the Spring Court of the United States.      Aside from twelve years spent in the auditor's office and on the press, Mr. Stewart has been in law practice over thirty-five years.  A long time to devote to active professional work, a prolonged period of trials and triumphs, vicissitudes and victories; labors ranging from the sacred claims of home, or the exactions of a profession, to the occult problems upon whose just solution hangs the permanent weal or woe of the human race.  So methodical in his mental movements was he that he found rest and recreation from the exacting duties of his profession from the hustings the absorbing questions of civil government.  In 1855 Mr. Stewart was a delegate to the State convention which organized the Republican party in Ohio, and there took an active part.  While he was from early life well grounded in the principles of anti-slavery reform, yet he was broad enough in his views to see there were other evils in society appalling to contemplate, one of them the grim and hideous Gorgon of intemperance.  In 1851 and 1853 he took a prominent part in the anti-license and Main-law campaigns of those years.  In 1857 a State convention met at the capital of Ohio to organize a Prohibition party, and Mr. Stewart was made president of the convention.  The machinery of a new party was framed; every step was taken and work set afoot, when the Kansas anti-slavery troubles came and Civil war became the supreme question of the hour.  Salmon P. Chase was up for election as governor, and he interviewed as Prohibition State committee, before whom he urged the perilous condition of the country, pledging himself that if elected, he would in his message recommend to the Legislature a Prohibitory law against the liquor drink traffic.  His promises were accepted (which he afterward fulfilled), the new party movement was postponed, and thus he was elected by a small plurality.  The Kansas-Nebraska troubles were soon followed by the dread throes of war, convulsing our nation and unhinging the order of society from center to circumference; when men, like storm-tossed mariners, advantaged the first calm to take their bearings anew.  The temperance cause, for the time suspended, was renewed in politics.  Mr. Stewart was three times the standard bearer of the Prohibition party for governor in Ohio; eight times its candidate for supreme judge; was its representative on the National ticket for vice-president in 1876; many times its nominee for Congress and also for circuit and common pleas judge, and often in local, county, State and National conventions he has been a representative delegate of that party.      He was present and a delegate to the convention in 1869, which organized the National Prohibition party, and was made a member of the National committee of which he was chairman four years and a leading member fifteen years, serving until 1884, when he retired, feeling it necessary to give his unrestricted time to his profession.  In 1876 1880 and 1884 the Prohibition State convention of Ohio unanimously instructed the Ohio delegates to present him in the National conventions of those years as their choice for Presidential candidate, but each time he refused to have his name offered.  At the National convention of 1892 it was presented by the Ohio delegates in his absence, at which time he received next to the highest vote on the first ballot, and he would have been nominated if there had been a second ballot.  Each time that he was a candidate for governor he campaigned the State, visiting, in one season, forty counties, and addressing meetings in all of them.  His voice was heard in he hustings, and his vigorous pen found a prominent place in the literature of the day.  He was grand worthy chief templar of the order of Good Templers three terms.  As long ago as 1847 he was one of the charter members of Norwalk Division, No. 227, of the Sons of Temperance, which still exists there being now but one older division in the State.  His numerous nominations by the Prohibition and were unsought, and were accepted by him only as symbols of sacrifice, not of selfish aspiration.  He regards public office as a public trust, and that the man who solicits it is unworthy of it.  Hence he was never an applicant to Government for office, and never asked the personal support of a delegate or a voter.  He has been identified with other reforms, moral, social and Political.  He was several years president of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association, and drafted its first platform of resolutions, adopted at its first State convention, held at Columbus in 1870.      He has long been a public advocate of civil service, industrial and educational reform, of prison reform, and the abolition of capital punishment.  Many of his speeches and writings on reform topics have been published and widely disseminated.  He was in 1858 one of the founders of the "Firelands Historical Society," one of the oldest historical local Societies in the Northwest; he was one of its offices at its founding, a life member, and is now its president.  He was also one of the founders and first officers of "The Whittlesey Academy of Arts and Sciences," which gave Norwalk the well-known "Whittlesey Hall," for many years the common meeting-place and foster-mother of the city's growth in schools, the arts, science and general literature, and from this came many courses of public lectures and the present public library, with its 6,000 selected volumes.  Of these enterprises Mr. Stewart had been one of the active authors and promoters, and he has been busily interested in various other public movements.  He spent much of his time and over thee thousand dollars of his means, without compensation, through ten years of doubtful struggle, to secure the construction of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad, and was one of its early stockholders and directors.  He and his wife are life members of the American Bible Society.  He is a pioneer ember of the Scotch-Irish Society of America, a trustee of the Western Reserve Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and president of the Huron County Law Library Association.      Mr. Stewart is of a race of men and women of prominence and of intellectual and moral progress, and has so outlined his own life and reared a family that has added thereto, rather than, as we so often find, detracted therefrom.  Physically he is a little below the medium in stature and weight, with a personal toilet clean and careful as he has ever been the garniture of his mental operations.  He looks the man of books, the student of man who communes much with his own thoughts.  Just such a man whom you would readily know had sacrificed for half a century his time and toil in behalf of his fellows, and for all his services in public reform has never accepted the least financial compensation.  Such, briefly, are the outlines of a life that may well be honored of men, respected abroad and beloved at home - a blessing to the one, a benefaction to all.      On Mar. 30, 1857, Gideon T. Stewart was united in marriage with Miss Abby Newell Simmons, of Greenfield township, Huron county, daughter of Harlon L. Simmons and niece of Hon. Charles B. Simmons (former State Representative), of that place, both prominent pioneers of the "Firelands," and extensive farmers.  Of this happy union there were born three sons and one daughter, viz.: Charles Hill; Harlon Lincoln, at present the youngest member of the Ohio State Senate; George Swayne, of the Norwalk bar; and Mary Stewart.  In the literary and temperance work of the father, the daughter with her graceful pen has been his valuable assistant.  In the polite and benevolent circles of the city she has a wide and appreciated circle of friends.      The mother was born and reared on her father's farm, one of the largest and most beautiful in the county; and, notwithstanding the fact that for twelve years she has been afflicted with paralysis, depriving her of the power to walk, she has continued to own and operate her valuable farm near the city of Norwalk, though living in the city, and has educated her three sons to practical agriculture.  She is very fond of reading, and well informed in history, current literature and public affairs.  She is social, sympathetic, kind and charitable, and is warmly esteemed by all who have known her from childhood to old age.  She was active in the famous Woman's Temperance Crusade, and has been so in its outgrowth, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, which now extends its grand organization around the world.  Through many years the Norwalk Union has held its regular meetings in her parlors. Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 24
	HON. HARLON LINCOLN STEWART.  This gentleman's name cannot escape becoming a permanent part of the history of Norwalk, of which beautiful little city he is a native.       Mr. Stewart was born Dec. 12, 1861, a son of Hon. G. T. and Abby (Simmons) Stewart, and was reared in the pleasant social atmosphere of a refined home, and the cultured circle of the city of his birth.  He passed through the public schools, afterward taking a special course in the State University at Columbus, and when he had gained the necessary mental discipline to engaged in the preliminary reading of a professional life, he became a law student in his father's office.  A touch of his active nature, however, soon found him at the genial pastime of founding, in connection with his brother, a daily paper - The News, a bright and newsy journal - which was carried on a year by the founders.  After a successful year's existence, it was sold, and the young newspaper man resumed the reading of the law in his father's office.  But the pleasant aroma of the editorial tripod lingered, and "Blackstone's Commentaries" soon dulled in interest; so another paper was launched on the uncertain sea of journalism - the Sunday News - which became an independent supporter of Grover Cleveland in the Presidential campaign of 1884.  In a little while this was consolidated with The Experiment, the veteran Democratic paper of Huron county, established in 1835, and named after President Jackson's famous campaign against State banks, and his advocacy of a new system which he called his "experiment."  The consolidated paper, which was named the Experiment News, was a weekly until 1889, when was added a daily edition, which in 1893 was sold and continued as the Daily Press.      The Experiment News, greatly improved, was continued as a weekly, receiving Mr. Stewart's entire attention.  At all times the strong and facile pen of the editor attracted wide attention, while on the stump his voice was heard, and everywhere his earnestness of purpose and convincing logic were part of the supreme work that contributed much to the steady gains of his party in this part of the State.  The young editor and orator soon forged his way to a pronounced leadership in his party; his sudden celebrity coming to him in 1888, when in company with Hon. D. H. Wadsworth he participated in the first systematic speaking campaign in behalf of Democracy that was ever made in Huron county.  In 1891 he was chosen chairman of the Democratic Executive Central Committee of that county.  In the campaign of 1892 he was nominated on his party ticket, in the face of a strong list of aspirants, as standard bearer for the office of State senator from the Thirtieth District.  He was elected, and served through the Seventieth General Assembly; and, although the youngest member in the Senate, was a recognized leader.  In 1893 he was prominently mentioned by the press, generally, as a candidate for lieutenant-governor, but declined to permit the use of his name.  He was renominated for senator, receiving the unanimous vote of the convention, but in the following election, though running ahead of the general ticket in all parts of the District, he was borne down in the overwhelming tide of defeat that engulfed his party in the election of 1893.     Hon. H. L. Stewart and Cora Nile Parker one of the accomplished leaders of the best social circle of the city of Norwalk, were joined in wedlock Jan. 7, 1891. Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 100
	TIMOTHY R. STRONG, a leading criminal lawyer of Norwalk, possesses a strong individuality which has proved most effective in his profession.  He was born Apr. 7, 1817, in Cayuga county, N. Y., a son of William and Lura Strong and received his education at a seminary in Onondaga county and at Fredonia Academy, Chautauqua county, same State.      After reading law for some time he was admitted to the bar in 1843, and began a general practice in Norwalk, Ohio.  He has conducted many extensive and difficult cases of a civil nature, but is especially eminent in criminal law.  Possessing an inexhaustible fund of dry humor and keen sarcasm, combined with a wonderful power of moving his audience at will, to laughter or tears, he is in great request as a pleader.  He is undeniably the shrewdest and most vivacious lawyer of the Norwalk bar, having won success by native acumen, indefatigable application and characteristic genius.      Mr. Strong was married Apr. 3, 1845, to Ann Elizabeth Smith, a native of Tompkins county, N. Y., whose parents were born and married in Albany, N. Y., and to this union four children have been born as follows:  William H., a railroad man; Clara, wife of Dr. D. I. McGuire, Alice, and Charlotte.  Mr. Strong in his political predilections is a stanch Republican. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 13
	ARANSON SUTTON - See CHARLES A. SUTTON Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 222
	CHARLES A. SUTTON, a son of one of the pioneers of northern Ohio, was born July 4, 1844, in Greenwich township, Huron county.      ARANSON SUTTON, his father, was born Apr. 1, 1802, in Cayuga county, N. Y.  while yet a boy his father died, and, transferred to an uncle's care, the youth received a practical training in farm work, and the education which the early frontier schools afforded.  In 1822 or 1823 he was employed by the Erie Canal Company at Lockport, N. Y., as bookkeeper, having charge also of all the storehouses, and keeping the time of all the workmen.  For his services he received twenty dollars per month, and after accumulating about three hundred dollars he set out, in 1824, for the "Firelands" in Ohio, traveling by canal and lake boat.  He landed at Sandusky, and proceeded on foot southward to Huron county, where he passed his first night in the cabin of Wilis Smith, in Greenwich township; thence he walked to Ruggles township, Ashland county, where he joined a twin brother and a man named Carver in the purchase of a tract of wild land.  His marriage with Emeline Brady took place in 128.  She was born in Westchester county, N. Y., in 1812, and came to Greenwich township with her parents when a child.  The children born to them are as follows:  Charity, born November 29, 1829, he married Hiram Townsend, and died Aug. 31, 1892, at Cleveland; Mary J., born Mar. 9, 1832, is the widow of Harvey Noble; Sarah A., born Sept. 2, 1837, married Dr. William Reynolds, and died in April, 1885, in Seneca county, Ohio; Louisa, born Nov. 27, 1838, Mrs. James Fancher, of Greenwich township; and Charles A., the subject of this sketch.  The father of this family was accidentally killed Nov. 17, 1870, by being run over by a wagon loaded with wood.  On Jan. 28, 1873, his widow died, in hospital, at Columbus, Ohio, where she was under treatment; both were buried in East Greenwich cemetery.  Aranson Sutton was a systematic farmer.  At one time he hauled a load of wool to Greenwich depot which brought him over two thousand nine hundred dollars.  He made money out of every other venture as well as agriculture and stock growing, and at one time was owner of 700 acres here.  In politics, he was a Democrat, until the Free-soil movement won him.  When the Republican party was established in Ohio he cast his political lot with it, and was faithful to its principles until his death; he filled almost every township office, and for fifteen years served as justice of the peace, during which time he performed more marriage ceremonies than any contemporary justice in the southern half of Huron county, and became a believer in secular marriage.  He was an exhorter in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and always held an important office in that body.  A liberal contributor to the religious organizations of his neighborhood, he won the reputation of being both tolerant and benevolent.      Charles A. Sutton was reared in the manner common to contemporary youth, working on the farm for nine months and attending school in winter until he entered Berea University.  He afterward studied for eight months in Oberlin College, and later took up telegraphy and bookkeeping, and, refusing the offer of his father to educate him in any college in the United States he would select, returned to the farm, preferring to be a useful rather than an ornamental citizen.  On Apr. 28, 1870, he married Ann E., daughter of Benson and Esther (Rickard) Ellis, who came from Onondaga county, N. Y., and settled in Greenwich township.  Mrs. Sutton was born in this township, July 16, 1845, and here, too, the following named children were born to her: Edward A., born Apr. 2, 1872, now residing at Oberlin; William B., born May 30, 1875, and Charles D., born Feb. 17, 1880, both residing at home.  After marriage the young couple took up their residence in the Sutton home, and the improvements which have been made here since 1880 speak for the owner's progressive ideas.  In that year the capacious barn was constructed, and in 183, the elegant brick residence which now adorns the farm was erected, these being the two principal improvements.  Fences, small buildings and drainage have been carefully looked after the restored, and the old farm revamped as it were, until now it is a fertile as it was when first reclaimed from the wilderness.  Mr. Sutton is a Republican in politics, and a Methodist in church connection.  For the past twelve years he has served the township as school director, and has taken a personal, active director, and has taken a personal, active interest in all measures which appeared to him to promise benefits to the township and county. Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated - Published: Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1894 - Page 222

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