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BIOGRAPHIES Source:
History of North Central Ohio,
Embracing Richland, Ashland, Wayne,
Medina, Lorain, Huron & Knox Counties, By William A. Duff
in Three Volumes
- ILLUSTRATED -
Publ. by Historical Publishing Co., Topeka-Indianapolis -
1931
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Tilmon H. Smith |
TILMON H.
SMITH, M. D. One of the most prominent and
successful professional men of Huron County is Doctor Smith, who is
engaged in the practice of medicine at New London. He was born at
Water Valley, Miss., July 31, 1883, the son of Rev. Tilmon Holley and
Frances (Hawkins) Smith.
Rev. Tilmon Holley Smith was born in Tuscaloosa,
Ala., and his wife was a native of Banner, Miss. He was a professor of
mathematics in the Southern Alabama Institute for a number of years, and
later became a minister of the Baptist Church. He died in 1896 and his
wife died in 1927. Both are buried in Elzey, Miss. He was a
Democrat and belonged to Masonic Lodge. There were six children in the
Smith family, as follows: Samuel, who is serving as
sheriff of Cahoon County, Miss.; Tilmon H., the subject of this
sketch; Myrtle, married Virgil Cabe, lives at Mize, Miss.;
Mary Lee the widow of B. Clark lives at Mize, Miss.; and
George, who died at Mize, Miss., in 1927.
The early education of Tilmon H. Smith was
received in the public schools of Pittsboro, Miss., and after his graduation
from high school in 1899 he entered the University of Mississippi, from
which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1902. He spent one
year in the Mississippi Medical College, and received the degree of Doctor
of Medicine at the University of Tennessee in 1915. The following year
he served as an interne in St. Joseph's Hospital, Memphis, Tenn., and was
also assistant pathologist and bacteriologist at the University of
Tennessee. He began his professional career at Pittsboro, Miss., and
in 1923 was made chief surgeon of Santo Tomas Hospital, Panama City, Canal
Zone. He served in that capacity for one year and on Feb. 15, 1924,
was appointed chief surgeon of the Cabin Creek Consolidated Coal Company, of
Charleston, W. Va., where he remained until the mines were closed in July,
1924. He has since engaged in practice at New London. Dr.
Smith is a member of the Huron County Medical Society, Ohio State
Medical Society, and the American Medical Association.
1908 Dr. Smith was united in marriage with
Miss Mickle Stone, the daughter of John A. Stone, of Tennessee.
She died in 1910 and is buried at Okolona, Miss. Their daughter,
Fanny Catherine, lives at New London. Doctor Smith married
(second Dec. 26, 1916, Miss Hortense Gregory, the daughter of
William Harrison and Ada (Knowles) Gregory. The former is
deceased and the later lives in Mississippi.
Doctor Smith is a Democrat, a member of the
Baptist Church, of which he is a deacon, and he belongs to the Kappa Psi
fraternity. He is affiliated with Floral Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 260;
Albert Pike Consistory,32nd degree; Wahaba Temple; Masonic Club; and
New London Shrine Club.
During the World War Dr. Smith served with the
rank of first lieutenant, U. S. Medical Corps.
Source: History of North Central Ohio, Embracing Richland,
Ashland, Wayne, Medina, Lorain, Huron & Knox Counties, By William A. Duff -
in Three Volumes ILLUSTRATED - Publ. by Historical Publishing Co.,
Topeka-Indianapolis - 1931 - Page |
|
GEORGE SWAYNE STEWART,
manufacturers and attorney-at-law, was born in Dubuque, Iowa, Mar. 25, 1866,
but soon thereafter his parents returned to the historic old Colonial house,
6 Church Street, Norwalk, Ohio, where Mr. Stewart and his family
still reside.
His father, Gideon Tabor Stewart, was born Aug.
7, 1824, at Johnstown, N. Y., of Scotch-Irish descent. His
grandmother, Elizabeth Ferguson Stewart (daughter of Dr. Thomas
Ferguson of Stewarttown, Ireland) a noted educator and scholar of her
day, opened the first English school and academy at Schenectady, N. Y.,
which continued under her auspices until it was merged into Union College.
His mother, Petreshe Hill, was a daughter of the distinguished divine
and Revolutionary patriot, Rev. Nicholas Hill. The Hill
family came to Schenectady from Londonderry, Ireland, at about the
beginning of the 18th century. Henry Hill, grandfather of
Petreshe, was a prominent citizen of Schenectady, and for his patriotic
utterances, was arrested and so cruelly maltreated and tortured by the
British soldiers, that he died in less than a year after near the beginning
of the Revolution. Inspired by his patriotism, and to avenge his
death, his two youthful sons, Nicholas and Harry, entered the Second
New York Regiment. They were with Washington at Valley Forge and
Yorktown, and remained until his army was disbanded in 1783. Then, for
the first time they returned to Schenectady. Nicholas,
completing his studies, entered the Christian ministry. He lived on
his beautiful plantation by the Mohawk, to the advanced age of ninety years,
greatly honored and beloved by his church and country. Petreshe
Hill was a sister of the celebrated lawyer, Nicholas Hill, Jr.,
who had the largest private law library and most lucrative practice of any
lawyer in the United States. Appleton's Cyclopedia of American
Biography says of him: "He was appointed State law reporter in 1841,
and became one of the best special pleaders in the State, taking part in
over three-fourths of the cases on the docket of the Court of Appeals during
his active practice." At his death, in 1859, his life-size portrait,
as standing in the act of addressing that court, was placed in its rooms by
the Bar of the State. She was also a sister of the eminent lawyer
John L. Hill, who was leading counsel for the defense in the famous
Tilton vs. Beecher case. She had four sons, who followed
the example of her two brothers, sought the legal profession. The
first was Merwin Hill who graduated with honors from Union College,
but died preparing for the bar. The second was James Ferguson,
who graduated at Oberlin College, went with early settlers to California,
and was one of oldest lawyers of San Francisco when he died in 1893, leaving
a son and grandson, who are worthy members of the bar of that city.
The third was Alexander Adams Stewart, prosperous merchant of
Columbus, Ohio.
The fourth was Nicholas Hill, who was both
scholar and lawyer, and acquired fame as an educator, being at the head of
the principal educational institutions in the state of Florida, at Quincy,
where he died in 1858. The fifth was Gideon Tabor, who mother
died in his infancy. As a boy he was brought by his father to
Birmingham, Ohio, near Oberlin, at which college he obtained his education
and began the study of law, which he completed at Columbus. He engaged
largely in newspaper work, as editor of the Norwalk Reflector, Dubuque
(Iowa) Daily Times, and as part proprietor and publisher of the Toledo Blade
and commercial. He was an ardent supporter of the Union, opposed
slavery, was active in the Whig and Republican parties. Gideon
Tabor Stewart called "The Father of the Huron County Bar" was admitted
to the practice of law Aug. 14, 1846, and became a law-partner of Jairus
Kennan. Mr. Stewart occupied first rank in his profession, and his
ability was recognized throughout Ohio, and, in fact, beyond the confines of
the State. Originally he belonged to the old Whig Party, and was
opposed to slavery. At the commencement of the Civil War he became a
Republican; but at the close he passed into the Prohibition party, where he
remained and was always one of its most earnest and conscientious workers.
He was fifteen years a member and four years chairman of its national
committee. He was unanimously nominated by three State conventions of
the party in Ohio as its candidate for president of the United States, but
each time declined to be a candidate for that office. He was at one
time the candidate for Governor of Ohio, and nine times its candidate for
judge of the supreme Court of the State. He was one of the founders
and first officers of the Whittlesey Academy of Arts and Sciences at
Norwalk. He was one of the organizers and directors of the Wheeling
and Lake Erie Railroad Company.
His wife, Abbie Newell Simmons was also
descended from old pioneer stock. One of her ancestors Moses
Symonson, landed at Plymouth, Mass., Nov. 21st, 1621, having sailed from
Leyden, Holland, on good Ship Fortune. Her great-grandfather lives in
Rehobath, Bristol County, Mass., owned large mills here, which were burned
by the British during the Revolution, but afterwards rebuilt. He
served as Captain in the Continental Line during the Revolution and was an
influential figure in military affairs.
Mr. and Mrs. Gideon Tabor Stewart were married
Mar. 30, 1857, and had four children: Mrs. Francis A. Powers,
(nee Mary Abbie) who was born Apr. 27, 1858, died June 24, 1924, and
is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Norwalk; Charles Hill, born Nov. 6,
1859, a resident of Cleveland for the last 40 years, interested in real
estate and law; Harlon Lincoln, born Dec. 12, 1861, attorney at law,
Panama City, Fla.; and George Swayne the youngest of the family.
George Swayne Stewart was educated in Norwalk
schools and at Oberlin College. He later studied law in the office of
his father, Gideon Tabor Stewart, and was admitted to the Ohio Bar
Mar. 3, 1888. He began his career in Norwalk as an attorney at law,
and was associated with his father in the practice of law. Later he
became interested in the manufacturing business which was incorporated as
the G. S. Stewart Company, of which he is president. The
principal products are cedar chests, screens, decorated furniture, and
wholesale lumber. The G. S. Stewart Company factory occupies a
block close to the business center of the town and is the largest employer
of labor in Norwalk.
Mr. Stewart has always been a Republican in
politics. He is a Mason and Knight Templar, a member of the
Shakespeare Club, Norwalk Country Club, and Plum Brook Country Club of
Sandusky. He and his family are Episcopalians and for many years
Mr. Stewart has been a vestryman in St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
Mr. Stewart has always been a leader in civic
activities in Norwalk - and an ardent supporter of all great social
movements, such as Prohibition and Woman Suffrage. He was an
indefatigable worker for the dry cause and was chairman of the Huron County
Dry Committee in the campaign preceeding the fall election of Nov. 7,
1918, which finally enrolled Ohio in the dry column.
Mr. Stewart helped to organize Norwalk's
Memorial Hospital, and has been a member of the hospital board of directors
ever since. He was one of the organizers of the local Kiwanis Club. He
is a member of the library board and vice president of the Whittlesey
Academy of which his father was one of the founders. During the World
War he was active in the Red Cross and Liberty Loan Drives.
Mr. Stewart married Cora Taber, only
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. B. C. Taber of Norwalk, Jan. 10, 1893.
She died Sept. 28 1893. In 1899 Mr. Stewart married
Marguerite Morris Rice of Chester, Pa., who was born in Wilmington, Del.
Mr. George S. Stewart is a man of high ideals,
earnest purpose, energetic, genial disposition, kindliness of heart.
He is fond of life and sees it whole. HE is possesed of the saving
grace of humor. His merry, hearty laugh is contagious. His
fondness for sport takes him on his holidays into the open, and makes him a
rare reconteur of experiences with rod and gun. He is a lover of
nature in her various moods. He is a keen business man, whose probity,
conservatism, far-sightedness, unselfishness make him a man trusted,
followed, Honored. He is definitely domestic in his habits, and is
never happier than with his family. He stands for the best things in
his community.
Mrs. George Swayne Stewart, nee Marguerite
Morris Rice, was born in Wilmington, Del. Her father, John V.
Rice, Esq., was a well known lawyer and member of the Pennsylvania and
Delaware Bars, and a descendant of the ancient and noble family of Ap-Rhys
of South Wales. Her mother, Sarah Lowe Rice, was descended from
the Lowes of Talbot County, Maryland. One of the incorporators
of the Virginia Colony, 1609, was Vincent Lowe. His descendants
owned large estates in Talbot, Calvert and St. Marys Counties. From
this family are also descended Charles and Daniel Carroll of
Carrollton. General J. Oliver Bradford, maternal great uncle of
Mrs. Stewart, was first Paymaster General of the Navy. General
Bradford, close personal friend of Commodore Farragut, was off
his staff when the United State Fleet made its tour of the world. He
was also with Commodore Perry at the opening of the port of Japan,
1854.
Mrs. Stewart inherited from her mother marked
musical ability which she displayed at an early age, and before long made
the pipe organ her special subject of study under the tutelage of David
Wood and other noted musicals of Philadelphia. She soon became a
member of the American Organists' Club of Philadelphia and her recitals wee
musical events. She is now a member of the American Organ Guild,
Cleveland Chapter.
On Dec. 27th, 1899, she married George Swayne
Stewart, at the home of her brother, William Lowe Rice, Esq.,
Lowe Ridge, Euclid Heights, Cleveland, Ohio. In a few years her
increasing responsibilities as mother of three small children led her to
join a Child Study Club of which she became the first president. From
the activities of that Club the Kindergarten movement with equipment was
started in Norwalk, which afterwards was incorporated in the public schools
of the city. She then became president of the "Child Conservation
League."
The natural sequence of her interest in childhood
and its conservation led her to espouse the Suffrage Cause where greater
opportunities were sought for women of their work of conservation.
With the full sympathy and cooperation of her husband, Mr. George S.
Stewart, whose father, Gideon Tabor Steward, had been one of the
ablest protagonists of progressive movements in Ohio, the Stewart
Colonial home was the first to be opened to the propagandists of the
suffrage cause, and Mrs. Stewart became the first vice president of
the Huron county Equal Franchise League, raising more than the County's
quota of names in the petitions for the vote. Mrs. Malcomb Patrick
and Mrs. Stewart represented Huron county in Columbus when the petitions
were presented at the State House. Fifty years before this Lucy
Stone and Susan B. Anthony had been entertained in the Stewart
home by Gideon Tabor Stewart. In 1899 he greeted there
Carrie Chapman Catt, Anna Howard Shaw and Harriet Taylor Upton.
Mrs. Stewart has since been made a life member of the Ohio Woman
Suffrage Association.
When the war broke out Mrs. Stewart served as
first Huron county Chairman of the Woman's Committee, Council of National
Defense under Mrs. George Zimmerman of Fremont and Miss Belle
Sherwin of Cleveland, and organized a unit in every township of Huron
County.
The League of Women Voters was the fruition of the
achieved suffrage cause and Mrs. Stewart was made director of the
Thirteenth District of the Ohio League of Woman Voters from its beginning to
1924. ("Her district was known at the State office as the best
organized District in Ohio.") She was next unanimously elected
Director at Large of the State League in 1924 in place of Miss Belle
Sherwin, and since 1926 she has been a trustee of the State League.
For the year 1928-9 Mrs. Stewart was president of the Norwalk League
of Women Voters, and has served as finance chairman, raising the League's
quota almost every year since its inception.
Mrs. Stewart has been a delegate to nearly every
State Suffrage Convention, in Daytona, Lima, Cleveland, Columbus,
Cincinnati, etc. She was elected Ohio delegate to the National Woman
Suffrage Association in Philadelphia, 1912; St. Louis, 1919; the Jubilee
Suffrage and League of Women Voters Convention in Chicago, 1920; to the
National League of Women Voters Convention in Cleveland, 1921; National
League of Women Voters Pan-American Convention in Baltimore, 1922; National
League of Women Voters Convention in Buffalo, 1924; Richmond, 1925; and
Louisville, 1930.
But with all Mrs. Stewart's outside interests
and activities, her family, her husband, her four daughters, Elizabeth
Bradford (who attended Vassar and the Philadelphia Academy for Fine
arts); Margaret Morris (graduate of the Columbus School for Girls and
Wellesley College); Anne Ide (graduate of Columbus School for Girls
and also student at Wellesley adn Antioch College); Patricia Hill
(now a junior at Bryn Mawr); and her one son, George Swayne, Jr.,
(fifteen, and preparing for Princeton where his father's cousin, Dr.
George Black Stewart is senior trustee) - have always come first.
With their interests and future at heart has Mrs. Stewart thrown her
heart and soul into the great causes with which she has been identified.
None could be more proud and more appreciative of her activities than is
each and every member of her family.
Source: History of North Central Ohio, Embracing Richland,
Ashland, Wayne, Medina, Lorain, Huron & Knox Counties, By William A. Duff -
in Three Volumes ILLUSTRATED - Publ. by Historical Publishing Co.,
Topeka-Indianapolis - 1931 - Page |
|
JOHN A. STRUTTON. As
president of the Home Savings & Loan Company, Mr. Strutton is
recognized as one of the most prominent business men and influential
citizens of Norwalk. He was born in this city, Sept. 19, 1866, the son
of Louis D. and Eliza A. (Wiles) Strutton.
Louis D. Strutton, was born in London, England, and
his wife was also a native of that city. He spent his boyhood in
London and was educated in the Bluecoat Boys School. For several years
he was associated in business with his older brother and at the age of 28
years he came to America and located at Milan, Ohio, where he engaged in the
shipbuilding business for a time. He settled in Norwalk in 1850 and
practiced law in this city for half a century. At the time of his
death in 1902, at the age of 82 years, he was recognized as one of Norwalk's
leading citizens. He was a Democrat, a member of the Episcopal Church,
and always took an active interest in civic affairs. His wife died in
1897. Both are buried in Norwalk. Their children were:
Sarah, deceased, was the wife of Henry Taber; Elizabeth,
deceased; Charles, deceased; William, lives near Milan;
Louis D., lives at Savannah, Ga.; Rebecca, deceased; Lucy E.,
lives at Norwalk; and John A., the subject of this sketch.
John A. Strutton grew up in Norwalk, and attended
the public schools. He was graduated from Kenyon College in 1887, and
then studied law in his father's office, being admitted to the bar in 1889.
He did not practice that profession, however, but became interested in the
banking business as teller for the old First National Bank. He served
in that capacity for 13 years, and at the organization of the Citizens
Banking Company, Mr. Strutton became assistant cashier.
Three years later he became identified with the Home Savings & Loan Company
as secretary, and held that office continuously until April, 1922, when he
was elected president.
On June 15, 1897, Mr. Strutton was united in
marriage with Miss Caroline Wooster Boalt, of Norwalk, the daughter
of Frederick H. and Charlotte W. (Wooster) Boalt, natives of Ohio,
both now deceased. To them were born two children: Fredericka,
attended Western Reserve University, Cleveland, and Mr. Ida School for
Girls, Boston, Mass., now holds the position of secretary to the
superintendent of Norwalk schools: and Louis D., III, who attends
Kenyon College, member of the class of 1931.
Mr. Strutton is a Democrat in politics and has
served as a member of the board of education for many years, as well as
clerk. He holds membership in the Episcopal Church, of which he is
treasurer, and he also belongs to the Kiwanis Club. He is treasurer of
the Firelands Historical Society, which was founded in 1857. He is
also a member of the Young Men's Library & Reading Room Association, which
was established in 1866, and of which he is now secretary and treasurer.
Oliver Wolcott, great-great-great-granduncle of
Mrs. Strutton, was a singer of the Declaration of Independence, and
her great-grandfather, Roger Griswold, served as Governor of
Connecticut. Her great-great-grandfather, Mathias Griswold, and
her great-great-great-grandfather, Roger Wolcott, also served as
Governors of Connecticut.
Source: History of North Central Ohio, Embracing Richland,
Ashland, Wayne, Medina, Lorain, Huron & Knox Counties, By William A. Duff -
in Three Volumes ILLUSTRATED - Publ. by Historical Publishing Co.,
Topeka-Indianapolis - 1931 - Page 930 |
NOTES:
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