BIOGRAPHIES
** Source:
1798
History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio
with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches
of its Pioneers and Most Prominent Men.
Publ. Philadelphia: Williams Brothers
1878.
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Amherst Call
Olive Call
Residence of S. W. Call,
Late Residence of Amherst Call, (deceased),
Perry Tp., Lake Co., OH |
Perry Twp. -
AMHERST and OLIVE CALL. Amherst
Call was born Feb. 24, 1804, in Newport, Orleans county,
Vermont, where he resided till September, 1815, when his parents,
Rufus and Lydia Call, with their family of eight children, -
seven boys and one girl, - removed to this State, and settled in the
town of Perry, then Geauga County, Ohio.
Coming as they did to this county, which was then a
wild wilderness, they could hardly expect to see harder times or
endure greater privations than they had already passed through in
Vermont during the famine of 1810. We copy the following from
the diary of Rufus Call:
"June 13, 1810. - This is a melancholy day.
Yesterday we began for the first time to try our new fare,
which is the only alternative to save life, viz., leeks.
We have not a mouthful of bread or sauce of any kind and not more
than one pound of meat in the world. This morning all of my
family are sick to their stomachs, and there is a gloom on every
countenance."
Returning again to our subject, we find young
Amherst battling with the mighty forests and daily strengthening
his nerves and muscles by using the axe and helping to prepare this
almost unbroken wilderness for the plow.
On the 12th of November, 1822, while he and his brother
Benjamin F. were chopping down a tree, a limb fell, striking
Benjamin on the head, killing him instantly.
Amherst continued working for and with his parents till
about the year 1825, when he began business for himself, and
purchased one hundred and sixty acres of heavily timbered land on
what is now known as the “Call farm,” in Perry
township. The consideration paid for this land at that time
was six hundred and thirty-eight dollars. This same land after
his death, forty-four years later, was sold for sixteen thousand
dollars. Shortly after he purchased this farm his parents
decided to make their home and spend the remainder of their lives
with their son Amherst. Accordingly they sold out their
place and moved into the house with him, where they found an
ever-welcome home. His mother died Oct. 15, 1856, at the age
of ninety-one, and his father, who survived him twenty-one days,
died Mar. 6, 1869, aged ninety-nine years, seven months, and
twenty-three days.
Sunday, Sept. 15, 1833, he married Miss Olive
Sinclair, and the next day they began housekeeping.
Olive Sinclair was born in Danville,
Caledonia county, Vermont, Jan. 5, 1804, where she lived till 1826,
when she with her parents moved to Peacham, in that State, and two
years later they removed to Perry, then Geauga County, Ohio.
Her parents, Joseph and Olive Sinclair, built what is still
known as the Sinclair tavern, on the north ridge in
Perry. Here Olive made her home, working at the
tailor’s trade, which she had learned and worked at since she was
twelve years of age. At the age of nineteen she became a
professor of religion and joined the Methodist Episcopal church,
since which time she has ever been a faithful and devoted follower
of Christ. Her education was good for those times.
Sept. 15, 1833, she was married to Amherst
Call. Endowed with those qualities of head and heart by
which the true woman is everywhere known and recognized, Mrs.
Call is still living, surrounded by her children and grand
children, dearly loved by them, and greatly esteemed by all who know
her. Her life has been a useful one, and when her summons
comes she will be prepared to respond to it with that feeling of
resignation and cheerfulness which is alone experienced in that hour
by the true Christian.
Their children are as follows: Statira C. Call,
born July 23, 1834; Corlista A. Call, born Nov. 4, 1836;
Aril B. Call, born Dec. 6, 1838; Addison D. Call, born
Apr. 11, 1841; Amherst W. Call, born Apr. 25, 1843; Solon
W. Call, born Nov. 13, 1845.
In the year 1838 he built the house, a view of which is
shown in this volume, in which he lived till the time of his death.
Amherst Call died Feb. 15, 1869, aged
sixty-four years, eleven months, and twenty-one days. For the
last twenty years he had been a professed follower of Christ and a
leading member of the Methodist Episcopal church, during which time
he, on every appropriate occasion, proclaimed the glad tidings of
salvation, ever inviting and pointing sinners to Christ.
In his domestic relations he was everything that could
be desired,—a tender and affectionate husband, a loving and devoted
father, a kind and faithful friend. As a citizen he was
generous and public-spirited. His influence was ever on the
side of Christian morality and good order, and anything designed to
increase the happiness or promote the prosperity of his
fellow-citizens was sure to receive his patronage and encouragement.
He was not destitute of ambition, but his was not that
low and groveling passion which seeks its gratification in the
present, but rather that nobler and purer and loftier sentiment
which is directed to higher ends and higher aims, which strives for
the welfare of his fellow-men, and looks forward to the future,
trustful and hopeful of a sure reward and a crown with Christ in
heaven.
He was a sound and careful thinker, clear-headed,
practical, and discreet. His mind was evenly balanced and well
disciplined. Success was not followed by a lack of caution,
and danger did not intimidate him. Like the sturdy Alpine
hunter with the mountain-torrents dashing beneath his feet, and the
dreaded avalanche thundering in the distance, he was not indifferent
to peril, but firmly and calmly prepared to meet it. Religion
appeared to him as worthy the best energies of his mind, and he
sought in his life and conduct to give it that elevated character
which it deserves.
By this their sudden bereavement may his children, to
whom he was so endeared, take warning, and may all be admonished of
the uncertainty of life. No vigor of physical ability, no
mental endowments, add to the security of our existence. We
have a most melancholy example before us. In the midst of his
years, in the days of his greatest usefulness to society and the
church of Christ, with prospects as bright as those in his earlier
years, Amherst Call was cut down.
Source: 1798 - History of Geauga and Lake
Counties, Ohio - Publ. Philadelphia: Williams Brothers - 1878 -
Page 243 - (Portrait of Residence on 242c) |
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Mentor Twp. -
BENJAMIN CARPENTER was born in the town of Savoy,
Berkshire county, Massachusetts, May 18, 1799. When about
twenty-one years of age he hired out to Simeon Hodges, who was
then about to emigrate to the Western Reserve, and was the driver of his
team on that journey. Hodges located in Newbury, Geauga
County, where Benjamin remained with him for about eighteen
months subsequent to his arrival, at the end of which time he returned
on foot to his native State. There he remained about a year, and
then again set out for Ohio with the intention of adopting this section
of country as his future home. On arriving here, he went to work
for Colonel Corning, and for the first twelve months of his labor
received one hundred dollars in money and a barrel of whisky.
At the expiration of his term of service with Colonel Corning he
purchased a farm of fifty acres, mostly improved, in the town of
Concord, and erected a house and barn thereon. HE then converted
his stock of liquor into cash, with which he bought a plow, and hiring a
team for a short time, engaged with energy in the cultivation of his
purchase.
But there was one thing yet lacking in Benjamin's
condition, the possession of which was necessary to his complete
happiness. A house he had, but no wife, and consequently no
home. But he was not long in determining who should become its
mistress. The one made thus happy was Miss Sallly, daughter
of his old employer, Simon Hodges. She was born Apr. 8,
1802. They were married by Rev. Stephenson, May 26, 1825.
To them were born five children, as follows: Maria, May 23, 1826;
Lucius H., Feb. 17, 1828; Sarah Ann, Apr. 23, 1831;
Caroline E., Nov. 25, 1835; Juliaette H., Aug. 26, 1839.
Maria became the wife of John Ward, of Willoughby, and died
July 18, 1878. Sarah Ann married Joshua A. Bradley,
then of Mentor, but afterwards removed to Wisconsin; she died there in
October, 1876. Caroline married Nathan Calkins, of
Wisconsin, and died soon after the birth of her first child.
Juliaette married Charles C. Caley, of Warrensville, Cuyahoga
county, and afterwards removed to Quincy, Michigan, where they now
reside. Lucius H. was united in marriage, Mar. 25,
1856, to Ellen E., daughter of Varney and Mary E. Prouty.
The date of her birth was Oct. 17, 1835. They have four children:
George B., born Sept. 9, 1857; Byron P., Mar. 15, 1860;
Royal, Nov. 7, 1861; Charles, Aug. 21, 1863.
The subject of this sketch is now living with his
fourth wife. His first, who was the mother of his children, died
Dec. 13, 1850 and Mar. 3, 1852, he married the widow of Joel
Eno. She died Oct. 9, 1859. His next marriage was to the
widow of Lewis Carpenter, in November, 1861, who died Jan. 15,
1871. His fourth wife was the widow of Moses Carrell, whom
he married Feb. 29, 1872. She remains to share the joys and
sorrows of his old age. Mr. Carpenter is in the eightieth
year of his life, and his wife in her sixty-third year.
Source: 1798 - History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio - Publ.
Philadelphia: Williams Brothers - 1878 - Page 252 (Portrait of
Benjamin Carpenter and L. R. Carpenter Residence on Page 250b) |
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Painesville Twp. -
ASA CHILDS was the youngest of the five children
of Asa and Sabra Childs, and was born in Shelbourne,
Massachusetts, Feb. 22, 1816. He was bereft of his father in
infancy, and in early boyhood learned the harness-making trade. At
this work he industriously applied himself until about the age of
twenty, when he emigrated to Ohio. Young and compelled to depend
upon his own resources, his knowledge of a good trade at this juncture
stood him in good stead, and soon after his arrival here he opened a
shop on Main street, in a small frame building near the location of the
present savings bank. His business steadily increased, but he
concluded, in 1839, to remove to Kelloggsville, Ashtabula county, at
which place, then of some importance, there was an establishment for the
manufacture of leather. Shortly afterwards he was united in
marriage to Sarah A., daughter of General Eli and Sarah
Bond, of Painesville, the date of whose birth was Dec. 4, 1815.
He remained in Kelloggsville only about two years, his business there
not proving satisfactorily remunerative, and he returned to Painesville,
where he continued his business. He was burned out in February,
1861, but with an energy, characteristic of him, immediately afterwards
commenced making preparations for the erection of the fine brick
building known as the Childs block, which he pushed steadily
forward to completion, notwithstanding the enormous increase in the
price of labor and building material caused by the war.
He was not, however, long to enjoy the results of his
busy toil, his death occurring in October of 1870, after an illness of
some two or three years. He was a prominent member of the order of
Free Masons, in whose aims and purposes he was an enthusiastic believer.
He was a man of generous impulses, giving cheerfully to every laudable
object, - the poor and needy especially always finding in him a helpful
friend. His life, while being an exceptionally busy one, was
always upright and honorable, and at his death he left behind him the
precious legacy of a good name.
Mr. and Mrs. Childs were never blessed with
children. In 1863, however, they adopted two children, brother and
sister, with whom, in her pleasant home in Painesville, the widow of the
subject of this sketch resides.
Source: 1798 - History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio - Publ.
Philadelphia: Williams Brothers - 1878 - Page 226 |
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Painesville Twp. -
E. W. CLARKE, editor of the Painesville
Advertiser, was born in Buffalo, New York, Nov. 25, 1845.
When about fourteen years of age he began a course of study at
Oberlin, which was subsequently completed at Yale, graduating in the
class of 1867, "with honors" at the age of twenty-one. In the
intervening years he was in the service a short time as a volunteer
in the the Eighth Battery, Ohio National Guard. In 1867
he purchased the Lorain County News, at Oberlin, and after
publishing it two years was editor of the Bellevue Gazette
eight months, and in 1870 purchased the Painesville Advertiser,
which he has since published with the exception of one year.
Energy and perseverance are among his leading characteristics, and
under his management the Advertiser is destined to hold a
high position. His attention has been principally directed to
completing the equipment of his office during his residence in
Painesville, and it has been well said of him, "he was born to the
business if a man ever was." Mr. Clarke was married,
Sept. 7, 1870, to Miss Nellie Greene, of West Lebanon,
Indiana, a graduate of the literary course, Oberlin College, and is
blessed with one son, Elbert J. Clarke, born Nov. 6, 1871.
Source: 1798 - History of Geauga and Lake
Counties, Ohio - Publ. Philadelphia: Williams Brothers - 1878 -
Page 227 |
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Perry Twp. -
E. S. COLEGROVE
Source: 1798 - History of Geauga and Lake
Counties, Ohio - Publ. Philadelphia: Williams Brothers - 1878 -
Page (Portrait of Residence on 240b) |
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Mentor Twp. -
NATHAN CORNING (see pictures in biography of
Warren Corning), the son of Warren and Elizabeth Corning, born in
Acworth, New Hampshire, Feb. 17, 1805, the subject of our sketch, was
the fifth of a family of nine children.
He came, with his father, to Mentor, Ohio, when not
quite six years of age.
His education was obtained at the common schools, with
a short course of instruction at a select school in Painesville.
His first ownership of land was in 1827, when his father deeded him a
farm of one hundred and seventeen and seventy-four hundredths acres at
the centre. That portion lying south of the road is now owned by
Daniel B. Hart, and that on the north side by the widow of Abram
Van Etten.
To this, and adjoining it on the north, he
added, in the year 1853 or 1854, two hundred and seven acres, from what
was then known as "the Perkins tract."
Having previously disposed of the southern
portion, his farm now consisted of three hundred acres, which he sold,
and in 1865, to Mrs. Van Etten.
A few months after he bought the farm
formerly owned by his brother Warren, adjoining that of his
sister, Mrs. Dickey, now owned by General Garfield,
known as the "Aldrich farm." This he retained until
the spring of 1866, when he sold to Mr. Aldrich, the
father of the present owner.
In 1828, Sept. 18, he was united in marriage to
Phoebe E. Wilson, daughter of David and Phoebe Wilson.
She was born in Pittstown, New York, in 1809, and with her parents
removed to Mentor when she was in her sixth year. Her parents
settled on the farm adjoining that was first owned by her husband's
father. Thus they were playmates and acquaintances in childhood
and youth. After marriage, their house was often an asylum for the
homeless; and a deaf ear never was turned upon those in distress or
want. Mrs. Corning was of Quaker descent through her
mother, who believed their lineage could be directly traced to George
Fox. Her great-grandmother was Phoebe Fox. "Uncle Sam,"
used as a synonym for the United States government, was first applied to
her father's brother, Samuel, usually known among his acquaintances as
Uncle Sam. He, with his brother Ebenezer, were inspectors
of government stores, contracted by Elbert Anderson for the army
in the war of 1812. These were marked "E. A., U. S." A
workman being asked the meaning of the letters, answered: "He did
not know, unless they meant Elbert Anderson and Uncle Sam."
U. S. really meaning United States, the joke was readily appropriated,
and Uncle Sam was often congratulated upon his increasing possessions.
Mrs. Corning's useful life ended August 27,
1878.
To Mr. and Mrs. Corning were born the
following-named children: Emily, Nelson D., James N., Mary L., Phoebe
Elizabeth, Huldah W., and Elizabeth Phoebe. Emily
Corning became the wife of J. Mills Bradley, formerly of
Mentor, but at the time of their marriage a resident of Troy, New York,
where for several years he was associated with James E. Kimball
in the flour commission business. He was a member of the board of
supervisors of that city two terms, which body in that State reviews the
financial interests of public affairs. His death occurred in 1869.
Mrs. Bradley now resides in Mentor. Nelson D.
married Adeline Tyler, is a farmer, and also resides in Mentor.
Mary L. married James M. Blish, who died in the service of
his country in the war of the Rebellion.
She afterwards married Henry A. Hills, a farmer, and
is now living in Highland, Kansas. James N. married Mary
A. Thompson, and is a justice of the peace at South Bend, Indiana.
Huldah W. married Selden B. Kingsbury,
who for several years was principal of the high school of Constantine,
Michigan, and is now a lawyer of that place. Elizabeth Phoebe
married Wm. W. Mills, a civil engineer, and lives at Oakland,
California. Phoebe Elizabeth died in infancy.
Mr. Corning's occupation has been that of a
farmer, though he has been also a manufacturer of brooms and a dealer in
real estate. He has been honored by his fellow men with several
offices of public trust, the duties of which he has discharged in an
efficient manner. The office of coroner of Lake County he held
three terms. He has also held the offices of township treasurer
and assessor. At the first election held in the incorporated town
of Mentor he was chosen mayor, and also at various subsequent elections.
He held the position of township trustee for several years, and was a
member of the school board more than twenty years. He has always
taken an active part in every project looking to the advancement of
public interest, and sometimes made his individual interests subservient
to them. In business transactions he has ever been a man of whom
it can be truly said," his word is as good as his bond." He is a
stanch Republican, and an influential member of that party in his
township.
Mr. Corning possesses, as he justly merits, the
esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens, and is loved and revered
by his family and many friends.
Source: 1798 -
History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio - Publ. Philadelphia:
Williams Brothers - 1878 - Page 253 |
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Mentor Twp. -
WARREN CORNING. An interesting and a pleasing task is it
for the biographer to rescue from oblivion the career of a truly useful
and worthy life, and to place it upon the page of history, where it will
endure forever. This interest and pleasure remain, though the
career be followed along the humbler walks of life, for usefulness and
worthiness, and even greatness, are not the exclusive possession of
those who attain distinction among their fellow-men; for distinction,
indeed, may be reached without the aid of these qualities, which oftener
embellish the lives of those who are scarcely known beyond the limits of
their own neighborhood. Manhood deserves its proper homage
whatever and in whomsoever found.
The subject of this sketch was born at Beverly,
Massachusetts, on Wednesday, the 21st day of November, 1771. On
Wednesday, the 12th of November, 1795, he married Miss Elizabeth
Pettingill, whose date of birth was Friday, Jan. 16, 1773; and on
the 10th day of October, 1810, Mr. and Mrs. Corning became
residents of Mentor township, then in Geauga County. He came
hither from Acworth, New Hampshire, where he had resided a few years
previously, and accomplished the long journey with a six horse team,
driven before a large covered wagon, which contained his family and his
household goods. He was accompanied by a number of others, who,
like himself, were journeying to the then far west to find home for
themselves and their children. He was given charge of the moving
caravan, and so efficient were his services that his companions gave him
the title of colonel, a name he retained ever afterwards. His
family at this time consisted of his wife and seven children, and two
other children were born subsequently. He effected a settlement on
what was then known as the Ward farm. His house was
a rude shanty some fifteen feet square, with oiled paper for window
glass, and their surroundings were in wide contrast to their pleasant
New Hampshire home they had so recently left. Both he and his
companion felt deeply the change, but not a word of complaint was spoken
by either until one Sunday morning, while walking out to the rear of
their cabin, each silent, with no doubt their thoughts engaged upon
their New England house, they suddenly came upon a huge rattlesnake that
lay coiled up in their path before them. The colonel, after
killing the reptile, spoke to his wife and said, "Elizabeth, do
you like this place? are you contented here?" She burst into tears
and confessed that she was not happy. He soon thereafter effected
an exchange for what was known as the Bacon farm. This
happened probably the next year after his arrival. It was a much
pleasanter spot, and he went immediately to work with energy to subdue
the forests and to make the soil respond to efforts at cultivation.
During the war of 1812 he was drafted, but sent a substitute and
remained at home, attending assiduously to his farm duties. In
1813 or in 1814 he raised a thousand bushels of corn, for which he
received the neat sum of two thousand dollars. He raised some
wheat also, which brought him three dollars per bushel. He erected
a frame house on this purchase in 1815, - the first frame house erected
in the township of Mentor. His untiring industry brought to him
its reward. He prospered. He was recognized by all as the
leading man of his township. He became the owner of a flouring
mill in Kirtland, and built a distillery in his own township. He
added largely to his landed possessions. About the year 1830 he
made a division of his property for the benefit of his children.
Colonel Corning took a great interest in improving the condition
of the roads of his township, and such was his influence among his
neighbors that they all willingly responded to the call he made upon
their time and purses in this direction.
After he had made a distribution of his property he and
his companion made their home with their son Nathan, a wing being
added to Nathan's house for their accommodation. Here he
lived the happy days of retirement, watching with interest the progress
in life his children and his grandchildren were making, deeply
interested in all matters relating to his own neighborhood, and not
oblivious by any means to the affairs of state. He was a life-long
Whig, and an influential and devoted member of the Disciples church.
His habits were temperate, his convictions of duty and of right were
strong, and he commanded the respect and high esteem of all who knew
him.
His wife died July 8, 1845, nearly seventy-two years of
age; and his own death occurred Mar. 12, 1852, in the eighty-first year
of his life. Colonel Corning's children were as follows:
Warren Corning, Jr., born Apr. 11, 1798 (Wednesday); Nathaniel,
December 22, 1799 (Sunday); Mindwell, born Mar. 29, 1801
(Sunday); Ariel, Sept. 13, 1802 (Monday); Nathan, Feb. 2,
1810 (Friday); Rachel, July 17, 1814 (Sunday); Harriet M.,
May 8, 1817 (Thursday). Three are now living, viz.:
Mindwell, who became the wife of Elias Randall then of
Mentor, and now lives in widowhood in Peoria, Illinois; Nathan,
who resides at Mentor Centre; and Harriet, who became the wife of
James Dickey, and lives in Mentor.
Source: 1798 - History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio - Publ.
Philadelphia: Williams Brothers - 1878 - Page 252 |
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