BIOGRAPHIES
†
Source:
Biographical History of Northeastern Ohio
embracing the Counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co. -
1893
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E. F. ENSIGN, dealer in
agricultural implements, Madison, Lake county, Ohio, was born here July
13, 1829. As a successful business man, a representative citizen
and a member of a prominent pioneer family, he is entitled to more than
a passing notice in the history of his county, and it is with pleasure
we present the following review of his life and ancestry.
The Ensign family is of French origin. The
name first appeared in England in 1395. In the eighteenth year of
the reign of King Richard I. at Chilham, near Canterbury, there
was the "Ensigne Manor" of William de Ensigne. The
family coat of arms was in Chilham Church, and was recognized as valid
in 1563 under King Henry VIII. Thomas and James
Ensign appeared in New England in 1634-'35. James went
with the Haker colony to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and removed to
Hartford, Connecticut, with it. He was a man of prominence and
wealth, and died about 1670. His wife, Sarah, died in 1676.
Their son Thomas was the father of twin sons, John and
Jacob, born at Hartford. Jacob was the
great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He was an early
settler of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In a map of the vicinity of
Pittsfield, dated 1794, Silver Lake is called "Ensign's Pond."
Jacob Ensign's oldest son, William, a native of
Massachusetts, was a large landowner, and for some time resided at
Dalton, Berkshire county, that State, where he had about 300 acres of
land. Selling out all his interests there, he came to Ohio in
1815, and in Lake county, retired from active life, he spent his
closing years and died at about the age of eighty-six. His son
Horace, who was born in Dalton, Berkshire county, Massachusetts,
came to northeastern Ohio when a single man, making the journey here on
horseback as early as 1812. He first settled in Ashtabula county,
but, not liking the country there, came to Lake county a few months
later. Upon his arrival here he bought over 200 acres of land just
west of Madison, and here settled in the woods. He was an
industrious man, worked hard and cleared his land and developed his
farm, and at the time of his death was well off. He died here Apr.
6, 1880. His wife, whose maiden name was Celestia
Raymond, was a native of Sherburne, New York, and a daughter of
James Raymond, who was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, and who came
here with his family and settled in Unionville when Mrs. Ensign
was a girl. The Raymonds are of French Huguenot origin,
their ancestors being among the early settlers of Connecticut.
Horace Ensign and his wife reared two children, Frances A.
and E. F. The former was the wife of Simeon Waters,
a graduate of Yale College and a minister of the Congregational Church.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Waters are deceased. Mrs. Ensign
died at the age of seventy-four. She and her husband were among
hte most prominent and highly respected people of this community.
Mr. Ensign was one of the founders of the Congregational
Church here, and was the first Sabbath-school superintendent in Madison.
He also took the lead as an Abolitionist in this part of the country,
and as the keeper of a station on the Underground Railroad he assisted
many a poor colored man to make his escape to Canada. He was one
of the original founders of the anti-slavery party, working with such
men as Wade and Giddings, whom he secured to lecture here.
During his long life he affiliated with various political organizations,
belonging successively to the Whig, Liberty, Free Soil and Republican
parties.
W. F. Ensign was reared on his father's
farm. He attended the home school, and at an early age entered the
Grand River Institute, where he graduated when he was seventeen, being
the valedictorian of his class. The following winter he taught in
the public school at Madison, some of the scholars being older than
himself. He engaged in business at the age of twenty-one, and his
whole life has been spent here. For the past ten years he has been
dealing in agricultural implements, aside from which he also does an
extensive insurance business. He is the owner of valuable real
estate, having fifty acres within the corporate limits of Madison.
From 1876 to 1884 he was State agent of the Grange in Cleveland.
Oct. 4, 1854, Mr. Ensign married Elizabeth H.
Hazelton, a native of Connecticut. She moved with her parents
to Leroy, New York, where she received her education, being a graduate
of the university at that place. Mr. and Mrs. Ensign have
three children: Ralph Waldo, Frances H. and . Raymond.
Miss Frances is a graduate of Oberlin College, and at this writing
is the State organizer of the Y. W. C. T. U. of Ohio. He and his
wife are members of the Congregational Church, in which he has been a
Deacon for many years. He has also served as president of the
Church Board, and for fourteen years was Superintendent of the
Sunday-school. Politically, he is a Republican. All his life
he has taken an active interest in educational affairs. He has
served as president of the School Board here. In 1878 he was
appointed one of the trustees of the Ohio State University, receiving
the appointment from Governor Young and serving as such until the law
was changed, reducing the number of trustees.
Source: Biographical History of Northeastern Ohio
-
embracing the Counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake -
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1893 - Page 897 |
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