ELEAZER ABBE, one of the best-known and most highly respected of the retired agriculturists of Lorain county, was born Dec. 28, 1805, in Lisle, Broome Co., N. Y., a son of Abel Abbe, who was born in Windham, Conn., Aug. 7, 1767.
     Solomon Abbe, grandfather of subject, was a native of the "Nutmeg State," where he married and had three children, viz.:  One son, Abel, and two daughters, Esther and Rena.  Abel Abbe was married Aug. 26, 1789, in Connecticut, to Mariam Bingham, a native of Mansfield, Conn., born Apr. 29, 1772, and the children of this union were as follows:  Lura, born Jan. 20, 1791, died in 1888; Rena, born Aug. 31, 1792; Linda, born July 5, 1794;  Origin, born Apr. 20, 1796; Charles, born May 3, 1798; William, born Apr. 15, 1800; Phoebe, born Feb. 11, 1802; Foster, born Jan. 23, 1804; Eleazer, subject; Abel, born Feb. 15, 1808; Luther, born Aug. 5, 1811, and Matilda, born June 11, 1813.  The parents both died in Ohio, the father in 1845 at the home of his son Eleazer, the mother  in 1854, at the home of her daughter Matilda, in Elyria.  Abel Abbe followed farming in Connecticut, whence in the early part of this century he moved to New York State, where he carried on a sawmill and woolen mill.  In 1817 he came to Ohio, locating in what is now Lake county, and opening in Madison township a blacksmith shop, but agricultural pursuits were his chief life work. in his political affiliations he was a Jackson Democrat, and in his military experience he was a captain of cavalry in the Connecticut militia.
     Eleazer Abbe, the subject proper of these lines, received his education at a public school taught by his sister Linda, first held in a log schoolhouse, afterward in a frame one.  On reaching maturity he commenced life for his own account.  In 1831 he came to Lorain county, and purchased a sixty-acre tract of land in Elyria township, where he now resides, and also twenty-one acres adjoining, on credit.  In addition to his farming interests he did consideration teaming, and among numerous other articles he brought from a distance was the first stove seen or used in Elyria, and also a pair of forge hammers and collars, hauling the latter articles from the Geauga furnace.  He also carried loads of the product of the Elyria furnace to Ashland, Wayne county, which he would trade for produce.  In this manner he succeeded in paying for his land purchase.  He and his brother also hauled timber to Elyria, to be used in the construction of the earlier buildings, and in 1839 they were among the contractors for the macadamizing of the Maumee road.  Mr. Abbe also furnished wood for the Geauga furnace, as well as ore.  To Pittsburgh he carried produce by team, the trip usually consuming some nine or ten days.
     In 1849, the year of the "gold fever," he embarked at Cleveland on the sailing vessel "Eureka," for a voyage to California.  They went through the canals and down the St. Lawrence river to Quebec, where they remained a couple of weeks, and then proceeded down the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Atlantic Ocean.  When they arrived in the vicinity of Cape Horn, they found that, owing to a dense fog prevailing, they had to "double" it, instead of passing through the Straits of Magellan, the shorter route.  Finally, after a voyage of nine months, our subject reached San Francisco, from where after landing he proceeded at once to the gold mines, and after a time returned to San Francisco, for the winter.  In the following spring he ascended the Yuba river; thence to Feather river; thence to Nelson creek, spending the ensuing winter again in San Francisco.  In 1851 he concluded to return home, and took passage on the steamer "Republic" at 'Frisco for Panama.  A short time after taking the steamer, she sprang a leak in mid ocean, owing to her having run against a rock on the previous trip.  She was kept afloat by hard pumping, and was run ashore at Acapulco bay, right on the beach, for repairs.  The passengers were sent ashore with all their bedding.  In an hour afterward her stern went down.  There on the beach they saw the old bark "Eureka"; they say that the passengers were about to mutiny with their captain.  He (the captain) gave up his bark, and ran off across Mexico.  Mr. Abbe and the rest went to Panama on the Panama boat of the same line, which left San Francisco two weeks later.  They crossed the Isthmus, thence Mr. Abbe sailed for New York, and from there traveled by rail homeward.  He was absent about three years, during which time he made good wages, but experienced great hardships and many trials.  After his return he devoted himself almost exclusively to agricultural pursuits, up to the time of his retirement from active life, and his fine farm of 300 acres in Elyria township is now carried n by his sons, Horace and Norman.
     On Oct. 31, 1835, Mr. Abbe was united in marriage with Miss Betsey Wilcox, a native of Cornwall, Conn., born Mar. 21, 1807, but a resident of Elyria, Ohio, at the time of her marriage.  A record of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Abbe is as follows: Mary D. (Mrs. John H. Taylor, of Ridgeville), was born Apr. 3, 1837; Horace, born Nov. 24, 1840, was married Feb. 16, 1870. to Mary A. Aston, and they have four children:  H. Nelson, Norah D., Eula B. and Jane A.; Norman, born Mar. 19, 1842, was married Oct. 15, 1868, to Mabel A. Taylor, of Perkins township, Erie Co., Ohio (they live on the homestead); George was born Sept. 30, 1843, and John on Dec. 30, 1845.  In his political preferences the subject of this sketch is an old school Democrat.
     NORMAN ABBE, the well-known stockman and farmer, received a liberal education at the schools of Elyria, and was reared on his father's farm, which he and his brother Horace operate, and where they are engaged  in the breeding of the fine cattle, in addition to carrying on general agriculture.  Politically Mr. Abbe is a democrat church, he is a member of the Disciple Church.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 878

B. B. ADAMS, justice of the peace for Columbia township, now serving his sixth term, his first election to the office taking place in 1872, is a native of the township, born in 1846, a son of B. B. and Uranis (Hoadley) Adams.
     The father of our subject was also a native of Columbia township, and his parents - Benoni and Sally (Twichell) Adams - came to that township in about 1810 from Connecticut, Mrs. Adams being the first white woman to cross the Cuyahoga river.  They died here, he on Aug. 1, 1876, she on July 5, 1865.  B. B. Adams, Sr., was a farmer all his life, and accumulated a snug competence; politically he was a Whig, and for years served as a justice of the peace.  He died in September, 1848, his wife surviving him till 1874.  They were the parents of four children, as follows:  Sarah, widow of A. S. Slade, an attorney of Cleveland; Mary, wife of W. B. Follansbee, of Wellington; Nellie, wife of C. E. Parmelee, of Lodi; and B. B.
     B. B. Adams, whose name introduces this sketch, received his education at the common schools of his native place, and also attended Oberlin College six years, after which he commenced agricultural pursuits, and he now owns a fine farm of fifty-two acres (the old homestead), all under a high state of cultivation.  In 1884 he was married to Miss Alice Nichols, a native of Columbia township, Lorain county, and a daughter of William  and Amanda (Watson) Nichols, of Vermont and Connecticut birth, respectively, who came many yeas ago to Columbia township, where the father died in May, 1869,  and the mother is still living.  To Mr. and Mrs. Adams have been born two children:  Lou and Chauncey.  Politically our subject votes the Republican ticket, and has been a delegate to County Congressional Senatorial and State Conventions.  In addition to his office of justice of the peace, he has served his township as clerk thirteen years.  He and his wife are members of the Congregational Church.  Lemuel and Chloe (Tyler) Hoadley, maternal grandparents of our subject, were natives of Connecticut, whence about the year 1810 they came to Lorain county, settling in Ridgeville township, where they passed the rest of their pioneer lives.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 1202

D. M. ADAMS, who for many years was one of the leading stock buyers of the southern part of Lorain county, was born Feb. 11, 1819, in Hector, Seneca county, New York.
     Our subject is the second son and fourth child of John M. Adams, who was born in 1785, son of Benjamin Adams.  The family came originally from England, locating first in Massachusetts, then in Litchfield county, Conn., and thence moving to New York State, where they first lived in Dutchess county, and finally settled in Danby, Tompkins county.  Benjamin Adams was a distant relative of John Adams and John Quincy Adams.  He was a tailor by trade.  John Murray Adams, father of our subject, was also a tailor, and moved about with his father, Benjamin, from place to place.  He was married, in Connecticut, to Polly Ann Wheeler, and they had twelve children, five of whom are yet living, viz.: D. M., subject proper of this sketch; Elizabeth Ann, widow of Orrin Parsons, of Wardsborough, Windham Co., Vt.; Eveline M., widow of Henry Murphy, also living in Wardsborough, Windham Co., Vt.; Charles B., a farmer of Lawrence, Kans.; and Maria A., residing in Chicago, Ill., widow of John W. Starr, who was a real-estate broker, and died in Washington, D. C.  John M. Adams died of cholera during the epidemic, on Aug. 10, 1854, in Shiloh, Richland Co., Ohio, while on a visit to his son, Benjamin.  His widow passed away Nov. 4, 1872, in Breckenridge, Mo., a member of the M. E. Church.  The Adams family is an illustrious one, and among the prominent members thereof we mention Alonzo W. Adams who enlisted in the Black Horse Cavalry, and during his service rose from the ranks to general.  He subsequently practiced law in New York and in Washington, D. C., but being taken sick in the latter place came to the home of our subject to recuperate; however, he died in Cleveland on the return trip to Washington, and was buried in LaGrange cemetery, Lorain county, Ohio, in a lot provided by Mr. D. M. Adams.
     D. M. Adams passed his earlier years on a farm in Tompkins county, N. Y., whither he had been brought when an infant, and where he remained until sixteen years old.  He received his education at the common schools; he was naturally a bright scholar, and was also possessed of considerable mechanical genius, being able to work at almost any trade, and proving especially adept at painting and carpenter work.  When he was sixteen years of age his parent came to Cleveland, Ohio, where the father commenced to work at his trade of tailor, and later came to Eaton township, Lorain county, remaining, however, but a short time, when he again resumed his trade in Cleveland.  Our subject remained for some time in Eaton township, and then went to the town of Boston, in Cuyahoga county, where with a capital of two hundred dollars he opened a grocery store, and also carried on a hat store.  Subsequently he traded his business to a man from New York named Perry, for a farm of one hundred acres in Sullivan county, N. Y., and went east to look after his farm, which he lost, as the title proved to be worthless.  Not discouraged by this experience, he began again, and in 1839 started on the return trip to Ohio, stopping en route at Erie, Penn., where he worked at the carpenter trade for a year.  He then came to Portage county, Ohio, where he was married, in October, 1840, to Jane A. Trotter, born Dec. 25, 1819, in Messina village, Jefferson Co., N. Y., a daughter of Richard Trotter, who afterward came to Portage County, Ohio.  The young couple commenced housekeeping in Aurora township, Portage county, where he purchased 130 acres of land, on which they resided until 1850, when he sold out and came to LaGrange township, Lorain county.  Here he purchased from Z. Ensign his present farm, comprising 225 acres of good land, upon which, in 1859, he built at a cost of seven thousand dollars a very comfortable residence, then the finest in the township; he drew the plans for this house himself, made all the brick and took upon himself the overseeing of the building, there being no contract work on the place.  While engaged in the business, and while residing in that place, he bought and sold more stock than any other man in the business in Lorain county.  He was among the original promoters and stockholders of the Lorain Plank Road, had a contract for seen and a half miles of same, and it was mainly through his efforts that LaGrange village secured this road; otherwise it would have gone by Grafton.  He was superintendent of this road five years, and also served the same length of time as manager and collector.  He had made many trips to New York City, and it was during one of these that he met with the accident - falling through a railroad bridge - which caused him to give up the business.  He has a most extensive acquaintance.
     To the union of D. M. and Jane A. Adams came children as follows:  Velorias L. of Belden, Lorain Co., Ohio; Benjamin F. a farmer of LaGrange; Eliza J., now Mrs. L. G. Parsons, of Greenville, Ohio; and Ella A., now Mrs. D. D. Gott, of Greenville, Ohio.  The mother of these died Oct. 31, 1877, and was buried in LaGrange cemetery, and on Aug. 4, 1880, Mr. Adams was married to Miss Ella M. Moorehouse, of Cortland, N. Y.  Politically he was originally a Whig, then a Republican until 1872, when he became a Democrat, and in 1892 he joined the Farmers Alliance; he takes little interest in party affairs, and has refused various township offices.  He is a very temperate man, and never uses either tobacco or intoxicating liquor in any form.  Owing to his eminent qualities as a business manager, Mr. Adams acts as guardian for a number of orphans, and has settled up various estates; he is now engaged in collecting the celebrated Award in favor of La Abra Silver Mining Company, of the city of New York, against the Republic of Mexico.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 821

ROWELL CALVIN ADAMS, dealer in agricultural implements, seeds of all kinds, fertilizers, etc., Wellington, is a native of Wellington township, born Feb. 1, 1838, of an old Connecticut family.
     He is a son of Calvin and Eunice (Smith) Adams, the former of whom was a native of the "Nutmeg State," whence prior to his marriage he came west to Ohio, settling on a farm in Wellington township, Lorain county, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits till a short time before his death, which occurred in 1864.  He was twice married, and by his first wife, Eunice (Smith), he had five children, namely: Edwin, deceased in childhood; Fayette, who died when young; Marcia, now the widow of R. F. Jones, of Wellington, Ohio; Rowell Calvin and Lois, who died, unmarried, in 1879.
     The subject of this biographical sketch received a liberal education at district school No. 4, Wellington township, attending a few winter terms, the remainder of the year being occupied on his father's farm, where he continued to reside till 1865, in which year he removed to Huntington township, and here bought a farm of 113 acres prime land, where, until about 1882, he carried on general farming, including dairying, buying and selling stock, etc.  In that year he came to Wellington, after a time opening out his present prosperous business.  On Sept. 29, 1859, he was married to Miss Melva A. Whiting, born in Pittsfield township, Lorain county, Oct. 15, 1840 and four children have come to this union: Rosa M., wife of Delmer I. Beckley; Mrs. E. L. Wilcox; Grace M., and Leon R.  Politically Mr. Adams is a lifelong Republican, and two years ago he united with the Prohibitionists.  He is not identified with any particular church; his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Society.  During the war of the Rebellion he enlisted three times, but on each occasion he was rejected on account of physical disability caused by an accident he met with when fourteen years old, whereby his leg was broken, and he has been slightly crippled ever since.  He is doing an excellent business, thoroughly understanding the wants of the community in his lie of trade.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 899

E. H. ALTEN, junior member of the wide awake business firm of M. J. & E. H. Alten, merchant tailors and dealers in full lines of gents' furnishings, was born in Avon township, Lorain Co., Ohio, July 10, 1870.
     Mr. Alten received his education at the parochial and high school, working at times on his father's farm, after which he taught for eighteen months.  He then attended the Jesuit College at Buffalo, N. Y., taking a scientific and business course, and graduating June 21, 1890.  He next proceeded to Tiffin, Ohio, where he was bookkeeper for the Belgian Glass Works, six months, or till the assignment of the firm, at which time he went to Cleveland and took lessons in merchant tailoring at the Cleveland Cutting School, and graduated therefrom.  Then returning to Lorain he entered into partnership with his brother M. J. in their present business.  Mr. Alten is a man of superior education, and possessed of good business qualifications.  He has an advantage in being able to speak German equally as well as he does English.  He is a member of the Catholic Church.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 1210

GEORGE H. ANDRESS, a prominent agriculturist of Henrietta township, is a native of same, born Aug. 5, 1834, a son of Carlo and Nancy (Buckly) Andress.
     Carlo Andress was born Nov. 6, 1804, in Essex county, N. Y., and came to Ohio in 1817.  On Mar. 1, 1832, he was married in Henrietta to Nancy Buckly, who was born in Auburn, N. Y., May 30, 1812, and they lived together nineteen years, when she died, Aug. 25, 1851.  They had but one child, George H., the subject of this sketch.  Carlo Andress was subsequently, on Dec. 4, 1851, married to Weltha Smith, of Elyria, by which union he had two children, both born in Henrietta, at the old homestead, viz.: Alice, born Oct. 30, 1853, and Henry, born June 19, 1855.  Carlo Andress died of paralysis Nov. 8, 1870, in Oberlin, whither he had removed in order to have his children educated; his wife was born in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Aug. 16, 1815, and died Apr. 24, 1871.
     Carlo Andress commenced life as a pioneer farmer, working early and late without any of the comforts and barely the necessities of life.  For the wife of his earlier years he married one that was the willing to work as was he, and together they labored and managed to lay the foundation of a competency.  He was elected justice of the peace of the time of T. Corwin, in 1842, and was for many years justice in Henrietta township, where he tried to have all troubles settled without any ill-well.  His wife was a Christian woman, having joined the Disciple Church while quite young, and remaining true to her early faith till the last.  She was noted for her goodness to the poor and her kindness to this sick, and her sweetness of disposition is often spoken of until this day by the people who knew her best.  Two brothers of hers and their descendants are living in Henrietta township at the present time.  His second spouse was a model wife and mother, devoting her entire time to her family.  He could at this time provide for his family far differently than in his younger days.  He and his wife were deeply interested in the welfare of their children and the people that were of their household.
     Our subject attended the primitive country schools of his boyhood days, and Berea (Ohio) College two terms.  He then assisted his father in the farm work, clearing the land of timber and undergrowth, and converting the virgin soil into fertile fields.  At the age of about twenty-three years he commenced life for his own account, as a full-fledged farmer, and in his vocation has been highly successful.  He now owns 134 acres of prime land, one hundred of which were cultivated by his father.
     In 1859 Mr. Andress was united in marriage with Miss Mathida Elson, and three children were born to them, as follows:  Maud (Mrs. Fred Fowler, of Berlin Heights, Ohio), born Apr. 13, 1861; Ernest, born July 18, 1863, died Jan. 16, 1873; and Leon, born Mar. 13, 1865.  The mother of these died in 1868, and in 1870 our subject intermarried with Adelaide Ennis, by which union there is one child, Frank, in the express office in Elyria.  In 1872 Mr. Andress married Amelia Hutchison, daughter of William Hutchison, and children, as follows, were born to this union:  Edna, at present at Painesville (Ohio) Seminary; Elsie, teaching school at Berlin Heights, Ohio; Walter, deceased; Henry, Fred and Bessie, at home.  Politically our subject is a Democrat, but in local elections he invariably votes for the best man regardless of party.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 709

H. M. ANDRESS, the popular and enterprising liveryman of Elyria, is a native of Henrietta township, Lorain county, Ohio, born in 1855, a son of Carlo and Weltha (Smith) Andress.  The father, who was a farmer, was born in Essex county, N. Y., in 1804, one of a family of ten children, came to Ohio in 1817, and died Nov. 8, 1870; the mother died Apr. 24, 1871.
     H. M. Andress received a liberal common-school education, and in early youth commenced commercial life.  For a time he owned a half interest in a grocery, which he sold out to Henry Wurst,  and purchased a share in a livery, with Jno. T. Houghton; but, his partner subsequently retiring, our subject was left with his interest, and has continued the business alone ever since.  The livery is one of the best equipped in Northern Ohio, and enjoys a wide and lucrative patronage.  Soon after commencing in this line, Mr. Andress opened an emporium for vehicles, handling all kinds of carriages, buggies, road wagons, farm wagons, sulkies, etc., in which he has met with well-merited success, selling both wholesale and retail.  He has also traded considerably in horses - buying and selling.  In connection he also opened out a harness shop in the lower story of the Odd Fellows Block, in the fall of 1891, which, like all his other enterprises, is a pronounced success.  In company with Henry Wurst he purchased the "Beebe House," the leading hotel in Elyria, which at considerable outlay they repaired and refitted, and it now stands second to none in the county as a first-class hotel.
     H. M. Andress and Miss M. G. Boynton, also a native of Elyria, were united in marriage July 9, 1878, and three children have been born to them: Maude, Jeane and George.
     Joshua Boynton, father of Mrs. H. M. Andress, was born in Wiscasset, Maine, in 1811; her mother, Barbara (Arman) Boynton, was born in Germany.  Of Mr. Andress it can be truthfully said, that as a "hustler" in business, and in financiering, he is a leader in the county, and, although yet a young man, he is owner of considerable property besides his business interests.  He claims he has "never yet been guilty of voting for a Democrat, except for corporation or county offices;" so to particularize his politics would indeed be superfluous.Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 877

F. A. AVERY, editor and proprietor of the North Amherst Argus, is a native of Lorain county, Ohio, born Jan. 6, 1872, in Henrietta township.  He is a son of A. P. and Lucinda (Wheeler) Avery, the farmer of whom was born, in 1832, in Massachusetts, came west and located in Wellington, Ohio, where he married Miss Lucinda Wheeler, of La Grange township, Lorain county.
     The subject of these lines left his home at the age of fourteen years, and from that time made his own way i the world.  He received his education at the common schools, also at the Welling high school, and took a miscellaneous literary course at the Normal College of Valparaiso, Ind.  In Antwerp, Ohio, he learned the printing trade, and after serving his apprenticeship came to North Amherst, where for a year and a half he was manager and local editor of the Reporter.  In the fall of 1891 he severed his connection with that paper and worked as a "jour" compositor on various leading newspapers in the East and West until October, 1892, at which time he established the Argus, a clean, bright, newsy journal which is bound to make its mark under the facile pen of its experienced though yet youthful editor.  It is a paper free and untrammeled, being open to all parties, influenced by none, and neutral in politics.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 728