BIOGRAPHIES
COMMEMORATIVE
BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
OF THE COUNTIES OF
HURON AND LORAIN, OHIO
CONTAINING
Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens
and of Many of the Early Settled Families
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO
J. H. BEERS & CO.
1894
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Paul W. Sampsell |
PAUL W. SAMPSELL, M. D.
Source: Commemorative
Biographical Record of the counties of Huron and
Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H.
Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 654 |
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JOHN
SAYE, farmer and keeper of boarding stable,
Ridgeville township, is an Englishman by birth, born
Dec. 7, 1839, in Yorkshire, a son of James and
Ann (Colley) Saye, of the same county, where
they married. In 1850 they came to the United
States, crossing the ocean in six weeks, and from
their port of landing came westward to Ohio, taking
the Hudson river, Erie Canal and Lake Erie to
Cleveland, thence proceeding by wagon to their
destination - Eaton township, Lorain county, where
they lived many years; they died in Ridgeville
township, the father in February, 1881, the mother
in 1871. They had a family of eight children,
six of whom are yet living, viz.: Watson,
residing in Ridgeville township; Ann, widow
of Albert Adams, of John Watson, of
Ridgeville township; Mary, wife of Ambrose
Snow, of California; John, our subject;
and Hannah, widow of Joseph Peterson,
of Berea, Ohio.
John Saye, whose name introduces this sketch,
was a boy when he came with the rest of the family
to America, and his education was received partly in
England and partly in Ridgeville township, Lorain
county, where he was also trained to agricultural
pursuits. In 1872 he bought his present fine
farm of forty-five acres in Ridgeville township, and
here he has since been successfully engaged in
general farming and boarding horses, in connection
with which latter branch of his business he has had
the care of horses of all kinds, from various parts
of the county. Mr. Saye has been twice
married: first time in 1863 to Miss Miriam Parker,
a native of Henrietta township, Lorain county, by
which union were born three children - all daughters
- viz.: Amy, Ella (wife of Douglas
Proudfoot; they have one child, Lester),
and Miriam. The mother of these died in
1879, and in 1883 Mr. Saye married Miss
Ellen Gayton a native of Cleveland, Ohio.
In politics our subject is a Republican, and he is
one of the useful, loyal citizens of his locality.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 970 |
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S.
H. SHAW, a leading agriculturist of
Ridgeville township, and a representative citizen,
is a native of New York State, born in Bristol
township, Ontario county, in 1829, a son of
Samuel and Charlotte (Hale) Shaw, also natives
of the Empire State.
In the fall of 1829 the family migrated to Ohio, making
a settlement in Bath township, Summit county, the
fourth or fifth family to come into that locality.
Here the father died Jan. 31, 1837, and in 1839 his
widow married Lyman Doolittle, who died in
Summit county, Ohio. To Samuel and
Charlotte Shaw were born six children, as
follows: Allen who died young; S. H.,
our subject; Corinthia, who died young;
Lorenzo, who married and lived in Summit county,
died about 1890; Dency, who married Walter
Simmons, and moved to Medina county, died in
September, 1891 (he died in September, 1890); and
Richmond, married, residing in Bath township,
Summit county. By the mother's second marriage
there were five children, to wit: Eliza, who
married William Wylie (they came to
Ridgeville township, where she died in 1875);
Erwin, who died young; Lucy who died
young; Orpha, wife of Virgil R. Shaw,
living on the old home; and Genevieve wife of
Virgil E. Shaw, also residing on the old
homestead.
The subject proper of this sketch received a liberal
education at the common schools of his boyhood home,
and was reared to farming pursuits. In 1851 he
came from Summit county, Ohio, to Ridgeville
township, Lorain county, where he cleared a farm
from out of the woods, at a time when wild animals,
including all kinds of game, were yet plentiful.
He bought eighteen acres of land, and after
improving it sold out and moved into Medina county,
where he resided till 1856; then returned to Lorain
county and bought a ten-acre tract of wild timber
land, which he cleared, and from time to time added
to till now he is the owner of sixty-five acres all
in a good state of cultivation. He has a
comfortable residence, ample barn and other
outbuildings, and confines himself now exclusively
to mixed farming, although at one time he worked at
his trade, that of carpenter and joiner, and for
twelve years followed the business of building
mover.
In 1851 Mr. Shaw was married, in Summit county,
to Miss Juliette Wylie, a native of Erie,
Penn., and daughter of Joseph and Anna (Shaw)
Wylie, both of Connecticut birth, who in an
early day moved to Erie, Penn., and thence in 1839
to Summit county, Ohio, locating in Bath township.
The father died in Erie in 1838, the mother in
Ridgeville township, Lorain county, in 1872.
Their family, seven in number were as follows:
Andrew, who has resided on his present farm
in Medina county since 1848; Mary Ann, wife
of Isaac Warren residing in Oklahoma;
Warren, who died young; William, deceased
in 1887 in Ridgeville; Favian; Jane, who died
young; and Juliette, Mrs. Shaw. To
Mr. and Mrs. S. H. Shaw were born seven children
a brief record of whom is as follows: Zimri,
agent at Shawville, where he resides, is married and
has two sons, Archer and Satnley;
Arthur, agent at Olmstead Falls, is married
and has one son, Glenn; Dora died at the age
of two years; Diana, wife of Lafayette
Phillips, residing in Carbon, Ind., has one son,
Claude; Oscar, married, resides in Clarksville,
Tenn. (he has two children, Hattie and
Cecil); Alfaretta, wife of Morris
Bills, residing at Collins, Ohio, has two
children, Grace and Stella; Lola
is a graduate of Elyria High School.
Politically our subject is an ardent Republican, and
has served as township trustee and in other offices
of trust. At one time there was in Ridgeville
township a post office, Shawville, named for the
family, which was changed however, but there is
still a station on the L. S. & M. S. R. R. of that
name.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 971 |
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ALBERT H. SMITH,
manager and city editor of the Elyria Republican,
was born in Chepstow (originally a Norman
stronghold and fortification), Monmouthshire,
England, June 11, 1848, a son of George Frederick
and Elizabeth (Chidgey) Smith, the former of
whom was descended from Norman-welsh ancestry, the
latter of Saxton or English stock. George
F. Smith, who was a custom-house officer, died
when the subject of these lines was a lad of some
nine summers.
A. H. Smith after leaving school entered the
office of the West Somerset Free Press,
well-known weekly paper published at Williton,
Somersetshire, England, and here he learned the
profession of printer and journalist, subsequently
having charge of the paper. In June, 1870, he
emigrated to America, and, locating in Corry, Erie
Co., Penn., took charge of a daily paper there till
the fall of 1872, when he moved to Oberlin, Ohio,
and accepted the position of manager of the
Standard of the Cross, the Episcopal organ for
the diocese of Ohio. With this paper he was
connected till 1875, a period of about three years,
during which time it was removed to Cleveland.
Mr. Smith then came to Elyria and bought a
half interest in the Republican, which he,
however, sold, remaining with the paper as city
editor. Again becoming a stockholder, in
September, 1891, a joint-stock company was
organized, and our subject has since continued in
the dual capacity of general manager and city
editor.
In 1871 Mr. Smith was married to Amanda H.
Fuller. In church connection he is an
Episcopalian, in politics a Republican, and he is a
member of the F. & A. M. and I O. O. F.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 1008 |
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DR. CHARLES SMITH - See
GEORGE E. SMITH, M. D.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 619 |
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CHILIAB SMITH - See
HON. JUDGE LAERTES B. SMITH
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 530 |
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E. A. SMITH,
for nearly half a century an honored resident of
Ridgeville township, whither he came from
Connecticut in 1840, is a native of that State, born
in 1823.
Our subject is a son of Edward and Sally (Hotchkiss)
Smith also of the "Nutmeg State," the former of
whom died there in 1823. The widowed mother
continued to reside at her old home till our
seventeen years old, so that he received his
elementary education at the schools of the
neighborhood of his place of birth. In 1840,
as above intimated, the family came west of Ohio,
making for themselves a new home in the wild woods
of Ridgeville township, Lorain county; and here our
subject labored with the rest in clearing away the
timber and underbrush, and converting the somber
forest into sunny fields. He had learned the
trade of bone and horn button maker, which he
followed in Ridgeville township. He is now
owner of fifty-nine acres of land, all highly
cultivated and well improved. In 1855 he was
married in Ridgeville township to Miss Melvina
Terrell, a native of same, and daughter of
Willis and Sarepta (Phelps) Terrell, of
Connecticut birth, who many years before marriage
became settlers of Ridgeville township, Lorain
county. Mr. Terrell came here, when a
boy, with his father, Major Willis Terrell,
and clearly remembered the news of Perry’s victory
on Lake Erie. He died in 1881; his widow is
yet living in Ridgeville township. To Mr.
and Mrs. Smith one child has been born, named
Charles P., now married and residing in
Ridgeville Center. Politically our subject has
been a lifelong Democrat, and has served his
township as trustee, real estate assessor
(1870-1890) and treasurer.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 979 |
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F. C. SMITH,
than whom there is no more industrious or honorable
citizen in Grafton township, was born July 7, 1842,
in Liverpool township, Medina Co., Ohio.
Frederick Smith, father of subject, was a native
of Baden, Germany, where he learned the trade of
Harness maker and whence, when a young man, he came
to America, the voyage to New York occupying six
weeks. From there he came to Liverpool
township, Medina county, buying land there two miles
south of the center. In Cleveland he had
married Barbara ____, and the children born
to them in that city were Louisa (married to
Adolph Ganzart, a farmer, now deceased), and
Caroline (now Mrs. William Zizelman,
of Cleveland, Ohio). In Liverpool township the
family was increased by three more, namely:
Frederick C. (subject of sketch); Adolph (who
was a member of Company H. Eighth O. V. I., in
which he served three and one-half years; he died in
LaGrange township, Lorain Co., Ohio); and Mary
(deceased when young). In 1858 the mother of
these died and was buried at LaGrange. This event
broke up the family, and the father afterward made
his home among his children, chiefly with Mrs.
Ganzart and our subject. He died in 1885
at the residence of the latter, and was buried in
Nesbit cemetery. Politically he was a Whig
and Republican.
The subject of this memoir received his education in
the district schools of the days of his boyhood
until the age of thirteen, when he left, home and
found work with F. W. Preston, who lived near
Rawsonville, receiving for his services four dollars
per month. On leaving there he worked at
various places until his enlistment in Elyria, Ohio,
Aug. 15, 1862, in Company H, Eighth O. V. I., from
which he was transferred as sergeant to the One
Hundred and Twenty-fourth O. V. I., Company E.
They were sent to Kentucky and then to Tennessee,
where our subject was shot through the leg, May 11,
1864. He was sent to Cleveland Hospital, where
he lay six months; was discharged Feb. 6, 1865, and
returned to Grafton, where he found work with his
former employer. F. Preston. On the latter’s
leaving for Toledo, Ohio, Mr. Smith
took control of the farm, and conducted it live
years on his own account, at the end of which time
it was sold, he buying forty acres of it. Here
he lived until his removal in 1872 to the town of
Grafton, where in 1874 he built his present elegant
home. He now conducts a livery, coal and ice
business, in addition to carrying on his farm, and
in all his undertakings he has met with well-merited
success.
On Jan. 8, 1868, Mr. Smith married Miss
Alfarette Ackley, born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio,
in 1849, daughter of Henry and Mary (Dickson)
Ackley, and children as follows have been born
to them: Charles H. , bookkeeper for the
Walter A. Wood Harvester Co., Chicago; Hattie
M., James D., Clara A., Ida E. and
Clayton F., all at home. Politically he
is a stanch Republican, has served as township
trustee six years, and in the town of Grafton has
been treasurer of both the schools and the
corporation, serving with credit to himself and
satisfaction of his constituents. He and his
family are members of the Congregational Church.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 811 |
F. N. Smith |
FRED NORTON SMITH.
The manufacturing interests of Elyria are well
represented by this gentleman, who is one of the
most active and pushing men in the county. He
is a son of William L. and Juliette (Hamlin)
Smith, the former a native of England, and at
the present time a resident of the State of
Washington, the latter a daughter of Judge Hamlin,
one of the early settlers of Elyria.
Fred N . Smith was born in Mowsley,
Leicestershire, England, Aug. 18, 1848, and first
came to this country with his father when less than
one year old, returning again to his birthplace at
the age of fourteen. The following six years
were chiefly spent in school, after which he again
returned to the United States, where he completed
his education in Oberlin College, his father having
graduated from this well-known institution in 1847.
After teaching school about one year, on the 1st of
April, 1873, he accepted a situation as bookkeeper
with Topliff & Ely, manufacturers of
carriage hardware in Elyria. In 1887 this firm
sold their business to a stock company of which
Mr. Smith was one of the incorporators. He
was elected secretary and treasurer of the new
company (The Topliff & Ely Co.), and retained
this position until 1892, when he resigned to fill a
like position in the Garford Manufacturing
Co.
In 1889 he became a partner with Mr. A. L. Garford
and Mr. H. S. Follansbee, in a business known
as the Garford Manufacturing Co., and has
since been actively identified with its growth.
Since the incorporation of the Garford
Manufacturing Co., in 1891, he has been its
secretary and treasurer.
The present building occupied by this company is 100
feet by 40 feet, three stories and basement.
This factory was completed about Jan. 1, 1893,
employs upward of one hundred men, and has a
capacity of about one thousand saddles per day.
The plant is fitted up with new and modern machinery
throughout, and is undoubtedly the most complete
saddle factory in existence to-day.
In 1880 Mr. Smith was married to Miss Louise
M. Porter, principal of the Elyria High School,
by whom he has one child, Caryl Porter.
Mr. Smith is a Republican, and a thorough
Protectionist.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 812 |
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GEORGE E. SMITH, M. D.,
physician and surgeon, is a native of Lyme township,
Huron county, Ohio, born in 1832.
DR. CHARLES SMITH,
father of subject, was born in Westfield, Mass., and
was married in New York to Miss Mehetabel Seymour,
a native of Otsego county, N. Y., born of a Puritan
family of Connecticut. In 1829 the young
couple came to Huron county, Ohio, making a new home
in Lyme township, on Strong's Ridge, where he
practiced his profession, and cultivated a farm of
twenty acres. He was a graduate of Yale
Medical College, and before coming to Lyme township
taught school for a time in Granville, Ohio.
He became closely identified with the early history
of the county, assisting in many ways in its
development. Politically he was originally a
Whig, afterward a Republican. As a
Presbyterian, he was an active churchman, and for
years was at the head of the Sabbath-school, and was
an Elder in the Church. He was a great
temperance advocate, and organized the first
Temperance Society in Huron county, which same was
founded in Lyme township, Oct. 6, 1830. His
home was the first one built in the township without
the use of whisky. He was connected with the
Firelands Society, and wrote the “ History of Lyme
Township.” Dr. Charles Smith
died Mar. 2, 1861, his wife in April, 1854. Simon
Smith, paternal grandfather of subject, was a
Revolutionary soldier from Connecticut, and later
settled in Westfield, Mass. Jonathan
Seymour, the maternal grandfather, was an ensign
in the Revolutionary struggle, and in 1793 settled
in Otsego county, N. Y., where he died in 1819.
The subject proper of these lines was reared in Lyme
township up to the age of fourteen years, and
received his education at the schools of Lyme and
Milan, after which, in 1851, he entered the Western
Reserve College at Hudson, where he graduated A. B.
with the class of 1855. He taught school some
seven years - two years (1855- 57 ) in Tennessee;
had also charge of the Western Reserve
Teachers’ Seminary, at Kirtland, Ohio, and for two
years was principal of the grammar school at
Circleville, same State. In 1858 he graduated
A. M. from the Western Reserve College. After
leaving college he attended three courses of medical
lectures at Cleveland, Ann Arbor, and the Medical
College of Ohio, where he graduated in 1862.
In that year he commenced the practice of his
profession at Willoughby, Ohio. On Dec. 23,
1862, he was commissioned assistant-surgeon of the
Seventy-sixth O. V. I., and joined his regiment at
Arkansas Post Jan. 11, 1863. He was present at
the seige of Vicksburg, where he was taken sick, and
was confined in the Officers’ Hospital at Memphis,
Tenn. Obtaining leave of absence, he returned
to Ohio, and resigned his commission. He was
then appointed on the Government contract service at
Hillsdale, Mich., as examining physician and surgeon
of Post Hillsdale. Here he remained from July,
1863, till March, 1875, when he went to Fremont,
Sandusky Co., Ohio, and after practicing his
profession there some sixteen years, came, in June,
1891, to Oberlin, where he has since resided.
In 1862 Dr. Smith was married at
Plymouth, Richland Co., Ohio, to Miss
Sarah Brinkerhoff, a native of New York,
daughter of Gen. Henry R and Sarah (Swartwout)
Brinkerhoff, also of New York. Gen.
Brinkerhoff served in the war of 1812, was
afterward commander-in-chief of the New York
Militia, and received Gen. LaFayette
at Auburn, N. Y. He was a member of the
Legislature of New York, and member of Congress from
Huron county, Ohio, at the time of his death in
1846. To our subject and wife have been born
four children, as follows: Isabella S., a
teacher in the high school at Fremont, Ohio;
Alice Gertrude, attending college;
Josephine, attending high school, and Roelif
B., assistant secretary Y. M. C. A., Detroit,
Michigan.
Dr. Smith in politics is a Republican, and while
in Hillsdale. Mich., he served as school inspector
five or six years. He is a member of the G. A.
R. Post at Oberlin; of the Knights of Honor at
Fremont; of the American Academy of Medicine, and
was secretary of the Southern Michigan Medical
Society two years. He and his wife are members
of the First Congregational Church, in which he is
deacon; while a resident of Fremont and Hillsdale he
was superintendent of Sunday-school, and was
president of the Hillsdale County Sunday-school
Association at the time of his leaving that place.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 619 |
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IRA W. SMITH
- See
MRS. L. A. OSBORNE
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 1010 |
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J. B. SMITH,
editor and proprietor of the Wellington (Lorain
county) Enterprise, is a native of Ohio, born
in Cardington township, Morrow county, Jan. 1, 1845.
William Smith father of the subject, was born in
Berks county, Penn., Sept. 4, 1809, and was reared
in Guernsey county, Ohio, whither his parents
brought him in 1811. In 1831 he married
Miss Elizabeth Speck, a native of Guernsey
county, born there Oct 8, 1813, and in 1839 they
moved to Morrow county, same State, where the father
died Aug. 10, 1884. He was a strong
Abolitionist, and in religion originally a member of
the Friends, but having married outside of the
Society he forfeited membership. They were the
parents of twelve children, as follows: Cynthia,
wife of C. Farlee; Finley, a carpenter
by trade, in Dakota; Thomas and Sarah,
both deceased: Mary Frances; Julia;
J. B., subject of this sketch; Augustus,
deceased; Emily, wife of Elmer
Kingman; Leander, a pharmacist, of
Syracuse, N. Y.; Henry C., a farmer of
Cardington, Ohio; and Ollie, wife of E. M.
James.
J. B. Smith, the subject proper of this sketch,
was reared and educated in his native county, and
his first start in life was as telegraph operator at
Greenwich, Huron Co., Ohio. In 1883, in the
same town, he embarked in the newspaper business, in
which he remained till 1885, when he came to
Wellington and bought out the Enterprise, which is a
strictly party paper, radically Republican in its
views, newsy and well edited.
In 1874 Mr. Smith was united in marriage
in Huron county, Ohio, with Miss Adelaide L.
Barker, of Fairfield township, Huron county, and
two children - Irma and Fern - have
been born to them. Socially, our subject is a
F. & A. M., and a member of the Congregational
Church. On his father’s side he is of English
Pennsylvania stock, and on his mother's he is
descended from German ancestry.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 608 |
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J. C. SMITH,
one of the most successful business men in Penfield
township, was born Apr. 9, 1827, in Camden, Oneida
Co., New York.
JOEL B. SMITH,
father of our subject, was born Feb. 2, 1788, in
Connecticut, and when a young man was bound out for
six years to learn the trade of carpenter and
joiner. He was married in Connecticut, on Feb.
13, 1811, to Miss Harriet Bronson, who was
born in that State Jan. 1, 1791, and they shortly
afterward removed to Oneida county, N. Y., locating
in the town of Camden, where he worked steadily and
industriously at his trade. He purchased
property and owned a farm, and here children as
follows were born to him: Myron B., born Nov.
30, 1811, now of Lapeer, Mich, (he was at one time
State surveyor of Michigan); Levi, born Oct.
13, 1812, who died Nov. 27, 1812; Sarah S.,
born Mar. 6, 1814, who was married in New York State
to Edward Ackley, and died June 6, 1839 (she
was the second woman interred in Penfield cemetery);
Levi, born Dec. 23, 1815; Hervey P.,
who was a resident of Michigan many years ago, but
left that State to locate some coal mines in
Pennsylvania, and has never since been heard from;
George L., a farmer, who died in Lapeer,
Mich.; Harriet, who married William Hart,
and died in Grafton; Hiram, a very successful
lumberman, who died in Flint, Mich.; J. C.,
the subject of this sketch; and Henry, of
Cleveland, Ohio.
During the winter of 1836-37 Joel B. Smith had
come to Lorain county, Ohio, and passed a short time
in Amherst township) with his brother Isaac,
who was a Methodist Episcopal minister, while there
making some arrangements for the purchase of a farm,
while the snow was on the ground. He next went
to Michigan on a visit to his son Myron B.,
and then returned to his home in New York, in the
spring of 1837 bringing his family to Lorain county.
They came by way of the Erie Canal from Utica to
Buffalo, N. Y., and thence by Lake to Cleveland;
during their passage through the ice in the lake the
paddlewheel of the vessel was broken, but Joel
Smith, being a carpenter, repaired it.
Their progress was still very slow, however, three
days and three nights being occupied in traveling
twenty miles, but they finally landed at Black River
(now Lorain), from which town they drove their own
team to the home of Isaac Smith in
Amherst township. By this time the snow had
melted from the ground, and Mr. Smith,
seeing that the land he had partially bargained for
was stony, declined to take it, but hearing of a
farm for sale in Penfield township he came hither
and bought 150 acres at thirty dollars per acre, the
place on which our subject now resides. The
bottom-land on this tract had been partly cleared,
but the rest was all in the woods, and here Mr.
Smith resided until his death, from heart
disease, on May 13, 1850. He was buried in
Center cemetery, and his widow then made her home
with her son J. C. for seven years. She
next went to Michigan, to live with her son Myron
B., where she died in 1849; she was buried by
the side of her husband. After coming west
Mr. Smith followed his trade, and erected
the residence on his own farm and various other
buildings in the township. He was also able to
make fine furniture and manufactured a number of
coffins. He was a soldier in the war of 1812,
and the old musket he carried at Sacket’s
Harbor is still in the possession of our subject.
He was a Republican in politics, formerly a Whig,
and kept himself posted on the issues of the day.
Our subject attended the common schools of the
neighborhood of his boyhood home up to the age of
ten years, when he came with his parents to Ohio, at
which time there was no schoolhouse in his district.
Later, however, he attended a school one and a half
miles south of his home, taught by J. B. Wilson,
in the meantime being trained to agricultural
pursuits on the home farm, where he remained until
his marriage. On Apr. 9, 1851, he was wedded
to Miss Mary A. Knapp, a native of Penfield
township, daughter of Schuble Knapp, an early
pioneer of same, who was killed by the falling of a
hollow log, which struck him on the head while he
was building a smoke-house. Mrs. Mary A.
Smith died Mar. 3, 1852, leaving one child,
Mary E., now Mrs. Charles Lang, of
Penfield, and on April 24, 1853, Mr. Smith
married Miss Minerva Starr, who was born Nov.
6, 1827, in Harpersfield, Delaware Co., N. Y.,
daughter of Orrin and Abigail (Hickok)
Starr, pioneers of Penfield township.
To this union were born children as follows: Burton,
of Grafton, Ohio, in the employ of the C. C. C. &
St. L. R. R. Co.; Josephine M., now Mrs.
William Mander, of Toledo, Ohio; Alonzo
B., a farmer of Van Buren county, Mich.; and
Marian, widow of Edward Worrell, of Port
Clinton, Ohio. Mr. Smith has
made fanning his principal vocation in life, and for
five years also engaged in droving, buying cattle
throughout southern Ohio. For forty years he
conducted a dairy, and for two years was also in the
milling business at Grafton Station, having won
success in all his business enterprises.
During the season he makes maple syrup and molasses.
Politically he is a lifelong Republican, but is not
an aspirant for public office. He and his wife
are both members of the M. E. Church, in which he
has held various positions of trust.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 1058 |
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JOEL B. SMITH - See
J. C. SMITH
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 1058 |
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JOHN SMITH
(deceased) was born Apr. 12, 1805, in Yorkshire,
England, whence when a young man he emigrated, in
company with a brother, William, to Canada.
The brothers there purchased fifty acres of land,
but John afterward disposed of his share and
went to New York State. Some time later he
returned to Canada, and on Aug. 29, 1830, was there
united in marriage with
MARY BRAITHWAITE,
who was born Nov. 9, 1815, also in Yorkshire,
England. When three years of age she came with
her parents to Montreal, Canada, in which country
tier father, Edward Braithwaite,
became an extensive farmer; he also followed his
trade, that of carpenter. Before returning to
Canada Mr. Smith had made a
visit to Oberlin, Ohio, and while there became very
much impressed with the country, consequently he
moved thither with his wife soon after his marriage.
They drove a span of horses part of the way, and
then made a part of the journey by water, landing at
Cleveland, whence they again drove to Oberlin,
Lorain county. Mr. Smith had
saved a few hundred dollars, which he soon invested
in forty-four acres of land; he obtained employment
in Oberlin, running the engine in the gristmill at
that place, in which he continued until the mill was
burned, when he commenced work on his farm.
After the mill was rebuilt, he was again employed
there, but returned to his farm (where he first
lived in a rude cabin), which by his unceasing
industry and energy he was continually enabled to
increase. He remained there until 1809, when
he rented the place, and moved into Oberlin to
educate his family. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith
came the following children: Sarah Ann,
born Sept. 27, 1837, who married Lewis
Breckenridge, an attorney of Cleveland (they had
one son, Edwin S., a professional
ball-player); Mary S., now widow of Lewis
Breckenridge, of Cleveland; Emma J.,
of Cleveland; John Edward, who graduated from
Andover College, Massachusetts, and is now a
Congregational minister in California; Mary S.
died in infancy; and William H. died in
youth. They had also an adopted daughter,
Phoebe Rollinson, now Mrs. John Gunn, of
Delta, Colo. Alexander Greenwood,
now a young man, has also shared their home, but is
at present residing in Massachusetts.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 1177 |
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HON. JUDGE LAERTES B. SMITH, a
prominent, well known jurist of Lorain county,
attorney at law and justice of the peace, with
residence in Elyria, was born in Amherst township,
Lorain Co., Ohio, Sept. 21, 1830. He comes of
an old New England family of Puritan descent.
His paternal grandfather,
CHILIAB SMITH, was born in
Connecticut Nov. 11, 1765, and died in 1840.
Prior to coming to Ohio he lived many years in
Berkshire county, Mass., and was there married to
Nancy Marshall, who was born Jan. 19, 1765, and
died Dec. 5, 1824. In 1814 they immigrated to
Lorain county, the trip being made with ox wagons;
and it took them five days to cut a road from the
present site of Elyria through the woods to what
afterward became Amherst township (for it was not
organized till April, 1817), where they arrived Oct.
16, 1814. Here they settled upon land for
which grandfather Smith had traded property
in the East to the Connecticut Land Company.
He was by trade a tailor at which he worked in his
new home during intervals in his farm work, as
opportunity offered. As an exhorter in the M.
E. Church, he held frequent meetings in the
neighborhood of his home and in his own house.
When old age came upon him he turned his farm over
to his children, who also inherited the good name of
one of the best known and earliest of the pioneers.
He had settled on Little Beaver creek, four miles
west of where is now Elyria, and opened the first
tavern in that vicinity.
David Smith, father of subject, was born in
Berkshire county, Mass., Mar. 20, 1797, and came to
Lorain county along with his father. In 1824
he married a Miss Fannie Barnes, also a
native of Berkshire county, born Dec. 23, 1802, and
nine children were born of this union, six of whom
grew to maturity, Laertes B. being the third
in order of his birth. The father died Apr.
30, 1861, the mother Aug. 6, 1888. In religion
she was a Presbyterian, attending the Church of that
denomination in Elyria till 1840. In politics
David Smith was a Democrat, and he was a
quiet, unostentatious man.
Laertes B. Smith, the subject proper of this
memoir received his education at the public schools
of his native township. At the age of
twenty-one years he left his father's farm to learn
the trade of harness maker, at which he worked till
he was about twenty-five years old. He then
entered a hardware store at La Porte, Ind., where he
remained some five years, or until 1858, in which
year he returned to Lorain county, and commenced the
study of law with Vincent & Sheldon Elyria.
In 1860 he was admitted to the bar, and became a
member of the firm with whom he had learned
his profession, and within the first year, Mr.
Vincent retiring, Mr. Sheldon and Mr.
Smith formed a new partnership; but the Civil
war breaking out, the senior partner went into the
army in 1861, and in the following year our subject
became a partner with Judge W. W. Boynton
which copartnership lasted some three or four years.
In June, 1871, he was appointed probate judge of
Lorain county, to fill the vacancy caused by the
resignation of John W. Steele, and continued
in the office, by re-election, till February, 1882,
since when he has been acting justice of the peace.
On Dec. 26, 1871, Judge Smith was united in
marriage with Miss Margaret Smyth, of Ontario
county, N. Y., and five children have been born to
them, namely: Fannie, Clara Louise, Frank
Carleton, Gertrude and Leroy.
Politically Judge Smith was a Democrat
till the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion,
since when he has been a Republican.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 530 |
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LEVI SMITH -
See WALTER SMITH
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 1157 |
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MRS. M. B. SMITH
- See JOHN SMITH
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 1178 |
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PETER M. SMITH
is a thoroughly representative loyal German-American
citizen of Sheffield township, where he successfully
follows the plough.
He was born May 19, 1819, in Prussia, Germany, a son of
Mathias and Barbara (Dohn) Smith, also
natives of Prussia, where the father, who was a
farmer, died when his son Peter M. was five
years old. The widowed mother and her family
subsequently emigrated to the United States, and to
Lorain county, Ohio, where she died in Sheffield
township at the age of seventy-nine years, the
mother of eight children, of whom three grew to
maturity, namely: Mary, Peter M. and Ann
Mary.
Peter M. Smith, the subject of this biographical
memoir, received his education in the schools of the
Fatherland, and was there married. In 1846 he
and his family came to America, and to Lorain
county, Ohio, first locating in Ridgeville township,
afterward settling in Sheffield township, where he
bought his present beautiful farm of 166 acres of
highly cultivated land. A brief record of his
children is here presented; Joseph has his
home in Wisconsin; Peter is married, and
lives in Cleveland (he has six children living);
Hubbard is married, and had ten children:
Kate, Mrs. Schumacher, has had six
children; John is married, and has nine
children. The mother of the above named family
died in 1883, at the age of seventy years.
Mr. Smith has four living grandchildren, and
three great-grandchildren. In politics he is a
Democrat, and he is a member of Catholic Church.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 1185 |
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WALTER SMITH,
a native born agriculturist of Lorain county, was
born Sept. 5, 1843, in Penfield township, on the
same farm which he now owns and resides upon.
LEVI SMITH,
father of our subject, was born Dec. 23, 1815, in
Camden, Oneida Co., N. Y., son of Joel B. Smith,
a cabinet maker, and was reared to farm life.
During the winter season he attended the common
schools, but he was actively engaged as well in farm
work even in his early boyhood when he was so small
that he could not hold the plow handles, or yoke the
oxen without standing on a box; and from the time he
was sixteen years old he had charge of a small farm
which his father owned. About 1836 he came to
Lorain county, Ohio (the passage over Lake Erie
being very rough), accompanied by his parents, who
first located in Amherst and then in Penfield
township. He remained with them until 1840,
when he returned to his native county in New York,
and there married Miss Harriet Johnson, an
old schoolmate, who was born July 9, 1819, in Oneida
county, N. Y., daughter of Russell Johnson, a
farmer. Immediately after marriage the young
couple set out for the home in Ohio, where they
located on a tract of forty-six acres, all of which,
with the exception of the riverland, was in the
woods, and here erected the house our subject now
resides in. Here were born to them two
children, as follows: George, who enlisted
Aug. 9, 1862, at Cleveland, in Battery B, First Ohio
Light Artillery, and died Dec. 9, 1862, of typhoid
fever, in Hospital No. 9, Nashville, Tenn., where he
was buried in the National cemetery, the day before
his father arrived; and Walter, who is the
subject proper of this sketch. Mr. Smith
was a lifelong farmer, and at the time of his death
owned 228 acres of land, which property he had
accumulated by hard work and good management, and he
kept 500 head of sheep when wool sold at one dollar
per pound.
Levi Smith was one of the best financiers
of his time, and was a close observer of men and
events. Politically he was originally a Whig, later
a Republican, was a regular attendant at all
elections, and served for many years as township
trustee. He was very patriotic, and during the
Civil war contributed much toward freeing the
township from the draft. When about forty-five
years of age he united with the M. E. Church, of
which he remained a member until his death, which
occurred Mar. 6, 1884. After his decease his
widow removed to Wellington, where she passed a
retired life until her death, Dec. 11, 1888, when
she was buried by the side of her husband in Center
cemetery. She was a member of the M. E. Church
for over forty-five years.
Our subject obtained such an education as the common
schools of his time afforded, meantime receiving his
agricultural training on the home farm. On
Aug. 23, 1866, he married Alice M. Crane,
also a native of Penfield township, and they had two
children, as follows: Blanche, now Mrs. E.
M. Smith, of Cleveland. Ohio; and George,
now a resident of California. The mother of
these died in 1870, and in 1872 Mr. Smith
married, for his second wife, Miss Sarah E.
Pierce, who was born near Auburn, N. Y.,
daughter of James M. Pierce, who removed to
Ohio in his later years. To this union came
four children, namely: Guy E., Mary Etta, Harry
H. and Levi. After his marriage Mr.
Smith located in Penfield township, and worked
the farm owned by his father, after whose death he
moved to his present place, where, with the
exception of two years passed in Wellington for the
benefit of his children’s education, he has since
made his home. In politics he is a stanch
member of the Republican party, and is well posted
on the issues of the day. Mrs. Smith
is a member of the M. E. Church.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 1057 |
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WILLIAM SMITH,
retired, enjoys the distinction of being one of the
oldest and most honored of the farmer citizens of
Lorain county. He was born in Bennington
county, Vt., Dec. 30, 109, and is consequently now
fourscore and four years old.
He is a son of Samuel and Pollie (Fuller) Smith,
the former of whom was born in Vermont, was a farmer
by occupation, and died in Ashland county, Ohio, at
the age of eighty- three. His wife, when aged
sixty-two, died in Illinois, whither he had
accompanied her, but returned East just prior to his
death. His father, Daniel Smith,
a Vermonter, came of old Puritan stuck, and was a
deacon in the Baptist Church; Mrs. Pollie Smith,
our subject’s mother, was also a Baptist. She had
five children, of whom the following is a brief
record: Jedediah is residing near Plattsburg,
N. Y.; William is the subject of this sketch;
Willis is living in Utah; Laura, who
was married in New York State to a Mr. Webb,
died in Iowa; and Lydia, married to a Mr.
Pixley, is living in Orange, Ashland Co., Ohio.
William Smith received a liberal education at
the schools of the neighborhood of his place of
birth, and was reared to agricultural pursuits on
his father’s farm. At about the age of
twenty-six he moved to New York State, but after a
year’s sojourn there came to Ohio, settling on a
piece of land in Sullivan township, Ashland county,
commencing there with about four hundred dollars,
and by industry and indomitable perseverance
succeeded in accumulating a handsome competence,
becoming the owner of 388 acres of fertile land.
There he lived forty-one years, or until about 1878,
when he came to Wellington, Lorain county, and has
here since made his home. In November, 1835,
our subject married Miss Sabrina
Palmer, and eleven children were born to this
union, of whom the following; is a succinct record:
(1) Lydia M. married George McClellen,
and had two children: Lydia M. and Julia,
both married; Lydia M. died in Wellington in
1884. (2) Platt B. is a farmer in
Sullivan township, Ashland county. (3) Fuller
enlisted in Company H, Eighth O. V. I., and was
killed at the battle of Cold Harbor. (4)
Russell also was in the Civil war, serving under
Gafield in the Forty-second O. V. I., during;
which time his health was completely shattered; he
died at home. (5) Martin W. lives in
Sullivan, Ohio; he is married and has live children:
Nettie, Sabrina, Fuller,
Claude and Ethel. (6) Julia
is the wife of a Mr. Beem, and resides
in Sullivan, Ohio; she has one son, William S.
(7) Eli resides. in
Michigan; he has four children: Milo,
Mabel, Ruby and Ettie Joy.
(8) George, living in Sullivan, has two
children: Louise and Mack. (9) Ettie
resides in Sullivan. (10) Milo died in
youth. (11) One that died in in fancy.
The mother of these died in 1874, and in 1878 Mr.
Smith wedded Mrs. Lorena G. West,
née
Dimmock, a daughter of Solomon and Clarissa
(Phelps) Dimmock. Her father, who was a
native of Connecticut, in an early day came to
Sharon, Medina county, Ohio, and died at Olmsted
Falls, Cuyahoga county, at the patriarchal age of
ninety-three years. He was a well-known
Baptist minister, at first serving in the capacity
of a missionary. His wife (who was born in
Connecticut, and from there moved to Vermont, where
she was married) died at the age of eighty-nine
years. They had twelve children, Mrs.
Smith being among the younger ones. Her
first husband, by whom she had four sons, died in
Kansas in 1875; he was a farmer, and a devout member
of church. She is an adherent of the Baptist
faith, Mr. Smith of the Disciples.
Politically he is a Republican, and as a Whig cast
his first vote for Polk. In his long
life and early pioneer experiences he has an
interesting history, and full many a tale of days
gone by can he yet relate - of difficulties and
dangers unknown to the present generation.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 548 |
C. D. Stocking |
C. D. STOCKING
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 1092 |
Isaac S. Straw |
I. S. STRAW
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio -
Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894
- Page 1140 |
|
