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BIOGRAPHIES
 Source:
A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio
- Vol. II -
by G. Frederick Wright
1916
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Mr. & Mrs. J. H. Calkins |
J. H. CALKINS
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 1020 |
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PERKINS KIRKLAND CLARK.
One of the most picturesque country homes in Lorain
County is Clarkhurst, in Carlisle Township, four
miles south of the City of Elyria and located on the
Diagonal Pike and also on the Elyria and LaGrange
Road. This place exhibits the care and
management of Mr. P. K. Clark, who has been
its proprietor for upwards of half a century.
Few men in the county have been so successful in
directing farm enterprise.
While the Clark family has been identified with
Lorain County since early times, the ancestral line
in America extends back to the early half of the
seventeenth century, when the Puritans came out of
England and established the first settlement along
Massachusetts Bay. Mr. Clark's lineage
goes directly back to one William Clark, who
came to America in 1630, about a year after the
first colony of the Massachusetts Bay Company was
established and located at first at Dorchester,
Massachusetts, but subsequently joined that numerous
body of dissenters who established Windsor on the
Connecticut River in the state of that name.
Still later he moved back to Massachusetts and died
at Northampton July 18, 1670, when about ninety
years of age.
William Clark, son of the immigrant, was married
to Hannah Strong. They had eleven
children, some of whom subsequently returned to
Connecticut. Of these eleven children three
lived to be above the age of ninety, one attaining
the age of ninety-nine, four passed the fourscore
mark, and three of the others were past seventy when
they died. The sons without an exception lived
beyond the age of fifty, and all of them had wives
and buried them, but none of them ever took a second
wife. On Apr. 7, 1789, at the death of the
youngest of these sons, Josiah, the six sons
enumerated their descendants as 1,158 in number, of
whom 925 were alive at the time.
One of the sons of William and Hannah Clark was
John Clark, who was married Mar. 16, 1679, to
Mary Strong Of their children Josiah
was born June 11, 1697, and died Apr. 7, 1798.
Their son Enoch lark was married June 16,
1763, to Mercy Kingsley, and they were the
great grandparents of Perkins K. Clark of
Lorain County.
The latter's grandfather, Enoch Clark was born
Mar. 15, 1777, at Northampton, Massachusetts, and
was married Dec. 6, 1801. He died Mar. 31,
1831, probably in Massachusetts. The maiden
name of his wife was Abigail Kirkland.
Lorenzo Clark, the father of Mr. P. K. Clark,
was born at Westfield, Massachusetts, Feb. 6, 1814.
He married Charlotte A. Blanchard.
Lorenzo Clark was still a young man when he came
to Lorain County. He possessed a fair common
school education and had learned the trade of
cabinet making and followed that line in Elyria for
several years and also conducted the first regular
furniture store in the town. His marriage was
celebrated at Penfield, Lorain County. There
were just two children, and the sister of Mrs.
Charlotte A. Jones, whose home is now at
Orlando, Florida.
Perkins Kirkland Clark
was born in the City of Elyria, Apr. 4, 1843.
Four weeks after his birth his mother became an
invalid and remained so for seven years.
During that time Mr. Clark lived with his
maternal grandmother and then returned home.
His parents about that time moved to the farm which
Lorenzo Clark had bought in Carlisle
Township, and on that old homestead Mr. Clark
grew to manhood. For some eight or nine terms
he attended school at Oberlin.
When he was twenty-four years of age his father bought
157 acres in Carlisle Township, and this was the
nucleus of Mr. Clarks large landed
possessions in that section of Lincoln County and of
his beautiful rural estate known as Clarkhurst.
His own industry and good management have been
important factors in his success, and with what he
received from his father he has since brought his
possessions to about 700 acres.
As early as 1885 some of his tenants while digging for
water struck gas on his land, but no practical use
was made of this discovery until 1903, when Mr.
Clark drilled a gas well and he has since
utilized the product of his own wells for the
heating and lighting of his home. Though
reared a republican and always a stanch upholder of
republican doctrines, Mr. Clark has never
been an office seeker, and his only important
position has been as township clerk.
His first wife died some years ago without children.
On Feb. 11, 1902, he married Miss Julia A. Loomis
of Cleveland, a daughter of Milton and Ellen
(Foley) Loomis, Mrs. Clark was born in
Grafton, Ohio, and finished her education in the
high school at Elyria.
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 819 |
C. F. Clifford |
L. F. CLIFFORD
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 1028 |
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LESTER C.
COOK, whose death on Apr. 12,
1909, was a cause for general regret in, Lorain
County, was one of the factors in agricultural and
civic progress in Eaton Township for many years.
Mrs. Cook, his widow, is still living
on the old homestead at North Eaton, and his work as
a farmer is continued through his son. This is
one of the best known and most prominent families of
Eaton Township.
Born on a farm in Medina County, Ohio, Dec. 6, 1841, a
son of Erastus and Lemira (Ayer) Cook,
Lester C. Cook grew to manhood on the Medina
County farm, received a good education, and for
several years was a school teacher. He also
took a business course in Oberlin, and for a couple
of years was interested in a furniture store at
Hillsdale, Michigan.
On Jan. 19, 1875, he married Miss Minnie Streeter of
Eaton Township in Lorain County, where she was born
Oct. 21, 1848. Mrs. Cook is a
daughter of Sheldon and Mary (Cutts) Streeter.
Her father was born on a farm in Shalersville
Township of Portage County, Ohio, Aug. 7, 1824,
while her mother was born on a farm in Paris
Township of Portage County Feb. 25, 1828. They
were married Jan. 19, 1848, and in the following
March they moved to Lorain County, where Sheldon
Streeter bought fifty acres in Eaton
Township. Only a part of this had been
cleared, and its chief improvements were a log house
and a small barn. It was in that one community
that he concentrated his efforts and made his home
the rest of his days. From time to time he
invested his surplus in other lands and finally had
238 acres under his individual ownership. In
1867 Mr. Streeter built the large
commodious residence which is now occupied by Mrs.
Cook and her family. Besides this
residence Sheldon Streeter put up good
barns and other buildings and his was a career of
useful effort and of substantial citizenship.
Mrs. Cook was the only child of her
parents, and she was eight years old when her mother
died, and though her father married again there were
no children by the second marriage. Sheldon
Streeter was a republican in early life and
later a prohibitionist. He became an ardent
admirer of William J. Bryan. Though
interested in politics he was never a seeker for
official honor. He was a member and served as
an elder forty-three years in the Christian Church
at Eaton Center and was also a Sunday School worker.
His death occurred Sept. 11, 1902, as a result of
being struck by the railway cars at North Eaton.
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Cook were born
seven children. All of them were born on the
old home farm in Eaton township, and four of them
died in early childhood. The oldest is
Grace B., born Nov. 21, 1876, a graduate of the
Academy at Oberlin, following which she took a
course in a nurses' training school and is now a
nurse in the Brownell & Eagle Schools in Cleveland.
The second daughter, Harriet, born Sept. 29,
1884, attended high school at Oberlin, took courses
in music and elocution at a college in Berea, is a
Chiropodist and now lives at Cleveland with her
sister. Don Sheldon Cook, the only
living son, was born Jan. 16, 1888, attended the
Elyria High School until within three months of
graduating, and is now the active manager of the old
home farm for his mother. He is conducting a
successful business as a dairyman and a breeder of
high grade Holstein cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs.
In 1912 he built his second silo with a capacity of
135 tons. He is a republican in polities, as
was his father, but has no aspirations for official
honors. He and the other members of the family
are communicants of the Disciples Church. His
father served as a deacon in that church. On
Jan. 19, 1909, Don Sheldon Cook
married Miss Freda Davis,
daughter of L. T. and Mida
(Roberts) Davis.
They have three children: Russell Kenneth
born Mar. 12, 1910; Lester D., born Nov. 26,
1912; and Jean Elizabeth, born Mar.
11, 1914
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 957 |
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ERNEST J. CRISP, C. C.
Until Mr. Crisp took the active management
and presidency of the Peerless Laundry and Dry
Cleaning Company at Elyria, he was a recognized
authority as a civil engineer in the construction of
waterworks plants, sewerage systems and sewage
disposal plants in many localities of Ohio and
adjoining states. His first important work in
the profession was an engineer in charge during the
construction of the splendid system by which the
City of Elyria draws its water supply from Lake
Erie.
Born at Elyria, Ohio, Dec. 18, 1877, his home has been
in that city ever since, except from 1904 to 1910,
during which time he made his home in Canton, Ohio.
His father was the late George E. Crisp,
whose career as a progressive citizen and business
man of Elyria has been told on other pages.
His mother is Mary (Wyman) Crisp, daughter of
John Wyman and still occupying the old home
on West Avenue.
The early experiences of Ernest J. Crisp were
chiefly found in home and school. After
graduating from the Elyria High School in June,
1897, he spent a year in Oberlin College and then
four years in Case School of Applied Science at
Cleveland, where he specialized in civil
engineering. He was graduated Bachelor of
Sciences in June, 1902. In May, 1910, having
presented to Case School a thesis entitled "A Sewage
Disposal Plant for Jefferson, Ohio," he was awarded
the degree Civil Engineer.
About the time of his graduation in 1902 he became
assistant engineer to L. E. Chapin, C. E., of
Canton, and it was as Mr. Chapin's
representative that he served from 1902 to 1904 as
engineer in charge of the construction of the Elyria
Waterworks pumping station on Lake Erie and the pipe
line connecting the station with the distribution
mains of the city. Among public improvements
the citizens of Elyria probably take more pride and
satisfaction in this than any other.
During the next six
years he was almost constantly employed in
connection with waterworks surveys and construction
in different parts of the country. He assisted
in making a report on the valuation of Tiffin
Waterworks in 1904, and constructed the Vermillion
Waterworks in the same year; he had charge of
construction of waterworks at Barnesville, Ohio, in
1904-05; was in charge of construction of Beach
City, Ohio, Waterworks and of filtration plant at
Benwood, West Virginia, in 1906; for the General
Water Company he built at Republic and Aaronsburg,
Pennsylvania, the high pressure pumping station,
pipe line and reservoir; constructed the waterworks
at Jefferson, Ohio, in 1908, and at Huron, Ohio, in
1909. During 1909 and up to April, 1910, he
made the preliminary surveys for the Commercial
Water Company reservoir at Youngstown, Ohio; and
from April to August, 1910, was Lorain County bridge
engineer.
After the death of his brother, Harry E. Crisp,
in August, 1910, he assumed the duties of manager of
The Peerless Laundry and Dry Cleaning Company, then
located at 117-119 West Avenue in Elyria.
During the past five years he ahs greatly expanded
the business which is the leading one of its kind in
Lorain County, his experience and skill as an
engineer have been instrumental in giving the
company a model plant for its work. He
designed and had charge of the construction of the
building now occupied by the company at 336 Second
Street, and also did all the engineering and
designing for the Peerless Plant at the same
location. Besides the active management of the
business, Mr. Crisp is also director and
president of The Peerless Laundry & Dry Cleaning
Company, is a director of The Elyria Savings and
Banking Company, and a director of the Retail
Merchants Association. He was a director of
the Elyria Chamber of Commerce in 1913, was a
director and member of The American Society of Civil
Engineers from 1904 to 1912.
In 1904 he was raised to Master Mason in King Solomon
Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons, and in 1914
became affiliated with Marshall Chapter No. 47,
Royal Arch Masons. He also belongs to the Ohio
Rho Chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon, is a member
of H. P. Chapman Camp No. 6, Sons of Veterans, and a
member of the official board of the Methodist
Episcopal Church of Elyria. At Barnesville,
Ohio, June 12, 1907, Mr. Crisp married
Miss Laura M. Dobbins, daughter of Charles P.
and Amanda (Blakemore) Dobbins.
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 605 |
Geo. E. Crisp |
GEORGE E. CRISP
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 603 |
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