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Biographies
Source 3 - History of Trumbull
& Mahoning Counties
with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches
Vols. I & 2 -
Publ. Cleveland: H. Z. Williams & Bro.
1882
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GEORGE
ELIJAH WADSWORTH was born in Hartford Connecticut, Nov.
14, 1747, and removed to Litchfield in the same State previous
to the year 1770. Tradition has it that he was a lineal
descendant of
Captain Joseph Wadsworth who secreted the charter of
Connecticut in the famous Charter Oak, in Hartford, on the 9th
day of May, 1689. Elijah Wadsworth built and owned
the house in Litchfield, which about the year 1790 he sold to
Chief Justice Adams, the first chief justice of Connecticut.
This house was subsequently owned and occupied by Dr.
Lyman Beecher as his residence during the pastorate of
several years. In this house were born Harriet
Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, and others of the family.
February 16, 1780, Mr. Wadsworth married
Rhoda Hopkins, who was born at Litchfield, Connecticut, Nov.
1, 1759, and died in Canfield, June 21, 1832. The fruits
of this union were five children: Henry, Rhoda,
Frederick, Edward
and George. All were born in Litchfield.
Henry, born Oct. 11, 1781, died in Bradleysville,
Connecticut, Nov., 1830;
Rhoda, born Feb. 17, 1784, married in Litchfield in
September, 1802, Archibald Clark, of St. Mary's, Georgia,
and died in St. Mary's Aug. 2, 1830; Frederick*,
born Mar. 7, 1786, died ___; Edward, born May 3, 1791,
died in Canfield, Aug. 5, 1835; George, born Apr. 5,
1793, died in Canfield, Aug. 6, 1832.
When the first news of the battle of Bunker Hill
reached Litchfield, Mr. Wadsworth volunteered to go to
Boston, but for some reason went no further than Hartford, and
thence returned to Litchfield, where he assisted in raising
Sheldon's regiment during the whole of the Revolutionary
war.
Sheldon's regiment was one of the first squadrons of horse
that joined the revolutionary army, and was with and under the
immediate command of Washington, and had frequent and at times
almost daily skirmishes with the enemy. Frederick
Wadsworth, in a biographical sketch of his father, says:
Sheldon's regiment or that part
of it then in actual service, was at West Point when Major
Andre
was taken prisoner, and General Arnold made his escape.
I have often heard my father narrate the circumstances of the
capture, trial, and execution of Andre. He always
spoke enthusiastically in his praise, but did not give his
captors that credit for disinterested patriotism which history
awards to them. My father was one of the guard set over
Major Andre the night after his capture. I never could
understand why Arnold
was not secured. I have heard my father say that after
Andre was taken, Major Jamison, one of the majors of
Sheldon's regiment, was ordered by Colonel Tallmadge
who then had command of the regiment, to take a squadron of
horse, surround Arnold's house, and not suffer him to
leave it; this duty was performed by Major Jamison so far
as to surround
Arnold's house, but still he was permitted to make his
escape.
Mr. Wadsworth entered the
service as a lieutenant, but before the close of the war he held
a captain's commission. Captain Wadsworth was one
of the earliest members of the land company which
purchased the Western Reserve from the State of Connecticut in
1795. He was one of the original proprietors of the
townships of Canfield and Boardman in Mahoning county,
Johnston in Trumbull county, Conneaut in Ashtabula county,
Palmyra in Portage county, and
Wadsworth (named after him) in Medina county.
He spent the summers of 1799 and 1801 on the Reserve,
and attended to the surveying of Salem (now Conneaut), Palmyra,
Boardman, and Johnston, returning to Connecticut in the fall of
each year. In 1799 he succeeded Nathaniel Church as
the agent of the proprietors of Canfield township. His
services in establishing the first mail route upon the Reserve
in 1801 are fully detailed elsewhere.
The spring and summer of 1802 Captain Wadsworth
likewise spent upon the Western Reserve; then returned to
Connecticut, and on the 15th day of September of the same year
left Litchfield with his family, in a wagon drawn by two horses,
leading one extra horse. Twelve days before he started he
sent
Azariah Wetmore ahead with a wagon and his yoke of oxen.
He overtook Wetmore before arriving at Pittsburg, and
they continued in company until they reached Canfield on the
17th of October, Captain Wadsworth and family having been
thirty-three days on the way, and Mr. Wetmore forty-five.
Thenceforth until his death, Canfield was his home.
Captain Wadsworth was postmaster in Canfield
from 1801 until his resignation in 1803, and was again appointed
postmaster in 1813. At the first general election after
Ohio became a State, the second Tuesday in February, 1803, he
was elected sheriff of Trumbull county. At the session of
the Legislature of 1803-4, the Legislature divided the State
into four military divisions and elected him major-general of
the fourth division, which comprised all the territory south of
Lake Erie to the south line of Jefferson county. It
required great exertion to organize the militia in this vast
district. War was declared by the United States against
Great Britain on the 19th of June, 1812, and on the 16th of
August General Hull at Detroit surrendered the
Northwestern army to the British. By this surrender the
whole northwestern frontier was exposed to incursions from the
enemy. The fourth division embraced the entire
northwestern frontier of the State, the Cuyahoga river being
then the limit of frontier settlement. News of Hull's
surrender was brought to General Wadswords on the
morning of August 21st by Charles Fitch of Ellsworth, who
had been a Cleveland on business, and haring of the disaster
returned express. General Wadsworth sent expresses
to his brigadier-generals to detail troops from their respective
commands for defending the frontier, and ordered Captain
James Doud
and his company of cavalry into the service. The remainder
of the day was spent in obtaining the ammunition on sale in
Canfield and neighboring towns, and making preparations for a
tour of military duty. Sunday morning, the 22d, General
Wadsworth, with Elisha Whittlesey, one of his aides,
and the above mentioned company of cavalry, left Canfield about
10 o'clock for Cleveland, where they arrived the next day about
4 o'clock P.M. On the 24th of August he sent Governor
Huntington express to Washington with the first authentic
and reliable account of the surrender of General Hull.
Immediately after this General Wadsworth took up
a position at Old Portage, on the Cuyahoga, six miles north of
the present site of Akron, in readiness to meet the enemy at
that point with a detachment of his command. Soon after we
find him at Camp Avery, near where Milan, Erie County, now is.
He soon received orders, however, from Governor Meigs and
from the Secretary of War to protect the frontiers, and to
organize a brigade of fifteen hundred men from his division, put
them under the command of a brigadier-general, and report them
over to General Winchester or other officer commanding
the northwestern army. This was completed the following
November, and under the command of Brigadier-general Simon
Perkins, they were reported to
General William H. Harrison, at that time commanding the
Northwestern army. General Wadsworth then retired
from the service and returned to his home in November, 1812.
At the beginning of the war General Wadsworth
was sixty-five years of age, with a constitution which had been
hardy, robust, and vigorous, but at that time considerably
impaired. His anxieties and exertions greatly injured his
health, and it was never good afterwards. In the summer of
1815 he had a shock of the palsy which paralyzed his left side
and rendered him almost entirely helpless until his death.
He died Dec. 30, 1817, aged seventy years, a veteran of two
wars, a hero of the "times that tried men's souls." In the
Revolutionary war he lost the little property he had previously
accumulated, and returned with nothing save a quantity of
Continental currency, which soon became worthless. The
only reward he obtained for his services in the War of 1812,
except the approval of his conscience, was a judgment against
him for $26,551.02 for purchases he had made to subsist his
troops. To the honor of Congress and the Nation, however,
this judgment was discharged by an act of Congress, but not
until he had been dead for years, as the act was passed Mar. 3,
1825.
Source: History of Trumbull &
Mahoning Counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches -
Vols. I & 2 - Publ. Cleveland: H. Z. Williams & Bro.
1882 - Page 32
FOR REFERENCE FROM SHARON WICK:
* I found a Frederick Wadsworth who was born ca 1786 in
Connecticut married to a Statina Wadsworth in 1850 Census of
Akron, Summit Co., Ohio with children: Pamela, Henry, Frances F.
and William Wadsworth. |
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JAMES WARD.
It is but proper that a sketch of the life of the man to whom more
than any other the industrial development of Niles is due should be
included in this work. The following sketch was published in a
book containing an account of the principal manufactures and
manufacturers of Ohio:
James Ward was born Nov. 25, 1813, near Dudley,
Staffordshire, England. When four years old he came with his
parents to Pittsburg, where he received an ordinary school education
which concluded when he was thirteen years of age. He then
began to work in earnest, aiding his father in the manufacture of
wrought iron nails. This he continued until he was nineteen,
when he commenced to learn engineering and remained engaged in that
business until 1841. In 1843 he moved to Niles and was connected
with the rolling-mill business of James Ward & Co.,
continuing the same until his death, July 24, 1864.
James Ward was looked upon by business men, even
when a boy, a possessing all the elements suitable for the avocation
he pursued, and many predicted that in time he would attain the
first rank in his business and stand at its head. This
prophecy was abundantly fulfilled.
Mr. Ward was married in 1835 at Pittsburg, to
Miss Eliza Dithridge, of that place, daughter of William and
Elizabeth Dithridge. The issue of this marriage was seven
children, all of whom are dead except James Ward, Jr.
Mr. Ward is supposed to have been the first man to practically
use pig iron made from raw coal, also the first to practically
utilize the blackband ore of this region. The furnace built by
him in 1859 was operated a number of years.
He left a name known not only in his immediate
vicinity, but as wide-spread as the country, an honorable and
liberal man, endowed with great enterprise and business capacity,
and was cut down while yet in his prime. He had garnered
wealth and reputation without creating the envy which so usually
accompanies these possessions. He won golden opinions from
all, and there are none who knew him who do not respect his memory
and appreciate his character.
Source 3 - History of Trumbull
& Mahoning Counties
with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches -
Vols. I & 2 -
Publ. Cleveland: H. Z. Williams & Bro.
1882 - Page0 241 |
 |
COLONEL CALEB
B. WICK. The name of Wick has been identified
with Youngstown from a very early day. One of the first, if
not the first, minister of the gospel of any denomination who held
religious services in the infant settlement, and was for many years
afterwards pastor of the Presbyterian church, and who there
solemnized a marriage as early as November, 1800, was Rev.
William Wick, an uncle of the subject of this memoir, and elder
brother of his father, Henry Wick, who came in 1802 and was
one of the earliest merchants.
The family is of English origin. An early
ancestor in the United States was Job Wick, of Southampton,
Long Island, New York. He was married, as appears by a family
record, to Anna Cook December 21, 1721. They were the
parents of eleven children, of whom Lemuel, born April 16,
1743, was the ninth. Lemuel was married to
Deborah Lupton about 1763. They were the parents of five
children, of whom William, the pioneer minister above named,
born June 29, 1768, was the third, Henry, the pioneer
merchant, born March 19, 1771, was the fourth.
Henry removed, while a young man, from
Southampton, Long Island, to Washington county, Pennsylvania, and
was there married December 11, 1794, to Miss Hannah Baldwin,
daughter of Caleb Baldwin, of that county. They were
the parents of eleven children, of whom Caleb Baldwin Wick,
born October 1, 1795, was the eldest.
Henry Wick was engaged in mercantile business in
Washington county, Pennsylvania, after his removal there. He
first came to Youngstown in 1802, probably at the instance of his
father-in-law, Caleb Baldwin, who removed there about 1799.
A deed record shows that on April 29, 1802, Henry Wick
purchased of John Young the square bounded on Main (now West
Federal), Hill (now Wood), Phelps, and Hazel streets, and a lot of
thirty-seven acres outside of the town plat for $235. He
erected buildings for residence and store, commenced mercantile
business soon after his purchase of land, and removed his family
then consisting of his wife and four children: Caleb B, Thomas
L., Betsey and Lemuel, in the spring of 1804 to
Youngstown. He died November 4, 1845. Mrs. Hannah B.
Wick, his widow, died April 10, 1849.
Caleb B. Wick was in the ninth year of his age
when he came to Youngstown. The settlement at that time, as he
related in his after years, consisted of only a few scattered log
cabins. On the ground now occupied by the main part of the
city the timber had been burnt off by the Indians, and there were
only bushes and thick bunches of hazel. Wild deer were
frequently to be seen running where are now the most populous and
active business streets.
He received such an education in the ordinary branches
as was attainable in the schools of that day, and at times assisted
his father in his store and other business. In the fall of
1815, in partnership with the late Dr. Henry Manning, he
commenced a country store, connecting with it a drug store, the
first in this part of the Reserve. This store stood on the
north side of West Federal street, next west of the (present) large
store building of E. M. McGillin & Co., in a frame building
now occupied by J. F. Hollingsworth as a stove and hardware
store. He continued in partnership with Dr. Manning in
this building about ten years. He continued the mercantile
business in another building, next east of the present Excelsior
block, part of the time without a partner, and at times with
different partners until 1848, when having been a merchant for over
thirty years he retired from that business, being then the oldest
merchant in business in Youngstown.
During his active life he was honored, at different
times, by election and appointment to positions of public trust and
honor. On June 2, 1817, having been elected by the company to
the office, he was commissioned by Governor Worthington,
lieutenant of the Third company, First battalion, First regiment,
Fourth division Ohio militia, and qualified by taking the official
oath before Hon. George Tod, judge of the common pleas.
On September 3, 1818, he was commissioned captain of the same
company. On March 22, 1822, he was commissioned
lieutenant-colonel of the First regiment, and in the fall of the
same year colonel of the regiment, which office he held for a few
years.
In 1820 and again in 1824 he was elected township clerk
of Youngstown, and subsequently was elected trustee, and held other
township offices. During the exciting Presidential campaign of
1840 Colonel Wick was an active supporter of General
Harrison, and on November 17, 1841, was commissioned postmaster
of Youngstown, which office he held until March 10, 1843, when, not
being a supporter of President Tyler, he was removed.
After retiring from mercantile business, in 1848, he
did not enter into any active business, but devoted his attention to
the care of his estate, which had become large. He died June
30, 1865, aged nearly seventy years. At that time he was, and
since the death of Colonel William Rayen, in April, 1854, he
had been, the oldest citizen or resident of Youngstown.
He was married, January 1, 1816, to Miss Rachel
Kirtland, daughter of Jared Kirtland, of Poland, Ohio.
They were the parents of two children, one of whom, Henry K.,
for some time a merchant of Youngstown, died at about the age of
twenty-two years; the other died in infancy. His wife died in
1820. He was again married, November 3, 1828, to Miss Maria
Adelia Griffith, of Youngstown, formerly of Caledonia,
Livingston county, New York. They were the parents of ten
children, seven of whom - Rachel K., intermarried with
Robert W. Taylor, late first comptroller of the United States
Treasury; Hannah B., intermarried with Charles D. Arms,
of Youngstown; Laura E., Caleb B., Henry K.,
Charles E., and Eliza M. - are now living.
His character as a citizen and in his various relations
to the community is sketched in an obituary notice, prepared shortly
after his death, by one who knew him well, from which we make
extracts:
In social life, as a citizen, a neighbor, and a friend
Colonel Wick was liberal, kind and warm-hearted. In his
house everyone felt at home, and his hospitality knew no limit.
Indulgent to his own family in social joys, and cheerful to the
last, he had great delight in the society of the young as well as
the old.
He united with the First Presbyterian church of
Youngstown, on profession of faith, on April 6, 1835. For more
than thirty years he had been known as a Christian man, devising
liberal things for the church of his choice. He had been an
invalid for several years, but his end came suddenly and though it
came with little warning, yet he was awaiting the summons from on
high and peacefully fell asleep.
Source:
History of Trumbull & Mahoning Counties - Vol. I -
Publ. Cleveland: H. Z. Williams & Bro. 1882 - Page
- Page 437 |
| |
LEO S. WILKOFF, a son of one of
Youngstown's foremost business men, Samuel Wilkoff, whose
career is sketched on other pages, has earned his own right and
distinction in his native city as a lawyer.
Leo S. Wilkoff received his early education at
the Rayen High School, and attended college at Bedford city,
Virginia, and at Mount Union, Alliance, Ohio. He then entered
the Cincinnati Law School, graduating with his LL. B. degree in
1914. Soon afterward was appointed second assistant
prosecuting attorney by Mr. Huxley, and the two years and
three months he spent in that office gave him a great variety of
experience and also confidence for independent practice. He
resigned to give his time to his growing general practice. He
has had much success in criminal cases.
Mr. Wilkoff is affiliated with the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, the Elks, with the Progress Club and other
local social and civic organizations. In 1913 he married
Miss Cecelia Belle Cohen, daughter of Charles and Rae Cohen,
of Connellsville, Pennsylvania. They have one daughter,
Ruth Caroline, born in 1914.
Source: History of Trumbull &
Mahoning Counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches -
Vol. 2
-
Publ. Cleveland: H. Z. Williams & Bro.
- 1882 - Page
133 |
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SAMUEL WILKOFF. Several of
the largest and most distinctive establishments in Youngstown
recognize Samuel Wilkoff as one of their creators and a
guiding genius in their affairs. The story of his personal
career is an inspiring one, though it can be told only in meager
outline.
He was born in Russian Poland, Apr. 1, 1863, a son of
Julius and Zippora Wilkoffsky, both parents now deceased.
A youth of nineteen, inspired by that urge of democracy which is a
part of the national character of his people, he came alone to the
United States in the late '70s. It was his intention to
discover and join a relative but he lost the address, and having
only two cents to his name he found as a matter of necessity an
opportunity to prove his enterprise and ability to make himself a
factor in the new world to which he was a complete stranger.
He managed to secure on credit a basket of tinware, which he peddled
and kept up this humble role of peddling merchant three months.
At the end of that time he discovered the address of his brother in
Pittsburgh, and joined him there, but having been successful in his
first line he continued as a peddler at Pittsburgh and in Beaver
Falls, Pennsylvania. He lived at Beaver Falls a number of
years. The first important stage in his business success was
when he was able to afford a horse and wagon with which to carry his
goods about the country. In 1888 Mr. Wilkoff used some
of his capital to establish a junk business in Akron, Ohio, where he
had as partners his brother William and also Charles
Wasbotzky, and L. Wilkoffsky, his brother-in-law.
In the latter part of that year the partnership was dissolved, and
Mr. Wilkoff and his brother William continued the
business together for thirteen years, the firm being known as
Wilkoffsky Brothers of Akron. Before engaging in business
in Akron, Mr. Wilkoff went to Kansas. Then from Kansas
went to Akron to engage in business.
In 1901 Mr. Wilkoff removed to Youngstown and
opened a branch office of his business in the old McKelvy
building. Later his plant was established where the Baltimore
& Ohio Railway station is now located. When the station was
erected he removed to below Baldwin Flour Mills at Oak Hill.
The business was incorporated in 1901 as the Wilkoff Brothers
Company. Mr. Samuel Wilkoff sold his interest in that
business and established the Wilkoff Iron & Steel Company,
which later was consolidated with the Wilkoff Brothers
Company and since then the title has been the Wilkoff
Company.
In less than twenty years Mr. Wilkoff has
achieved a place of the greatest influence in the business and
industrial affairs of Youngstown. Vice president of the
Wilkoff Company, vice president of the Mill Creek Land Company,
and was president of the Glenwood Realty Company until the property
which he developed was sold. He still owns considerable real
estate. He owned the ground and was instrumental in bringing
the Concrete Steel Company of New York to locate in Youngstown, and
erected the buildings necessary to house the plant. He also
has some farm land in and around McDonald.
Mr. Wilkoff for all his success has never lost
his democratic spirit. He is charitable to a fault and is now
as always deeply interested in the welfare of those associated with
him in his various enterprises.
Mr. Wilkoff has been happily married a number of
years and is a father of four children. His oldest son
Isaac Wilkoff married Anna Wolfe of Beaver Falls and has
a daughter, Betty Frances. Isaac is secretary and
assistant treasurer of the Wilkoff Company, is president of
the Wilkoff Realty Company, president of the Mill Creek Land
Company, director of the Market Realty Company, president of the
Youngstown Specialty Company, treasurer of the Willand Petroleum
Company, and has had much to do with the re-organization of all
these local industries.
The second son is Joseph, general superintendent
of the Youngstown plant and a director of the Wilkoff
Company. The third son is Leo S., a successful
Youngstown lawyer, former assistant prosecuting attorney of the
county and secretary and general counsel for the Mill Creek Land
Company. The youngest of the family, Annetta, is the
wife of Philip Brown of Cleveland, secretary of the
Wilkoff Company.
Source: History of
Trumbull & Mahoning Counties with Illustrations and Biographical
Sketches - Vol. 2
-
Publ. Cleveland: H. Z. Williams & Bro.
- 1882 - Page 45 |
Wm. Wilkoff |
WILLIAM
WILKOFF. While his friends and associates at Youngstown
declare William Wilkoff to be one of the ablest men of the
city, one of the chief elements in his career, enabling him to rise
from obscurity and poverty to a controlling influence in the great
industrial affairs of Eastern Ohio, has been a remarkable tenacity
of purpose which has held him true to his course in spite of all
privations, obstacles and handicaps.
He was born in Poland, Sept. 14, 1865, a Russian
subject. His parents were Julius and Zippora Wilkoff
and the family were stoutly orthodox and pious Jews.
William Wilkoff used some of the means of his early business
success to bring his parents to this country and both of them died
at Youngstown.
In 1882, at the age of seventeen he left his native
country and came to America. His first work was as a section
hand on railroad construction from Pittsburgh to Massillon, Ohio.
His wages were $1.50 a day. It was not work to which he was
accustomed, yet he held on until he could save a little capital he
used to purchase a small stock of merchandise, and became a peddler
at Pittsburgh. From a collector of miscellaneous waste
material, he became an independent dealer in the junk business,
located at Beaver Falls, and by that tie had advanced his equipment
to a single horse and wagon. In 1888 he joined his brother
Samuel in partnership, and they became wholesale junk dealers at
Akron. Their business developed so rapidly that it was
necessary to find a larger market, and several years later the
Wilkoff Brothers moved to Youngstown, establishing their plant
on ground leased from the Baltimore & Ohio Railway, where that
railroad subsequently built its Youngstown station. In 1904
Wilkoff Brothers Company, incorporated for $100,000, with
William as president of the company. In 1915 the business
was reorganized on a capital basis of $200,000? ($300,000?), and in
1919 it was necessary again to increase the capital stock, this time
to $1,000,000. When the Wilkoff Company first bought
their present location their intentions were to eliminate the junk
and scrap iron department and confine their activities to the
building of steel cars. In 1916 the Youngstown Steel Car
Company was organized with a capital stock of $250,000, William
Wilkoff being president. The capital has since been
increased to $1,000,000, and as the outgrowth and result of the
enterprise of the Wilkoff Brothers the industry is now one of
the largest in the Youngstown district. Recently the
corporation acquired a 130 acre tract at Niles, Ohio, and when the
works are established in the new plant it is expected that 1,000 men
will be employed. The present plant at Youngstown will then be
used for scrap iron.
Mr. Wilkoff is one of the original incorporators
of the Youngstown Steel & Tube Company, and is still a stockholder.
The various business concerns which he has promoted now do a
nation wide and international business, maintaining offices at New
York and Pittsburgh. Sam Wilkoff is vice president of
both companies, David J. is treasurer and Isaac Wilkoff
is secretary.
Jan. 16, 1894, Mr. Wilkoff married Miss Fanny
Cohen of Cleveland. They have three sons, Louis C.,
Ralph M., and Arthur Edward. The son Louis,
who married Miss Sadie Klein of Niles, is secretary of the
Youngstown Steel Car Company; the son Ralph is a graduate of
the Culver Military Academy of Indiana, and is taking a university
course. Mr. Wilkoff is a member of the Hebrew Temple of
Youngstown, and one of its most generous patrons. He is
affiliated with Youngstown Elks, is a Mason, and many times in the
last years his name has been identified with movements affecting the
good of his home city. He is a tireless worker, and much of
his success is due to the remarkable concentration of energy upon
the tasks in hand. In fact he has been so busy that he has
never been able to hold the post of director in any other company
except his own, and for a similar reason has never found time for
public office.
Source: History of Trumbull & Mahoning
Counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches - Vol. 2 - Publ. Cleveland: H. Z. Williams & Bro.
1882 - Page 48 |
JAMES WILLIAMS
ALMYRA WILLIAMS |
JAMES
WILLIAMS. John Williams was
among the pioneers of Canfield township, and bore with fortitude
the experiences of pioneer life. He enlisted in the army
during the War of 1812, immediately after Hull's
surrender, and served as first lieutenant. He married
Mary Smith. The names of their children were
James, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Banner,
Nancy, and Rachel. Rebecca (deceased) married
Jacob Bower; Elizabeth married Almedius
Scott, and resides in Canfield; Banner married
first Clarissa Lew, and second Margaret
McDaniels, and resides in Canfield; Nancy the wife of
Ormon Dean, resides in Lordstown; Rachel
married John Porter, and resides in Palmyra,
Portage county.
James Williams, the oldest child
of John and Mary Williams, was born in Bedford county,
Pennsylvania, Nov. 8, 1809. He was married Nov. 17, 1836,
to Miss Almyra Cook. She was born in Columbiana
county, Aug. 28, 1818. Their children are as follows:
Henry A., married Irene Greathouse, and lives
in Oregon; Mary E., the wife of George Bennett,
resides in Illinois; Delos E., married Esther
Jane Bennett, and resides in Ellsworth; Homer
married Mary Brooke, and resides in Canfield; Alice J.,
married Samuel S. Gault—her home is in Ellsworth;
Lewis died at the age of two years.
Mr. Williams worked at the trade
of a carpenter and joiner for about forty years of his life, but
is now retired from active business, having secured a competency
sufficient to support himself and wife during the remainder of
their days, besides amply providing for all their children.
Although Mr. Williams never sought
office, his fellow-citizens, have shown their confidence in his
integrity by electing him to the office of justice of the peace
three times.
No better tribute of respect to this worthy
couple can be paid than the universally prevalent sentiment of
their associates and friends, that their lives have been
distinguished by acts of kindness and benevolence toward many a
one in need of friends and help.
Source: History of Trumbull & Mahoning
Counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches - Vol. 2 - Publ. Cleveland: H. Z. Williams & Bro.
1882 - Page 109 |
| |
DAVID M.
WILSON was born in Guilford, Medina county, Ohio, July 21,
1822. He was the second son of David and Abigail (Porter)
Wilson. His father was a native of Virginia, of Scotch
Irish descent, and his mother a native of Connecticut, of English
descent. His grandfather, Porter, was a drum-major in
the war of the Revolutionary soldier. His father was a soldier
of the War of 1812.
He was raised on a farm, attended the common schools
until he was about sixteen years old, and then attended the Norwalk
seminary, in Huron county, Ohio, for several terms, and taught
school one term. He read law with Hiram Floyd at
Medina, Ohio, and was there admitted to practice in 1844. In 1845 he
removed to Warren, Ohio, and commenced practice, and in 1846, on the
organization of Mahoning county, he removed to Canfield and
commenced practice. While there, for a few years, he was a
partner of John W. Church, afterwards a judge of the court of
common pleas, as Wilson & Church. In 1858 he removed to
Youngstown, there practicing for a period in partnership with
James B. Blocksom, as Wilson & Blocksom. He was
afterwards a partner of Robert G. Knight and Wilson &
Knight, and then of Halsey H. Moses as Wilson & Moses,
and for a few years partner of James P. Wilson, his nephew,
as Wilson & Wilson.
In 1863 he was nominated for attorney-general of
Ohio by the Democratic State convention, and in 1874 he was
nominated for Representative in Congress by the district Democratic
convention. He was not elected to either office, the ticket on
which he was nominated being in the minority in both instances, but
his personal popularity at home secured him many votes for each
office ahead of the general ticket.
He was married, in 1846, to Miss Nancy Merril, a
native of Orangeville, Wyoming county, New York. She died in
1851. He was again married, in 1871, to Miss Griselda
Campbell, of Trumbull county, Ohio. He died Feb. 11, 1882,
at Youngstown.````
Source:
History of Trumbull & Mahoning Counties - Vol. I -
Publ. Cleveland: H. Z. Williams & Bro. 1882 - Page 217 |
| |
LAURIN
D. WOODWORTH was born in Windham, Portage county, Ohio, Sept.
10, 1837. His father was William Woodworth, a
substantial and highly respected farmer. He was educated first
at Windham academy, and then at Hiram College. He read law in
the office of O. P. Brown, in Ravenna, Ohio. He was admitted
to the bar in 1859, but being desirous of perfecting himself he then
took a course at the Ohio State and Union Law college at Cleveland,
and then formed a partnership with Mr. Brown, which continued
until the fall of 1861, when he practiced alone for some months.
In 1862 he was appointed major of the One Hundred and Fourth
regiment Ohio infantry volunteers. This regiment was ordered
into Kentucky, where it was actively engaged for about ten months
carrying on a guerilla warfare. His exposure and hard service
having brought on a disease which disabled him from further service
in the field, he resigned, and for the next two years
traveled, under medical advice, to various places in the endeavor to
recover health. He attempted to re-enter the service, but was
rejected on account of physical disability, having lost the sight of
his right eye. About 1865 he removed to Youngstown and resumed
the practice of law. In October, 1867, he was elected to the
Ohio Senate for the Mahoning and Trumbull district, re-elected in
1869, and was chosen by his fellow Senators president pro tem,
of that body. At the close of his second term he declined in
re-nomination, and resumed his law practice. In October, 1872,
he was elected representative in Congress from the Seventeenth Ohio
district, composed of Mahoning, Columbiana, Stark, and Carroll
counties, and he was re-elected in October, 1874. At the
expiration of his second term he resumed the practice of law in
Youngstown.
He was married Oct. 6, 1869, to Miss Celia Clark,
of Windham, his native place.
Source:
History of Trumbull & Mahoning Counties - Vol. I -
Publ. Cleveland: H. Z. Williams & Bro. 1882 - Page 219 |
NOTE:
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