USA > Ohio > Lorain County > A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the. > Part 2
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Miss Ida Brandt, who was born in Ashland County, a daughter of David and Catherine (Swartz) Brandt. Her mother is still living and resides in Jeromesville, Ashland County. Mr. and Mrs. Troxel have one daugh- ter, Kathryn Ida. Mr. Troxel is the owner of three of the best modern apartment houses in Elyria and has considerable other property in the city.
SUMNER BURRELL DAY. One of the recent notable events that at- tracted wide attention in Lorain County was the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the first settlement in Sheffield Township. This celebration was held in August, 1915. Many of the descendants of the original pioneers went up Black River to what was once known as the Heyer Farm, now included in the site of the National Tube Com- pany's plant, and by picnic festivities and a varied program celebrated the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Township of Sheffield. The spirit of this celebration was well indicated in the words of the invitations which were sent to descendants of pioneers in many parts of the country: "The glad remembrance of one hundred years of bounteous and righteous living for themselves and their ancestors in this town inspires the dwellers of Sheffield to invite their friends, especially the early settlers and their descendants, to a homecoming and celebration of this one hundredth anniversary."
Leaving out a general account of this celebration and the original founding of the township, which will be considered elsewhere, it may be briefly stated that the original owner of the land in Sheffield, William Hunt, sold the property to Capt. Jabez Burrell and Capt. John Day. This transaction, which occurred just 100 years ago, was the prelimi- nary to the settlement of members of the Burrell, Day and a number of other families who are still represented by their descendants in this part of Ohio and elsewhere.
One of the oldest living representatives of the pioneer Day family in Lorain County was Sumner Burrell Day, whose death occurred November 29, 1915. He had long been prominent as a business man and banker of Elyria. Mr. Day was born at Sheffield, Ohio, April 19, 1842. He belonged to that numerous and prominent family of Days who have left the impress of their character and activities in many com- munities, both in New England and in the West. The original settler was Robert Day of Hartford, Connecticut, who died in 1648. Several registers of the descendants of this Robert Day have been published, and a brief account of the descent from Robert Day to Sumner B. Day has an appropriate place in this sketch.
Robert Day, who died at Hartford in 1648 at the age of forty-four, and whose interesting will, dated May 20, 1648, has been preserved in one of the publications of the genealogical register, emigrated to this country in April, 1634. He and his wife Mary came over on the bark Elizabeth to Boston, and he settled first in Newtown, now Cambridge. He was made a freeman of the town on May 6, 1635, but in 1639 was a resident, and one of the first settlers, at Hartford, Connecticut. He was probably one of the company which followed their pastor, Rev. Mr. Hooker to Hartford in 1636. For his second wife he married Editha Stebbins, and this wife was the mother of his son Thomas, who was the ancestor of the Springfield branch of the Day family and also of the Sheffield, Ohio, descendants.
Thomas Day, founder of the Springfield branch, died December 27, 1711. He was married October 27, 1659, to Sarah Cooper, daughter of Lieut. Thomas Cooper, who was killed when the town was burned by the Indians. She died November 21, 1726. They were the parents
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of a family of ten children, and the immediate line is carried forward through their son John, who was born September 20, 1673.
John, in the third generation, a resident at West Springfield, was married March 10, 1697, to Mary Smith of Hadley, who died Feb- ruary 28, 1742, at the age of sixty-five. On August 27, 1743, he mar- ried Hannah Kent of Hadley. John died November 20, 1752, at the age of seventy-nine. The children, all by the first wife, were ten in number, and the lineage is carried forward through their son William.
William, referred to as Captain William, was born October 23, 1713. For many years he was engaged in the seafaring business and had com- mand of various vessels. He was married three times. About 1746-47, he married Polly, daughter of Col. John Day of Boston. She died in Jamaica about 1755. His second wife was the widow Eunice Inger- soll of Westfield. His third wife was Rhoda Hubbell of Litchfield, Connecticut, who died July 25, 1795. Captain William died at Sheffield March 22, 1797, at the age of eighty-three. As some of his children were identified with the early settlement of Northern Ohio it will be proper to mention their individual names: William, who was born about 1730; William Junius; Polly, who was born about 1749 and died in childhood; Mary, who was born April 26, 1772, and married Henry Root of Sheffield, Ohio, on September 10, 1800; John, who was the Lorain County pioneer already mentioned and referred to in the following paragraph; Ichamar H., born August 14, 1776; James, born June 7, 1780; and William, born March 8, 1787.
At this point it will be proper to introduce a copy of the document which indicates that one ancestor of the present family in Ohio had a part in those colonial movements which brought about the independence of this country. From the proceedings of the centennial celebration of the Town of Sheffield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, held on June 18-19 in 1876, the following is a copy of what was called "The Pre- liminary Statement," a record made in 1776, as follows: "At a town meeting, legally called, held in Sheffield, Berkshire County, Massa- chusetts, on the 18th of June, 1776, Captain William Day being chosen moderator and Stephen Deevey being town clerk, the report of a com- mittee consisting of Col. Ashley, Dr. Lemuel Barnard, Col. John Fel- lows, Col. Aaron Root, and Capt. Nath'el Austin-which committee was chosen 'to draw a resolve to send to the representative'-was heard, and
"It was put to vote-whether the inhabitants of the sd town of Sheffield, should the Honble. Continental Congress in their wisdom think prudent and for interest and safety of the American Colonies to declare sd colonies independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, they the inhabitants of sd Sheffield will solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support them in their measures.
"Voted in the affirmative:
"Two dissent'g only.
"Wm. Day, Moderator."
John Day, the Lorain County pioneer, and a son of Captain Wil- liam, was born February 3, 1774, and in 1816 brought his family to Sheffield, Ohio. He was married in 1794 to Lydia Austin of Sheffield, Massachusetts. He died in Lorain County October 8, 1827. The record of their children is as follows: Rhoda, born November 26, 1794, and died November 24, 1795; William, born December 15, 1796; Rhoda Maria, born March 29, 1799, died October 10, 1825; John 2d, born March 23, 1801; Norman, born January 24, 1803; Fanny, born April 3, 1805, and married on April 15, 1834, to William H. Root of Sheffield, Ohio; James, born August 27, 1807; Lydia, born March 5, 1810, and
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married September 17, 1840; Kendrick K. Kinney of Oberlin; Kellogg, born January 23, 1813; Frederick, born February 12, 1815; Edmund, born February 24, 1818; and Eleanor, born July 13, 1820, and married April 3, 1840, James Austin of Sheffield. John Day, the father of these children, was in the fifth generation from the original Robert Day.
In the sixth generation was William Day, a son of the pioneer John Day. William was born December 15, 1796, and was about twenty years of age when the family came to Sheffield, Ohio. He died Novem- ber 9, 1889. He was married May 6, 1832, to Augusta Burrell, of Sheffield, and also a representative of the group of pioneers who settled at Sheffield 100 years ago. She died October 9, 1887. Their children were: Huldah Maria, born March 5, 1833; William Augustus, born June 14, 1835; Henry Kellogg, born August 22, 1837; Marietta, born September 30, 1839; Sumner Burrell, born April 19, 1842; Eugene I., born April 12, 1847; and Everett E., born November 3, 1850.
Sumner Burrell Day, who therefore stood in the seventh generation of the Day family in America, grew up in Lorain County, gained his education at Sheffield and at Oberlin, and in early life was connected with the lumber industry. His home was in Elyria since 1885, and many important business achievements and institutions are associated with his name. He was president and builder of the Elyria, Grafton & Southern Electric Railway. From its foundation to his death he was a director in the Lorain County Banking Company, was its first vice president, and held that office until elected president, an office he held eight years. He was a director in the Elyria Lumber & Coal Company, in the Perry-Fay Company, and owned considerable real estate both at Elyria and elsewhere.
Mr. Day served as a trustee of the Lorain County Children's Home from its establishment. In politics he was a republican.
On May 28, 1867, at Russell, New York, he married Miss Sue Maria Knox, daughter of William Knox. Their two children, in the eighth generation of the family, are Lee Sumner and Edith M. Lee S. Day is a lawyer by profession. He married Maude Allen October 1, 1910, and the children of that union are: William Allen, born June 27, 1911; Bernice Elizabeth, born June 1, 1912, and died June 7, 1913; and twins Donna and Doris, born May 22, 1915; Edith M. is the wife of Asaph R. Jones, a well known Elyria citizen and a member of the present city council (1915). Mr. and Mrs. Jones were married Novem- ber 9, 1898, and their children are: Ernest Lee, born April 1, 1901; Sumner Richard, born November 6, 1903; Roderic Orlando, born June 4, 1911 ; and Edith Lucile, born May 19, 1915.
In the genealogical register of the family of Robert Day is found an interesting account of the pioneer services rendered by various mem- bers of the family who came to Sheffield, Ohio, in 1816. In order to make this individual record more complete and also for its general historical importance considered with respect to Lorain County, the following is taken without formal quotation from the register already mentioned.
In 1794 John Day and Lydia Austin were married in Sheffield, Massachusetts, where they resided for twenty-one years until their re- moval to their new home in Ohio. Meanwhile ten children had come into the household. How in the world the mother, who at the time of her marriage is described as "a frail delicate girl of nineteen sum- mers" could care for so large a family and look after the affairs of the household as they had to be looked after in those days it is difficult for us of this generation to comprehend. The youngest one of her children, Eleanor, thus describes these duties: "In the spring the flax was to be spun, woven into cloth and whitened for the family supply
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of linen. That is a very short statement of the matter of supply, and conveys to those of the present day no idea of the amount and severity of the labor to be performed, of the many, many weary steps to be taken, the aches to be endured to accomplish all this. Later in the season the same process of spinning and weaving the wool was to be gone through with for their winter clothing; all this cloth had to be made up of course. The modern woman even with the aid of a good sewing machine considers it a great task, a burden she can scarce endure to do the family sewing and her housework too. What would they think if they had to make their cloth as well as our mothers did. Besides there was the butter and cheese to make, a large family to be fed and cared for, washing, ironing, mending, baking, brewing, cleaning and the many other things all housekeepers find to do, went on continually in the old home, the theater of our mother's unceasing industry. "
The journey from Massachusetts to Ohio, which can now be made with comfort in sixteen hours, required then twenty-two days of arduous exertion and strenuous self denial. `In January, 1815, Capt. John Day joined with Jabez Burrell in the purchase of the tract of land now known as Sheffield, Lorain County, Ohio. After persuading several other persons to share the purchase with them they came to Sheffield in June to explore the township and to select lots for themselves and friends. On the 27th of the following July, Captain Day and his wife and his nine children arrived at their destination in Ohio, after a journey in covered wagons of more than three weeks. As told also in another chapter, the heavy household goods and farming utensils had at Schenectady, New York, been loaded on a small, half-decked schooner of about fifteen tons burden which was sailed up the Mohawk, locked around the obstruction of Little Falls and thence drawn through the rude canal which led into Oneida Lake and thence through the Oswego River to Lake Ontario. At Queenston the schooner was unloaded, put upon cart wheels and drawn past Niagara Falls to Chippewa and there launched. Her cargo followed in like manner and was there reloaded. The schooner then proceeded through the lake and up Black River to the mouth of French Creek, where her cargo of salt and goods was landed on the Big Bottom.
A log house was soon built and the slow work of clearing the heavy forest begun. Here in the course of four years two other children were added to the household, making twelve in all. But they were sur- rounded with other households of proportionate size. Captain Burrell with his eight children arrived a few days later. Henry Root and his wife and six children had preceded them by two or three months, while Captain Smith with his eight children were already on the ground. Deer and bear abounded in the forest and fish were abundant in the river, thus affording ready made a considerable portion of the food which they required. But bears were not altogether pleasant neighbors.
True to their traditions the Day family in Sheffield immediately set up religious and educational institutions. In the winter of 1816 religious meetings were commenced at the house of Captain Burrell, and in the absence of a clergyman a sermon was read. In the spring of 1817 Alvan Coe preached the first sermon. In the fall of the same year Rev. Alvin Hyde began regular services in Sheffield and adjoining towns, and in 1818 the Congregational Church was formed, William Day being one of the original members. A log schoolhouse was soon built, near where the church now stands, and the first school in it was taught by Preston Pond from Keene, New Hampshire. In June, 1824, the Town of Sheffield was organized by the county commissioners, and John Day chosen as one of the trustees. The interest in religion and education thus shown has continued in all the descendants of this pioneer family.
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At one time or another nearly all of those who were born in Sheffield have pursued their higher education in Oberlin College, and it still remains true that nearly all the members of the family are professors of religion, and with Aunt Eleanor we can point with pride to the fact that the descendants of John Day "have never from their number furnished a criminal, or a drunkard, or a disreputable person of any kind." Not satisfied with knowledge attained in school, May, daughter of James Day, granddaughter of Capt. John Day and niece of Norman Day, became a recognized authority in the botany of Lorain County, so that she was constantly consulted by professors of Oberlin. The herbarium which she presented to the college contains some specimens that had not before been discovered in the county. Lydia, daughter of Norman, became an equal authority in the botany of the Rocky Moun- tain region.
In due time the new hive swarmed; and as pioneers went out from Sheffield to Massachusetts, so again they went out from Sheffield, Ohio, to carry with them their habits of industry, economy and upright life and spread broadcast the leaven so successfully brought from their ancestral home. Kellogg Day was for many years a missionary among the Cherokee Indians. Alfred, a son of John II, after having served three years in the Civil war took up his residence and reared a large family in Mondovi, Wisconsin. Many others went out from Lorain County and made their mark and impress on the citizenship and growth of various localities. The members of the family who served their country in the Civil war were: Hiram A. Disbrow, husband of Marietta ; G. F. Wright, husband of Maria; Alfred, son of John; Henry C. Bacon, husband of Eliza F .; Cyrus Yale Durand, husband of Celia; and Frederic O., son of Frederick; while Carl Edmund, son of Frederic O., served in the Cuban war.
HANS P. NIELSEN. In the person of Hans P. Nielsen, the City of Lorain has a citizen who has contributed to its upbuilding a conservative and reliable jewelry business, whose abilities have been solicited in the management and direction of a number of other enterprises, and whose talents have been utilized in serving the interests of the city in various positions of trust and importance. When he first came to this country Mr. Nielsen's assets consisted principally of ambition and determination and a thorough knowledge of an honorable and useful trade: with these as a foundation he has built up a structure of success that entitles him to a place of honor among the substantial men of his adopted city.
Mr. Nielsen was born June 1, 1851, in Denmark, and is a son of Jonathan and Christina Nielsen. He received his education in the public schools and his first experience was in the store of his father, who was a jeweler, and under whom he learned the trade, which included that of silversmith, as well as watch repairing. He worked in his native land until 1873, when he emigrated to the United States, first locating at Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained for four years, and then coming to Lorain, where he established himself in business as a watchmaker. His first store was a modest one, with a small line, but his skill, fidelity and courtesy attracted custom to its door, and as business grew he found it necessary to enlarge his quarters. Each year found him adding to his stock and equipment, until he finally built his present store, a three- story structure, 30x100 feet, with the two upper floors devoted to apart- ments and the main floor occupied by his jewelry business and sales- room. Here he has a full and up-to-date stock of all kinds of watches, jewelry, diamonds and other precious stones, silverware, cut glass, etc., catering to the most representative trade in the city. The abilities that developed this business have not been allowed to remain tied up in it,
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THE ROOT. For more than half a cunt av Ory le ' .... factor in the !f. of Lorain Com t . a. i !a' mei Marker. His family were among the very old seite .fold. and the an estral line of the how extends back theen .: three venturing of American history original spelling of the math .. was hi. and John Roote, a .... Reste, of Badby, Northampton pere England, call to Givea. company of Puritans and was one of the c'est settlers of Fame Poput. m 1640. Fr .. 1h . 's town and his will grow ates that ". ' record - states : ". Both 36! . 1 th Farmingin Congre . pal 11. 1 ....; 11 11.01
** of $4.095 In 1940 ) t. bourne, of Wood Divas. Engin.
. ta in the ship Incase in 1095 and dad m 1697. Ine .. orations down to the present difian of Loram County max . briefly as follows. I home and Mary ( Kilbourne ) Roots. " " Connecticut : 2. Thoses and Mary "Gridley) Roots of Massachusetts. 3. Ensign ing or and Strah Root, of W. .. husetts: 4. Colonel Agres and Jericha ASterio. R . Af .ssaet usetts: 5. Hogy and Mary ( Day. Root, of Smf . 1. send Sheffield, Ohio, the bring the generation wh. over home within the limits of Lorain compi. . $ Day ' Root, of Sheffield Ohio; 7. Gr ..... m.t. of Sheffield, Ohio.
's Root was born at Sheffield, Ohio, in 1.3. 1 . y Root, was born at Sheffield. Massa tus. .... 1 is brought when little more than a child to Sort !. " farmer, had only a common school "questi .. a. wis a ' agregational Church, and voted with the whe patty call is and was afterwards a republican. He served as ca m'a .
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for Mr. Nielsen has found the time and the energy to devote to other matters, of both a business and public character, and at the present time is a director of the Lorain Banking Company and secretary of the Citizens Home Savings Association, having held the latter office for a period of twenty-five years. Always a sincere and helpful friend of edu- cation, he is at this time vice president of the Lorain Board of Education and chairman of the new high school building committee. He was formerly a trustee of the Lorain Water Works and for five years was customs officer of the port of Lorain. His public life has been character- ized by faithful performance of duty and the accomplishment of many benefits for the city of his adoption. Fraternally, Mr. Nielsen is affili- ated with the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has many friends.
On October 4, 1875, Mr. Nielsen was married to Miss Mikoline Mikkelsen, also a native of Denmark, and to this union there have been born eight children : Christina, who is the wife of Clarence Hitchcock, who is engaged in the insurance business at Lorain; Jonathan, who learned the jewelry business under his father and is now the proprietor of an establishment at Newcastle, Pennsylvania, and one of the successful business men of that place; Anna, who is the wife of E. M. Timms, a marine engineer of Lorain; Gyde, who is the wife of Bert Boyes, a machinist of Lorain; Harry and Walter, bright and energetic young business men of Lorain, who are associated with their father in the jewelry business; Mildred, who is single and resides with her parents; and Florence, who is the wife of Frank Schworer, a carpenter of Lorain. Mr. Nielsen and his family are members of the Lutheran Church.
ORVILLE ROOT. For more than half a century Orville Root has been an active factor in the life of Lorain County, as a farmer, county official, and banker. His family were among the very old settlers in the vicinity of Sheffield, and the ancestral line of the Roots extends back through nearly three centuries of American history.
The original spelling of the name was Roote, and John Roote, a son of John Roote, of Badby, Northamptonshire, England, came to America with a company of Puritans and was one of the first settlers of Farming- ton, Connecticut, in 1640. From the beginning he was a prominent citizen of the town, and his will indicates that he was a weaver by trade. One of the old records states : "Both John and his wife were in full com- munion with the Farmington Congregational church." He died in 1684, leaving an estate of $4,095. In 1640 John Roote married Mary, daughter of Thomas Kilbourne, of Wood Ditton, England. With her parents she came to America in the ship Increase in 1635, and died in 1697. The successive generations down to the present citizen of Lorain County may be indicated briefly as follows: 1. John and Mary (Kilbourne) Roote, of Farmington, Connecticut; 2. Thomas and Mary (Gridley) Roote, of Westfield, Massachusetts; 3. Ensign Joseph and Sarah Root, of West- field, Massachusetts; 4. Colonel Aaron and Jerusha (Steele) Root, of Sheffield, Massachusetts; 5. Henry and Mary (Day) Root, of Sheffield, Massachusetts and Sheffield, Ohio, this being the generation which estab- lished its pioneer home within the limits of Lorain county; 6. William and Fanny (Day) Root. of Sheffield, Ohio; 7. Orville and Sarah (Howes) Root, of Sheffield, Ohio.
Mr. Orville Root was born at Sheffield, Ohio, in 1837. His father. William Henry Root, was born at Sheffield, Massachusetts. June 11, 1803, and was brought when little more than a child to Northern Ohio. He became a farmer, had only a common school education, was a member of the Congregational Church, and voted with the whig party until its dissolution and was afterwards a republican. He served as county
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