USA > Ohio > Lorain County > A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the. > Part 20
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"Mrs. Mary Penfield Pierce, wife of E. M. Pierce. secretary and treasurer of the Thew Automatic Shovel Co., and one of Lorain's best known women, died at 2 o'clock this afternoon at her home, 103 Arkan- sas Avenue.
"Death came after an illness of a few days. She was seized with an attack of pneumonia Saturday. Weakened heart action aided the dis- ease in ending her earthly existence.
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"Probably no other woman in Lorain carried on greater work of a charitable nature than Mrs. Pierce. Her charity to a large extent was accomplished quietly and without the knowledge of even her most inti- mate acquaintances. In addition she was prominently identified with the Lorain Associated Charities and its work.
"As a member of the First Congregational church Mrs. Pierce partici- pated prominently in the religious life of the city. She was first vice president of the Congregational Women's Association, taught a class in the Sunday school for many years and was otherwise identified with the work of the church.
"In club life of the city Mrs. Pierce was equally as prominent. She was a charter member of the Wimodaughsis club. On the 20th anniver- sary of the club to be celebrated next April she was the scheduled hostess. Her club affiliations also included the Round Table and Colonial clubs.
"Mrs. Pierce was a native of Lorain county, having been born in Oberlin 67 years ago. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Penfield, were pioneers of the county. Early in her womanhood she taught school in the southern part of the county. In 1889 she was united in marriage to Mr. Pierce. She had been a resident of Lorain since 1880.
"The surviving members of the family include her husband, E. M. Pierce, two daughters, Mrs. T. M. Duncan, of Bridgeport, O., and Miss Inez J. Pierce, of Lorain, a sister, Mrs. M. W. Smith, of Shelby, Mich., and a granddaughter, Miss Duncan, of Bridgeport.".
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JAMES B. SEWARD. What The Savings Deposit Bank & Trust Com- pany of Elyria represents as one of the chief financial organizations of Lorain County is made a matter of comment for other pages. Its officers and directors probably constitute the most influential group of business men in the entire county, and among those that could be singled out for individual personal mention is the cashier, James B. Seward, who has been identified with the institution nearly fifteen years, and is now its trusted and efficient cashier.
Born at Elyria December 23, 1869, Mr. Seward is a son of Thomas and Esther (Colgan) Seward, who, as old settlers of Elyria, are further mentioned on other pages of this publication in the biography of D. W. Seward. James B. Seward grew up at Elyria, attended the parochial and public schools, and after considerable experience and training in various commercial lines established his first independent venture in the grocery and provision trade under the name of Seward & Goldberg. This firm was located on West Broad Street for about seven years. On March 19, 1901, Mr. Seward entered The Savings Deposit Bank & Trust Company, and soon made his ability appreciated and recognized in that institution. On January 1, 1914, he was made cashier, and now has a very important share in handling the large business of that bank.
Politically Mr. Seward is a democrat, is a member of The Elyria Chamber of Commerce, is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, and his church home is St. Mary's Catholic. On October 2, 1900, at Elyria, he married Miss Mary Helen Farrell, daughter of the late M. J. Farrell, who was a pioneer hotel man at Elyria. Mrs. Seward is an accomplished musician, and is well known both in musical and social circles in Elyria. They are the parents of four children, Mary, Frank, Edward J. and Catherine Seward.
THOMAS JAMES HUME. Among the followers of any of the leading trades, no better recommendation may be secured than employment by a reliable firm and the possession of the trust and confidence of their employers. Since May, 1914, Thomas James Hume has been identified with the well known contracting firm of L. A. Burgett & Company, at Lorain, where through ability and fidelity he has won standing for himself as a master workman and as a young man of ability and enter- prise who will accomplish much in the line of his chosen calling.
Mr. Hume was born at Cuylerville, Livingston County, New York, April 26, 1886, and is a son of James and Bridget (Mckinnon) Hume. His parents, lifelong residents of that county, were farming people and Thomas J. was reared in an agricultural atmosphere, his education being secured in the public schools. As a youth he displayed a mechanical bent, preferring work with tools to the tilling of the soil, and accordingly he was placed with a carpenter to learn the trade, which he mastered thoroughly and in a due length of time began to work as a journeyman carpenter. Subsequently he spent some years in the East, but in May, 1914. came to Lorain, Ohio, where he secured a position with the firm of L. A. Burgett & Company, one of the leading contracting concerns in this part of Ohio. During his connection with this company, Mr. Ilume has been engaged in work on some of the leading structures erected at Lorain, particularly school buildings, in the erection of which the firm specializes. In this connection he was one of the force which built the new Lorain High School, in 1915, a $275,000 edifice which is one of the finest of its kind in the state. Mr. Hume is a young man of energy and industry, of pleasing address and courteous manner, and since his arrival at Lorain has succeeded in attracting to himself a large number of friends.
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Mr. Hume was married first to Miss Florence Burroughs, who died leaving one child-Elmer Thomas, who was born April 8, 1912. On June 2, 1915, Mr. Hume was again married, being united with Miss Blondena U. Burgett, of Lorain, daughter of L. A. and Josephine B. (Miller) Burgett. Mr. Burgett is one of the leading contractors and builders of Lorain County, and president of the firm of L. A. Burgett & Company. Mr. and Mrs. Hume are members of Saint Mary's Catholic Church.
C. W. WARD. Of the business firms now in active service at Oberlin, one of the best known is that of Ward & Whitney, grain merchants and elevator men. The senior member of this firm, C. W. Ward, was orig- inally a farmer, comes of one of the old families of Pittsfield Township, but for the past ten years has been very prosperously engaged in the grain business and is one of the leading citizens of Oberlin.
He was born in Pittsfield Township of Lorain County June 28, 1866, a son of William F. and Susan M. (Graves) Ward. The Ward family was established in Lorain County more than eighty years ago when Grandfather James R. Ward, a native of Vermont, moved to Ohio and bought a farm in Pittsfield Township, on which he spent the rest of his days. He was a real pioneer, had the virtues of the typical New Eng- lander, and was one of the men who helped to develop Lorain County during its formative period. Mr. Ward's maternal grandfather, Lynam Graves, a native of New York State, moved in pioneer times to Bath, Ohio, later to Royalton, and finally to LaGrange in Lorain County, where he died. William F. Ward was born in Rutland, Vermont, April 15, 1828, and was still a lad when he was brought to Ohio. He grew up and received his education in Pittsfield Township, and spent all his active career as a farmer until about twenty years before his death, after which he lived somewhat retired in Oberlin. His death occurred August 14, 1911. In 1861 at Sullivan, Ohio, he married Miss Graves, who was born at Bath, Ohio, October 11, 1836, and died February 25, 1905. William F. Ward was a democrat in politics and was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his wife are the parents of five children : Frank D., a dealer of horses at Goshen, New York; C. W. Ward; Edith M., wife of Albert Chadwick, of Watertown, New York; Mary E., wife of George Winnie, a machinist at Rochester, New York; and Flora M., wife of Herbert B. Hineline, a machinist at Toledo.
Mr. C. W. Ward spent his early days on a farm in Pittsfield Town- ship, and acquired a common school education. When he started out in life it was with practically no capital and he worked at farm labor and in other ways until he could get a start. He remained a practical farmer in Lorain County until 1905, in which year he established himself in the grain trade at Oberlin. He now handles a large business in grain, hay and feed and is associated with Mr. M. A. Whitney under the firm style of Ward & Whitney.
On January 14, 1903, Mr. Ward married Frances Whitney, daughter of Silas Whitney, and a member of one of the oldest families of Lorain County. Her father was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and was brought to Pittsfield Township in Lorain County in 1834. The father of Silas Whitney acquired a tract of 1,600 acres of land in Pittsfield Township, all in one body, and of this he gave 100 acres to Thomas Wait for assisting him in making the settlement and clearing the land. Grandfather Whitney was one of the first settlers in Pittsfield Town- ship, and both he and his son, Silas, spent the rest of their days there. Silas Whitney was the owner of a farm of 201 acres and was quite Yal. 11-9
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prominent during his lifetime, both as a farmer and as a public spirited citizen. For years he held the office of justice of the peace, was township trustee, and used his means and encouraged wherever possible substantial improvements.
Mr. and Mrs. Ward are members of the Pittsfield Congregational Church, and he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is a democrat.
SAMUEL B. RAWSON. Judged by the fruits of his career, the late Samuel Bela Rawson of Elyria was one of the prominent constructive Americans of the past century, and his reputation in business affairs was by no means confined to one locality, though his home from birth to death was in Lorain County. By exercise of his native qualities of un- usual activity and earnest endeavor, he rose unaided to a foremost place in the telephone business of the United States.
Born in Elyria October 19, 1848, almost sixty years later he died at his home in the same city April 9, 1908. His earliest American ancestor was one of the grantees of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and served as second town clerk and registrar of Boston. Bela Rawson and Harriet Nichols, the parents of the late Samuel B. Rawson, were born within eight miles of each other near Watertown, New York, but first formed their acquaintance in Lorain County. Bela Rawson was a successful farmer for many years in Pittsfield Township, and of his seven chil- dren the late Samuel B., the second in age, was the first to die. The oldest son, Arthur B., died at Elyria in December, 1909. The other children were: Bird, Ora, Mrs. Frankie Bath, Mrs. Alice Root, and Mrs. Ella Gleason.
About 1854 the Rawson family moved to Pittsfield Township, and Samuel B. Rawson, who was then six years of age, grew up in a rural environment. At the age of fourteen he left the public schools to begin the study of medicine. The death of his preceptor changed his plans, and fortunately for him, since his inclinations and talents were for practical and mechanical affairs. He learned the tinner's trade, and almost by nature could be considered an inventor. He combined the genius of the inventor with the care and expertness of the trained me- chanic, and also with the broad judgment and executive ability of one who developed important enterprises. At the age of nineteen he re- turned to Elyria, and lived in that city more than forty years. For a time he was a nickler in the Garford works, and at one time conducted a large laundry.
However, it was in the telephone field that he chiefly distinguished himself. He made some improvements of a practical nature on the telephone apparatus, took out patents and, securing capital, organized the Rawson Manufacturing Company, which started in a small way to manufacture telephones that represented the Rawson patent and ideas. In order to secure a market for his goods Mr. Rawson branched out in the organization of independent telephone companies, and that subse- quently became his chief scope of activities. Out of the original business which he established at Elyria grew the Dean Electric Company of Elyria, which took its name from W. W. Dean, a prominent capitalist of Chicago, but in which Mr. Rawson was president. He was also presi- dent of the Rawson Electric Company, the American Construction & Trading Company of Elyria and the Independent Union Telephone Com- pany, which a few years ago transferred its business from Elyria to Albany, New York. Mr. Rawson was also a director in a number of independent telephone companies in New York State, including the following : Niagara County Home Telephone Company; Interstate
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Telephone Company of Little Falls; Seneca County Home Telephone Company ; Schenectady Home Telephone Company; Albany Home Tele- phone Company; Cohoes-Waterford Home Telephone Company at Co- hoes; Watervliet-Green Island Home Telephone Company of Watervliet, New York; West Shore Home Telephone Company at Catskill; and Citizens Standard Telephone Company at Kingston.
The memory with which Mr. Rawson's name will always be cherished in Elyria was due not only to his large business accomplishment but also to his spirit of public enterprise and his work and support in the foundation of worthy charity. He took a very deep interest in the establishment of the Memorial Hospital at Elyria, was one of the pro- jectors of the institution, and selected the splendid site which the hospital occupies. He was one of the incorporators and was chairman of its building committee at the time of his death. He contributed lib- erally to churches and other local institutions, belonged to the Men's Club of the Congregational Church and was active in fraternal affairs. He was affiliated with King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons; was a charter member of Elyria Commandery No. 60, Knights Templar; was a charter member of Elyria Lodge No. 456, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and a past exalted ruler; and also a mem- ber of Elyria Chapter No. 165, Order of Eastern Star.
In 1870 Mr. Rawson married Miss Mary A. Roe, daughter of William Roe of Elyria. Her death occured a few months after their marriage. In June, 1872, he married Miss Faustina Biggers. Mrs. Rawson, who for a number of years has been one of the social leaders of Elyria, was born at Fairview, Pennsylvania, daughter of William and Helen M. (Payson) Biggers, and a granddaughter of Samuel and Betsey (Colt) Biggers. Mrs. Rawson has one daughter, Helen Doris, who on Decem- ber 23, 1914, married Mr. Paul H. White of Cleveland.
During the life of her husband Mrs. Rawson made her home a center for the cultured hospitality of Elyria. In recent years she has given her attention to many charitable and social organizations, and has a breadth of sympathy as large as the world itself. She was one of the seven incorporators of the Old Ladies' Home at Elyria, and for several years a trustee. She has been a member of the auxiliary board of the Memorial Hospital since its organization, and a few years ago furnished a room at the hospital in memory of Mr. Rawson. She is a member of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. Perhaps she is best known over the country at large for her work in women's organizations of a fraternal nature. In the Eastern Star she was secretary three years, worthy matron three years, Electa two years of the Elyria chapter,. was Grand Martha of the Grand Chapter of the State of Ohio in 1904, and repre- sented the State of Wyoming until 1912 and prior to that had rep- resented the State of Minnesota. She has been identified with the Woman's Relief Corps many years, has been president of the Twelfth District of that organization three years, and in 1915 was the national delegate representing that district of four counties in Northern Ohio at the general convention in Washington. She was also national dele- gate at Cincinnati in 1899. At the present time Mrs. Rawson is the' oldest member in point of years of association in the Daughters of Re- bekah, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in Lorain County. She is also a member of Palestine Shrine No. 2, the White Shrine of Jerusalem, at Cleveland, an organization affiliated with the Eastern Star. She has attained some of the highest posts in the Ladies of the Maccabees of the World, and at the fourth biennial review of that organization, held at Port Huron, Michigan, July 16-19, 1901, she was one of the five repre- sentatives selected in the State of Ohio and was appointed and sent as
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supreme representative of the Supreme Hive, chosen in place of Mrs. Emma S. Olds, the great commander, who had only recently left the hospital after a serious illness and was unable to perform her official duties. Thus many honors have been bestowed upon this Elyria woman, and they have always come unsolicited. Mrs. Rawson has well been characterized as a woman of sweet dignity and broad charity, and en- joys the love and esteem of an entire community.
E. E. SPERRY. One of the most progressive citizens of Oberlin, where for the past fifteen years he has handled a large amount of the local grocery trade, Mr. Sperry has been a strenuous worker since early youth, having started out on his own account without capital and rely- ing upon industry and efficiency to advance him in the world, and as a result of his efforts in the past he is now able to take life somewhat leisurely.
Born in Chautauqua County, New York, April 29, 1861, he is a son of Roland and Mary (Cowles) Sperry. Both parents were natives of New York State, and the grandfather, Merritt Sperry, was an early settler in Herkimer County, New York, and a well-to-do farmer there. His parents came from Connecticut to New York and practically all the Sperrys in America are descended from one or other of three brothers who came from England to the United States early in 1600. Mr. Sperry's maternal grandfather, Darius Cowles, spent all his life in New York State as a farmer. Roland Sperry was born in 1833 and died in 1910, and in 1858 married Miss Cowles, who was born in 1837 and is still living. Roland Sperry was an active farmer, spent most of his career in New York, but in 1901 moved to Oberlin and lived retired until his death. E. E. Sperry has one brother, Merritt D., who is also in the grocery business at Oberlin. Their mother is a member of the Baptist Church and their father was an active prohibitionist.
E. E. Sperry received his early education in Chautauqua County, attended the high school at Panama, New York, where he was graduated in 1879, and soon afterwards took up telegraphy as a profession and for fully twenty years was an operator, largely in the western states. In 1886 he moved out to the vicinity of Kansas City and followed his work with several different lines of railway and in several western states. On coming to Oberlin in 1901 he established himself in the grocery business, and has since had an ample share in the rewards paid to local merchants. During the last session of the State Senate of Ohio Mr. Sperry served as postmaster.
In 1890 he married Miss Martha Hilbert, who was born in Eastern Pennsylvania. Their three children are: Walter, now a junior in Oberlin College; Mary, in the freshman year at Oberlin; and Charles, attending the grade schools. Mrs. Sperry is a member of the Baptist Church. He is a republican in politics, has served as a member of the board of elections, as clerk of the school board, and never fails to take a progressive part in all local affairs. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic order and with the lodge of Elks at Elyria.
CLEMON H. SNOW. Through practically all his life Mr. Snow has been a resident of Lorain County. His record shows that he has been a citizen of varied usefulness, and altogether a vigorous and independent man though working with and for the best interests of community life. He has had the courage of his convictions, and has had the rare for- tune to keep an unbiased mind and judgment while effectively identify- ing himself with those departments of life which require co-operation and loyalty.
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His birth occurred September 22, 1848, in the southeastern corner of Avon Township of Lorain County. His birthplace was a log house on the east side of what is now known as the Snow Road. His parents were Edwin Snow and Julia Lewis. This is one of the oldest families in Northeastern Ohio, and the immediate ancestry is also directly re- lated with some of the earliest American settlers. The Snows came to America from England prior to 1640, settling in Massachusetts. Frank- lin Snow, father of Edwin, emigrated from Beckett in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, to Portage County, Ohio, about 1806 or 1807. That was several years before the second war with Great Britain, and only a few years after Ohio became a state. Edwin Snow was born in Ohio in 1809. His wife, Julia Lewis, was born near Warsaw in Wyoming County, New York, April 7, 1818, and died April 5, 1905, at a very venerable age. The Lewis ancestors came to America in the year 1632. The famous explorer Lewis of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, which was sent out by President Jefferson to explore the upper valleys of the Missouri River in the Louisiana Purchase, was a near relative to Julia Lewis' ancestors. She was one of a family of ten children, and all of them reached advanced years.
The earliest recollections of Clemon H. Snow are identified with that splendid agricultural and civic community known as Avon Township. He attended both the common and high schools of that township, spent two terms in the Elyria public schools, and for about six terms was a student in Oberlin College. However, he did not pursue his college course to graduation. He early showed a proficiency in mathematics and in the exact sciences, and in 1872, when a young man of twenty- four, secured a position as assistant to J. M. Ackley, who was then county surveyor of Cuyahoga County. He continued with him during the sea- sons of 1872 and 1874. Then followed a period of about ten years during which his chief vocation was farming, though he was employed fre- quently making surveys and in general civil engineering work.
Mr. Snow's chief public service, by which he will be best remembered in Lorain County, was his long record as county surveyor and city en- gineer of Elyria. In June, 1886, he was appointed county surveyor to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of E. C. Kinney, and in No- vember of the same year he was elected to the office for a three-year term beginning in January, 1887. In November, 1889, he was re-elected to the same office, to which he gave six years and six months. While serving as county surveyor he was appointed in 1887 city engineer of Elyria, and for a number of years carried on both offices. In January, 1893, his last term as county surveyor terminated, though he continued in the service of the county for about a year longer. During the next ten years he was kept in the office of city engineer, and his service in that position covered a period of sixteen years. Practically all the im- portant improvements in Elyria up to the year 1903 were planned and carried out by Mr. Snow. In addition to his long-continued service in these two offices he also served as a member of the Board of Education of Elyria.
It is noteworthy that throughout his entire career Mr. Snow has been an independent in politics, and held that attitude at a time when party loyalty and regularity were much more strongly insisted upon than at present. He has at the same time affiliated with the republican party, but has not considered himself bound to its policies, and has never been in sympathy with its tariff principles. In 1912 he gave his vote to Woodrow Wilson for president. Mr. Snow is essentially a "peace" man and not only in recent years but has always shown an implacable hatred of anything and everything pertaining to war. He belongs to
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no secret society, but is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, and for forty years has been identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In his native locality of Avon Township on May 24, 1880, he mar- ried Miss Mary M. Sweet. Her father was Calvin Sweet, whose father in turn was one of the first settlers in Avon, having located there in the year 1817. As the history of that community shows, most of the promi- nent early pioneers came just about that time, and the permanence of the Sweet family is indicated by the fact that some of the land which the pioneer acquired nearly a century ago is still in the possession of his descendants. To Mr. and Mrs. Snow were born two children: Franklin Chadwick Snow, born December 26, 1882, has for the past seven years been professor of civil engineering in the Montana State College, and in December, 1906, married Lorena Gilbert. Bricena A. Snow, the only daughter, was born March 16, 1891, is a graduate of the Elyria High School, and is an accomplished musician; she is still living with her parents at their home in Elyria.
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