USA > Ohio > Lorain County > A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the. > Part 29
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The Congregational Church of Elyria will always honor his name and memory, since for thirty-seven years he was one of its most constant attendants and one of the most ready to bear the burdens of its main- tenance. He was a regular worker in its Sunday school. It is said that when a young man Mr. Nelson laid down certain rules for the governing of his life, among which were emphasized the principles of honor, strict business integrity and Christian charity.
The late Mr. Nelson was three times married. July 24, 1851, he married Miss Lucretia Churchill, daughter of Judge Churchill of Lyme, New Hampshire. Her death occurred January 18, 1853, and her only daughter, Lucretia, became the wife of Rev. E. P. Butler of Sunder- land, Massachusetts. August 21, 1856, Mr. Nelson married Miss Mary L. Moody of Chicopee, Massachusetts, who died February 13, 1863. The three daughters of this marriage are: Mary L., now the wife of Mr. A. L. Garford. a prominent manufacturer of Elyria, whose interesting career is found on other pages of this work; Lizzie Gilbert, who died in childhood; and Sarah M., the widow of Robert Frey, now living in Pasadena, California. Ten years after the death of his second wife Mr. Nelson married, February 19, 1873, Miss Frances H. Sanford of Elyria. Mrs. Nelson died November 16, 1915. She was the daughter of Frederick Burr and Eveline (Nichols) Sanford.
JOHN LERSCH. The work by which John Lersch has most distin- guished himself among his fellows has been as a merchant. His' active career, dated from his mercantile apprenticeship, covers more than six decades, during which time he has sold goods to a widening circle of patronage in Lorain County and for many years has been at the head of the John Lersch & Company, operating the largest dry goods store between Cleveland and Toledo. Probably every resident of Lorain County knows this Elyria emporium, which occupies more floor space, has a larger pay roll of employes, and probably sells more goods than any other two stores in Lorain County. A merchant who for so many years is identified with one community necessarily possesses the best qualities of the business man-integrity, a settled policy of square dealing, and the ability to win and keep the confidence of his customers. Many of the patrons of the John Lersch & Company knew that place of business when they were children. The "good will" of such an
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establishment as that of John Lersch & Company is of greater value than the capital and stock of many less substantial concerns.
This veteran merchant of Lorain County was born in Duerkheim in the Bavarian Palatinate, Germany, on July 25, 1841. His parents, Karl and Louise (Schweitzer) Loersch, always spelled their name in that way, but John Lersch subsequently simplified the spelling by dropping the "o." In 1851 the family emigrated to America, embark- ing on a sailing vessel at Havre, France, July 25th of that year, and landing in New York September 4th, being forty days in crossing the Atlantic. They went directly to Cleveland, thence to Mansfield, from there to North Dover, Cuyahoga County, where the father bought a forty-acre farm about thirteen miles east of Elyria. Later in life the parents moved to Elyria, making their home with their son John. His mother died February 21, 1878, aged seventy-eight years, and his father on March 1, 1887, aged eighty-two years.
On April 13, 1854, when our subject was twelve years of age, he entered the store of H. E. Mussey and Company on a thirty-day trial. The month of probation was marked by a strict application to business on his part and constant punctuality so that at the end of the prescribed time indentures were signed for three years. The compensation he received for the first year was $40 and his board; for the second year $50; for the third year $75, and for the fourth year $175 and board, his salary being advanced in proportion to his promotion in the store.
In 1858 S. W. Baldwin, T. W. Laundon and T. L. Nelson bought out the firm of H. E. Mussey & Company, and John Lersch remained with them until they retired from business in 1872. They then sold the dry goods department of the business to D. C. Baldwin & Company, of which John Lersch was the junior partner. He was already a master merchant, and by hard training was ready for every fresh responsibility. He soon built up one of the largest retail stores in the state, and in the meantime he had expanded his knowledge as a practical salesman and store manager to an equal expertness in the buying of goods. The D. C. Baldwin & Company was continued until 1880, when the name was changed to Bald- win, Lersch & Company, although at that time Mr. Baldwin had partially retired and Mr. Lersch was carrying the chief responsibilities of active management.
About that time Mr. Lersch established the Northern Ohio Syndicate, composed of Baldwin, Lersch & Company, at Elyria, the Fries & Scheuele Company of Cleveland, and the B. C. Taber & Company of Norwalk. The purpose of this syndicate was to purchase goods, chiefly from manu- facturers or their agents, thus saving jobber's profit, and bringing the retail houses in the syndicate within close and prompt relations between the manufacturers and the buying public. The syndicate kept an agent constantly in the field, so that prompt advantage was taken of bargains, and the retailers were enabled to sell at considerable advantage and also afforded all the greatest service to their stores. This syndicate was subsequently expanded to include about fifteen large dry goods houses in Ohio and Pennsylvania, with a total purchasing capacity of about $3,000,000 annually. Mr. Lersch was elected president of this larger organization.
In addition to building up this splendid business now conducted as John Lersch & Company, he has formed at different times other useful connections with Elyria affairs. For many years he was a director and member of the finance committee of the Elyria Savings Bank, and later one of the founders of the Elyria Savings & Banking Company, of which he is one of the directors and was at one time its vice president. He has always been a stanch member of the republican party and his
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judgment both in business and on other matters everywhere commands respect and is eagerly sought by younger men, many of whom at critical points of their career found the counsel of John Lersch invaluable. He served on the school board twelve years, and was president of the board for a short time. He cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lin- coln, and has been an ardent protectionist. He was a prominent advo- cate of the plan for securing a supply of lake water for Elyria and of municipal ownership of all public utilities. He has been a. liberal con- tributor to the Young Men's Christian Association, the Elyria Memorial Hospital, the Young Women's Christian Association, and is a strong advocate of all practical temperance work.
Mr. Lersch in 1868 married Miss Pamela Boynton, daughter of the late Joshua Boynton, who was born in Maine but was an early settler in Lorain County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Lersch gave their children good educational privileges, and both sons and daughters are now well estab- lished in the world. The children are: Carl T .; Robert B .; Louise De- Lano, wife of John R. Gobey, a prosperous wholesale lumber merchant in Columbus, Ohio; Carlotta, wife of T. C. Cherry, manager of the Annapolis & Baltimore Street Railway; J. Walter; Arthur E .; and Harwood, a graduate of Dennison University, and for the past eight years one of the Division Engineers in the State Highway Department.
As the above brief outline has suggested John Lersch is a splendid example of the self-made man. He is a great reader, has depended a great deal upon the information obtained from encyclopedias, and has one of the largest private libraries in Elyria. Mrs. Lersch is a fine type of the mother and home maker. She has a broad and liberal education, and for a number of years taught in the Elyria public schools. She is well versed on literary subjects, and has frequently shown a masterful logic and a fluent style of literary composition in various articles which have come from her pen. She is particularly able in the discussion of political matters. Mr. Lersch has been back to Europe to visit his old home twice, first in 1882 and again in 1914. He was able to leave Liverpool the day before the beginning of the great European war, sailing from that port July 31, 1914, and receiving the news by wireless when in mid- ocean of the commencement of the war. Mr. Lersch is probably the oldest merchant in point of continuous service in Lorain County, having begun his career as a business man in 1854. He has shown a high sense of responsibility in the use of his general success, has given liberally to all worthy institutions and has striven for everything that would make Elyria a better and greater city.
CARL THEODORE LERSCH, the oldest son of John and Pamela (Boynton) Lersch, is one of the younger business men of Elyria who has contributed his part to the prestige of the name, and is recognized as a successful and loyal citizen.
He was born January 6, 1870, at Elyria, gained his education in the public schools, and in the third year of high school gave up his studies in order to enter the store of his father. With that great busi- ness, elsewhere described, he has been identified ever since. For the past fifteen years he has been buyer and successful manager of the carpet and curtain department.
In political views Mr. Lersch is a stanch republican, though not to the extent of considering party before principle. To a question in regard to his religious views he would doubtless reply-"they are embodied in Leigh Hunt's poem 'Abou Ben Adhem.'"
On January 16, 1895, he married Miss Lelia B. Boynton at her home
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in Elyria. Of this union there was one child, Miriam B., who died at the age of fifteen on January 9, 1915.
ROBERT B. LERSCH. Junior member of the well known firm of John Lersch & Company, proprietors of the largest dry goods store between Cleveland and Toledo, and vice president and a director of the National Bank of Elyria, Robert B. Lersch is a native of the city in. which he is now engaged in business and is a son of John and Pamela (Boynton) Lersch. The career of John Lersch furnishes subject matter for another article, published elsewhere in this work.
Robert Boynton Lersch was born at Elyria, November 10, 1871, grew up at Elyria, where he was graduated from the high school in 1889, and following this took a partial course in law at the Western Reserve University, Cleveland. However, he did not pursue the law as a voca- tion, turning his attention to business affairs, although his legal training has been of no little value to him in subsequent years. Leaving college to identify himself actively with the firm of John Lersch & Company, he has been an associate member of the firm since 1893.
For a number of years Mr. Lersch has also been a figure in public life in the city and county. He began voting the republican ticket as soon as he reached his majority, and in 1896 was elected a member of the city council of Elyria, to which body he was re-elected four times, and in which he gave much service of a definite and helpful order in shaping the policies of the city government during that time. In 1903 the Lorain County Republican Convention chose Mr. Lersch on the first ballot as candidate for the State Legislature, and during his term at Columbus he was chairman of the finance committee and secretary of the committee on cities that prepared and presented the Payne bill, pro- } viding for the municipal code of Ohio. While a member of the Elyria City Council, Mr. Lersch was also chairman of the water committee, during the great seven-year fight, which enlisted the services of some of the greatest lawyers in the country, and which resulted in securing for Elyria its own water works plant on the shores of Lake Erie, where the water is pumped and filtered and piped to the city from the lake. He is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, and is fraternally a Knight Templar Mason, affiliating with Elyria Commandery No. 60, and a member of the Order of Elks and the Knights of the Maccabees. Socially, he is a popular member of the Elyria Country Club and the Cleveland Athletic Club, of Cleveland. A trustee of the Young Men's Christian Association, Mr. Lersch has always taken an active interest in that organization. He was captain of one of the teams at the time the money was raised to build the beautiful building of the institution here, and was one of the twenty guests at a dinner given by the late W. N. Gates, at which time the subject of erecting such a structure at Elyria was first broached.
On November 10, 1897, Mr. Lersch was married to Miss Helen Seward, who was born and reared in Lorain County, Ohio, a daughter of Thomas and Etta Seward. To this marriage there have been born two daughters: Dorothy and Jane.
HARRY MOORE REDINGTON, son of Judge Horace G. Redington, whose sketch appears on other pages, was born in Amherst, Lorain County, February 22, 1886. He attended the public schools at Amherst, also Oberlin Academy, and entering the Western Reserve Law School was
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graduated LL. B. in June, 1910. He was admitted to the bar by examina- tion in June of the same year.
On July 6, 1910, only a few weeks after setting up in practice at Elyria, he married Miss Mary Lydia Peck of Oberlin, Ohio, daughter of Jonathan F. and Medora E. (Wack) Peck. Her father died many years ago and is buried at his old home in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and the mother is now living with Mr. and Mrs. Redington. Mrs. Redington was graduated from Oberlin Academy, spent several years in the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and about two years in the New York Art School of New York City.
Mr. Redington had his first law office in the Redington Block, where he established himself August 4, 1910, and where his father later had his offices. After one year of practice alone he and his father shared the same office until February 1, 1914. The son then moved into the Elyria Block, continued alone until January 7, 1915, and then became junior member of the firm of Pounds & Redington, his associate being Harry A. Pounds, mention of whom is found on other pages.
In politics Mr. Redington is a democrat, and was the first president of the democratic club known as the Elyria Democratic Club and was active in its organization on July 17, 1914. He continued as its president until January 1, 1915, and is now a member of its executive committee. Fraternally his affiliations are with King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons, and Elyria Lodge No. 465, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. He also belongs to the Elyria Country Club, the Chamber of Commerce, and to the Men's Club of the Congregational Church. Mrs. Redington was brought up as an Episcopalian and attends that church. They have a daughter, Rosemary, born at Elyria, May 13, 1912, and a son James Peck, born October 30, 1913.
THOMAS JOHNSTON. In the history of Lorain County, a name that appears frequently is that of Johnston, the members of this family having borne honored parts in professional, business, military, public and civic life. This family was founded here as early as 1838 by Thomas Johnston, now long since deceased, but whose descendants still repre- sent the family honorably and bear evidence of the possession of the sturdy qualities of this old pioneer.
Thomas Johnston was born at Palmerston (Wilton), Saratoga County, New York, August 30, 1777, and was a son of Peter and Susannah (Johnson) Johnston. His father was born at Lockerby, Annandale, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, in 1735, and in 1773 applied for and received a certificate of good character signed by the magistrate of the borough of Lochmaben, in the same year taking his wife and children and start- ing for America. Embarking at Dumfries, they were carried in safety to the new country, the vessel duly making port at New York, from whence Peter Johnston took his family to Palmerston, Saratoga County, New York, which township afterwards was renamed Wilton. This was a newly-settled community, and the new arrivals were forced to face many hardships and overcome numerous obstacles. The heavy timber with which the tract was covered was cleared, cut into logs and made into rafts, and these were floated down to Troy, Albany and New York City. When the Revolutionary war broke out Peter Johnston first joined a company of Minute Men for the protection of the home community, but afterward enlisted in the Thirteenth Regiment of Albany County militia, known as Col. Cornelius Van Veghten's Regiment, and served as private in Capt. Ephraim Woodworth's Company. When his military service was completed, Peter Johnston returned to his Saratoga County
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farm and there passed the remaining years of his life in the development of a home, dying at Wilton, New York, September 13, 1798, aged sixty- three years. He was twice married, first in 1763 to Jane Mundle, by whom he had a son and a daughter, Andrew and Elizabeth. She died about 1771 and a year later he married Susannah Johnson, born in Scot- land, and died at Wilton, New York, December 29, 1787, daughter of Archibald Johnson. They became the parents of four children : Jane, Thomas, Nancy and Mary. Peter Johnston and his wife Susannah were buried in the cemetery near Emerson's Corners, at Wilton.
Thomas Johnston passed his boyhood on the home farm near Mount McGregor, New York, and received his early education in the common schools. It was the desire of his father that he become a minister, and he was sent away to be educated, but the youth did not finish the course nor did he adopt the calling, although to the end of his life he was ever ready to uphold his views in regard to religious topics, and was willing even to neglect his work to expound his theological doctrines to whomsoever should bring the subject up. His father was a devout Presbyterian, but early in life Thomas concluded from his researches that baptism by immersion was the only true form, and accordingly identified himself with the Baptist Church, although he did not become a professed member thereof for many years.
In 1800 Thomas Johnston was married to Lucy Benedict, daughter of Elisha and Thankful (Gregory) Benedict, of Northumberland, New York, and settled in that vicinity, where a son was born to them the next year, but both mother and child died within a few days, the former August 4, 1801. Later Mr. Johnston moved to Fairfield, Franklin County, Vermont, where he married Susanna Cleveland, daughter of Stephen and Polly (Goodin) Cleveland. She was born at Bennington, Vermont, October 2, 1781, and was a member of a family the descend- ants of which have spread all over the country and have become promi- nent in every walk of life. The founder of this family in America, Moses Cleveland, is supposed to have been born in 1624, and came from Ipswich, Suffolk, England, to Woburn, Massachusetts, in 1635, as an indentured apprentice to a housewright. He became a freeman in 1643 and was married September 16, 1648, to Annie Winn, who bore him eleven children: Moses; Hannah; Aaron, the direct ancestor of Presi- dent Grover Cleveland; Samuel; Miriam: Joanna; Edward; Josiah, the ancestor of Gen. Moses Cleveland, founder of the City of Cleveland, Ohio; Isaac; Joanna (2) and Enoch. Susanna (Cleveland) Johnston was in the sixth generation of the family in America.
Some time after his second marriage, Thomas Johnston bought a tract of land in Vermont, adjoining Fairfield, and settled there with his bride, but in 1804, being pressed for deferred payments on this property, dis- posed of it in order to save his improvements and bought a piece of land in Fairfield, Franklin County, Vermont, where he resided until 1811. In that year he moved to Oneida County, New York, and while he was residing in that locality witnessed the outbreak of the War of 1812 and enlisted in Capt. Earl Fillmore's company of Colonel Stone's regiment, New York militia. He served with that organization for 188 days as a private, and after his death his widow drew a pension for this service. In 1822 Mr. Johnston removed to Leyden, Lewis County, New York, and after three years made removal with his family to Shelby, Orleans County, New York. where he purchased a fine property on Maple Ridge, not far from Millville.
In 1832 the Johnston family started for the Western Reserve of Ohio, taking pasage on a canal boat to Buffalo and sailing thence by steamer
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to Cleveland, Ohio, where they embarked in two wagons, thus traveling to Brunswick, Medina County, Ohio, where they settled on a farm. In November, 1838, they made another removal, this time into the adjoin- ing county of Lorain, where they settled on a farm on the east branch of the Black River, about a mile south of Grafton, which was then known as Rawsonville. They were among the pioneers of that locality, where they built a log house and planted an orchard, but after their children were all married the parents sold the farm, and it has since changed hands several times. Thomas Johnston died July 22, 1858, at the home of his son, Paul M., at LaGrange, Ohio, whence he had moved at the time of his retirement, while the mother survived him until July 19, 1873, and passed away near the old homestead. They were buried side by side in the cemetery three miles east of LaGrange, where a substantial monument marks the resting-place of these two sturdy old pioneers. They were the parents of twelve children, namely: Polly M., who mar- ried Theodore Perkins; Peter B .; Stephen C .; Lucy B., who married Horace Perkins; William L .; Betsey M .; Drew M .; Betsey M. (2), who married Elihu F. Terrell; Sarah J., who married Sanford Thorp; Lois Ann Miller, who married first David Gregory, and second Virgil H. Worden; Charles W .; and Paul Milton. All of these children are now deceased.
PAUL MILTON JOHNSTON, SR. Although thirty-five years have passed since the death of Paul Milton Johnston, a record of his life is worthy of a place in any history of the community of Lorain County. One of the early school teachers of this vicinity, he was also engaged in business and agricultural ventures, and throughout a life of industry and use- fulness held the confidence and warm regard of those with whom he was brought into contact in any capacity.
Mr. Johnston was born at Shelby, Orleans County, New York, April 12, 1827, and died at Grafton, Lorain County, Ohio, November 28, 1880. He was a son of Thomas and Susanna (Cleveland) Johnston, pioneers of the Western Reserve of Ohio, of whom separate mention is extensively made in another part of this work. In 1832 Mr. Johnston moved with his parents to Ohio, settling at Brunswick, Medina County, on a farm, and in November, 1838, came to Lorain County, the family locating on Iand on the east branch of the Black River, about one mile south of Grafton. There the father erected a log house and planted an orchard, and there the sons were brought up to agricultural pursuits. Paul M. Johnston worked on the old home farm until attaining his majority, and in the meantime secured such educational training as was afforded by the pioneer schools. He qualified as a teacher and for several years was in charge of schools in his locality, but subsequently engaged as a drover in company with his brother Charles, with whom he made a tour of the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.
On Christmas eve, 1857, Mr. Johnston was married at LaGrange, Ohio, to Maria Hicks Obitts, who was born at Antwerp, Jefferson County, New York, April 17, 1834, a daughter of Jacob and Betsey (Gillett) Obitts. Not long after his marriage Mr. Johnston engaged in the gen- eral merchandise business with George Robbins, Freeman Sheldon and Lionel Sheldon, but about 1860 moved to Liverpool, Medina County, Ohio, and there with George W. Noble became the founder of an iron foundry. Mr. Johnston was a man of phenomenal strength and at vari- ous times it was his pleasure to show his prowess in this direction to his friends. While living at Liverpool, on one occasion he made a wager that he could carry a hog for a quarter of a mile, a task which was accom-
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plished by him, but which soon cost him dearly, as within the next few days he was stricken with apoplexy, from the effects of which he never fully recovered. For several weeks he lay at death's door, but finally recovered sufficiently to do ordinary work. About 1864 he disposed of his interests in the iron foundry and purchased a farm in Grafton Township, Lorain County, near Kingsby's Corners, and in 1869 traded this for another farm, located on the Black River about one-quarter of a mile from the original place on which his father had settled. Here he lived in comparative comfort and happiness for several years, but August 12, 1875, his wife died after only a few weeks of illness, during which the devoted husband nursed her night and day, and really wrecked his own health which had not been any too strong. His constitution was hearty, however, and undoubtedly he would have recovered had he made the effort, but the death of his wife, of whom he was fond beyond the average nature of conjugal love, caused him to lose interest in life, and while he survived her for five years, it was ever his expressed wish that he go to join her. To add to his troubles, in the next winter, at La- Grange, whence he had gone to live for a year after leasing the home farm, he slipped upon the icy streets and fractured the cap of his knee in three places, which rendered him a cripple for life. In the following year he moved back to the farm, but was dependent upon his sons, William and Charles, for all the work in the fields, and upon his daugh- ter Helena, for the care of the house. In 1879 he sold his farm and bought a property at Grafton, and there the remaining year of his life was passed.
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