USA > Ohio > Lorain County > A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the. > Part 41
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When he was twenty-four years of age his father bought 157 acres in Carlisle Township, and this was the nucleus of Mr. Clark's large landed possessions in that section of Lorain County and of his beautiful rural estate known as Clarkhurst. His own industry and good manage- ment have been important factors in his success, and with what he re- ceived from his father he has since brought his possessions to about 700 acres.
As early as 1885 some of his tenants while digging for water struck gas on his land, but no practical use was made of this discovery until 1903, when Mr. Clark drilled a gas well and he has since utilized the product of his own wells for the heating and lighting of his home. Though reared a republican and always a stanch upholder of republican doctrines, Mr. Clark has never been an office seeker, and his only impor- tant position has been as township clerk.
His first wife died some years ago without children. On February 11, 1902, he married Miss Julia A. Loomis of Cleveland, a daughter of Milton and Ellen (Foley) Loomis. Mrs. Clark was born in Grafton, Ohio, and finished her education in the high school at Elyria.
CHARLES A. JONES. There are turning points in every man's life called opportunity. Taken advantage of they mean ultimate success. The career of Charles A. Jones is a striking illustration of the latter statement. Diligent and ever alert for his chance of advancement, he has progressed steadily until he is recognized today as one of the fore- most business men of Elyria. Here he is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens who honor him for his native ability and for his fair and straightforward career. He is a prominent contractor and builder and has constructed more residences and business blocks in this county than any other man.
A native of East Cleveland, Ohio, Charles A. Jones was born Sep- tember 23. 1849. He is a son of John L. and Honor (Livingston) Jones, both of whom were born and reared in New York State, where was celebrated their marriage and whence they removed to Lorain County, Ohio, in 1856. The mother was descended from the Living- stons of Livingston, New York, and her uncle, Robert Livingston, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. John L. Jones grew up in the Empire State and as a youth learned the trade of tinner. In April, 1856, he and his wife settled in Avon Township, this county, about one mile distant from Lake Erie. For a time they resided in what is now Cleveland and there he did considerable work as a gardener. He was a private in the War of 1812, having enlisted in a New York regiment, and he participated in the battle of Sacketts Harbor. He passed to eternal rest at Avon and the mother died in Cleveland; both are interred in a Cleveland cemetery. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Jones and of the number all reached maturity except Joshua, who died at the age of three years. Following are brief data concerning the children : Elizabeth was killed by accident in the Hoyt Paper Mill at Cleveland in 1849; Mary became the wife of Rollin C. Mott, and she died in Cleveland ; Jane, wife of Jesse Nichols, is deceased; Clara is the widow of Henry Till and lives in Denver, Colorado; John L.,
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Jr., died in Virginia; Lucy is the wife of Perry Saxon, of Mayfield Township, Cuyahoga County, Ohio; Louise is the widow of Frederick Padley, of Avon Township, this county; Lydia Ann was the wife of . DeForest Ruple at the time of her demise, at which time she resided in Dover, Ohio; Charles A. was next in order of birth; Alfred H. died in East Cleveland; and Joshua died at the age of three years, as noted above. Of the foregoing the six eldest were born in New York State, the next four in East Cleveland and the youngest in Lorain County .. John L., Jr., gave valiant service as a soldier in the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry during practically the entire period of the Civil war and he was wounded in the battle of Stone River.
Charles A. Jones attended the district schools in East Cleveland and in Avon until he had reached his ninth year. In 1860, aged eleven years, he left home and became cook on a scow on the Great Lakes. Subsequently he became cook on larger vessels and he was recognized as an able-bodied seaman at the tender age of fourteen years, at which time he received a grown man's pay. He was a seaman and ship car- penter for the ensuing ten years and one of his trips during that time was a whaling voyage in the Arctic Ocean. He was second mate on a steam boat that ran from Cleveland through the canal to Chicago when he was seventeen years old and just previous to that time he made trips to Liverpool and to the Mediterranean Sea as an orderly seaman. For a couple years prior to the panic of 1872 he worked as ship car- penter and he is the only man in Lorain County who can build a boat of wood from start to finish. He quit sailing in 1872 and after the panic devoted his attention to building houses. He came to Elyria in the following year and holds the reputation of having built more resi- dences in Lorain County than any other contractor in this section of the state. He has also constructed many homes and business buildings in Cleveland, having as many as twenty houses in process of construc- tion at one time. He built the Sharp Block on Broad Street in Elyria and also built a block on Cheapside. He owns four houses in this city and his own residence is one of the finest buildings in town. For fif- teen years he was construction foreman for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company and during that period built water tanks, round houses, depots, freight houses, coal shutes and other buildings in Buffalo, Toledo and Elyria.
In Sandusky, Ohio, December 27, 1873, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Jones to Miss Letitia Padley, who was born in Lincoln- shire, England, whence she accompanied her parents to America at the age of six months. She is a daughter of John and Letitia (Hill) Padley, who settled at Sheffield, Lorain County, in 1856. For six months prior to coming to this section Mr. and Mrs. Padley lived at Dover, Cuyahoga County ; they passed to eternal rest in Sheffield Township. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have four children, as follows: Livingston A., of Elyria, is a carpenter and is associated with is father in business; Charles R. is a mechanical engineer at Mount Wilson, California; Owen J. died at the age of eleven years in Elyria; and Letitia M. is the wife of Arthur H. Pfaff, a piano player of much talent, who played the piano in the U. B. Clark store in Lorain for five years and who is now a bookkeeper for the National Tube Company at South Lorain. The Jones children were all born and educated in Elyria, Livingston and Letitia both being graduates of the local high school. Letitia studied with talented teachers and is an accomplished musician. She and her husband have one daughter, Kathryn Letitia, born in Lorain July 18, 1915. Charles R. Jones is married and has a daughter, also named Letitia. It is interesting to note at this point that the two little grand-
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daughters are named Letitia as they will some day be the owners of silver teaspoons, handmade over 200 years ago in England and engraved with the letter "L." Mrs. Jones has an old silver teapot which her parents brought from England and which was among the exhibits of the historical society in the Elyria courthouse for a number of years.
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In politics Mr. Jones is a democrat and while not an active partici- pant in local affairs he nevertheless gives an ardent support to all measures projected for the good of the general welfare. His wife is a member of the First Congregational Church and they hold a high place in the esteem and affection of their fellow citizens. Mr. Jones is a self- made man in the strictest sense of the term and it is gratifying to note that he is one of the foremost business men of this county.
CHARLES B. RAWSON. For twenty-four years continuously Charles B. Rawson has been identified with the mercantile enterprise of the Village of LaGrange. He is proprietor of a large general merchandise store and has made his business profitable to himself and representing a thorough and up-to-date mercantile service to the community.
Though nearly all his active career has been spent behind a counter or in a store office, he was born on a farm near Sunfield in Eaton County, Michigan, June 29, 1867, a son of B. F. and Elden (Freemire) Rawson.
It was on the old farm in Michigan that he spent his boyhood, had a common school education, and was twenty years of age when he came to LaGrange and found employment in the grocery store conducted by his uncle L. W. Richmond. At first he was paid $15 a month and his board. He was with his uncle three years, and the last year the arrange- ment was that he should receive $30 a month. However, before the close of the twelve month period he and B. L. Wilkins bought the store and started under the firm name of Wilkins & Rawson. They conducted this business five years. They assumed the stock on credit, and at the end of five years had so prospered that they owned the entire business and had discounted their bills so closely that they had a splendid credit rating.
A short time before buying out his uncle Mr. Rawson on November 27, 1889, married Miss Grace Holcomb. She was born and reared in La- Grange, a daughter of Andrew and Anna (Aldrich) Holcomb. When Mr. Rawson and partner bought the stock of his uncle, Mr. Holcomb was his financial backer, endorsing the note.
The firm of Wilkins & Rawson continued for five years, when Mr. Wilkins sold out to his partner on account of ill health. In 1902 Mr. Rawson took in a brother as partner under the firm name of Rawson Brothers, and this was the style of the firm until 1910. In 1901 he bought the building in which his fine store is conducted.
Mr. and Mrs .. Rawson have two children. The son Charles Andrew who was born at LaGrange August 11, 1891, is a graduate of the La- Grange High School, took a full course in the Oberlin Business College, and in 1915 finished a course at Cleveland in penmanship under Profes- sor Barnet, and has a diploma and is well qualified for the teaching of penmanship. Just now he is employed by his father in the store at La- Grange. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rawson is Lura Grace who grad- uated from high school and is still at home. The family reside in a com- fortable residence on South Main Street.
While Mr. Rawson was reared a democrat, he is independent in politi- cal activities. In his home community he has served on the school board, as township treasurer and as corporation treasurer. He and his wife are active in the Methodist Episcopal Church, he being a member of the offi- cial board, while the son is leader of the Sunday School orchestra. Fra- ternally both Mr. Rawson and his son are members of LaGrange Lodge
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No. 399, Free and Accepted Masons, in which the father has been junior warden, secretary ten years and now worshipful master, while the son is now junior warden. Mr. Rawson is also affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America.
WILLIAM C. SILIC. The career of William C. Silic of LaGrange Town- ship is a story of achievement, a gradual accumulation of material re- sources and the experience which profits a man in any undertaking.
Born in the City of Cleveland March 1, 1858, he was about four years of age when his mother died, and at the age of twelve he began life for himself. He had only limited schooling. Coming to Pittsfield Town- ship in Lorain County, he hired out to work on a farm for board and clothes. At the age of fourteen he was paid wages of $6 a month. He continued monthly employment until he was nineteen, and at that time was getting $20 a month. When he quit he had accumulated a modest capital of $100.
With that he bought a team and harness and went in with other par- ties in the purchase of a threshing machine outfit. For five years he helped operate this in the fall and early winter while the spring and sum- mer were spent in the lumber camps of Michigan. At the end of the five year period he had accumulated about $1,000, and that was the foundation of his present prosperity.
Having attained that stage of success, Mr. Silic in April, 1882, at LaGrange married Miss Anna Stevenson, who was born in Pittsfield, January 12, 1859, a daughter of George and Mary (Speed) Stevenson. Her parents were both natives of England, came to America when quite young with their respective parents, and grew up in Muskingum County, Ohio, where they married and later settled on a farm in Pittsfield Town- ship of Lorain County. Mrs. Silic's father died at the age of forty- eight and her mother is still living at the age of eighty. Mrs. Silic died in 1889, and in about 1890 Mr. Silic married Mary Matilda Stevenson, a sister of his first wife. All of his children were born of his second marriage. Mr. Silic's parents were Conrad and Anna Silic, both natives of Germany, where the father served his regular time in the army. The father was a machinist by trade, and he died at the Soldiers Home in Dayton, Ohio.
After his marriage Mr. Silic moved to Cleveland and for four years was employed by the United States Express Company at $50 a month. Returning to Pittsfield Township he invested his capital in a farm of 861/2 acres and for the past thirty years has made farming and stock raising his chief occupation. He owned the first farm for twenty-three years, and in that time made many improvements. He occupied it as his home for about seventeen years and then desiring to farm on a more extensive scale he leased a place of 240 acres near Wellington. He op- erated this for eight years and in the meantime acquired a house and lot in Wellington, and in 1908 after selling his original place, he bought his present fine farm of 234 acres 13/4 miles west of the Village of LaGrange. This farm too he has improved in many ways. Mr. Silic is well known as a dairyman and as a breeder of thoroughbred Holstein cattle. He started his herd with one thoroughbred cow and now has six, while his dairy herd numbers altogether twenty-four.
Mr. and Mrs. Silic have four children: Flossie Maude, who was born in Pittsfield and is the wife of Edward Wise, a farmer in LaGrange Township, and their two children are named Leona and Paul E .; Jessie. M., who was born in Pittsfield and lives with her parents; Clarence W., born in Pittsfield, and in the second year of the high school; and Leslie Dewey, born in Pittsfield and in the first year in high school. Mr. Silic
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is a republican, but is not a seeker for official honors. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and was formerly connected with the Macca- bees and with the Grange.
STUART HARVEY LUCAS. Such a position as is occupied in the com- munity of Elyria by S. H. Lucas does not come as a result of chance. A steadfast ambition, untiring energy, a capacity for endless detail and hard work, a sound integrity, have made him one of the most force- ful of the younger business men and citizens. In a business way he has been primarily identified with the upbuilding and development of The Hygienic Ice Company, the only factory at Elyria engaged in the manufacture of ice from distilled waters. Mr. Lucas occupies a num- ber of.other relations with the civic, fraternal and club life of his home city and his name hardly requires any introduction to the present gen- eration.
A native of Ohio, he was born in Marion February 16, 1876, a son of Harvey Stoughton and Mary Margaret (McLain) Lucas. His mother was born in Springfield, Ohio, January 1, 1849, a daughter of Rev. John Stuart Mclain, whose activities as a minister brought him into prominence among the early preachers of Ohio. Mr. Lucas' great- grandfather was Noah Lucas, who in 1832 removed from Homer, New York, in the Mohawk Valley and settled at Kipton in Lorain County, Ohio. At that time the vicinity of Kipton was noted as deer hunting grounds and was a great resort for sportsmen from Cleveland. Noah and his son William, the latter the grandfather of the Elyria business man, were the only settlers in that community, their nearest neighbors being seven miles away. Grandfather William Lucas subsequently removed to Summit County. That was a time when Cuyahoga Falls was a larger town than Akron, and he was one of the men of enterprise who endeavored to make an industrial center by building the Chickoree Race, which was to take water from the Cuyahoga River above the falls to Akron. That project fell through and the ruins of the well con- ceived though unsuccessful enterprise are still found in that locality.
Harvey Stoughton Lucas, who was born in Homer, New York, in 1826, likewise became a man of considerable prominence in business affairs. Prior to 1852 he was associated in a small way with the famous Rockefellers of Cleveland. Leaving Cleveland in 1852, he settled in Marion County, Ohio, and there took up general merchandising. He conducted one of the old fashioned country community stores and the stock comprised everything from a package of pins to farm machinery.
He was continuously identified with that business in Marion County until 1888, and it was the only store kept open in the county during the disastrous cholera epidemic of many years ago. His partner in the business was Fred Seffner, and their store was conducted under the firm name of Lucas & Seffner. In 1888 Harvey S. Lucas sold out and removed to a farm in Sheffield Township of Ashtabula County, living there until 1891. At that date he purchased the Shreve Roller Mills in Wayne County, and operated the establishment during 1891-92-93. He then retired from active business and lived quietly at his home in Wooster until his death on August 4, 1895. His wife survived him until September 10, 1903. Harvey S. Lucas also had a record as a soldier. He enlisted in 1864 in Company I of the One Hundred Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the capacity of sergeant, and served about four months in the closing days of the war. He and his partner in the general merchandising business in Marion County were unable to enter the service at the same time and they drew lots to see which would enlist first, and the partner was the one upon whom this choice fell, and he
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saw three years of service and on returning home his place in the ranks was taken by Mr. Lucas. Harvey S. Lucas married for his first wife Miss Abbie Green. She died being survived by three children: Mrs. R. W. Harrington of Akron; W. G. Lucas of Marion; and Mrs. Carrie Gailey of Detroit, Michigan. For his second wife Mr. Lucas married Miss Mary Margaret McLain. Three children were also born to this union. Stuart Harvey; Grace Margaret, who is now a missionary in one of the departments of the Girls School at Nankin, China; and Rhea Reed Lucas, a florist at Wooster, Ohio.
The early life of Stuart H. Lucas was spent largely in the towns of Marion, Shreve and Wooster, and in those localities he also acquired his education. In 1891 he graduated from the high school at Shreve, and subsequently attended the Wooster University. Like most suc- cessful business men he started at the foot of the ladder and has gone upward step by step on the basis of merit and accomplishment. His first employment was in a drug store at Wooster owned by Laubaugh & Boyd. About a year later he transferred his connection to the Boston Piano Company at Wooster, with which he remained eighteen months and then spent two years with Wamelink & Son of Cleveland. For about three years he was in the auditing department of The American Steel and Wire Company at Newburg, Ohio, and had another variation then in business experience by several months of employment with the Burrows Brothers Company in their book store at Cleveland.
In the spring of 1904 Mr. Lucas organized The Hygienic Ice Com- pany at Elyria. He went into this enterprise with characteristic energy and had the plant in complete operation by July 9, 1904. It is an incorporated company, and the officers are: W. E. Brooks, president; D. W. Hyland, vice president; S. H. Lucas, secretary; and Frederick Mosley, treasurer. Mr. Lucas is also general manager of the company, and its splendid success is largely due to his efficiency and progressive management. Ice has long been recognized as one of the most indis- pensable of commodities, and in late years emphasis has been placed upon the requirements of purity, and this company at Elyria is the only one manufacturing ice from distilled water. The business is a flourishing one, and in addition to the manufacture of distilled water ice, it also has a large cold storage plant, the principal building having a capacity for 900 tons of ice and provision for the storage of 2,000 crates of eggs while there are two other cold storage rooms fitted for the keeping of products of other kinds. Another department of the busi- ness is the manufacture and selling at wholesale of pure and sanitary ice cream, and the standard of purity is the motto and watchword of the entire business.
In his political associations Mr. Lucas has always been classed as a republican, and without undue partisanship has always been in close touch with civic interests and affairs. He is prominent in Masonry, his affiliations being with King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons; Marshall Chapter No. 47, Royal Arch Masons; Elyria Council No. 86, Royal and Select Masters; Elyria Commandery No. 60, Knights Templar; and Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Cleveland. He is also affiliated with Elyria Lodge No. 465, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Elyria Lodge No. 778, of the Loyal Order of Moose; Elyria Lodge of Eagles No. 431, and he is a member of the Associated Craftsmen of Engineers, and is a charter member of the Lakewood Yacht Club, now the Cleveland Yacht Club. Other clubs of which he is a member are the Elyria Auto Club, the Eastern Heights Tennis Club, the Summit Lake Tennis Club of Akron, the Sandusky Yacht
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Club of Sandusky, the Put-In-Bay Yacht Club at Put-In-Bay. He attends the First Congregational Church at Elyria.
On August 10, 1903, Mr. Lucas was married in Wooster to Miss Aimee G. Hamilton. Mrs. Lucas, who is a woman of thorough culture and many accomplishments, was born in Manchester, England. Her father, Harry Hamilton, who died at Manchester, was a well known English sportsman and one of the fox-hunting squires who in a former day were such picturesque figures in English life. Her mother, Mar- garet (Young) Hamilton, lived at San Diego, California, at the time of her death, December 29, 1915. Mrs. Lucas came with her mother and other members of the family to the United States about 1888. She had received her education in Manchester and the only one of her sis- ters remaining in England married the Rt. Hon. Vernon Kellett. Mrs. Lucas among other accomplishments is one of the best horseback riders in the state, as well as an expert boat handler. She attends the religious services of the Christian Science Church.
FRANK C. BILLINGS. The prosperity and advancement of a com- munity depend upon the social character and public spirit of its mem- bers. In every prosperous town and country center will be found citizens who take the lead and give their energies not alone to their own well being, but to the things that mean better and fuller life for all. Such a citizen for many years in Lorain County has been Frank C. Billings, farmer, dairyman and breeder of thoroughbred Holstein cattle.
The fine Billings farm is located two miles west and three-quarters of a mile north of LaGrange Village on rural route No. 1. Not only has Mr. Billings helped to make progress in his own time but he also represents one of the solid old time families of Lorain County. He was born in LaGrange Township June 14, 1873, a son of George Mortimer and May (Ingersoll) Billings. The family was founded in Lorain County by the grandparents, Orson and Sophronia (Buell) Billings, both of whom were born and reared in Chenango County, New York, where they married and where two of their children were born. Later Orson Billings traded some property in New York State for land in LaGrange Township, the transaction having been made through the medium of the Western Reserve Company. The young people loaded their possessions on a boat at Buffalo, and soon after leaving port a storm came up and all their furniture was thrown overboard, and besides a few clothes they were left without any equipment except his carpenter tools. They landed at Cleve- land and stopped for a time at the old Franklin Hotel. Grandfather Billings was very nearly tempted to trade his land in LaGrange Town- ship for that hotel and some additional land. Being a carpenter, he soon had a log house erected on his land in LaGrange Township, and while working at his trade and putting up many of the early buildings in that locality. he also cleared up most of his land. He lived in LaGrange Township until about fifty years of age. Orson Billings was a man of somewhat remarkable genius. He invented the Duplex mowing machine, and put up a building on his farm in which to manufacture it. This building is still in use and is now a tool shed on Frank C. Billings' farm. Grandfather Billings also invented the Billings corn planter. He had patents on both of these machines, and he also carried his skill into the manufacture of parlor organs. One of these instruments is still in use in LaGrange Township. From his farm he finally moved to Elyria and formed a company for the manufacture of his inventions. Business cares weighed upon him so that he lost his health, sold out, and died at Elyria when about sixty-one or sixty-two years of age. His widow survived him until about the age of eighty-five.
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