USA > Ohio > Lorain County > A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the. > Part 8
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In 1893 he engaged in the hardware business at Lorain, and made that the object of his principal endeavors for ten years. At the same time his investments had been more widely directed. In 1912 he built at 2147 Broadway a large concrete block garage and automobile sales barn, 30 by 75 feet in dimensions. He is the owner of this garage, and acts as agent for the Paige car. He is also a director of the Wood Lumber Company and a director of the Central Bank of Lorain. He has a number of other interests in real estate and business affairs.
In a public way he has been closely identified with the life of Lorain for the past quarter of a century. For three years he was on the board of trustees for public works in Lorain and in 1903 was appointed trustee of Black River Township and held that office for a number of years by election. Fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order in the lodge and council and Royal Arch Chapter, and is also a Knight of Pythias. He is a member of the Lorain Board of Commerce and also has membership in the Elks Club. He married Miss Ida Ackley, who was born at Grafton, Lorain County, daughter of Henry and Mary Ackley.
REV. CHAUNCEY N. POND. Among the citizens of Oberlin whose activities have lent additional dignity to that college town and whose careers may well be represented in this publication is Rev. Mr. Pond, a retired minister, member of a prominent family and a man whose life has done much to enrich the influence of the church and many charitable organizations.
He was born at Medina, Ohio, October 23, 1841, a son of Henry N. and Mary (Castle) Pond. His grandfather was Isaac J. Pond, a native
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of Connecticut, where he was married and not long afterward settled in Medina County, Ohio. The maternal grandfather, Samuel L. Castle, was a music teacher and composer and was a prominent factor in church singing circles in the early days. Henry N. Pond was born in Medina, Ohio, in 1819, and died in 1846, at. the age of twenty-eight. He was a prosperous farmer, having bought the interests of the other heirs in the old farm, and his death was the result of an accident from a falling tree. IIe was a member of the Congregational Church, and a whig in politics. His wife. Miss Castle, was born near Cazenovia, New York, in 1821, and died in January, 1906. They were married in Medina County in 1840. Rev. Mr. Pond was the oldest of their three children. His brother, Chester Pond, served with the rank of colonel in the Union army during the Civil war, but for the most part was employed as a Government teleg- rapher. After the war he located in the South, started a large plantation, a school and other activities which made up the Town of Moorhead, Mis- sissippi. For a number of years he served as a trustee of Oberlin Col- lege, and gave about twenty thousand dollars worth of property to that institution. His death occurred in 1912. He was also distinguished as the inventor of the self-winding electric clock. After the death of her first husband Mrs. Mary Pond married Caleb A. Bowen, and the one son of that marriage, William A. Bowen, lived at Honolulu for a number of years and was a generous giver to the college and other public insti- tutions. Mrs. Bowen married for her third husband Uriah Thompson, who also served as a trustee of Oberlin College nearly forty years.
Chauncey N. Pond spent his early life in Medina, and was graduated from Oberlin College in 1864. He graduated from the Theological Seminary in 1868. He did his first work as a preacher in 1864, was licensed to preach in April, 1865. and was regularly ordained in October, 1866. His first work as a minister was done in the country districts in Medina County. in the same church which he had joined when twelve years of age. Not long ago he celebrated his sixtieth anniversary as a communicant of the church. For upwards of a half a century Rev. Mr. Pond kept up the active work of the ministry and filled many pulpits until two years ago. For several years now he has employed his time chiefly in organizing Sunday schools. He is also secretary for the State of Ohio of the extension work carried on by the organized charities, and has for fifteen years been identified with this work. It is said that no one in Ohio has done more for organized charity and Christian service than Rev. Mr. Pond.
On August 24. 1864, he married Harriet Permelia Perkins. She was born August 3, 1837. and they have lived together in the quiet harmony of spirit and work for more than half a century. To their union were bern three children. Jennie Evelyn, who died in 1896. married E. R. Atwater. by whom she had four children. Mr. Atwater married a second wife. and the entire family were murdered during the Boxer rebellion in China in 1900. Mr. Atwater having been a Chinese missionary. The son ITenry T. died when three years of age. Percy M. has for a number of years been a very successful business man in the Hawaiian Islands and for a number of years furnished high grade milk to the City of Honolulu. his dairy herd and outfit but recently sold for $32.500. He has also developed some large land interests in those islands.
Rev. Mr. Pond. while by the very nature of his calling he has never acquired or aspired to great wealth, has been sufficiently prospered. He started life with only $380 as capital, and in spite of his own generosity in giving to church and charity, has managed to acquire a competence out of his long service for the church and other employment. He owns a beautiful home in Oberlin ard has two others residential properties.
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In politics he is a republican, and for many years has been quite active in affairs and has written many articles during campaigns. For a number of years he served in the office of school examiner in Medina County.
GEORGE E. CRISP. The record of a sterling citizen, a soldier, business man, public administrator, and one who played all the varied parts in his life worthily and faithfully, came to a close in the death of George E. Crisp at Amherst, Lorain County, Ohio, July 27, 1912. He had been a resident of Lorain County nearly all of the sixty-eight years of his life. Probably the work for which he most deserved the gratitude of his fellow citizens was his long service in connection with the Elyria Water Works. Upon him devolved the responsibility of superintending the construction of that magnificent plant by which the city is now supplied with pure water from Lake Erie. Perhaps the characteristic by which he was best known among his fellow men was his quiet efficiency, and wherever the path of duty led him, in war or in peace, in business or in public office, at home or in those varied relations which exist between man and man, he was guided by a firm sense of responsibility and proved himself faithful in all those manifold small duties which make up the sum of a life's achievement.
A native of England, he was born in the City of Northampton, May 25, 1844, being one of seven children. His brother William died in Elyria only a short time before the death of George E. Crisp, and the latter was survived by his sister, Mrs. William Henson of Elyria, and his brother, J. A. Crisp of Jefferson. A short time after his birth, his parents considering well their own circumstances and the needs of their rising family, set out from England to get the better opportunities of America. They engaged passage on a vessel, but their mother, on com- ing to the docks, refused to embark, considering that the ship was un- seaworthy, and her judgment was well founded since the boat was never heard of after it left England. The following day the little family went on board another vessel, which was buffeted by adverse winds so that the voyage required nearly twice the usual time for making such a trip. They finally landed at New York three months after leaving England. From New York City they came to Lorain County, settling in Avon Township, where the father engaged in farming. Six years later he died of typhoid fever, leaving his widow to face the world alone with her young children. She succeeded in keeping her family together and reared them to lives of usefulness and high ideals.
From these circumstances it can be understood that the early life of George E. Crisp was one of considerable hardship. He worked as soon as his young strength permitted and gained his education by some- what irregular attendance at the country schools. At the age of seven- teen he moved to Elyria and became an apprentice in the firm of John Topliff, and after completing his term was given credentials as an effi- cient blacksmith. He subsequently had to leave that line of work since it affected his eyesight.
During the Civil war Mr. Crisp enlisted May 2, 1864, in Company K of the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and con- tinued in service with his regiment until mustered out with the rank of corporal at Camp Chase, Columbus, September 1, 1864. He was with his regiment in the engagements at Bolivar, Marye Heights, Harpers Ferry and under General Sigel against General Early on July 4-7, 1864; was one of those who charged the enemy at John Brown's Schoolhouse ; was in the skirmishes at Opequan Creek Bridge, at Harpers Ferry and Marye Heights, and was engaged in guarding the Baltimore & Ohio Vol. 11-4
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Railroad. While on the latter duty a portion of his regiment was sur- rounded at North Mountain and 250 men were captured, half of whom subsequently died in Confederate prisons. Mr. Crisp was with his com- pany every day during the term of service, which, though brief, was characterized by that fidelity which was a mark of his every undertaking in public life.
In May, 1868, at Montezuma, Iowa, Mr. Crisp married Miss Mary L. Wyman and three months later they returned to Elyria, and thereafter that city was continuously his home until his death. From this union four children were born : Albert B., Harry E., Herbert G., and Ernest J.
After his marriage and permanent settlement at Elyria, Mr. Crisp engaged in the wholesale notion business. He dealt with merchants in the territory south and east of Cleveland and his route even extended into Western Pennsylvania. He called on his trade, carrying his stock with him in a large wagon, known as a "Peddling Wagon." He kept up the stock in the wagon by having goods shipped to him, in advance, along the route. He was then known as a "Yankee Notion Peddler" but soon this method became too slow, the wagon was discarded, and selling was done entirely by samples carried in a case. Thus Mr. Crisp was one of the pioneer traveling salesmen of this section. This business gave him a wide acquaintance and then as always he relied upon those solid, old time-tried commercial rules which have ever been the founda- tion of true success, and thus he developed an important jobbing busi- ness for himself, and continued traveling in its interest until 1899.
In the latter year Mr. Crisp succeeded Mr. D. M. Clark as superin- tendent of the Elyria Gas & Water Company, the plant being then owned by the Berry Brothers of Detroit. For fourteen years he filled that position, and during the last four years was in the employ of the city.
An indication of his thorough public spirit is found in the fact that, while in the employ of private interests, he was one of the strong advo- cates of the city-owned plant, and was always a firm believer in mu- nicipally owned public utilities. During the construction of the lake water system, he was superintendent and gave constant and careful supervision to the work which has made Elyria's waterworks one of the best in the country. Those who are most familiar with his work in that position realize. that every user and patron of the local water system is a debtor to the man who exercised such vigilance during the constructive period of that important utility. On retiring from the office of superin- tendent of the waterworks in 1904, Mr. Crisp gave his time to the inter- ests of the Crisp Paper Company, the jobbing business developed by him prior to 1889 and was its business representative until his death.
The late Mr. Crisp was held in high regard for his excellent judg- ment and the studious care which he gave to every duty, and these qualities, combined with his absolute integrity, enabled him to render important service to his community. He served four years as a member of the city council and two years on the board of public service, and was also for sixteen years a member of the board of education, being chair- man of its building committee. Through his efforts the extensive grounds of the Fifteenth Street and Jefferson Street buildings were purchased. Aside from his business and public duties, Mr. Crisp was devoted to his church and home. He joined the Methodist Episcopal Church at Elyria in 1874, and from 1882 until his death, gave faithful service as one of its trustees. He was also a member of Richard Allen Post, G. A. R., which had charge of a part of the funeral services following his death. Mr. Crisp was survived by his wife and two sons, Albert B., and Ernest J. Crisp, his sons Herbert G. and Harry E. Crisp, having died in 1910.
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ERNEST J. CRISP, C. E. Until Mr. Crisp took the active manage- ment and presidency of the Peerless Laundry and Dry Cleaning Com- pany at Elyria, he was a recognized authority as a civil engineer in the construction of waterworks plants, sewerage systems and sewage dis- posal plants in many localities of Ohio and adjoining states. His first important work in the profession was as engineer in charge during the construction of the splendid system by which the City of Elyria draws its water supply from Lake Erie.
Born at Elyria, Ohio, December 18, 1877, his home has been in that city ever since, except from 1904 to 1910, during which time he made his home in Canton, Ohio. His father was the late George E. Crisp, whose career as a progressive citizen and business man of Elyria has been told on other pages. His mother is Mary (Wyman) Crisp, daugh- ter of John Wyman and still occupying the old home on West Avenue.
The early experiences of Ernest J. Crisp were chiefly found in home and school. After graduating from the Elyria High School in June, 1897, he spent a year in Oberlin College and then four years in Case School of Applied Science at Cleveland, where he specialized in civil engineering. He was graduated Bachelor of Sciences in June, 1902. In May, 1910, having presented to Case School a thesis entitled "A Sewage Disposal Plant for Jefferson, Ohio," he was awarded the degree Civil Engineer.
About the time of his graduation in 1902 he became assistant engineer to L. E. Chapin, C. E., of Canton, and it was as Mr. Chapin's represen- tative that he served from 1902 to 1904 as engineer in charge of the construction of the Elyria Waterworks pumping station on Lake Erie and the pipe line connecting the station with the distribution mains of the city. Among public improvements the citizens of Elyria probably take more pride and satisfaction in this than any other.
During the next six years he was almost constantly employed in con- nection with waterworks surveys and construction in different parts of the country. He assisted in making a report on the valuation of Tiffin Waterworks in 1904, and constructed the Vermillion Waterworks in the same year; he had charge of construction of waterworks at Barnesville, Ohio, in 1904-05; was in charge of construction of Beach City, Ohio, Waterworks and of filtration plant at Benwood, West Virginia, in 1906; for the General Water Company he built at Republic and Aaronsburg, Pennsylvania, the high pressure pumping station, pipe line and reser- voir; constructed the waterworks at Jefferson, Ohio, in 1908, and at Huron, Ohio, in 1909. During 1909 and up to April, 1910, he made the preliminary surveys for the Commercial Water Company reservoir at Youngstown, Ohio; and from April to August, 1910, was Lorain County bridge engineer.
After the death of his brother, Harry E. Crisp, in August, 1910, he assumed the duties of manager of The Peerless Laundry and Dry Clean- ing Company, then located at 117-119 West Avenue in Elyria. During the past five years he has greatly expanded the business which is the leading one of its kind in Lorain County, his experience and skill as an engineer have been instrumental in giving the company a model plant for its work. He designed and had charge of the construction of the building now occupied by the company at 336 Second Street, and also did all the engineering and designing for the Peerless Plant at the same location. Besides the active management of the business, Mr. Crisp is also director and president of The Peerless Laundry & Dry Cleaning Company, is a director of The Elyria Savings and Banking Company, and a director of the Retail Merchants Association. He was a director of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce in 1913, was a director and member of The American Society of Civil Engineers from 1904 to 1912.
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In 1904 he was raised to Master Mason in King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons, and in 1914 became affiliated with Marshall Chapter No. 47, Royal Arch Masons. He also belongs to the Ohio Rho Chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon, is a member of H. P. Chapman Camp No. 6, Sons of Veterans, and a member of the official board of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Elyria. At Barnesville, Ohio, June 12, 1907, Mr. Crisp married Miss Laura M. Dobbins, daughter of Charles P. and Amanda (Blakemore) Dobbins.
D. W. DAVIES. The record of years well lived, with a creditable performance of all those duties which come to a man of high principles and integrity of character, belongs to Mr. D. W. Davies of Wellington. Mr. Davies has earned his success by application to varied activities. At one time he operated a sawmill, has been in the lumber business and mercantile affairs but his chief success is founded on farming, and he now resides on a splendidly equipped dairy farm near the Village of Wellington.
His birth occurred in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, March 30, 1848, and he is a son of David and Marilla L. (Smith) Davies. His father was born in Pana, Wales, in 1807, came to America from that country in 1835, and landed at Cleveland with 25 cents in his pocket. He had the faculty of a Welshman for hard and thorough work, and he was not long in get- ting started in the New World. He worked at different lines until 1850, when he moved to Pittsfield Township in Lorain County, and lived on his farm there until his death in 1864. He was married at North Amherst, Ohio, to Marilla L. Smith, who was born at Schuylkill, New York, in 1823, and survived him many years, passing away in January, 1901. There were three children. James F., one of the sons, died dur- ing the Civil war. Those living are D. W. Davies and John E., the latter a prospering farmer in South Alberta, Canada. David Davies was a member of the Episcopal Church and in politics a republican, and was honored with several town offices.
D. W. Davies grew up in the country districts of Northern Ohio, attended country school in Pittsfield, and after graduating from Oberlin Business College took up serious pursuits as a farmer. He has been owner of a farm since he was fourteen years of age. For fifteen years he was in the lumber business and spent three years in Indiana where he managed a sawmill and hoop factory. In 1890 Mr. Davies moved to Wellington and bought his present place near that village in 1901. The farm had been allowed to deteriorate through bad management, but he has restored its fertility and has placed many improvements which now make it a model place of eighty-five acres, and he and his family now enjoy the comforts of a beautiful home. Mr. Davies makes a specialty of dairying, and he also does considerable contracting and building. For fifteen years he operated quite extensively in breeding and handling thoroughbred cattle, the Hereford, and a large part of his stock was shipped to Chicago markets.
In 1870 he married Miss Phoebe A. West, a member of an old family of Lorain County. To their marriage were born five children, and those living are: Charles H., who is associated in business with his father; James Monroe, who is doing well as a fruit farmer in Southern Colorado; and Dell M., who finished the high school and the Oberlin Business College, was a teacher for several years, and is now manager of the retail credit department for George H. Bowman Company. The two deceased children are Frank W. and Cora M. The mother of these chil- dren passed away April 2, 1910, about forty years after her marriage. She was an active member of the Congregational Church. On August
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22, 1914, Mr. Davies married Mrs. Allie O. Rood of Lorain, who is also a member of the Congregational Church.
Mr. Davies is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees. In poli- tics he is a republican and in past years has acquitted himself creditably in the performance of various public positions. He was town clerk of Pittsfield Township five years, and served as justice of the peace there. In 1890 he was real estate appraiser of Pittsfield Township. For two years he was on the Wellington Council, and in 1900 was made city appraiser of Wellington and also of Wellington Township. In 1910 he was elected real estate appraiser for the Village of Wellington.
DENNIS W. SEWARD. When Dennis W. Seward was elevated from his position as a city mail carrier to postmaster at Elyria, the incident was so nearly unprecedented that it attracted great attention among postal circles all over the country. While the organization of the postal department does not permit of the highest opportunities in the service as a profession, it is true that no other department of government work offers the same possibilities of a career with regular promotion for merit and efficiency. Mr. Seward began when a boy as a special delivery man, and has earned his advancement by the qualities of thoroughness, accu- racy and reliability. He is one of the very few men who have been taken out of the ranks of delivery men and made heads of postoffices.
Dennis W. Seward was born in Elyria, Lorain County, Ohio, August 16, 1872, a son of Thomas and Etta (Colgan) Seward. Both parents were natives of Ireland, but grew up in that country with no knowledge of each other. The father came to the United States when about twenty years of age and the mother when about sixteen. Both located in Cleve- land, Ohio, where destiny brought them together and where their affec- tion was ripened and matured in the bonds of wedlock. About 1851, a year or so after their marriage, they came to Elyria, when that was a small town. Thomas Seward was a railway workman, and was em- ployed in laying the tracks through Elyria for the Lake Shore & Mich- igan Southern Road. He was identified with the service of that company for more than half a century and was esteemed for his hard working qualities, his faithfulness, and his value as a member of the community. He only retired from railroad work after much persuasion from his sons, who were all established in business and were eager for him to spend his last days in comfort and leisure. Thomas Seward died at Elyria, March 25, 1910, at the age of eighty-two, and his wife is still living at the age of seventy-eight. They became the parents of eleven children, five sons and six daughters, and this circle remained unbroken until the death of Frank E., the fourth in the family, on November 17, 1914. In order of age the children are: Catherine, who married J. M. McVey, was born in Cleveland, while all the other children were born in Lorain County. The McVey children are Florence, Fannie, John and Esther. Mary married Robert Gamble of Elyria, and their four chil- dren are Thomas, Madeline, William and Walter. Thomas, Jr., of Elyria, married Anna Donahue, and they have one child living, Albert. Frank E., deceased, married Mary McDermott, of Brownhelm, Ohio, and left four children, Thomas, Mildred, Vivian and Helen. Anna is at home; William H. married Agnes Myers, of Monroeville, Ohio, and they have one child, Stanley; Etta is also at home; James B., cashier of the Savings Deposit Bank & Trust Company of Elyria, married Mollie Farrell, of Elyria, Ohio, and their four children are Mary, Frank, Edward and Catherine; Dennis W .; Helen married Robert B. Lersch, a prominent merchant of Elyria, and they have two children, Dorothy
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and Jean; Jennie Louise is at home. All the children attended the Elyria parochial schools and the high school.
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