USA > Ohio > Portage County > A portrait and biographical record of Portage and Summit counties, Ohio > Part 12
USA > Ohio > Summit County > A portrait and biographical record of Portage and Summit counties, Ohio > Part 12
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
also born in Lancaster county, Pa., and was a private during the Civil war in a Pennsyl- vania volunteer infantry, in which he was taken sick and from which he was discharged on account of disability. He married Leah Wade and their children were John W., David, Henry, Lilly, Sarah, Albert, Nellie and Susan C. Mr. Varnes, on coming to Cleveland, Ohio, engaged in teaming for the paint works and drove for that company seventeen years. His death was caused by a runaway team in 1887. He was a republican in politics and a hard-working, industrious man, respected by all.
After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Barr remained in Lancaster county until 1878 and then came to Cleveland, Ohio, where Mr. Barr worked in the steel works until 1894, when he came to Northfield township, and engaged in farming. Mr. and Mrs. Barr have had born to thein the following children: Harry, Jennie, Ella, Charles and Harvey, and five deceased. Mrs. Barr attends the Presbyterian church at North- field. In politics he is a republican and is an ex-member of the G. A. R., Commodore Perry post, Newburg, Ohio.
John Barr and wife, parents of Amos, were also the parents of David, Landus, John, Elam and Mary. Mr. Barr had two sons in the Civil war-David having the same military record as that of Amos. He escaped without wounds and served five years in the regular army after the war. John Barr father of sub- ject, was a hard-working, industrious man and died in Pennsylvania about 1857. Mrs. Barr's second marriage was to George Kiss- caden, and their children are James and Will- iam. Amos Barr and wife are among the most respected people of their township, and have reared an excellent family. They have three children, viz: Henry, who married Nora Jones, of Newbury; they live in Macedonia, and have one child-Ella, married to George Nutt, they live in Northfield township, and
have two children. Jennie is married to Frank Flick, a painter and paper hanger, of Cleve- land, Ohio, and has one child.
EORGE L. BISHOP, the well-known merchant and present postmaster of Northfield, Ohio, and one of the vet- erans of the late Civil war, was born in Northfield, January 23, 1842, a son of Orrin A. and Celina L. (Lillie) Bishop. He received a common education and enlisted in August, 1861, at Northfield, at the early age of nine- teen years, in company K, Nineteenth regi- ment, Ohio volunteer infantry, to serve three years or during the war, and re-enlisted as a veteran in the same organization at Flat Creek. Tenn., in 1864, for a similar term, and served until honorably discharged at San Antonio, Tex., in November, 1865. He was in the great battle of Shiloh April 6 and 7, 1862; the siege of Corinth, battles of Perryville, Ky., October 8, 1862; Stone River, Tenn., Decem- ber 30-31, 1862, and January 1, 2, and 3, 1863; Chickamauga, December 19-20, 1863; Chattanooga, Tenn., November 23, 1863; Mis- sionary Ridge, November 25, 1863; Pickett's Mills, Ga., May 27, 1864; Kenesaw Mountain, June 22, 1864; Pine Top, in 1864; Peach Tree Creek, July 19, 1864; Atlanta, Ga., July 22, 1864; Jonesboro, September 1, 1864; Lovejoy Station, September 2, 1864; Colum- bia, Tenn .; Franklin, September 30, 1864: Nashville, December 15 and 16, 1864, and skirmishes too numerous to mention. He was promoted for meritorious services to corporal, was shot through the right thigh at the battle of Stone River and was in hospital, five months, at Nashville, Tenn., and Louisville. Ky. He was never a prisoner, and was in all the battles, skirmishes, campaigns and marches in which his regiment took part, and was al- ways prompt and cheerful in the discharge of
.
liso L Bishop
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OF PORTAGE AND SUMMIT COUNTIES.
his duties. When wounded at Stone River, the rebels charged over the field where he was lying, and for a few moments he was within the rebel lines, but the Union troops soon re- took and held the position.
After the war Mr. Bishop returned to Northfield and engaged in traveling for a New York drug house, in which employment he continued eight years and then bought a farm in Northfield township, on which he lived four- teen years. In the spring of 1888 he engaged in business in Northfield, in which he still con- tinues. Fraternally he is a non-affiliating Ma- son, and is a member of Royal Dunham post, G. A. R., No. - , at Bedford, Ohio. In poli- tics he is a republican. Mr. Bishop married, December 31, 1879, at Northfield, Miss Martha W. Way, who was born in England May 14, 1849, a daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Way. Martha W. Way came from England with her parents to Northfield when eight years old. She was a devout member of the Methodist church and died very suddenly in 1897, a woman of many virtues.
Orrin A. Bishop was born at Burlington, Vt., and his grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Orrin A. Bishop married in Vermont and came as a pioneer to North- field. His children were Clark B., Orrin A. and George L. In politics he was a democrat, was a well-known pioneer, and cleared his farm at Northfield from the woods, and here he died. Orrin A., the younger, volunteered in the three months' service at the first call for troops for the Civil war, and in 1863 en- listed for three years, or during the war, and served until the close, in the One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio volunteer infantry.
George L. Bishop has been very success- ful through life, and his career as a farmer, merchant and soldier gives indication of more than ordinary mental and physical power, and his name to-day is honored wherever it is
known. In politics he is a republican, and received his present appointment under Presi- dent Mckinley.
RANCIS W. BLISS, an ex-soldier of the Civil war, springs from sterling Vermont colonial stock from Eng- land, and was born in Northfield, Ohio, March 20, 1834, a son of Lucian and Laura (Wicks) Bliss. He received a common education, became a farmer, and enlisted in January, 1864, at Cleveland, Ohio, for one year, in the One Hundred and Fifteenth regi- ment Ohio volunteer infantry, but was trans- ferred to the One Hundred and Eighty-eighth regiment, company C, at Murfreesboro, Tenn., and was honorably discharged in August, 1865, the war having closed. At Murfreesboro, Tenn., he was detailed with a surveying party, and most of his service was passed in this duty. He was taken sick with fever at Nashville, Tenn., was confined in hospital there about four weeks, and in hospital at Louisville, Ky., two weeks, and was thence transferred to Camp Dennison, Ohio, from which he was honorably discharged a few weeks later. While in Ten- nessee with a surveying party, which consisted of but sixteen gnards and the surveyor, the party narrowly escaped capture by old Champ Ferguson, a noted guerrilla, who was after- wards captured and hanged in Nashville.
After the war Mr. Bliss returned to Ohio and married, in Independence township, Cuy- ahoga county, January 23, 1873, Miss Harriet E. Eldridge, who was born February 28. 1844, a daughter of Erastus and Julia (Hosmer) El- dridge, and to this marriage have been born George (who died aged three years and nine months), Julia, Timothy and William. Mr. and Mrs. Bliss are both members of the Meth- odist church in Northfield; in politics Mr. Bliss is a republican, cast his first presidential vote
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
for Lincoln, and is a member of Royal Dun- ham post, G. A. R., at Bedford, Ohio. He has always been an industrious and respected citizen, and is fully worthy of the high esteem in which he is held by his companions in arms and by all his fellow-citizens.
Lucian Bliss, father of Francis W .. was born in September, 1804, at Burlington. Vt., married there, and came to Ohio as a pioneer. and settled in Northfield township, Summit county, and cleared up several farms, becom- ing a substantial citizen. He was a practical, energetic business man, had a contract on the Miami & Erie canal, and also a contract on the Valley railroad, but died before the com- pletion of the latter, September 28, 1873, aged sixty-eight years. Of his children, George, Francis W., Lucian, Fannie and Laura are those who lived. Francis and Lucian were sol- diers in the Civil war. Lucian was in the One Hundred and Fifteenth regiment Ohio volun- teer infantry in the three years' service and was in several battles. Lucian Bliss, the father, was one of the founders and mainstays of the Methodist church in Northfield town- ship, contributed liberally from his means, and practicaliy kept up its integrity.
Erastus Eldridge, father of Mrs. Harriet E. Bliss, was born in Springfield, Mass., July 25, 1802, and married Julia Hosmer, a daugh- tar of Eleazer and Clara (Needham) Hosmer, and their children were Eleazer, Clara, Will- iam, Finette, Mary, Harriet E. and Jane. Mr. Eldridge, on coming to Ohio, settled at Inde- pendence, Cuyahoga county, where he carried on a stone quarry many years. He lived to be seventy-five years old and died in 1876. He was a democrat in politics, was an honest, hard-working, industrious man, and mnuch re- spected. He had one son, William, who was a member of company A, One Hundred and Third Ohio volunteer infantry. At the battle of Armstrong Hill, he was struck by a piece of
shell and died in hospital at Knoxville, Tenn. Eleazer Hosmer, grandfather of Mrs. Bliss, was of English descent, and was among the very early settlers in America. Grandfather Iloster was a soldier in the war of 1812, but never was a pensioner.
LBERT ALLEN (deceased) was ranked among the leading and most enterprising business men of Akron. He was born in Coventry township. Summit county, Ohio, March 12, 1827, a son of Levi and Phebe (Spicer) Allen, of whom full mention is made in the biography of Miner J. Allen, which is published in proximity with this notice, and to which the attention of the reader is respectfully called.
Albert Allen was reared on the farm, with a common-school education; on attaining his inajority learned the millwrighting trade, at which he worked about nine years, in 1856 converting the Perkins woolen-mill, on Canal street, into a flouring-mill for J. & J. Allen & Co., and on its completion assuming the man- agement of the mill, and ably filling the posi- tion for about ten years. In 1867, in connec- tion with Alexander H. Commins, he purchased the Stone mill, the firm of Commins & Allen doing a phenomenally successful business until the death of Mr. Commins in 1880, the firm name continuing, with Mr. Allen as executor of Mr. Commins' large estate, until it was merged in the F. Schumacher Milling company, April 5, 1886, of which company Mr. Allen was a director and the vice-president until the time of his death, September 25, 1888, at the age of sixty-one years, six months and thirteen days. Mr. Allen, though never married, en- joyed the comforts of a fine home on Bowery street, with his sister, Miss Cynthia Allen, as his housekeeper, rearing and educating his niece, Miss Minnie E. Allen, now wife of
albert allen
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OF PORTAGE AND SUMMIT COUNTIES.
Henry M. Stone, of Denver, Colo. Mr. Allen was an ardent republican and a zcalous mem- ber of the Disciples' church. In his will, after devising twenty per cent of his large estate to his sister, Cynthia, bequeathing ten per cent of the residue (about $10,000) to Hiram col- lege; ten per cent to the Christian Foreign Missionary society, he bequeathed ten per cent jointly to the general Christian Home Mission- ary society and the First Disciples' church of Akron, beside having pledged the payment of $1,000 to Buchtel college.
INER JESSE ALLEN, one of the very prominent business men of Akron, was born in Coventry town- ship, Summit county. Ohio, Novem- ber 11, 1829, a son of Levi and Phebe (Spicer) Allen, and paternally is of ante-Revolutionary descent, his grandfather, Nathaniel Allen, having sacrificed his life in the war for Ameri- can independence.
Jesse Allen, grandfather of subject, was born in Cornwall, Litchfield county, Conn., in 1770, and there learned the trade of shoe- making. While still a young man he went to Tompkins county, N. Y., where in 1797 he married Catherine Fiethrick, who was born in Trenton, N. J., in 1776, of Holland-Dutch ancestry. He soon after relinquished his trade of shoemaking and bought a farm near Ithaca, Tompkins county, N. Y., but lost nearly all his property by "bailing" an acquaintance. With the few hundred dollars left in his pos- session he came to Ohio, arrived in Midd e- bury July 4, 1811, with his family-a wife and seven children-in company with a brother and family, and bought land in Coventry township, Summit county. During the war of 1812 he was a soldier under Maj. Miner Spicer, and while away on duty an Indian spy crept to the house, but his little children, 23
working in the clearing. espying their mother's danger, rushed to the cabin with their axes with the intention of annihilating the savage, but the latter made good his escape, and it is thought that he was afterward killed near Summit lake. Mr. Allen was a member of the Baptist church and an excellent reader and elocutionist, and it was his custom, before ministers of his denomination made their ad- vent in his neighborhood, to read sermons in the pioneer meetings. He succeeded in clear- ing up his farm and in developing a comfort- able home, where he died in the Baptist faith September 12, 1837, the father of ten chil- dren, viz: Jonah, who married Cynthia Spicer; Levi; David, who married Beulah Jones; Jacob, married to Catherine Van Sickle; John; Jesse; Catherine, intried to Mills Thompson; Sarah, wife of James M. Hale; Hiram; and Christiana, now Mrs. Charles Ca'dwell.
Levi Allen. second son of Jesse and Cath- erine Allen, and father of subject, was born in Tompkins county, N. Y., February 10, 1799, and was in his twelfth year when the family came to Ohio. He walked all the way, driv- ing cattle and sheep, while the younger chil- dren, with their mother, goods, etc., were conveyed by ox-teams, arriving in Middlebury July 4, 1811. He assisted his father in clear- ing up his farm and remained with him until reaching his majority, when he purchased a farm in Coventry township, which he c'eared and improved until 1868, when he retired to Akron. He was married December 10, 1823, to Miss Phebe Spicer, daughter of Maj. Miner and Cynthi t (Allyn) Spicer, of Portage town- ship Sun.mit county, and this union resulted in the birth of six children, viz: Levi, Miner S .. Albert, Miner J., Wal er S. and Cynthia. Mr. Alien was always prominent in local affairs, and took an active interest in politics, both local and general. For sixty years he
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
was an ardent worker in the Disciples' church, in the faith of which his wife died January 10, 1879, and his own death took place May II, 1887. He was an extraordinarily enterprising and industrious man, and enjoyed the personal regard of all who came within the circle of his acquaintance.
Maj. Miner Spicer, maternal grandfather of subject, was born in Groton, Litchfield county, Conn., May 29, 1776, married Cyn- thia Allyn in 1798, and in 1810 came to Ohio on horseback and purchased 260 acres of land in what is now Portage township, Summit county. . He then returned for his family and came back by ox-team, the family arriving on the new farin in June, IS11. During the war of 1812 he served as major of militia, and on the organization of Portage township was made a trustee, and later served as justice of the peace many years. He lost his wife Septem- ber 10, 1828, and in 1829 he married Mrs. Hannah (Allyn) Williams, widow of Barnabas Williams, and sister of his first wife, Cynthia Allyn. Maj. Spicer was ever popular and influential in the affairs of Portage township. and died September 11, 1855. Mrs. Cynthia (Allyn) Spicer, maternal grandmother of sub- ject, was a daughter of Ephraim and Temper- ance (Morgan) Allyn, and Temperance Morgan was a daughter of Capt. William and Temp .T- ance (Avery) Morgan. Capt. William Morgan was a son of William and Mary (Avery) Mor- gan, and William was a son of John and Elizabeth (Jones) Morgan-the latter a daugh- ter of Lieut .- Gov. Jones, first governor of the New Haven colony-while John, her husband, was a son of James and Margery (Hill) Mor- gan, Puritans of New England and of the same family as the late Gov. Edward D. Mor- gan, of the state of New York. Temperance Avery, wife of Capt. William Morgan, was a daughter of Col. Christopher and Prudence (Payson) Avery, granddaughter of James and
Deboralı (Stellyon) Avery, and great-grand- daughter of James and Joanna (Greenslade) Avery. Capt. William Morgan served under Col. Parsons during the Revolutionary war, having enlisted September 9, 1776; he was honorably discharged for disability November 9, 1776, and died April 11, 1777.
Miner J. Allen, the subject of this metnoir, was reared and educated in Coventry township, Summit county, and was there engaged in farming until 1867, when he came to Akron and was employed as local and traveling grain buyer for Commins & Allen. In 1884 he took a fifth interest in the Akron Milling com- pany, which, in 1886, was merged into the F. Schumacher Milling company, in which Mr. Allen was a stockholder and director, and which was merged into the American Cereal company, with which he is now connected. In 1891 he purchased an interest in the Akron Silver Plating company, and since July, 1896, has been treasurer of this thriving corporation.
June 1, 1876, Mr. Allen was united in marriage with Miss Frances C. De Wolf. daugh- ter of Samuel and Margaret (King) De Wolf, of Vernon, Trumbull county, Ohio, and grand- daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Gibbons) De Wolf, of Granby, Conn., and pioneers of Ver- non, Ohio. Joseph De Wolf, a Revolutionary soldier, was a son of Matthew and Esther (H gby) De Wolf -- the former a son of Matthew and Elizabeth (Burchard) De Wolf. The last- named Matthew was a son of Matthew De Wolf, of Bolton, Conn., and he is a son of Charles and Prudence De Wolf. Charles was a son of Edward and Rebecca De Wolf, and Edward was a son of Balthasar De Wolf, who was first known in Wethersfield, Conn., in 1664, and in 1668 at Lyme, Conn., where sev- eral of his descendants still reside. The ma- ternal grandparents of Mrs. Allen were Robert and Isabel (Danbar) King, of whom the former was a son of James and Jean (Knox) King, and
587
OF PORTAGE AND SUMMIT COUNTIES.
is said to have been a descendant of the cele- brated reformer, John Knox. Robert King was born near Londonderry, Ireland, and set- tled in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1808. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Allen have been born five children in the following order: Albert Mark, Miner W., Margaret P., Christine C. and Frances De Wolf. . Mr. and Mrs. Allen are consistent members of the First Disciples' church of Akron, their social stand- ing is of the highest, and Mrs. Allen was one of the first two ladies to be elected to member- ship of the Akron school board after the pas- sige of the law granting women that privilege. Mr. Allen has always been a republican in pol- itics, and while a resident of Coventry town- ship was for several years a member of the local school board, of which he also filled the position of clerk. Since his residence in Akron his multifarious business interests have pre- cluded him from taking an active part in local politics, and he finds himself content with do- ing his duty as a good citizen, and as such he is justly esteemed by the entire community.
OHN THOMAS BRITTAIN, one of the oldest and most respected farmers of Tallmadge township, Summit coun- ty, Ohio, descends from ante-Revolu- tionary ancestors, being on the paternal side of English origin and on the maternal side of German extraction.
Of six Brittain brothers born in England, three came to America and fought through the war for the independence of the colonies; the other three were drafted, or impressed, into the British army in England, and came to America to aid in suppressing what was then fertned, by the English, the rebellion. Of the latter three, one remained in Canada after the war, and two returned to England. Of the foriner three all remained in the United States,
the existence of which they aided in estab- lishing.
Zeboth Brittain, one of the three brothers who risked their lives for American independ- ence, and the grandfather of John T. Brittain, of Tallmadge township, was born in England, January 9, 1746, and his wife, Mary Eliza- beth, September 2, 1748. To their union were born Mary, July 7, 1767; William, April 4, 1769; Joseph, March 1, 1771, David, April 2, 1773; Elizabeth, June 28, 1775; Rachel, January 17, 1777; John, June 20, 1779; Ellen, February 24, 1783, and Sarah, February 24, 1788. Zeboth was a farmer of Maryland, but died in Sandusky, Ohio, at the home of a mar- ried daughter.
John Brittain, mentioned above as the son of Zeboth, was born in Maryland, but when a young man went to Pennsylvania, where, April 17, 1806, he married Margaret Albertson, in Columbia county, where she was born August 27, 1786. To this marriage was born Henry, February 27, 1807; Allen, September 17, ISO9; Zeboth, February 18, 1812; Jane, May 13, 1814; Elizabeth, March 12, 1817; Cath- erine, April 22, 1821; John Thomas (subject), August 6, 1823, and Matilda M., June 19, 1826-all born on their father's farm in Columbia county, Pa., where the mother died November 4, 1831, aged forty-five years.
In April, 1832, John Brittain and his family canie to Ohio and settled in Springfield town- ship, Summit county, on the farm which his son, John Thomas, now owns. In coming here the family made the journey across the Alleghany mountains with a three-horse team and were fourteen days on the way. Here Mr. Brittain hewed the forest away from 206 acres which he purchased, and, in course of time, by hard work, developed as good a farm as ever existed in the county. He here married his second wife, Gainor Mettlin, but to this union no children were born. Mr.
588
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
Brittain was a whig in politics and held several offices. His death took place April 5, 1857, in the faith of the Methodist church, and no man in the township was more respected than this upright pioneer.
John Thomas Brittain was born in Colum- bia county, Pa., and was nine years old when he came to Ohio with his father. He received the usual education granted pioneer lads and was reared to farming on his father's home- stead. He was first married to Hannah Rogers, who was born in Geauga county, Ohio, a daughter of Gordon and Sarah Rogers, and to this union were born Amanda, John, Sarah and Hannah, of whom John served in the Fourth Ohio artillery and was with Sher- man in his famous march to the sea. He now lives in Springfield township, Summit county.
Gordon Rogers was born in Connecticut, was a pioneer of Geauga county, Ohio, where he cleared up a farm, and had born to him six children, viz: Hannah, Sarah, Ann, Monroe, Hiram and James. He later moved to a farm near Corry, Pa., where he passed the re- mainder of his life.
Mrs. Hannah Brittian died March 20, 1853, and September 1, 1853, Mr. Brittain married, at Tallmadge Center, Miss Catherine Potts, who was born January 1, 1831, in Suffield township, Portage county, Ohio, a daughter of Israel and Mary (Cook) Potts, and to this marriage have been born eight children, viz: Olive, Lemuel, Alice, Martha C., Cora, Grace, Edith and Millie C., and he now has thirty- five grandchildren and five great-grandchil- dren, among whom there has never occurred a death.
Israel Potts was a son of Joshua Potts, a native of Scotland and who was a pioneer of Suffield township, Portage county, where he cleared up a farm of 140 acres from the woods. but, prior to 1859, came to Summit county, then a wilderness. He served in the war of
1812 and had born to him eleven children, viz: Israel, Jonathan, Elizabeth, Lewis, Jonas, Ann, Betsey, Joshua, Christina, Catherine, and one who died in infancy. The eldest of these, Israel, was born in Suffield township, Portage county, Ohio, October 3, 1809. He was reared a farmer and was married, at Ran- dolph Center, by 'Squire Merriman, December 25, 1830, to Miss Mary Cook, who was born in Suffield township, Portage county, May 13, 1812, a daughter of David and Chloe (Moore) Cook.
David Cook was born in Connecticut, was married in that state, and prior to 1812 settled in Suffield township, where he cleared up a farm from the forest. He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and was a typical pioneer. He had born to him a family of nine children, viz: Mary, Nathan, John, Lee, Calvin, Orange, Rachel, and two who died in infancy. He lived to be about sixty years of age, and died on his farm in April, 1854.
Nathan Moore was one of the early pio- neers and surveyors of Ohio and surveyed the site of the present city of Cleveland, in com- pany with its founder, and afterward settled in Springfield township, Summit county, with his family, but his body lies interred in Suf- field township, Portage county.
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