USA > Ohio > Portage County > A portrait and biographical record of Portage and Summit counties, Ohio > Part 24
USA > Ohio > Summit County > A portrait and biographical record of Portage and Summit counties, Ohio > Part 24
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risen to her present eminence by sure and reg- ular gradation, being at first president of the local union of her own home town at Ravenna, then for years president of her state, and in 1878 she was chosen recording recretary of the National Women's Christian Temperance Union, a position which she fills with unrivaled ability, her minutes being almost never sus- ceptible of improvement by even the slightest verbal change. This is, indeed, a fact ' sig- nificant of much,' for only the quickest ear, keenest perception and readiest hand could so ' keep the run' of proceedings to the last de- gree intricate, rapid and changeful. Upon the resignation of Mrs. J. Ellen Foster (at the St. Louis National W. C. T. U. convention, in October, 1834) Mrs. Woodbridge was unani- mously chosen national superintendent of the department of legislation and petitions. She is now in the field addressing large audiences at leading centers of influence, and is received with the consideration due to her character, talents and influence. But the crowning work of Mrs. Woodbridge thus far was her consum- mate conduct of the constitutional amendment campaign, especially when the stage of sub- mitting the prohibitory clause had been suc- cessfully passed. Her wonderful alertness of mind, facility of leadership, patience and far- reaching wisdom had here a splendid field. Political leaders in Ohio said 'they were out- worked, out-witted and out-generaled.' Al- inost unaided by the partisan press, with faith- lessness in camp and field, the parties making a promise to the ear only to break it to the hope, this steadfast nature still held on its way, trusted by the people of Ohio aud devoutly trusting them. But in God were the hidings of her power. Whether she edited the Amend- ment Herald, which under her leadership at- tained a weekly circulation of 100,000 copies, or directed the appointments of the temperance workers who were 'out campaigning, stirred
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OF PORTAGE AND SUMMIT COUNTIES.
the zeal of her local workers by letter and tel- egram, or pleaded for the sinews of war, her faith failed not,' and words of prayer were ever on her lips, or promises of God from the Book with which she has so great familiarity. What wonder that more than 300,000 voters responded by 'Yes' ballots to such earnest workers as the White Ribbon women of Ohio, under such splendid leadership. Later on, when the amendment was counted out, Mrs. Woodbridge has taken positions so far ad- vanced as to the safe conduct of prohibition movements, that many good people have been unable 'to see light in her light," but she goes bravely forward, undaunted, undeterred, 'with firmness in the right as God gives her to see the right,' exhibiting in this the choicest quality of her noble character, viz: Fidelity to her convictions at cost of comfort and of praise."
Frederick W. Woodbridge has been a last- ing honor to the generation in which he lives, and has shown in his life the characteristics of the man and the true-born gentleman. His business integrity has never been questioned, his high moral character ever precluding the shadow, even, of such a thought. His domes- tic life has been supremely blessed in all re- spects, and has been marred only by the irre- parable loss of the companion to whom he was so deeply devoted.
ENRY BARHOLT, a respected citi- zen of Hiram, Ohio, and a veteran of the Civil war, was born in Prussia, August 27, 1838, a son of Benjamin and Caroline Barholt, and was seven years old when his parents brought him to America, about 1845. His father settled in Cleveland, Ohio, but Mrs. Barholt, died soon after reach- ing America, and young Henry received but little education. He began to work in a l
tobacco factory when a small boy and some- times worked until twelve o'clock at night; he next went to Orange, Ohio, when he was six- teen years old, and worked at farm work. He enlisted at Hiram, Ohio, September 20, 1861, in Col. Garfield's regiment, Capt. A. F. Wil- liams, company A, Forty-second regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, to serve three years or during the war, and was honorably discharged at Camp Chase, Ohio, September 30, 1864, by reason of expiration of service. He re- enlisted in Wayne township, Erie county, Pennsylvania, in company G, Sixth United States veteran volunteers, April 6, 1865, to serve one year or during the war, and was honorably discharged at Washington, D. C., April 5, 1866, thus serving a little over four years. He was in the battles of Middle Creek, and Pound Gap, Ky., and in several skir- mishes at Cumberland Gap and at Big Springs. He was in the battle of Grand Gulf, Thomp- son's Hill, or Port Gibson, Raymond, Cham- pion Hill, Black River, Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Vicksburg, Jackson, Miss., and in skirmishes too numerous to mention. Mr. Barholt was not a prisoner, nor was he in the hospital, but was always an active soldier and prompt and cheerful in the discharge of his duties. He was in all the battles, skirmishes, campaigns and marches, in which his regiment was engaged, and had but one furlough home for thirty days.
Mr. Barholt thinks his hardest battles to have been those of Champion Hill and Vicks- burg. His hardest march was in September, from Cumberland Gap to the Ohio river, which required nineteen days. The troops had no rations, and the weather was very hot. The corn had just glazed, and Mr. Barholt lived on this corn during the march. He had saved a little coffee, and this was of the great- est value to him.
After the war Mr. Barholt returned to
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Ohio and engaged in farin work at Hiram. He married August 5, 1872, at Cleveland, Ohio, Mary Seebolt, who was born March 9, 1842, in Baden, Germany, in the Black Forest. Her father came with his family to America, about 1850, arriving in New York. Mr. Seebolt was a blacksmith, and settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where his wife died the first year. Their chil- ren, beside Mary, were Lee, Antoinette, John (a soldier of the Civil war), Caroline, Eliza- beth and Hannah, the last-named remaining in Germany. Mr. Seebolt lived to be sixty- four years old, and died in 1871 in Cleveland. He was a hard-working and industrious man.
After marriage Mr. Barholt settled in Hiram township, where he had bought a farmi of fifty-six and one-half acres, three-fourths of a mile west of Hiram. By his thrift and cn- ergy, he has improved his place with good buildings, and has a pleasant and comfortable home. Mr. and Mrs. Barholt have one son, Edward F., born November 3, 1879 .. In poli- tics he is a republican and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Barholt is a mem- ber of the Lutheran church and of the G. A. R., formerly affiliating with Bentley post at Mantua, Ohio.
Benjamin Barholt and wife, the parents of our subject, came to America about 1845, sail- ing from Bremen to New York in the good ship Eagle. Mr. Barholt was a weaver by trade. He lived in Cleveland until his death at the venerable age of about eighty. He was a hard-working and honorable man. His children were Charles, Henry, Frederick and Fredrica. Three sons were in the Civil war, viz: Frederick was in the Thirty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, three years' service and veteranized, and in all served four years and was in many battles. He was wounded at Lookout Mountain, and is now deceased. Charles was a private of the Twenty-third regiment veteran volunteer infantry, served
four years, and was in many battles. He was wounded and now resides in Cleveland. The three brothers, Henry, Frederick and Charles, were in the service altogether about twelve years.
Henry Barholt has always been an indus- trious and frugal farmer, and has fully earned the reputation he enjoys as a good citizen and an upright man.
AMES B. BARNARD, mayor of Gar- rettsville, Portage county, Ohio, and now serving a second termn, is a native of Chautauqua county, N. Y., was born April 29, 1838, and is a son of Benjamin and Gracie (Bucklin) Barnard, natives, respect- ively, of New Hampshire and New York states
In 1853 the Barnard family came to Ohio and first located in Trumbull county, whence they removed to a farm in Franklin township. and later went to Stowe township. Summit county, . where the parents passed the re- mainder of their days. The father had been a farmer all his life, was a republican in poli- tics, and was honored with the office of jus- tice of the peace, as well as with several minor township offices. They were the parents of eleven children, who all grew to maturity, and were named as follows: Jane, who was first married to William Southwell and next to Ransford Easton, and now lives in Illinois. Emily, deceased, who was first married to Dewey Nichols, then to George Baker, and next became Mrs. Freeman, and died in Jamestown, N. Y .; Nancy is the widow of Charles Curtis, and resides in Joliet, Ill. : Martha is the wife of S. P. Merrill, of Earl- ville, Portage county, Ohio; Sophia is married to Frank Stowe, of Lockport. Ill .; James R . subject, is next in order of birth; Elizabeth died unmarried; Julia married Seldon Barker : afterward became Mrs. Mansfield, and resid.
J.B. Barnard.
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OF PORTAGE AND SUMMIT COUNTIES.
in Jamestown, N. Y .; Laura is the wife of William Stowe, of Lockport, Ill .; Daskum F. is a farmer near Kent, Ohio; Fred is also a farmer, and lives in Stowe township. Summit county.
James B. Barnard attended school until fifteen years of age and assisted on his father's farm until his enlistment, in 1861, in the Second Ohio volunteer cavalry; served in the western army nearly two years as bugler, and was mustered out under an order from the war department. He next enlisted in company H, One Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio volunteer infantry, for 100 days, did guard duty at John- sou's island, as second lieutenant, fought at Kellar's Bridge, Ky., was held in service fully a year, and was mustered out with the rank of captain.
After his return from the war, Capt. Bar- nard traveled for twenty years as a salesman in the eastern and middle states, mostly ou his own account, but while thus employed established his home, in 1873, in Garrettsville. In 1890 he purchased an interest in the granite business, which is still carried on under the firm name of Barnard & King, who own their business block and yards and are very pros- perous in their trade, commanding a very ex- tensive business.
Mr. Barnard was married. in 1860, to Miss Philinda Lee, who was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, a daughter of Seth Lee, a prom- inent farmer. To Mr. and Mrs. Barnard has been born one son-Jay L., who is married to Mary Levitt, and is office manager, book- keeper and statistician for the Ohio Steel com- pany at Youngstown. Mr. and Mrs. Barnard have also reared an adopted daughter -- Edith.
In politics Mr. Barnard has always been an ardent republican, is very popular with his party, has twice been elected to the town council and has twice been elected mayor of the village of Garrettsville, and is now serving
his second term. During his excellent adminis- trations Main street has been paved with brick, and the electric light systein thoroughly im- proved and perfected, and many other important improvements made for the public benefit. Mr. Barnard was one of the three commission- ers appointed to build the Hiram Free turn- pike or macadamized road in 1883, of which commission he has served ever since as presi- dent of the board.
In his fraternal relations, Mr. Barnard has advanced to the encampment in Odd Fel- lowship and is a past chief patriarch, and still affiliates as a member of the local lodge, and is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is entirely "self-made", and his residence on North street is one of the best in the village.
REDRICK W. BOIES, of Peninsula, Ohio, one of the old soldiers of the Civil war and a respected citizen, was born in Stowe township, Summit county, Ohio, September 17, 1842, a son of Fredrick N. and Elizabeth (Lewis) Boies. The Boies family were of French and Irish ancestry and settlers, in colonial times, cf Massachusetts.
John Boies, grandfather of subject, was born in Boston. Mass., September 27, 1760, and married July 31, 1788, Mary Parker, born at Litchfield, N. H., daughter of John Parker and granddaughter of Rev. Thomas Parker, the first minister of Dracut, Mass. In the year 1805, they settled in Maine as pioneers of Madison and Skowhegan. Their children were Thomas, James, Bartholomew, Broadus, Fredrick, john, Mary, Nancy. Mehitable. Eliza and Fannie Neil-none of them now living.
In the history of Bedford, N. H., published ! by the town in 1851, the name of John Boies
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
appears as one of the 100 men who signed "The Association Test" in April, 1776, indica- ting his loyalty to the cause of the colonies. He was a soldier of the war of the Revolution, enlisting in March, 1777. in his sixteenth year, and his service record has been fully verified from authentic sources. On July 7, 1777, he was engaged at the battle of Hubbardston, and October 7, following, at the second battle of Stillwater, where he was wounded in the arm. The following winter he was with Washing- ton's army at Valley Forge, and June 28, 1778, took part in the battle of Monmouth. In the summer and fall of 1779 he was with the ex- pedition organized under the direction of Washington, and commanded by Gen. John Sullivan, against the six nations of Indians. This army did some severe fighting and march- ed over 700 miles through an almost unbroken wilderness, in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
In the fall of 1780 he was taken prisioner, put on board a vessel and carried first to Lim- erick, Ireland, and thence to Mill prison, Plymouth, England. With a number of others he made his escape, put out to sea in an open boat, and was picked up by a French vessel and carried to within sight of New York city, where the vessel was captured by the British man-of-war and the soldiers were transferred to the ship Essex, June 16; and committed to Mill prison again June 21, 1781. As a punish- ment for trying to escape, Mr. Boies was com- pelled to wear sixty pounds of iron sixty days. To vary the monotony of prison life he kept a diary and completed a book of sums. After his return to America he was offered quite a large sum of money for these books-the mem- ories of prison life-but he refused to part with thein, and they were afterwards destroyed by fire in a school-house in Derryfield, now Man- chester, N. H. After the surrender of Corn- wallis in October, 1781, he was released and
returned to America. A bronze tablet has been recently erected to his memory in the memorial room of the Skowhegan public li- brary as a tribute to his worth. The tablet bears the inscription :
In memory of John Boies, a soldier of the Revolution, born in Boston, Mass., Sep- tember 27, 1760, enlisted in the Sixth company, Third New Hampshire regulars, March, 1777 --- serving three years; imprisoned one year at Mill prison, Eng. As a token of affection and esteem this tablet is placed here by his grand- children.
Fredrick Nelson Boies, father of subject, was born at Bedford, N. H., February 14, I Soo, and had the limited common-school ed- ucation of his day. He left home early, was a lumberman in Maine and Canada, and mai- ried at Portland, Conn., Elizabeth Lewis, January 6, 1831. They settled in Summit county, Ohio, Northampton township, in 1836-7, east of the Center, and bought 150 acres in. the White Oaks woods, where Mr. Boies, who had come ont the spring before, had built a log cabin. He cleared up his farm from the woods, and, although a small man, weighing but 130 pounds. was very tough and hardy, and could outwork most men. He made a good pioneer, and about 1840 he moved to the center of Stowe, and remained there till 1844, when he bought and removed to a farm in Boston township, on which he lived the remaining active years of his life. He suffered from a stroke of apolexy seven years before death and was blind for seven years, and finally retired to Peninsula, where he died February 12, 1882. He and wife were men- bers of the Episcopal church at Peninsula In politics he was a democrat, served as justice of the peace three years and also as assessor. His children were Ann L., Herbert W., Helen, Mary P., Charles E. L., Fredrick C. and Effie I .. He had two sons in the Civil war, viz:
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OF PORTAGE AND SUMMIT COUNTIES.
Charles E. L., who was in company C. Twen- tieth regiment, Connecticut volunteer infantry, in the three years' service, and was color ser- geant. Of the above-named children, Ann L. is the widow of Edmund H. Cole, who was a merchant in Peninsula. They had four children-three sons and one daughter living, of whom the eldest, Dr. A. M. Cole, is a prom- inent business man and banker in the city of Akron; he was educated in the high school at Peninsula, and a business college at Cleveland, and is a graduate of a medical college at Cleve- land, and the College of Physicians & Sur- geons in New York city. He married Miss Lucy Truscott. Herbert W. is general man- ager of the Star Drill Co. and the Silver Plate Co., at Akron, Ohio. Helen is the wife of Dr. W. N. Boerstler, of Peninsula: Fredrick C. is assistant manager of the Silver Plate Co. of Akron, and Effie L. is the wife of a Mr. Worthington, of Connecticut, who is a seaman.
Fredrick W. Boies, subject of this sketch, received a common-school education and en- listed August 20, 1862, at Peninsula, in com- pany C, One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio vol- untecr infantry, for three years or during the war, and was honorably discharged at Cleve- land, Ohio, July 5, 1865. He was appointed coporal on the organization of the company and promoted sergeant for meritorious conduct. He was first stationed at Cincinnati, Ohio, Dayton, Ohio, and Murfreesboro, Tenn., on guard duty, and was detailed to the One Hund- red and Fifteenth regimental band in 1864, and served as a musician until mustered out. He was present at Dayton, Ohio, when George L. Waterman was shot by a mob. After the war, Mr. Boies returned to Peninsula and was engaged in the boat yard as boat carpenter three years; then bought a canal boat and ran it for six years and did a good business. In company with Charles E. Boies, he bought a grist mill at Peninsula in 1878 and ran it three
years, and then ran a meat market several years. He is now notary public and owns valuable real estate in Peninsula. In politics he is a democrat; he has served as township trustee and mayor of Peninsula. He is a member of the Episcopal church; a member of the Knights of Maccabees, and Good Templars, and of the George L. Waterman post, No. 272, G. A. R., at Peninsula, of which he has been commander and now is quartermaster.
....... ......
LEXANDER BREWSTER, one of the oldest residents of Summit coun- ty, which has been his home for over eighty-five years, ioay certainly claim especial mention in this volume, as being one of the very few still living who have seen the county develop from a wilderness into the blooming agricultural district it now is, and its mineral resources utilized for the benefit of his fellow-men. He was born in Augusta, Oneida county, N. Y., September 10, 1808; came with his parents to Olio in 1812, settling in Coventry township, where he lived the life of the pioneer, assisting his father to redeem from the forest a home. His early life was a busy one, and well he remembers of the game that abounded in the forest and of the numerous days of pleasure that he experienced hunting same. His education was limited to the com- mon schools of that day. He remained under the parental roof until he arrived at his ma- jority, having learned the carpenter trade with his father, which he followed only a short time. when he gave his attention to agricultural pursuits, following this vocation through his long life.
In the year 1848 coal was discovered un- derneath his land and he gave some attention to the tnining of sime in a limited way for a few years. In 1850 he with several others from that locality made an overland trip to
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
California, and for a year had the experience of a miner and was one of the few that were fortunate in accumulating wealth rapidly, and during the year 1851 he returned to his home and resumed farming; also engaged in coal mining, which he has followed up to within a few years, since which time he has been enjoying the fruits of his earlier life. Mr. Brewster has been a careful business man and has prospered year by year, which has enabled him to enjoy comforts to-day which only the frugal may enjoy.
In 1865 a stock company was formed with a capital stock of $100,000, under the name of the Brewster Coal company, of which Mr. Brew- ster was made president, and his two sons, A]- fred A. and Austin K., were named respect- tively general agent and secretary and treas- urer-the company mining and handling between 200,000 and 300,000 tons of coal for years.
Mr. Brewster was married January 9, 1830, to Miss Margaret Ann Kinney, who also was a native of New York, and came to Summit county, Ohio, with her parents, in 1813, being reared to womanhood in Springfield township, that county. By this marriage five children were born, four of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, viz: Alfred A .; Austin K .; Louisa, wife of J. F. Meacham, and Mary Melissa, wife of Russell H. Kent. Mrs. Brew- ster died in November, 1854, and Mr. Brew- ster married in December, 1857, Mrs. Minerva A. (Darrow) Brown, who is a native of Cuya- hoga county, Ohio, and died June 27, 1873. In September, 1877, Mr. Brewster married for his third wife Mrs. Lucy Jane Chamber- lain, widow of John H. Chamberlain and daughter of Col. Justus Gale, who settled in Akron, in 1831, and became one of its sub- stantial citizens.
Mr. Brewster has done his full share in aid- ing to dot the county over with the hives of
industry that send forth their hum of machin- ery in producing numberless articles of im- proved labor-saving implements and utensils, and in spreading the benefits of the church and the school the land over also, and now, veig- ing on his ninetieth year, can look back with complacency on his long and well-spent life.
J OHN ALLMAN, of Streetsboro town- ship, Portage county, Ohio, is one of the most respected citizens of the town- ship, for the reason that he served in the Civil war in the defense of his adopted country, he having been born in Switzerland February 28, 1838, a son of Conrad and Annie Allman, whose name was originally spelled Alleman, which is equivalent to the French word, Allemand, meaning German. Switzer- land being a country in which many of the continental languages are fluently spoken.
Conrad Allman, also a native of Switzer- land, was a shoemaker by trade, and he and wife had born to them, in that little republic, eight children, who were named Conrad, Jacob, John, Ulrich, Frederick, Mary, Annie and Maria. In the spring of 1852, he, with his family, sailed from Antwerp for America, and after a voyage of seven stormy weeks landed in the city of New York in the month of June. The family all came at once to Ohio, and, passing through Cleveland, located in Stark county, where, the same year, the father, mother and two sons-Conrad and Jacob -- died of cholera within two weeks. They were members of the German Reformed church, and were all noted for their probity and general excellence of character.
John Allmian, who was but fourteen years of age when bereft of his parents, had already learned to read and write the German language. and was bound out to Andrew Sweihart, a far- | mer of Tuscarawas county, with whom he lived
Mary". Je Allemand
tev
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OF PORTAGE AND SUMMIT COUNTIES.
four years, and was further educated by attend- ing school two months each winter-doing his farm work for Mr. Sweihart the remaining part of the year. He then worked awhile for other farmers, in the same neighborhood, and in the spring of 1859 came to Portage county, work- ed here at the same class of labor until August, 1861, when, with about twenty others, he set out from Ravenna as a teamster for the vol- unteer service in West Virginia, and in this capacity served with the Seventh Ohio volun- teer regiment until March, 1862, when he re- turned to Portage county. In August, 1862, he enlisted, at Streetsboro, in the Ninth in- dependent Ohio light artillery, under Capt. Wetmore, a West Point graduate, and with this company he served two years and ten months, being honorably discharged at Chat- tanooga, Tenn., in June 1865, the war having been brought to a close. The service, of the Ninth was principally rendered in the pursuit of guerrillas in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama. and Georgia, but was also in many skirmishes with the rebels, in which a large number of the members of the battery were either killed or captured. Mr. Allman, however, passed through the war unscathed, with the exception, that he contracted rheumatism from exposure while on duty, and still suffers from that dis- order. Ulrich, his brother, of the Nineteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, was badly wounded, however, at Shiloh.
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