USA > Ohio > Portage County > A portrait and biographical record of Portage and Summit counties, Ohio > Part 50
USA > Ohio > Summit County > A portrait and biographical record of Portage and Summit counties, Ohio > Part 50
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is still standing in Ravenna. Mr. Thompson lived in this house until his death. This property is still in the hands of one of his de- scendants-Mrs. Julia Hall, of Cleveland, Ohio.
Mr. Thompson cleared up this farmi from the wilderness, and here made a good home: the Mahoning river runs directly through the land. Mr. Thompson was a substantial farmer and one of the earliest settlers of Ra- venna and a member of the old-school Pres- byterian church.` Politically he was a whig and one of the founders of the republican party. He lived to be a venerable man of over eighty years, and was noted for his straight- forward and honest character and for his hos- pitality. He was a fine example of the early pioneers of the Western Reserve.
Harry C. Thompson, son of above, was the father of our subject. He was born in Berk- shire county, Mass., November 24. ISO1, and came with his father to Ohio, in 1808. He re- : ceived the usnal common-school education of his day in Ravenna, Ohio, and, when he was young, learned the tailor's trade in Ravenna, which he perfected in New York city. He was one of the earliest and at one time the only teilor in Portage county, and was in this business twenty years. He married, in Hud- son, Ohio, January 7, 1830, Harriet A. Ells- worth, born in Hudson, Ohio, November 23, 1809, daughter of Capt. Elisha and Betsey (Oviatt) Ellsworth. Betsey Oviatt was born April 23. 1786. Elisha Ellsworth was born at Torrington, Conn .. November 22, 1785. Mr. Ellsworth was a pioneer of Hudson town- ship. He cleared up his farm and made a. ; years.
good home one and a half miles north of Hudson on the old Cleveland road. He was a deacon in the Presbyterian church, and well known as Capt. Ellsworth, being a member of the old Ohio State militia. He was an hon- ored citizen and a prominent man and died
September 13. 1859. Harry C. Thompson and wife settled in Ravenna, Ohio, where he fol- lowed his trade. In 1839 he settled on a farm of 118 acres in Hudson township, now owned by his son-Robert W. Mi. Thompson lived on his farm until 1853, and then moved to the home where our subject now lives and here passed his remaining days. He was an ex- cellent business man, clear headed, of sound judgment and of strictest honesty of character. He was an honored citizen, acted as justice of the peace for a long time and was also assess- or. He was consulted by the people in trans- acting legal business -- the administrator of many estates and the trusted guardian of chil- dren, and in the transaction of all his legal business in settling estates out of which law- suits frequently sprang, he acted as his own lawyer. Among the estates which he settled was that of Owen Brown, father of the famous abolitionist. For many years he made a busi- ness of loaning money and his charges were always fair and reasonable. He had one tule, which he always followed, and that was six per cent. per annum and the taxes, as he usually loaned on real-estate security. He and wife were both members of the Presbyte- rian church. Politically he was an old-line whig and later a republican. He stood very high throughout the county as one of the most honorable business men of his day. He reached the age of seventy-six years, and died December 19, 1877, very suddenly, at his resi- | dence in Hudson. His children are Robert W., and Elisha, born March 30, 1842, and died September 6, 1853, aged about thirteen
Robert W. Thompson was born in Raven- na, Ohio, August 10, 1833, received a district- school education and came with his father to Summit county. Orio, when he was six years old, in 1829, and learned farming when young. and when about sixteen years old engaged in
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the business of furnishing steamships at De- troit, Mich., for several years. He married at Twinsburg. Ohio, November 18, 1852, Eunice Turner, born at Blandford, Mass., Feb- ruary 28, 1830, daughter of Rev. Charles A. and Mary (Bailey) Turner. Rev. Charles A. Turner was born at Groton, Conn., May 20, 1796, son of Stephen and Lucretia (Wight- man) Turner. Both the Turners and Bailey's were of old colonial Puritan ancestry from England. To this marriage were born the following children: Hattie A., wife of Leo- nard C. Wallace, of Northfield, Summit coun- ty; he is a prosperous farmer. They have two children -- Arthur W. and Mable E. Beside receiving a good common-school education she was educated in music. Oren H., a prac- tical farmer, who married Miss Mary Cady, a native of Portage county. They have only one child, Bertha B. Mary E. is the wife of Horace A. Chamberlain, of Northfield, Ohio. He is a farmer by occupation. They have only one son, Walter, who is a student of the Macedonia school. Charles R. is married to Miss Mathilda Whapham, a native of England. They reside on the old homestead and have two daughters-Florence and Irene. He is one of the most prosperous farmers in Hudson township. The youngest is Edwin B., who resides with his parents at Hudson, Ohio.
In Rev. Turner's times one of the Bailey women, a great-aunt of Mrs. Thompson's, when Benedict Arnold and the British made the attack on New London, Conn., the colonial troops becoming short of cartridges, tore up her red flannel petticoat for material with which to make cartridges. The Baileys were sea-faring men, and in the whaling busi- ness from New London. They were captains of whalers for generations. Capt. Giles Bailey, while pursuing a whale, had his leg smashed by the whale, which struck the boat with its tail. His leg was afterward amputated.
Mrs. Thompson's father was the oldest of a family of children born unto Stephen and Lucretia ( Wightman ) Turner. Lucretia Wightman was a daughter of Isaac and Lu- crotia (Parker) Wightman. Isaac Wightman was a grandson of Valentine Wightman, the founder of the first Baptist church in Groton. Conn., it being also the first in the state. Lucretia Parker's mother was Hannah Avery, a descendant of the Avery who was one of the first settlers of Groton. Stephen Turner's father's name was Amos Turner, who married Prudence Allyn, June 1, 1770. Humphrey Turner, a farmer, was born in England in 1593, and, with his wife, Lydia Garner, and eldest son, John (and perhaps other children), came to Plymouth. Mass., in 1628. A few years afterward he moved to Scituate, Mass., and was one of the founders of a church there in 1635. His eldest son, John, born in Eng- land, married, November 12, 1645, Mary Brewster, a granddaughter of Elder William Brewster, who crossed the Atlantic in the the historic Mayflower. They had several children; among them was Ezekiel, born Jan- nary 7, 1651. He married, in New London, Conn., December 26, 1678, Susannah, daugh- ter of John Keeney. He died January 16, 1703 of 1704, and left one son, Ezekiel, and ten daughters. This son, Ezekiel, married Boradil Denison, and settled in Groton. Bor- adil Denison, daughter of Joseph and Prudence (Minor) Denison, was born February 14. 1712, and was married to Young Brewster May 12, 1729. They lived in Groton, Conn., and had the following children, viz: Theo- dore, born August 14, 1730; Prudence, born March 8, 1732 (and married Moses Palmer), Ezekiel, born January 27, 1734; Ennice, born July 22, 1740; Amos, born September 1. 1744. Amos Turner was the great-grand- father, who married Prudence Allyn in 1770 The children of Stephen and Lucretia ( Wight-
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man) Turner were: Charles A., born May 20, 1796; Alfred, June 4, 1798; Melinda, October 24, ISO1; Isaac Wightman, June 13, 1805; Jane Emeline, October 21, 1810, and James Monroe, December 23, 1816. The children of Amos and Prudence (Allyn) Turner were: Stephen, Rufus, Betsey, David, Eunice and Young. The Wightmans claim descent from Edward Wightman, the last of the martyrs by fire in England.
Rev. Charles A. Turner was married to Mary Bailey, in Groton, Conn., March 8, 1818, by Ralph Hurlbuth, J. P., the Turners being of English descent. Rev. Turner was a Baptist minister. He lived for some time at Groton, Conn., and at Blanford, Mass. Rev. Turner later bought land in Twinsburg town- ship, and cleared his farm from the woods, and here he remained until his death. Serv- ices were held in the school-houses and at their homes throughout the surrounding town- ships of Twinsburg, Aurora, Streetsboro, Hudson, Northampton, Stowe, and Boston. The pioneer Baptists were poor, and Rev. Turner never had a salary for his work. He supported his large family by his labor on the farm and gave all his children an excellent education at the famous pioneer academy of Rev. Bissell, of Twinsburg. Rev. Turner was one of the faithful pioneer ministers who preached the gospel in the wilderness without money and without price. His children were Mary A., who married Rev. Williamns, a Bap- tist minister; Joel, who died in California; Lucy; Charles, attorney-at-law, who served throughout the Civil war, entering as captain and coming out as brigadier-general, afterward judge of court of common pleas at Pekin, Ills., where he died. Then there were Emel- inc. Eunice. Jerusha, whe lied young, Flisha, attorney-at-law, and Alcalde, of Jackson, Cal .. who was shot in the court house while making a political speech. Then Reuben, who died
aged sixteen years; Cordelia, and Daniel, who served in the Civil war. Rev. Turner reared a remarkable and excellent family, his sons becoming prominent men. He died at Twins- burg, October 5, 1874, aged seventy-eight years. He was early a democrat, a strong anti-slavery man, and became a republican on the outbreak of the war.
Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, our subjects, settled on the Thompson homestead and lived there until they moved to Hudson in 18844. Their son, Charles, lives on the old home- stead, and is a practical, prosperous farmer. To Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have been born Rosa, who died aged two years; Hattie A., Oren H., Mary E., Charles R., and Edwin B -all married except the last, who lives at home. Politically he is a republican. Mrs. Thompson is a member of the Baptist church at Twinsburg. Mr. Thompson is a well-known citizen and has prospered by his thrift and practical business ability. He owns about 500 acres of land and is engaged in loaning money and looking after his farms. He is a straightforward man. Mrs. Thompson's moth- er lived to be ninety-three years old.
J M. THORP, D. D. S., of Bath, Sum- init county, Ohio, was born in Ontario county, N. Y., November 25, 1833, and is a son of Manville B. and Fanny W. (Clark) Thorp, early settlers of Summit county.
Manville B. Thorp was a son of Jeremiah Thorp, a soldier of the war of 1812, and a son of Nathan Thorp, who served in the war of the Revolution. Jeremiah had a family of nine children, viz: Manville B., born Febru- ary 7, 1808; Lucien R., born in 1810-died in 1863, a fife- major in the Sixty-seventh Ohio, at Hilton Head, S. C .; Maria L., born De- cember 6, 1812 -- died July 29, 1871; Junius
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPIIICAL RECORD
F., born May 19, 1816-died September 19, ' 1882; Emily E., born April 14, 1819; Eunice H., born December 8, 1821-died May 18, 1886; Manda G., born January 1, 1828, and Mary J., born April 7, 1832 --- died in October, 1896. The father, Jeremiah, died October 12, 1869, aged eighty-three years, four months and seventeen days.
November 3, 1832, Manville B. Thorp married in Bristol, Ontario county, N. Y., Miss Fanny W. Clark, a native of Massa- chusetts, born March 7, 1811. Two years after marriage, Manville and wife and child came to Bath township, Summit county, Ohio, settled on an unimproved farm, became the parents of five children, and here died -- the mother, March 16, 1886, and the father, Maich 9, 1891.
J. M. Thorp, whose naine opens this rec- ord, was reared a farmer, and during his youth- ful days was educated in the common schools. May 24. 1857, he married Miss Vashti M. Shaw, who was born in Bath township, Sum- mit county, Ohio, August 30, 1834, a daughter of Sylvester and Harriet (Parsons) Shaw. Her father, Sylvester Shaw, was born in Bris- tol, Ontario county, N. Y., March 5, 1806, and her mother, Harriet (Parsons) Shaw, was born in the same county August 11, 1809. They were married in their native state, Oc- tober 16, 1828, and in 1832 left New York and came to Ohio, making the trip in large wagons drawn by oxen and reaching Bath township, Summit county, November 18, of the same year. They built a small log cabin, and in this they lived several years; but Mr. Shaw was energetic and industrious, and at his death, which occurred November" 17, 1875, was in very comfortable circumstancs, as far as this world's goods are concerned, and was a greatly respected citizen. His widow, who was a very intelligent, lady, survived him several years. Their children were eight in number and were
named Harriet C., Sylvester P., Vashti M .. Samuel, Marietta, William, Sibyl B. and Constant. To J. M. Thorp and wife have been born the following-named children: Clar- ence E., May 8, 1866, a farmer and saw-mill owner, of Bath township; Warren S., April 29, 1869; Ayers C., January 8, 1872, both farmers of Bath township, and Maynard B., born October 15, 1874.
In 1863, Mr. Thorp began the study of dental surgery, and after due preparation began practice in Akron, to which city, and to Rich- field and Bath townships, his professional du- ties have been confined, his dexterity and skill having secured him a patronage that keeps him constantly employed. Although unas- suming in manner, he possesses the confidence of all the inhabitants of the district to which lic confines his practice, and is as much es- teemed as a gentleman as he is for his profes- sional ability.
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HARLES P. TOWNSEND, of West Richfield, Summit county, Ohio, and one of the old soldiers of the Civil war and a respected citizen, springs from sterling English ancestry of old Puritan, Massachusetts stock. William Townsend, founder of the family in America, came to Boston, Mass., in 1630 or 1640, and was of the same family as the councillor, Charles Townshend, as the name was then spelled. James, son of the founder, was the second in descent. Capt. William Townsend, the great- grandfather of our subject, was a Revolution- ary soldier, and commanded a company at Bunker Hill. He lived many years at either Bolton or Lancaster, Mass.
Levi Townsend, grandfather of subject. was bort at Lancaster, Mass., and was called out in Shay's rebellion with the militia. He was married to Mehitable Chandler, daughter
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OF PORTAGE AND SUMMIT COUNTIES.
of 'Squire Joel Chandler, of Alstead, Cheshire county, N. H., and of English descent. She was born in Connecticut. Levi was a farmer and died in Alstead, aged eighty-five years. Ilis children were Joel, James, Charles and Abel. Levi Townsend was a much respected citizen and well-to-do. His son, Lieut. Joel Townsend, was a graduate of West Point and died at twenty-one years of age. James set- tled in Lowell, Mass., where he was a promi- nent man and superintendent of the Merrimac Cotton works for many years. He was com- mander of the Lowell guards and served in the Civil war three months.
Charles Townsend, father of subject, was born in Alstead, N. H., and married in Lowell, Mass., where he went when a young man. His children were Charles P., Edwin J. and Emma E. His wife died and he married Lu- cinda M. Messer, and the children were Eliza and James.
Mr. Townsend was a farmer of Alstead, N. H., where he had been one of the first set- tlers. The homestead consisted of about 600 acres and was cleared up from the woods by Joel Chandler. It originally consisted of 1, 000 acres. When a young man Mr. Townsend had been an overseer in one of the large cotton mills of Lowell, Mass. Ile became a pros- perous farmer and lived to be seventy-eight years old and died on his farin a member and firm supporter of the Universalist church. In politics he was a democrat and held the office of selectman, or trustee, in his town.
Charles P. Townsend received an academic education at the Alstead Normal school, and was reared to farming when a young man; he had earned an excellent reputation as a school- teacher at Alstead, N. H., where he taught three years, and after coming to Ohio taught three years in West Richfield, Summit county; and in Medina county, four years-a total of fifteen years. He married at Westmoreland,
N. H .. November 20, 1856, Roena M. Wilber, who was born January 1, 1836, at Westmore- land, N. H., a daughter of Nelson and Mary J. (Burt) Wilber. In 1858 Mr. Townsend came to West Richfield, and engaged in farming un- til his enlistment, July, 1864, in company H, One Hundred and Seventy-seventh regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, to serve one year or during the war, and was honorably discharged July 6, 1865, the war having closed. He was in the battles of Franklin. Tenn., at the Cedars, on the old Stone River battle ground, and at Shelbyville Pike, Tenn .; he was then transferred to Fort Fisher, N. C., and was in the stormning of Fort Anderson, at the capture of Wilmington, N. C., and the battle of Kings- ton; at the capture of Goldsboro, and the cap- ture of Raleigh, N. C., and afterward did gar- rison duty at Greensboro, N. C., to the end of the war.
Mr. Townsend was sick in hospital with typhoid fever and rheumatism at Raleigh, N. C., and came near death, partially recovered and was sent home on a furlough of thirty days; he rejoined his regiment at Cleveland, Ohio, but at that time the war had closed. Mr. Townsend was always an active soldier and was in all the battles, campaigns, skirmn- ishes and marches in which his regiment was engaged, and was always prompt and cheerful in the discharge of his duties. He was pro- moted for meritorious service to be duty ser- geant, and afterward to be orderly sergeant. Mr. Townsend, in one of his engagements, was slightly struck with spent buckshot, and a minie ball grazed his right temple in the action of Shelbyville Pike, Tenn.
Mr. Townsend, on returning to West Rich- field, engaged in carriage painting and wagon- making and formed a partnership with Levi Carr, under the firm name of Carr & Town- send. Mr. and Mrs. Townsend's children are Cora, Mary and Emma. In politics he is a re-
£
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
publican and is a member of A. N. Goldwood post, No. 104, G. A. R., in which he has held the offices of adjutant and senior vice-com- mander. He has been a township trustee six years, clerk of election board twenty-five years, a justice of the peace nine years, and is a no- tary public. He is a non-affiliating member of Meridian Sun lodge, F. & A. M., at West Richfield, and has been senior warden. Mr. 1 Townsend is a well-known citizen and has al- ways stood high in the esteem of his imme- diate community.
R. TOWNSEND, a highly-respected citizen of Richfield township, Sum- mit county, Ohio, and an ex-soldier of the Civil war, is a son of Eli and Sarah (Kenyon) Townsend, and was born in West Richfield May 15, 1839.
Eli Townsend was born in Cattarangus county, N. Y., was taught shoemaking, served as a soldier in the war of 1812, and was mar- ried in his native state. In 1833 or IS34 he brought his family to Summit county, Ohio, and for some years lived in Richfield township; he then moved to Columbus, and later to Put- nam county, Ohio, where he was murdered about 1846.
W. R. Townsend received a good common- school education and was cast hither and yon until about seventeen years of age, when he went to Iowa, where he worked on a farm, and then engaged in rafting and steamboating on the Mississippi river two years, then in other lines of business, and, while in Illinois, had his hip dislocated. This was never prop- erly set, but while young and strong it did not discommode him, but he now feels some in- convenience from the injury. Returning to Ohio, he enlisted, May 17, 1861, at Warren, Trumbull county, as wagoner in company F, Twenty-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, and
served until honorably discharged, June 17- 1864. He was in the battles of Lewisburg and Cheat Mountain, W. Va., Shiloh, first siege of Corinth and Stone River. His right foot and ankle were crushed by a wagon dur- ing a stampede at Stone River, and he was confined in hospital from January, 1863, until September, when he was transferred to the veteran reserve corps. To Mr. Townsend is given the credit of saving Stewart's Creek bridge, at Stone River, on an occasion when a Union ammunition wagon was stalled. The rebels, aware of the difficulty, made an effort to fire the bridge, but Mr. Townsend shot three dead from a pile of stones; but the fire from the rebels became very rapid, yet he was pro- tected from the severe fire, being across a gorge; nevertheless, he saved the bridge and the ammunition. Among his other experi- ences, although he enlisted as a wagoner, Mr. Townsend frequently served in the ranks; at one time, in 1861, he was detailed as team- master in Virginia; was detailed in charge of ambulances and medical wagons in his regi- ment at another, of which he had charge when mustered, and while confined with his wound in hospital served a portion of the time as cook, and was always a true and faithful soldier.
After his return to Richfield, Mr. Townsend was variously employed, and May 18, 1865, married Miss Frances E. Chapman, a native of Richfield, and a daughter of Francis E. and Eleanor (Farnam) Chapman, the union result- ing in the birth of four children, viz: Eleanor R., Walter P., Perry W. and Percy F. Mrs. Frances E. Townsend was called from earth March 13, 1873, and Mr. Townsend's second marriage took place June 10, 1876, to Mrs. Mary E. McBride, and to this marriage has been born one daughter, Grace E.
Mrs. Mary E. Townsend was born July 6, 1833, in Wyoming county, N. Y., a daughter
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OF PORTAGE AND SUMMIT COUNTIES.
of William and Sarah (Rudgers) Barr. Will- iam Barr was a native of Vermont, born April 12, 1805, was a farmer, and married, in the state of New York, Sarah Rudgers, who was born in the Empire state, a daughter of John and Nancy (Purdy) Rudgers, and to this union were born nine children, viz: Nancy L., Sarah, Mary E. (Mrs. Townsend), Daniel, Henry T .; Jane E., Maria A., James A. and Julia HI. In 1834, Mr. Barr came to Ohio, and settled on 160 acres of wild land in Brecksville, Cuya- hoga county, and cleared up a comfortable home. Two of his sons, Henry and James A., enlisted for three years, in the Civil war, in battery A, First Ohio light artillery. James A., who was but seventeen years old when he entered the service, afterward veteranized and was promoted corporal. He took part at Shiloh, Corinth, Stone River, and in the At- lanta campaign, and served through the entire struggle. Mr. Barr died at the age of sixty- four years, in I8;1, a respected and substan- tial farmer, a member of the Methodist church, and in politics a republican. His daughter, Mary E., was first married to Francis Mc- Bride, a gold miner. The wedding took place in California, whither she had gone with her brother Daniel and sister Sarah, and the lat- ter's husband, John Aram. To her marriage with Mr. McBride, who died in California, Mrs. Mary E. McBride bore four children- Melissa A., Judson W., Mary E. and Francis G .-- all grown to maturity. Three brothers of Mr. McBride served in the Civil war, of whom one was killed, and Mr. Townsend had three nephews in the saine strife-Robert, Richard and Charles- - children of William and Cynthia (Townsend) Tunwell. Robert and Richard were in company G, Eighteenth United States regulars, and Richard died in hospital; Charles was in the One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, and was
Tenn. E. B. Reed, a brother-in-law, who married Mary Townsend, served in company G, One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio infantry. was in prison at Andersonville fourteen months, and died from the effects June 27, 1896.
Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Townsend are mem- bers of the Christian church, in which he is a trustee; in politics he is a republican, and has filled the offices of township trustee and saper. visor. He was one of the organizers of the Goldwood post, G. A. R., at West Richfield, was its first junior vice-commander, and has held the office of commander. He and family stand in the best social circles of Richfield, and are highly respected wherever known. Mr. Townsend is a member of Meridian Sun, F. & A. M., No. 266, at West Richfield, and was made a member in 1865. He has served as deacon, junior and senior warden, and is now the present incumbent of the office of senior warden.
HARLES T. TRUESDALL. proprie- tor of the first livery barn established in Garrettsville, was born in Nelson township, Portage county, Ohio, Oc- tober 20, 1837, a son of Charles Merritt and Betsey (Smith) Truesdall, also natives of the Buckeye state.
Asa Truesdall, grandfather of the subject, was a native of New York state, came to Ohio when a young man, settled in Nelson town- ship, Portage county, and here married Miss Katie Stowe. He served through the war of 1812 as a substitute, and passed the remainder of his life in farming. Hle and wife both died in Nelson township, the parents of the follow- ing children : Mary, who married Alanson Morris, a carpenter, and died in Geauga conti- ty; Bethey became Mrs. B.il, and died in Iowa: Jane was married to a Mr. Wannemaker, and killed by bushwhackers near Murfreesboro, , died at Albert Lea, Min .; Charles M., father
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