USA > Ohio > Erie County > A standard history of Erie County, Ohio: an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, civic, and social development. A chronicle of the people, with family lineage and memoirs > Part 29
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WILLIAM DATSON. Among the various elements of national stocks that compose the population of Erie County, there is quite a hberal
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representation of people of English birth or parentage. One of these is William Datson, a capable farmer and fruit grower in Berlin Township, who is a native of England, but has lived in Ohio since before reaching his majority.
Born at Gillington in County Kent, England, July 27, 1840, he is a son of William and Ann (Roper) Datson, both of whom were natives of Kent County. Ilis parents were married there, and to their union were born ten children, nine of whom lived to come to America. Wil- liam Datson in March, 1859, accompanied by his oldest son, came to the United States on a sailing vessel which landed them six weeks later in New York. Some time later they reached Cleveland, and located at Collmer, east of that city, where the father prepared a home for his family. In November, 1859, the wife with eight children made the voyage from London to Castle Garden, and soon afterward joined the father and son at Collmer. In the following year they moved to East Cleveland, and in 1861 William Datson, who had then just reached maturity, went to Townsend, now Collins in Huron County, and six months later was joined by his parents and the rest of the family. Some years later the parents returned to East Cleveland, where Mrs. Datson tlied in 1876 when past sixty years of age. William Datson, the father. went to Youngstown, Ohio, and when nearly ninety years of age passed away at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Jesse Stephens. The names of the children were Richard, William, Ann, Jemima, Amelia, Susie, Mary, James and John. All of these reached adult years, all married, and children were born to all of them except two. The four still living are Richard, William, Susie and Mary.
As has been suggested, the Datson family were not people who pos- sessed large means before they found homes in the United States. Con- sequently William Datson had to become partially self supporting at a time when most boys were at school. At the age of ten he was employed on an oyster boat at 25 cents per week, and the food supply was such that nearly all the time he was half starved. By the time he was fourteen he was mate on a hundred-ton vessel plying the waters of the Thames and Medway. This was his regular vocation until nearly nineteen years of age, and he might have continued a seafaring career had not the family determined about that time to move to America. Ile was just on the point of being made captain of a vessel when the duty devolved upon him of accompanying his mother and brothers and sisters to the United States. After his arrival in Huron County as above noted he performed all kinds of labor and helped to establish the family, and at the same time managed to save some money of his own. In 1865 this modest capital was invested in eight acres in Berlin Township of Erie County. From time to time he increased his small holdings, having the co-opera- tion of his good wife in this laudable enterprise, and at the present time has a valuable small farm of thirty-four aeres, all of it rich soil, and with an orchard of about 1,000 fruit trees. He owns a substantial home. has barns and other buildings, and is able to face the future without dread.
Mr. Datson was first married at Cleveland to Miss Sarah Cook, who was born in Lincolnshire, England, in October. 1840, and came to the United States when quite young and located in Erie County. She died at the home of her mother in Berlin Township in 1867. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. By this marriage there was one daughter, Helen I., who was born July 28, 1863, and is now the wife of James Buck, a farmer implement dealer at Berlinville, their two chil- dren are named Ina and Esther, both of whom were well educated in high school, and Ina is now the wife of Edward Riggs and has a daughter JEelen.
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On November 16, 1870, Mr. Datson married, in Erie County, Mary Bogart. She was born in Albany County, New York, March 17. 1849. and was two years of age when she came to Florence Township, Erie County, with her parents James and Hannah M. (Spore ) Bogart. Roth her father and mother were born in the month of May, 1819, the former on the 18th and the latter on the 6th, and were married October 30, 1845. They came to Ohio in 1851 with their only daughter, lived for several years in Florence Township, and later moved to Berlin Township, where they died, the father on April 18, 1893, and the mother on August 10, 1885. She was a member of the Methodist Church, and in politics he was an active and ardent republican. To the Bogart family were born two daughters after they came to Erie County, Eugenia, who is wife of Albert Robert of Berlin Township, and has a son, Jesse ; and Henrietta, who married Charles Cables, but is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Datson have three daughters. Retta was born November 5. 1872, and died at the age of ten months. Myra, born February 15, 1874, is the wife of William D. Daugherty, general agent for the Nickel Plate Railway at Avery and also postmaster of that village. Edith A., born March 2. 1877, died April 7th of the same year. Mr. and Mrs. Datson are mem- bers of the Methodist Church, and he has been a regular voter of the prohibition ticket since the time of St. John.
('HARLES A. HARDY. The most conspicuous group of first settlers in Erie County included those people who came out early in the nineteenth ventury to occupy the lands set aside under the title "Fire Lands" for the benefit of the settlers on the Atlantic Coast who suffered from the invasion of the British. Quite a goodly number of the descendants of these fire land settlers are to be found in Erie County, and it is of this old and substantial stock that Charles A. Hardy comes. Mr. Hardy has a substantial home in Berlin Township, along the Rural Route No. 2 out of Berlin IFeights.
Ilis lineage is English. and the family for a generation or more resided in New York State. Ilis grandfather was Samuel S. Hardy, who was born in New York State about 1790. He became a lumberman and farmer and married Miss Foster. In the fall of 1830 they came with wagons and teams across the wide intervening distance to what is now known as the John Kurtz farm in Berlin Township. The land they secured was not obtained directly from the Government, but its previous owners had made no improvement, and their first home was in the un- broken wilderness. They constructed a log cabin as their first habita- tion, and Samuel spent many months in clearing off the virgin forests to make room for his first crops. The grain he raised among the stumps was threshed out with a flail, and in the early days they cooked their food in kettles hung from the crane in the chimney. Samuel S. Hardy and wife died in that homestead, he in 1845 and his widow some years later. Their daughter Flora was willed the estate of 100 acres as a reward for having devoted many of the best years of her life to the_ care of her mother. and she married when quite old. but left no children. The other children in the family were Minerva, Eri, Adelia. Ara, Edith. Celia and Volny. All these children married and all had children of their own.
Volny Hardy was born in New York State in 1820 and was about ten years of age when he came to Erie County. Circumstances did not per- mit him obtaining a liberal education and from early years he took his place as a working member of the household and assisted in developing the wild farm to cultivated fields. Ile also learned the trade of cabinet maker. and followed that with some success until his death. when about thirty-three years of age. He was married in Berlin Township to Eme-
Charles A Hardy
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line Fox. She was born in Berlin Township upon the old Fox estate, now a part of the farm owned by Mr. Charles A. Hardy. She died at her old home in 1896. She was one of the youngest among eight chil- dren born to Anson and Susan ( Mingus> Fox, both of whom were natives of Connecticut, and came during the decade of the '20s to Ohio and bought a tract of the fire lands situated in what is now the north- ern part of Berlin Township. They secured this quarter section direct from the Government, and thus were original occupants of this noted district in Northern Ohio. As early settlers they possessed all the more prominent characteristics of the true pioneer type. Their first home was a log cabin and it required years of self sacrifice and toil to provide the comforts which they handed on to succeeding generations. In the early days their home was surrounded by the primeval forest through which roamed the Indians and all kinds of wild game and animals, and they enacted the rugged and simple annals of courageous frontier people. A number of the Fox family were Spiritualists in religion, while the Hardys were Methodists.
Charles A. Hardy was the third in a family of four children. The oldest, Andrew, died after his marriage. Anna is the widow of George Ashman and lives in Defiance. Alfred died unmarried at Defiance at the age of fifty-seven.
Charles A. Hardy was born August 20, 1849. After his education. which came partly from the schools and partly from his early initiative into the duties and responsibilities of the household, he took up farm- ing as his vocation, and for many years has been one of the able agri- enlturists of Berlin Township. His farm now comprises 122 aeres, and he and his good wife now enjoy the comforts of a new residence, built in modern style and with nine rooms. He also has an excellent farm and other outbuildings, and owns another farm occupied by his son, which also has good improvements.
Thirty-eight years ago in Berlin Township Mr. Hardy married Miss Capitola Gardner. She was born in Corry in Northwestern Pennsylva- nia, January 28, 1859, but when six years of age was brought to Erie County, Ohio, and grew up and received her education in this locality. Mrs. Hardy has proved a devoted wife and an excellent mother, and she and her husband have made their home noted for its generous hospi- tality. Mrs. Hardy is one of the excellent cooks in Berlin Township, and that accomplishment is only one of the many things which make their home a place of pleasureable entertainment for their many friends. Mrs. Hardy is a daughter of Leroy and Rosa ( Brown) Gardner. Her father was born in New York State and her mother in Pennsylvania, and they were married in the latter state and came from there to Erie County. Here her mother died in 1887 at the age of forty-eight. Her father is still living and is seventy-nine years of age. He has been three times married.
Two sons have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Hardy. Andrew L. is a farmer on his father's place in Berlin Township and is also a black- smith by trade ; by his marriage to Christine Hasle of Berlin Township he has four children : Volney. Vivian, Vesta and Victor. Carl A .. the youngest son, was born December 29, 1895, and has also completed his edu- cation and assists his father in the management of the homestead. The family attend the Presbyterian (Imrch, and Mr. Hardy and his sons are democrats.
FRANK M. STEVENSON. Among the wholesome, thrifty and generous people of Berlin Township are to be numbered Mr. and Mrs. Frank M. Stevenson, who reside on their fine rural home near Berlin Heights. hav- ing the daily mail facilities over rural route No. 2. During the many
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years they have lived there Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson have surrounded themselves with all the things necessary to make life attractive in the country. Their home is a large nine-room two and a half story house, with a good complement of other buildings, including a barn 30x50 feet, corn cribs, granaries, tool shed and a good orchard supplies all the fruit they need. Mrs. Stevenson is a kindly hospitable housewife, while Mr. Stevenson shows to equal advantage as a successful farm manager.
Born in Pittsfield, Lorain County, Ohio, June 12, 1864, Frank M. Stevenson is of old English family, a son of George and Mary (Speed) Stevenson, both of whom were natives of Lineolnshire, England. His father was born in 1827, and his wife was a few years younger. . When each was about fourteen years of age they came with their respective parents to the United States. William and Almira Stevenson, the par- ents of George, located in Lorain County, where they spent the rest of their lives as farmers near LaGrange. They died when about eighty years of age. William and Ann Speed, the parents of Mrs. George Stevenson, located at Zanesville, Ohio, and died there when nearly ninety years of age. Both the Speed and Stevenson families were of the good old English stock, thrifty, pious, and well qualified to perform their own work in the world and rear children to lives of usefulness and honor. When the Stevenson family came to America in 1847 a sailing vessel carried them across the ocean and they were six weeks on the voyage. After their marriage George Stevenson and wife left Zanesville and moved to Pittsfield in Lorain County, where he gained a livelihood as a carpenter and mechanic and farmer. He died there thirty-five years ago when about fifty-two years of age, and his widow is still living in Lorain County at the age of seventy-nine, making her home with her daughter, Mrs. William Silie of LaGrange.
George Stevenson and wife were people of earnest natures, were good neighbors, and in polities he was a strong republican. There were nine children in their family: John, who lives in Lorain County and has one son ; William, a farmer in Lorain County, who has been twice married and has three daughters: Ann, now deceased, who was the first wife of William Silie of Pittsfield, Lorain County; Charles, who died at the early age of twenty-two years; Frank M .: James, who is a farmer at Wellington in Lorain County and is married but has no children ; Tillie, who is the second wife of William Silic of Lorain County, and the mother of four children ; Maud, who is the wife of Bert Gates of Lorain County, and has three children; and Thomas, who died at the age of fourteen years.
It was in Lorain County that Frank M. Stevenson grew to manhood and acquired his early education. He trained for the life of a farmer and he has made that voeation the foundation of a profitable and honor- able eareer. From Lorain he came to Erie County, and was married in Berlin Township to Miss Eva Springer. Mrs. Stevenson was born on the farm which has ever since been her home. In its present form it com- prises seventy-six acres of well cultivated and fertile soil, situated not far from Berlinville and Shinrock on the Berlinville road. Mrs. Steven- son was born there October 29, 1869, and gained her education in the public schools. She is a daughter of George Springer and a grand- daughter of Job Springer. IIer father was born in Ohio and her grand- father in New York State. The latter was married after coming to Ohio to Miss Sayles of Ohio, and they spent the rest of their lives in Berlin Township. George Springer, who is now retired, was for many years a farmer. Mrs. Stevenson's mother was Lodema V. Fuller, who was born on the farm now occupied by the Stevenson family on March 4, 1845, and spent her life in that community, where she died in 1900. She was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Stevenson
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grew to womanhood in the home of her uncle and aunt, Waterman C. Fisk and his sister, Roby Ann Fisk. Her unele Waterman died in Berlin Township at the age of ninety-eight, while his sister likewise enjoyed a long life, being seventy-seven when she died. Waterman Fisk was born May 1, 1809, and his sister May 23, 1819. They were natives of New York State, and when quite young moved to Erie County and were among the early settlers in Berlin Township.
Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson have one son, Thomas Mathews Stevenson, who was born May 14, 1890, was reared and educatetd in Berlin Town- ship and attended the Berlin Heights sehools, and is still at home assist- ing in the management of the farm. Mr. Stevenson in politics is a republican.
ADAM W. HAST. Farming is now both a practical and scientific busi- ness and many of the most successful farmers are pursuing it according to the intensive method, making one aere grow what the old-fashioned husbandmen produced on two or three acres. A eonspienous illustration of this method is found in the enterprise of Adam W. Hast, now one of the largest land owners in Berlin Township in the country adjacent to the lake shore. Mr. Hast had hard work in getting a start, was a renter for a number of years, but since gaining a foothold has made rapid prog- ress in the accumulation of material prosperity and in direeting the operations of an increasing estate. IIe is one of the progressive farmer citizens of Erie County, and there are few who have more to show for their work.
Though nearly all his life has been spent in Erie County, Mr. Hast was born in llessen-Nassau, Germany, October 6, 1862, a son of Adam and Anna Catherine ( Miller) Hast. llis mother was a daughter of William Miller, a native of Luedersdorf, Germany, and a farmer and a wagonmaker by trade. Adam Hast, Sr., belonged to an old Hessen-Nas- san family, and they had lived in the old town of Neidernaula for more than a century. They were of the farming class. While he lived in Germany Adam Hast and wife had three children born to them : Jennie, Adam W. and Sophia. Then in the winter of 1866 he started out alone to investigate the opportunities of the New World. He embarked on a sailing vessel at Bremen. This vessel when about three days' sail from New York encountered a terrific storm which nearly swamped the boat and drove it back on its course so that for two or three weeks they were driven first one way and then another and nearly two months after the start the ship limped into the harbor at Liverpool. There the seven hun- dred passengers were transferred to a steam vessel and carried on to New York City. It was ninety-two days from the time Mr. Ilast left Bremen before he was safely landed in New York. In the meantime while three of the passengers died, there were three births, so that the number that landed was the same as that which started. Adam last went on into the interior, spent a short time in Illinois, and in the mean- time sent for his wife and children. They came across and he joined them at Brownhelm in Lorain County, Ohio. In that county Adam Ilast, Sr. bought a small farm, and lived there until 1877, when he moved to Erie County and acquired fifty acres of the old Douglas homestead situated on the lake shore in Berlin Township. Adam Hast continued to live there. made many improvements, and prospered in a quiet way until his death on April 19, 1911. His widow now lives with her youngest daughter Mrs. Henry Hartman, and is now eighty-four years of age, having been born March 11, 1831. Both she and her husband were confirmed when children in the German Reformed Church. Her husband was a democrat in politics. A record of their children is as follows: Jennie is the wife of Charles Brown of Bremen, Ohio, and they have a son and two daugh- Vol. II-13
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ters. The next one in age is Adam W. Sophia is the wife of Charles Douglas, and they live at Florence in the state of Arizona, where Mr. Douglas is a miner and fruit farmer. Anna is the wife of George Hartman, a snecessful farmer and fruit grower and horse breeder and now serving as township trustee of Berlin, where he and his wife live and have a son and two daughters. Catherine is the wife of Henry Hartman. living on the old Hast homestead near the lake shore.
Adam W. Hast was reared and educated in Berlin Township, and after reaching his majority started out to turn his previous training to profitable account as a farmer. He rented land for nine years, farming the old Theodore Hine place just outside the corporation limits of Berlin Heights. With the accumulations of these years he bought eighty acres of land where he now lives. His home is one of the most attractive in Berlin Township, has all the conveniences and comforts, and is beauti- fully situated. It is a fine old-fashioned home, a large white building with twelve rooms, and nearby are two barns, one 28x32 feet and another 32x50 feet. Since buying this land Mr. Hast has made rapid progress, and later bought a small place of sixteen acres and from time to time other land until his ownership now extends to more than 250 acres, all in Berlin Township. His farming enterprise is diversified and extends to the raising of fine stock. large erops of wheat, corn, oats and potatoes, and he is also one of the large fruit growers along the lake shore. On his lake shore farm he has a nine-acre peach orchard, and at his home place he has four acres in apples, one acre in peaches and two acres in pears.
While gaining this valuable stake in Erie County Mr. Hast has also reared and provided liberally for a large family. He was married in Vermilion Township to Bertha Ackerman, who was born in that township May 3, 1867, and was educated in the public schools. She is a daughter of German parents. Fred and Eliza (Kothe) Ackerman, both now deceased, having married and spent many years in Vermilion Town- ship. Sophia, who was the first child born into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hast, was born January 8. 1887, was graduated from the Berlin Heights High School in 1904, subsequently graduated from the Oberlin Business College, spent several years at Sandusky as deputy county recorder, and is now the wife of Warren Croll, living at Akron, and they have a son named Robert. Lydia, the second of the family, was born October 3. 1888, graduated in 1905 from the high school at Berlin Heights, later attended Oberlin Summer School, and attended school at Athens. Ohio, spent four years in successful work as a teacher, and is now married to Ralph Cobb, a farmer in Berlin Township, and their one son is named Edwin. Frederick William, born Angust 28, 1890, graduated from the high school at Berlin Heights in 1910, spent one year in the Ohio State University, and is now a promising young man who assists his father in the management of the farm. Clara A., born April 20, 1892, graduated from high school in the class of 1910, sub- sequently graduated from the Oberlin Business College, and is now connected with the Kelley Plastering Company at Sandusky. Harold Oscar, horn April 22, 1896, completed his education and is still at home. Elizabeth, born August 23, 1898, is a member of the class of 1916 in the Berlin IIeights High School. Adam W., Jr., was born April 9. 1902, Florence was born September 1, 1905, both being in school, and the youngest is Bertha, born April 27, 1907.
Mr. and Mrs. Hast are active members of the Congregational Church at Berlin Heights, and he is one of the trustees of the church. He and his son Fred are democrats in national politics, but exercise a wise dis- cretion in their choice of local candidates. Mr. Hast and his sons are members of the Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 391 at Berlin Heights.
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and the father is a past chancellor of the order and has been a delegate to the state grand lodge in Cincinnati. Ile is also a member of the Woodmen of the World at Shinrock, has passed through all the chairs of the local eamp, and has attended the state lodge at Sandusky.
JAMES DOUGLASS. For more than eighty years the Douglass family has had its seat in Erie County. The late JJames Douglass is well remem- bered by the older settlers for his solid ability and worth as a farmer in Berlin Township, and for his prominence in local affairs and both local and state polities. Mrs. Douglass is still living and occupying a part of the old homestead, sitnated on Rural Route No. 2 out of Huron and is one of the notable women of her locality. For many years she was active with her husband in the Patrons of Husbandry, and is still active as a member of the Berlin Heights Tuesday Tourist Club, before which organization she has read numerous papers.
The aneestry of this family goes back to one of the oldest and most conspicuons elans of Scotland. The Douglass Clan wore the plaid and for many generations its members were connected with the most historie events in Seotland. The most prevalent Christian name in the family was Robert, and both the grandfather and the father of the late James Donglass bore that name. Robert Douglass, Sr .. lived and died in Jedd- borough, Seotland, where was one of the old homes of the family. Robert Douglass, Jr., was born in Dumfries in 1793. grew up in Scotland, learned the trade of millwright, and in his native eity married Mary Black, who was also of good Scoteh stock. After their marriage they eontinned to reside in Scotland a few years and during that time Agnes. Margaret and Robert were born to them. While these were still small children they embarked on a sailing vessel, and encountered a tempes- tnons sea and spent eleven weeks before landing at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. In Canada Robert Douglass became proprietor of a hotel at Hamilton, and lived there a number of years, during which time his children, George, Mary and James were born. In 1830 Robert Douglass was indneed to remove to Buffalo, New York, and became interested in a brewery. At the end of three years the business had become badly involved and the partner ran away and left Mr. Donglass with all the obligations. He never lost courage, nor did his wife, and she assisted him during that critical time by making shirts for the lake sailors at 25 cents apiece. About this time Mr. Douglass met Harlow Case, who was then postmaster at Buffalo. Mr. Case's stepfather, Judge Almon Ruggles, owned 640 acres of land in Berlin Township of Erie County, Ohio. Robert Douglass accepted the invitation to go to Erie County and secure employment. Thus in 1833 he came ont to this new conntry, and soon showed such capacity for business that Judge Ruggles sold him fifty acres of fine land on the lake shore, with liberal credit and time. This land was all wild and unenltivated except five acres. Judge Rug- gles thus showed his keen judgment of men and secured a good neighbor in Robert Douglass. Robert Donglass spent the rest of his active life in Berlin Township, reared his family well, and became prominent in a local way. In addition to farming he also worked as a cooper for some years. He died in 1868 and his widow later went to Toledo and died there in the fall of 1874 at the age of eighty-four. They were members of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and he was first a whig and later a republican in polities. He also wielded facile pen and was quite well known loeally as a poet. In addition to the children already mentioned as born in Scotland and Canada there were three others, Betsey, Isabel and Letitia, who were probably born in New York State, and all were married except Betsey and Letitia, and all are now deceased.
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