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 40
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The Gorman family is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, the early members having been of the Catholic faith and was established in America by the grandfather of the late Michael Gorman. One of the family con- nections at a later generation was the noted Maryland senator, A. P. Gorman. The Gormans came to this country about the same time as Harmon Blennerhasset and Ellen Gorman, an aunt of the late Michael Gorman, had some interesting associations with the Blennerhasset family while they lived on the island in the Ohio River. Michael Gorman was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, October 3, 1815, and died Sep- tember 19, 1910, at the age of almost ninety-five on his home in Berlin Township, situated on the Berlin and Norwalk Road. His father, Michael, Sr., was born on the Juniata River in Pennsylvania in the clos- ing years of the eighteenth century, and grew up in the family of his unele, who was an extensive slave holder and planter in Maryland, and of a branch of the family directly related with the Senator Gorman family. Michael, Sr., was married when he came to Warren County, Pennsylvania, his wife, Sarah Ann Gilson, being a young woman of English birth and parentage. At Bedford, Pennsylvania, Michael, Sr., was a miller and also engaged in the transportation business with pack horses between Bedford and Philadelphia. With these vocations he combined agriculture, and lived to be ninety-nine years of age, while
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his wife was seventy-one when she died. Both were of Catholic parents. but they themselves were not active communicants of that church. Michael Gorman, Jr., was the eleventh in a family of thirteen children, all of whom grew up and married except a daughter who died at the age of eighteen while making preparations for her wedding.
In the old Pennsylvania home and particularly around the water- power grist mill the late Michael Gorman spent his childhood and yonth. Some years after his marriage, in May, 1865, he arrived with his family in Erie County, and here bought the farm on which he spent the rest of his days. Ile was a man of business judgment, and his labors and management enabled him to accumulate 200 acres in that locality. This farm was well improved under his supervision with substantial buildings, and was quite successful in the raising of horses, cattle, hogs and sheep. The sterling worth of his character was made apparent in his community in many ways, and he is remembered as a man of thor- ongh honesty and absolute integrity. He was frequently ealled upon to serve on juries during his life in Erie County. In polities he was a demoerat, and while not an active chureh member was a believer in an all-ruling Providence and in the efficiency of love as the strongest foree in the world.
At the Town of Deerfield in Warren County, Pennsylvania, Novem- ber 7. 1842, he married Elizabeth (. Cleland, who was born at Harbor Creek on Lake Erie in Pennsylvania, October 1, 1824. She celebrated her ninetieth birthday in the fall of 1914 and her fund of interesting recollections extends baek to the deeade of the '30s in the last century. She was reared and educated in Western Pennsylvania, and for fully half a century has lived in the old homestead out in Berlin Township. Mrs. Gorman is the lineal deseendant of colonial and revolutionary ancestors. Her grandfather, John ('leland, was born near Boston, Massa- chusetts, in 1757, and died at Stoekton, New York, in 1827. During the war for independenee he was for three years under the command of General Putnam and for another four years was under another leader. Ile spent that dreadful winter in eamp with other suffering patriots at Valley Forge. Ile was of Scotch ancestry and parentage, and his father had emigrated to America and settled in Boston, where he became promi- nent as a citizen and served as high sheriff and in that eapaeity there devolved upon him the duty of hanging Sarah Dyer, the noted Quakeress who was condemned for her unwavering adherence to religious con- vietions. John Cleland married Thankful Easton in 1780. She was born in 1759 and died at Stockton, New York, in 1847. Of their children, Oliver Cleland, the father of Mrs. Gorman, was born in 1793 and died in 1879. Ile was reared at Northampton, Massachusetts, and was married June 18, 1817, to Elizabeth Marsh. They were married at Bloomfield. She was born in 1801 and died in 1880 at the home of her daughter, Mrs. E. C. Gorman, in Berlin Township, as did also her husband. Mrs. Gorman was the second of three daughters. Her sister Cynthia was born in 1818 and died in 1822. Her sister Mary was born in 1828 and died in 1911, and by her marriage to Peter Gor- man, a brother of Michael, left three children. There was also a brother. O. II. Perry Cleland, who was born in 1820 and died in 1903.
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Gorman were born ehildren as follows: Oliver C., horn December 16, 1844, died at the age of four- teen : Eleanor, born November 5, 1846, died in 1849; John Marsh, born November 21, 1848, now a farmer in Berlin Township, married Estella, a daughter of Thomas Pelton, and their danghter. Irma B., is the wife of Edward Manns, and they live in Berlin Township and have a son. Gorman D .; Elnora, born January 3, 1851, and now deceased, married
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Charles Peak, who was accidentally killed at Berlin Ileights; Juliet, born January 13, 1854, died at the age of one year; Albert Perry Gor- man, born April 9, 1860, attended school at Berlin Heights and at Oberlin College, and for many years has lived at the old home and has the active management of the estate for his mother. He is unmarried and is one of the enterprising and successful agriculturists of Berlin Township. Both he and his brother John are democrats in politics.
JOHN K. BOEHM. In the little Village of Ceylon in Berlin Township the man of enterprise and of longest standing in a commercial sense is John K. Boehm, dealer in farm implements and operating an extensive business in producing and shipping sand for moulding and foundry pur- poses. Mr. Boehm has been the leading merchant at Ceylon for more than twenty years and more than any other one person has given the distinction to that point in Erie County territory as a place of trade and productive enterprise.
Ile deserves special credit for opening up and developing the sand pits on the old Hast farm near his own home at Ceylon. He holds leases on twelve acres covered with a deep deposit of sand of specially fine quality for manufacturing purposes. He also has options on other lands that can be utilized for the same purpose. His experience shows that about 10.000 tons of sand can be secured from each surface acre. This sand is particularly in demand for steel and brass moulding, and it is sold everywhere in the North Central States and Canada. Mr. Bochm's productions now run from two to five carloads per day. He has been engaged in this industry for the past seven or eight years, and it is a high tribute to his foresight and enterprise that he has utilized on a commercial basis a product which would easily have been slighted by men of less discernment. Mr. Boehm has built and owns branch railroad tracks connecting his sand pits with the main line of railway, and has introduced several features for the facile handling of the sand, which gives him a fair profit. One contrivance of his own invention is an end- less belt operated by gasoline engine which carries the sand directly from the pit to the cars standing on the side track, and when operated at full capacity he is able to load 200 tons per day.
Mr. Boehm has been in the farm implement business at Ceylon for the past fifteen years. He carries all kinds of farm supplies and imple- ments, and furnishes most of the tools used in this agricultural district. Ilis first business as a merchant at Ceylon was a general store, which he acquired in 1893. After about eight years he introduced another depart- ment for the handling of farm implements, and in 1909 sold the general merchandise stock to Frank Rhode, whose place was subsequently burnt out. For a number of years after purchasing the general store from G. R. MeConnelly, Mr. Boehm was the only active business man at the place and has really been the only merchant of any consequence.
On September 16, 1872, John K. Boehm was born in Amherst, Lorain County. Ohio, but was brought to Erie County when a child and was reared and educated in the county where he has lived ever since. His parents were Conrad and Caroline (Dahlmann) Boehm. They were natives of Westphalia, Germany, were married in that country, and while living there three children were born to them, Carl, Frederick and Anna. In 1870 the family set sail for the United States, and after landing in New York City proceeded west to Amherst in Lorain County, where the father, who had become a capable shoemaker in the old coun- try, established a shop and worked at his regular calling. Back in Ger- many the grandfather was a skilled harness maker in Westphalia. After a few years residence in Amherst the Boehm family came on to Erie County and located in Ceylon, where the father continued his trade until
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his death on October 4, 1876. His widow survived him until Septem- ber 25, 1895. They were members of the German Reformed Church, and the father was a democrat in politics. After they came to this country their first child was John K. and others born to them were: Conrad, now a candy manufacturer at Sandusky, who is married and has sons and daughters; Catherine, who was born in Erie County in 1875, married Morris Parker, a member of the Cleveland police force who was killed in a riot in that eity in 1912, leaving his widow and one daughter.
In Vermilion Township John K. Boehm married Miss Amelia C. Kishman, who was born in Lorain County March 28, 1872, and received her education in the district schools of Erie County. Her father, Werner Kishman, with his wife, was a native of Germany, having come from that country to America, locating in Erie County, where he followed the busi- ness of fisherman and farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Kishman died on their farm in Vermilion Township, the latter when fifty-six years of age, and the father a few years later. They were German Reformed people. Mr. and Mrs. Boehm have three children : Ruth, who was born January 2, 1898, and is a member of the class of 1916 in the Berlin Heights High School ; Roy W., born January 11, 1899, and a member of the class succeeding that of his sister in high school; and John K., Jr., who was born August 14, 1900. a member of the class which will graduate from the Berlin Heights High School in 1918. Mr. Boehm is a democrat who has done something ereditable for his community, having served as trustee of the township from 1910 to 1912. The family are members of the German Reformed Church.
WILLIAM H. MONTS. Among the varied interests of Erie County probably none deserves more attention as reflecting the growth and progress and prosperity of modern times than horticulturists, as ex- emplified in many fruit farms scattered along the lake shore in the interior country. One of the most encouraging and stimulating ex- amples of enterprise in this direction is found in what William H. Moats has done. Mr. Moats lives in Berlin Township near the Village of Berlin Heights, and his farm of twenty-five aeres is a model of the kind. The land is especially well adapted for fruit growing and it is not too much to say that as a horticulturist Mr. Moats has no superior in Erie County. His biggest erop is peaches, and he has about twelve aeres in his peach orchard. About three acres are in apple trees, and he also has a Inmdred cherry trees.
Mr. Moats has owned and occupied this fruit farm since 1893. Every one of the trees now bearing was planted by his own hands or under his direet supervision. He has also introduced sufficient drainage to sweeten the soil, and has also employed commercial fertilizer to a con- siderable extent. Some idea of his success as a fruit grower is found in the records of production. At different times a single tree in his peach orchard has yielded twelve bushels of marketable peaches. His high record in the cherry crop was 528 quarts from one tree. All his fruit is of the highest class and commands the best price at market. The phenomenal cherry tree just mentioned is of the black Tartarian variety. As an apple grower he finds the best varieties are the Gano, the Jonathans, the Ben Davis and the Baldwin. Ilis fine orchard and other improvements are the setting for some excellent buildings, in- eluding a large red barn 26 by 70 feet, and a comfortable nine-room white house. For several years before turning his attention to fruit growing Mr. Moats was a grain farmer in Berlin Township. He brought the experience of a general agriculturist to his present work and has succeeded as a result of an unremitting vigilance, constant study and
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the same energy and business judgment which would be required in run- ning any successful concern.
William H. Moats was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, May 4, 1866, but has lived in Berlin Township of Erie County since the fall of 1873. His parents in ancestry are English. His grandfather, Wil- liam, and his father, Henry Moats, came from Spalding, Lincolnshire, England, to the United States in 1849, having spent six weeks on a slow going sailing vessel. William Moats, the grandfather, was born in 1814 or 1815, while Henry Moats was born December 12, 1838. William Moats married Miss Norris in England, who died there in the prime of life. After coming to this country William Moats was mar- ried at Rochester, New York, to Martha Grayell, after which he moved to Canada, lived near the Lake of the Woods for some time, and then returned to Cleveland. While at Cleveland, Henry Moats, who was only a child when brought to America, began learning the trade of machinist. At the first call for troops in 1861 to put down the rebellion he enlisted in Battery D of the Ohio Light Artillery, and was in one of the very first engagements of the war, at Phillippi, West Virginia. From that time on until Lee's surrender at Appomattox he continued to discharge his duties as a soldier, and was out a little more than four years. Ilis first enlistment was for three months, following which he enlisted for three years, and at the end of that time veteranized for three years more or until the close of the war, which came in the summer of 1865. His military record contains reference to many of the great engagements of that war. He was present at Chickamauga, in the Wilderness, at Look- out Mountain, at Antietam and other noted battles which are taken casually from his record. Though he had some narrow escapes he went through without a wound and never spent a day in a hospital, a remark- able testimonial to his fine physical fitness for the arduous duties of soldiering.
After the war IIenry Moats returned to Cleveland and there took up the business of truck gardener until 1873, when he moved to Erie County and bought a farm in the southern part of Berlin Township on the Berlin and Norwalk road. He lived there until his death on April 5, 1911. His father and step-mother had also come to Erie County in 1874, and lived here until they died several years later. They were mem- bers of the Christian Church and William Moats was a republican.
At Cleveland on February 22, 1864, Henry Moats married Jennie Proffitt. She was born in England, October 22, 1844, and in 1853, at the age of nine was brought to the United States by her parents, William and Ann Proffitt, who made their first location in the New World at Albany, New York. Her parents were natives of Harley, England, and came across the ocean in a sailing vessel between Liverpool and New York. About 1860 the Proffitt family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1873 arrived in Erie County, where they bought a farm on the Berlin and Norwalk road just across the line in Huron County. William and Ann Proffitt died on that old homestead both at the age of seventy-six years. While in England they belonged to the Episcopal Church, but attended other denominations in this country. The late Henry Moats was a mem- ber of the Berlin Heights Post of the Grand Army of the Republic and for many years aeted as chaplain in the post. His widow is still living with her son Norris in Florence Township. She was in sympathy with her husband in his church relations, but for the past fifteen years, since there was no Christian Church convenient, she has attended the Methodist Society. Henry Moats was a republican in politics.
William H. Moats was the oldest of the five children still living. Walter is a farmer in Huron County and is married but has no children.
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Jolm is a farmer and fruit grower in Berlin Township of Erie County and has a son and a daughter. Norris is a bachelor and lives with his mother. James lives on his father's old homestead in Berlin Township, is successful as a fruit grower, and is married and has one daughter and one son. In addition to these there was one son George, who died in early childhood.
William II. Moats was married in his home township to Miss Belle Hoag. She was born in Berlin Township, where she received her educa- tion, and is the daughter of William and Lottie ( Whitney ) Hoag. Her father was born near Schenectady, New York, January 10, 1828, and was first married near Buffalo to Sarah Pieree. From New York state he came to Huron County, and while living on a farm there his wife, while in the prime of life, died as a result of attempting to rescue her little daughter from the flames which enveloped her when her clothing caught fire. She and the ehild were both buried in the same grave. By that marriage a son lived to grow up and is now a resident of near Buffalo, New York. After William Hoag married his second wife he spent most of his life in Berlin Township near the village of Berlin, where he died January 12, 1909, Ilis widow is still living, and is now the wife of Louis Marka.
Mr. and Mrs. Moats have two children: Lloyd W., born April 7, 1889, after finishing the course of the Berlin Heights public schools com- pleted a special course at the State University at Columbus, is now living in Berlin Heights, and married Christina Neiding. George II., the second son, born Deeember 10, 1890, graduated from both the Berlin Heights High school in 1908, and attended Oberlin Business College, and is now eashier for Highy Company of Cleveland. Mr. and Mrs. Moats attend the Congregational Church, in polities he is a republican. and is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees. Mrs. Moats is a member of the Tuesday Tourist Club, of which she is a past secretary, and also a member of the Ladies of the Maceabees, Maple City Ilive, Nor- walk, Ohio. The family have an extended relationship with Erie County society.
JOSEPH MICHAEL HENDRICKSON. Long life and prosperity have re- warded the years and aetivities of Joseph M. Hendrickson, one of the oldest and best known citizens of Berlin Township. A native of the county, where he has lived three-quarters of a century, he has not only identified himself in a sueeessful manner with the eares and responsi- bilities of private business but has possessed and exercised that public spirit which looks after the welfare of the community and supports its institutions and co-operative endeavors.
Born in Berlin Township January 6, 1839, he is a son of Jaeoh and Elizabeth (Schoonmaker) Hendrickson, both of whom were born in Sullivan County, New York, and represented the old Dutch stoek that was introduced into the valley of the Hudson during the seventeenth century. Grandfather Joseph Hendrickson spent all his life in New York State, and the same was true of the grandfather Michael Schoon- maker, where they lived the lives of substantial farmers and died when quite old. In church affairs they were affiliated with the Methodist denomination. Grandfather Michael Schoonmaker was a soldier in the War of 1812, took part in one of the battles fought in the vieinity of Detroit, survived that experience and lived to be about three score and ten years of age. One of Mr. Hendrickson's uncles was Rev. Anthony Schoonmaker, who spent his life as a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church and had served as a chaplain with a Union regiment during the Civil war. Jacob Hendrickson was born in New York State in 1811 and
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his wife in 1813, and they were married in Sullivan County, New York, about 1830. While living in that county two children were born, Ben- jamin and Jane. They then came west into the wilderness of Northern Ohio, locating north of Berlin Heights in Berlin Township, where their first home was a log cabin, in which Joseph Michael Hendrickson was born. Other children were also born in that humble habitation, and their first outlook on life was a partially cleared wilderness, which as a result of the efforts of two full generations has been sueceeded by a dis- triet of fertile farms. In 1846 the Hendrickson family returned to New York State, lived there ten years, and then came back to Ohio in 1856, and resumed their location near Berlin Heights. Five years later they moved into Milan Township, and after a residence there finally retired to the home of their daughter, Mrs. P. J. Clark, on the lake shore near Ceylon Junction. The father died there in 1876 and was laid to rest on his birthday, March 23d. His widow passed away at the home of her daughter in Berlin Heights in October, 1895. Joseph M. Hendrickson and his sister, Mrs. Clark, are the only two still living of twelve children. Six of these children grew to maturity and five were married and had children.
The third in the family, and the first to be born in Ohio, Joseph M. Hendrickson was reared partly in Ohio and partly in New York State. Like many other successful men and women in the county he received part of his edneation from that well known instructor of a previous generation, Job Fish. After his marriage in 1864 he rented a farm in Berlin Township for five years and then moved to the eastern part of the township and bought eighty-three and one-half aeres situated on the Berlin and Florence highway. This has since been the scene of his endeavors and has been the place of his home. Under his labors and management the land has been greatly improved and in spite of sucees- sive croppings for many years its fertility is greater than ever. This farm at one time had upon it a large double log house, which was a notable landmark in the early social doings of this section of Erie County. It was the general rendezvous for all the young people of the community, who came for miles around on horseback, both the boys and girls, and to the musie of the fiddles the young folk daneed until the small hours of the morning. During his residence there Mr. Hendrickson has per- fected a number of noteworthy improvements. One of these is a large barn 30x60 feet with an adjoining shed, and there are a number of other structures for the shelter of his stock and grain. All the farm buildings are painted red, and his residence is a large roomy house, and the entire environment is one that suggests hospitality, solid comfort, and high ideals. Around the buildings are the fruit orchard, and for many years he has given close attention to his live stock, keeping cattle, hogs and horses, and evidence of his careful and considerate treatment of his stock is found in the fact that there are two horses on the place, one of them twenty-seven and the other twenty-four years of age, and both "still in the harness." He also mantained a flock of graded shoats for several years. The Hendrickson farm is widely known over Erie County as the "Lone Buckeye Farm."
Though most of his life has been spent in Erie County Mr. Hendriek- son was married, on August 4, 1863, in Lorain County, to Miss Evaulette Rosella Thomas. She was born in Vermont State, September 13, 1842, of old New England stock, a daughter of William Thomas, who died when she was a child. Her mother, whose maiden name was Hannah Hill, then brought her little family to Lorain County to join her oldest son, who had located there several years previously. Mrs. Hannah Thomas, who died at Oberlin, was one of the most notable of the pioneer women in this section of Northern Ohio. She possessed all the vigor and rugged
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kindliness which are associated with the New England character, and all her children and others who came within the circle of her influence cherish her memory and express their gratitude for her many lovely traits of mind and heart.
While in the course of years material prosperity to a more than ordi- nary degree has rewarded the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Hendrickson, they have reason to take chief pride and find their best solace in their family, many of whom now live around them. They were the parents of ten children, and they now have twenty-five grandchildren and one great- granddaughter. Their oldest daughter, Lucy, married Philip Glime, and both are now deceased, and their two children have grown up in the home of their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Hendrickson-Iva is the wife of Mr. Stephens, assistant cashier in the Berlin Ileights Bank, and Archie is now a musician in the United States navy, serving on the battleship Utah. Mark, the second child, is a clerk in a mercantile house at Norwalk; he married Bertha Bohrer, and his four children are Hazel, Ella May, Mark, Jr., and Laverne. Preston is a farmer in Milan Township ; he married Edith Sanders and has five daughters, Lucile, Margorie, Aletha, Clarice and Frances. Myra is the wife of William Gordon of Berlin Heights, and their three children are Evanlette R., Arthur and Robert. Eva is the wife of Charles Clipson of Berlin Heights, and their children are Raymond and Addison. Maud is the wife of Willis Lowry, a farmer near Berlin lleights, and their children are named Nelson, Dorothy and Albert. Joe is now the active manager of his father's farm ; he married Anna Fish, and his children are named Norman, Alma, Helen, Charles and Mildred. Mrs. Lena JJudson has one son, William. Earl married Anna Steiger and lives on a farm in Berlin Township and has a daughter named Lena. Helen, the youngest, is still unmarried and lives at home. It is an interesting fact that Job Fish, the educator already mentioned as having furnished Mr. Hendrickson with part of his early instruction, also presided over the school careers of all these children excepting two. Mr. Hendrickson is a strong repub- lican, his sons vote in the same faith, and Mrs. Hendrickson and most of the family are members of the Methodist Church.
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