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 70
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Jackson Parker, father of George F., settled in Margaretta Town- ship. Erie County, Ohio, in the late '50s of the last century, being then a comparatively young man. He engaged in agriculture and for many years was one of the township's best known citizens, as he remained here until his death, which took place in 1913, when he was in his eighty- fifth year. In polities he was independent. Both he and his wife were natives of Pennsylvania.
Their son. George F. Parker, was reared in Margaretta Township and educated in its publie schools. He was early initiated into all the mysteries of farm life and labor and has since seen no reason to ehange his vocation, being now the owner of an excellent farm of 158 acres, well provided with commodious barns and outbuildings and a substan- tial and comfortable residence. Ile raises the usual erops to be found in this locality and gives considerable attention to fruit growing, in which he has been very successful. In polities he is a republican with independent proclivities.
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Mr. Parker was first married to Margaret Geastier, a daughter of Frederick Geastier, of Oxford Township, this county. Of this union were born five children, namely: Clara C., wife of Elmer Russell, of Groton Township; Frederick J., Freda S., Irvin H. and Grace E. Mr. Parker was married secondly to Mrs. Louise Ried, widow of the Rev. Philip J. Ried, a Lutheran minister, formerly a resident of Mar- garetta Township, this county, who died in February, 1912. Mr. Ried was a native of Michigan, but was educated in St. Paul, Minnesota. For some ten years he was pastor of the Lutheran Church at Castalia, Ohio, and was a man greatly loved and esteemed. By Mr. Parker's first marriage there were three children, Mildred, Theodore and Ruth. Mr. Parker is an active, up-to-date citizen, progressive and public- spirited, taking a friendly interest in his neighbors' welfare as well as in his own, and he and his estimable wife, who is a lady of culture and refinement, are among the most popular residents of this township.
ALBERT H. MATT. One of the leading industries along the lake shore of Erie County is that concerned with the collecting and handling and marketing of fish. At the little City of Huron the main business along that line is the Huron Fish Company, of which Albert H. Matt is secretary and general manager. This is a highly prosperous concern, and its success can be largely traced to the energy and judicious man- agement of Mr. Matt. The company is engaged both in the production or catching and the shipping of fish as a wholesale house. The business was incorporated in 1907 with John Lay, Sr., president, Oscar Lay as vice president, and Mr. Matt as manager and secretary. While the capital stock is $5.000, the operations of the firm are on a much larger and more important scale than this capitalization would indicate. The company has a large and well-equipped plant at the Huron wharf, with one building 30 by 50 feet, and the fish house proper, a structure 40 by 75 feet, both nearly new buildings. The company ships fish to hundreds of towns and cities between the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Coast and from Wisconsin south to Nashville, Tennessee. They handle from about 500 to 800 tons of fresh fish each season. Since 1911 Mr. Matt has been the chief factor in the management of this business. The other four stockholders in the company are John Lay. Sr., of Sandusky, one of the pioneers in the fish business around Lake Erie; Charles Lay and Oscar Lay, sons of the first named, both of Sandusky, and John Lay, Jr., another son, of Port Clinton, Ohio.
Mr. Matt is a grandson on his mother's side of B. A. Hudson, who came to Huron during the '30s and in the early '60s founded the fishery plant now owned and managed by the Huron Fish Company. B. A. IIndson not only operated at Huron, but also in Monroe, Michigan, finally disposing of his plant in the former eity in the '70s and selling his interests at Huron in 1890 to John G. Matt, father of Albert H. Mr. Hudson then retired from active business and spent his last years in comfort, passing away December 7, 1897, when past sixty years of age. Hle was born in Oneida County, New York, February 1, 1832, and came with his people from Buffalo to HIuron by lake boat during the carly '30s. Both his parents died in Erie County. B. A. Hudson married Julia Williams at Flint, Michigan, August 22, 1856. She died in lluron June 16. 1892. The Hudsons were among the early members of the Episcopal Church at IInron, and were among its chief support- ers. B. A. Iludson was a radical democrat, and always showed an active interest in local affairs. serving as a member of the town eonneil. In the early days he was an overseer of the Wheeling Dock at Huron.
John (. Matt, father of Albert II., was born in Sandusky, Ohio, in 1853, and died at his home October 27, 1914. His parents were John G.
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and Otelia (Bermadinger) Matt, both natives of Germany, who came to America during the '40s and located in Sandusky. That was a time when practically all traffic across the ocean was by sailing vessel, and a sailing ship brought them to America, and from New York City they came on to Sandusky by way of the Hudson River, the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes. After their family had grown up, John G. Matt, Sr., and wife removed to Venice, Ohio, and he died there when past sixty and she when about seventy-two years of age. They were Catholic in the old country, having been reared in that faith in Baden, Germany, but after coming to America became associated with the Episcopal Church, and died in that faith. There was a large family of children, among whom may be mentioned Mrs. J. B. Weber, of Sandusky ; Mrs. Frank Shepherd, of Venice; Mrs. J. G. Gillard, of Montana, and E. J. Matt, of Iluron. John G. Matt, Jr., grew up in Sandusky and Venice and received his education at Castalia, Ohio, and in Oberlin College. He came to Huron as a young man and took work as a mercantile clerk with Mr. Shepherd, later became a grocer, and a few years after that was made foreman of the fish business of the Wickham Company. After spending a year or two in the West seeking renewed health, in 1890 he returned to HIuron to take up the business of his father-in-law, Mr. Hudson, and some years later advanced from a partnership to sole ownership of the industry. In those days the plant was known as IIudson Brothers & Matt. In 1895 John G. Matt sold the business to Henry Lay, of Sandusky, and after working as a fish buyer for a New York City house two or three years, retired. John G. Matt, Jr., was married in Huron, February I, 1876, to Miss Sarah E. Hudson, daugh- ter of B. A. Iludson, already mentioned. She was born in IIuron August 24, 1857, was reared and educated and has spent practically all her life in this locality. She occupies her own home on Ohio Street in Huron, and is a faithful and diligent member of the Episcopal Church. She was the mother of two sons, one of them being Albert H. and the other Lester E.
Lester E. Matt was born June 4, 1880, and now lives at Flint, Michi- gan, where he operates a moving-picture show, a business in which he is exceedingly successful. He has been twice married, and by his first wife has a daughter, Elizabeth, aged ten.
Albert H. Matt was born in Huron November 11, 1876, grew up in his native village, was well educated both in the public schools and also as a student in the Ohio Northern University at Ada, and began his business career as clerk in a store, and he also worked at the dock, and learned the trade or vocation of fireman and hoister. In that, as in every other capacity, he proved himself a skillful and reliable work- man, though on reviewing the ten years spent in that way Mr. Matt feels that much of the time was practically wasted, or that at least he was standing still. He dates the beginning of his productive career from 1911, when he assumed active management of the Huron Fish Company.
Mr. Matt was married at Canal Dover, Ohio, June 11, 1902, to Miss Ethel L. Miller, who was born in that town September 6, 1879, and was graduated from the high school there with the class of 1897. Her father, Lemuel W. Miller, born at Canal Dover, Ohio, December 10, 1842, is now living at Canal Dover. For many years he and his father were totally identified with iron-ore industry in Tuscarawas County. Mr. Miller's wife, whose maiden name was Birchfield, was born at Canal Dover April 9, 1848, and died September I, 1901, and by his second marriage he has a son, Clyde. The children of the first wife still living are Mrs. Matt; Carl J., of Akron, Ohio; and O. S., of Seattle, Washington.
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Mr. and Mrs. Matt have one child, Lucile E., born July 17. 1903, and now showing marked capacity as a student in the graded schools. Mr. and Mrs. Matt are members of the Episcopal Church, in which he is serving as vestryman. He has taken a prominent interest in the Masonic Order, and has passed a number of degrees in both the York and Scottish rites, being a member of Mark Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Hluron, Ohio, and is a man who in all his relations has stood on the firm ground of integrity and personal honor.
IRA BENTLEY. Now living virtually retired in the village of Bir- mingham, Florence Township, after many years of close and successful identification with the basic industry of agriculture, Ira Bentley is a sterling and popular representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Erie County and is still the owner of the fine old homestead farm on which his paternal grandfather settled upon coming to this county, about a decade after the close of the War of 1812. On this ancestral homestead, which was obtained by his grandfather directly from the Government, Ira Bentley was born on the 25th of December, 1856, and he is a son of John Bentley, Jr., who was born on the same homestead, on the 4th of June, 1830.
John Bentley, Sr., grandfather of him whose name introduces this article, was born in the State of New York, on the 20th of April, 1782, and in his native commonwealth, in December, 1818, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Anna Parker, whose birth occurred in that state on the 1st of September, 1792. A few years after the close of the War of 1812, in the latter part of the second decade of the nineteenth century, John Bentley, Sr., came with his wife and children, the latter being then three or four in number, from the old Empire State to Erie County, Ohio, and it is a matter of family record that the long overland journey was made with wagons and ox teams. In the virgin forest wilds of what is now Florence Township John Bentley, Sr., entered claim to a tract of land on the present East River Road, so designated by rea- son of its situation on the east side of the Vermilion River, and this pioneer farm, which was then entirely unimproved and in a section where Indians and wild game were in evidence, is now owned by him to whom this sketch is dedicated, the place being endeared to him by many hallowed memories and associations. The farm comprises 150 aeres, and its improvement and development represent the work of three generations of the family, his father having succeeded to the own- ership of the property and he himself having come into possession of the homestead as the representative of the third generation. It is now one of the valuable farms of the county, the land being of unimpaired fertility and under a high state of cultivation, and the permanent improvements being of substantial and attractive order, including a good honse of nine rooms, now occupied by the tenant who has charge of the farm, and the barn being 30 by 68 feet in dimensions, with wings and wagon sheds attached. The original domicile of the family was a primi- tive log house of the type common to the pioneer days. and John Bentley, Sr., with the assistance of his sons, gallantly carried forward the work of reclaiming his land, it having been his privilege to aid in the progress of eivie and industrial activities in Erie County and to have become a substantial and influential citizen of Florence Township, where he continued to reside on his home farm until his death, which ocenrred March 29, 1859, his widow surviving him only a few years and being called to the life eternal on the 28th of April, 1862. He was a lifelong supporter of the principles of the democratic party, and his wife held membership in the Christian Church. They became the par-
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ents of seven children, of whom brief individual record is given in the appended paragraph :
Phoebe Ann became the wife of James Wood and died without issue, though she and her husband had one adopted child, who likewise is now deceased. Andromeda married Silas Dunham, and both were residents of the State of Michigan at the time of their death. Of their children, only one is now living. Parker continued to be engaged in farming in Florence Township until his death, and further mention of him is made on other pages, in the sketch dedicated to his son, George P. James, the next in order of birth, died in infancy. Margaret became the wife of Dr. Moses Trumbull, and they continued their residence in Ohio until their death, all of their children likewise being now deceased. Anna became the wife of Ebenezer Ilopkins, and both died in Florence Township, this county. They were survived by four children, of whom two are still living. John, Jr., the youngest of the seven children, was the father of Ira Bentley, subjeet of this review.
John Bentley, Jr., was reared to the sturdy discipline of the pioneer farm which was the place of his nativity, was educated in the primitive schools of the locality and period, these having been largely maintained on the subscription plan, and he continued to reside on the old home- stead until his death, which occurred on the 26th of April, 1910. After the death of his parents he purchased the interests of the other heirs and thus succeeded to the ownership of the home farm, upon which he made many improvements. For many years he held precedence as one of the progressive, energetic and successful representatives of the agricultural industry in his native county, where his sterling character and worthy achievement gave him secure place in popular confidence and esteem. Ile was unswerving in his allegiance to the democratic party, but had no desire to enter the arena of practical polities or to become a candidate for political office.
In Florence Township was solemnized the marriage of John Bentley, Jr., to Miss Jane A. Miller, who was born in New York City on the 13th of March, 1832. She was a daughter of John U. and Esther (Krantz) Miller, who came from their native State of New York and numbered themselves among the pioneer settlers in the present Town- ship of Florence, where they passed the remainder of their lives, both passing away after the middle period of life and Mrs. Miller having survived her husband by a few years. They became the parents of nine sons and four daughters, and of the number, five are still living. Mrs. Bentley proved a true helpmeet to her husband and was a loving and devoted wife and mother. She preceded her husband to the life eternal, her death having occurred on the 11th of July, 1904. Of the two children, Ira, of this sketch, was the younger, and the elder child, Ellen, who was born May 30, 1855, died on the 23d of January, 1864.
Ira Bentley acquired his early education in the common schools of Florence Township and was closely associated with the work of the home farm from his early yonth until the autumn of 1912, when he retired from the active labors and responsibilities that had long engrossed his attention and removed to the Village of Birmingham, where he has since owned and occupied an attractive residence of eleven rooms, the same occupying a large lot, with a frontage of sixty-six feet on Main Street. Mr. Bentley, as the one surviving child, inherited the old home- stead farm, and it is pleasing to record that he still retains possession of the same. Ile has always taken lively interest in all that concerned the welfare of his native township and county and has been loyal and public-spirited as a citizen. He served two terms as trustee of Florence Township and for a number of years as township assessor, his political
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support being given to the democratic party. He was formerly affiliated with the Knights of the Maecabees.
In Florence Township, when a young man, Mr. Bentley wedded Miss Olivia Partello, who was born in Gratiot County, Michigan, on the 20th of Angust, 1860, and who was there reared and educated, her parents, Phineas and Amelia ( Whipple) Partello, having been early settlers of that county. Her father was born in the State of New York and her mother in the Province of Ontario, Canada, their marriage having been solemnized in Clinton County, Michigan. They removed to Gratiot Connty and became early settlers near the present thriving little City of St. Louis, the metropolis of the county, where Mr. Partello reclaimed a farm from the forest and became a prosperous agriculturist and infin- ential citizen. He was born October 7, 1818, and died on the 4th of August, 1895, one of the venerable and honored pioneers of Gratiot County. His wife was born November 28, 1821, and passed to eternal rest on the 26th of September, 1906. Both were members of the Baptist Church and Mr. Partello was a staunch advocate of the cause of the republican party.
Mr. and Mrs. Bentley have three children-Gertrude A., who was born July 27. 1880; John Bentley HI, who was born February 27, 1882; and Leona M., who was born December 8, 1901. The daughter was afforded the advantages of the excellent public schools of her native county, and is now the wife of Charles W. Burke, a representative mer- chant of Bellevue, Huron County, where Mrs. Burke herself conducts a prosperous millinery business. They have one child, Vivian, who was born in 1900. John Bentley III supplemented the discipline of the public schools by an effective course in Oberlin Business College, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1908. IIe is now secretary of both the S. R. File Company and the Cleveland Salt Company, important industrial concerns in the City of Cleveland. IIe married Miss Louise Heimsath and they have one daughter, Cath- erine. Miss Leona M. Bentley remains at the parental home and is a member of the class of 1916 in the Birmingham High School.
CHARLES A. BLAIR. During his long residence in Erie County and Florenee Township, Charles A. Blair from modest beginnings has drawn around him for the comfort and happiness of his later years such sub- stantial compensations as a fine farm and its improvements. the credit for having contributed to the general development of the community, and the confidenee and good will of his fellow-citizens. The homestead which he and his good wife have occupied since their marriage is located along the Vermilion River. As an agriculturist Mr. Blair has deservedly prospered. He represents some of the oldest stock of citizenship found in this part of Ohio, and the people of his relationship have always been among the substantial members of any community where they have lived.
A native of Florence Township, Charles A. Blair was born on his father's farm north of Birmingham, September 8, 1868. His parents were Albert and Eliza J. (Graves) Blair. His father was born in the same township, April 3, 1843, and is now living quietly retired at the agu of seventy-two in Vermilion Village. All his active life he spent as a farmer, and his name has always been mentioned with respect in this part of the state. Albert Blair was a son of John and Ann ( Beatty) Blair, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of New York State. They were married in New York, and after two children had been born they took passage on a vessel at Buffalo, and coming up the lakes, landed at Lorain, Ohio, in the year 1836. John Blair had learned the trade of cooper. and brought with him to Ohio a small equipment of tools and supplies. On reaching Lorain he had only a few cents in
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his pocket, and faced a strange community with undaunted courage and had soon made himself a respected worker and citizen. Accom- panying John Blair and his wife were the former's parents, Calvin and Frances (Terrell) Blair. After landing at Lorain, John Blair moved into Florenee Township, loeating a mile and a half north of Birming- ham, and there he set up a shop and started to work at his trade as a cooper. Ile also bought a home, and his parents lived with him until they passed away. For some years John Blair followed his trade and also improved a fine farm of 124 acres, and eventually gave all his attention to its management. He died there May 31, 1895, at the age of eighty-nine, and his wife passed away in 1884 at the age of seventy- five. It is due to the memory of .these good people to say that they contributed mueh to the improvement of their part of the township. They were hard-working and God-fearing people, were closely identified with the loeal Baptist Church as long as it existed, but after the number of the society declined until a church could no longer be supported, they became attendants of the Methodist Episcopal Church. John Blair was first a whig and later a republican, and in his life exemplified many of the best qualities of the pioneer. He had established his home in Flor- ence Township before the Vermilion Road was laid out.
In the home which had been established by his father at that early date Albert A. Blair grew up, and after his marriage took up farming as his occupation. Ile located on a place near the old home, and in the course of his aetive eareer gave many improvements to his farm of sixty-three acres. In 1908 he sold out, and he and his wife have since lived retired in Vermilion. He followed auctioneering for many years. Albert Blair has long been an active republican in his part of the county, has held the office of trustee and assessor of his township, and in every relation has given a good aceount of himself. During the exciting period of the Civil war he enlisted in the One Hundred and Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in 1862, and served about three years, when he was honorably discharged. His wife, Eliza Graves, is a daughter of Martin L. and Jane (Johnston) Graves, the former a native of New York State and of Massachusetts parents, and the latter of Pennsylvania. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Graves lived in Erie County, New York, where he conducted a woolen factory, and on moving to Erie County, Ohio, bought a farm in Florence Township, where he and his wife spent the rest of their days. He was born in 1812 and died in 1890, and his wife, who was a few years his junior, died in 1887. They were active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he served as an official, and politically he was identi- fied with the whig and republican parties. The genealogies of both the Blair and Graves families have been fully traced out and the record of the various generations can be found in published form.
The oldest in a family of three sons and five daughters, all of whom are living except two, and all married except the youngest son, Charles A. Blair grew up on his father's farm in Florenee Township, gained his education in the local schools, and has found a contented and useful career in the vocation of agriculture. He was married in Vermilion Township to Miss Emma E. Gegenhimer. She was born in that locality December 16, 1869. Both she and Mr. Blair were students at the same time in the old school at Axtel. Her parents were Phillip and Catherine (Miller) Gegenhimer, both natives of Germany. Her father was born in Baden, came to the United States at the age of nineteen, locating in Lorain County, and his parents followed him to America. Mrs. Gegen- himer was brought to this country when only one year of age, her par- ents locating in Brownhelm Township of Lorain County, where Mr. and Mrs. Gegenhimer married, and subsequently located ou a farm in Berlin Vol. II-30
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Township of Erie County. Mr. Gegenhimer died in 1898 at the age of sixty, and his widow, who is nine years younger than her husband, is still living on the old homestead of sixty-four aeres, which is under the management of her two sons.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Blair located on a good farm of 101 acres along the Vermilion River, in Florence Township. They have brought this under complete cultivation, have added many improve- ments, and their principal industry has been dairy farming.
The home circle of Mr. and Mrs. Blair comprises three children. Waldo T., born August 20, 1893, was educated in the Birmingham High School and is still at home. Merwyn Hayden, born Mareh 31, 1900, is now attending high school, and Elton Roosevelt, born April 5, 1906, is in the grammar schools. As the name of his youngest ehild would indieate, Mr. Blair is a republican, and while never seeking office, has proved himself a valuable member of the community. He and his wife attend the Methodist Episcopal Church in Birmingham.
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