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 77
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Rev. Mr. Bartlett was married to Miss Clara Kellogg, who was born in Fairfield Township, Huron County, Ohio, October 22, 1849. She was there reared and educated and after her marriage became a member of the Society of Friends, in the faith of which she died May 16, 1886. Reverend Bartlett was again married when united with Miss Mary Anna Rosekelley, who was born at Huron, Erie County, Ohio, August 20. 1846, reared and educated there, a daughter of Edward and Mary (Jeffrey ) Rosekelley, natives of England and members of the English Church. They were married in their native land, and when their first child, Elizabeth, was four months old, in June, 1842, they emigrated to America in a sailing vessel, arriving at Montreal, Canada, after a long voyage and then making their way to Buffalo, New York, and on to Ilnron, where were born their other five children: Edward, Mary Anna, John, William and George. Of these, Mrs. Bartlett, John and William are still living.
After their marriage, Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett settled on Mrs. Bartlett's farm of eighty-eight acres, which she had purchased in 1888. Rev. Mr. Bartlett had bought a small place adjoining, on which he had erected a fine eight-room home and good farm buildings, which are still kept in the best of condition. On Mrs. Bartlett's farm there are a large house and barn, erected by the former owner, Peter Hathaway, an early settler of Milan Township. The erops from these properties inelude corn, wheat, oats, potatoes and fruit, and Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett have local reputations as skilled agriculturists. They have an important place in the life of the community, and particularly in regard to its spiritual welfare, Mrs. Bartlett being a member and elder of the Friends Church. Both have been active workers in the cause of prohibition, and have been stanch supporters of all movements making for advancement in morality, education and good eitizenship.
GEORGE M. SANDS. After many years spent in tilling the soil of Milan Township, George M. Sands is now living in comfortable retire- ment at his attractive cottage home, located on the Abbott Road, in Milan Township. While not born here, Mr. Sands was brought to this township as a child of three years, and his entire career has been passed within its borders. He has contributed in various ways to the advance- ment and development of his community, and bears the good will and esteem of his fellow men, among whom he has lived a life of integrity, honesty and probity.
Mr. Sands was born at Loughlin Corners, in Berlin Township, Eric County, Ohio, May 29, 1852, and is a son of William and Alvina (Sales) Sands. William Sands was born at Erie, Pennsylvania, where his father died, and following that event his widowed mother, Nancy Longhlin) Sands, brought her children to Erie County, Ohio, settling
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in the little colony at Loughlin Corners. After some years there she came to Milan Township, and here her death occurred when she was eighty-six years old, some time during the late '80s. She had three children : William ; George L., who married and left three children at his death; and Julia, who married John Wetmore, and died when about fifty years of age, leaving two sons and two daughters.
William Sands was educated in the district schools and brought up to agricultural pursuits, in which he was engaged throughout his life. He was married in Berlin Township, and in 1855 came to Milan Town- ship, where he was living at the outbreak of the war between the North and the South. When the call came for 100-day men, in 1861, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Regiment, Ohio National Guard, in which he served 128 days, although he was never called upon to do service outside of the state. His military service completed, he returned to the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, and through thrift, industry, energy and good management accumulated and put under cultivation a fine and valable farm of 146 acres. In the operation of his property Mr. Sands displayed the possession of skill as a farmer, reaping rich returns from his labors, and in the evening of life was able to retire from active pursuits, and with his wife went to Milan. where Mrs. Sands passed away in 1904, at the age of seventy years, the father surviving until January 15, 1909, and being seventy-nine years of age at the time of his demise. Both Mr. and Mrs. Sands were highly esteemed in the community where they had lived so long, their many excelleneies of heart and mind endearing them to a wide circle of friends. As neighbors they were kind and sympathetic, always ready to generously assist those less fortunate than they, and in their daily life lived their religion. In their deaths the community lost two of the kind of people whose activities and influence have served to build up and develop this part of the state. They were the parents of two sons: George M., of this review; and James, a successful farmer of Milan Township, who married Lavina Jenkins, daughter of James Jenkins, and has two children who have been well educated,-Roy, who married Josie Brown, of Columbus, Ohio, and Forest, who resides with her parents.
George M. Sands attended the district schools of Milan Township, devoting himself to his studies during the winter terms and spending his summers in assisting his father and learning the rudiments of farming. Thus, when he arrived at manhood, he was well trained in body and mind, fitted to enter upon a successful career in the realm of agriculture. Becoming half owner of the old homestead, he began to make numerous improvements, these ineluding a fine 12-room house, painted two shades of green, a large barn, 34 by 76 feet, and commodious tool shed, both painted red, and other suitable buildings. To the eulti- vation and improvement of this property he devoted many years of industry and made it one of the really valuable farms of the township. By recent purchase he also owns 140 aeres of highly improved land on the Abbott Road, where he and Mrs. Sands are living quietly, enjoy- ing the fruits of their many years of earnest labor. Here they have an attractive cottage, painted white, with yellow trimming, and furnished tastefully and comfortably, as well as being equipped with every modern convenienee. All of the Imildings on both farms are substan- tial and commodions, and form material contributions to the upbuilding of Milan Township.
Mr. Sands was married in 1874 in Milan Township to Miss Mary F. Turner, who was born at Fitchville. Huron County, Ohio, February 4. 1851, the estimable daughter of George and Lydia (Thatcher) Turner. both of whom were born in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Sands' parents were
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married in Richland County, Ohio, from whence they removed to lluron County, and there resided on a farm near Fitchville. There the father died at the age of forty-nine years. He was a consistent member of the Baptist Church, in which he was a deacon for a number of years, was one of the highly esteemed and influential men of his community, and in his political views was a very decided republican. The mother, who was also a devout member of the Baptist Church, died at the age of eighty-six years. To Mr. and Mrs. Sands there has been born one daughter; Cora, born March 4, 1875, educated in the public schools of Milan, and became an artist on the piano. She devoted her time to her music until her marriage to Clinton R. Balcom, who was born, reared and educated in Milan Township, and now occupies the old home of Mr. Sands and manages the Abbott Road farm, in addition to which he owns a good farm of his own.
Mr. Sands accredits much of his success in life to the assistance of his devoted wife, whose shrewdness, acumen and business ability have frequently helped him overcome stubborn obstacles which have arisen in his path. Mrs. Sands was well educated in her girlhood, attending the graded schools and the Milan High School, and as a young woman was a popular and capable teacher in the public schools. She has been a devoted and faithful helpmeet, and, like her husband, enjoys the respect and esteem of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Mr. Sands has never been a politician, but has done his full share in aiding his community to better things, and when progressive movements have been brought forward has always lent his influence in their behalf, thus contributing materially to the welfare of the locality in which his long and useful career has been passed.
GUSTWUS BECK. Although more than a decade of years have passed since the death of Gustavus Beck, numerous evidences of his residence in Erie County are to be found in structures erected by his skill and good workmanship. For many years a carpenter, in the evening of life he adopted agriculture as his vocation, and his death occurred at his home on the Abbott Bridge Road, March 2, 1905.
Mr. Beck was born near Georgetown, District of Columbia, October 19, 1816, a son of George and Rebecca Beck, the former a native of County Kent, England, and the latter of the Highlands of Scotland. They came to this country as young people and were probably married in the District of Columbia, where they resided for a number of years. later going to Baltimore, Maryland, where both died. They were the parents of two daughters and four sons. Three of the sons, Walter. Lemuel and Zebulon, lived in Baltimore, Maryland.
Like his brothers, Gustavus Beek adopted the trade of carpenter in his youth, spending six years and six months as an apprentice and journeyman. After some years in the District of Columbia, he came to Erie County, Ohio, with his friends, John and William Black, all locating in Vermillion Township, from whence young Beek subsequently came to Milan Township. Here he met the young lady who later became his wife, and in Milan Township the remainder of his life was passed. A master of his trade, he was connected with the building of many of the largest structures erected in this part of Erie County during his day, and a number of these still stand as monuments to his mechanical genius and conscientious workmanship. When he finally retired from his trade, he took up farming on his wife's homestead. and there passed away, March 2, 1905, aged eighty-six years. Mr. Beek was a stalwart democrat in his political views. He was not an office seeker, but took an intelligent and active interest in affairs as they affected his community, and was always willing to do his full share in
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helping movements for the general public welfare. His fraternal con- nection was with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Milan, and he was fond of the companionship of his fellows, but his chief pleasure was found in his home. His career was characterized by honorable and straightforward dealing with his fellows and his life record con- tains no stain or blemish.
Mr. Beck was married in Milan Township, April 19, 1850, to Miss M. Jane Hollister, who was born in Berlin Township, Erie County, Ohio, September 8, 1833, and who has lived in Erie County throughout her life, with the exception of the year 1854-55, when she was a resident of Wisconsin. For fifty-five years she has made her home at her present residence on Abbott Bridge Road, in Milan Township. She is a daugh- ter of Edwin and Caroline ( Webb) Hollister, the former born in Con- necticut, in 1809. In 1816 he was brought to Erie County, Ohio, by his parents, JJesse and Anna ( Horton) Hollister, and the family lived in Berlin Township from that time until Mrs. Beek's grandparents became aged people, when they went to live at the home of their son, Ashley Hollister, in Huron Township, where the grandfather died at the age of eighty-six years and the grandmother when seventy-three years of age. He was a whig in his political views, and Mrs. Hollister was a member of the Baptist Church.
After their marriage, Edwin and Caroline (Webb) Hollister went to live in Berlin Township. There they engaged in agricultural pur- suits, and the mother died on the farm July 25, 1893, the father passing away at the Old Soldiers' Home, at Sandusky, Ohio, January 13, 1898. She was a Baptist and he a Universalist in religious belief, and in political matters Mr. Hollister was originally a whig and later a repub- liean. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company C, Fifty-fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and participated in several engage- ments, but after eleven months of fighting was finally taken sick and after a period in the hospital received his honorable discharge beeanse of disability. Of the six sons and six daughters that grew up, seven are yet living. Three other children died young. Mrs. Beck is the eldest : Edward, Jr., married Susan Roscoe, who left three children at her death,-Bert, of Cleveland, who is married and has no children, Minnie the wife of Isaac East of Conneaut, Ohio, has seven children, and Vira the widow of Clay Hiekoek of Conneant, has one son ; Anna, of Burton Township, married William Bartow, a farmer, who served three years as a member of Company B. One Hundred and First Regi- ment. Ohio Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil war, saw much hard fighting, although the greater part of the time a wagonmaster, and died July 9, 1872, as a result of disease contraeted in the service, while his widow lives near Greenwich, Ohio, and is the mother of four children,- Frank, deceased, Cora, George and Fannie, all of whom married and had children: Jesse, a resident of Toledo, who is married and has a family : Amelia, the wife of Joseph Roscoe, of Toledo, with a family ; Harvey. of Huron, who is married and has a family ; and Franees, who is the wife of William Laughlin, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. Of this family, Jay, Edwin, Jr., Jesse and Frederick, as well as the father, all were soldiers in the Union Army, and Jay died while in the service. The others now deceased are James, Cecelia and Lenora.
Edwin Hollister, Jr., enlisted May 6, 1861, in Company B, known as the Erie Rangers, of the Third Ohio Cavalry. After several engage- ments, the company and regiment were veteranized and served until September, 1865. Mr. Hollister was with the forces of General Wilson in the great raid from Gravelly Spring, Tennessee, to Macon, Georgia, in 1865, and on several oceasions was wounded, once by a sabre eut on top of the head, once by a musket ball through the right leg, and onee
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in the chest, where he still carries a bullet as a memento of his brave and faithful service. He receives a pension of one dollar a day. Mr. Hollister is a practical mechanic, and although he was for nine years a tenant of the Soldiers' Home, is now making his home with his sister. Mrs. Beck.
Mrs. Beck has no children. During her long residence in Milan she has been the eye-witness to many changes and developments, and has done her full share in advaneing the community. She has many friends in her home community, and is highly respected and esteemed by all who know her.
WILLIAM MCREYNOLDS. One of the commanding constructive figures of Northern Ohio was the late William McReynolds, who died in Milan June 3, 1904. While he lived in Erie County only a short time. his broad and varied operations as a contractor, railroad builder, and in many other constructive enterprises, made him a familiar figure in this and other counties of Northern Ohio. Few men accomplished a more substantial success in a lifetime than the late William MeReynolds.
He was born in Ireland St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1830, and was of old Seoteh-Irish ancestry. When not yet in his teens he was brought by his parents to the United States on a sailing vessel, and the family located in Cleveland, where the father soon died and the widowed mother was left to take care of her children with very limited means. One of the sons, John, served as a soldier in the Civil war and died from illness while still in the army. The two daughters are also now deceased.
The late William MeReynolds gained his education in the schools of Cleveland, and while still a boy showed great ability in practical mathematics, his faculty as a caleulator being of great aid to him in his subsequent career as a contractor. Ile met and overcame many obstacles in his youth, came to know men and hard work on intimate terms, was a natural leader, and after building up a business as a con- tractor had the good fortune to assemble about him picked men and was nearly always successful in his undertakings. As a contractor his equipment and staff of employes were used in constructing most of Cleveland's pavements .for many years. He built the Fairmont reservoir and handled other large constructive undertakings. He had almost a genius at figuring out cost and all the details of a contract and while properly safeguarding himself against failure was known for the efficiency and reliability with which his work was always performed. IIe contracted for and built the Lake Shore electric street car line from ('leveland to Lorain, and served as president of the company for several years. He was also the pioneer in the commercial pork packing industry at Cleveland, and packed and shipped the first barrel of pork sent out of that city as a regular commercial proposition. While he was identified with the pork packing business he fell into a vat of scalding water and nearly lost his life. So remarkable was his recovery that the physicians attending him at the hospital made a special record of his case. For a mimber of years Mr. MeReynolds was associated with Messrs. Price and Stewart of Norwalk in the manufacture of brick. They had a large plant in Inron County, and Mr. MeReynolds invented a new process for paving brick which enjoyed high favor on the market. In later years he retired from active business and bought a large farm in Newbury Township near Burton, twenty-five miles from Cleveland, and lived there until February, 1904, when he came to Milan to his wife's old home on Ehn Street, and died there a few months later.
In polities he was a republican, and somewhat active in municipal affairs in Cleveland. Mr. MeReynolds also made a record of faithful service as a soldier in the Civil war, and was a mmeh esteemned member
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of the Grand Army Post at Cleveland. He was reared in the Episcopal Church, but later joined the Christian denomination after his first marriage.
At Cleveland he married Miss Minerva E. Denton. She was born in Huron County, and died at Cleveland when about sixty years of age. She was an active worker in the Christian Church. She became the mother of five sons and two danghters, the daughters dying as children. The sons were: Rolland F., who is married and lives in Cleveland, where he is in the contracting business; William D., who died in Angust, 1915, leaving three children: John, an extensive contractor at Cleve- land; Edwin, in the plumbing business at Cleveland, and the father of two sons; Bert, a railroad man in Cleveland.
In Milan October 7, 1903, Mr. MeReynolds married Miss Jessie M. MeKay. She was born in the comfortable old house on Elm Street in Milan which she still owns and occupies and where her husband passed away. Her birth occurred June 1, 1861. and she grew up in this locality, attended the high school and normal, and also a private school, and at the age of sixteen did her first work as a teacher. For twenty-five years she was one of the most popular and capable educators in this section of Ohio. She comes of the old MeKay clan of Scotland. Some of the MeKays came across the ocean to America during the reign of Queen Anne and acquired the entire section of the Province of New York, now Ulster County. Through another branch Mrs. Me Reynolds is descended from the Van Rensselaers of the pioneer Holland Dutch stock of New York. Mrs. MeReynolds' grandfather was David McKay. who grew up in his native state and married Miss Margaret Hadley, also of that state. In later years they came to Ohio, and spent the close of their lives in Milan, where David died in 1849 when past eighty years of age, and his wife some twenty years later at the age of ninety-three. David MeKay served as justice of the peace in New York State, was a farmer by occupation, and was always active in local affairs. John McKay, father of David, owned a large estate in New York and gave each of his children a farm. The son David was a college educated man, though his advantages were not quite so liberal as those of many of the other children. David MeKay and wife had five children, two sons and three daughters. Of these, William L. McKay, the father of Mrs. MeReynolds, was reared in New York State and married there Miss Mary Forest Dunlop. She was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and when six years of age was brought to America by her parents, who died in New York State. She grew up there and was reared in the home of Rev. James Williams of Orange, New Jersey. From 1850 until their death William McKay and wife lived in Milan and at the old home on Elm Street which they built and in which Mrs. McReynolds now lives. William MeKay died there in July, 1901, and his widow on February 6, 1907. Both were members of the Episcopal Church. In the MeKay family were the following children: William J. died when six months old; George H., who was born in Bellevue, Ohio, October 6, 1849, was only six months of age when his parents removed to Milan, and he has lived in that village ever since, having never married. He makes his home with his sister Mrs. McReynolds. Early in life he learned the trade of carpenter and painter, later for nearly forty years had a some- what extended reputation as a bee keeper, and afterwards bought a farm in Huron County near Norwalk. He is a man. of many positive virtues, and one of the leaders in the temperance movement in Northern Ohio. He has himself never chewed or smoked tobacco, has never taken intoxicating liquors, and is never known to have used an oath in his life. He is also an inventor of some note, and owns a patent on a harrow and has also perfected a sun's rays generator. In polities he
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takes broad socialistic views. The next in the MeKay family is Margaret J., wite of Willis M. Driver, a carpenter of Milan, and their children are Forest II., Thomas W., Leo M. and Hazel D. Agnes E. is the wife of Bert Root, a farmer in Oxford Township of Erie County, and they lost both their children, a son and a daughter. Lenora M., who was loved as the flower of the family, died when only fourteen years of age.
Mrs. MeReynolds has for many years been one of the social leaders in the Milan community. She is a member of the Episcopal Church and one of the charter members and vice president of the Fortnightly Travelers Club and of other organizations. She is a former president and is now vice president of the local W. C. T. U. and also belongs to the Milan Grange, Patrons of Husbandry.
MADISON MIXTER. It was some of the fine old Dutch stock that was so valuable as a factor in elearing up and developing the commonwealth of New York State that was introduced into the rural communities of Erie County in the early days by the Mixter family. Mr. Madison Mixter, whose home is now in the Village of Milan, has spent his active career largely as a farmer in this county, and has developed possessions which indicate fully his vigor as a business man, and he has also enjoyed enviable and honorable relations with community affairs.
Going back several generations, his great-grandfather was Daniel Mixter, who was born either in Massachusetts or Connecticut in 1775. The first name of his wife was Esther, and she was born in 1765. They were married in New England, and spent all their lives there where Daniel died October 29, 1841, and his wife on December 20, 1850. They were farmers, thrifty and strong, and worthy to be the heads of a long family line.
Next in line comes George Mixter, who was born January 7, 1795, and died June 8, 1878. Hle married Chloe Calkins on May 22, 1820. and after their marriage they settled on a farm in New England, and spent the rest of his life there. Late in life he became a minister of the Liberal Baptist Church. His wife, who was born November 10, 1800, and died in January, 1895, was the daughter of David and Chloe Calkins, who were New England farmers. Rev. George Mixter and wife had the following children: George Gilbert, born February 10, 1821; Emerson, born May 17, 1823; Lovisa, born April 29, 1826; Addison, and Madison, twins, born July 12, 1829.
Madison Mixter, Sr., who was born on a farm close to the line between Massachusetts and Connecticut, learned the trade of shoemaker under his brother Emerson, and subsequently became a skilled maker of custom shoes and boots, and had a shop near Sandusky for many years. About the time he was of age Addison Mixter came from the East and made settlement in Perkins Township of Erie County, and his wife came to Erie County with her parents previous to that fime, when she was six years of age. After their marriage they moved to Iowa, lived two or three years in that part of the then Far West, but returned to Perkins Township and not long afterward Addison Mixter took up farming as his regular vocation. In March, 1864, he moved to Milan Township, establishing his home on a farm on the east side of the ITuron River two miles north of the Village of Milan. That was his home until his death on August 27. 1890. His wife, who before her marriage was Miss Jane Wolverton, was born in 1828, and died Mareh 27. 1907. They were members of the Presbyterian Church, in which he served as an elder, and he was a very ardent republican. Many years he served as township assessor of real estate and personal property. The children of Addison Mixter and wife were: A. Lindolph, born September 10, 1852, and died February 18. 1853; Charles W., born
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