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 8
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Mr. and Mrs. Cooke reared two daughters, Ella and May. They also had a son Augustus who died in his fourth year. The daughter Ella married Henry A. Morgan and has two daughters named Mary and Josephine. May married Lewis Lea, and at her death left six children, named, Charles, George, Margaret, Mary Virginia, Richard James and Elizabeth Kathryn.
The late Mr. Cooke was a Methodist, while Mrs. Cooke and her sister have membership in Grace Episcopal Church at Sandusky. The home which Mrs. Cooke occupies on Wayne Street at the corner of Adams is one of the attractive landmarks of the Sandusky residence district. It was built by Mr. Bell, at one time president of the Mad River Railroad Company, and Mr. Bell being a bachelor the home was built to suit his special requirements. It was put up in the early '40s, and has been standing on Wayne Street for seventy years or more. It is a stone build- ing, with very thick walls, with well arranged interior, large windows, and is both a comfortable and quaint old place. This home was once the scene of entertainment by Major Camp (a retired U. S. A. officer, who had acquired the home, before it was finished ) of Gen. Winfield Seott with his entire suite. Mrs. Cooke maintains the old home, the walls adorned with many fine paintings, and the visitor finds a constant charm and interest in the large collection of objects which have been purchased and gathered by Mrs. Cooke while traveling abroad.
GEN. JAMES FOWLER CHAPMAN. For many years a prominent and respected resident of Erie County, Hon. James Fowler Chapman, late of Sandusky, won for himself an honorable record, not only as a trust- worthy citizen but as a brave soldier, having served his country in an official capacity throughout both the Mexican and the Civil wars. A son of Arden Chapman, he was the first white child born in Medina County, Ohio, his birth having occurred in a log cabin in the wilds of that section of the state on March 30, 1819.
Coming from substantial English ancestry, Arden Chapman was born and reared in New York State, living there until after his marriage. Migrating with his bride to Ohio about 1810, he secured a traet of Gov- ernment land in Medina County, all of which was at that time in its virgin wildness. Clearing a space in the dense forest, he ereeted a rude log cabin, and immediately began the pioneer task of improving a home- stead. Disposing of his farm a few years later, he engaged in mercantile pursuits in Wayne County, first in the village of Jackson, and later at Republie and Tiffin. Going with his family to Wisconsin in 1858, he located in Albany, and was there a resident until his death. The maiden name of the wife of Arden Chapman was Althedia Hinman. She was born in Bethlehem, Connecticut, of honored Huguenot stock, having been a direet descendant of an exiled nobleman of France. Born in the latter part of the eighteenth century, she received exceptional educational advantages for that day, and prior to her marriage taught school. She died at her home in the Village of Republie, Wayne County, Ohio, leaving four children, namely : James Fowler, Pardee, Caroline A., and Adaline.
Brought up on the parental homestead in Medina County, James F. Chapman obtained his knowledge of the three "R's" in the primitive log schoolhouse, which was furnished with slab seats and had a puncheon floor and a chimney made of earth and stieks. A boy of thirteen years when the family removed to the village of Jackson, Wayne County, he was put to work in the tannery established by his father, driving the horse that pulled the machine used in those days for crushing the tan- bark. In 1846, at the beginning of the hostilities between Mexico and the United States, Mr. Chapman assisted in the recruiting of volunteers for the war, and had the honor of being elected captain of Company F.
James J. Chapman
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Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under command of Col. Samuel Curtis. Going with his regiment to the front, Captain Chapman participated in many of the important battles of that conflict, and at its elose was honor- ably discharged from the service.
Returning to his native state, Captain Chapman was for a short time engaged in business in Seneca County, first at Tiffin, and later at Republie. Coming to Erie County in 1848, he was for five years one of the leading merchants of Castalia. In 1853 he embarked in mercantile pursuits at Albany, Wisconsin, and there conducted a substantial busi- ness until the outbreak of the Civil war. Volunteering his services, he was then commissioned major by the governor of Wisconsin, and soon after was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and given command of the Thirteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, a position which he held for three years, doing valiant service on many a battlefield. While doing guard duty with his brigade along the Tennessee River, Jeff Davis issued a proclamation to the effect that if Colonel Chapman and certain others were captured they were not to be treated according to nsages of civilized warfare, but he never fell into the clutches of the enemy.
Retiring from the army as a brevet brigadier-general, General Chap- man again took up his residence at Castalia, Ohio. Subsequently locat- ing at Clyde, Sandusky County, he was there actively engaged in busi- ness for eighteen years. Coming from there to Erie County, General Chapman purchased the McCartney farm, in Margaretta Township, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits for a time. Removing from there to Sandusky, he subsequently lived retired in that city until his death, September 30, 1899.
On August 30, 1848, General Chapman was united in marriage with Gertrude L. MeCartney, who was born in Erie County, a daughter of William MeCartney, and the descendant of an early Scotch family, whose name was originally spelled MacCartney. Born and brought up in the "Blue Grass region of Kentucky," William McCartney migrated to Ohio in early manhood, and as a seont during the time of the Indian troubles traversed the length and breadth of Northern Ohio ere any permanent settlements had been made within its borders. In 1816 he became one of the first settlers of Sandusky. He secured title to 1,800 acres of land in Erie County, near Venice, he eleared a portion of it. and later engaged in banking, being thus employed when "wild cat" money was in circulation. He became the owner of vast traets of land in both Erie and Sandusky counties, and spent the closing years of his life on his farm in Margaretta Township.
William MeCartney married Eliza B. Cooper, a native of Mount Ver- non, Ohio. Her father. Charles Cooper, an early settler of Mount Vernon. and a well-to-do farmer, was of English descent, being of the fourth generation from the immigrant ancestor. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. McCartney six children were born and reared, as follows: Charles. Catherine C .. JJessup, Gertrude L .. Henry and Harvey.
General and Mrs. Chapman reared but one child, Jessup P. Chapman. who died at the early age of twenty-two years. Mrs. Chapman still resides in Sandusky, and though she has passed the allotted three seore and ten years of earthly life she retains her mental strength and vigor to a remarkable degree, and relates many an interesting incident of her early life. She has in her possession, among other relies of vale, bank bills which were signed by her father when president of the bank.
SAMUEL J. CATHERMAN. Prominent among the brainy, forceful men who spent the larger part of their long and useful lives in Sandusky was the late Samuel I. Catherman, whose name will be held in lasting remembranec in the annals of Erie County history. He was a man of
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indefatigable enterprise, of great inventive talent and marked fertility of resource, as a contractor and builder contributing generously toward the material prosperity of the community, and his services in advancing the industrial interests of city, county and state are worthy of honorable recognition and praise along with the achievements of those who success- fully labored in other fields of endeavor.
A picture of the first engine built in Sandusky is shown in an interest- ing volume entitled the "llistory of the Western Reserve," and from that work we take the following quotation: "There is now living in Sandusky (in 1910) a man in his ninety-third year named J. S. Cather- man, who when he was eighteen years old was employed in the old car shops of the Mad River Railroad in Sandusky. Various parts of the pioneer engine . The Sandusky' were manufactured in the East and ship- ped to Sandusky to be put together. The work was successfully aecom- plished under the direction of Thomas Hogg, the master mechanic who was at the throttle of the machine when it clanged over the strap rails to Bellevue, in 1835. Later Mr. Catherman himself became master mechanic of the shops, and has a vivid recollection not only of the 'Sandusky,' but of the second engine, 'The Erie.' He claims that the Sandusky was the first engine run west of the Alleghany Mountains, and the first one in the world equipped with a steam whistle. A few months ago the still bright old gentleman was interviewed by the 'Sandusky Star Journal,' whose representative drew from him other information which has real historie value. When Mr. Catherman first worked in the Mad River Rail- road shops little side-door ears, much resembling small box ears, were used on all the steam roads. To General Gregg he suggested building cars with a door at each end, and with reversible seats. The idea appealed to Mr. Gregg, and Mr. Catherman was instructed to go ahead, and from the passenger cars which he commenced to build in the Mad River shops have developed the luxurious coaches of today."
Samuel J. Catherman was born in 1817. in Union County. Pennsyl- vania, and died at his home in Sandusky, Ohio, in May, 1911. His father, George Catherman, was also born in Union County, Pennsylvania, and his mother, whose maiden name was Philadelphia Jones, was born and bred in the City of Philadelphia. At the age of fifteen years Samuel was bound out to David Moore, with whom he served an apprenticeship of seven years at the carpenter's trade, after his third year with his employer having control of all the work. When ready to start in life for himself Mr. Catherman returned to Pennsylvania for his mother, sister and brother, and with them came to Sandusky, making the entire journey in a covered wagon. For three years after his arrival he had charge of the earpenter work of Mr. White, after which he was for forty years engaged in contracting and building on his own account. With his first partner, Lawrenee Cable, he assumed as one of his first contracts the construction of 2,000 reapers known as the "ITero" reaper and invented by a Mr. Henderson. That contract was received in the spring of 1856, and in the fall of that year Messrs. Catherman and Cable were awarded the contract for building the Washington Street pavement, and when that was completed the partnership was dissolved.
Mr. C'atherman subsequently erected more than a score of lime kilns and many fine residences. His reputation for rapid and skilful work- manship brought him many contracts of importance, among others having been the erection of the cribbing in the bay, at the east and west ends of the City of Sandusky, for the Mad River Railroad Company, and the building of the Bay Bridge. Employing 300 men in the latter work, the bridge was built in a marvellously short space of time, every stroke of each man employed counting one. On one occasion during the building it was necessary to have an engine and two flat cars at Danbury, and Mr.
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('atherman loaded the engine on the two cars and thus towed duou arross the bay on a seow, and there unloaded them, doing the whole in one day. a feat deemed almost impossible.
Mr. Catherman married in 1844, Clarissa Gregg. who spent her entire life in Sandusky, her birth occurring in 1823, and her death in 1907. Iler father, Benjamin Gregg, a native of New Hampshire, married Clarissa Hibbard, who was born and bred in Vermont, and soon after that happy event the young couple journeyed westward to Ohio, becoming pioneer settlers of Sandusky. Mr. and Mrs. Catherman reared five children, namely : Josephine; Georgia ; Franklin ; William; and Erastus. who died at the age of fifteen years. Josephine, the oldest child, became the wife of Albert Clemons, of Marblehead, Ohio; and their only daughter. Georgia Clemons, married William Stokes, and died in early womanhood, leaving one son. Albert Stokes. Franklin Catherman, the eldest son, now residing in Kansas City, Missouri, married Abbie Wager. and they have five children, Dorothy, Laura, Clara, Georgia, and Herbert. William Catherman, a resident of Oregon, married, and is the father of four children, Lillian, Bessie, William, and Freda. Georgia Catherman. the only member of the family living in Sandusky at the present writing, in 1915. has taught in the first grade of the public schools for a period of thirty-five years, her term of service in that capacity bespeaking her efficiency and popularity as a teacher. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which her father likewise belonged. Mr. Catherman cast his first presidential vote for William Henry Harrison, in 1840, the whig candidate, and after the formation of the republican party was one of the most earnest supporters of its principles.
IRA T. DAVIS. A man of sterling worth and pronounced ability. the late fra T. Davis was for many years closely associated with the advance- ment of the mercantile interests of Sandusky, and later, as an extensive dealer in real estate, did much toward promoting the business prosperity of the city. A son of David Davis, he was born, March 22, 1831. at Coram, Long Island, New York, coming from substantial Welsh ancestry.
A native of New York, David Davis was born on Long Island, Decem- ber 18, 1801. Learning the trade of a carpenter, he followed it in his native county until 1840, when he migrated to Oswego County, New York. locating near Phoenix, where he bought a tract of timbered land, and when not busy at his trade was engaged in tilling the soil. Disposing of his farm in 1848, he purchased a home in Baldwinsville, Onondaga County, and was there a resident for six years. Coming to Erie County, Ohio, in 1854, he settled permanently in Sanduksy, and was here employed as a carpenter and builder during the remainder of his active life, dying at his home on April 5, 1879. He married Charity Bayless. who was born on Long Island, where her father, Thomas Bayless, spent his entire life. She passed to the higher life June 1, 1895, at the venerable age of eighty-eight years. She reared five children, namely : Urania. Ira T., JJohn R., Maria A., and Joshua Bayless.
Brought up and educated in the Empire State, Ira T. Davis came to Sandusky to live about 1850, and soon after established himself in the grocery business on the east side of Columbus Avenue, between Market and Water streets, where he built up the extensive business now so sue- cessfully conducted by his nephew, Frank E. Davis. He continued there twenty-one years, and was afterwards engaged in the dry goods business for five years. llis health failing, owing to his close confinement in the store, he sought employment that would keep him out of doors, and. embarking in the real estate business, built up a lucrative patronage, and continued a resident of Sandusky until his death, which occurred April 11. 1911.
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Mr. Davis married, October 30, 1856, Eunice Ann Woolsey, who was born March 27, 1838, in Auburn, New York, and is of honored English ancestry, being a collateral descendant of Cardinal Woolsey. Her father, Luther S. Woolsey, Jr., was born in New York State, as was his father, Luther S. Woolsey, Sr. Soon after his marriage, he bought land in Jordan, New York, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, at the comparatively early age of fifty-three years. His wife, whose maiden name was Keturah Bloomer, was a native of New York. her birth having occurred at Marlborough on the Hudson, November 27, 1795. She survived her husband, and died at the home of her son Hiram, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, at the advanced age of four score and four years. Luther S. and Keturah Woolsey became the parents of fourteen children, twelve of whom grew to years of maturity, as follows: Elizabeth; Isaac B. ; Asa T .; David ; Johnston V. ; Rebekah ; Eveline ; Luther S. ; Charles ; Mary : Eunice Ann, now Mrs. Davis ; and Iliram B.
On October 30, 1906, Mr. and Mrs. Davis celebrated their golden wedding in the very home in which they began life together as bride and groom, and in which Mrs. Davis and her daughter Caroline are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Davis reared five children, namely : Adelbert B., Jennie D., Caroline O., Hattie, and Charles W. Adelbert married Lucy Cook, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and they have two children, Seth and Leonora. Jennie, now the wife of Dr. Charles E. Stroud, D. D. S., of Sandusky, has two children, Edgar J. and Ira T. Hattie, who married Burt I. Lamb, of Sandusky, now of Norwalk, Ohio, has eight children, Eunice, llorace, Margery. Davis, Robert, Edward, Willis, and John. Charles W., of Dallas, Texas, married Hester Perry, of Baltimore, Maryland, and they have two children, Caroline and Perry. Seth Davis, the eldest child of Adelbert Davis, married George De Witt, of Sandusky, and they have three children, De Witt, Seth, Jr., and Margery Ann. Ira T. Stroud, the oldest son of Dr. and Mrs. Stroud, married Josephine Renner, and they have two children, Charles and John. Edgar J., of Fort Wayne, Indiana, the youngest son, married Opal Pursley of Fort Wayne. As will be seen by the above record, Mrs. Davis has fourteen grandchildren now, in June. 1915, and five great-grandchildren. Mrs. Davis, although well advanced in years, retains full possession of her mental faculties, and show few of the marks of age. unless we regard as such the wisdom and serenity that happily come from useful activity, wide experience, and cheerful content. Miss Caroline Davis was graduated from the Sandusky High School with the class of 1884, and since January, 1886, has been successfully engaged in teaching. Becoming interested in Masonry through her father, she is now a member of the Eleanor Chapter No. 331, Order of the Eastern Star. Fraternally Mr. Davis was a member of Science Lodge No. 50, Free and Accepted Masons: of Sandusky Chapter, No. 72, Royal Arch Masons; of Sandusky Council No. 26. Royal and Select Masters; and of Erie Com- mandery No. 23, Knights Templar. lle was a regular attendant of the Congregational Church, of which Mrs. Davis is a valued member.
TIENRY ('LAY VICTOR. In pioneer communities the tavern or inn was always an important center of community life. Much of the pioneer history of Sandusky involves the name of Henry Clay Vietor, who was one of the very early settlers, and who for a number of years kept a tavern on what was then the outskirts of the village. While his life and career belong to the first half of the last century, it is an interesting fact that one of his children, Miss Florence A. Vietor, is still a resident of San- dusky, her home being at 324 Fulton Street.
Henry Clay Vietor was born in Pennsylvania about 1790. Little is known of his early life, or of his ancestry, but he came to Ohio when still a young man, and knew and was known by practically all the pioneers of
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Erie County. His first location was near Venice, where he kept a tavern some time, and probably as early as 1820 came to Sandusky, and there continued his service for the entertainment of travelers. He purchased land at the northwest corner of Market and Decatur streets, erecting a commodious frame building for his purposes. At that time the location was on the edge of the small but flourishing town, and surrounding the tavern was a dense growth of hazel brush and trees. His fellow eitizens thought him unwise to have built so far from the center of the town, and called his place "Victor's Folly." But subsequent growth and develop- ment proved the wisdom of his choice and as is well known that location is now almost in the heart of the city. The inn subsequently went by the name of Townsend House, and was continued under that name until it burned down a number of years later.
Mr. Victor sold his inn about 1840 and removed to Seneca County, where he bought a farm, and with the exception of about two years spent in Norwalk lived there until his death in 1848. He married Gertrude Nash, who represented one of the early pioneer families of Southern Ohio. She was born in New York City in July, 1799. Her maternal grandfather was Major Horton of White Plains, New York, and a soldier in the Revolution. Mrs. Victor's father came West and was one of the early settlers in Muskingum County, where he secured a large tract of land and founded the Town of Nashport, named in his honor, where both he and his wife spent their last years.
A few years after the death of her husband Mrs. Victor sold the old farm in Seneca County and returned to Sandusky where she lived until her death in 1882. Her first husband was a Mr. Cooke, and by that union there was a son named William Washington. By her marriage to Mr. Victor her eight children were Mary E., Caroline M., Orville James, Ilenry Clay, George W .. Jacob N., Gertrude II. and Florence Annette. Miss Florence A. is the only one of the family now living in Sandusky. She is a well read woman, an interesting conversationalist on different topies, and cherishes the old recollections and associations of her family with early times in Sandusky.
EDWARD LEOPOLD STEUK. Among the energetic and enterprising Erie County men who have met with assured success in the culture of grapes is Edward Leopold Stenk, of Sandusky, who has established an extensive and remunerative business in that line of industry. A son of William Edward Steuk, he was born, May 7. 1850, in the Village of Doneuvitz, Province of Podolia, Russia, of Prussian ancestry.
His grandfather, Johann Steuk, was born, bred and educated in Prussia. He learned the trade of eloth maker, and when the citizens of Poland gave special inducements to manufacturers willing to locate there he accepted the terms offered, he moved there with his family. A few years later he responded to a similar offer made by the citizens of Doneu- vitz, Podolia, Russia, and was there engaged in the manufacture of woolen cloth until his death, in 1852. His wife, whose maiden name was Renate Mittelstaet, was born in Prussia, and died in 1857. They reared three children, as follows: William Edward, father of the subject of this sketch: Rosalia, who married Theodore Reetz, and spent her entire life in Doneuvitz; and Johanna, who, after her immigration to Ohio, married Philip Feiek, and is now living in Sandusky.
William Edward Steuk was born in Jastrow. Prussia, September 29. 1-16. As soon as he had completed his school life he began working in the factory, assisting his Father in every department. Having mastered the details of the business, he engaged in the manufacturing of cloth in Doneuvitz on his own account, remaining in that village until 1853. Disposing then of his factory, he came with his wife and children to
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America, the land of peace and prosperity. Making his way to Ohio. he located in Sandusky, which was then a small hamlet, much of the territory now included within the city limits being covered with brush or timber. Soon after his arrival he invested in land, buying a tract at the corner of Market and Decatur streets, and one on Adams Street. On the Market Street property there stood a grocery, which his wife subsequently managed, while he embarked in the clothing business on Water Street. The latter venture proved a failure, all of his ready money being swept away in a comparatively short time. In trying to decide what he should next do to retrieve his losses, he perceived that grape culture was a success on the nearby islands, and decided to try it. Selling his Adams Street land, he bought a tract lying two miles out, on the Venice Road, and began the raising of grape roots. Meeting with signal success in his undertakings, he there started a winery, and began the manufacture of native wine, thus establishing the business now carried on by his son Edward, and was thus employed until his death, September 4, 1876.
The maiden name of the wife of William Edward Steuk was Johanna Straese. She was born in Osarkow, Poland, in 1823, coming of German ancestry, and died, November 21, 1894. in Erie County. She reared four of her seven children, as follows: Matilda Henrietta, born March 26, 1843; Huldah Amelia, born February 7, 1845; Edward L., the subject of this brief sketch ; and Adelaide Margaret, born June 13, 1854.
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