USA > Ohio > Trumbull County > A twentieth century history of Trumbull County, Ohio; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Vol. II > Part 35
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George A. Griswold was born in Windsor, Connecticut, on the 5th of October, 1814, son of Abram and Cornelia (Humphrey) Griswold. The parents were both natives of Connecticut, the father born at Windsor, No- vember 30, 1788, and the mother at Canton, July 30, 1787. After their marriage they located in the former city, where the husband was engaged in merchandising for a number of years prior to his migration to Trumbull county. He came to the farm in Gustavus and Kinsman townships in 1816, and two years afterward loaded his household and his household goods onto a wagon and started on his long journey to the wilderness north- west of the Ohio river. His family then consisted of his wife and two children, and when they arrived at their destination they found a double log-house awaiting theni as their residence. This remained the family home until the death of the father, September 6, 1865. Abram Griswold was a good farmer and a good man ; a deacon in the Congregational church and a true Christian ; was a leader in the founding of local government and good order, serving for many years as justice of the peace. The widow died June 14, 1869, the mother of the following four children who reached maturity : Adeline Cornelia, George A., Ellen Frances and Edwin H. Gris- wold. George A. is the only one now living.
George A. Griswold was a lad of only four when the family occupied the double log house in Gustavus township and after attending various district schools and thoroughly exhausting their facilities became a stu- dent at the Western Reserve College, from which he graduated in 1835. 1
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He then went south, teaching school during his absence of nine months at Woodville, Mississippi. Upon his return he taught the home district school, engaged in farming and followed the life of the industrious and useful citizen of those days. At his marriage in 1842 he located on the homestead in Gustavus township, upon which his wife died in 1887. In the following year he retired to Kinsman, making his home with M'rs. Birrell, his daugh- ter.
With the passing of the generations which are spanned by his life, Mr. Griswold has seen the establishment and development of a new civilization around him. It has not only sprung from the wilderness in material form, but has developed in the higher forms of local government, national politics and religious movements. For many years he held such local offices as clerk and treasurer of his township, and attained early prominence as a vigorous opponent of slavery, being chosen a delegate to the convention which met in a barn at Granville, Licking county, and nominated Birney for governor on the anti-slavery platform. Since he became of voting age he has either been a Whig or a Republican, and, in his church connections, either a Presbyterian or a Congregationalist.
On September 19, 1842, Mr. Griswold was wedded to Miss Mary A. Sperry, daughter of Eli Sperry. His wife, who was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and reached young girlhood in that city, came to Trumbull county with her parents. She died in Gustavus township January 28, 1887, the mother of three children-George H., whose biography is published elsewhere in this work : Ellen M., wife of Mr. Birrell, whose sketch is also given elsewhere; and Marion A., now Mrs. George L. Peabody, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
JOHN C. BURROW. postmaster at Cortland, Trumbull county, Ohio, was born March 29, 1862, in Cortland. His parents were Anthony and Martha (Hadsell) Burrow. The mother was born September, 1832, in Mecca township, Trumbull county, and the father in England, in the month of November, 1823. He came to America as a young man and subsequently he found his way to Cortland, then known as Baconsburg, where he engaged in rope making, which vocation he carried on successfully, until the autumn of 1862, when he enlisted with Company C, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served in the cause of the Union until June 5, 1865. He saw great hardship in both the rebel prisons-Libby and Andersonville-being confined in both about eighteen months. He was captured at the battle of Chickamauga. After his return from the service of his adopted country, he went to Pierce county. Wisconsin, and there en- gaged in farming for five years. He then returned to Cortland, Ohio, and there followed stone work several years, then retired, dying December 21, 1888. His wife died October, 1908. They were the parents of two children, of whom John C. is the youngest. His sister, Carrie L., died August 11, 1880.
John C. Burrow attended school in Wisconsin and later at Cortland.
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He remained with his parents until seventeen years of age, then worked for others, as a farm hand, receiving but ten dollars a month for such labor. After two years at such work, he was employed as a baggagemaster on the N. P. & O (now Erie) Railroad. He was an invalid about two years, after which he engaged in handling Mecca Oil, exclusively, and at this agency continued five years, then went to operating for a couple of years, after which he learned the trades of paper hanging and painting, which he fol- lowed six years. He was then appointed, under MeKinley, as postmaster at Cortland, taking his commission July 1, 1892. He still holds the office and is assisted by his daughter. It was made a "third class" office and he was re-appointed postmaster December 13, 1904. Mr. Burrows is a firm believer in the principles of the Republican party. He is a member of the Disciples church.
He was married, December 28, 1884, to Minnie E. Mapes, born August 22, 1863, a daughter of Andrew and Joanna (Casteline) Mapes. Her father was born in New York state and the mother in Cortland. Ohio. The date of the father's birth was June 20, 1826, and that of the mother, April 18, 1830. He went to Trumbull county with his parents when he was a boy and re- mained on the farm until the death of both his parents. Later he moved into the village of Cortland and there he and his wife are leading retired lives.
In the Mapes family there were six children, of whom four still survive : Fayette, died aged two years; Fitch P., died about 1898. was a prominent hardware merchant, of the firm of Mapes & Faunce ; Lettie .J., wife of L. D. Casteline, deceased ; Addie, wife of J. H. Faunce, and Mary, wife of Eugene A. Sigler ; Minnie E., wife of Mr. Burrow.
Mr. and Mrs. Burrow are the parents of the following children : Carrie A., unmarried and at home, assistant postmistress. under her father ; Harold A., a clerk in a grocery store, of Cortland; Edna M., attending school, residing at home; Martha J., also at home. Mr. Burrow is a member of the Masonic and Knights of Pythias fraternities. He is public spirited and makes a capable and very obliging postmaster, as may be ob- served by the long term he has held the position.
LEWIS HI. MINES .- Howland township of Trumbull county numbers among its agriculturists Lewis H. Mines, who owns and operates a splendid estate there. He is a representative of an old established family of Virginia, and is a son of James M. and Ellen ( King) Mines, both from Augusta county, that state, and a grandson of Lewis and Hannah Mines, who spent their entire lives in the Old Dominion state. Lewis Mines was a lifelong agriculturist, but he supplemented his farm labor with carpenter work. James M. Mines was throughout his life a farmer and teamster, and buying a large farm in the woods of West Virginia he cleared his land and lived the remainder of his life in Harrison county, dying there on the 15th of March. 1892, at the ripe old age of eighty-four years, and his wife survived him until 1905. and died at the age of ninety-four years. In their family
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were the following nine children : Mary M., Hannah J., Elizabeth E. and Sarah A., all of whom are deceased ; Lydia M., the wife of Edward Fittro, of Harrison county, West Virginia : Susan L., whose home is in Wheeling, West Virginia; Arthur L., deceased : Lewis H., who is mentioned below; James H., also in Harrison county, West Virginia.
Lewis H. Mines was born in Augusta county, Virginia, on September 29, 1832, and he received his educational training in Clarksburg of West Virginia. Remaining at home with his parents until his marriage he then farmed his father's estate in Harrison county until the latter's death, and then with his brother he inherited the farm of five hundred and fifty acres, by paying to his sisters $3,500. After selling that farm to a coal company in 1901, Mr. Mines rented land for a few years, and in the fall of 1903 came to Howland township and bought the A. A. Drake farm of two hundred and forty-three and a half acres, which he has further improved, and he is now engaged in general farming and dairving there.
In 1868 Mr. Mines was married to Emma Griffin, who died in the year of 1826, after becoming the mother of four children, namely: Ray, who married Ann Walker, and is engaged in the real estate business in Seattle, Washington; Nellie, the wife of Moses Tichenal, of Harrison county, West Virginia; L. Warren, who married Lois Gregg, and resides in Seattle, Washington; and Louie, whose home is with her sister Nellie. In 1884 Mr. Mines was united in marriage to Carrie A. Tichenal, and their five children are: Henry C., Wilburn S., Roscoe, Lloyd and Dorothy, all of whom are at home with their parents. Mr. Mines gives his political support to the Republican party, and during his residence in Virginia he served as a member of the board of education.
IRWIN WILLIAM BOLIN, one of the substantial farmers of Howland township, Trumbull county, Ohio, was born September 9, 1851, in Green county, Wisconsin. He is the son of William and Rachel (Dee) Bolin. The father was born in 1807, in Allegheny county, near Pittsburg, Penn- sylvania, and died in 1876. The mother was born in 1822, in Connecti- ent, near Long Island Sound. She died in 1880, both dying in Wisconsin.
William Bolin was married in Trumbull county, Ohio. He resided there about twelve years and carried on the business of a thoroughgoing agriculturist. In 1848 he went to Green county, Wisconsin, where he bought forty acres of land and there farmed until his death. He raised a family of ten children, as follows: Abeline, deceased; Jane, residing in Greenville, Pennsylvania, married Jesse Weaver; Ellen, residing in Buck- ley, Washington, married Albert Buck ; Nancy, deceased; James, residing in Wisconsin, married Lydia Young; Betsey, residing in Buckley, Wash- ington, married Almond Ballow ; Irwin William, of this biography ; Electa, residing in Buckley, Washington, widow; Lewis, resides near St. Paul, Minnesota ; Laura, deceased.
William was the son of John Bolin, who married a Miss Merriman, and both were natives of Pennsylvania. He followed farming for an
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occupation. John Bolin was the son of Patrick, born in Ireland, came to this country during the war, served in the Revolutionary war, and never returned to his native land.
Irwin W. Bolin was educated in the common schools of Wisconsin. Politically, is a Republican of the stanch type. In church affiliations, he is a Methodist. He commenced life for himself when eighteen years of age, learning the carriage-makers trade, in Olmstead county, Minnesota, where he remained for three years. He then went to Greenville, Pennsylvania, and went into the mercantile business, continuing about three years. He was also proprietor of a store and was postmaster at Atlantic, Pennsyl- vania, where he resided three years. His next location was in Trumbull county, Ohio, to which place he removed in 1876, and worked as a farm hand until he was married, when he commenced farming for himself on a farm owned by his wife's father. Mr. Bolin also owns forty-seven aeres of land in Braceville township. He carries on a general farming and dairy business.
Irwin W. Bolin was united in marriage March 11, 1889, to Olive Van Wye, born in 1856, on the farm two miles south of Warren. She is the daughter of John and Adeline (Carolton) Van Wye, both now deceased ; the father was born in 1822, in Pennsylvania, and died 1907. The mother was born September 13, 1827, in Liberty township, Trumbull county, Ohio, died July 6, 1897. This worthy couple were laid to rest in Oakwood cemetery. John Van Wye went to Trumbull county at the age of ten years with his parents, Abraham and Charity (Laird) Van Wye. When they first settled there all was wild and uncultivated.
In October, 1908, Mr. Bolin left the farm and moved to Warren and became a partner in the Wadsworth Feed Company.
WILLIAM D. HAKE is still numbered among the survivors of the soldiery of the Civil war, and is a farmer of Howland township, Trumbull county, Ohio, in which township he was born September 21, 1837, a son of George and Catherine (Wortman) Hake. The father was born in York county, Pennsylvania, in 1794 and died in 1876. The mother was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, and died in 1892. George Hake went from Penn- sylvania to Ohio about 1830, and on his way lost his first wife. By trade, he was a potter, bnt upon going to Ohio he purchased a farm in what was then but a wilderness and erected a log honse, which he lived in several years, then provided himself with a good frame residence. For his first wife he married a Miss Miller, by whom he had five children : Henry, John, deceased ; George, Jr .; David, deceased ; Ann, deceased. For his second wife he married about 1832, Catherine Wortman, by whom was born five children : Jacob, residing on the old homestead, in Howland township; William D., of this sketch ; Susan, resides in Cortland, married Benjamin Battles ; Eliza, deceased : Zephniah, residing in Cortland, married Bazetta Stewart.
William D. Hake was educated in the district schools, but did not have
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the educational advantages enjoyed by the average youth of today. He remained at home until 1858, then moved to Missouri where he teamed with an ox team until the Civil war broke out. In June, 1861,-first year of the Rebellion-he enlisted with Captain Dockerdy and General Price, serving six months; was in the fierce battle of Wilson's Creek and Lexington, where Col. Mulligan was captured, Mr. Hake was forced to join the rebel armny, but with a fleet horse made his escape in March, 1862. Twenty-eight soldiers fired nine rounds at him, but he received no wounds. He returned to his old home in Howland township and worked for his father a year, then worked at logging business three years. After that, he, with a nephew, operated a saw mill two years, after which he purchased forty acres of land, upon which he now resides and has followed farm life ever since.
Politically, Mr. Hake is a loyal Democrat, and in church choice is a Disciple, as is also his good wife. He has been married twice, first to Mary Hayhusk, in 1862; she was born in 1843, and by such union one child was born, Leman, who is now engaged in the lumber business at Niles, Ohio. He married Nellie Chamberlain. For his second wife, William D, Hake married in 1874 Mary (Messimer) St. John, a widow, by whom Mr. Hake had two children: Maude, residing at home; she married Clarence Jones, who is engaged in the saw mill business and employed by Charles F. Hake of Girard, Ohio, and Mamie, who died at the age of four months.
('LARENCE R. VIETS, who is engaged in general farming and horticul- ture in Southington township, Trumbull county, comes of an old family first established in this locality during the early part of the nineteenth century. The great-grandfather settled in Southington township in 1805, his grandson Russell being also born in this part of the county. The father of Clarence R., Frank Viets, was also a native of Southington town- ship and married Francis Tift, a daughter of Joseph Tift. As both Frank Viets and his wife were born and reared in Southington township their eight children are especially sons and daughters of Trumbull county. The household consisted of Clarence R., the eldest child; Eugene, who is a resi- dent of this township; Todd, who lives at Redondo, California ; Belle, who married Calvin Leiby and now lives at Niles, Ohio; Hal and Fred, who both live in Southington township; Lottie, now deceased, and Joseph, also a resident of this locality. The father, who is still an active farmer of South- ington township, is an old-time Republican, and at one time was assessor of the township, having always actively participated in local politics. Fra- ternally he belongs to West Farmington Lodge No. 333. Knights of Pythias.
Clarence R. Viets was born in Southington township, near his present home, on the 30th of August, 1876; received his early education in the township schools and later enjoyed a two years' conrse at the Nelson ( Ohio) high school. As stated he has engaged in agriculture as a general farmer and fruit grower, having made a specialty of strawberries. His entire estate consists of one hundred and seven acres and is a part of the fourteen
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hundred acres which his great-grandfather purchased in 1805 when he settled in Southington township. Mr. Viets has always been an active Republican and has served for three years as assessor of his township and was elected to his present membership on the school board in 1902. Like his father, he is an active member of the Knights of Pythias, being iden- tified with West Farmington Lodge No. 333. He is a charter member of Southington Grange No. 1670 and served as its first secretary.
On April 19, 1896, Mr. Viets married Miss Mary Harshman, daughter of Charles Harshman, his wife being a native of this township. Their four children are : Dale, deceased : Roger, Gladys and Sadie, who reside with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Viets are both members of the Methodist church at Southington and they take an active and leading part in its local work.
FRANK E. SAWYER, a substantial farmer and an educated and honored citizen of Southington township, Trumbull county, was born in the town- ship named, October 15, 1864, and in his early manhood established a high reputation as an educator. He is a son of Franklin Sawyer, a native of Vermont, who came with his parents to Southington township about 1830, being then six years of age. The grandparents, Ezra and Elizabeth (Griggs) Sawyer, were typical New Englanders, a part of whose religion was to provide their children with a good education. Franklin therefore received a thorough training in the district schools of Southington town- ship, and afterward pursued a partial course at the Western Reserve Academy, at West Farmington, Ohio. He was thus qualified to teach the schools of his day, and did so for several winters in his youthful life, the summer months being passed as a farmer. Later in life he diversified his general farming operations by dealings in livestock, becoming quite an ex- tensive shipper of horses. At the time of his death in February, 1906, he was the owner of a farm of one hundred and four acres; had held many township offices and was a citizen of weight in the community affairs. He was a firm Republican.
Franklin Sawyer married Miss Jane Elizabeth Betts, a daughter of Xenophon and Betsy Betts, who were natives of Norwalk, Connecticut. Her father, a graduate of Yale University, was a Presbyterian clergyman, and the daughter was a graduate of the Oxford (Ohio) Female Seminary and a lady of thorough education and culture. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer, as follows: George B., who resides at Warren, Ohio; Frank E., of this sketch ; Mary B., who married Cortland Ives and lives at Los Angeles, California : Fred 1., a resident of Boston, Massa- chusetts, and Helen, deceased, who became the wife of Irvin Boles.
Frank E. Sawyer, a native and life-long resident of Southington township, was educated in the district schools, and at the Western Reserve Academy, West Farmington, Ohio, and the Grand River Institute. The training received at the institute prepared him for teaching, and he com-
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menced to thus occupy himself, at the age of eighteen years. He com- menced his career with six terms at Southington ; was afterward principal of the grammar school of Brookfield township for two years, and for five years was superintendent of the schools at West Farmington. Since that time he has resided on his fine farm of two hundred and five acres, which he successfully conducts, occupying a large and modern country residence of eleven rooms. He has served as township trustee, and in January, 1904, was elected president of the township school board-a position for which he is admirably adapted, both by reason of natural talents and his long ex- perience as an educator.
On December 24, 1890, Mr. Sawyer married Miss Bertha Doty, daughter of Sylvester and Mary Doty, natives of Southington township. The first members of the family migrated to Trumbull county from Massa- chusetts and were among the pioneers of Southington township. Mr. Sawyer belongs to West Farmington Lodge No. 333, Knights of Pythias, and both he and his wife are leading members of the Methodist church. He himself is a class leader and superintendent of the Sunday school, and steward and treasurer of the church.
IRWIN J. BATES, a farmer of life-long industry and an honorable citizen of Hartford township, Trumbull county, was born in the township named on the 12th of June, 1843. His paternal grandfather, Elihu Bates, migrated from Connecticut, the mother state of the Western Reserve, in 1815, and settled in Hartford township, with his family. His son, Samuel C., was then eleven years of age and was reared and educated in the town- ship. Samuel C. Bates was married three times and died in March, 1881. He was a farmer all his mature life, his homestead, at the time of his death, consisting of one hundred and eighty-four acres of land, thoroughly cultivated and also improved with substantial buildings. In his religious faith, he was a member of the Disciples church. The first wife of Samuel C. Bates was Emily Mason, a native of Trumbull county, by whom he had three children : Homer, Ruby, now Mrs. Canfield, and Herman. Miss Mary Williams, daughter of John Williams, of Hartford township, was his second wife, and their children were Irwin J., of this sketch, and Emma, who died in 1851. For his third wife Samuel C. Bates married Mrs. Lucinda Aikens.
Irwin J. Bates followed in his father's footsteps, and has been a life- long farmer, his present estate comprising eighty acres. Raised and edu- cated in Hartford township, he has ordered his life with sobriety and wisdom, and is highly esteemed as a citizen of honor and practical ability. While yet in his teens he offered his services in defense of the Union cause, enlisting in an independent company called Trumbull Guards, which was organized by Charles W. Smith, of Warren, Ohio, and sent to Gallipolis to do guard duty. He cast his first presidential vote in 1864 for Lincoln, and has never since abandoned Republicanism. Although the bulk of his life has been devoted to the affairs of his farm and his household, he has
a. M. Underwood. " Wife
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served in many of the township offices with credit and unvaried faithful- ness. Fraternal life has little interested him, his connection in this regard being confined to Hartford Grange No. 1479. Mr. Bates has been twice married-first, to Mrs. Anna (Perkins) Mizner, and after her death to Miss Caroline Hyde, born at Farmington, June 4, 1846, daughter of Sylves- ter and Martha ( Bartholomew ) Hyde.
ALLEN B. UNDERWOOD, a farmer residing in Liberty township, was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, within Wayne township, March 2, 1859, a son of Alfred B. Underwood, who was born in New York state, coming when but eight years old to Ohio, locating in Trumbull county. He was a farmer and a minister. At first he was of the Baptist church faith, but later united with the United Brethren church and was for seven years previous to his death, a Seventh Day Adventist. He died March 15, 1906. He married Sallie Morse, November 3, 1847. She was the daughter of Ansel Morse, of Ashtabula county, where she was born and reared, as well as educated. They had eight children, born in the following order: Ro- villa, married George Stevens, and resides in Mesopotamia township ; Rufus A., of Minneapolis, Minnesota ; Emily, who married Milton Bacon and lives in Ashtabula county ; a son who died in infancy; Judson P., now residing in Kinsman, Ohio; Mary, who married E. Tidd and resides in Williams- field, Ohio; Nettie C., who married George Westlake and resides in Youngs- town, Ohio; Allen B., of this narrative. The mother of this family is now residing with her daughter in Youngstown, and has attained the age of ninety-one years.
Allen B. Underwood received his education in Ashtabula county, grad- uating from the common schools and had one term in the high school at Mesopotamia, but did not complete his course there. He began the active duties of a farmer and gardener, when but ten years of age, and worked under his father until twenty-two years. He now owns sixty-three acres of land, all well improved and carries on general farming and truck gar- dening. In the season of 1908 he raised twenty-two thousand cabbage plants. His chief market is Youngstown, Ohio, where he has a stall in the market house. Besides his garden proper, he has a fine orchard of several acres.
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