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 49
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JACOB WALLACE HOFFMAN, one of the leading agriculturists of Lords- town township, has spent his entire life here and was born within its borders April 10, 1864. One of the earliest pioneers of the township was his paternal grandfather, Jacob Hoffman, who was born in Pennsylvania, January 27, 1790, and coming to this county in his early life he secured a tract of heavily-timbered land in the southwestern part of Lordstown town- ship, cleared and improved this land, and spent the remainder of his life there. dying on the 21st of September, 1875, when eighty-six years of age. He married Polly Meece, who was born on December 28, 1898. and died on the 4th of January, 1835, the mother of ten children: Catherine, Susanna, Elizabeth. Mary, Dorothy, Daniel, Sarah, Abraham, Lydia and Margaret.
Abraham Hoffman, a son of Jacob and Polly, was born in Pennsylvania December 4, 1828, and succeeding to the ownership of the old Hoffman homestead he lived there until late in life, when he purchased and moved to a small place close by, and there his busy and useful life was ended in death on the 6th of September, 1903. The maiden name of his wife was Julia Kistler, and she was born in Pennsylvania September 12, 1831, a daughter of Charles and Rebecca (Sechler) Kistler, who in an early day came from their native state of Pennsylvania to Lordstown township. Mrs. Hoffman died in October of 1896. They reared seven children : Laura R., Mary A., Hannah C., Charles F., Hattie, J. Wallace and Clara E. Jacob W. Hoffman, one of the seven children, remained at his parents' home until his marriage, and after farming as a renter for two years he returned to the old homestead and continued its operation until he located on the farm where he now lives in January of 1898. This is a fertile and well-cultivated farm pleasantly located about a mile and a half east and north of Lordstown Center, where he is extensively engaged in general farming pursuits. He married on the 17th of March, 1887, Alice E. Moses. a native danghter of Lordstown township, born January 9, 1862.
John Moses, her father, was born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania,
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October 23, 1824, a son of Philip Moses, also from Pennsylvania. The latter came from that state to Ohio in about the year of 1838, and settled on a farm in Jackson township, Mahoning county, but a few years after- ward he came to Lordstown township and spent the remainder of his life here. The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Schnabel, and she was also from Pennsylvania. John Moses, their son, accompanied his parents to this state, and purchasing a tract of land in Lordstown township, which contained a small log cabin and a few improvements, he began the arduous task of clearing and further improving his land. It was in that little log cabin that his first child was born, but later the primitive dwell- ing was replaced by a modern frame residence, and with the passing years he succeeded in clearing his land, and he lived there until his death, Sep- tember 14, 1892. On the 25th of September, 1856, he married Catherine Weaver, who was born in Brookfield township, Trumbull county, Ohio, July 25, 1839. Her parents, Frederick and Mary ( Miller) Weaver, came from their native land of Germany to the United States and located in Brookfield township of Trumbull county, where they were farming people during the remainder of their lives. Mrs. Weaver survived her husband, and afterward made her home with her children. Mrs. Moses is yet living on the old Moses homestead, the mother of four children, George, Alice, Frances and Olive. Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman have become the parents of eight children, namely: Catherine, Mary, Alta, John, Abram, Julia, Dorothy and Bernice. Mr. Hoffman gives his political support to the Democratic party, and he is a member of the Lutheran church.
EDWIN BRYANT is numbered among the agriculturists of Trumbull county and among those who served their country faithfully and well during its Civil war. In June of 1862 he offered his services with the Eighty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company B, and served valiantly with his command until captured at Harpers Ferry. But after a few days he was paroled, and four months afterward returned to his home. His homestead farm contains one hundred and ten acres of rich and fertile land, and all lies in Johnson township with the exception of thirty acres in Gustavus township.
Mr. Bryant was born at Eaton, in Lorain county, Ohio, February 23, 1844. a son of John and Maria (Green) Bryant, natives respectively of Massachusetts and of Independence township, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and a grandson of William and (Spaulding) Bryant and of William Green, the latter from New England. John Bryant, the father, located at Independence, Ohio, in his early life, and was there married to Mary ('omstock, and later to Maria Green. His second wife had also been pre- viously married, wedding Jacob Parker, who died of cholera. In 1845 John Bryant moved with his wife and children to Gustavus township, Trumbull county, locating on the farm which he had purchased from a Mr. Trumbull, from whom the county received its name, and there Mr.
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Bryant died on his farm on the ?th of June, 1899. His wife had preceded him in death, dying on the 11th of June, 1889. Edwin Bryant was the fourth born of their eleven children, six sons and five daughters, and as he has never married he lived with a brother, Moses, until the latter's death on the 22d of April, 1902, and since then his brother Lafayette, the youngest of the children, has made his home with him. The latter's son, Leroy, is also a member of the household. Mr. Bryant is both a farmer and dairyman, and in his political affiliations he is a Republican.
HOMER ROOT .- The present homestead farm of Homer Root was the scene of his birthplace as well as the place of his future activities, and he represents a family that have long been identified with the life and interests of Johnston township. His birth occurred on the 1st of April, 1853, a son of Erastus and Marinda (Heifman) Root, who were born re- spectively in Connecticut and near the city of Dayton, Ohio. Erastus Root was one of Trumbull county's early pioneers, and his first home here was in Mecca township, but he soon afterward came to Johnston township, and locating on one of its heavily timbered farms he cleared and improved his land and died there on the 18th of February, 1892, while his wife survived until December of 1900. At his father's death Homer Root became the owner of one hundred and eighteen acres of the homestead, and there he is engaged in general farming and dairying.
He married on the 30th of February, 1881, Maria A. Hults, who was born in Johnston township March 1, 1861, a daughter of Seth and Mary (Sadler) Hults, born respectively in Bazetta and Gustavus townships, Trumbull county. Her paternal grandparents were Henry K. and Rhoda Hults, from Connecticut, and the grandfather was one of the first settlers of Bazetta township in Trumbull county, while the maternal grand- parents, George and Maria (Morrow) Sadler, from Ireland, located in Gustavus township of this county during an early period in its history and when they were but children. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Root are: Lorinda B., whose home is in Cleveland, Ohio; Mary, the wife of Charles Clauss, of Johnston township; Grover C., who married Hazel Can- field and lives in Gustavus township; and Marjie and Marie, twins; and Seth and Clayton, twins, all at home. Mrs. Root is a member of the Disciple church, and Mr. Root in his political affiliations is a Democrat.
H. JOSIAH WILLCOX belongs to the group of infinential and distin- guished agriculturists who are maintaining Trumbull county at the head of the rich agricultural centers of Ohio, and born on the farm where he now lives, July 24, 1852, he has spent the greater part of his business life here. Thomas Willcox, his father, was a son of John and Elizabeth Will- cox, and was born in Somersetshire, England. In 1836, via Buffalo, he came by boat to Painsville and thence on to Mesopotamia township, Trum- bull county, where he obtained employment on farms. A few years after
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his arrival here he was married to Eliza Dunkerton, also from Somerset- shire, England, daughter of Richard and - ( Creed ) Dunkerton. He came with an uncle, William Haines, to this township about the year of 1834 and after their marriage the young couple purchased a farm in the eastern part of Mesopotamia township, where they lived in a little log house for some time. This land was heavily timbered, and the husband at once be- gan the arduous labor of clearing and improving a farm. He was suc- cessful in his labors, and he died on the homestead which he had carved out from a wilderness, passing away in February of 1892, and his wif. survived him but five weeks. Their names are recorded among the brave and honored pioneers of Trumbull county.
H. Josiah Willcox was the seventh born of their eight children, five sons and three daughters, and he is one of the three sons and two daughters living. When a lad of twenty-one he went to Pottawatomie county, Iowa, where at Oakland he taught school for four years, and during two years he was engaged in mercantile pursuits there. Selling his interests in Oakland he spent a year in Nebraska. Previous to leaving his home for the west he had received a splendid educational training, having attended for three terms the Western Reserve Seminary at West Farmington, was one year a student in the Ada Normal College and for three years attended the Grand River Institute, thus laying broad and deep the foundation for a successful business career. During his early life he was also identified with the educational work of this vicinity, but preferring a business rather than a professional life he turned his attention to agriculture, and after the death of his parents bought out remaining heirs to the homestead of one hundred and eight acres, where he is engaged in general farming, dairying and the raising of registered Percheron colts. As a representative of the Republican party Mr. Willcox has held many of the offices of his county, including that of justice of the peace for three terms and assessor for two terms. He is identified fraternally with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Mesopotamia Lodge No. 728, and he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JOHN C. DOUGHTON, who is engaged in agriculture in Hubbard township, Trumbull county, was born at Lisbon, Ohio, July 12, 1865, a son of that remarkable man, the late Stephen Dough- ton, scholar, philosopher, practical and beloved citizen. The father was born in Hubbard township, Trumbull county. on the tenth day of April, 1822, son of David Doughton. The great-grand- father, Stephen Donghton, came to Trumbull county from Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in 1804; being an iron worker who learned his trade at Valley Forge, where he was employed, during the Revolutionary war, at making arms for Washington's troops. Afterward he removed to Trumbull county, Ohio, and was one of the founders of the first iron works in the county, their location being at Niles. At this period of his life he lived in
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Hubbard township and he walked the entire distance through the wilderness from his home to the scene of his labors at Niles. On his return trip at night he would kill wild game for the family larder. Stephen Doughton married Margaret Farren and at the time of his death was a man of fortune both in coal properties, iron interests and land holdings.
David Doughton, the grandfather, was a native of Valley Forge, Penn- sylvania, and accompanied his father to Trumbull county; married Mrs. Mary E. Cramer (nee Bowers), a native of Pennsylvania ; and served as a soldier in the war of 1812. He was a cousin of General William Henry Harrison, and died near Fort Laramie, Wyoming, in 1852, while on his way to the gold fields. He was well advanced in years when he started on the long journey overland, and it is thought that he became confused and wan- dered from the trail.
Stephen Doughton, the father of John C., whose name heads this sketch, was born in Hubbard township, Trumbull county, where he was reared and educated. He first attended the common schools of his native township; then completed a course at the Meadville (Pennsylvania) Academy, and also, for a time, attended the academy at Vienna, Ohio. He was thrice married-first to Emeline Waldorf, born June 12, 1832, a daughter of David and Emeline (Burton) Waldorf, who came from New York with other Trumbull county pioneers. Mr. and Mrs. Doughton had seven children, as follows: Charles and Andrew, deceased ; Calissa, who married Dr. Graham, now deceased : Emeline, deceased ; Harriet, who mar- ried Marcus Wallace and resides at Youngstown, Ohio; Frank, who lives in Hubbard township : and John ('., of this sketch.
Mr. Doughton married for his second wife, Agnes Parmlce, of Ashland county, Ohio, who lived but a short time afterward. For his third wife, he married Jessie Cornwall, who now lives in New York City. They had one son-Stephen Doughton, Jr., who is an employee of the New York Tribune. Politically, the father was a Democrat and was several times honored by his party. He was a candidate for the State senate and at one time nominated for lieutenant governor of Ohio, but was defeated with the balance of his ticket. He was one of the pioneers in the coal business in Trumbull county, establishing the coke ovens at Washingtonville, Ohio, and being one of the founders of the Leetonia ( Ohio) Iron Works. Later, he en- gaged in farming and dairying, owning a four-hundred acre farm which he scientifically and successfully conducted. When the Erie and Lake Shore railroads built their lines close to the Doughton farms, each named a station in his honor, the former spelling of the name being Doughten.
Stephen Doughton was notable for his acute mind. He was a con- stant reader of the most profound philosophers and throughout his long years of study always held to the principle that it was futile to absorb information without thoroughly digesting it. Acting on this theory, he read and wrote alternately several hours each day. He drew the finest distinction between words-so fine indeed that in twenty years he literally wore out three dictionaries, and the fourth showed faithful usage. These books were left in scattered pages at the time of his death. He was the
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author of several treatises on the money question, which indicate an un- usual grasp of the subject. Mr. Doughton wrote for his own enjoyment, rather than for remuneration, and scholars, who have examined his writings, do not hesitate to class them with the modern classics. Members of the clergy, too, often discussed religious teachings with him, and in him found a ready debater. He may, in fact, be classed as a broad scholar and a deep critic. He was withal, a lovable, faithful and Christian man, and his death, April 3, 1908, caused the deepest sorrow to a host of warm friends and thoughtful men and women.
John C. Doughton received his education in the Lisbon (Ohio) schools and at Hubbard, this county, where he took the high school course. He is engaged in general farming operations on his excellent farm of ninety-four and a half acres, and is also identified with the road construc- tion of the county, having built five of the eight miles of macadamized road in Hubbard township. He is a resourceful man, having learned the machinist's trade at the mower and reaper works of Youngstown, Ohio, but did not follow it long. Politically, he votes the Democratic ticket, but further than this is not active in politics. He has been a member of the school board, of which he was president for four years. He belongs to Coalburg Lodge No. 112, Knights of Pythias, and has filled all the chairs within his lodge, now being trustee. He also holds membership in the Coalburg Grange. The family of which he is the head are members of the Baptist church, at Hubbard.
Mr. Doughton married, May 8, 1890, Anna M. Duer, born May 8, 1870, a daughter of Thomas and Mary Duer, of Hubbard, where she was reared and educated. They have three children: Mary Azalia, born June 1, 1891 ; John Duer, born November 5, 1893 : Helen, born September 10, 1891.
('LAUDE GREINER .- Among the business men of Trumbull county is numbered Claude Greiner, a farmer and glass blower in Weathersfield township. Soon after leaving college he entered a glass factory to learn the trade of a glass blower, and he has since become very proficient in this line of work and has the distinction of being the smallest man in the United States engaged in blowing large plate glass. He is now an employe of the Pennsylvania Glass Company at Niles. In addition to this line of work he also finds time to manage his farm of one hundred and eighty acres in Weathersfield township, where he follows general agriculture.
Mr. Greiner was born at Shoustown, Pennsylvania, October 8, 18:1, a son of Joseph Greiner, who was of German and Irish descent, and who was the son of a Civil war soldier who was killed in a magazine explosion. Mr. Greiner, the son, moved from the state of New York to Pennsyl- vania about the year of 1860, and after a residence of five years in that commonwealth he came to Ohio. He married Agatha McKee in Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania, in 1868, and she was reared in that city and in its vicinity on the Ohio river. The two children of this union were Queen
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and Claude, and the daughter is the wife of Edward St. Peters, of Corey, Pennsylvania.
Claude Greiner received his educational training in the high school of Columbus, Ohio, of which he is a graduate with the class of 1890, and in the Agricultural and Commercial College of that city. During three years he served as a member of the State Militia of Pennsylvania as a member of Company A, Tenth Regiment, from which he has an honorable discharge. He married in 1892 Lucy C. Parker, a native daughter of Monongahela City, Pennsylvania, and a graduate of its high school. She is of English parentage, a daughter of Henry and Harriet Parker, of Monongahela City. The only child of this union is a daughter, Naomi, fifteen years of age. Mr. Greiner is in politics a Republican, and his fraternal relations connect him with Henry M. Phillips Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., of Monongahela City, and with the Star of Valley Council, Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
WILLIAM McMAHAN .- A substantial farmer of Johnson township, William McMahan comes of a family of Ohio pioneers, his parents coming from Mahoning county, Ohio, in 1842, and settling on a farm in Trum- bull county, where they passed the remainder of their lives. He, himself, was born in Lowell, Mahoning county, March 22, 1832, and attended the district schools of his native place until the removal of the family to Trumbull county. His parents were Moses and Margaret (Shoff) Mc- Mahan, the father a native of Ireland and the mother of Germany. Moses McMahan came with his parents to Mahoning county, Ohio, when quite a young boy and his future wife accompanied her parents to a locality near New Castle, western Pennsylvania. After their marriage they settled on a farm in Mahoning county where they resided until their removal to Bazetta township, Trumbull county.
William McMahan was the sixth in a family of seven children, three boys and four girls, and resided with his parents until his marriage to Miss Harriett Chatfield, September 1, 1862. His wife was a native of Holland township, this county, born January 28, 1834, daughter of John and Eunice (Percy) Chatfield, both natives of Connecticut, born respec- tively October 15, 1793, and February 2, 1797. After their marriage in Connecticut, Mr. and Mrs. Chatfield came to Vienna township, this county, and in June, 1825, located in Holland township, fixing their home on an eighty-acre tract of timber which the husband immediately com- menced to clear and improve. Some years later the family removed to Mecca township, Trumbull county, where they resided several years, sub- sequently residing with their children until their removal to Platteville, Wisconsin. There the father worked at his early trade as a shoemaker and after some years they moved to Trenton, Missouri, and made their home with their oldest daughter, Mrs. Wise. There Mrs. Chatfield died October 25, 1869, her husband passing away on the following 18th of Decem-
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ber, at Platteville, Nebraska. There were eleven children in their family, ten daughters and one son.
After his marriage Mr. McMahan located on a farm of sixty-eight acres in Johnson township to which he added from time to time until he owned one hundred and forty-four acres. At different times he sold portions of his estate and is now the owner of seventy-five and one quarter acres of thoroughly cultivated and improved land, the increase in its value and its attractiveness being due entirely to his own industry and practical labors. When he first moved upon the place the few buildings thereon were all con- structed of logs, those which he has erected being all modern farm build- ings. He has chiefly confined himself to general farming and dairy opera- tions, in both of which he has been entirely successful. He has become the father of three children: Daniel T., born April 20, 1864, and now a resident of Johnson township; Robert, born January 21, 1866, and died January 8, 1895, in an accident on the Erie Railroad; and Floyd J., born December 23, 1872, who was also killed in an accident on the same road, March 13, 1903.
EMERY DE FOREST, a well known general farmer and dairyman of Johnson township, Trumbull county, was born in Brookfield township, November , 1841, a son of Abram and Mary Ann (Wheeler) De Forest, the father being a native of New Jersey and the mother of Erie County, Pennsylvania. The paternal grandparents, Gersham Vanderburg and (Dunham) De Forest, were both natives of New Jersey, while the maternal grandparents, William and Margaret Wheeler, were born in northeastern New York. After his marriage, Abram De Forest located in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, where for twenty years he conducted a saw and grist mill, and then in 1872 removed to his father's old home in Brookfield township, Ohio. IIe resided here until 1883 and then again moved to Pennsylvania, this time locating in Sharon, where he remained until his death in 1894, at the venerable age of eighty years. His wife then made her home with her son, Emery, until her death in March, 1896, at the age of eighty-seven years. The two children born to them were: Byron, now a resident of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, and Emery, of this sketch.
Emery De Forest received his elementary education in the common schools of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, and afterward attended the state normal at Edinboro, Pennsylvania. He then returned home and learned the milling business and later was with the Powell Bros. & Smith nursery, of Syracuse, New York, for one year. Then, after working on a farm for about one year he returned to his father's home and remained there until his marriage, on September 9, 1875, to Miss Emma Weir, a native of Bazetta township and a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Arthurholt) Weir. The father was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the mother in Brookfield township. For four years following his marriage he
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conducted his father's mill and at the conclusion of this period sold his interest and removed to Newton Falls, Ohio, where he conducted a rented farm for three years. In 1882 Mr. De Forest purchased a farm of one hundred and seventy-eight acres, one mile south of Johnston Center, this farm being one of the oldest in the township, and was first owned by Colonel Johnston, for whom the township was named. He still resides here and besides general farming also conducts a modern and well im- proved dairy. The four children of Mr. and Mrs. De Forest all died in infancy, but they have adopted a child, Belva Anna, who is at home.
In polities, Mr. De Forest is a Republican, and has always been active in the local affairs of his party, having served as township trustee for three terms and has been a member of the school board for over nine years. He is a member of the Methodist church.
CLEMENT L. VESEY, one of the enterprising factors in the agricultural interests of Trumbull county, whose excellent farm home is within Bloom- field township, was born in Clarion county, Pennsylvania, January 12, 1847, a son of John and Esther (Crow) Vesey, natives of Clarion county. The grandparents were John and (Pierce) Vesey, on the one side and William and Esther (Wilson) Crow on the other side; they were also Pennsylvanians.
In 1850 the parents went to Champion township and purchased fifty- seven acres of land, upon which they lived several years. They were financially prosperous and added to their landed estate another farm con- taining eighty-seven acres and one of seventy-six acres. The father died there in 1893, since which his widow has resided at Warren, Ohio, with L. L. Clark, aged eighty-one years.
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