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 7
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HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY
noble heart till its pulses were stilled by the cold hand of Death." Her hus- band appreciated and was in sympathy with all these fine attributes.
Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim Brown were the parents of the following chil- dreu : Ephraim Alexander, born December 1, 1807, who died August 10, 1894; George Washington, born May 24, 1810, died April 12, 1841; Mary, who became Mrs. Joseph K. Wing, born May 28, 1812, and died December 15, 1887 ; Charles, born August 9, 1814, who married Julia Anne, daughter of Judge Lester King, of Warren, Ohio, and died October, 1880; Elizabeth Huntington, born April 12, 1816, and died June 19, 1904; James Munroe, born April 2, 1818, died in October, 1867; Marvin Huntington, born Au- gust 12, 1820, and died in August, 1892 ; Fayette, born December 17, 1823, a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, and president of the Brown Hoisting Com- pany; and Aune Frances, born on May 30, 1826, and resides at the old homestead. This, the youngest child, has always resided in the house where she was born, more than eighty-two years ago, and retains her faculties re- markably. She owns two hundred and thirty acres of the nine hundred acre farm on which her father lived at the time of his death in 1845.
C. C. CLAWSON .- As is fitting, C. C. Clawson, of Warren, ex-county auditor, is representative of the best citizenship of Trumbull county, and his executive and business experience has admirably adapted him to per- form his official duties with promptness and all-around ability. He is a native of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, born on the 8th of January, 1849, son of William H. and Melinda (Humason) Clawson. His father, who was a native of Virginia, was by trade a tanner and harness-maker, but in 1865 settled on a farm in Fowler township, Trumbull county, and there- after gave his main efforts to matters of an agricultural nature. The family is of Scotch-Irish descent. The mother was a native of Fowler township, of which her parents were old settlers. They moved to Pennsylvania some time in the forties, the mother dying at the age of sixty-three and the father in his ninety-first year.
Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. William H. Clawson, of whom C. C. Clawson was the eighth child and the fifth son. The latter was about fifteen years of age when the family came to Trumbull county. and the youth completed his education in the district schools of Fowler township and at Hiram College. When nineteen he became a clerk in a general store at Fowler, and four years afterward was appointed an agent of the United States Express Company at Titusville, being at that time the youngest incumbent of that position between New York and that city. He held the agency at Titusville for about three years, and then went into a general store at Jackson Center, Pennsylvania, and Cortland, Ohio, remain- ing at the last named place some eight years. In 1884 he removed to War- ren and engaged in the dry goods business from that year until 1901, when he was elected county auditor. He is also vice president of the People's Ice Company, a director of the Union National Bank and the Warren and Niles Telephone Company, and altogether one of the respected men of the
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HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY
city and county. For years he has been an active promoter of Republican interests. He is a Knight Templar in the Masonic order, and a Methodist in religious faith. In 1872 Mr. Clawson married Miss Mary Silliman, daughter of Addison Silliman, and their children were as follows: William H .; Maude, now the wife of Dr. J. J. Hammond, of Galesburg, Illinois; Carolyn May, deceased, who was an actress.
GEORGE C. BRADEN .- For years a leader in the Republican journalism and the practical affairs of Trumbull county, George C. Braden has also been its recorder for the past four years and for two years has served as the private secretary of Hon. W. Aubrey Thomas, congressman from the nineteenth Ohio district. There is probably no man in this locality who has a more precise knowledge of the people and community affairs, or has done more to influence public opinion, than Mr. Braden. He was born in Greene township, this county, on the 18th of August, 1868, his father, James Braden, being a native of the same township and identified with the pioneer farmers of Trumbull county, and now, at the age of seventy, resides at the original place of his birth. The mother (formerly Miriam Cory) was also a native of Greene township, daughter of Silas Cory, and died within its limits at the age of sixty-seven. Her people also came to the locality when it was virtually a western frontier region.
The Braden family comprised fonr sons and four daughters, seven of whom are living, and in the order of birth George C. was the fifth child and the second son. The township schools and Cortland and Warren high schools furnished him with the education which enabled him to become a teacher himself. He was engaged in that work for about four years in the district schools of Trumbull county, and in 1890 became city editor of the Warren Tribune, being also appointed secretary of the publishing company. With the exception of his short identification with the Ohio Sun, of Youngstown, Mr. Braden held this position with the Warren Tribune for thirteen years. In 1904 he was elected county recorder on the Repub- lican ticket, was re-elected in 1906 and is still in office. About the time of his election to succeed himself he was offered the position of private secre- tary to Hon. W. Aubrey Thomas, of Niles, who had succeeded General Charles Dick as representative to Congress from the nineteenth Ohio dis- trict upon the election of the former to the United States senate. He had already served as clerk of Warren township for six years and for two terms acted as clerk of the county board of election supervisors. Mr. Braden re- tains his interests in the finances of the county as stockholder in the West- ern Reserve National Bank of Warren and the Dollar Bank at Niles. He is also a director of the Niles Printing and Publishing Company, which issues the Daily News of that place. In 1887 Mr. Braden was married to Miss Elizabeth Meredith, daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Thomas) Meredith, and they have one son, Frank C. Braden. Mr. Braden is con- nected with the fraternities, as a member of the Masonic order, Elks (No.
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HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY
295) and Knights of Pythias. Mr. Braden has been recommended as post- master at Warren at the expiration of the present incumbent's term, which takes effect in January, 1909.
HENRY Q. STILES .-- Noteworthy among the leading citizens of War- ren. Trumbull county, is Henry Q. Stiles, who, as secretary and treasurer of the Western Reserve Furniture Company, is prominently identified with the manufacturing and mercantile interests of the city and the county. He is recognized as a man of integrity and enterprise, whose word and whose ability can ever be relied upon in all matters of business. He was born, May 19, 1870, in Warren, which was likewise the birthplace of his father, the late William R. Stiles.
The descendant of a pioneer family of prominence, William R. Stiles was born, bred and educated in Warren, and here spent his entire life. A capable business man, he was here engaged in mercantile pursuits for a number of years, having a substantial trade, and during his earlier life was for a time cashier of the First National Bank. He married Elizabeth Qnimby, who was born in Warren, of pioneer ancestry, and they became the parents of three children, one of whom died in childhood, the others being Henry Q., of this sketch ; and Lucy P., wife of R. A. Cobb, of Warren.
Having acquired his elementary education in the public schools of Warren, Henry Q. Stiles attended the Peekskill Military Academy and Eastman's Business College, becoming well fitted for an active career. When eighteen years of age, he became a clerk in his father's store, remain- ing thus employed until 1899, when his father sold out his business. In 1900 the Western Reserve Furniture Company was organized, with a capital of $25,000, which has since been doubled, and Mr. Stiles was made its secretary and treasurer, a position which he has since filled most accept- ably to all concerned. The company employs about ninety men, and manu- factures furniture of all descriptions, the productions of the factory being widely known, and meeting a ready sale in the domestic markets. Mr. Stiles is also officially connected with other organizations, being a director in the Union National Bank, and of the Winfield Manufacturing Company, of Warren.
Mr. Stiles married, in 1891. Belle Thaver, a daughter of Rev. I. A. Thayer, now of Newcastle, Pa. Four children have been born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Stiles, of whom two are living, Henry T. and Rollin C. William R. died at the age of two years, and Harold lived but thirteen months. Politically Mr. Stiles is a straightforward Republican, and fra- ternally he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons.
MARCELLUS O. MESSER .- Among the well-known residents of Warren, Trumbull county, is M. O. Messer. Coming from a long line of thrifty New England ancestry. he was born. November 2, 1842. in Guilford, New Hampshire, where he lived during the days of his boyhood. His father,
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HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY
Loren S. Messer, was born in the same state, and married Chastina Cook, a native of Vermont. Coming with his family to Warren, Ohio, in 1856, he spent the remainder of his seventy-five years of earthly life in this city, as did his good wife, who passed away at the age of seventy-five years. They were the parents of three children, namely: George W., deceased ; Marcellus O., of this sketch ; and Charles A., of Hutchinson, Kansas.
Coming with the family to Warren in 1856, Marcellus O. Messer has, with the exception of four years spent in Duluth, Minnesota, been a con- tinuous resident of the place. For some time he was engaged in the manu- facture of rakes, and other implements and tools. Mr. Messer married, December 31, 1873, Frances M. Dickey, who was born, October 10, 1851, in Warren, Ohio, a daughter of Samuel F. Dickey, Jr., and grand-daughter of Samuel F. Dickey, Sr., both of whom were early settlers of Warren. Samuel F. Dickey, Sr., was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, May 25, 1717. In 1843, he came with his family to Trumbull county, Ohio, locating on the banks of the Mahoning river, taking up land in that part of the Western Reserve that is now included within the limits of Warren, and here spent his remaining years. Samuel F. Dickey, Jr., was born, June 11, 1820, in Londonderry, and was there reared and educated. On June 22, 1846, he married Mary A. Parker, who was born in Pittsfield, New Hampshire, July 8, 1825. Locating in Warren, Ohio, he soon became influential in public affairs, and for twenty-five years served most accept- ably as city engineer, during which time valuable improvements were made, sewerage being established, and many of the streets paved under his super- vision. He was for a long time a member of the Warren School Board, and for forty years was an elder in the Presbyterian church, to which both he and his wife belonged. He died January 28, 1900, having survived his wife many years, her death occurring in 1885. They were the parents of three children, namely: Edward P., deceased; Frances D., wife of Mr. Messer ; and Lizzie D., wife of J. E. Pickering, of Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1861, Mr. Messer enlisted in Company C, Nineteenth Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, and served for four years and three months, going into the army as a private, and being subsequently promoted to the rank of ser- geant. As a soldier he had a fine record, and during the time was not ill for even a day, and never missed a battle. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Messer, Samuel F. Messer married Elizabeth Hovard, of Niles, Ohio, and they have one son, Hovard Pickering Messer. Mr. Messer has been active in public affairs, for five years being a member of the city council, and now serving on the city board of review. He is a Republican in politics, and a member of Bell-Harmon Post No. 36, G. A. R.
ERNEST L. KING, secretary and manager of the King Furniture Com- pany, of Warren, was a leading figure in the progress of scientific business education before he demonstrated the soundness of his theories by marked success in the practical field. As secretary of the local board of trade he has also been instrumental in the establishment of various enterprises at
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HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY
Warren which have materially added to its standing as a commercial and an industrial center. He is also one of the strongest Democrats in this section of the state, having served for several years as secretary of the cen- tral committee of the county and being elected, in 1901, as the first and only Democratic councilman from the First ward of Warren. The most signal mark of his standing with the party, however, was his selection as a delegate from the Nineteenth congressional district to the Kansas City convention of 1900 which nominated Bryan to the presidency.
Mr. King is a native of Warren and, with the exception of the com- paratively short periods when he was engaged as a commercial educator in Cleveland, Ohio, and Los Angeles, California, has been a continuous factor in the development of the institutions of Trumbull county. He is a son of Horace M. King, a native of Portage county, Ohio, who was a stone mason in his earlier manhood, afterward became a contractor and, before his marriage, settled at Cortland, where he wedded Miss Lucy Larnard. For several years he was in the service of the Erie road. Mrs. Horace M. King is a danghter of Amos J. Larnard, who journeyed from Springfield, Massa- chusetts, by ox-team and located at Cortland as one of its pioneers. He there established a sawmill and a box factory, was long a useful citizen of the place and died there at the age of eighty-five years.
Two sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Horace MI. King, of whom Ernest L. was the elder; the younger, Merritt J. King, was a telegraphic operator and assistant train dispatcher at Youngstown, Ohio, and died at the age of twenty-seven years.
Ernest L. King received his education in the common schools of Trumbull county, in the Cortland High School, at the Mount Union Col- lege (where he took a general course) and at Oberlin University (in which he pursued a business course) then located in Warren, where he started a business college, but after conducting it for a year sold the establishment in order that he might accept the position of manager of the shorthand and typewriting department of a business college at Los Angeles, California. Mr. King remained there two years, when he returned to Warren and pur- chased a one-half interest in a fire insurance business, known as the King Company, continuing in that field from 1893 to 1903. Relinquishing the management of the business and selling his interest in it, he then assumed charge of the Warren Furniture and Fixture Company, which, after he obtained a controlling interest in it, became the King Furniture Company. The factory makes a specialty of turning out dining room and living room furniture, although it does not exclude anything in its line. At the present time fifty-five men are employed in the manufacturing department, but such arrangements are in process for an expansion of its facilities that the number of employees will doubtless soon be doubled. Mr. King has been the founder and promoter of not a few of the important industries of War- ren. He was one of the organizers of the Warren Rubber Company, of which he has served as a director for seven years past : is a member of the managing board of the Trumbull Saving and Loan Company. and in his re- lations to the municipality is president of the board of public safety. As
HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY
secretary of the Warren Board of Trade in 1901-3 he was a strong factor in the growth of the city, being especially instrumental in bringing from Cleveland the MeMyler Manufacturing Company, whose plant is now one of the most important in the city.
In November, 1891, Mr. King was united in marriage to Miss Della B. Burnett, daughter of A. C. Burnett, of Warren, and the children born to their union are Paul L., Karl and Florence. In his fraternal connections Mr. King is a prominent Knight of Pythias, being a past chancellor com- mander, and he also belongs to the order of Elks. His religious faith is Methodism.
DAVID R. GILBERT .- One of the leading lawyers of Warren, Trumbull county, David R. Gilbert has for about thirty-five years been a resident of that place, and whether known as a student, an attorney or a judge, has been respected for his ability and honored for his uprightness. He is a son of David and Sylvia ( Haynes) Gilbert, the father born in Connecticut May 15, 1818, and the mother in Trumbull county on the 1 th of October, 1823. After obtaining a preparatory education at the common schools, Gustavus high school and under private tutors, David R. Gilbert entered Oberlin College. He remained there four years, when (in 1869) on account of his father's death he was obliged to leave school and commence practical preparation for the practice of the law.
Upon coming to Warren the Judge entered the law office of Taylor and Jones : in 1813 he was admitted to the bar and a year later established . himself in independent practice. Later he occupied the same office with Hon. E. B. Taylor, still later became his partner, the association continuing until 1885, when Mr. Gilbert became Judge Gilbert of the probate court. He occupied this bench for two terms, retiring in 1891, and was also a justice of the peace for some time, as well as a member of the city council for some eight years. In his outside business and financial relations he is a director of the Union National Bank of Warren, Ohio.
On July 20, 1887. Judge Gilbert married Miss Agnes B. Biggar, daughter of George and Anna Biggar. His wife is a native of Canada, born February 26, 1861, and completed a thorough education by taking a four years' course in Lake Erie Seminary. Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert are the parents of one son, David Alva Gilbert, a promising youth in his twentieth year.
W. GEORGE LANE, sales manager of the Economy Electric Company, of Warren, was born in Yorkshire, England, on the 16th day of November, 1861. He was reared and educated in his native shire, attending the gram- mar school of which the well-known educator, Dr. Jackson, was principal, and also King's College, London.
Mr. Lane commenced his business training in early youth, and after engaging in various lines as an employe drifted into newspaper work. In 1887 he came to the United States, spending the succeeding seven years in
Andrew Marfor
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HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY
Philadelphia and Chicago. In 1894 he became a resident of Warren, and was in the service successively of the old rolling mill company and the Trumbull Specialty Company. In 1907 he became identified with the Peerless Electric Company, first taking charge of the pay-roll of the estab- lishment, his services carning him a steady advancement until, in 190}, he was appointed to his present position as sales manager of the Economy Elec- tric Company.
In 1900 Mr. Lane was married to Miss Alverna Hudson, a native of West Farmington, Trumbull county, Ohio, and the child of this union is George Cooke Lane. Mr. Lane is a prominent member of the Episcopal church, having had a long official connection with its local work, which in- cludes service as superintendent of its Sunday-school and lay reader since 1895. His connection with the fraternities makes him a director of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew.
ANDREW MORFORD. one of the pioneer farmers of Kinsman township, who died January 3, 1908, was born in West Salem, Mercer county, Penn- sylvania, November 20, 1833, and received his early education in the schools of Mayville, Pennsylvania. His parents were Richard and Polly ( Me- Laughlin) Brown Morford, both natives of New Jersey of Scotch-Irish descent. When about seventeen years of age, Andrew came to Vernon town- ship and worked on a farm there until his marriage to Matilda Jewell. He afterward bought a place in Vernon township. upon which he conducted general farming and dairying until 1896, when he gave the property to his son, W. E. Mortord, and moved to the town of Kinsman. There he pur- chased a comfortable residence and resided there until his death. The de- ceased was a Republican, was honored with the township offices, and died a faithful Baptist, to which faith he had been reared. Mr. Morford's wife was a native of Venango township, Pennsylvania, daughter of Moses and Keziah (Rutledge) Beeman Jewell, and died in September, 1891. They were the parents of one child, William E.
In September, 1896, Andrew Morford married for his second wife Miss Orilla Trunkey, born in West Salem, June 24, 1836, daughter of Frances and Rachael (Fell) Trunkey. The father of Mrs. Orilla Morford was born in Hartland township, Hartford county, Connecticut, while her mother was a native of West Salem. The grandparents, Charles and Mary (Gangyard) Trunkey, were natives respectively of France and Connecticut and the grandparents on the opposite side of the family, John and Catherine (Campbell) Fell, were both born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Morford's parents resided in Mercer county until death, her father, who was born in December, 1803, dying in 1875, and her mother, who was born in 1807, passing away February 15, 1892. There were seven children in the family, of whom the widow of Andrew Morford is the youngest and the only one now living. Her eldest brother was Judge Trunkey, a well known jurist of Pennsylvania, who died in London, England, June 24, 1888.
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HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY
HON. M. J. SLOAN, of Warren, a leading attorney of the city and state, is also a veteran Republican and soldier, and has been for many years very active and prominent in the fraternal work of the Grand Army of the Republic. He was born in Greene township, Trumbull county, Ohio, on the 23rd of September, 1844, son of Isaac Sloan, a native of Madison county, New York, who came to Greene township with his parents when he was a boy of nine years. There he passed the remainder of his life, dying at the age of seventy-four. The American ancestors on the paternal side were of Scotch descent and located at Pelham, Massachusetts, in 1764, where John Sloan, the grandfather, was born and reached manhood. The day after his marriage he started on his trip to New York and located in Madison county, that state, where he remained for some years. Later he settled with his family in the wilderness of what is now Greene township and taught its first school iu the log house which he himself erected, becoming widely honored in the after years for his useful and honorable activities. The mother, known in her native Massachusetts as Martha C. Cooley, when about five years of age accompanied her parents from Palmer to Cattaraugus county, New York. The family afterward removed to Greene township, Trumbull county, where her marriage to Isaac Sloan occurred. Nine children were born to their union, eight of whom are living. The mother, who is eighty-eight years old, has retained her activity of mind and body to a remarkable degree. She takes just pride in her New England ancestry, her family having established itself in the old Bay state as early as 1640, its members, as well as those of the paternal side, acquitting themselves as true patriots at the later period of the Revolutionary war.
M. J. Sloan is the eldest son and the second child born to the above mentioned couple, receiving his education on his father's farm and in the log schoolhouse of the vicinity. In 1863, when in his nineteenth year, he enlisted for the six months' service in Company G, Sixty-sixth Ohio Infantry, and at the conclusion of his term joined Company G of the One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Ohio Volunteers, serving as sergeant and corporal in that command until the end of the war. He was in several noteworthy engagements and saw active service of nearly two years. At the conclusion of the war he returned to Greene township and, while self- supporting, finished his education sufficiently so that he secured a teacher's certificate. After several years of this work he took a course at the Orwell Normal Institute, in Ashtabula county, and was afterward a member of its staff. In 1868 he entered Oberlin College and continued to teach while pursuing his course at that institution, from which he received the degree of M. A.
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