Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 107

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1094

USA > Ohio > Ashtabula County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 107
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 107
USA > Ohio > Lake County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 107

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

841

OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO.

practice of wise economy, all of which are exacting taskmasters, but the result of their training invariably being snecess and happi. ness.

January 7, 1870, Mr. Graves was married to Mrs. Rosalind M. Norris, an intelligent and worthy lady, daughter of Roswell. D. and Maria A. Waters, old and prominent set- tlers of Hart's Grove, Ohio. Mrs. Graves was one of four children, of whom two daughters died at the age of five and six years. Her father died November 25, 1880, aged seventy years, leaving his family and many friends to mourn his loss. The worthy mother now resides with a sister of Mr. Waters, Mrs. Henry Grover, of Lisbon, North Dakota. Mr. and Mrs. Graves have four children: Ernest J., born November 21, 1871; Ashley, born January 10, 1873; B. N., born February 18, 1876; and -Austin C., born July 23, 1884.

Politically, Mr. Graves was a Republican until 1889, when he became a Democrat, but does not aspire to prominence in public affairs, claiming with truth that every man should hold his independence of thought and action, and that in politics there can be no independence. He has been for many years a worthy member of the Masonic order, and belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which he renders much timely aid. He takes a deep interest in the welfare of his community, to the advancement of which he has materially contributed.

OIIN J. DODGE, a farmer and stock dealer of New Lyme, Ohio, was born in New Lyme township, Ashtabula county, May 16, 1822. His father, Jeremiah Dodge, a native of Lyme, Connecticut, emigrated to

Ohio, in 1811. His mother, nee Harriet Jackson, was also a native of Connecticut. Jeremiah Dodge was fourteen years old at the time he came to Ohio, he having made the journey here in company with his parents. Grandfather Dodge traded land in Connecti- cnt for a tract of 1,200 acres in New Lyme township, this county. A part of this tract was given away to other settlers, but the greater part of it is now owned and occupied by his descendants. There were eight chil- dren in the Dodge family, of whom the fol- lowing record is made: Calvin, the oldest, married Rhuhanna Riley, and resided in New Lyme up to the time of his death; Lucinda married Harry Wilcox, and both died in New Lyme; Nancy, wife of Henry Baldwin, died in Jefferson, Ohio; Johanna married A. R. Beckwith, one of the most prominent citizens of Jefferson, Ohio; Hirams is a prominent merchant of Dodgeville, Ohio; Temperance, deceased, was the wife of Perry Hyde, of New Lyme; Orlo married Judge E. J. Betts, a prominent attorney of Jefferson, Ohio. Jere- miah Dodge erected the first store in Dodge- ville in 1831. He took a great interest in local affairs and did much to promote the growth and development of the town. Both he and his wife passed away a number of years ago.

John J. Dodge remained at home until he was twenty-five years of age, at which time he married Mary Mauly, daughter of Leonard Manly, of Jefferson, Ohio. Their two chil- dren are: Stiles, born April 24, 1848, mar- ried Lucy Kelley, of Geneva, Ohio, and now resides in Ashtabula; and Henry, born April 22, 1851, married Alice Rose Swift, daughter of Oliver Swift of Kingsville, and is engaged in farming and stock raising near his father.

Mr. Dodge has always taken a warm inter- est in political affairs and has been a zealous

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

worker for the party of his choice, the Demo- cratic. He has long been a member of the County Committee of that party. Frequenty he has represented the county Democracy at State conventions, and has filled to the entire satisfaction of his constituents several town- ship offices, such as Trustee, Assessor, etc. Being a man of considerable financial ability, an earnest student of political affairs, a man of sound judgment and progressive ideas, he is ranked with the leading citizens of the county.

D B. ALDRICH, M. D., a practicing physician at Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio, was born in Saratoga county, New York, April 25, 1861. His parents, Hudson and Sallie (Johnson) Aldrich, were both na- tives of the Empire State, where they passed their lives. The former's father, Benoni Al- drich, also a native of New York State, was a descendant of an early and influential family of America. Hudson Aldrich and the mother of the subject of this sketch had six sons and two daughters. The devoted wife and mother died when young, and the father now lives on a farm in New York State. In the occupa- tion of farming he has passed his life, being widely known and universally regarded as an industrious and worthy man.

Dr. Aldrich, whose name heads this sketch, spent his youth on the home farm and attend- ed the country schools of his vicinity. When nineteen years of age, he left home to enter Union Christian College, at Merom, Indiana, where he continued for some time, paying his expenses by doing anything which came to hand. He afterward went to Oberlin (Ohio) College, where he remained one year. He then taught school two terms, after which he began the study of medicine at the Western

Reserve Medical College, in Cleveland, where he took a three years' course, graduating in 1889. Thus amply qualified for his profes- sional duties, he began practice in Ashtabula Harbor, in which he has successfully con- tinued. He is conscientious and painstaking in his work, is endowed with steady nerves and cool judgment, facts which have gained for him good standing among the medical fraternity, and secured for him a good patron- age and many friends.

In 1889, Dr. Aldrich was married to Miss Nettie Johnson, a lady of domestic tastes and social accomplishments, a resident of Dover, Ohio, and they have two children. He and wife are worthy members of the Congrega- tional Church.

Fraternally, the Doctor is a member in good standing of the Ashtabula County Medi- cal Association and the Knights of Pythias.

G EORGE HALL, a widely known and popular contractor of Ashtabula, Ohio, was born in England, July 25, 1842. His parents, William and Mary (Hol- lingsworth) Hall, were also natives of the tight little isle, the latter being a daughter of William and Mary Hollingsworth. In 1844, two years after the birth of the subject of this sketch, the little family were deprived by death of the care of the devoted husband and father, who in life was an able and industrious mechanic and a man of sterling traits of character. After the father's death, the mother married again, her second husband being John Muffett, a practical tile and brick maker and an upright, kind man. They had no children, the subject of this sketch re- maining as formerly the only child. In 1851, the family came to the United States, landing

OF NORTHEASTERN OLIO.

843

at New York city, whence they went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they lived three years. They then removed to southern Ohio and shortly afterward to Upper Canada, settling for a brief period near Toronto, final. ly removing in 1858 to Michigan, which con- tinued to be the home of the parents until their death.

The subject of this sketch mastered his stepfather's trade, after which he learned brick-laying, at both of which he worked un- til the outbreak of the war. When twenty years of age, he enlisted in the Federal army, being assigned to Company H, Fourth Mich- igan Cavalry. The command went south at once, and upon the organization of the Army of the Cumberland this regiment was incor- porated into that branch, and was one of the hardest fighting regiments in the cavalry ser- vice. The first brush which the Fourth Michigan Cavalry experienced with the Con- federate forces was at Perryville, Kentucky, just after that historic battle. General Bragg, of the Southern army, was followed as far as Murfreesborough, Tennessee, and there attacked by the Union forces. Mr. Hall, however, was already a prisoner of war, hav- ing been captured at La Vergne, Tennessee, while on picket duty and protected by a flag of truce. On being attacked, General Bragg offered to parole the prisoners, including Captain Abeal and thirty of that officer's company, but General Rosecrans, of the Union army, rejected this proposition, un- less the prisoners should be returned with all the equipments and other accoutrements which had been captured. This General Bragg refused to do, and started with his prisoners for Vicksburg, Mississippi. That point, however, was so besieged with Union forces that it could not be reached from the outside, and at Montgomery, Alabama, a stop

was made and they turned toward Richmond. On arriving at that city, the prisoners were placed in Castle Thunder, where they re- mained six weeks, and then transferred to Libby prison, where they remained two weeks longer. On being released from confinement, Mr. Hall was placed in a parole camp at An- napolis, Maryland, whither he was sent to Co- lumbus, Ohio, for exchange. He then rejoined his regiment at Murfreesborough and partici- pated with it in the battle at Shelbyville, Ten- nessee, at Chickamauga and many other points, before entering on the Atlanta cam- paign. After the fall of Atlanta, Mr. Hall's command returned North with General Thomas, and fought more or less from Rome, Georgia, to Nashville, Tennessee, from which city they continued to Louisville, Kentucky, where they were remounted. They next participated in Wilson's raid, finally arriving at Macon, Georgia, at the close of hostilities, and were discharged on general order at Nash- ville, just one month before Mr. Hall had served three years.

On his way home, Mr. Hall had occasion to pass through Ashtabula, Ohio, and was so favorably impressed with its prospects as a business center that he stopped there and finally settled there permanently. He was first engaged by George Russell as Superin- tendent of the former's brick and tile factory, in which capacity Mr. Hall did faithful and efficient service for ten years. Ile then en- tered the same business on his own account and also began to contract for the erection of buildings, continuing both employments suc- cessfully until 1888, when he discontinued the manufacture of brick and tile and has since been engaged in contracting exclusive- ly. Among the buildings the construction of which Mr. Hall has either superintended or contracted for, are the schoolhouse on Divi-

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

sion street in Ashtabula and that at Harbor, the Ducro and Morrison blocks, the Dalin's residence at Harbor and the Presbyterian Church. These display a high grade of work and are sufficient guarantee of his ability.

In November, 1869, Mr. Hall was married, in Jefferson, Ohio, to Miss Eliza Sandhover, an intelligent and estimable lady, daughter of Simeon Sandhover, an old and respected citizen. They have had six children: Bertha, wife of Chester Woolridge, of Painesville, Ohio; William; Edna; Charles, who was ac- cidentally killed in 1892; Mary and Frank. All of Mr. Hall's children have enjoyed liber- al educational advantages, Edna being a graduate of the high school.

Fraternally, Mr. Hall isa Royal Arch Mason and has filled the Master's chair and been High Priest of the chapter and Sword Bearer of the commandery, and filled all the import- ant offices of both lodges, and represented these orders in the Grand Lodge and Great Council. He is Worshipful Priest of the Eastern Star, is a charter member of the Elks, and is identified with the A. O. U. W. and an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Mr. Hall's prosperity is most emphatically due to his own unaided efforts, governed by thorough and conscientious principles in his work, while his uniform uprightness and gen- ial personality have gained for him many warm friends and placed him among the repre- sentative citizens of his favorite town.

S S. NORTH .- It now becomes our privilege to briefly touch upon the more pertinent points in the life of one of the most prominent residents of Williams- field township, Ashtabula county, Ohio,-

that of him whose name gives caption to the appending paragraphs. S. S. North was born at Madison, Lake county, Ohio, September 30, 1819, being the son of Salmon and Sallie. (Reed) North, natives respectively of Ver- mont and Massachusetts. Salmon North was one of those noble patriots who took up arms in the Revolutionary war in order to gain and insure to coming generations a na- tional freedom. He was of English descent, his father having been a nativo of that fa- vored isle on whose possessions the sun never sets.

The father of our subject determined to follow the star of empire in its westward course, and in 1821 he emigrated to Ohio, settling in Williamsfield township, and set- ting to work to develop a productive farm in the section still given over to the trackless forest wilds. With an indomitable energy and with a sustaining confidence in the ulti- mate results of his toil, he made for himself and family a rudimentary domicile beneath the wide-spreading trees and gave himself to the work demanding from nature that reward which ever comes to him who lays siege with ax and plow. On this same field he died, at the age of seventy-nine years, having lived to realize the fullest measure of compensa- tion for the early years of privation and arduous toil. His wife, who had bravely wrought out her quota in the development of the home, also lived to enjoy the ample har- vest garnered in the peace and prosperity of the later years. She died at the age of seventy-nine years. Mr. North was a car- penter, as well as a farmer, and his knowl- edge in this line was put to excellent use in the new country, fast yielding to the sturdy inroads of the pioneers. In politics, he was a Whig, and both he and his wife were mem- bers of the Baptist Church.

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OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO.

S. S. North, the subject of this sketch, developed gradually and simultaneously with the old homestead, receiving his perliminary education in life at a log schoolhouse, three miles distant from his home. He recalls the fact that occasional bear tracks along the pathway between the schoolhouse and his home used to prove ample cause for preven- tion of dallying on the way. In 1883, he lo- cated on his present farm, then known as the Truman Phelps farm, the same containing 100 acres and being under a high state of cul- tivation. The farm is a particularly fine one and is well equipped in the way of buildings. Mr. North has a good two-story residence, 21 x 28 feet in dimensions, with an L, 16 x 36 feet; a well arranged barn, three miles from Andover, and all the essential conveniences for facilitating the work of the farm. In political matters Mr. North joins issues with the Republican party, and has served as Township Trustee, Assessor and as a mem- ber of the School Board.

Mr. North was first married at the age of twenty-three years, to Maria Squires, daugh- ter of Daniel Squires. Six children were begotten of this union, and of the number four still survive, namely: Ellen Rose, Emma Phelps, Marshall, and Charles A. The wife and mother died in December, 1856, and Mr. North was subsequently married to Lydia Gillett, a native of Steuben county, New York, and a daughter of Asil and Olive (Mason). Gillett, also natives of the Empire State. They had ten children, viz .: Laura, Varerum, Calvin, Harriette, Alzina, Lydia, Mary A., Nancy, Sarah, and Philo. The parents died in Cherry Valley township, the mother in 1852, and the father in 1863. Mr. and Mrs. North have one child, Dorrie, wife of II. B. Wight, of this place, and they have three children: Sedgwick, Walter, and Nellie.

Both Mr. and Mrs. North are prominently identified with religious work in the com- munity and are members of the Baptist Church, in which Mr. North holds the hon- ored perferment as Deacon.

M S. MOODY, a representative citizen of Windsor, Ashtabula county, Ohio, was born in Connecticut in the year 1837, but has been a resident of the Buckeye State since he was two years old. His parents, Martin and Catharine (Barne) Moody, had seven children, as follows: Lydia, Eliza, Noble J., Catherine, M. S., Chauncey and Laura. His father was an honorable and upright man, and was a Democrat in politics.

M. S. Moody was married in 1855 to Miss Phobe Haskins, one of the four children of E. and Permelia Haskins. They have had seven children, namely: Myron, who was born in 1855, married Jennie Spargo; Kate, born in 1857, is the wife of Freeber Thomson; Stella, born in 1859, is the wife of Joseph Grisinger; Andrew, born in 1861; True, wife of Henry Ruple, was born in 1863, and died in 1892; and Elliott, who was born in 1872.

Like his father, Mr. Moody affiliates with the Democratic party. He owns a fine farmn of 140 acres.

C HARLES F. WESTCOTT, a resident of Conneaut and a conductor on the. Nickel Plate Railroad, was born in Buffalo, Erie county, New York, December 21, 1845.

His parents were Jesse and Cynthia (Earl) Westcott, both natives of New York, and his

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

father was one of the earliest pioneers of Buf- falo. He bought thirty-two square miles of land of the Indians, on a portion of which the city of Buffalo now stands, and before Buffalo was incorporated he built the Frank- lin House, and was its first proprietor. For many years he was engaged in the hotel busi- ness there. He was Chief Magistrate in that section of the State, having control of the Indian estate. He and his wife were members of the Episcopal Church. He died August 8, 1862, at the age of seventy-six, and his wife passed away in November, 1864, aged fifty-three years. During the war of 1812 Jesse West- cott and General Wood raised a company of cavalry. The subject of our sketch is the tenth in a family of twelve children, of whom eleven are still living, he being the only one in Ohio. All the others reside in New York except one, Jesse, who is in Michigan.

Charles F. Westcott left home at the age of ten years, and for three years and a half was employed as driver on the Erie canal. Then, at the age of fourteen, he entered the employ of the Lake Shore & Michigan South- ern Railroad, and served until 1877, begin- ning as brakeman and afterward serving as fireman and then as conductor. He was in Buffalo in 1877 at the great strike. Next he turned his attention to the hotel business in that city, being thus engaged there two years. After that he served as brakeman, and subsequently as fireman on the Western New York & Pennsylvania, leaving that road in the spring of 1883 to accept a position in . yard work for the Nickel Plate. He has lived in Conneaut since 1889, and been on the road as brakeman and conductor since that date.

Mr. Westcott was married in 1873, to Miss Emma Pierce. Her father, James Pierce, was a resident at Buffalo and a carpenter by

trade. He died in 1879, aged about forty- two years. Mr. and Mrs. Westcott had four children, namely: George F., born August 13, 1874; Charles H., August 12, 1877; Addie S., August 13, 1879; and Murry T., September 5, 1886. George F. has been a brakeman on the Nickel Plate since 1891. All the rest are attending school. Mrs. West- cott and three of the children are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Of Mr. Pierce's family we make record as follows: Esther, the oldest, is the wife of J. G. Simpson, and has three children: Robert G., Etta and Mary; John C., the second, died at the age of thirty-three years; Orin, who married Maggie Lang, has two children, Orin and Laura; and Mrs. Westcott, the youngest.

As a railroad man Mr. Westcott is prompt and efficient, ever discharging his duty with the strictest fidelity; as a citizen, he has the respect of all who know him. He is a mem- ber of the Order of Railway Conductors, and Junior Conductor of the same. Politically, he is a Republican.

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A RTHUR H. GRIFFITHS, a pro- gressive business man and esteemed citizen of Windsor, Ohio, was born in Richville, St. Lawrence county, New York, May 24, 1856. His parents were na- tives of New Castle, Wales, where they were reared, married and resided until their em- igration to the United States. His father was proprietor of a woolen mill in Wales and in good circumstances. He and his family came to America in 1855, settling in New York State, where he engaged in the mill- ing and building business. He also had a contract for carrying the United States mail for thirty years, and was a man widely known

847

OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO.

and universally respected. He was a strict member of the Welsh Congregational Church. His death occurred in 1886, his loss being deeply deplored by all who knew him. The maiden name of the mother of the subject of this sketch was Esther Jones, whose father was a teacher, and she was one of seven chil- dren, four sons and three daughters. Their home was on the shores of the sea and all naturally imbibed a deep love for the water. All the sons became captains of vessels, two of whom visited America. The mother was fond of telling her children tales of the sea and often declared that if she had been a man that a life on the ocean wave would have been her choice. She is now living in the old home, although past seventy years of age, in the enjoyment of good health. Her only daughter, Sarah G., married Charles Wool- edge, and now resides with her. Two sons are in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and two others live in Richville, the remaining surviving member of the family being the subject of this sketch, one son, James T., having died.

Mr. Griffiths of this notice was reared in St. Lawrence county, New York, graduating at the Richville Union Free School in 1875, and is a member of the alumni association of that institution. This school holds hig' rank as a preparatory place of education. In the fall of the same year, Mr. Griffiths, with eleven others of the same class, started to- gether for Oberlin, Ohio, to attend the pre- paratory department of that famous college. He afterward taught several terms in Lorain and Ashtabula counties, spending the years of 1878 and 1879 in Windsor. He then re- turned to St. Lawrence county, New York, and engaged as freight clerk at the station in Potsdam, where he remained two years. In 1881, he went to St. Paul, Minnesota, in the employ of the Northern Pacific Railroad

Company. In 1882 he returned to Windsor, Ohio, where he was married and later entered into the manufacturing business with his father-in-law and brother-in-law, under the firm name of Levi Hill & Co. He spent the year of 1886 in the railroad office at Pots- dam, since which time he has remained in Windsor.

September 28, 1882, Mr. Griffiths was married to Miss Eva Hill, a worthy lady of Windsor, Ohio, and only daughter of Levi and Loretta Hill, old residents of that village. Mr. and Mrs. Griffiths have two chil- dren: Rhea G. and Lulu M., aged respect- ively ten and eight years; an infant son died March 5, 1890, aged three days.

Mr. Griffiths has always been greatly in- terested in political matters and belongs to the Republican party. He has held several positions of public trust, always fulfilling his duties with honor and ability. Fraternally, Mr. Griffiths affiliates with the Odd Fellows, being a Past Grand of Windsor Lodge, No. 329, and Past Chief Patriarch of Windsor Encampment, No. 164.

P ERRY G. HYDE, a Notary Public and the efficient and popular Postmaster of South New Lyme, Ohio, having held the former position twenty-four years and the latter eight years, is deserving of prominent mention in a history of Ashtabula county. He comes of a worthy and large fam- ily, originally of New England. His father, Hyram Hyde, was born in Hartland, Con- necticut, December 16, 1804, and had two brothers and six sisters, of whom only two sisters now survive: Mary, now Mrs. Wayne Bidwell, of Kinsman, Ohio, and Julia, now Mrs. Chisholm, of Kenosha, Wisconsin.

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

While Hiram was an infant, his parents removed to Vernon, Trumbull county, Ohio, where he was reared and educated. On at- taining his majority, Hiram engaged in the mercantile business at Penn Line, Pennsyl- vania, later going into the hotel business, first at Leon, Ohio, from 1836 to 1840, and then at Conneaut, the same State, where he kept the Mansion House until 1844, after- ward going to Jefferson, where he conducted the Beckwith House until 1846. He then engaged in farming, to which he devoted the remainder of his life, first following that oc- cupation near Jefferson for one year, and afterward removing to a farm near New Lyme, where he resided until his death, De- cember 16, 1889. The mother of the subject of this sketch, was before marriage, Olive Sargent, of Kelloggsville, Ohio.

Mr. Hyde, of this notice, was born in Penn Line, Pennsylvania, November 15, 1834, when his father was in the mercantile busi- ness there, and was reared in the several different places which was afterward his par- ents' home. He received a good education in the schools of Penn Line, Conneaut and New Lyme. He removed with his parents to New Lyme in 1847, which has ever since been his home, and where he has devoted himself to farming until called to official life. Few men have discharged a public trust with so much efficiency and honor as Mr. Hyde, who brought to his work an extensive business experience and a conscientious regard for his duty and the rights of others, qualities which are, unfortunately, too often conspicuous for their absence.

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Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 107

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn Publication date: 1893 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1094

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1094