Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 11

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 11
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 11
USA > Ohio > Lake County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 11

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Mr. Giddings advocated the right of slaves when upon the high seas to free themselves, and he presented to Congress resolutions to the effect that it had no right to compensate the owners of such fugitives; but he was per- suaded by his friends to withdraw them. For offering such resolutions he received the cen- sure of the House, but he was not permitted to speak in his own defense. He thereupon

resigned, but was soon re-elected to Congress by a greater majority than before. He was opposed to the admission of Texas into the Union, with the constitution offered, as he regarded it as an extension of slave territory. In 1850 he had the fugitive slave law to fight, also the compromise slave measures of that year, and in 1852-'56 the Kansas-Nebraska bill of Stephen A. Douglas, etc. When Nathaniel P. Banks, an anti-slavery repre- sentative, was elected speaker of the House, February 4, 1856, after more than two months' failure to organize that branch of Congress, -- which was the first signal victory of the anti-slavery party in Congress,-Gid- dings felt rewarded for his life-long fight.

For a number of years he was the real editor of the Ashtabula Sentinel. He was a . delegate to the famous Republican national convention at Chicago in 1860 which nomi- nated Lincoln for president. He endeavored, but in vain, to induce that convention to in- corporate anti-slavery resolutions in its plat- form. In 1861 he accepted a consul-gen- eralship to Canada under Lincoln, and while serving in that capacity at Montreal he died, May 27, 1864.

"Giddings, far rougher names than thine have grown Smoother than honey on the lips of men;

And thou shalt aye be honorably known As one who bravely used the tongue and pen

As best befits a freeman ;- even for those To whom our laws' unblushing front denies

A right to plead against the life-long woes Which are the negroes' glimpse of freedom's skies.

Fear nothing and hope all things, as the right Alone may do securely; every hour

The thrones of ignorance and ancient Night Lose somewhat of their long usurped power;

And freedom's slightest word can make them shiver With a base dread that clings to them forever."

-BRYANT.

عددسواء .

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B ENJAMIN F. WADE, the mere utter- ance of whose name brings before the eye of the avidious student of the political history of our nation-and particu- larly of that portion which has to do with the trying hours when the country was in the throes of a desperate fratricidal war-a strongly limned image of one who towered above his fellows, a heroic, rugged, stalwart, courageous patriot, unswerving in his devo- tion to the eternal right, bowing not a servile head before a temporal power, and command- ing respect and gaining confidence by very reason of his character, must demand a more than cursory attention in this volume, whose province is the consideration of the life and labor of many of those who have gained place therein by reason of their residence in a locality which has gained distinction from its abstract association with the life and accom- plishments of this remarkable man.

October 27, 1800, near West Springfield (now Agawam), Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin Wade was born, being the tenth in order of the eleven children-four girls and seven boys-born to James and Mary (Up- ham) Wade, who for many years made their home in a rural parish designated as " Feed- ing Hills" and situate a few miles southerly of West Springfield, the region being a thin, sandy-soiled, rocky country, devoted to wild pasturage for the kine-herds of the more favored valleys lying contiguous.

James Wade was born July 8, 1750, at the beginning of a noisy, stirring period, being a native of Medford, Massachusetts. He grew up in the intensely patriotic atmosphere of stormy Boston during the pre-Revolutionary years, and would lack but four days of being twenty-six years of age on the declaration of independence. Young, rugged and adven- turesome, he took an active part in the war

of the Revolution, and at its close turned to peaceful pursuits, being married to Mary, the winsome daughter of his uncle, Rev. James Upham, January 15, 1771. After forty years of life amid the grim, sad-brown hills, the parents of our subject set bravely forth, with their children, to make for themselves a new home in the primeval forests of the Western Reserve, reaching Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1821.

Descended from a long line of distinguished ancestors, but reared under environment none too propitious, Benjamin Wade made early manifest that native power that could not be hedged in by circumstances of time or place -- that power that ultimately won for him distinction and an exalted position, not sought for, but resulting in natural sequence. "Frank" Wade, as the subject of this all too meagre biography was called in his youthful days, grew up in an atmosphere of mental culture, his mother, the daughter of one of the best educated men of his day, being solicitous for the intellectual advancement of her children and rendering them that willing aid which was denied, perforce, to the off- spring of the less cultured pioneer parents. Though he pursued knowledge under diffi- culties, being self-taught save for his mother's and elder brother's assistance, he worked on alone. Such mental discipline is effective, is positive, is never misleading, and young Wade acquired a mental strength which early gave evidence of the force which it should exert in the eventtul future life, filled with "ceaseless toil and endeavor." He attended the district schools of his New England home during the winter months, and even these advantages were superior to those afforded in the later home amid the patriarchal forests of the Western Reserve.

In the autumn of 1823 Frank Wade hired

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himself to a drover and aided in driving a herd of cattle through to Philadelphia. This seemingly trivial circumstance marked an im- portant era in his life, since from Philadel- phia he made his way to Albany and joined his brother, Dr. James. Here he passed two years and occupied himself in teaching school, incidentally working for a time on the con- struction of the great canal. Probably about the time this great artificial waterway was completed (1825) Wade returned to his home in Ohio, where he soon began the study of law in the office of Messrs. Whittlesey & Newton, at Canfield, now Mahoning county, this being at the time the great private law school of Northern Ohio. Rapidly the strong, virile mind of the young man, then twenty- five years of age, became truly studious of the common law, and after two years of dili- gent, practical application, he was admitted to the bar, in the summer of 1827, at a term of the supreme court held at Jefferson, the county seat of Ashtabula county. His re- vered and venerable parents had died the year previous, and, with the home ties for- ever sundered, he gave himself to his life's work with an earnestness born of conscious power, which waited only for circumstances to ignite the latent spark. In 1831 he formed a law partnership with Joshua R. Giddings, who had already gained a wide prestige in the section where he is now re- membered as one of its most notable men. The firm of Giddings & Wade became the leading law association of the locality, and Mr. Wade soon attained distinction as one of the most successful advocates of the day. In the fall of 1835 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Ashtabula county, which office he held for a term of two years, proving a vigorous, safe and popular prosecutor. In manner he was frank, abrupt and incisive; in

characteristics was simple, strong, unpretend- ing, warm-hearted and magnetic.

At the October election of 1837 Mr. Wade was elected to the Ohio Senate. In 1839 he was placed in nomination again for the Sen- ate and was defeated. The causes of defeat were peculiar and will be noted further on. In 1841 he was re-elected: he resigned, but was again elected the following autumn.

The firm of Giddings & Wade was dis- solved, in the spring of 1837, by the retire- ment of Mr. Giddings, and the new firm of Wade & Ranney was formed.

In February, 1847, the Legislature of Ohio elected Mr. Wade as President Judge of the third judicial circuit, then composed of the five important counties of Ashtabula, Trum- bull, Mahoning, Portage and Summit. No man ever reached the bench better equipped for its highest and best duties than did Mr. Wade. He was still young enough to adapt himself readily to the place; had a mind thoroughly trained, a capacity for work, a healthy temper, and was secure in the popu- larity of the people and the respect of the bar. He took his place not only by right of unsought election, but by the divine right of fitness.

The public realizes the executive valuation of a man who comes before its face, and when honor is due, honor is very like to be paid. Thus it was that, March 15, 1851, while presiding on the bench at Akron, Summit county, Judge Wade received notification of his election to the United States Senate for a full constitutional term -- the preferment being unsought, unexpected.

Reverting to Mr. Wade's connection with the Ohio State Senate, it will be remembered that he was elected a member of that body in the fall of 1837, as the candidate of the young Whig party. He here gave to various im- 1

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portant measures his vigorous support or antagonism, as the case in his judgment war- ranted, the period of his incumbency being a critical one in the history of the State. With- in the second session of his term came the Kentucky commissioners to secure the pas- sage of a more vigorous and stringent fugi- tive slave law. The commission was warmly received by the majority of both houses, but five members of the Senate opposing their wishes. The foremost and the ablest of these five opponents was Mr. Wade, who met the bill with open and emphatic antagonism, his speech, concluding the opposition, being one of the most brilliant, patriotic and logical ever delivered before a legislative body, stand- ing on record to this day as one of the ablest delivered against slavery. To this pro-slavery attitude of Mr. Wade was due his defeat when nominated for re-election in October, 1839, but the growth of the pro-slavery sentiment was subsequently rapid in the North, and when, two years later, he was again nomi- nated for the State Senate, his opposition was limited in the extreme.

The passage of the fugitive slave act found Judge Wade presiding over the session of court at Ravenna. By him, as by all other true patriots, the act was viewed with detes- tation and horror, and in the public meeting called at the courthouse, he delivered a pow- erful philippic against it. Thus it may be seen that his anti-slavery attitude was firmly determined at the time he assumed his place in the United States Senate.

The Thirty-second Congress convened De- cember 1, 1851, and at the opening of the Senate Mr. Wade's credentials were presented by Salmon P. Chase, and he was sworn in. It was supposed that Congress now convened under most benign conditions; an incipient contention was thought to have been "nipped

i' the bud" and the forces hushed to per- petual silence. Slavery was practically tri- umphant and freedom and justice were prostrate. There were but five senators who would yield an uncompromising opposition to slavery,-John P. Hale, Seward, Chase, Sumner and Wade. Shortly after the open- ing of the Thirty-third Congress, Mr. Doug- las introduced the Nebraska bill "and all our woes." This bill, which was so framed as to practically override the provisions of the Missouri compromise and to make the holding of slaves in the Territories optional with the residents thereof, naturally aroused the strong antagonism of Wade, and his opposition was most spirited and well directed. His speech, deprecating the outrageous policy implied, is yet considered as one of the best specimens of terse, plain, direct, vigorous putting of things by the honest sturdy intellect of the New England type, to be found in the records of Congress.

There are few times when senators and representatives have come together with a feeling of graver responsibility than that which marked the opening of the Thirty. fourth Congress. Attention was now directed to " Bleeding Kansas " and the conditions there prevailing. Slavery had gained a strong foothold, and there now was the great field of conflict between the opposing sectional forces. The halls of Congress echoed with violent and stormy debates; personal violence even re- sulted in the white heat of partisan ani- mosity, and the Union tottered on its foun- dations.

The Thirty-fourth Congress wore and warred the Kansas matter through until the closing session, March 3, 1851. That Mr. Wade was vigorously arrayed against the further en- croachments of slavery upon the national do- main need scarcely be stated. Ilis opposi-

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tion to the Lecompton constitution in Kan- sas is perpetuated in the history of that tem- pestuous period. The ensuing Congress, the Thirty-fifth, found yet more emphatic causes for contention, the Dred Scott decision had shortly before been handed down, and proved an inflammatory element in both popular and Congressional discussions. Wade had been re-elected, and his independent and commanding position in the Senate had now been assured by reason of his attention to duties, his good sense, freedom from mis- takes, large intelligence, clearness of vision and absolute sincerity. Men came to place trust in his level, practical views, and " old Ben Wade " became to many an almost in- fallible guide. The spring and summer of 1859 were marked with the sullen, brooding spirit, portentous of the great Civil war which soon began to show unmistakable signs of rearing its horrid head. The culmination came; John Brown, at the head of an armed band, took possession of the arsenal at Har- per's Ferry, October 17th, and was there be- sieged by a Virginian army. Public excite- ment now ran high. Then came the year 1860 -- " characters of fire inscribed on its page of the American chronicle "-Lincoln, the great, noble man, the final martyr, is elected to the presidency, and the days sweep on and lead to the great ordeal which shall determine whether the nation will vindicate her honor or pass down the cycles of time with garments sullied by ignoble slavery. Still it was not believed that war-a stern, unyielding conflict -- was imminent. It was thought that pacific measures would yet avert the general resorting to arms. The Thirty-sixth Congress had the courage to reject the Crittenden compromise, an amend- ment to the constitution prohibiting the abo- lition of slavery. In the Senate the opposi-

tion to the amendment was led by Seward, Wade and Fessenden. The called session of the Thirty-seventh Congress closed August 6. It was called to provide for war, and at the ensuing and regular session originated the famous committee on the conduct of the war. Of this committee Wade was the one and only choice for chairman. To recapitu- late the stirring events of this crucial period would demand greater space than is ours to command-would demand latitude transcend- ing that of biography and a ramification into the general history of our nation during those trying hours. Of the services rendered by Mr. Wade the annals of the time make due recognition. He was a mighty power and there should be, in these latter days, none too poor to do him honor. To hurriedly glance over the more important of his actions while in the Senate, we will say that in the matter of compromise between the North and the South, he opposed any concessions. As chairman on the joint committee for the conduct of the war, he advocated its vigor- ous prosecution and favored the confiscation of property in slaves. He reported the bill for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. In 1862 the Homestead bill, which he had so long advocated, passed the senate.

The year 1864 lapsed to 1865. The great rebellion comes suddenly to an end. The heroic president becomes a victim to the weapon of the dastardly assassin. Those hours live and ever will so long as memory holds sway and patriotism survives in the hearts of coming generations. Lincoln is dead; Wade is President of the Senate and acting Vice-President of the United States. Is it not befitting that we make record of one who has attained to such high position and honor? The war closed and the nation was

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left to recover itself from the great disinte- grating conflict whose result is unity. Mr. Wade remains to serve yet a while in the Senate halls and to prove not false to the du- ties yet his to perform for the public good.

In 1871 he was one of the commission sent to Santo Domingo to report on the proposed acquisition of that island, and he was later sent, under the statute, to inspect and report on the construction of the Union Pacific Rail- road. In neither case was he perfunctory in the performance of the assigned duty.

And now, to close this fragmentary sketch, we will animadvert to a portion of his life which was closely linked to his public career, in the indirect influence brought to bear. Caroline Rosekrans was born at Lansingburg, New York, July 30, 1805, being the daughter of Depin Rosekrans, a prominent merchant of that place. Her mother was a daughter of Nehemiah Hubbard, a retired merchant and banker, of Middletown, Connecticut. Some years subsequent to the death of Mr. Rose- krans his widow contracted a second marriage, with Enoch Parsons, a son of General Par- sons, of Revolutionary fame, and one of the first Territorial judges of Ohio. In 1837 Mrs. Parsons and Caroline came to Ashta- bula, Ohio, and May 19, 1841, the latter was united in marriage to Mr. Wade. They took up their residence in Jefferson. Two sons were born to them : Lieutenant-Colonel James F. Wade, in 1843, and Captain Henry P. Wade in 1845, both of whom are still living.

Crowned with honor, a brilliant public career terminated, back to the old home in Jefferson came Mr. Wade, there to pass the declining years of a life that had been dedi- cated and given to all that was honest and good. IIere, at the age of three score years and ten, the retired Senator and his wife came

back to renew, it may be, the life of the days long fled.

The end came. What more need be added ? Is eulogy demanded or wordy panegyric in the case of one whose life was distinguished by extreme simplicity and the avoidance of the ostentatious pomp so dear to weaker minds? Let us simply say that he was such a man. Take him for all in all, we shall not look upon his like again.

Benjamin Franklin Wade died at Jeffer- son, March 2, 1878. No more fitting words can be used in closing than these, from the pen of his able biographer: "They made his grave near the heart of his life-long home, and set at his head a granite shaft less endur- ing than the influence of his deeds for truth, justice, freedom and his country's good."

EONIDAS REEVE, a prosperous farm- er and stock-raiser near Colebrook Cen- ter, Ashtubula county, Ohio, and for twenty-seven years Justice of the Peace in his district, was born in the pioneer log cabin of his parents on the homestead in New Lyme, this State, June 23, 1823. He belongs to one of the oldest families in this county, his father, Ramsey Reeve, a native of Old Lyme, Connecticut, having come with his wife and family to New Lyme, Ohio, in 1821, where he became a prosperous farmer and resided until his death. The mother of the subject of this sketch, May (Baldwin) Reeve, was a native of Chester, Connecticut, and a typical pioneer woman, inheriting in a marked degree those qualities of common sense, courage and perseverance for which people of New England are noted. Their ten children were: James B., Captain in the Thirty-second Iowa Infantry, who died in the service at Fort

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Pillow, Tennessee; Henry L., who died on the old homestead in New Lyme in 1889; John R .; Leonidas, whose name heads this sketch; Hezekiah; Leander, proprietor and manager of the Lone Tree Stock Farm, in Rome Cen- tre township, Ashtabula county; Flavius J., who also died on the old homestead; Maria A., wife of J. S. Peck, a prominent citizen of New Lyme; Arthur T., who enlisted in the regular United States army as a private and retired with the rank of Colonel, being at the time of his death Chief of the Second Division in the Agricultural Department at Washington; William H. H., who also was a soldier in the late war, and died in the service.

The subject of this sketch obtained his education in the district and select schools of his vicinity, and in 1846 received a certifi- cate to teach, from the first Board of School Examiners in the county, and taught district schools for several terms. He then learned the carpenter and joiner's trade, at which he worked several years, and at one time, in 1853 and 1854, worked for the Illinois Cen- tral Railway Company and helped to build all the depots from Freeport to Warren in Illinois. He later engaged in farming and stock-raising, and now owns 148 acres of the choicest land in the county, with excellent modern improvements, a comfortable resi- dence, good barns, etc. He is notable as a breeder of fine horses, in which line he is very successful and from which he realizes a comfortable income.

April 28, 1846, Mr. Reeve was married to Miss Sophia Knowles, who was born in New Lyme, August 19, 1826. She received the best educational advantages afforded by the pioneer schools and also held a certificate to teach. Her father, James Knowles, was one of the representative farmers and earliest

pioneers of the county. He was born in Lyme, Connecticut, in 1801, and came with his parents to New Lyme, Ohio, 1811. He married Ann Doty, of Nantucket, Rhode Island, and they had three children: Sophia, wife of the subject of this sketch; Harriet, now Mrs. John Thompson, who resides in Colebrook; and Emily, afterward Mrs. H. D. Miner, of Colebrook, who died in 1868. The father died in 1880, universally lamented on account of his many estimable qualities. Mr. and Mrs. Reeve have had four children, the two eldest of whom died aged fourteen and fifteen years. Florentine O. was born Jan- uary 28, 1851, and graduated at Mt. Union College, in Stark county, Ohio, and has fol- lowed teaching for twenty years, but is now studying medicine, being at present assistant to the physician of the college and dispensary at Cleveland. He married Miss Thirzah Walling, of Colebrook, of this State, and they now reside at Cleveland. The other child of Mr. Reeve, Viola, was born March 21, 1865, and is unmarried and at home. She received a musical education at Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, is now organist at the Baptist Church of Colebrook, Ohio.

Mr. Reeve's present prosperity is due en- tirely to his own unaided efforts, persistently and intelligently applied, and he justly de- serves the esteem in which he is so widely held.

ENRY H. HALL, conspicuous among the prominent business men of Ash- tabula, Ohio, was born in Ashtabula November 3, 1836. His parents, Val- erius and Betsy W. Hall, were natives of Connecticut and Massachusetts, respectively, and were both of English descent. In 1812,

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shortly after their marriage, they joined the westward tide of emigration, coming to Ash- tabula, Ohio, at that time on the frontier of civilization. The father, who was a manu- facturer, followed that calling in Ashtabula until about 1845, after which he was engaged in farming. Both parents lived in Ashtabula to an advanced age, dying greatly lamented by all who knew them. They had six chil- dren, four sons and two daughters.

The subject of this sketch was reared to the age of thirteen in Ashtabula, gaining a fair common-school education, when, in 1852, he left the parental roof on his own respon- sibility and began to learn telegraphy. He worked at this business in many places, prin- cipally at Cincinnati, Pittsburg and Louis- ville, Kentucky. In 1862 he discontinued telegraphing and returned to Ashtabula, where he entered the merchandise business, in which he was successfully engaged for twenty years. In 1882 he discontinued this to embark in other interests, being instru- mental in establishing the following enter- prises: The Ashtabula Tool Company, of which he was president two years, and then sold his interest; the Bolt & Shaft Company, of which he was manager; the Ashtabula Pump Company, of which he was president; and others. The Carriage Bow Company was organized and began operations in Ash- tabula partly through his influence, and all of these enterprises have brought prosperity in their train, materially contributing to the advancement of the city and surrounding country. Nor have material interests alone occupied his time and attention, for, being a charitable man, he has devoted much means and thought to the condition of those less fortunate in the race of life. In 1885 he, with other charitably disposed gentlemen and ladies, organized, under the State law, the

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Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 11

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