Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 114

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 114
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 114
USA > Ohio > Lake County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 114

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Richmond E. Stone, the able and popular proprietor of Stone's Hotel, a life-long resi- dent and representative citizen of Orwell, Ohio, was born in Milford, Otsego county, New York, May 18, 1826. When he was

but four years of age, his parents removed from the East to Orwell, which has ever since been his home. He received his education in the primary and advanced schools of his county, finishing with a course at Kingsville Academy. These advantages, combined with a naturally active intellect, have placed him in the front rank of financial and mercantile circles. He possesses fair ability as a mathe- matician, grammarian and historian, and is a beautiful penman and expert stenographer. A diary of 1851 which he has, with all the entries made in the Pitman system of short- hand, is a model of neatness. He was for thirteen years one of the few successful school teachers in the county and was for a time township Superintendent of Schools. His business life has been somewhat varied; he was successively engaged in different mer- cantile pursuits, in all of which he met with gratifying success, principally owing to his superior financial ability. He is at present (1893) the capable and popular proprietor and manager of Stone's Hotel, known far and near for its neat, prompt and satisfactory service. He owns property and has shown his generosity by deeding to the township of Orwell a desirable piece of land for a park, which will ever be a monument to his public spirit.

September 17, 1854, Mr. Stone was mar- ried to Miss Mary Ann Williams, an estima- ble lady of Parkman, Ohio, who was born September 17, 1833. Her parents, Joseph and Mary Williams, were natives of England, whence they emigrated in 1826 to the United States, on account of the strict entailment laws of inheritance. They settled in Ashta- bula county, where the father was a success- ful farmer. He died July 27, 1865, at the age of seventy-two years, and as if unable to endure a separation after so many years' as-

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

sociation, his wife followed him to the tomb two weeks later, dying August 6, 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Stone have three children living: Ward B., born July 30, 1855, has two chil- dren ; Lela D., born July 18, 1883;and Etta B., born February 23, 1892. Maryette C. died in infancy; Hattie R., born September 20, 1862, married S. E. Payne, of Orwell, and has one child, Clarence, born August 21, 1891; and Emma Grace, wife of L. A. Cook, a newsdealer of Warren, Ohio.

Politically, Mr. Stone is a conservative Re- publican, is well informed on the general topics of the day, honest in his convictions and energetic in his support of them. He has filled a number of offices of trust, having been Postmaster from 1869 to 1882, and dur- ing his term was instrumental in securing a money-order department for the post office at Orwell. He was for many years Clerk of the township and has been a Notary Public for thirty years.

Fraternally, he affiliates with the A. F. & A. M., to which he has belonged since Octo- ber. 1858, and is a charter member of Orwell Lodge, No. 377, I. O. O. F. Industrious, public-spirited, liberal and progressive, he has attained financial prosperity and advanced the interests of his community, besides de- servedly winning the esteem of all right- minded men.

HOMAS H. BELLARD, one of Cole- brook's leading farmers, was born in Howland, Ohio, October 5, 1839. His father, Thomas Bellard, was a native of Virginia and came to Ohio with his parents when he was a small boy. From Howland he moved to North Jackson, with his family, and there passed the rest of his life and died, the date of his death being January 11, 1860.

Mary Bellard, his wife, died at the home of her son, Thomas H., April 30, 1885. They had a family of nine children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the sixth born. Elizabeth, the oldest, now the wife of Thomas Caldwell, resides in Columbiana county, Ohio; Mary Ann, wife of Joshua Weaver, lives in Sharon, Pennsylvania; John, the third, died in Colebrook in 1885; William, the next in order of birth, is in Colorado; Minerva, the fifth, died in Ohlstown, Mahon- ing county, Ohio, in 1857; Robert P. lives in Michigan; George is a resident of Ashta- bula, Ohio; and Olive, the youngest, is the wife of John Courtleyon of New Lyme.

During the late unpleasantness Thomas H. Bellard served with the Forty-first Ohio, enlisting October 10, 1861, and receiving an honorable discharge January 1, 1863. He . participated in the battle of Pittsburg Land- ing and several minor engagements.

At the close of the war in 1865 he moved to Colebrook, purchased the farm he now oc- cupies, and immediately began the work of improving it, the result of his earnest efforts being one of the finest farms in this vicinity. Some time afterward he also became the owner of eighty acres of land in Wayne township, this county.

Mr. Bellard was married October 10, 1867, to Margaret Gault, daughter of Robert Gault, of North Jackson, Ohio. She is a descendant of German and Scotch ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Bellard have a family of three children, all excellent scholars and all teachers of con- siderable local reputation. Clifton, the eldest, born May 16, 1869, has recently been ad- mitted to the Sophomore class of Oberlin College. He graduated at the New Lyme Institute in 1890, and afterward served one year as instructor in that institution. Lillian May, the second, born January 1, 1872, is

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engaged in teaching at Colebrook. Arrie E., born June 24, 1876, is also employed as teacher at Colebrook.

Mr. Bellard resided in Niles from 1869 until 1877, where he conducted a large saw- mill. Since his return to Colebrook he has devoted himself exclusively to the manage- ment of his farms. Thoroughbred Jersey cattle have been his specialty, and he has some of the finest strains of this variety to be found in Ashtabula county.

He is a Republican.

W ILLIAM BUNKER is a worthy representative of one of Colebrook's oldest and most influential families.

His father, Jacob Bunker, was born in Gorham, New York. The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Betsey Col- lins, was also a native of New York. She was first married to a Mr. Crittenden, by whom she had five children, all of whom have passed away. Jacob Bunker removed with his family to Colebrook, Ohio, when his son William was a lad of thirteen years, and at that time purchased the farm now owned by this son. Of the Bunker family we make record as follows: Solomon, born December 12, 1818, is a resident of Colebrook, Ohio; William, born January 17, 1821; and Edward and Edwin, twins, born January 12, 1823. Edwin resides at Colebrook and Edward is deceased.

William Bunker remained with his parents until he attained his twenty-second year. He was then married to Betsey Powell, daughter of Daniel Powell, who came to Colebrook about 1835. Mr. and Mrs. Powell have both passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Bunker had four children, two of whom survive: George

R., the oldest, born August 26, 1845, served as messenger during the war; he died, un- married, March 28, 1871; Orlando H., the second, born January 28, 1849, died Septem- ber 25, 1881; Lydia I., born September 27, 1851, is the wife of Carlos Stebins, a promi- nent farmer residing near Sherman, New York; Dalzell A., the youngest, was born August 10, 1843, and has attained a success equaled by few. - Graduating at Grand River in 1879, one of the brightest of a class which has attained considerable distinction, he im- mediately entered Oberlin College, where he received his degree in 1883. He then took a course in Union Seminary, New York city, after which he filled several positions in Pennsylvania during the following four years. Then he received a very flattering proposition from the king of Corea, through the Government officials, to assume the principalship of an English academy to be established within his majesty's domain. Mr. Bunker was one of four selected at this time and owed his selection to the flattering recom- mendation of the faculty of Union Seminary. He has served with signal ability in the position to which he was called and enjoys to an eminent degree the personal friend- ship and confidence of the King. He receives a salary of $250 a month and sev- eral valuable perquisites.

Dr. Bunker affiliates with the Republican party and has served most acceptably in sev- eral of the township offices.

C HARLES McMACKIN is prominent among the progressive and successful farmers of Madison township, Lake county, Ohio, and is a man whose life has been characterized by 'honest industry and

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

whose efforts have been crowned with success.

He was born in the township in which he now lives, September 10, 1820, son of John and Beeda (Ellis) McMackin, the former a na- tive of New Jersey and the latter of New York. His parents were married in New Jersey, and soon after their marriage emi- grated, with an ox team, to northern Ohio, landing in the northeastern part of Madison township, Lake county, after a journey of six weeks. Here, in the midst of the dense for- est, which abounded in game of all kinds, including deer and bears, Mr. McMackin built his cabin home and developed a farm of 160 acres. He was a hard worker all his life. He died at the age of seventy-one, and his wife also lived to an advanced age. Both were members of the close-communion Bap- tist Church, of which he was a liberal sup- porter, and in politics he was first a Whig and afterward a Republican. They had ten children, nine of whom reached adult years, and whose names are as follows: William, Casier, Charles, James, Eliza A., Lazarus, Levi, Rebecca and Nancy.

Charles McMackin was reared on his father's frontier farm and conned his lessons in the log schoolhouse hard by. He remembers having seen deer in the woods not far from his home. As soon as he was old enough, he was put to work on the farm, and indeed before that time he did many a hard day's work. When he was ten years old, he husked twenty bushels of corn in a half day, thus making a record of which few men can boast. After he was fifteen, he was employed in digging iron ore during the winter, and, money being scarce, had to take most of his pay in store goods. After his marriage, which occurred in 1845, Mr. McMackin en- gaged in farming. He located on his present farm, 112 acres, in 1850, and the most of the

improvements on this place have been put here by him. His commodious residence, good barns, well-cultivated fields and fine stock all combine to make this one of the most attractive farms in the township.

Mr. McMackin's marriage has already been referred to and the date of that event given. Mrs. McMackin's maiden name was Clarissa Burchard. She was born in Concord town- ship, this county, and died in Madison town- ship in the prime of life, leaving three chil- dren-Jonah, Matthew and Francis.

While he has been a Republican, Mr. Mc- Mackin is now independent in his political views. He served four years as Supervisor of his district.

W ALTER L. GREEN, another one of the prominent and progressive farmers of Madison township, Lake county, Ohio, was born here January 31, 1851.

The Green family are of Scotch extraction. Three brothers of that name came over to America previous to the Revolutionary war, and from one of them the subject of our sketch is descended. Jesse M. Green, the father of Walter L., was born in Chemung, New York, in 1803, son of Joseph Green, also a native of New York State. Joseph Green was a soldier in the Revolution, prob- ably the youngest soldier in that war, he hav- ing entered the service when he was twelve years old. In after years he received a pen- sion. He came out to Ohio in the fall of 1815, and subsequently returned to New York for his family, which he brought here with an ox team, following blazed trees a portion of the way. He settled on the North Ridge in Madison township, Lake county,

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OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO.

where he built his cabin home and began life in a true pioneer style. There were some Indians here at that time and the forest abounded in deer, bears and wolves. On one occasion Mr. Green had a hog carried off by a bear, and at other times the wolves entered his sheepfold and made havoc therein. He took great delight in hunting. To kill a deer or bear was no unusual thing for him. He cleared and developed the land on which he settled, spent many prosperous years here and died at the advanced age of eighty-six.

Jesse M. Green was thirteen years old at the time his father's family located in Lake county. He conned his lessons in one of the primitive log schoolhouses near his home, and, when not at school, his youthful days were spent in hard work. He helped to clear his father's land and worked in the mines. When he grew up, he married Zilpha Lovell, a native of Massachusetts, who came here when she was six years old, with her father, Ebenezer Lovell. Mr. Lovell was one of the first tanners in this vicinity. He ran a tan- nery near Unionville for a number of years, and died there at the age of forty-five. Mr. Green owned 130 acres of land, on which he lived and reared his family of six children, namely: Lucius, Mary, Nelson, George, Wal- ter and Marion. Mary became the wife of a Mr. Warner, and is now deceased. Father and mother both passed away at the age of sev- enty-two. The latter was a member of the Baptist Church, in which she took an active interest. In politics Mr. Green was first a Whig and afterward a Republican.

Walter L. Green received his education in the district school, the Madison Seminary, and the high school at Hudson, Michigan, being a student at the latter place three win- ters. He was married February 24, 1875, to Lillie Clark, a native of Fairport, New York,

who died in October, 1885, leaving three children, Jessie, Mary and Marion. August 25, 1887, Mr. Green married Libbie Lock- wood, a native of Geneva township, Ashta- bula county, Ohio. Their two children are Mildred L. and Walter J.

Mr. Green owns 107 acres where he lives and twenty acres in the northern part of the township. His home farm is well drained and highly improved, all the result of his own well-directed efforts. He built his barn in 1880, and his fine frame residence he erected in 1887. His farming operations are diver- sified. He has given some attention to the breeding of trotting horses, in which he has been very successful. He has a fine peach orchard, comprising 1,400 trees; also raises large quantities of onions.

Mr. and Mrs. Green are members of the Congregational Church at North Madison. Politically he is a Republican.

E F. ENSIGN, dealer in agricultural implements, Madison, Lake county, Ohio, was born here July 13, 1829. As a successful business man, a representa- tive citizen and a member of a prominent pioneer family, he is entitled to more than a passing notice in the history of his county, and it is with pleasure we present the follow- ing review of his life and ancestry.

The Ensign family is of French origin. The name first appeared in England in 1395. In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Richard I. at Chilham, near Canterbury, there was the "Ensigne Manor" of William de En- signe. The family coat of arms was in Chil- ham Church, and was recognized as valid in 1563 under King Henry VIII. Thomas and

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

James Ensign appeared in New England in 1634-'35. James went with the Haker colony to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and re- moved to Hartford, Connecticut, with it. He was a man of prominence and wealth, and died about 1670. His wife, Sarah, died in 1676. Their son Thomas was the father of twin sons, John and Jacob, born at Hart- ford. Jacob was the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He was an early set- tler of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In a map of the vicinity of Pittsfield, dated 1794, Sil- ver Lake is called " Ensign's Pond." Jacob Ensign's oldest son, William, a native of Massachusetts, was a large landowner, and for some time resided at Dalton, Berkshire county, that State, where he had about 300 acres of land. Selling out all his interests there, he came to Ohio in 1815, and in Lake county, retired from active life, he spent his closing years and died at about the age of eighty-six. His son Horace, who was born in Dalton, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, came to northeastern Ohio when a single man, making the journey here on horseback as early as 1812. He first settled in Ashta- bula county, but, not liking the country there, came to Lake county a few months later. Upon his arrival here he bought over 200 acres of land just west of Madison, and here settled in the woods. He was an industrious man, worked hard and cleared his land and developed his farm, and at the time of his death was well off. He died here April 6, 1880. His wife, whose maiden name was Celestia Raymond, was a native of Sherburne, New York, and a daughter of James Ray- mond, who was born in Litchfield, Connecti- cut, and who came here with his family and settled in Unionville when Mrs. Ensign was a girl. The Raymonds are of French Hu- guenot origin, their ancestors being among

the early settlers of Connecticut. Horace Ensign and his wife reared two children, Frances A. and E. F. The former was the wife of Simeon Waters, a graduate of Yale College and a minister of the Congregational Church. Both Mr. and Mrs. Waters are de- ceased. Mrs. Ensign died at the age of seventy-four. She and her husband were among the most prominent and highly. re- spected people of this community. Mr. Ensign was one of the founders of the Con- gregational Church here, and was the first Sabbath-school superintendent in Madison. He also took the lead as an Abolitionist in this part of the country, and as the keeper of a station on the Underground Railroad he assisted many a poor colored man to make his escape to Canada. He was one of the origi- nal founders of the anti-slavery party, work- ing with such men as Wade and Giddings, whom he secured to lecture here. During his long life he affiliated with various politi- cal organizations, belonging successively to the Whig, Liberty, Free Soil and Republican parties.

W. F. Ensign was reared on his father's farm. He attended the home school, and at an early age entered the Grand River Insti- tute, where he graduated when he was seven- teen, being the valedictorian of his class. The following winter he taught in the public school at Madison, some of the scholars being older than himself. He engaged in business at the age of twenty-one, and his whole life has been spent here. For the past ten years he has been dealing in agricultural imple- ments, aside from which he also does an ex- tensive insurance business. He is the owner of valuable real estate, having fifty acres within the corporate limits of Madison. From 1876 to 1884 he was State agent of the Grange in Cleveland.

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OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO.

October 4, 1854, Mr. Ensign married Eliza- beth H. Hazelton, a native of Connecticut. She moved with her parents to Leroy, New York, where she received her education, being a graduate of the university at that place. Mr. and Mrs. Ensign have three children: Ralph Waldo, Frances H. and H. Raymond. Miss Frances is a graduate of Oberlin Col- lege, and at this writing is the State organ- izer of the Y. W. C. T. U. of Ohio. He and his wife are members of the Congregational Church, in which he has been a Deacon for many years. He has also served as president of the Church Board, and for fourteen years was Superintendent of the Sunday-school. Politically, he is a Republican. All his life he has taken an active interest in educational affairs. He has served as president of the School Board here. In 1878 he was appointed one of the trustees of the Ohio State Univer- sity, receiving the appointment from Gover- nor Young and serving as such until the law was changed, reducing the number of trus- tees.

AMES E. FORD, a farmer and the owner of valuable real estate at Con- neaut, Ohio, was born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, July 4, 1830.

Mr. Ford's parents, Thomas and Catherine (Rick) Ford, were both natives of Pennsyl- vania. Thomas Ford came to Erie county, Ohio, at an early day, and during the war of 1812, on account of Indian depredations, he and others returned to Crawford county, Pennsylvania. Subsequently he volunteered as a private in the war, and served until the emergency was over. Ile had one of the best ordered farms in Pennsylvania, was well known as a man of more than ordinary abil- ity, and passed his whole life engaged in

agricultural pursuits. He died in his native State, March 21, 1861, aged nearly eighty years. His wife died about 1834. They had a family of fourteen children, of whom three daughters and two sons are still living. The family was well represented in the Civil war, two of the sons losing their life's blood on the field of battle. Daniel enlisted in 1861, as First Lieutenant in the Twenty-seventh Michigan Infantry, was in the Army of the Potomac, and was instantly killed in the mine exploded by General Burnside at Peters- burg. He was about thirty years of age. Alexander, aged about twenty-two years, was in the Eighty-third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was killed instantly in the bat- tle of the Wilderness, in 1864. His friends saw him fall, but his remains were never re- covered. He had been in the service since 1861. Andrew, another brother, enlisted in 1862, in the One Hundred and Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry; served all through the war, and came home at its close a physical wreck. He is still living, in Craw- ford county, Pennsylvania, and has been an invalid all his life. The names of this large family, in order of birth, are as follows: John, who died in 1863; Eliza, a resident of Pennsylvania, now nearly eighty years of age; Julia, of Crawford county, Pennsylvania; Thomas, Jr., who was kicked by a horse and died a few hours later, in 1863; Andrew, above referred to; Lorena, a resident of Wis- consin; David, some place in the West; William, who died in 1857, at the age of twenty-seven; Silas, who died in 1893 of la grippe, aged sixty-four years; James E., whose name heads this article; Daniel; Mar- garet, who died at the age of thirty-five; Sarah, now Mrs. Johnson, residing at the old homestead in Crawford county, Pennsylvania; and Alexander.

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

James E. Ford came from his native State to Conneaut, Ohio, in 1882, and has been engaged in farming here ever since. He owns thirty acres of land at the Harbor, most of which is laid off in town lots, and all of which is valuable property. The last lot he sold was in the fall of 1892, it being 25 x 72 feet, and bringing $750. He has refused that price for other lots in the same locality. His attractive home, located on Harbor street, is next to the last house between Conneaut and Canada.

Mr. Ford was married, June 6, 1868, to Miss Sallie A. Henry, daughter of William and Sallie Henry, of Crawford county, Penn- sylvania. Her father was a farmer and a highly respected citizen. Both parents died at about the age of eighty years. Her mother was a life-long and devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Ford is the youngest of their four children, the others being as follows: John, engaged in farming at the old homestead; Mary, deceased, was the wife of J. E. Wilcox; and Ann, wife of Alonzo Fish, who resides on a farm in Penn- sylvania. Mr. Fish enlisted in the Union army in 1861, and served four years. He was the last person who ever saw General McPherson alive. He saw him riding toward the rebel lines, a moment later heard a rifle report, and then saw the horse returning without a rider. He was in the Atlanta campaign, and went with Sherman from At- lanta to the sea. The only injury he received in the war was from being thrown off his horse, his knee being hurt at that time, from the effects of which he is still lame.

Mr. and Mrs. Ford have four children: Lillie, Perley Victor, Lulu and Flossie. Mrs. Ford and her son are members of the Meth- odisť Episcopal Church, and the two oldest daughters are Baptists.

Politically, Mr. Ford is a Democrat. While a resident of Crawford county, Penn- sylvania, he served three years as County Auditor. Fraternally, he is a Mason and an A. O. U. W. Public-spirited and generous, enterprising and progressive, he has done his part toward advancing the best interests of the community in which he lives.

C O. HIGGINS, a leading druggist of Painesville, Ohio, was born near War- saw, Wyoming county, New York, May 3, 1850. He comes of good old New En- gland ancestry, the family having come origi- nally from Connecticut. Otis Higgins, grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was born in New York State, where he lived and died. T. H. Higgins, father of Mr. Higgins of this notice, was also born in Wyoming county, New York, and early learned the druggist's business. In 1865 he removed to Paines- ville, Ohio, with his family, where he en- gaged in the same business, his drug store being situated on the corner of Main and St. Clair streets, where his son, whose name heads this notice, still continues the same store. The father was a prominent member of the Congregational Church, in which he was Deacon and Treasurer for many years. He died in September, 1888, greatly lamented by all who knew him. The mother of the subject of this sketch, whose maiden name was Mercy Bacon, was born in New Hamp- shire and descended from an old and highly respected New England family. She still survives and has been a life-long member of the Congregational Church. She was the mother of three children, two of whom are living, both filling honorable positions in business and society.

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Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 114

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