Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 14

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 14
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 14
USA > Ohio > Lake County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 14

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).

The war over, Mr. Buss went to Saginaw, Michigan, as lumber inspector, and remained there until 1876. He has since been a resi- dent of Conneaut, engaged in work at the carpenters' trade.

Mr. Buss was married March 28, 1867, to Miss Emma Farnham, a native of Conneaut and a daughter of Elisha and Mary (Ring) Farnham. Elisha Farnham was born in Con- necticut June 8, 1806, the sixth in the fam- ily of ten children of Thomas Farnham. Thomas Farnham and his father were sol- diers in the Revolutionary war. At the age of twenty-five Elisha Farnham came West to Ohio and settled in Ashtabula county on lands that he occupied up to the time of his death. He owned and operated a gristmill and sawmill, located four miles from Con- neaut. He was married in Conneaut. He died October 4, 1875, aged sixty-nine years, his wife having passed away in 1849, aged thirty-two. Mrs. Buss was two years old when her mother died, and was the youngest of the family, which was composed of six children, the others being as follows: Don Alphonzo, who served in the Second Ohio Battery two years, came from the army and died soon afterward of hasty consumption; . Flora, wife of T. S. Young, of South Ridge,

this county; Patrick Henry, a Wisconsin farmer; Mary, wife of Steven Havelin, of South Ridge; Lydia E., widow of Cornell Fuller, is a resident of Conneaut.

Mr. and Mrs. Buss have five children, viz .: Henry, Jennie, Don Alfred, Lee Ring and Anna Emily. Henry married Minnie Tinker and lives in Conneaut. The other children are members of the home circle.

Mr. Buss belongs to the G. A. R., and his wife is a charter member of the W. R. C. at Conneaut, of which organization she was the first vice-president.

A LEXANDER HAY, the popular land- lord of the Nickel Plate Eating House, Conneaut, Ohio, is a native of Co- shocton county, Ohio, born in 1846.

His parents were Alexander and Mary Hay, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Pennsylvania. The senior Mr. Hay was a man of excellent business quali- fications, all his active life being spent as proprietor of a hotel at Coshocton. He died in 1846. His wife survived him until Au- gust, 1892, when she passed away at the age of seventy-four years. She was one of the pioneers of Coshocton county, having gone there with her parents when she was a little girl. From her girlhood she was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and her whole life was characterized by the sweetest of Christian graces. She had thirteen children, the subject of our sketch being one of the six who are still living.

When the Civil war broke out Mr. Hay was only in his 'teens, and, young as he was, he enlisted, in August, 1861, in Company E, Fifteenth United States regulars. After the battle of Shiloh, in which he participated, he

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was detailed in recruiting service, and was at Newport, Kentucky, Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, and Newport, Rhode Island. From Newport he went South, reaching Lookout Mountain two days after the battle; thence to Mobile, and from there to Selma, Alabama. He was discharged at Selma in 1867, after a service of five years and four months. He served as drummer four years. He stood the service well, and has never made any appli- cation for a pension.

The war over, Mr. Hay turned his atten- tion to work at his trade, that of machinist, and for eleven years worked for the Pan Handle Railroad Company at Dennison, Ohio. He learned this trade after the war. In 1878 he went from Dennison to Coshoc- ton, where he worked at his trade until 1887. Since that year he has been a resident of Con- neaut. After being in the employ of the Nickel Plate as machinist here one year he turned his attention to the hotel business, having been proprietor of the Nickel Plate Hotel ever since.

Mr. Hay was married February 8, 1872, to Miss Lucy F. Furgeson, daughter of Ed- win Furgeson, of Uhrichsville, Ohio. She is a lady of many estimable qualities and is a member of the Congregational Church. They have three children, all in school: Ed- die, Mary E. and Frank F.

Mr. Hay is an ardent Republican, and is prominent in fraternal circles, being a mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias, Uniform Rank, the G. A. R., A. O. U. W. and Home Circle.

Of Mrs. Hay's father we record that he was born in Culpeper, Virginia, and was for many years engaged in work at his trade, that of tailor, at Cadiz and Uhrichsville. Hle served all through the Mexican war, partici- pating in its leading battles, and in the Civil

war was a lieutenant in the Second Ohio Battery, serving three years. He died at the home of his only child, Mrs. Hay, his wife having passed away two years before at Uhrichsville. Mr. Furgeson was a stanch Re- publican and a prominent Mason, having taken the Knights Templar degree.

Z ALMON R. FITCH, a representative business man and public-spirited citi- zen of Jefferson, Ohio, was born in Warren, this State, December 28, 1850. His parents, Charles and Mary (Ray) Fitch, are both natives of Ohio, and now reside in Kinsman, this State.

The subject of this sketch is one of five children. The first nine years of his life were passed in his native city, after which he re- moved with his parents to Kinsman. Here he received a good common-school educa- tion, and about the age of sixteen entered a furniture factory for the purpose of learning that business, remaining seven years. He then secured employment in an undertaking establishment in Kinsman, which business he also learned. Thus well equipped for the battle of life, he removed, in 1881, to Jef- ferson, and here embarked in the furniture and undertaking business, which by careful management and industry on the part of Mr. Fitch has increased continuously, until about 1891 he added to this already large enter- prise the manufacture of lounges for the wholesale trade. This undertaking promises to increase with the growth of the city, until it will rival the largest factories in the State, the quality of the goods here made being already of the best, which high grade will be retained as long as Mr. Fitch has the man- agement.

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

In 1871 Mr. Fitch was married to Emma Cortleyou, a lady of domestic tastes, who has been a helpmate in every sense of the word.

Fraternally Mr. Fitch is an active mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias, to which he has belonged for a number of years. In politics he is a Republican. Enterprising and progressive, he has aided largely in ad- vancing the welfare of the city of which he is an esteemed resident.

D R. W. L. GILCHRIST .-- Among the well known medical practitioners of Ashtabula, Ohio, the subject of this sketch and his worthy wife hold foremost rank in skillful and conscientious work, and justly enjoy a large and remunerative patron- age.

William Gilchrist, his father, was born of Scottish parentage in Dunsford, county Down, Ireland, in 1814, and when ten years of age accompanied his widowed mother and a large family of brothers and sisters to Brunswick, Medina county, Ohio. Here he was reared and received such educational advantages as his mother could afford and such as were pro- vided by the schools in that early day. When old enough he found employment as a day laborer, at which work he continued until he attained his majority, when he engaged in the butchering and general stock business, in which he remained until nearly forty-five years of age. He then joined the westward tide of emigration, removing to Waterloo, Black Hawk county, Iowa, and there engaged in the grain and mercantile business, in which he continued until the fall of 1872. At this time he returned to Ohio and settled in Cleveland, where he conducted a small store until two or three years before his

death, in July, 1883. His was a striking example of what native intelligence can ac- complish, being an excellent financier and making money rapidly in his younger and more vigorous days. His wife, nee Lucinda Lewis, was a native of New York State, whence she accompanied her parents to Brunswick, Ohio. She was one of eight children: Hiram, Leonard, William, Harvey, George, Rosanne and Nancy. Mr. and Mrs. William Gilchrist had seven children: Lo- renzo, now a resident of Cleveland; James, a Kansas farmer; Jeannette, wife of Mr. George Mixer, of San Francisco, California; W. L., the subject of this sketch; Lucinda, wife of Mr. H. E. Howarter, of Cleveland; George, a resident of Ashtabula; and Nancy, wife of Samuel Allen, of Cleveland.

Dr. Gilchrist, whose name heads this notice, was born in Columbia, Lorain county Ohio, December 11, 1845, where his earlier years were passed. He attended the district school and assisted his father in the latter's merchandising establishment until he was about fifteen years of age. At that time, General Kirby, of the Confederate army, was threatening to capture Cincinnati, and young Gilchrist joined a squirrel rifle company, which, with other troops, prepared to defend that city. In the course of two weeks, the subject of this sketch was discharged, after which he enlisted regularly, but was released on the application of his father on account of his youth. When his father removed to Waterloo, Iowa, the subject of this notice ac- companied him, and remained there supple- menting his common-school education by a course at Waterloo high school until he attained the age oftwenty-four, at which time . he commenced the study of medicine in Chi- cago. A year later he returned to Waterloo, where he read and practiced medicine with

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Dr. Barber of that city. He next removed to Chetopa, Kansas, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession a year, at the end of which time he returned to Ohio, whither his parents had preceded him. In consequence of a sunstroke received while in the West, Dr. Gilchrist was obliged to give up medical study and practic for a time, and was appointed a member of the Cleveland police force, where he served five years. Having regained his health, he once more re- sumed his chosen vocation, giving one year to the study of homoeopathy, after which he entered the medical department of the West- ern Reserve University, graduating in 1886, iminediately following which he settled in Ashtabula, and engaged in active practice, meeting with deserved success.

September 13, 1876, Dr. Gilchrist was married, in Kingsville, Ashtabula county, Ohio, to Miss Rosetta Luce, a highly educated lady, daughter of Jeremiah Luce, a pioneer of the county and one of the seven men who voted the Giddings abolition ticket, in Kings- ville. He was born in Barre, Massachusetts, October 24, 1799, and in 1816 came with his father, Reuben Luce, and family to Kingsville, Ashtabula connty, Ohio, where he was for many years prominently connected with the farm- ing interests of that county, or until his death, April 21, 1888. His wife, nee Tamer Barton, was born in Plainfield, Massachusetts, October 12, 1808, and was a woman of more than or- dinary beauty and intelligence. She died at the age of eighty, December 22, 1888. They had four children : Cornelius, who died March 14, 1893; Betsy, wife of Mr. Adolph Williams; Sarah, wife of Mr. Albert Ince; and Mrs. Gilchrist. The latter had liberal educational opportunities. After completing the usual studies of the common schools, she entered Kingsville Academy, in 1864, at the age of

thirteen; finished her academic course in 1867, and attended Oberlin College and Con- servatory of Music in 1868 and 1869, giving especial attention to music and the languages. She prepared herself for teaching, in which occupation she was engaged in Ashtabula county, Ohio, in Iowa, Illinois, and in Cleve- land. After marriage she began the study of medicine, with her husband, later entering the Homeopathic Hospital College, in Cleveland, at which she graduated with honors in 1890. She is now actively engaged in practice with her husband, with whom she has secured an extensive patronage, being everywhere justly esteemed as a woman of more than ordinary ability and judgment. She is a physician, poet and author. Her only volume yet pub- lished is " Apples of Sodom, or a Story of Mormon Life." She has written several serial stories and other articles for magazines and papers, all of which are distinguished for ele- gance of diction and power of thought. She is an active member of the National and State Press Associations. Dr. and Mrs. Gil- christ have three children: Edward Luce, aged fourteen ; Jessamine Louise, aged eleven ; and Catherine Gertrude, aged seven.

So ably encouraged and sustained, it is not surprising that Dr. Gilchrist should have at- tained the highest success in life, which con- sists not alone in financial prosperity, but in those multiform acquisitions which go to satisfy the needs of a human soul.

A DRIAN H. LINDSLEY, one of the representative citizens of Cherry Val- ley Township, Ashtabula county, where he was born October 12, 1835, is a son of Horatio Lindsley. The latter came to

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

this county when a lad of but twelve years with his mother and stepfather, John Fenn. Horatio was a son of Abraham and Molly (Bidwell) Lindsley, natives of Litchfield, Connecticut, and of English ancestry. They lived for a time in Paris, Oneida county, New York, where the father died in 1818. Soon afterward the remainder of the family came to Ohio, via the lakes, and were the second family in Cherry Valley township. Here Horatio grew to manhood. He mar- ried Eliza Creesy, a daughter of Josiah and Triphenia Creesy. Horatio Lindsley is now living in Jefferson, Ashtabula county. His wife departed this life in Jefferson, Ohio, in 1888. They had five children: Helen, Adrian H., Ransom G., a resident of Penn- sylvania; Dryden C., of Cleveland, Ohio; and Flora, wife of Charles Lawyer, of Jefferson, Ohio.

Adrian H. Lindsley, the subject of this sketch, reared on the old home farm in Cherry Valley township. He was engaged princi- pally in farming and handling agricultural implements until 1870, when he located on his present farm of 185 acres of well im- proved land. His farm is one of the finest in Ashtabula county, contains a beautiful Gothic residence, barns, and everything necessary for a well-regulated place. He is engaged in general farming, dairying and stock-raising.

October 7, 1858, Mr. Lindsley was united in marriage to Fannie A. Krum, a daughter of Hon. Henry Krum, who was born at Kin- derhook, Columbia county, New York, July 5, 1802. He was a son of Peter and Sarah Krum. Henry Krum came to this county in 1826. He married Matilda Ransom, a daughter of Samuel Ranson. They had five children: Abel, Charlotte, Fanny, John Peter and Hortense. The mother died in 1882, and the father December 22, 1885, at

the age of eighty-three years. The latter was a farmer by occupation, a Republican in his political views, and religiously, a member of the Methodist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Linds- ley have had four children, two now living: Arthur and Agnes. The deceased are: Henry, who died at the age of fourteen years, and Victor, at the age of twenty months. Mr. Lindsley affiliates with the Republican party, has served as Trustee, Assessor, as a member of the School Board, etc.

R OYAL EDSON, dealer in stock and real estate, Jefferson, Ohio, is one of the successful business men of this place.

Mr. Edson was born April 14, 1842, son of Otis and Lucinda Edson. His father was born in 1806, in Massachusetts, where he was reared and married. He grew up on a farın and was engaged in farming for several years, afterward turning his attention to speculating in real estate, in which he con- tinued during the latter part of his life. He came with his family to Ohio in 1838 or 1839, and settled in Cuyahoga county, where he re- sided until 1863 or 1864, and where he owned a large landed estate. From there he moved to Ashtabula county and located on a farm near Jefferson, where he spent nearly all the rest of his life, his death occurring February 28, 1869. Politically, he was an old-line Whig and afterward a Republican; and in his religious faith was a Universalist. The mother of our subject was born in Massachu- setts and was seventeen years old at the time of her marriage. She became the mother of ten children, eight of whom are living, five near Jefferson. The Edson family is well

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represented in the farming interests of Jeffer- son township. The mother, now in her sev- enty-eighth year, makes her home with one of her sons. She is a devoted member of the Universalist Church.

Royal Edson was reared on his father's farm and received a district-school and aca- demic education. In 1862 he enlisted in the United States service; was mustered in at Cleveland, October 28, went out as a private in Company E, Sixty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Whitbeck, was as- signed to the Army of the Cumberland, and immediately went South. He participated in numerous engagements, among which were those of Stone River, Chickamauga, Mission- ary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. He was on the raid through Knoxville and the charge made from Knoxville across the line into Georgia. After that he was placed upon de- tached duty, serving as clerk at post-head- quarters, and was located at Jeffersonville, Indiana. He was honorably discharged June, 1865, at Jeffersonville, Indiana. During his career as a soldier he was twice captured, but each time made good his escape soon after- ward. The war over, he returned home.

Mr. Edson was married May 15, 1867, to Miss Clarrissa V. Hickok who was born in Jefferson township, Ashtabula county, Ohio, January 11, 1842. Her father, Jurista Hickok, a native of Massachusetts, came to Ohio in 1812, at the age of twenty-one, and settled in Ashtabula county, where he en- gaged in farming and where, a few years later, he married Miss Susanna Whelply. They had eight children. Mrs. Edson isone of six children by a subsequent marriage, five of whom reached maturity. Her father died in 1868, and her mother in 1872. The latter's maiden name was Acenith-Belknap. Mr. and Mrs. Edson have had three children, viz .:

Henry N., Linda C., and one that died in in- fancy. Mrs. Edson is a member of the Bap- tist Church.

The subject of our sketch began life on his own responsibility at the age of fourteen, buying stock for Cleveland butchers. From a mere boy he has always been considered a good judge of stock. He bought his first piece of land in 1865,-a tract of sixty-seven acres in Jefferson township. This was his start in real-estate business. Since that time he has dealt extensively in realty, and also in stock and wool. In 1890 he shipped from the West 2,000 sheep, which he sold to farm- ers at reasonable rates. He also buys sheep and wool and ships to Eastern markets. Mr. Edson now owns a large amount of real es- tate at various places. He has property in Detroit, Michigan, about a dozen houses and lots in Ashtabula, and owns two or three farms. He held the office of Deputy Sheriff four years, was a member of the School Board eight years, and is now Township Trustee. He is a member of Giddings Post, G. A. R., in which he has filled the office of Company Inspector for the past three years, and is also identified with the I. O. O. F.

F RANCIS COLEMAN, a prominent farmer and citizen of Wayne township, Ashtabula county, Ohio, a member of an old and influential family of the county, was born in this township in July, 1827. His father, Nathaniel Coleman, was one of the earliest settlers of the county, and a man highly respected for his ability and integrity of character.

His mother, Mrs. Nathaniel Coleman (Kezia Jones), taught the first school in

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

Wayne township. The subject of this sketch was reared in Ashtabula county, and received most of his education at the Grand River Institute, Austinburg, Ohio. He now owns and lives on one of the best farms in the county, and erected in 1889 a good house, with modern improvements.

January 8, 1852, Mr. Coleman was married to Miss Mary R. Miles, who was born in Weymouth, England, the daughter of James and Margaret (Royal) Miles. Her father died in 1847, leaving a widow and five chil- dren. Margaret Beale died in England; John, in Gustavus, Trumbull county, Ohio; James still resides in England; William G. R., one of the earliest settlers of Topeka, Kansas, was accidentally killed in 1856, and was there buried with military honors. The mother died in Kingsville, Ohio, a short time after the death of this, her youngest son, who was unniarried. Mr. and Mrs. F. Cole- man have three children: Alphonso M., an enterprising merchant of Glendive, Montana, who married Miss Mary Keiser, of that place; Clifton R., who is a partner on his father's farm; and Carrie Margaret, who is the wife of James A. Hill, a publisher of New York city, and who has one daughter, Mildred.

AMES REED .- No more conspicuous or highly honored character ever formed a factor in the history of Ashtabula county than the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. As editor and proprietor of the Ashtabula Telegraph for thirty-three years he wielded a wide-spread and beneficial influ- ence over the minds of his community.

He was born in the city of New York in 1812, the year of memorable events in the

history of this country. His parents were from Canada, although his mother was of English birth. He passed his childhood in his native city, and while he was a lad his parents removed to Norwalk, Connecticut, where he obtained a fair English education in the district schools. In compliance with the wishes of his parents he early appren- ticed himself to the shoemakers' trade, but, as that business did not prove suitable to his taste, he abandoned it at the age of sixteen, by which time his parents had become resi- dents of the adjoining town of Wilton. His manner of relinquishing the trade was strongly demonstrative of his disgust with it. Armed with an ax he surprised his shop- mates, in the presence of his parents, by an unexpected attack upon both the work-bench and the tools, all of which he consigned to the flames.

Answering an advertisement, he next be- gan to learn the printers' trade in the office of The Recorder at Danbury, Connecticut, a paper which was afterward merged into the Danbury News, so famous for its wit and humor. He completed his apprenticeship at Norwalk, same State, in the offices of the Fairfield County Republican and Norwalk Gazette, and then was employed in the office of the New York Daily Advertiser as a jour- neyman; but in the latter situation he could not reconcile himself to the unnatural regi- men of reversing day and night. Next he had day work on the New York Evangelist, and while there he was offered a position as manager of the New Orleans Observer, a Presbyterian paper; but after spending two seasons (1836-'37) there his failing health induced him to return North.

Purchasing the Norwalk Gazette, before spoken of, he continued with that paper until 1853, and in that relation he was materially

yours Respectfully John Harmon

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assisted by Dr. T. B. Butler, a practicing physician of that place. Next he was em- ployed a short time by the Hudson (Ohio) Planing & Lumber Company, and then he went to Cleveland and resumed his old trade of printing. In April, 1856, he became the proprietor of the Ashtabula Telegraph, which he continued to edit and publish until his death, in April, 1889. He was ever a stanch and reliable Republican. Not until death chilled his faculties and palsied his hand did he drop his trenchant pen, which he had wielded with love for the advancement of mankind, and he is justly entitled to the greatest esteem of his fellow citizens and the emulation of future generations.

For his wife he married Elizabeth C. Jes- sup, and they had four children: Emma L., Francis G., William G. and James, Jr.

OHN HARMON, of Ashtabula, Ohio, is one of the retired wheel-horses of this city, who has contributed by his energy and means to the promotion and sustaining of the best interests of the place where his life began, his birth having occurred here March 1, 1826. From his hardy New Eng- land ancestors he inherits that industry and determination which have won for him a comfortable competence and the highest re- gard of his fellow-men. Jahial Harmon, his paternal grandfather, passed his life in Mas- sachusetts, and belonged to an old and prom- inent family of that State. He married Dorcas Sheldon and they had five children: Amos, Reuben, Hiram, Aaron and Ada, all of whom removed to Ohio, where they reared families. Aaron, who was the father of the subject of this sketch, came to the Buckeye State in 1815, settling in Ashta-

bula county, of which he was a pioneer. He had but limited means aside from health, willing hands, natural intelligence and a courageous heart, elements highly necessary in a pioneer, which comprise a fortune in themselves. He set to work industriously to improve his wild land, cultivating it so carefully and assiduously that it became a very valuable estate, which was divided among his surviving children at his death. He was one of the best informed farmers in the country, knowing more about that occu- pation than ninety per cent. of those in that business, as his eminent success substantially proves. His wife, Abigail Tyler, was one of four children, the others being Isaac, Amanda and Chloe, whose father, Isaac Tyler, was also an old and respected settler from Connecticut. This worthy couple were the parents of seven children: Hardin D., a resident of Jefferson, Ohio; Judson, de- ceased; Edmond, deceased; Ezekiel, residing in New York; John, whose name heads this sketch; Sheldon, who died in 1892; and Gilbert, of Ashtabula. In 1851 the family were called upon to mourn the loss of the devoted father, who died at the age of sev- enty-one years, on the homestead which his energy had reclaimed from a wilderness, be- ing greatly lamented by all who knew him.

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Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 14

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