Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 24

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 24
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 24
USA > Ohio > Lake County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 24

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).

William M. Morris was born in Wales, June 24, 1850, son of John and Jane ( Davis) Morris, both natives of Wales. In his na- tive land John Morris served an apprentice- ship of seven years at the trade of machinist, and worked at his trade there and in Ireland. He was also an engineer in Ireland for some time, having charge of engines in the mines. He came to America in 1853, and after making his home in New York city two years, came west to Columbus, Ohio, where he found employment in the shops of the Little Miami Railway, and subsequently, for four or five years, ran an engine in the Columbus yard. In 1861 he went to Cincin- nati, in the employ of the same company, which had moved its shops to that city. In 1872 he went to Dennison to work for the Pan Handle, and remained in their shops two years, going from there to Delaware, where he was in the employ of the Big Four six

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years. The last work he ever did was at Columbus, for the Pennsylvania Railroad company. He died at Columbus, Ohio, at the age of sixty-one years, and his wife passed away at the age of sxity-seven. They were highly respected people, and were attendants of the Welsh Presby- terian Church. In their family of ten children William M. was the sixth born. He has two brothers and one sister still living. All three of the brothers are machinists, having learned the trade of their father. John, the oldest of those living, is in the employ of the Pan Handle at Columbus; married Anna Rutherford, and has two children. David D., of Conneaut, works in the same shop as does our subject; he married Anna Owens and has one child. Their sister Margaret resides at the old homestead at Columbus. Sarah Jane, a bright and accom- plished young lady, and a popular teacher in the schools of Columbus, died at the age of twenty-one years. The other children died young.

Under the direction of his father, William M. Morris learned his trade in the Little Miami shops at Cincinnati, commencing in August, 1867. He worked there until 1873, after which he spent four years and a half in the Big Four shops at Delaware, Ohio. Next, we find him at Columbus, working for the John L. Gills Plow Works and other indi- vidual concerns. He spent six months in the wood-work machinery shop of J. A. Fay & Co., of Cincinnati. Returning to Colum- bus, he was employed in the Pan Handle round shops, under the present master me- chanic of the Nickel Plate shops, E. A. Miller. He came to Conneaut in the fall of 1882 and has been working in the shops here ever since, and in his present position for the past five years.

Mr. Morris was married September 28, 1882, to Miss Clara Hurrell, daughter of James and Ellen (Kain) Hurrell. Her father, who served as a private in the late war, is now a resident of Columbus, being about fifty years of age. Her mother died when about thirty-five. Mrs. Morris is the second of their children, the others being Frances A., and William. Frances A., wife of George Wolpert, died at the age of about twenty-two years, leaving an only child, George. William, a coal dealer in Columbus, Ohio, married Tenie Longhenry and has two children, Clara and Mary. The maternal garndmother of Mrs. Morris, Jane Kain, is a resident of Dresden, Ohio, being now eighty- seven years of age. For many years she has been a member of the Baptist Church. She has had eleven children, only one of whom, Dwight, with whom she is living, still sur- vives. Mr. and Mrs. Morris have four children, viz .: Harry, William M., James Hiram and John Raymond.

Mr. Morris is a charter member of Maple Lodge, No. 217, Knights of Pythias. He votes the Republican ticket, but gives little attention to political matters. Mrs. Morris is a member of the Christian Church.

A RTHUR L. REEVE, of Rome, Ohio, is a son of Honorable L. C. Reeve, of whom further mention is made on another page of this work. He was born January 31, 1852, and received his education in the academy at Austinburgh, and the Upper Iowa University at Fayette, Iowa. September 28, 1872, he married Jane E. Stineman, daughter of Abram and Ann Stineman, formerly of Pennsylvania but now of Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Reeve have had

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three children, as follows: N. Leander, who died at the age of three weeks; T. Effie, born September, 27, 1873, is now a teacher in one of the primary schools of this county ; Amelia D., born February 12, 1876.

Mr. Reeve and his entire family are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He joins issue with the Republican party, and at this writing, 1893, is serving as Justice of the Peace.

For a number of years Mr. Reeve has given special attention to the breeding of fine horses, and as a dealer in fine horses he is well known all over Ashtabula county.

D R. JOHN C. HUBBARD .-- When a great and good man passes away, one whose every act and thought was re- plete with beneficence to his fellow men, no words can adequately express the loss which humanity sustains or attempt to soothe the world for its bereavement.

The Hubbard family are of English an- cestry, their progenitors having settled in Connecticut in 1640, and the heads of the first six generations in this country were farmers. In 1697, one branch of the family, led by Captain Isaac Hubbard and wife (nee Ruth Coleman), removed to Trenton, Oneida county, New York. Among their children were Matthew Hubbard, well known as a prominent pioneer of Ashtabula county, Ohio, and Colonel William Hubbard, father of the subject of this sketch. Matthew Hub- bard left the parental home at Trenton in May, 1804, and was the first of the family to blaze his way to the frontier of Ohio, com- ing to Ashtabula county as land agent, ar- riving June 21, a date remote in its history when the condition of the country is taken

into consideration. His family accompanied him as far as Erie, Pennsylvania, where he left them temporarily to precede them to the frontier and prepare a rudimentary home for them in the western wilds. His journey, in company with some friends, from Erie to Ashtabula county, Ohio, was made on horse- back along the lake shore and through the primeval forests of the Buckeye State, through scenes at once romantic and sublime. On arriving at Ashtabula creek, Mr. Hubbard's horse slipped down the bank and on reaching the bottom Mr. Hubbard exclaimed, " Here is my pitch," and there he pitched his tent. He built a rude cabin on the western bank. June 3 he selected a farm and located a town site. It was there he established the first post office in the county. This very soon became the business center of a small community that formed the nucleus of the present city of Ashtabula, which in all probability would have been situated on the eastern side of the creek had not accident led Mr. Hubbard to build where he did. On such trifles does history depend.

A few weeks later, Mr. Hubbard returned to Erie for his family and, accompanied by them, retraced his way once more to his pioneer home. His faithful horse, compan- ion of his former journey, was again in requi- sition. On reaching Ashtabula creek, what was their dismay to find that usually mildly flowing stream very much swollen. No set- tlement being on the eastern side and no means of crossing existing except by fording the stream, Mr. Hubbard at once plunged his horse into the water and swam to the other bank. He repeated this as an example for his wife to follow, when the plucky woman, with baby Amos in her arms, accomplished the same feat and climbed the steep bank on the western side, beholding for the first time

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her future home. Mr. Hubbard was a very heavy man and he feared that his horse would fail to ford the stream successfully with a double burden; consequently the child was left in its mother's charge, while Mr. Hubbard es- sayed the fording of the stream. On awak- ing the first morning after their arrival, they found their beds covered with snow, a cir- cumstance which would have dampened the ardor of a less determined and hopeful couple. The red men were everywhere to be seen, those both hostile and friendly. These often visited the little cabin in the absence of the husband and would by signs ask for bread, and when Mrs. Hubbard would start for her larder, Mr. Indian would often follow with knife in hand, for what purpose the little woman was afraid to guess, but it always hap- pened that he only meant that the loaf might be more easily and promptly cut with his own knife. On one occasion, some weeks after a hungry Indian had been fed, and while the Hubbard household were sitting around their, fireside at night the door was stealthily opened and a large object was cast into the room, which proved, on investigation to be a ham of venison, believed to have been in- tended as a reward for former kindnesses. Mr. Hubbard was Ashtabula's Postmaster in those days, the post office being kept in his parlor. Thus lived these hardy pioneers, contributing to the early development of a country which was to become a center of civilization.

Colonel William Hubbard, a brother of Matthew Hubbard, with his wife (nee Cath- erine Hulbert) and children, came to Ashta- bula in 1834. Their six children were: Catherine, who died in 1859, was the wife of O. H. Fitch; William F. died in 1880; George C., a merchant, died in 1876; John C., whose name heads this sketch, died in 1883; Amos

F., deceased, was a prominent banker of Ash- tabula; and Edward, deceased. All of these did their share toward the advancement of the country and deserve to be enshrined in the memory of future generations.

In this long line of worthy and distin- guished men, no one is more deserving of mention than the subject of this sketch, Dr. John C. Hubbard, who by his learned and unselfish devotion to humanity and his ef- forts in their behalf, won the everlasting gratitude of the people. This truly great and good man was born in Holland Patent, Oneida county, New York, in 1820, where he passed the first fourteen years of his life, receiving a liberal education. At that age he accom- panied his parents to Ohio, in which State the residue of their lives was passed. When twenty years old, he began the study of medi- cine at St. Catherines, Canada, under D .. Beadle, and subsequently under the precep- torial direction of Dr. Stephen H. Farring- ton, an able physician and surgeon of Ashta- bula. He later prosecuted his studies at the medical college at Willoughby, Ohio, and in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city. He graduated from the last named institution in 1845, with high honors. He was essentially a student and added to this excellent training by continued study to the time of his death. At the age of fifty-five, when most men have lost their desire for increased knowledge, Dr. Hubbard suspended a profitable practice to enter Guy's Hospital, in London, England, the largest institution of the kind in the world, for the purpose of studying diseases of the eye and ear and learning the best treatment of the age in this branch of medical science. Be- fore returning home he made a pleasure trip to Paris, that great center of modern art, and largely added to his store of knowledge.

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

When sixty years of age, Dr. Hubbard again temporarily stopped his practice to attend a general course of medical and clinical lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, at Phila- delphia, and combined with his study and observations abroad a daily research among books and reviews at home. His professional ambition was to possess the best knowledge, not to outrival his confreres, but, more land- ably, to cure diseases, and the daily throngs at his office fully attested the confidence re- posed in his skill. During the latter part of his life his attention was given more gener- ally to ophthalmic surgery and gynecology. He belonged to a number of medical associa- tions, being President of the Ashtabula County Medical Society, Vice-President of the Ohio State Medical and Corresponding Member of the Boston Gynecological socie- ties. He was chosen in 1866, one of the censors of the medical department of the Wooster University, of Cleveland, and in 1876 was a delegate to the International Medical Congress at Philadelphia. During the Civil war, he was Surgeon of the Forty- first Ohio Regiment, but resigned this post on account of ill health, greatly to the regret of the regiment.

In October, 1863, Dr. Hubbard was mar- ried to Mrs. Catherine Logan, nee Hubbard, widow of Linus Logan, a steamboat captain who died just after transporting some of the Federal army to the battlefield of Shiloh. Mrs. Hubbard had five children by her former marriage: Caroline M., the wife of W. S. Talliaferro; Margaret died aged one year; Catherine, who was married to Samuel Tyler; John H., a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Cornelia, who died in 1857. There were no children by the second marriage, but the children and grandchildren of Mrs. Hubbard lived at the Doctor's house and received from

him most fatherly care, his treatment of them showing his warm affection for the young and dependent.

In personal appearance, Dr. Hubbard was a perfect type of intellectual and physical strength, with a fair complexion, classical features, blue and expressive eyes, and a well poised head. His face indicated intelligence and calm emotions, while his manner was kind and gentle. He was a good friend and neighbor, easy in conversation, to whom to listen was to learn. He was deservedly popular among his associates, and in 1878 yielded to the solicitations of friends to be- come a candidate for Congress. He knew his defeat was certain, for his competitor was the lamented Garfield. His defeat caused him no regrets, his ambition being not to govern but to serve his fellow men. He was a leader, counselor and authority among the profes- sional fraternity, and his name was a house- hold word in his community, where he was universally beloved and revered, and where all hearts still cherish his memory.

EORGE HENRY, a prominent and well-known engineer on the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, Con- neaut, Ohio, was born in the city of New York, May 19, 1855, son of Peter and Agnes (Crozier) Henry.

Peter Henry was born in Roxburyshire, Scotland, September 12, 1826, and December 28, 1850, married Agnes Crozier, of the par- ish of Sprouston, Scotland, the date of her birth being March 16, 1828. March 3, 1851, they sailed from Glasgow; were shipwrecked in the English Channel, and after some delay, but without any serious loss, the voyage was continued, and April 16, 1851, they landed

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at New York city, their destination. Mr. Henry had learned the trade of stone-cutter in the old country, and after his arrival in New York continued work at that trade. He bought a farm in Erie county, New York, and, while he worked at his trade, superin- tended its cultivation. The mother and a sister still reside on the old home place in Erie county. Mr. Henry served as Assessor for twelve successive years, and was also for some time Supervisor of his county. He was perhaps as well known as any man in that part of the State. He was one of the finest mathematicians in western New York. His educational advantages were poor, but he was one of the most indefatigable students. He was well read in general literature, was a fine reasoner and an impressive conversation- alist. He died of cancer of the stomach, Oc- tober 18, 1890. Both he and his wife were reared in the Presbyterian Church. . Follow- ing are the names of their nine children: James, who married Miss Harriet E. Holt, died March 24, 1885, aged thirty-two years; George; William, who died at the age of six years; Frank, who died at the age of five; Agnes, wife of Levi McCullor, resides at Evans, Erie county, New York; John, a resi- dent of Angola, Erie county, New York, married Nellie Clark; Susan, wife of F. L. Culbertson, Conneaut, Ohio, has one child, Mildred; Isabel, wife of J. J. Brown, lives at West Spring Creek, Pennsylvania; and Maggie, who resides with her mother.

George Henry received his education in the Angola Academy, of which institution he is a graduate. He worked on the farm and also learned the trade of stone-cutter. On account of ill health he quit work at his trade, and in 1878 secured a position on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad as fireman, continuing as such four years.

He began work on the Nickel Plate June 15, 1882, and has been on that road ever since, serving as engineer. He has never been in a wreck of any kind, but has made some very narrow escapes.

He was married January 1, 1878, to Miss Ada Elsie Parker, daughter of John K. and Mary (Smith) Parker, of Evans, Erie county, New York, of which State she is a native. Her father, born March 19, 1824, is still living. Her mother is deceased. The seven children composing the Parker family are as follows: Anson S., Brant, Erie county, New York; Elizabeth, wife of George Fuller, Col- linwood, Ohio; John H., Grand Rapids, Michigan; Charlotte Jane, wife of A. S. Far- rand, Cleveland; Samuel A., North Collins, New York; Sarah Ann, wife of E. S. Web- ster, Brant, Erie county, New York; and Mrs. Henry. Mr. and Mrs. Henry have had two children, Mary Agnes and Lulu Belle. The latter died in infancy.

Mr. Henry is a full-fledged Mason, being a member of the blue lodge, chapter, coun- cil and Cache Commandery, all of Conneaut. He is also a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, in which he is First Engineer; and of the Protected Home Circle. In politics he is an ardent Republican.

H ENRY BLAKELEY, late of Conne- ant, was for many years a prominent factor in the business and social life of this town, and few men stood higher in the estimation of its people than did he. Mr. Blakeley was born in Erie county, New York, October 10, 1815, and was married in Conneaut, April 4, 1841, to Miss Sarah Ann Wade, also a native of Erie county, New York. It was about 1838 that he landed in

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Conneaut, and from that date until January 26, 1889, the time of his death, he was iden- tified with its best interests. For some time he was engaged in the livery business here. He built the Tremont Hotel, and as its genial landlord catered to the traveling public for a period of twenty-five years, during which time he made hoste of friends. After he sold the Tremont it was enlarged, and has since been known as the Commercial Hotel.

Mr. Blakeley was a member of the F. & A. M. and the I. O. O. F., and for many years was a Deacon in the Congregational Church. He was a man of pleasing address, warm heart and generous impulses, and was eminently fitted for the position he occupied. At his death Conneaut lost a valued citizen. His good wife, too, has passed away, her death having occurred August 14, 1883, at which time she had attained the age of sixty years. She was a member of the same church as was her husband, and for more than forty years their lives were happily blended to- gether.

Of the five children of this worthy couple we make record as follows: Mrs. Sarah J. Loomis, of Conneaut, is the oldest; James H. is the next in order of birth; Charles P. died at the age of five years; Ellen E., widow of George B. Humphrey, resides in Conneaut; and Emma A., wife of Charles P. De Hart, is also of Conneaut.

C. P. DE HART, decorator and paper hanger, Conneant, Ohio, was born in this town, April 3, 1847. His parents, Dr. Hiram H. and Charlotte De Hart, natives of Pennsylvania, are now residents of Detroit, Michigan. Dr. De Hart practiced medicine in Conneaut years ago, and as a skilled physician was well known all over the county. He and his wife are each about seventy years of age. The subject of our sketch and a brother and sister

are the only ones living of their family of eight children. The sister, Mabel, is the wife of Frank O. Dunwell, of Ludington, Michi- gan, and the brother, Harry, is a traveling salesman for Macauley, a Detroit wholesale milliner.

Mr. De Hart received his education in Con- neaut and Cleveland, completing his schooling with a commercial course. With the excep- tion of two years spent in Detroit, he has been engaged in his present occupation in Conneaut since 1873, employing from seven to ten men as assistants during the summer months.

Mr. De Hart has a wife and family of bright children, and his comfortable and at- tractive home is located on one of the beauti- ful streets of Conneaut. He was married February 9, 1874, to Emma Blakeley, daugh- ter of Henry Blakeley, an honored pioneer of Ashtabula county. They have had four children, namely: Sherman, who died in in- fancy, and Sarah Wade, Charlotte Blakeley and Daphne Louise.

R EV. F. E. MORRISON, Superintend- ent of the Schools of Kingsville town- ship, Ashtabula county, Ohio, was born in Jefferson, this State, January 18, 1863, son of Rev. C. and Sarah M. (Goodale) Morrison. His maternal ancestors were natives of Connecticut. His father, Rev. C. Morrison was born in Geneva, Ohio, June 19, 1823. He now resides on a farm near Richmond, this State, where he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits for some seventeen years.

He was for a number of years a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, but withdrew for the purpose of organizing

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a new church, to be known as the Zion Church, in which he was a traveling preacher for many years, until age disqualified him for active work. He and his wife have had a family of ten children, all of whom are liv- ing except two. Seven are in Ashtabula county, and one resides in Kansas. Professor F. E. Morrison is next to the youngest in this family. He received his education in the Jefferson public schools, Grand River Institute, and New Lymne Institute. At the age of sixteen he began the study of tel- egraphy in a railway office. It was three years after this that he entered New Lyme Institute, where, the following fall, he ac- cepted the management of the telegraphic department of the institution, which he con- ducted in a very acceptable manner until the time of his graduation.

Since his graduation he has devoted his time to public-school work, and has conducted the schools under his charge in a manner that has gained him a reputation among the best teachers and managers in the county. Two years he has held the superintendency of Orwell Normal Institute.

Under his management the schools pros- pered to an extent highly gratifying to all.

From a list of twenty-nine applicants of leading educators, from this and surrounding States, Professor Morrison was selected for Superintendent of the Kingsville Schools by the board of education. The favorable opin- ion formed by the members of the board of education at that time has been imparted to all the people of the township, and greatly strengthened since Professor Morrison has taken up his work here. He has recently been retained for a term of two years as Superintendent of the Kingsville Schools, with an increase in salary of $100 per year.

He was married March 26, 1885, to Miss

Inez H. Campbell, daughter of John C. and Lodema (Scribner) Campbell. Her father and mother are natives respectively of Penn- sylvania and Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Morrison have an only child, Hazel May, born May 1, 1889.

Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he takes an active interest, being a local preacher and holding the office of president of the Epworth League. He is also a Mason and an Odd Fellow, being a member of both the subordinate and encampment lodges, having passed all the chairs in the subordinate lodge of the same.

W P. HORTON, an aged and highly respected citizen of Conneaut, Ohio, is a dealer in groceries, provisions, furnishing goods, notions, etc., corner of State street and Bartlett avenue.

W. P. Horton was born in Alexander, Genesee county, New York, October 15, 1814, son of Solomon and Philena (Peters) Horton, the father a native of Hartford, Connecticut, and the mother of Vermont. His parents were married in Vermont and their oldest son was born in that state. In 1813 they moved to the Holland Purchase, and in the woods of Genesee county, by dint of hard work and good management, the father developed a nice farm. In 1831 he moved to Alden, Erie county, New York, where he improved another farm. The same year he settled in Alden he and his wife and four of their children united with the Free- will Baptist Church. His wife died at the age of fifty-five years, five months and five days. She was a most devout, earnest Chris- tian woman, whom to know was to love. Iler

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great concern in life was to see all her chil- dren converted and have a working place in the church. This precions boon was granted her, she being permitted to live until they were all zealous Christian workers. After the death of his first wife Mr. Solomon Hor- ton married a widow who had grown children living in Wisconsin. They moved to that State, and there he died at the age of about seventy-seven years. For many years he was a Deacon in the church. His nine children were as follows: Rev. H. W., who was a minister in the Baptist Church for over forty years, and who was, like his father, a great Abolitionist, passed to his reward some years ago; William P., whose name heads this article; Sallie, who married a Mr. Dow, died in Illinois; Cynthia, who is married and liv- ing in Lansing, Michigan; Orsemus, who has been a Deacon in the Baptist Church at Grand Rapids, Michigan, for more than forty years; Orville, a farmer of Union, Pennsyl- vania; Amanda, wife of Josiah Kilburn, died near Grand Rapids, Michigan; Almira, widow of Dr. Ingals, resides in Illinois; and Alonzo, a resident of Michigan. In this large family all reached mature years, and the oldest was over sixty before there was a death in the family.

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Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 24

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