Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 33

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 33
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 33
USA > Ohio > Lake County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 33

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).

For eighteen years Mr. Beede was Town- ship Trustee. He also served six years as School Director. When he was twenty-one he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and subsequently became a Congregationalist. In both church and Sabbath-school work he takes an active part, having served ten years as Superintendent of the Sabbath-school. With various other organizations Mr. Beede

is also identified. He is President of the Soldiers' Relief Committee of Ashtabula County; is a member of the Giddings Post, G. A. R., and has been a Mason since 1864. He owns one of the finest mineralogical col- lections in Ashtabula county, having speci- mens from many States in the Union and also from the old world. In this collection he takes great pride. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party. He had two great-grandfathers who were soldiers in the war of the Revolution.

S TEPHEN J. MASSINGHAM, who is prominently identified with the real- estate and insurance interests of Ge- neva, was born at Saybrook, Ashtabula county, Ohio, November 10, 1840, a son of James and Ruth (Wilkinson) Massingham. The parents were natives of England, the father coming from Benham, Yorkshire, and the motber from Appleby, Westmoreland; their families were very successful farmers.

Stephen J. passed his childhood and youth much as does the average country boy; and when the call came for a defense of the na- tion's flag, the valor and enthusiasm of his earnest nature was stirred, and he was among the first to enroll his name among those who were responding to the call for help; but, before he could be mustered in, being under age, his parents having discovered his enlist- ment, took prompt measures to prevent his going to the front.

After this episode, he entered upon the du- ties of clerk in a store, and was thus employed until 1867, when he went into business for himself at Trumbull Center. In 1875 he had the misfortune to have his stock in trade and general possessions burned, and this ended

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his mercantile career. He next turned his attention to journalism, and became agent and traveling correspondent for the Cleveland (Ohio) Herald, and was afterward connected with the Cleveland Leader in the same ca- pacity for a number of years. Severing his connection with this paper, he opened an insurance and real-estate office in Geneva, Ohio, where he conducted a prosperous business, and has been an active promoter of the gen- eral and best interests of the town.

Mr. Massingham was married April 23, 1864, to Anna B. Rich, daughter of H. G. Rich, a well-known merchant of Trumbull, Ohio. They have one daughter, Rose E., born January 26, 1868. In politics, Mr. Massingham gives his support to the Repub- lican party, and is at this time Deputy State Supervisor under the new election law. He is a member of the Masonic order, and is a charter member of the Knights of Pythias, Agathon Lodge, No. 253. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, of which he is a Vestryman. Mr. Massingham is a man of progressive ideas, with abilities and quali- fications for any position in the business or political world. All his business dealings and social relationships are characterized by strict integrity, and a just consideration of the rights of his fellow men.

D ARWIN G. PALMER, M. D., is one of the leading men of the medical pro- fession in northeastern Ohio. He is a native of Fitchville, Huron county, Ohio, born May 10, 1842. He was reared and edu- cated at his birthplace, and also attended the normal school at Milan, Ohio. At the age of nineteen he entered the service of his coun- try, enlisting in August, 1861, in Company

D, One Hundred and First Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was in the Army of the Cum- berland and participated in the battles at Perryville, Lancaster, Kentucky, Stone River and Chickamauga, and took part in the cam- paign of Chattanooga. He was in many ac- tive engagements of less note, but during the latter part of his service was hospital steward, having charge of a dispensary on Lookout Mountain. . He was mustered out in July, 1865.

Having acquired a taste for the study of medicine he continued in this pursuit, estab- lishing himself in the drug trade at Geneva; later on he entered the Cleveland Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1878. He at once began practicing at Ge- neva, and at the end of five years went abroad for the purpose of study and observa- tion. He also took a special course at Guy's Hospital, London, and upon his return again took up his practice at Geneva.

Dr. Palmer is a son of David and Jane W. (Gregory) Palmer, natives of Connecticut, tracing their ancestry to the colonists of 1630 who emigrated from Scotland. The father was a manufacturer of boots and shoes for many years, and died in 1852, on his way to California, and was buried in Wyoming Ter- ritory. In the paternal line were many char- acters of Revolutionary note. The widow of Dr. Palmer is living with her son, Dr. Palmer.

Politically, the Doctor is identified with the Republican party, and has filled the office of Coroner for several terms. He is a mem- ber of the Bowers Post, No. 28, G. A. R., and has served as Senior Commander of the Department of Ohio, G. A. R., and as Medi- cal Director and historian of the department. He belongs to the I. O. O. F., to the Knights of Pythias and to the Masonic order.

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He was married July 20, 1871, to Miss Lillian Smith, of Erie, Pennsylvania. She is an active member of the Woman's Relief Corps, and Most Excellent Chief of the Pyth- jan Sisters of Kalista Temple.

UDGE GRANDISON NEWELL TUTTLE is a well-known attorney of Painesville, Lake county, Ohio. He is a native of the county, having been born in Concord township March 20, 1837. He comes of one of the pioneer families of Northeastern Ohio and of New England stock. , His paternal ancestors emigrated from England to the New World in 1635, and settled first in Massachusetts and after- ward in Connecticut, where many of their descendants still reside. The family, from an early time, has been connected with some of the most distinguished people of New England. The wife of the celebrated New England divine, Jonathan Edwards, was of this family, and the mother of Elihu Bur- ritt was of the same family. Governor English of Connecticut and many other men of note, including college professors and other distinguished citizens, have claimed kinship with the family, while, of course, the more numerous portions of the family have occupied only the more humble stations in life and among their fellow-men. John Tuttle, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Connecticut, and was a wheelwright and carpenter by trade. In 1759 he removed with his family to Sunderland, Massachusetts, where he died some years afterward, at about the age of sixty years. He was a soldier in the French and Indian war. His son, Joseph Tuttle, was born at Lebanon, Connecticut, August

31, 1756. This Joseph was grandfather of the Judge. His boyhood and early man- hood were passed in Massachusetts, and here he married and soon after emigrated to the State of New York. His first wife was Lovisa Mack, a daughter of Captain Mack, of Sunderland, Massachusetts. She died some fourteen years after her marriage, leaving no children. Her sister was the mother of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, and after her son became distinguished as the leader of the new faith, she removed with him to Kirtland, Ohio, and, learning that a son of her deceased sister's husband was liv- ing in the vicinity, tried to interest the Judge's father, who then lived at Concord, Ohio, in their family; but he had so poor an opinion of the Mormon faith that he took no interest in making an acquaintance with a family who had at one time been connected in marriage with his father. After the death of his first wife, which occurred about 1793 or 1794, Mr. Tuttle married for his second wife Hannah Messenger, a daughter of Isaac and Anna Messenger, formerly of Simsbury, Connecticut. In 1807 he emigrated with his family to the Western Reserve, locating at Palmyra, Portage county, where he arrived August 12, and where his brother, John Tuttle, had lived for more than two years. The journey was made with two yoke of oxen, a span of horses and a wagon, and occupied forty-eight days. The country through which they passed was mostly one great wilderness, and settlers were few. In- dians were met with in considerable num- bers at several places along the route; they were, however, at that time entirely peace- able. West of Buffalo the roads were scarcely worthy of the name, and the party traveled much of the way along the beach of the lake. The Judge's father, then a boy of eleven

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years, made the journey with his family and retained to the end of his life a vivid recol- lection of the journey and its incidents. They passed through Painesville, where they stopped over night at what was then called "The Little Red Tavern," which was situated on what is now State street, a few rods south of the Episcopal Church. The village then contained only two frame houses. Soon after his arrival at Palmyra, Mr. Tuttle purchased sixty acres of land, about half of which had been improved, on the road leading from Palmyra to Deerfield.

Privations incident to a new settlement had to be endured. Provisions of nearly all kinds were scarce, and salt, which had to be brought over the mountains on pack-saddle, was worth from $3.50 to $4 per bushel. Mr. Tuttle was not contented in his Western home, and in 1809 sold his farm and went back to New York, where he died May 13, 1816. His second wife, Hannah, had died four years before, and the family, of which Joseph, the father of the Judge, was the old- est, being thus deprived of both parents, had little to depend upon but the kindness of neighbors. The father of the subject of this sketch, Joseph Tuttle, was born in Bridge- water, Oneida county, New York, May 10, 1796. Early in life, as we have already seen, he was thrown upon his own resources. His opportunities for an education were very limited, a few months covering all the time that he ever spent at school. After the death of his parents he made his home for several years with his maternal grand- parents, the Messengers. They also were of the Revolutionary stock of New England, the grandfather and six of his brothers having taken part in the war of the Revolution, and three of the number being present at the battle of Bunker Ilill. Although far ad-

vanced in life, in 1817 they removed with their grandson, Joseph Tuttle, to Lake county, Ohio, the journey being made in sleighs. In March, 1818, Mr. Tuttle bought 120 acres of new land in what is now Concord town- ship, Lake county. Here he rolled up a small log cabin, in which he lived until 1820 with his grandparents, when he was able to build a more pretentious log-house. On January 2, 1823, he was wedded to Mary Adams, widow of Martin Adams, Jr., and daughter of Moses and Mary Kibbee, of Barkhamstead, Connecticut. In 1833 he erected a frame house, which he occupied until his death, which occurred April 20, 1884.

He was a man of strong physical consti- tution, vigorous and active mind, keen ob- servation and retentive memory. These did much to make up for his want of school opportunities. He was an easy and pleasing conversationalist, and was widely acquainted in the vicinity, where he had many stanch friends; yet he was a man of decidedly out- spoken opinions, determined in supporting whatever he believed to be right, and earn- estly and firmly opposing whatever he thought to be wrong. He was one of the earliest anti-slavery men in this part of the State, and many times fed and aided fugitive slaves on their journeys to Canada, by the way of the once famous underground railroad.

In his early manhood he had been a Henry Clay Whig, and later was a radical anti- slavery Republican. He held various local offices, and was a man highly respected by his acquaintances generally. In his old age he was fond of relating the incidents of his pioneer life.

Judge Tuttle is the youngest of his four sons, all of whom are still living in Lake county. A sister, Mrs. Harriet A. Kibbee,

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and youngest of the family, died in Paines- ville, Marc': 19, 1887. All of the family have proved worthy and respectable citizens, and have the general esteem and good will of the community in which they reside. Judge Tuttle was reared on his father's farm and received such education as the common school of his district could afford. He at- tended school during the winter months, laboring upon the farm with his father and brothers during the remainder of each year, until he had passed his eighteenth birthday. In the fall of 1855 he went to school a term at the Orwell Academy, then conducted by Professor Jacob Tuckerman. The ensuing winter he taught the district school in the "Governor Huntington district." For the next three years he spent his time in attend- ing academic and select schools and in teach- ing. In April, 1861, he entered the State and Union Law College at Cleveland, Ohio, of which Judge Chester B. Hayden was presi- dent, and Professors King, Elwell and others were teachers. In June, 1862, he graduated and was soon after admitted to the bar of the State and United States Courts at Cleve- land. The next year he taught school again. In the fall of 1863 he opened an office and began the practice of law at Willoughby, in his native county, where he resided until the fall of 1869, when he was elected Probate Judge of the county, and removed to Paines- ville. This office he filled with so much sat- isfaction to the people that he was twice re- elected without opposition, being the first in the county to hold the office for more than two terms. His home has always been in this county, where he is still in the practice of his profession. In politics Judge Tuttle was a Republican until 1876, when he sup- ported Peter Cooper, the candidate of the Greenback party for President.

He continued to act with this party and with the Union Labor party until 1888, since which time he has cast his lot with the Pro- hibitionists. He has always taken great interest in political matters; has been very independent in his opinions and in making choice of his party connections; has never studied the question of numbers, or the pros- pect of political success, being guided simply by what he believed to be politically right. Even while he was connected with the Re- publican party he always asserted the right of independent action whenever he thought any of the candidates of the party unsuitable or unworthy of the confidence of the people. During the candidacy of General Garfield for congress in 1874, in his district, the Judge was one of his most earnest opponents. His opposition, however, was purely political, and arose from his convictions that General Garfield's official acts had not been in har- mony with the best interests of the people in general.

In 1878 the Judge was himself a candi- date for Congress on the Greenback ticket, and received a vote considerably larger than that of his party. During this campaign he made a large number of speeches upon po- litical issues, speaking not only in his own district but in other parts of the State, and was regarded by the members of his party as presenting their views in the most able and efficient manner of any man in his part of the State. In 1884 Judge Tuttle was named as a candidate for Judge of the Supreme Court of the State by the Union Labor party, and received a full vote of that party through- ont the State. In 1891 he was a candidate for Judge of the Common Pleas Court on the ticket of the Prohibition party, which nomination was indorsed by the Democratic and Populist parties of the district. In 1892

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he received the nomination of the Prohi- bition party of his district for Congress, and received considerable more than the full vote of his party for that office. He has always been a strong advocate of temperance, and of the rights of the laboring and industrial classes. He regards temperance reform as intimately connected with labor and finance reform, and believes that the saloon must be deprived of political control before monop- olies and trusts can be overthrown. He, therefore, regards the temperance question as the most important and the leading question in politics to-day before the American peo- ple, and has no faith in any system of tem- perance legislation or temperance reform that does not look for the final prohibition and abolition of the saloon and saloon traffic.

Judge Tuttle was married December 24, 1861, to Miss Lizzie A. Wilder, of Willough- by, Ohio. She was the daughter of Joel D. and Clarinda A. Wilder, and was born in Vernon, New York, and is a descendant of an old New England family. Mr. Tuttle and wife are the parents of four children: Carlos G., who died March 1, 1875, aged seven years; Martin A., born March 12, 1869, who is a graduate of Adelbert College and is now (1893) a law student in his father's office; Mary C., who was born Feb- ruary 7, 1875; and Walter S., who was born March 15, 1877.

EORGE GRIFFIN is a leading and successful agriculturist of Orwell town- ship, where his well-cultivated farm of ninety-three acres is situated. This property, which he purchased in 1879, lies on section 3. With the exception of ten acres, the land is arable and yields abundant

crops in return for the care and attention be- stowed upon it. The owner is engaged in general farming and stock-raising and keeps good grades of stock. He is practically a self-made man, as whatever fortune he has acquired is his through his own industry and well-directed efforts. Although he was born in England, he is a patriotic son of America, although an adopted one, and declares that America is good enough for him.

Mr. Griffin was born in Devonshire, En- gland, May 30, 1849, and is a son of Robert and Ann Griffin. The former died in 1880, but the latter is yet living. They were the parents of six children, four sons and two daughters, namely: Mary Ann, Eliza J., William, George, Charles and James. Of this number two are now living in this coun- try, our subject and his brother, William, who also resides in Orwell township.

In the year 1869, Mr. Griffin emigrated to America and landed in Boston. Later he re- moved to New York, from which city he came directly here, his brother having preceded him by some three years. Several years prior to this, his uncle, James Chileote, had set- tled in this vicinity. As Mr. Griffin was entirely without means upon his arrival in Ohio, he went to work by the month for Harvey Hill of New Lyme. At the end of eight months he entered the employ of a Mr. Gee, for whom he worked for three years. Until 1880, he continued working by the month, carefully putting aside a large share of his earnings, and with this money he pur- chased his present farm, which he has since cultivated.

On Christmas day, 1879, George Griffin and Miss Jennie L. Gillmore were united in matrimony. The lady is the daughter of Nathan and Esther Gillmore, old residents of Orwell. The former, who was a success-

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ful farmer, is now deceased, but his wife is still living on the old homestead. Mrs. Griffin has one brother and three sisters, namely: George; Belle; Ruth, wife of Am- brose Fenner, whose home is in the Empire State; and Anna, wife of Joseph Dixon. Mrs. Griffin has a good public-school education and was given a certificate to teach. She is the mother of two daughters: Anna, born August 2, 1881, shows a decided musical talent; Ruth, whose birth occurred Decem- ber 22, 1884, is a bright and engaging little girl. The mother is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. Mr. Griffin holds membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Orwell Lodge. In politics, he supports the nominees and the platform of the Republican party. He and his family are widely and favorably known in this vicinity, and are justly numbered among the leading citizens.

M RS. CAPTAIN GEORGE FIELD .- One of the most prominent families of northeastern Ohio, of which Ash- tabula county is a component part, is that by the name of Cheney, of which the oldest and most central figure is Thomas Cheney, father of the subject of this sketch. So far as date is now accessible, a record of his life is as follows:

Thomas Cheney was born in Windsor, Con- necticut, September 12, 1797, and his par- ents were John and Mary (Stowel) Cheney. He grew to manhood in his native State and obtained a liberal education, which, combined with an excellent intellect, made him a con- spicuous figure among men. He had the faculty of presenting his opinions in a logical and interesting manner, and while he laid no

claims to oratory and rarely spoke in public from announcement, he experienced no diffi- culty in entertaining his hearers when he had a bout with a political enemy. He was a familiar object on the streets of Ashtabula, during the exciting times before the war, when he might be seen expounding anti- slavery doctrines to miscellaneous assemblies. He was one of the four original abolitionists of Ashtabula county, and assisted many a slave to cross the Canadian border to liberty and happiness. He possessed no military history, other than serving as Fife Major of a militia regiment during the old training days before the war, although, had he lived, there is no doubt but he would have supple- mented his arguments for freedom by telling blows in her fair cause. He was in early life, politically, an anti-Mason, later a Free Soiler, and, finally, an uncompromising Republican. He was by occupation a shoe merchant and manufactured his own goods, in which in- dustry he employed quite a force of men. His last years were passed on his farm, where he was killed by a falling tree in 1852, expir- ing in his fifty-sixth year, greatly lamented by all who knew him. His wife, nee Lois Bush, to whom he was married in 1820, two or three years after his advent to Ohio, was born in 1800 and survived her worthy hus- band until 1885, dying at the age of eighty- five. She was a daughter of Charles Bush, originally a merchant near Bainbridge, New York, who, early in the nineteenth century came to Painesville, Ohio, and purchased a farm near that city, preparatory to removing his family to this State, but who died in some village on his return trip, all his valuable papers disappearing with him. His widow afterward married Mr. McAdams, and in 1818, they moved to Ashtabula, Ohio, accom- panied by his family. They came from Buf-

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falo to this point on a small freight and pas- senger vessel of but a few tons' capacity, which conveyance forms a striking contrast to the present magnificent steamers which ply the lake. The family settled on South Ridge, where they resided for many years, when late in life the old people went to Springfield, Pennsylvania, where they both died. The children of Thomas Cheney and wife were: Samantha, born June 17, 1823, who married Birdsey Metcalf, and died ten months later, leaving one child; Ruth, born April 1, 1825; Mary, born December 25, 1832, wife of Albert Field, of Ashtabula; and P. H., born April 13, 1836.

Ruth, the second daughter and the oldest surviving member of the family, was reared and educated in Ashtabula county, attending an academy in this vicinity. March 26, 1845, she was married to Captain George Field, widely and favorably known on the lakes and throughout the adjoining country as an able and experienced seafaring man. Rev. Waldo, a Presbyterian minister and a professor in Austinburg College, officiated at their mar- riage. Captain Field was born in Mentor, Ohio, April 15, 1819, and was employed on the lakes from early youth to middle age. Ile then engaged in buying and selling stock, in which business he continued about ten years, after which he returned to his first oc- cupation, carrying business on the lakes, this time as a boat owner and later as an owner of tugs, operating from Saginaw, Detroit, Toledo and Ashtabula. The Captain died March 10, 1889, after a long and useful life, leaving his family well provided with the comforts of this world, benifices secured by his persistent industry and able manage- ment. His father, Aaron Field, was born in Rhode Island, of New England ancestry, and was a farmer by occupation. Captain and

Mrs. Field had three children: Arthur, born November 5, 1845; Frank, born September 30, 1849, and Charles T., born December 29, 1855. The last named married Miss Kate M. Sperry, a lady well known in social circles in Ashtabula, of which city her father is a prominent resident. They have four chil- dren: George, Bessie, Willie and Ruth.

Mrs. Captain Field is an earnest and use- ful member of the Presbyterian Church, and holds a high social position. She is intellect- nal, possesses unusual executive ability, is deeply interested in the material, educational and moral progress of her community, to which she has contributed, and is deserving of the esteem which she so fully enjoys.

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Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 33

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