Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 45

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 45
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 45
USA > Ohio > Lake County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 45

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).

operated the first portable engine and sawmill in the United States. Few have contributed more by their ability and energy to the growth and prosperity of the county, and are more worthily entitled to the admiration of their fellow men. Mr. and Mrs. McNutt are liv- ing on their farm in Saybrook, and are in the enjoyment of good health. He and his es- timable wife had ten children, eight of whom survive: Charles A., James A., Lucy A., Henrietta, Lindsey B., Curtis, Mary L., our subject, Frederick E., Hurbert. Lucy and Hurbert are deceased.

The subject of this sketch was reared in Ashtabula county, and received his education in the common schools. When nineteen years of age, he and his brother, L. B. McNutt, opened a machine shop in Ashtabula, in which business other brothers became associated, but which was afterward closed. In the spring of 1877, Mr. C. J. McNutt became sole proprietor of a shop, and in 1884 estab- lished his present shop on Center street. He has been the manufacturer for the last fourteen years of the patent bevel jig mill for ship timber, and of the patent shaft and pole bending machinery, all of which have been pecuniarily remunerative. Combined with this, he possesses unusual business tact and ability, which have placed him in his present prosperous position.

October 28, 1881, Mr. McNutt was mar- ried to Miss Annie O. Cheney, a lady of many graces of mind and character. Both are worthy members of the Reformed Epis- copal Church, to which they render much valuable assistance.

In politics, Mr. McNutt advocates the principles of Democracy, but as evidence of his universal popularity, it is only necessary to refer to his present incumbency as a mem- ber of the City Council, a position to which

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he was elected in a ward which is largely Republican. Socially, he belongs to the I. O. O. F., the Knights of Pythias and the Order of Elks. In domestic and business life he has ever been characterized by the highest integrity, liberality and cordiality, and enjoys the esteem of a large circle of friends.

J OHN A. BARRETT, of Cherry Valley, Ashtabula county, was born in Geauga county, Ohio, January 13, 1841, a son of David Barrett, a native of New York. The latter was a son of David and Esther (Beebe) Barrett, the former a native of Massa- chusetts and the latter a daughter of a Revolutionary soldier. The mother of our subject, nee Susan Warren, was a native of Vermont, and a daughter of Horace and Susan (Hathaway) Warren, also born in that State. Horace Warren located in Thomp- son, Geauga county, Ohio, in 1823, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. David Barrett, the father of our subject, located in Geauga county, this State, when a young man, and was a farmer and carpenter by occupation; a Whig in his political views, later a Repub- lican, and a Methodist in religious faith. His death occurred in Trumbull township, Ash- tabula county, at the age of fifty-eight years. His widow still resides in that township, aged seventy-one years. They were the par- ents of nine children,-John Austin, Mary Jane, Calista Amerette (deceased), Rosince Cordelia, Ruth Maria, Caroline A., Georgiana, Ida May (deceased), and Charles Wesley.

John A. Barrett, the subject of this sketch, was reared to agricultural pursuits. August 19, 1864, he enlisted for service in the late war, entering the One Hundred and

Seventy-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company C, and was honorably discharged at Greensboro, North Carolina, June 24, 1865. From that time until 1873 he made his home in Trumbull, Ashtabula county, Ohio, and in the latter year located on his present farm of sixty-seven acres in Cherry Valley, Ashtabula county, Ohio. He is engaged in general farming, and also keeps fifty stands of bees. In political matters, Mr. Barrett affiliates with the Republican party. He has served as Township Trustee, and as a member of the School Board.

December 15, 1866, he was united in mar- riage to Ellen Hayward, a native of Erie county, Pennsylvania, but reared in Trum- bull, Ashtabula county, Ohio, and a daughter of Artemas and Lucy Jane (Jowles) Hay- ward. Two of their sons took part in the late war, Jerome and John, and the latter served in the Twenty-ninth Ohio Infantry. Mr. and Mrs. Barrett have had five children: Nelly M., wife of R. E. Prentice; Mary E., a successful and popular school-teacher; Mabel A .; Maud A., and one deceased. Mr. Barrett is a member of the G. A. R., H. Kile Post, No. 80, and both he and Mrs. Barrett are members of the Disciple Church of Trumbull.

AMES K. STEBBINS, a prominent jeweler and progressive citizen of Ash- tabula, Ohio, was born in Dansville, New York, February 8, 1843. His parents, Almerick and Lydia (Barnard) Stebbins, were both natives of Massachusetts, the former born in Deerfield and the latter in Whately. The father was a son of Sylvester Stebbins, born at Deerfield in the old Bay State, around which are entwined so many historie memor-

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

ies. He was a direct descendant of Rowland Stebbins, who came from Ipswich, England, to America in 1634, and who was one of the first two settlers at Springfield, Massachu- setts, the person who bore him company in this pioneer venture being John Pinchon. This remote ancestor is buried at Northamp- ton in that State. One branch of this family remained in Springfield, while the other went North with the Casey settlers of Deerfield, in the same State. Members of this family, as of many others, suffered in the Indian wars. John Stebbins was the only one who escaped uninjured from the Bloody Brook massacre. Col. Joseph Stebbins was in the Revolutionary war, being a Lieutenant at the battle of Bunker Hill, after which he was promoted to the rank of Captain for valiant services, his commission, which is still pre- served, being signed by John Hancock, Presi- dent of the Colonial Convention, whose name is first on the Declaration of Independence. Almerick Stebbins, father of the subject of this sketch, was a carriage manufacturer, and removed from Massachusetts to Dansville, New York, in an early day. His wife was a daughter of Ebenezer Barnard, also a promi- nent descendant of an early family of the Bay State. This worthy couple had five sons and four daughters, and four of the former were efficient Union soldiers in the Civil war. Both parents died in Dansville, New York.

From the time when he was ten years of age until he had attained his sixteenth year, the subject of this sketch lived at the home of his cousin, Carlos Stebbins, an artist and banker, of Pike, Wyoming county, New York. During this period he improved his time in attending school, and, at the age of sixteen years, he entered a jewelry establishment for the purpose of learning the trade. At the outbreak of the Civil war, although but eight-

een years of age, he enlisted for service, May 15, 1861, as a private in Company F of the Thirty-third New York Regiment, with which he served two years. He was one of the ninety-eight men who made the famous charge at Williamsburg, Virginia, May 5, 1862, and, incidental to this, it should be made a matter of record in the connection that this was the first instance in the late war in which the general commanding the army paid the high tribute of honor in issuing an order that the name of a battle should be inscribed upon a regimental banner, as a mark of gallantry in action.

At Golding's farm, Mr. Stebbins was the only one of his company to volunteer the undertaking of an extremely perilous service, the re-establishing in the face of the enemy, of a picket line which had been withdrawn by mistake. This act entitled him to the medal voted by Congress as a mark of special acts of bravery. He was with his regiment every time they were under fire, until he was wounded at Antietam, where he was shot through the lungs and left on the battle-field for dead. In consequence of his severe wound, he was afterward discharged. In 1867 he removed to Ashtabula, Ohio, and there en- gaged in the jewelry business, which he has since successfully followed, winning the golden opinion of his fellow men for his uni- form uprightness and courtesy in his dealings.

In 1874, Mr. Stebbins married Miss Emma H. Selby, of Williamson, N. Y., who was born in Ashtabula, where she is well known and highly esteemed. She is a granddaughter of Deacon Amos Fisk, an early settler and prominent citizen of that place, and they have two children; Lola May and J. Rowland, named for the early ancestor.

Socially, Mr. Stebbins affiliates with the G. A. R., being a charter member of Paulus

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Post, Ashtabula, and is a Chapter Mason. Religiously, he is a member of the Baptist Church, in which faith he was baptized at the age of twenty-four, in Rushford, New York, and with which he has faithfully con- tinued ever since. He has served for twenty- two years as Treasurer of the Baptist Church in Ashtabula, in which he is now a Deacon, though always a more sturdy champion for what he believes to be right and true. He is a genial, whole-souled gentleman, and enjoys the highest regard of a host of personal friends.

C YRUS RUSSELL, of the firm of C. Russell & Son, furniture manufactur- ers and proprietors of a saw and plan- ing mill at Andover, was born in Williams- field township, Ashtabula county, July 21, 1840, a son of Julius Russell, a native of Tyringham, Massachusetts. The latter was two years of age when he was brought by his father, John Russell, to Ashtabula county, Ohio, where they were among the pioneer settlers. The mother of our subject, nee Polly Wilcox, is a native of New York, and now resides at Conneautville, Pennsylvania, aged seventy years. Mr. and Mrs. Russell had three children: Cyrus, Phyletus and Lovill.

Cyrus Russell, the subject of this sketch, has been a natural mechanic from youth, and has been an active business man in Andover for twenty-one years. The manufacturing house of Russell & Son is located on East Main street, and is one of the leading institu- tions of the kind in the southern part of the county. The factory is two-stories high, 50 x 100 feet in dimensions, the sales room being 44 x 60 feet. The packing room is lo-

cated on the second story. Their mill is also a large building, and has a brick engine house 18 x 24 feet. The firm employ twenty- five skilled workmen, and select the best of lumber for the mill.

Mr. Russell was married at the age of twenty-two years, to Esther Gaugh, a native of North Chenango, Crawford county, Penn- sylvania, and a daughter of James and Eliza- beth (Alexander) Gaugh. To this union have been born four children: Manson P., John B., Elmer C. and Lottie E. Mr. Russell is identified with the Republican party, and is a member of the Masonic order, Andover Lodge No. 506, also of Jefferson Chapter, No. 141. Religiously, he is a member of the Congregatioal Church. He takes an active interest in education and religion, and is one of the leading business men in Andover.

F H. MASON, a successful farmer and stock-raiser of Richmond township, Ash- tabula county, was born in Cherry Valley township, this county, June 30, 1836, a son of George and Martha N. (Kingsley) Mason. Our subject was a successful and popular teacher for five years, and for a num- ber of years was engaged as a traveling sales- man. In 1882 Mr. Mason located on his present farm of 150 acres in Richmond town- ship. All of the farm is well improved, and among its buildings are a good two-story residence, 18 x 36 feet, with an L, 16 x 34 feet, and a barn, 40 x 76 feet, which is one of the best in the county. For the past twenty years Mr. Mason has been dealing in blooded horses and Ayrshire cattle. Ile has one noted horse, Headlight, a son of Atlantic, and many other animals of great promise.

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

Mr. Mason was married April 8, 1871, to Jenette Houghton, who was born and reared in Ashtabula county, a daughter of John and Hannah Houghton. November 1, 1883, our subject was joined in marriage to Miss Jennie O. Liddle, who was born and reared in New York city, and who is a lady of education, culture and refinement; she was formerly a popular teacher. Mrs. Mason is a daughter of George and Helen (Beman) Liddle, both of whom died at Harlem, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Mason have three children: Nettie H., Fred H. and Helen Martha. Mr. Mason was a soldier in the war, is a Republican in his political views, and socially a member of the G. A. R.

E DWARD B. WHITING, of Austin- burgh township, Ashtabula county, Ohio, is a descendant of one of the pioneer families of this county. His wife also comes of one of the first families of the township. As such they are eminent- ly deserving of some personal consideration in this work.

The Whitings lived at Winsted, Connec- ticut, several generations before Grandfather Benjamin Whiting's time. In 1811 Ben- jamin Whiting, with his wife and four chil- dren, came to Ohio and located at the center of Austinburgh township, Ashtabula county, where for a long period of years, as inn- keeper, he served the traveling public. Here his son, Benjamin, the father of Edward B., grew to manhood, and while acting as host of the inn and catering to the La- throp family, who were en route to Windsor township, he met the lady whom he after- ward married. Her name was Miss Mi-

nerva Lathrop. They had four children, of whom the subject of this sketch is second, the others being as follows: Emily, who died in California, was the wife of Hiram A. Plumb; Hiram L., who also died in Cali- fornia; and Augusta M., wife of George E. Downing, died in southern Ohio. Some time after the death of the mother of these children, the father married Emily L. Snow, who bore him two sons, namely: Theodore, deceased; and Eugene L., now a resident of the old Whiting homestead. Benjamin Whit- ing died August 25, 1876, and his wife sur- vived until November, 1890.

Edward B. Whiting was born March 25, 1828, in Austinburgh township, and has passed his entire lifetime within its limits, as a farmer. In politics he is a stanch Republican; in religion a Congregationalist.

October 19, 1853, he married Isabelle, daughter of "Deacon" - Henry and Sybyl (Austin) Webb. Her father was a brother of Oliver Webb, a well-known citizen of this county, and her mother was the youngest daughter of Judge Eliphalet Austin, the founder of the town of Austinburgh. As Mrs. Whiting is closely related to this gentleman, we take occasion to note something of his coming here:

In 1799 Eliphalet Austin, in company with two others, came out from Litchfield, Connecticut, and located at the present site of Austinburgh. The following year he returned and brought his wife and nine children, and here his children grew up and became prominent and useful members of the community. The family of which Mrs. Whiting was a member consisted of four children: Thomas A. and Henry C., both of Austinburgh township; Kate E., who died at the age of seventeen years; Mrs. Whiting was the second born.

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OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO.

Mr. and Mrs. Whiting have six children: C. Martin, proprietor of a gold and silver mine in Idaho; Kate A., wife of B. B. Bliss, a merchant of Iowa Falls, Iowa; William L., connected with a fruit commission estab- lishment in Portland, Oregon; Charles E., a stock-buyer of Austinburgh; Mary E., wife of O. W. Seeley, Austinburgh; Edward D., a salesman in L. O. Bliss' mercantile establishment at Iowa Falls, Iowa.

For a few years Mr. and Mrs. Whiting lived on a farm of their own, but at the request of Mrs. Whiting's people they came back to the old homestead, where they now reside.

A USTIN O. AMSDEN, a well known jeweler and progressive business man of Ashtabula, Ohio, was born in Ash- tabula county, January 9, 1836. His re- mote ancestors came from the tight little isle of England, and settled in Massachusetts in Colonial times. Abraham Amsden, his grand- father, was born near Boston, that State, where he was reared. He married Submit Moss, and they had six sons and four daugh- ters, with whom he started, in 1828, for the West, as Ohio was then called. He settled in Saybrook township, Ashtabula county, that State, where he improved a farm on which he resided until his death. Samuel Amsden, his son, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Windsor, Vermont, October 20, 1799. He was reared in the East, where he married. Previous to his father's emigration to Ohio, in 1828, Samuel came with his family to Ashtabula county, of which he was a prominent resident for many years. Abigail Ilazelton, his wife, was the daughter of a well known and esteemed pioneer of this

county. This worthy couple had five sons and two daughters: Laura, deceased; George W .; Eunice; Guilson A., deceased; Edwin; Austin O., whose name heads this sketch; and Lucius K.

The subject of this biography was reared on the home farm and received his education in the common schools of his vicinity. When eighteen years of age, he went to Ashtabula, where he learned the jeweler's trade, which business he has followed in this place ever since. In 1857 he had accumulated sufficient means by industry and economy, to start in business on his own account, but in 1859 sold out his interests, and for eighteen years thereafter worked for other parties. In 1877 he again embarked in business for himself, and has since continued, the firm being now Amsden & Son, who do a large and lucrative trade in their line.

In 1856 Mr. Amsden was married to Mary J. Dickinson, an estimable lady, daughter of Moses Dickinson, well and favorably known in this locality, and they have had six children, five now living: Mary Elizabeth, a student of music in New York city; Lewis A., a civil engineer, residing in Ashtabula; Arthur D., a watchmaker and graduated optician; Frederick H., died in 1885, aged eighteen; George S., a student at Harvard College; and Jay M., at home.

In politics, Mr. Amsden is a Republican, and for the last nine years has served efficient- ly on the Board of Education, doing much to advance educational interests. Fraternally, he is a Royal Arch Mason, a Knight of Pythias, a member of the Eastern Star, of the Order of Elks, of the Pythian Sisters, Knights of Honor, and the Knights of Labor. Both he and wife are prominent members of the Reformed Episcopal Church, in the cause of which they take an active interest.

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

It is to such men that Ashtabula owes her present advanced position among the sister cities of Ohio, contributing as they have by their ability and worth to her growth and enterprise.

A DALIN, agent for Leisy's Brew- ery, at Harbor, Ohio, is an efficient business man and popular citizen, and was born in Gottenburg, Sweden, Feb- ruary 6, 1851. His father, Lars Dalin, a farmer by occupation, was a native of the same place, where he spent his life and died in 1855, greatly lamented by all who knew him.

The subject of this sketch was reared on his father's farm near his native city, and was educated in the schools of that section. He was engaged in farm work until he attained the age of twenty-two years, when, induced by enlarged opportunities of a new country, he embarked for the United States, landing in New York city, May 6, 1873. He came thence direct to Ashtabula, Ohio, where he secured employmant on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad. In the fall of the same year he went to Chardon, Geauga county, the same State, where he remained a month, going thence to Cleveland, where he broke stone on Euclid avenue and was in the employ of the city two years. He then made short stays in Ada and Dunkirk, this State, after which he returned to Cleveland and en- tered the employ of the Collins Rolling Mills as teamster, where he remained eighteen months. He then returned to Ashtabula, where he was at first employed on the dock, but later bought a small store and engaged with his small capital in the saloon business, in which he has ever since continued. After

three years he closed ont his first place only to take charge of his present large and well equipped place. He owns some of the best improved property at the Harbor, situated on Bridge street, while the finest residence in the city is his, the same having been erected at a cost of $15,000. Besides this he owns much valuable unimproved real estate. He also has a flourishing farm of forty acres, lying south of the Harbor, -all this representing the accumulations of twelve years of steady industry and unaided effort.

May 16, 1881, Mr. Dalin was first married, by which union he had one child, Cenia, now eight years old. His second marriage oc- curred in 1890,when he wedded Annie Olson. They have one son, fourteen months of age.

Thoroughly upright in his dealings, indus- trious and courteous to all, he has gained many warm friends, and is deservedly popular in a city the interests of which he has done so much to advance.

W ILLIAM T. ATKINSON, a promi- nent farmer and stock-raiser in Wil- loughby township, Lake county, Ohio, was born in Sackville, New Brunswick, Octo- ber 4, 1829, son of Robert Atkinson, a native of the same place, born in 1797. Grand- father Robert Atkinson, a native of York- shire, England, emigrated to New Brunswick and here engaged in farming. His son Rob- ert was also a farmer by occupation. The latter moved to Ohio in October, 1833, and settled on a farm on which his son William T. now lives. This farm had been partly im- proved before he located here, having three log houses upon it and a portion of the land being cleared. He spent the rest of his life here, and died in 1877, at the age of eighty

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years. He was a man of some prominence, and held various local offices. Of his life companion we record that her maiden name was Jane E. Huggard, and that she was born near Belfast, Ireland. When she was eight years old she came with her sister to America, and was reared in New Brunswick. She died in November, 1891, at the age of eighty-four. Both she and her husband were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They had seven children, of whom William T. is the oldest and only son. All are still living, the only death among the descendants of these, parents being one great-grandchild.

William T. Atkinson attended the district school and was a student for one term in the high school at Chagrin Falls. It is now nearly sixty years since he came with his parents to the farm on which he lives: will be sixty years in October, 1893. His present residence he built in 1855. The farm com- prises 110 acres of land, and is devoted to general farming and stock-raising. For the past fourteen years Mr. Atkinson has given considerable attention to the breeding of thoroughbred cattle, raising and selling for breeding purposes. His herd are all eligible to registry, with one exception. He has an excellent assortment of fruit on his place,-a fine vineyard and choice apples and pears.

Mr. Atkinson was married in 1855, to Elsie J. Brott, who was born in Mayfield, Cuyahoga county, and was reared in Wil- loughby. Her parents, Reynold and Malona Brott, natives of Connecticut and New York respectively, were married in Mayfield. Her father was only thirteen when he came to this county. He blazed trees on his way here. Both parents died in Lake county, the father on November 15, 1874, and the mother on May 24, 1877. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Six of their

eleven children are still living. Mr. and Mrs. Atkinson have one child, Howard E., born March 3, 1856; married Jane Cum- mings; has had three children: Arland C., Ralph H. and William C., the last named being deceased.

Mr. Atkinson and his wife, following in the footsteps of their honored parents, are identified with the Methodist Church, he being a Steward and Trustee in the church. In politics he votes with the Republican party.

A LVA S. STILLMAN, a prominent and respected citizen of Andover, Ohio, a retired farmer and one of the earliest settlers of Ashtabula county, was born in Norfolk, Connecticut, February 21, 1825. His parents, Erastus and Sarah (Seymour) Stillman, were both natives of Connecticut and representatives of old and respected fami- lies of that State. In 1828, this worthy couple came overland with a one-horse wagon to Ashtabula county, Ohio, theirs being the first team driven into the county. They set- tled in the woods near Andover, where they erected the primitive log cabin and made a home for themselves and children. The father was a pronounced Whig in politics, and he and his wife were prominent members of the Congregational Church and active in all good work. Their five children were: Horace, Sarah and Hannah, deceased; Alva S., whose name heads this brief biography; and Orson S. The father died at the age of seventy-six, and his wife at the age of eighty, both being widely lamented by all who knew them.

The subject of this sketch was three years of age when his parents settled in Ashtabula

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BIOGRAPHIICAL HISTORY

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Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 45

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