Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 88

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 88
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 88
USA > Ohio > Lake County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake > Part 88

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ON. ELVERTON J, CLAPP was born at Windsor, Ashtabula county, Ohio, October 5, 1842, a son of Ichabod Clapp, a native of Windsor, Connecti- cut, born in 1810. Johnathan Clapp, the grandfather of our subject, was one of a small company that emigrated to Ohio in 1813 and located in Ashtabula county, naming their town Windsor, in honor of the town they had left in New England. Johnathan Clapp died soon after coming to his western home. He was possessed of those sterling traits which characterize the typical New Englander. Ichabod Clapp was an only son,

and was a lad of ten years when his father died. When he became of age he took charge of the old Clapp homestead near Windsor, where his mother resided until her death. He married Hannah McIntosh, a native of Rutland county, Vermont, who had accom- panied her parents to Ohio at an early day. He was a farmer all his life, took a deep in- terest in improved methods of agriculture, and was very successful, the earth yielding, under his management, her best harvests, He died in January, 1891, at the age of eighty-two years; his wife died in 1877, in her sixty-sixth year. Both were zealous Christian people of the faith of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of their five children, Milo S. is the eldest: he is located at Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, and is one of the leading business men of that place: he is Grand Master of the I. O. O. F. of Ohio; the eldest daughter, Jennie, is the wife of Milo Skinner, and resides at Windsor, Ohio; Car- roll S., the youngest son, is a wealthy citizen of Warren, Ohio: he is president of the Second National Bank of Warren, and is a prominent Mason, being Grand Master of the order in the State; Dette, the youngest daugh- ter, is the wife of George Welsh, a hardware merchant of New Castle, Pennsylvania.

Elverton J. Clapp received his elementary education in the district school and in the Or- well (Ohio) Academy; began teaching at the age of sixteen, and followed this calling sev- eral years. When the war broke out he left his books for the battlefield, but after peace was declared he went back and finished his course.

He enlisted in August, 1862, in Company K, One Hundred and Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as a private, under Captain Bowers, of Geneva, Ohio. His first engagement was at Perryville, Kentucky; then he was at Stone

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River and Chickamauga; he was all through the campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta, being under fire for 100 days. He went with . Sherman to the sea, was at Bentonville, North Carolina (the last fight), at the surrender of Johnston at Raleigh, and participated in the grand review at Washington. When he en- tered the service he left the train at Lexing- ton, Kentucky, and marched through Ken- tucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Caro- lina, Georgia, Virginia, and on to Washing ton, riding not one step of the way. He was promoted to Sergeant after the battle of Perryville, and was honorably discharged June 5, 1865.

He was married November 11, 1867, to Eliza A. Carpenter, a native of Thompson, Geauga county, Ohio, and the accomplished daughter of John Carpenter, a prominent citizen of Thompson township, and one of the most intelligent farmers of this section. She was a graduate of West Farmington Semi- nary, Ohio. In 1878 Mr. Clapp assisted in the organization of the Farmers' Mutual In- surance Company, and has been secretary since that time, aiding very materially in building up the business and advancing its interests.

A Republican of the stanchest type, in 1889 he was elected to represent his party in Lake and Geanga counties at the State Legis- lature, and re-elected in 1891. He was elected Speaker pro tem. of the Seventieth General Assembly by acclamation, and filled the posi- tion with marked ability. He served on the committees of Finance, County Affairs and Insurance. He was largely instrumental in securing the location of the National Woman's Relief Corps Home at Madison, Ohio, and secured an appropriation of $40,000 for the erection of a cottage at the Home, for the State of Ohio. He was made chairman of

the Ohio Board of Construction, and was ap- pointed a delegate to the Agricultural Con- gress, held in Chicago in 1893. He is a member of the Masonic order; is Past Grand of the I. O. O. F., and Commander of Guernsey Post, No. 701, G. A. R., at Thomp- son. He and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and live a life consistent with their profession, always friends to the poor and distressed and will- ing helpers of the needy. They are fitting guardians of the abundance that flows through their hands.

Mr. Clapp was an able, active and labori- ous member of the Assembly, broad in his views, true and unyielding, though honorable and conscientious in the advocacy of the prin- ciples of his party. During the four years he represented his district he was ever alive to the interests of the State and his constitu- ency, and achieved an enviable reputation as a legislator, honoring the county that honored him. He is a man of good presence, pleasing address, and an able, forceful and attractive speaker. He is genial and social by nature, and warm and true in his friendship. His distinguished services in the Legislature, and his honorable and patriotic conduct during the late canvass, established him more firmly in the hearts of the people, and created a broad field for future preferment.

H ENRY BOSWORTH. -- Upon the sturdy and intelligent yoemen of our nation does the essence of its prosper- ity depend, and Geauga county, Ohio, is favored in having a class of farmers repre- senting in their methods and labor not the animus of stolid drudgery and not the deplor- able narrowness of judgment, which impose

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the stigma of brainless toil, but men of dis- tinctive animation and enterprise; men who never touch the point of inertia, but live, learn and advance, ever keeping pace with the march of progress. Of such class is the subject of this review, and his fine farm of fifty-two acres is located near Ford, and shows in its appearance the well-directed care which has brought it to the present state of high cultivation.

Mr. Bosworth was born in Newbury town- ship, Geauga county, Ohio, October 7, 1838, being the son of Harmon and Lucy (Fargo) Bosworth, who were natives of the beautiful old county of Berkshire, Massachusetts. Harmon Bosworth came from the old Bay State to Ohio in 1818, and purchased a piece of land in Newbury township, Geauga county, being one of the first settlers in said township, which was yet given over to sylvan wilds. His brother had preceded him to the frontier by one year, and had cleared up a few acres by the time Harmon arrived, After grappling vigorously with nature for about a year, and having made his efforts count in the reclaiming of his land, Harmon Bosworth felt that there was yet lacking one element most essential to his happiness. Accordingly, he returned to Massachusetts, and there wedded Miss Lucy Fargo, February 22, 1820. The bridal tour of the young couple was not one of majestic pomp. They secured an ox team and a wagon, and set forth for their future home in Ohio. Of such pioneer journeys record has been handed down to posterity, and it is needless to revert to the same more fully. They arrived at their destination in due time and slept in their wagon until their primitive log cabin could be completed. That they endured privations and hardships in their frontier home is certain, but they were sustained and

given strength as the number of their days, and to them, as to others who endured these trials, do the later generations owe a debt of gratitude. In their little home Mr. and Mrs. Bosworth lived a life of honest frugality. Farm products commanded very small prices, and necessary provisions were correspond- ingly high. On one occasion Mr. Bosworth hauled a load of wheat to Pittsburg and exchanged the entire amount for one barrel of salt. As the country became more thick- ly settled he occupied a prominent place among its pioneers, holding various local offices at different times. He was Township Clerk for some time, and was also one of the trustees of the township. Both he and his wife lived to enjoy the fruits of their labor and to attain to the fullness of years. He died in 1875, at the age of eighty-two years, and his widow survived him by five years, passing away at the age of eighty-one. For more than a half century they lived together, mutually sustaining and sustained. Both were members of the Baptist Church, Mrs. Bosworth having been one of the first mem- bers of that denomination in the vicinity. There were born to them seven children, of whom the three youngest are still living.

Henry Bosworth received his early edu- cation in the district and select schools, and remained at home until he attained his majority. He then found employment for some time in Cleveland and Warren, Ohio. August 15, 1866, he was married to Miss Frances Wilson, who was born in Marcy, Oneida county, New York, November 6, 1842, and whose parents emigrated in 1849 to Ohio, where her father subsequently died. Mr. and Mrs. Bosworth have two sons, Charles W. and Clarence F.

In addition to general farming our subject has for the past decade given particular

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attention to agriculture; has made the matter a subject of careful study and experiment, and has formulated methods which have made the enterprise a very successful and duly profitable one. He is without doubt the leading and best informed apiarist in Geauga county.

Mr. Bosworth is an advocate of the prin- ciples and policies maintained by the Repub- lican party, and has served as Treasurer of the township for about fourteen years. May 2, 1864, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was assigned to duty at Camp Dennison, Cin- cinnati and Cleveland, and in guarding Con- federate prisoners on Johnson's Island, being mustered out at Sandusky, after a service of about 120 days. Both he and his wife are active and zealous members of the Disciple Church, in the local organization of which he is an Elder. Having led upright and conscientious lives it is needless to say that both Mr. and Mrs. Bosworth have high place in the regard and respect of the com- munity, to whose best interests they have ever been devoted.

F RANK A. MORRISON, physician and surgeon, is one of the progressive young professional men of Rock Creek, Ashta- bula county, Ohio. He was born in Jefferson township, this county, September 5, 1858, and lived there until he was eighteen years of age. He attended the district schools and the Jeffer- son Educational Institute. Being then thrown upon his own resources, he went to Portage county, Ohio, where he engaged in business for himself, and for several years dealt suc- cessfully in real estate. We next find him in Albion, Erie county, Pennsylvania, study-

ing medicine in the office of Dr. Skeels, a noted physician. After remaining under his tutorage for a period of three years, young Morrison attended a course of lectures at Cleveland. He then came to Rock Creek and entered upon the practice of his profession. Three years later he went to Cincinnati, where he further prepared himself for his chosen profession by taking a two years' course in the Pulte Medical College, where he grad- uated. After that he took a course in the Old Pathological School and spent three months in clinic work. Returning to Rock Creek, he resumed the practice of his profes- sion, in which he has since been eminently successful, now having a practice represent- ing about $5,000 per annum.

Dr. Morrison was married September 5, 1878, to Miss Clara A. Churchell, who was born in Randolph township, Portage county, Ohio, November 19, 1856, daughter of Or- well Churchell. They have one child, Frankie A., born August 29, 1889. Mrs. Morrison is a lady of much culture and refinement, is . popular in society circles, and presides in a charming manner over her cozy and attrac- tive home.

Dr. Morrison is a son of Cornelius and Sarah (Goodall) Morrison. His father was born in Geneva, Ashtabula county, Ohio, June 19, 1823, and grew up at his native place, receiving a high-school education. He located in Jefferson, where he was married in 1848, and where he resided for a number of years, owning a fine farm near Jefferson. In early life he was ordained a minister of the Gospel. His first work in the pulpit was in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Jefferson. Later he united with the Zion Church, with which organization he labored for many years. Now, after a useful and active career, he re- sides at Richmond Center, retired from active

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life. The Doctor's mother was born in Con- necticut. Her parents coming to Ohio when she was four years old and settling on a farm in Ashtabula county, she was here reared and educated. Of her ten children, eight are still living, representing various trades and pro- fessions. From her youth up she has been a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In political matters, Dr. Morrison is a Re- publican. Since 1889 he has been identified with the F. & A. M. and the I. O. O. F. In the Masonic order he has taken the Royal Arch degree. He is a member of the Ameri- can Institute of Homoeopathy, the oldest medical institute in America; of the Homeo- pathic Medical Society of Ohio, and is Medi- cal Examiner for the Northwestern Life In- surance Company, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and also for the Manhattan Insurance Com- pany of New York.

E DWARD CRAFTS, a prominent farmer of Auburn township, Geauga county, Ohio, was born in Auburn, August 22, 1822. William Crafts, his fa- ther, an early settler in Auburn, was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Edward Crafts, his grandfather, was a resident of Boston and occupied the position of Major at the com- mencement of the Revolutionary war, and with his brother, Colonel Thomas Crafts, was prominent in the defense of Boston from the attacks of the English during the Revolution. Major Edward Crafts disposed of his valua- ble property in Boston, receiving payment in continental money which, it is well-known, subsequently became worthless. The loss attending this transaction necessitated an effort on his part to provide for his large

family. He, therefore, removed to New York and settled in what is now Yates county, which was then an unsubdued wilderness, and, with the assistance of his sons, cleared and became owners of valuable farms.

William Crafts, his youngest son, married in New York, and in the fall of 1815 came on foot to Ohio. Here he bought abont 1,200 acres of land, at that time all an unbroken wilderness. . There were then only two other families in this vicinity. He returned to New York, and that winter brought his family to his pioneer home, making the journey this time with an ox team. In the midst of the for- est, half a mile south of Auburn Corners, he erected his log cabin, and, as the years rolled . by, his well-directed efforts resulted in the clearing of a fine farm. He died in Auburn in the eighty-seventh year of his age. He was twice married, the subject of our sketch being the child of his second wife, nee Dru- cilla Moore, a native of New York State. She reared five children. Her death occurred when she was seventy-five. Mr. Crafts oc- cupied a prominent place among the pioneers. Indeed, few men throughout the county were better known than he. In politics he was first a Whig and afterward a Republican, and he served his township in various offices of trust and responsibility. Of his original purchase he selected 400 acres, the farm now owned and occupied by his son Edward, the subject of this sketch, named after the Revolutionary grandfather. Born and reared in a frontier home, Edward Crafts is familiar with the difficulties and privations incidental to pio- neer life. He well remembers when there were plenty of deer in the forest near his fa- ther's cabin. He went to school in the old log school house near by and, sitting on the rude slab benches with pin legs, he conned his lessons before the open fireplace. At the

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age of eighteen he attended a select school for one term in Chagrin Falls, after which, in the winter of 1840 and '41, he taught school. Then he returned to the select school, thus paying his own way with the money he earned. He afterward taught several years. Since then he has given his attention to farming and dairying. Mr. Crafts has been quite prominent as a Democratic politician, having been twice a delegate to Democratic National conventions; also to Democratic State con- ventions and many times holding offices of trust in the township.

In 1845 he married Miss Helen B. John- son, a native of Newbury township, Geauga county, who departed this life in July, 1883. Mrs. Crafts excelled in all those attributes which tend to develop a superior mind and character which she imparted to their three sons, all of whom are occupying prominent and useful positions in life. Clayton Edward, the oldest, is a lawyer of Chicago. He has been several times elected a member of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois, and twice elected Speaker which po- sition he occupies at the present time. Pitt Maurice is engaged in farming in Geauga county, and Stanley Curtis is a lawyer and real-estate dealer in Chicago.

The Crafts are of English descent. The first representative of the family, Lieutenant Griffin Crafts, came to America with Gov- ernor Winthrop in 1630.

D AVID LAW, proprietor of the Wil- loughby Heights farm, and one of the prominent men of Lake county, Ohio, dates his birth in Belfast, Ireland, June 22, 1822.

His parents, David and Alice (Willis) Law, were both natives of Belfast, Ireland,

the father born in 1785, and the mother in 1791. They settled in Carrickfergus, Ire- land, where Mr. Law was engaged in the milling industry, owning flouring, oat-meal and linen mills. They emigrated to America in 1835 and located in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, where the mother's death occurred soon afterward,-October 1, 1835. The father purchased land in Mayfield township, to the clearing of which he at once devoted his energies. He died here, January 15, 1839, at the age of fifty-four years. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They left a family of eight children, some of them quite young, David being the fourth born. The children soon became scattered, finding homes where best they could. Six of them are still living.

David Law was twelve years old when he came with his parents to this country. His educational advantages were limited to the common schools and a few terms at the high school at Chagrin Falls. After his father's death he started out in life on his own re- sponsibility, but before this he had worked out for a time. For a while he worked at the cooper's trade. Then he turned his at- tention to farming in Mayfield township, and has since been engaged in agricultural pur- suits. In 1851 he purchased his present farm on Willoughby Heights, coming here at that time to live with his father-in-law.

Mr. Law was married in 1847 to Louise Fuller, a native of Willoughby township, Lake county, Ohio. Her father, Hon. Siin- eon Fuller, was born July 25, 1791, in West- field, Washington county, New York, sou of Captain Simeon Fuller, a soldier in the Rev- olutionary war. He was a self-made man, having few early educational advantages. He became a teacher, however, at the age of twenty-one, and was engaged in teaching at

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OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO.

Manchester (now Niagara Falls) the second year of the war of 1812. At the time of the capture of Fort George he dismissed his school, and with others volunteered for serv- ice in the militia. That same day he and a number of others were captured by the In- dians, he receiving a bullet hole in the rim of his hat and another in his coat sleeve. The Indians marched their captives back to Lewistown and delivered them up to the British. For six weeks Mr. Fuller remained a prisoner, suffering many hardships and being nearly starved at one time. At last he made his escape near Kingston and trav- eled on the ice along the river several miles, walking a part of the way on floating cakes of ice. He then directed his course to his father's home in Steuben county, continuing his journey on foot, and reaching his desti- nation foot-sore and with little clothing. In 1818 Mr. Fuller came to Ohio and settled at Chagrin, Cuyahoga county, now Willoughby, Lake county, where he spent the rest of his life. He taught school some after coming here. April 30, 1820, he married Miss Mi- nerva Sprague, a native of Middletown, Con- necticut. Her father, Seth Sprague, a soldier of the Revolutionary war, died December 4, 1812, at Lewistown, New York. Her mother, Olive (Tenny) Sprague, a native of Hollis- ton, Massachusetts, was born August 31, 1763, and died July 1, 1848. Mr. Fuller was a man of prominence in this part of Ohio, and had the respect and esteem of all who knew him. He filled various important positions, ever regarding with strictest fidel- ity the trusts reposed in him. November 3, 1826, he was elected County Commissioner of Cuyahoga county, and filled the office several years. In 1832 he was elected by the Legisla- ture as Associate Judge of Cuyahoga county, which important position he occupied seven

years. In 1838 he was elected to the State Sen- ate, and served a term of two years; in 1841 was again elected to the Legislature; from 1846 to 1853 served as Township Assessor. He was a stanch Whig and was strongly opposed to slavery. He died September 15, 1861, and his good wife passed away April 6, 1865. Mrs. Law is the only one living of their three children,-two sons and one daughter. Pre- vious to her marriage she taught two terins of school.

Mr. and Mrs. Law have had five children, namely: Malcom S., who died at the age of twenty months; Myron D., an expert elec- trician; Belle, deceased; Jennie, deceased; and George, a druggist in Willoughby. The children have had good educational advan- tages.

Mr. Law's farm, Willoughby Heights, now comprises only 220 acres, portions of it having been sold. The magnificent brick residence on this farm, built over twenty years ago, is one of the most attractive homes in all the country round. For ten years Mr. Law had been using natural gas here, having a gas well on his land. Besides carrying on farm- ing operations he has for some years been engaged in contracting and building. Re- cently, however, he has confined himself altogether to agricultural pursuits, and is classed with the representative farmers of the county.

Politically Mr. Law is a Republican. He has served as Township Trustee several terms. Mrs. Law is a Universalist.

Since the preparation of the foregoing re- view Mr. Law has made a radical change in his field of operations, and it-is but consist- ent that we bring the biographical sketch more nearly up to date by making record of such change. In May of the present year (1893) Mr. Law sold his farm in Willoughby

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township and removed to the village of Wil- loughby, where he has built a commodious new residence and has engaged actively in the milling business, having built a large steam mill and equipped it with the most modern and approved appliances for the grinding of all kinds of grain. The enter- prise is one that has all the elements of suc- cess, and that it will prosper under the ef- fective direction of the proprietor is a fore- gone conclusion.

G EORGE A. HOUGHTON, the efficient and popular Road Master of the Frank- lin Division of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, residing in Andover, Obio, was born in Windham county, Vermont, November 23, 1855. He comes of good New England ancestors, his parents, James K. and Abbie (Felker) Hough- ton, having been natives of Vermont and New Hampshire, respectively. His father is now a mechanic in Cleveland, Ohio, where he has the esteem of all who know him.

The subject of this sketch was reared and educated in Putney, Vermont, and at the age of twenty-one he entered the railroad service, in which direction his taste seemed to have a particular bent. He was first foreman of a fence gang and later of a work train, from which he rose to a responsible position on the Wabash Railroad, which he filled with his usual trustworthiness until accepting a better position with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. He took up his residence in An- dover in 1886, as Roadmaster of the Franklin Division, consisting of the tracks from Ashta- bula to Youngstown, Andover to Oil City, as well as the Ashtabula & Harbor Railroad, making 136 miles of track, besides which he

looks after seventy miles of other track. He has two efficient clerks and the details of his business are kept in good shape. He is a thorough railroad man and fills his position with credit to himself and to the best inter- ests of his company.

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Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake, Part 88

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