Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Trumbull and Mahoning, Part 83

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 786

USA > Ohio > Mahoning County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Trumbull and Mahoning > Part 83
USA > Ohio > Trumbull County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Trumbull and Mahoning > Part 83
USA > Ohio > Ashtabula County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Trumbull and Mahoning > Part 83

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he afterward cleared and improved, where he resided until he moved to the center of Berlin in November of 1863, just thirty years ago. The same fall he was elected Justice of the Peace and he held that office continuously since with the exception of only a few months. Mr. Carson, besides his farm at the center of Berlin, still owns a part of the farm on which he originally set- tled near Shilling's Mills. He is still hale and hearty and does the most of the work on both his farms. He has always been an in- telligent and industrions farmer and has prospered in his business.

Mr. and Mrs. Carson have had eleven chil- dren, five sons and six daughters, one dying young. Two of their sons were in the late war. U. W. volunteered at the first call of troops in 1861, going out with the Nine- teenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and serving about two years, when he contracted camp diarrhea and was discharged. Regaining his former good health, he returned to the army and was chosen Captain of the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Ohio National Guards. David was also out in the same regiment.

Dr. Carson, the tenth-born of the family, received his elementary education in the pub- lic schools, and later became a pupil in Mt. Union College. When he had finished the course of one of the departments of this institution he joined the ranks of the great army of educators, and taught in the public

and select schools for a number of years. Having determined to enter the medical pro- fession he began to study in this line in 1879, under the direction of Dr. Callahan of Alli- ance, Ohio, a prominent physician of that place; later he was under the preceptorship of Professor Webster, of Deerfield, Ohio. Iu 1883 he was graduated at the Cincinnati

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

Eclectic Medical College, and in a class of seventy-three stood second in grades, having an average per cent. of ninety-seven and three-fourths. He afterward took a special course of lectures on the eye and ear at the Pulte Medical College, Cincinnati.

Returning to Berlin the Doctor engaged in practice, and for ten years has been stead- ily rising in the profession. A thorough student, he has always kept abreast of the times, and is well posted upon all the im- provements in methods and in the latest dis- coveries in the science. He is a member of the Ohio State Medical Society, and is de- servingly popular, enjoying an extensive prac- tice. Ontside his profession he belongs to the Knights of Pythias, being Past Chancel- lor of Lodge No. 235, and has been Chancel- lor of the same for the past three years.

Dr. Carson was nnited in marriage, in 1886, to Ola M. Hawkins, a daughter of L. E. Hawkins, of Berlin township. Mrs. Carson was a student at Mt. Union College, where she received a superior education. The Doc- tor and his estimable wife have one child, a son named Lothair Jay. They occupy a handsome residence, which Dr. Carson erected in 1887, at a cost of $2,500.

W ILLIAM B. ELLIS .-- In all great cities of the country there has been a notable improvement in the quality, no less marked than the increase, in the num- ber of buildings, and this is specially true of Youngstown. The city, therefore, presents special advantages for the operation of ex- pert architects, and in Youngstown the pro- fession is ably represented by men of practi- cal knowledge and artistic skill whose efli- ciency is attested by work of the highest

merit in all the essentials of design, and in execution in accordance with the advanced principles of modern architecture. Prominent among these is William Ellis, who was born in Fermanagh, Ireland, a son of William and Ann Ellis, both natives of Ireland. The father of our subject was an architect and builder in his native land, executing contracts for many important and handsome public buildings, residences of the nobility, churches, mills, etc. A member of the Established Church, in which he was Church Warden, he died at the age of seventy years, honored and esteemed by all. His wife died in 1892, aged ninety years, having long been con- nected with the same church as was her hus- band. The Ellis family is of English ex- traction, the founders of the race in Ireland, having come to this country from England during the reign of George II.

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Ellis numbered eleven, four sons and seven daugh- ters, of whom our subject was the fifth in order of birth. After completing a high school course in his native land, our subject entered the office of a Mr. Armstrong, a prominent architect of London and perfected himself in his profession, of which he liad . learned the practical details, combined with carpentering and building, under his father. Resolving to seek wider fields of operation, Mr. Ellis, with two brothers and two sisters, came to America in 1860, locating in Pitts- burg, but later he removed to Youngstown (1861), and thence to Middlesex the follow- ing year. At this time, fired with patriotic zeal, he volunteered in a Pennsylvania regi- ment and served his three months' term of enlistment, doing guard and garrison duty. Notwithstanding the fact that he was sub- jected to many hardships, Mr. Ellis passed through his term of service without any

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serions inconvenience, and after his honor- able discharge he returned to Middlesex, where he remained until 1864, at which time he proceeded to Youngstown and purchased in partnership with his brother a planing-mill, which was operated for two years under the firm name of Ellis, Holois & Company. He then sold his interest to his associate. After making an extended tour of Scotland, Eng- land and Ireland, remaining abroad for one year, he returned to Youngstown, where he has since remained, most successfully en- gaged in the practice of his profession.

Mr. Ellis was married in 1873 to Miss Frances Johnston, a native of Youngstown and a daughter of Moses and Lydia Johnston. For many years Mr. Johnston was a prom- inent merchant of this city, both he and his wife being still alive, each aged about seventy- five years. Mrs. Ellis is one of a family of six children, of whom four daughters still snrvive, the two sons being deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis are the parents of four bright and interesting children: William J., now at- tending Rayen high school, a member of the class of 1895; Robert; Bruce; and Edith. The family are attendants of St. John's Epis- copal Church of Youngstown, in which they are earnest and energetic workers. Social by nature, Mr. Ellis is a live and active member of the Masonic order, having connected him- self with this body in Ireland. Being thor- oughly conversant with all the issues of the day, Mr. Ellis gives his influence and vote to the candidates of the Republican ticket, and is steadfast in his adherence to the prin- ciples of that party. Being an architect of the highest order of ability, as the structures he has designed attest, Mr. Ellis has fur- nished plans and specifications for many of the leading buildings of the city, his work giving at all times the most entire and uni-

form satisfaction. Combining artistic de- signing with practical ideas in sanitation and other features of utility demanded by modern progress in the art, Mr. Ellis has gained widespread prominence in his profession and is recognized as one of its leading and representative exponents in the entire State. Pleasant and genial in manner, Mr. Ellis is as popular in his social relation as he is prominent in business circles, and the suc- cess which has attended his efforts has been most justly and deservedly obtained by his years of persevering labor.

AMES DAVIDSON, deceased, was a son of James Davidson, Sr., who was born at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and sub- sequently moved to Lawrence county, same State, and lived there until his death. He was a farmer by occupation, and was very prosperous. In politics he supported the Republican party: he was a ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church, and a man uni- versally respected. He married Mary Adams, a native of Ireland, who came to this country and settled in Pennsylvania. They reared a family of eleven children, as follows: Will- iam, deceased, married and had a family of nine children,-Sa'n, Jane, Mary, Eliza, Ellen, James, Nancy, Flora and William; Mary, de- ceased, was the wife of James McCord, de- ceased, and they had eight children,- Will- iam, Margaret (deceased), Ellen, Rachel, John, Blaine, Elizabeth (deceased) and Emily, of whom Margaret, deceased, was the wife of William Woods, now dead, and the mother of seven children,-James, Eliza, William, Nancy, Amanda, John and Ella; Matthew married Rachel McCord, deceased, and they had four children, -James, John,

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

Jennie and Alice; Isabella, deceased, was the wife of Robert Woods, deceased, and they had seven children, -Eliza, Mary, Will- iam, Davidson, Nancy, Emma and Robert; John B., deceased, whose first wife was Catherine Butler, now dead, and second wife was Sarah Frame; James is the subject of this sketch; Nancy, widow of John Nor- wood, is the mother of four children,-Dan- iel, Jennie, Thomas and John; Elizabeth, de- ceased, was the wife of Wilson Justice, now deceased, and bore him four children,-Mary, Jennie, James and Daniel; Daniel married Julia Heasley; Jane resides with her brother Daniel.

James Davidson was born in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, June 7, 1820, and there resided until a youth of fifteen years. Enter- ing the employ of Robert Fullerton, he was engaged in farming for some time, and then was apprenticed to learn the shoemaker's trade; he followed this vocation in Poland, Ohio, removing thence to Lowellville, where he opened a shop and worked at his trade until 1870. He purchased a farm of 112 acres, one mile east of Lowellville, and re- moving to it resided there five years; at the end of that time he went to Lowellville, where his widow now resides. When he began the struggle of life for himself, in 1835, he in- vested the capital with which Nature had supplied him,-energy, thrift and determina- tion; with these reliable qualities he estab- lished himself in the world, and at the time of his death his estate was assessed at $40,000.

Mr. Davidson was married in 1857, to Lo- vinah Nessle, a native of New York, and the daughter of Isaiah and Margaret (Altenburgh) Nessle, also natives of the Empire State; she was on a visit to Ohio, and there met and married her husband. Four children were

born to them: Margaret, wife of Alonzo Lowry, is the mother of one child, Harriet; Thomas, deceased, married Margaret Kreusch, and to them were born two children, Lena and Sallie; Mary, wife of John G. Erskine, lias one child, Davidson; Daniel, the young- est, is the subject of a separate sketch appear- ing on another page of this volume. James Davidson died November 12, 1891, lamented by the community of which he was a valued citizen. In politics he affiliated with the Re- publican party. He was a ruling Elder of the Presbyterian Church, to which he had inade generous contributions for many years.

OHN STAMBAUGH .- The life record of him whose name appears above has been one of more than usual interest, and his career was of such benefit and wielded such a wide influence in the city of his na- tivity, also in the surrounding country, that his biography will convey some idea of his usefulness in different ways in the various walks of life. His great. integrity and up- rightness of character won for him the honor of his contemporaries, and his clear, analyti- cal and well trained mind in business affairs and his quick perception brought him into a very pleasant and valuable recognition. His activity and keen business foresight led him into many important enterprises which have been of permanent benefit to the community, and his generous impulses won him many friends, whom he rarely lost. His manly character and true worth inspired confidence and a faithful performance of duty secured its continuance. He was modest in his esti- mate of himself, never forced himself on public attention, was diligent in business,

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OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO.

amassed a large fortune and gave freely to all benevolent enterprises. In social life he was highly esteemed for his cordial and agreeable manner, and in the domestic circle he was a model husband and father, loved his family with extreme devotion and made their happi- ness and comfort his chief aim and object in life.

Mr. Stambaugh was born at Briar Hill, March 8, 1827, a son of John and Sarah (Bower) Stambaugh, of whom an extended notice is given elsewhere in this book. Our subject attended a business college in Cin- cinnati, Ohio, where he obtained a very thorough education in practical business methods. After returning home he engaged in the coal business operated by Mr. Tod: he attended to the outside business. His heirs are still connected with this same coal and iron interest, which is among one of the lead- business enterprises of the city. Through- ont his entire business career, Mr. Stambaugh maintained the same high standard of action set up by him at the outset, by means of which he gained the confidence of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances and was regarded as one of the leading and represent- ative exponents of the coal and iron interest of Youngstown.

Mr. Stambaugh was married September 12, 1854, to Miss Caroline Hamilton, daughter of William and Mary (Hull) Hamilton, the former of whom was a native of New Jersey, of English extraction. He was a farmer by occupation and participated in the war of 1812. In the early portion of this century he came to Ohio, marrying his wife in Berlin township, Mahoning connty, his death occur- ring in 1846, after a protracted illness. His wife's parents were of German extraction, who emigrated from their native land and settled in Mahoning county upon a farul.

His wife died in 1832, at the age of forty years, after bearing her husband nine chil- dren, of whom Mrs. Stam bangh was the young- est and the only one now living, the others being: Eli, who married Mary Myers, and died in 1892: his wife now resides in Youngstown and his children are Julia, wife of William Thornton, who resides at Crab Creek; Lydia, who died at the age of twenty- four, in 1861; Sarah, who married William Ward, and died at the age of thirty-five years, leaving a family of four children. The second child in the family of which Mrs. Stanbaugh is a member was Emanuel, who married Catherine Deeds of Youngstown, who is now living, aged eighty-four years, her four sons being: Homer Hamilton, B. Frank, Wilson S. and Chancey; Lydia, wife of James Fowler, who died in 1892, aged seventy-eight years, leaving four chil- dren: Orinda, deceased; Caroline; Ralph; and Sarah, wife of Wick Graus, a druggist of Youngstown; Sarah, wife of John Fowler, who reared a large family, all of whom is now deceased, she surviving them at the age of seventy years; William, who married Lanra Shuman when twenty-eight years of age, is . now deceased, as is also his wife; Andrew died unmarried at the age of forty-six years; Horace died in infancy; Jesse married Lanra Fredmore, but died at the age of sixty-two years, leaving three sons, Charles, William and Frank: his wife still survives him, be- ing a highly respected resident of Youngs- town; and Mrs. John Stambangh, who is the youngest. Mrs. Stambangh is a lady of a high degree of culture and refinement who has enjoyed the advantages accruing from ex- tensive travel, having accompanied her hus- band to Europe twice. She is a most worthy and highly respected lady, and has sustained most nobly the character of a devoted wife of

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one of Youngstown's most highly esteemed and valued citizens. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Stam baugh are: Grace G., who attended school in Paris while her parents visited Spain. She has also traveled through- ont Italy, England, France, Scotland and Germany, and she is a most highly cultivated and charming young lady. The second child, Henry Hamilton, is one of the owners of the Briar Hill Furnace and makes his home with his mother. He attended Cornell University but left in his senior year, owing to ill health. John married Cora Bunts of Cleveland, by whom he had two children, Carolina and John. A graduate of Cornell University he enjoyed the additional advantage of a year's study in Europe, and is now a member of the firm of William Tod & Co., attending to the business of the house upon the road. George, the youngest child, is connected with the firm of Stambangh Brothers, stock farmers, and also makes his home with his mother.

Mr. Stambangh made five different trips to Europe, the first one being in 1876, the succeeding ones being taken for his health; and during two of these he was accompanied by his entire family, they visiting the leading points of interest throughout Europe. Dur- ing the winter of 1887 and 1888 the family were located in France, and they also spent three seasons, those of 1885, 1886 and 1887, at the Camesbad Springs, in Bohemia, the object being the betterment of Mr. Stam- baugh's health. Social by nature Mr. Stam- bangh connected himself with the Masonic order, and was as popular in this association as he was prominent in business circles. In politics Mr. Stambangh was a pronounced Republican. advocating all measures calcu- lated to advance the interests of that organi- zation. Mr. Stambaugh went to New York city upon a business enterprise, and while

there died, March 5, 1888, aged sixty-one years. So universal was the expression of grief at his demise that a few extracts are here made from the articles published rela- tive to him and his life in the leading papers of the day.

One of the Youngstown's dailies published March 8, 1888, said: "Mr. Stambangh was one of Youngstown's most enterprising and successful business men and one of the most public-spirited citizens. In business he was shrewd, exact and just; he was generous to a fault and took pleasure in assisting his friends wherever they were in need of help. He was liberal in his support of deserving public enterprises and charities. Among his inany generons donations were the giving of a lot upon which to erect the city hospital, and his liberal support of that institution during and after its erection. He was of a retiring disposition and studiously avoided public mention. He was a man of unsullied honor and rigid integrity, and his whole busi- ness and private life was blameless. Mr. Stambangh was born in an old log cabin on the old Stambangh property at Briar Hill. His father, John Stambaugh, was a substan- tial farmer and reputable man. Young Stam- baugh's boyhood days were spent mostly on his father's farm. As a young man, he en- tered the office of Tod & Ford, operating a coal mine at Briar Hill as bookkeeper. Shortly afterward he associated himself with Richard Woolley, who died in 1874, in the mining business, and with him mined coal by the ton at Briar Hill and later at Weathers- field. The business prospered and Mr. Stam- bangh embarked in the dry-goods trade here with P. W. Keller, who afterward removed to Sharon, Pennsylvania, and died there. In 1888 or 1889, our subject, with Governor Tod, built and began operating the Tod blast

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furnace at Briar Hill. From this on his business enterprises extended and prospered until the time of his death, when he was a very wealthy man. He was interested in a great many enterprises both in Youngstown and elsewhere. When his healthi began to fail him several years before his demise, he began curtailing his business interests, but his interests were still nearly as large as ever at the time of his death. He had been abroad several times for the benefit of his health, on each occasion remaining some length of time. He returned from his last trip to Europe in the summer of 1887, greatly benefited in health. A delegation of the citizens of Youngstown, consisting of J. G. Butler, Jr., H. O. Bonnell, Henry Tod, Paul Jones, D. B. Stambangh, John Ford, Nelson Crandall, William Tod, Paul Wick and others, went to meet the train at Leavitsburg. A special train at Leavitsburg was made up and con- veyed the remains with the sorrowing rela- tives and friends to the city. Upon opening the casket the remains were found in excel- lent condition and the deceased had the ap- pearance of having fallen into a gentle sleep. He died at the Gilsey House, New York city, March 5, 1888. At the time of his death his daughter Grace and Mr. George Tod were with him. Mrs. Stambaugli and Tod Ford left Youngstown on Sunday but did not reach New York until Monday even- ing a few hours after he had passed away. His sickness ouly dated from the Thursday previous to his demise. When a physician was called his disease, pneumonia, the result of a severe cold, would not yield to treatment, and he was unconscious most of the time un- til death ended the struggle. When Mr. Stambaugh died every honest worthy citizen lost a friend and not one an enemy. As a man of business, his enterprise, his shrewd-

ness, his sterling integrity made his counsel, his favor and his help to be eagerly sought for, while his broad public spirit led him to share in every public enterprise that would benefit the community, and his name and his capital are found in many of our manufactur- ing interests. And yet in all the details of his vast business his reputation for calm judgment, impartial justice, and sterling honesty have remained absolutely unques- tioned. He was incapable of anything that had in it the least shadow of meanness. Would that all public men would live so as to deserve such a testimony. The solicitor for his gifts to the amelioration of suffering, or for the benefit of the poor never appealed to him in vain, and his gifts were not meager, but measured always by the need. The city hospital stands as a monument to his liberal- ity, and as a tribute to his memory it should never be allowed to beg its way. Very many are the families among the poor which are ready to speak of his goodness and kindness, so freely and so quietly given, and almost every church building in the city has his name among thie donors. There is one class especially who earnestly desire a place in the tribute to the memory of the subject of this sketch: 'tis the old soldiers of 1861 -- '65. Dur- ing the war Mr. Stambaugh and Mr. Richard Woolley were in business in Briar Hill, Ohio. All around them were little homes in which were wives and children left by brave men who had gone to the front to battle for their country. These hunble homes were the care of these liberal gentlemen, and they never allowed the coal honse to go empty, or the larder to be impoverished, or the children to be in want of clothing. A trustee also in the Rayen school. He now sleeps his last sleep in the Oak Hill cemetery, and the ever murmuring waters of the Mahoning chat

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their perpetual requiem to an indulgent father, a true and affectionate husband, a kind neighbor, and a most worthy citizen in that many-peopled city of the lamented dead."

JOHN VAN FLEET .- John Van Fleet, now deceased, enjoyed the distinction of being one of the pioneers of Youngs- town, having come to this city March 6, 1826, a little more than sixty-seven years ago, and was identified with the growth and progress of the city from that date until the time of his death, being numbered among its most prominent and prosperous citizens. Mr. Van Fleet was born in Mercer, now Lawrence, county, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1807, a son of Richard and Sarah Van Feet, natives of the same State. Six sons and six daugh- ters were born to this family, all of whom grew to mature years, although our subject outlived his other brothers by several years, four of his sisters still surviving, namely: Sarah, widow of Jonathan Rigs, who resides near Hubbard; Hannah, widow of J. Hutch- inson, who also resides near Hubbard; Re- becca, wife of Henry Kyle, of Pulaski, Penn- sylvania; and Eliza, wife of Adam Sheriff, residing near New Bedford, Pennsylvania.

Our subject was reared upon the farm and came to Youngstown, as before stated, in 1826, when he apprenticed himself to Wilson S. Thorn, a tanner, purposing to learn that trade. After serving out his time he pur- chased his employer's interests and operated the business until 1870, it being located at the present site of Orr's undertaking estab- lishment, Gibson's livery stable and the rear of the opera house. Later, he was engaged in handling leather and findings on Federal (West) street until 1878. The sturdy hon-

esty with which Mr. Van Fleet was imbued was carried into his business relations, and this trait of character secured him a large and lucrative trade. His reputation for honorable dealings was so great as to attract purchasers from Pittsburg, Cleveland and other cities, and in all his relations with his fellow men he maintained the same high standard of action. His successful business life may be solely attributed to his ability, industry and honesty of purpose, combined with his strict integrity and excellent business sagacity. Beginning at the bottom he worked his way upward to fame and fortune by his indomitable energy, his pleasant and easy manners, his strict integrity and un- questioned reliability. By the quotation of uniformly moderate prices and the pursuance of honorable and upright methods, he was enabled to build up a trade which increased year by year and accumulated a competency upon which he retired when still of an age to be able to enjoy it.

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Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Trumbull and Mahoning, Part 83

Author: Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1893 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 786

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 786