Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens, Part 131

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1150

USA > Ohio > Summit County > Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens > Part 131

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GEORGE T. WHITMORE. treasurer and general manager of the Granite Clav Com- pany. of Akron, has been a resident of Moga- dore since 1902, and is an experienced man in his line of business. He was born at East Liverpool. Ohio, January 1. 1858. and is a son of Richard and Emma ( Robinson) Whit- more.

The parents of Mr. Whitmore were natives of Staffordshire. England. The father came

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to America and settled in Wisconsin, in 1847, to May Peckham, who is a daughter of removing from there to East Liverpool, where Thomas and Agnes Peckham, and was reared and educated at Akron, where she graduated from the High School in the class of 1880. They have four children, three daughters and one son, namely: Agnes Emma, Marion P., Elizabeth and George T., Jr. he lived until 1857, when he located at Ak- ron, where he died in February, 1898, aged seventy-nine years. He was a potter by trade. The mother accompanied her parents when they crossed the Atlantic Ocean and settled at East Liverpool, where she was married. The following children were born to Richard Whitmore and wife: Elizabeth, William H., Maria H., George T., John A., James B., Emma H. and Earl. The mother of these children died in July, 1870, aged thirty-seven years.

George T. Whitmore was reared at Akron and graduated from the High School of that city in 1876, later entered Buchtel College, where he remained for two years, leaving in 1880 to accept the position of shipping clerk. with Whitmore, Robinson & Company. He continued to fill that position for one year and then entered into partnership with Cook & Fairbanks, which firm was later known as Cook, Fairbanks & Company, manufacturers of stoneware, remaining in that connection until 1889. After severing his business re- lations with the above company. Mr. Whit- more was one of the organizers of the Summit Sewer Pipe Company and remained with that concern for eleven years. In 1899 he went to the City of Mexico, as general man- ager of the Mexico Clay Manufacturing Com- pany, and remained in that capacity one year and then returned to Akron.

Mr. Whitmore is a man of too much busi- ness activity to remain quiescent for any length of time, and shortly after his return from the South, he organized the Granite Clay Company, with which he has been iden- tified ever since. The plant is located at Mogadore and the capacity is 2.000 car loads annually. Employment is given to ninety men. The business was incorporated in 1900. with C. H. Palmer, president; T. A. Palmer, vice-president; G. T. Whitmore, treasurer and general manager: and W. N. Palmer, sec- retary. The business is capitalized at $250,- 000.

Mr. Whitmore was married April 22. 1885,

Fraternally, Mr. Whitmore belongs to the Odd Fellows and the Maccabees, being iden- tified with the former order at Akron and the latter at Mogadore. In politics he is a Repub- lican and he was elected to the city council, of Akron, in which he served one year as president. During and 1888 he served as treasurer of

1887 the Republican Central Committee. He has been active in county politics since he was twenty-one years of age. Mr. Whitmore's father was one of the pioneers in the clay in- dustry in Summit County and it has formed a leading feature of the son's successful bu-i- ness career. Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore reside in a beautiful residence which he erected after coming to Mogadore to make this place his permanent home. Ile is a man of pleas- ing personality, frank, friendly and sincere. and possesses the business capacity, good judg- ment and foresight to make successful both social and business aspiration. He is identified with the various charities and with the civic organizations which promote the general wel- fare.

EDWARD A. MOCHIESNEY, who is a representative of one of the old and promi- nent families of Summit County, was born on the farm in Springfield Township. on which he still resides, March 30, 1848, and is a son of William and Louisa (Gressard) McChesney.

William McChesney was born in Westmore- land County. Pennsylvania, in 1817, and was seven years of age when he accompanied his parents to this part of Ohio. They were John and Martha (Laramore) McChesney, the former of whom had come in boyhood to America, settling with his parents in Penn- sylvania, where other Trish emigrants had formed a colony. There were five children

AUGUST BLESSMAN

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born to John McChesney and wife, namely : John Leslie, Andrew, Mary, Margaret and William.

The parents of Edward A. McChesney were married in Coventry Township, Summit County, where the mother was born in 1825. She was a daughter of Peter Frederick Gres- sard, who served as a soldier under Napoleon Bonaparte. He came to America and settled in Summit County, where his last years were spent. His children were : Catherine, Louisa, Eugenia and Rosalie, twins; Freder- ick and Charles. One daughter, Rosalie, who is Mrs. Bruot, survives and resides on Fir Street, Akron. To William and Louisa Me- Chesney were born the following children : Edward A .; William H., residing in Spring. field Township, married Lucy Thompson ; Flora A., residing at Akron, is the wife of G. L. Sypher; Herman G., residing at Akron, married Lucy Wright: and Frederick W .. residing in Springfield Township, married Nettie Yerrick. The father died in 1905. aged eighty-nine years, and the mother in 1900, aged seventy-five years.

Edward A. McChesney was reared on the present farm and was educated in the district schools. He carries on mixed farming and dairying on his forty-seven acres of exeellent land. which is mainly looked after by his son. For the past thirty years Mr. McChes- ney has been engaged in building and con- tracting, working all over Summit County.

Mr. McChesney was married in 1873 to Sarah Wise, who is a daughter of Samuel and Catherine (Raliber) Wise, and they have had three children: Gertrude, who is deceased : May, who married Charles Roeger, have one son, Milford Glenn: and Dwight, who man- ages the home farm. Politically, the Mc- Chesneys are identified with the Republican party.

AUGUST BLESSMAN, treasurer of the Klages Coal and Ice Company. of Akron, has been a resident of this city for a period of twenty-five years. He was born in Germany. in 1857. and was reared and educated there. In 1882 he came to America, shortly after-

ward locating at Akron. Here he embarked in a coal business, for the first five years work- ing for Mr. Klages, and then, in partnership with Mr. McCuc, bought the business. In 1887 the firm name was changed to II. Klages & Co., and when it was incorporated in 1890, it became the Klages Coal and Ice Company, with a capital stock of $50,000. At that time it was dealing largely in ice, having bought out two other companies. In 1895 the Klages Company built an ice plant for the manufac- ture of artificial ice, it having a capacity of fifteen tons daily, and it completely changed the conditions of the ice business in this city. Since then it has been found necessary to en- large the plant and the output is now seventy- five tons daily, employment being given to forty men. The present officers are: P. E. Werner, president; A. Blessman, treasurer; L. Klages, secretary, and H. W. Haupt, super- intendent.

In 1887, Mr. Blessman was married to Lillie Fisher of Akron, and they have three children-Matilda, M. Freda, and Walter B. Mr. Blessman is a Mason, belonging to the Blue Lodge, Council, Chapter, and Command- cry at Akron : also to the Odd Fellows' organ- ization in this city. He is numbered with the successful business men of Akron and is a valued representative citizen.

CHANCY SALISBURY, a highly

re- -peeted resident of Bath Township, Summit County, Ohio, who was born on the farm on which he lives, where he has seventy-eight acres of valuable land, is one of the older agri- culturists of this section. His birth took place March 10. 1830, and he is a son of William and Sylvia ( AAtrill) Salisbury.

Both parents of Mr. Salisbury were born in New York state. William Salisbury came to Bath Township in 1827. where he re- mained a year assisting settlers to clear their land and begin its cultivation. He found the country so desirable that he decided to establish here a home of his own and made the long journey back to his native place in order to marry. The young couple bravely started in a belated .April snow storm, but the

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snow melted before they had covered the dis- tance and they completed their journey to the new home in a wagon. William Salis- bury built a modest log house on his land, having bought seventy-five acres of the pres- ent farm, and then began its clearing and subsequent improvement. At a later date he bought forty-five acres on the opposite side of the road. He and wife lived on this farm during the remainder of their lives, dying honored and esteemed in their community. William Salisbury's death took place April 8, 1868; his wife died February 24, 1867. They had seven children, the three survivors now being: John, residing in Wisconsin, aged seventy-nine years; Chancy, who has reached his seventy-seventh year; and William, re- siding in California, who is aged seventy-one years. Those deceased are: Olive, who was the wife of Joseph Manly; Peter, Mary and Russell.

Chancy Salisbury has devoted his life more or less to pursuits pertaining to the farm which he assisted in the strength of youth to clear. His opportunities for attending school were meager, but having spent much time in travel, he is, in some important respects, one of the best-informed men in his neighbor- hood. He has made ten trips to Wisconsin, three to Iowa, three to Michigan and two to New York, and once, in the space of six weeks, he visited thirteen states.

Mr. Salisbury married Maria Hopkins. Having no children of their own, they opened their hearts to two little girls, Jennie and Nancy Lambight, who grew up under their protection and have married well. Jennie married William Wolf and they have seven children-Sherman, Ida, Howard, Alba, Car- rie, Earl and Maud. Nancy married Adam Wolf, and they live at Hammond's Corners, while Mr. and Mrs. William Wolf reside with Mr. Salisbury. Mrs. Salisbury died in June, 1891. She was an estimable woman and good Christian. In politics, Mr. Salisbury is a Republican and on that ticket he was elected township trustee. He is a member of the Disciples Church, of which for several years he was treasurer.

CHARLES W. JAQUITH, who owns a fine farm of seventy-three acres, of well improved land in Coventry Township, was born in a log cabin in Medina County, Ohio, and is a son of William Henry and Margaret J. (Hunt) Jaquith, and a grandson of Josiah Jaquith.

Josiah Jaquith, Sr., great-grandfather of Charles W., came to Ohio from Vermont in 1829, and settled on a 100-acre tract in the northern part of Wadsworth Township, Me- dina County, building a little log hut on the east side of the "Big Spring." Later, in 1831, Josiah Jaquith, Jr., the grandfather of Charles W., and his family, followed here and located on the same farm, making the trip in true pioneer style, with ox teams. it taking six weeks. The newcomers erected a larger log cabin of white wood, hewn on one side, the floor being of oak puncheons. For a number of years the Jaquiths made potash here, which was hauled through the woods to Pittsburg. The land was cleared and a number of orchards set out, probably the first in the county, and Josiah Jr., received the west half of the prop- erty. This land, which had been purchased from a Mr. O'Brien for $3.00 per acre is now some of the most valuable property in Medina County. Here Josiah Jr., died July 30, 1842.

William Henry Jaquith, father of Charles W., was born at Saint Albans, Vermont, July 6, 1827, and made the trip with the family to Ohio, growing up in the woods of Medina County, where he experienced all the hard- ships of pioneer days. In his younger days Mr. Jaquith did little farming, having learned the shoemaking and coopering trades, and also teaching school for a short time. In the spring of 1865 he went to Johnson's Cor- ners, Summit County, Ohio, and took charge of a grist mill for a Mr. Shaw, where he re- mained six years, and from 1871 to 1879 he conducted the New Portage House, at New Portage. He also kept an apiary at New Portage, and sold honey, hives, bees, etc., but in 1883 gave up this business, and purchased the present farm of Charles W. Jaquith, where both he and his wife died.

On March 24. 1850, Mr. Jaquith was mar-

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ried to Margaret J. Hunt, who was a daughter of John Hunt, who came from Union County, Pennsylvania, and purchased the old Jaquith home place. Mr. Jaquith died January 2, 1887, and his wife May 21, 1907. They were the parents of five children, namely: Mary E., who married J. H. Miller ; Charles Wesley; Ella, deceased, who married N. Van Hyning; Henrietta, who died young; and William J., deceased.

Charles W. Jaquith spent his boyhood days in Medina County, and attended the district schools of his native locality. When about ten years of age he left Medina County with the family, and went to Summit County, later however returning to Wadsworth to attend the Mennonite College, learning to read and write in German. When a young man he helped his father in the mill at Johnson's Corners. and later taught singing in New Portage and the vicinity, being choir leader for many years. On account of poor health, Mr. Jaquith went to Michigan, locating for a while on a fruit farm in the west- ern part of the State, and spending his winters in a lumber camp. In

1883 he returned to Summit County, Ohio, being heater engineer for two years with the Straw Board Company. at New Portage. In the spring of 1885 he came to his present property, of which he became the owner soon after. He has been engaged in general farm- ing since that time.

On May 16, 1883, Mr. Jaquith was mar- ried to Fannie Cady, who was born on a farm in Boone County, Illinois, and is a daughter of F. R. and Nancy (Schlellenger) Cady. F. R. Cady, who is still well preserved in spite of his eighty-two years, is serving as a county coroner in Michigan, where he has been a jus- tice of the peace for many years. He re- sides at South Haven, where his wife's death occurred. "They were the parents of five chil- dren. namely: Ida and Flora. deceased : Fannie. the wife of Mr. Jaquith; Jennie. and Allen, who belongs to the live-saving crew. Mrs. Jaquithi taught school near South Haven for three years. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Jaquith,

namely: William E., . machinist of Barber- ton, and a member of the Odd Fellows; and Bessie F. Mr. Jaquith is a Republican in politics, and has been a member of the School Board since 1896. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of New Portage.

JACOB A. SNYDER, residing at his beautiful home at No. 197 High Street, Bar- berton, is a worthy representative of one of the old and honorable pioneer families of Summit County, which has been established here since 1818. Jacob Augustus Snyder was born in Coventry Township, Summit County, Ohio, May 16, 1845, in the old log house in which the family lived until he was fourteen years old. His parents were George M. and Mary Ann ( Rex) Snyder.

George M. Snyder was born in Pennsyl- vania, in 1814, and was four years old when the family came to Ohio. His parents were Joseph and Mary (Bachman) Snyder, who left Pennsylvania with their loaded wagons and ox-teams and made their slow way across the mountains and through the uncleared forests until they reached Summit County. They settled in Green Township, erecting a primitive log cabin, in which they lived dur- ing the remainder of their lives which reached into old age. They had numerous children, some of whom succumbed to the hardships and privations of pioneer life, but twelve reached maturity, as follows: Peter Joshua: George M .: Elizabeth, who married (first) a Mr. Hoobler and (second) Samuel Messer; Sophia, who married (first) George Tritt and (second) a Mr. Babb; Jacob ; Daniel; Paul, residing in Starke County, In- diana; Joel; Abraham, residing in Green Township, Summit County; Jonathan; and Nathaniel, residing in Green Township. The survivors of the above family are Paul, Abra- ham and Nathaniel. The children took after their parents. being large of frame and of robust constitution.

George M. Snyder was reared on the pioneer farm and assisted in its clearing. His educational chances were few, school houses were far apart and in so large a family

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there was always work ready for every hand. He learned the mason's trade and worked at it during the season, helped to farm and in the winter, assisted to work the old loom, weaving cloth. His marriage did not make much difference in his employments, merely transferring them to another place, for those were days when everything was hand-made and there was little leisure for any one. Oc- casionally he would take his gun and go out for game, which was then very plentiful, and would shoot deer, turkeys and bear, and on one occasion a wild hog. His son still pre- serves a dangerous-looking tooth, which was one of its defensive weapons. After his chil- dren had grown up he settled down to farm- ing. purchasing 125 acres of the land on which the village of Snydertown now stands, and he owned property also at Barberton. He was a man who was well known all through this section. He died at the age of seventy-eight years.

George M. Snyder was married (first) to Catherine Harter, who was a daughter of Jacob Harter, one of the pioneers in the neighborhood of Barberton. 3 Mrs. Snyder died and left three children : Henry, and George and Catherine, both of whom are de- ceased. Mr. Snyder was married (second) to Mary Ann Rex. who was a daughter of Jacob Rex. She died in 1871, aged forty- three years, the mother of fourteen children. They were as follows: Eliza Jane, who died After his marriage, Mr. Snyder settled on his present farm, which he purchased from Henry Swiggert, and has devoted considerable attention to growing berries and trucking. He has been largely interested for many years in contraeting. The stone for the building of in infancy; Jacob: Sadie, who married Harry Deisem; Daniel W .; Mary, who married Dr. Anderson ; Lewis: Thomas J .; Lucy, who died in infancy; William; Inez, who married L. Horner; Evelyna, who married H. Pontius ; Emma, who married William Stott; and two . the strawboard works came from his farm. younger children who died in infancy.

Jacob AAugustus Snyder was fourteen years old when his parents moved to the farm on which they spent many years, and he at- tended the district schools, making his home with his parents until he was twenty-five years of age. In the meantime, from the age of twenty-one, he taught school for about four years, at New Portage and Mount Hope, and for one year in Lee County, Illinois. He

also operated a grocery store at Akron, in partnership with Henry Deisem, on the corner of High and Church Streets, for about one year. Mr. Snyder was able to see many business possibilities and took advantage of a number of them. In association with K. How, he operated an old horse-power thresh- ing machine for some four years, doing a good business. Then he worked for one sum- mer in the Baughman stone quarry, after which he learned to be a telegrapher, although he never put this knowledge to any practical end.

Mr. Snyder then concluded to visit his unele who lived in Illinois, and worked on his farm for a time. Ile later accepted a school and taught in Lee County, where he made many friends. In the following spring he took a course in Bryant & Strat- ton's Commercial College and then became bookkeeper for the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- road, which was extending its line be- tween Defiance, Ohio, and Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Snyder worked for two years in Indiana for this corporation, and after the great Chi- cago fire, which, for a time, interrupted busi- ness with that city, he went out as foreman of the Railroad Construction Company to Kentucky. After a time he returned to Sun- mit County and for a short time was as- sociated with Morris Young in a butchering business.

He has probably built more cellars than any man in Summit County, furnishing the stone from his own quarries. He built the Bar- berton & Western Railroad road bed and also one mile of track from the sewer pipe com- pany's plant to the clay pit. He has done a large amount of grading and has filled many contracts for William A. Johnston. Ile also carried on a successful florist business.

In 1878, Mr. Snyder was married (first)

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RESIDENCE OF HON. GUSTAVUS SEIBERLING, NORTON TOWNSHIP

HON. GUSTAVUS SEIBERLING

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to Catherine Blinn, who died in 1891. She was a daughter of Christopher Blinn. In 1892, Mr. Snyder was married (second) to Mrs. Minerva (Freeman) Young, who was the Widow of A. J. Young, and a daughter of Asa and Catherine (Wolfred) Freeman. She had three children, namely: Lubert, who died aged seventeen years; Grace, who married (first) Dell Acres, and (second) Ben- jamin Eby, and has two children, Hazel and Farrell; and Clarence, who married Nona Fink. He purchased Mr. Snyder's green- houses and continues in the florist business.

When Mr. Snyder retired from active life, he purchased a place at Barberton, on which there stood a residence. This he has con- pletely remodeled and made into a modern home. The surroundings are tasteful, par- ticularly the arrangement and choice of shrubs, which Mr. Snyder set out himself.

Politically, Mr. Snyder is a Democrat and has frequently held township offices. He is secretary and a stockholder in the Lakewood Cemetery Association, of which he was one of the organizers. Prior to its disbanding, he was a member and master workman in the order of American Mechanics. Both he and his wife, as well as their son Clarence, are members of the beneficiary order of Path- finders. They belong to the Methodist Epis- copal Church, in which Mr. Snyder has served as a trustee for a long period: Few men of this section are better or more favorably known.

HON. GUSTAVUS SEIBERLING, who lias been mayor of Western Star for the past fourteen years and a county commissioner of Summit County since 1905. was born June 19, 1854, on the farm in Norton Township. on which he still resides.

The father of Mr. Seiberling was born in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in 1811, and came to Summit County and settled in Norton Township when the entire country was an uncleared wilderness. TIe bought eighty acres of land which he cleared, and on which he built a sawmill, where later was built the first Excelsior reaper. He lived a long and active

life, and was identified with the development of Norton Township in a larger degree than almost any other citizen. He married Katlı- erine Peters, who was also a native of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. and they reared a family of thirteen children, eight sons and five daughters. Of this family six sons and one daughter survive, namely: James Henry, residing at Jonesboro, Indiana, where he owns a large rubber manufacturing plant; Monroe, a large plate glass manufacturer, residing in a suburb of Chicago; Charles, residing at Mitchellville, Iowa, a retired farmer, formerly a soldier in the Civil War: Columbus, a re- tired fariner residing at Wadsworth; Milton A., a farmer residing in Norton Township; Sarah, wife of Jacob M. Harter, residing at Wadsworth, and Gustavus, who is the young- ost of the family.

Mr. Seiberling was reared on the home farm and was mainly educated at Western Star Academy. For many years he carried on extensive farming and stockraising, and has also taken a prominent part in the public affairs of Summit County. He was one of the organizers and a charter member of the Norton Mutual Fire Association, of which he has been secretary for twenty years, and for fourteen years he has served as mayor of the town of Western Star. He was elected com- missioner in the fall of 1905, but prior to that had served in many offices, for twenty years being a member of the School Board of Western Star village school, for ten years school clerk: and in 1900 he was elected real estate assessor. Politically, he is a Re- publican and has been an important leader in the ranks of that party for many years.

In 1875. Mr. Seiberling was married to Julia Kulp, who is a daughter of John M. Kulp. of Norton Township. and they have five children, namely: Wilson F., residing on a farm adjoining that of his father : Claud, operating the home farm: Sarah Katherine. who is the wife of Dr. William Wise, V. S., residing at Barberton : and Panline and Ray- mond G., who reside at home with their par- ents. Mr. Seiberling is a member if the Lutheran Church at Wadsworth, in which he

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has been choir leader for fifteen years. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity.

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Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens, Part 131

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1150