History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, Part 71

Author: Williams Brothers
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 443

USA > Ohio > Lake County > History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio > Part 71
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio > Part 71

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Dec. 22, 1805, he married Minerva Merrick, a woman of very superior intellect, strong will, firmness and resolution, who was born at Munson, Massachusetts, Feb. 3, 1785. The Merricks were of Welsh descent, and Minerva was the younger daughter of a large family of girls. Her father was a wealthy man, and in point of worldly advantage, her marriage with Thomas Riddle was looked upon as an undesirable one. She brought her husband a modest dowry of eight or nine hundred dollars and a fund of energy, industry, and skill, in the management of her domestic affairs, that proved her an invaluable helpmate during his life- time, and which, combined with her rare judgment, courage, and self-reliance, made her equal to the task and trials which, at his early death, fell to her share. She was a woman of great dignity of manner, capable of much sweetness, and habitually kind and charitable. The higher elements of character, intellect, and soul, were largely hers, and few women in her time and small circle were her equals. In person, she was of medium height, slender, with fine, dark eyes, raven hair, and features too strongly marked for beauty.

Thomas Riddle decided to migrate to Ohio, visited Newbury, purchased land, and between the 1st and middle of September, 1817, the Riddles set out on their wearisome journey. The Munns and Greens started about that time or a little later. The Riddle team consisted of a pair of spry young oxen, and a span of good horses on the lead. Aside from the seven persons, father, mother, and five little boys, the load was a heavy one, and all of the portable household articles of their small store that could be safely carried were taken out to the new home. Under the watchful care of the father, the mother and her little ones reached the end of their toilsome journey safely some time in December, having been forty- one days upon the road.

That winter was an unusually severe one. There was no home awaiting the travelers, only dense woods, frozen ground and snow, with at rare intervals a faint wreath of blue smoke marking a rude habitation ; while a space, half clearing, half underbrush, near by, showed where the humble architect had found his materials. Mr. Riddle found temporary shelter for his family under the roof of Mr. Punderson, and then began collecting his supplies for the winter. His friend and old neighbor, Lovel Green, had arrived two weeks previous, and his log cabin was ready for the roof by the time Mr. Riddle was at leisure to lend a hand. He had his father's knack with tools, of which he had brought a number, and they soon had a roof and rough floor to the little hut, and a great mass of stone and mortar at one end answered the purpose of a chimney. A blanket

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was hung up before the opening for the door, and the Riddles took possession of these quarters, until a house of their own could be raised and made fit for habitation. The furniture was made more leisurely, and was probably unique to say the least. That winter Mr. Riddle bought a cow, and spent most of his time in cutting the tops of the basswood and maple-trees for his oxen and cow to browse upon. Early in March came sugar-making, and then attention was turned to the new house, which the family moved into early in 1818, though it was not finished until later. Two or three seasons of comparative prosperity rewarded the settlers, and other pioneers came to swell the neighborhood. In the winter the elder Riddle boys went to school upon the State road, and their father, with his marked social qualities and public spirit, came to be one of the leading men in the little community. He was an out and out Jeffersonian Dem- ocrat,-later a Whig of the John Quincy Adams type, and was particularly active in religious discussions, earnestly advocating the doctrine of universal salvation. One incident of this eurly day may serve to recall him as he appeared in young manhood. The story is related by a well-known lady of Burton, Ohio, who was in her girlhood at the time of its occurrence. The occasion was the burial of a much-esteemed woman, the funeral being attended by nearly the whole population of the then little town of Burton, where she had lived. The time was near the evening of a summer day ; the sun's rays slanting in, touching and hallowing the newly-made grave at the margin of a great wood. The funeral train paused, and

at the lowering of the coffin, when all were mute, a sweet and powerful tenor voice, raised in one of the old-world burial hymns, broke the stillness. Alone the rich notes arose and fell. Men and women stood rapt, and tears fell from every eye. The voice was that of a stranger, who, passing along the highway, entered with the mourners, and stood apart under the trees. He was a handsome, slender man, with a cast of face and bearing indicative of good blood and breed- ing, and to those who approached him he gave his name as Thomas Riddle, and said that with his family he had recently settled in an adjoining town.

In September, 1823, Mr. Riddle went to aid a sick neighbor in harvesting a crop of wheat in the then malarious region of Punderson's Pond. The poison entered his system, he was maltreated by a quack, and after a brief illness died, leaving his wife ill with a child four months old, the youngest of nine, to care for, and the eldest son helpless from the prevailing sickness. This trial, together with the desperation of her situation, poorly housed as she was, scantily provided for, with winter approaching, and she six hundred miles from immediate friends, called into play Mrs. Riddle's most admirable qualities. She arose from her sick-bed, borrowed a horse, upon which she placed the saddle,-a gift of her father,-and with the silks, furs, and personal ornaments of her bridal days, rode away to barter them for food. She developed great tact for business affairs. A part of the land was sold and places were found for some of the older boys, chopping and clearing went forward upon the place, and flax and wool were spun, woven, and made up by her own hands. The religious element was strong within her. She, too, was a fine vocalist, and her eldest surviving children still remember of waking, often at the latest hours of the night, and hearing her singing the old songs so dear to her as she plied her needle upon their garments. In the fifth or sixth year of her widowhood she married a gentleman from a distant town and took the younger children to his home. But four or five weeks discovered his unfitness as a bus- band and father by reason of his intemperance, and she took her children and returned to her old home. The husband and wife never met again. One of the younger sons took possession of the farm, and comparative prosperity returned to her household. She was perfect mistress of her boys and was well qualified to. rear them. Naturally brave and self-contained, she always trusted them, and though a devoted mother, she never worried at their absence. In her circle no woman ever contributed more to the care of the sick and distressed in all forms. Naturally high-spirited, of hopeful, joyous temperament, she was equal to a life of toil and struggle, and was a well-spring of strength, courage, and hopefulness. When her youngest son was married, her home and life were in a measure broken, and she never again attained the steady serenity of the preceding years. She retained her activity, her clearness and strength of intellect to the last, and after a slight illness, with the old smile of hopefulness upon her face, she died in the arms of her daughter, at the age of eighty-one, January 11, 1866.

Thomas and Minerva Riddle had nine children ; of these the eldest, Almon Riddle, was born at Monson, Massachusetts, April 3, 1806, married Caroline Marsh, July, 1837, and now lives near Wabash, Indiana.

Jose Merrick, the second son, was also born at Monson, Massachusetts, July 26, 1808, married Caroline Hayden, February 23, 1836, died at Thatford, Michigan, August, 1855. These two were both men above the average, having the good looks of their race and much of the strength and force of the mother.

Thomas Elmer, third son, was born at Monson, August, 1810, and died in 1813.

William Henry Harrison, fourth son, born at Monson, April 13, 1812, died

at Painesville, June 6, 1836. He had just finished his studies in the law office of Giddings & Wade and formed a partnership with Reuben Hitchcock, when he died suddenly from over-study. He was thought to be a young man of great promise, and in personal appearance resembled his mother.

John Adams, the fifth son, born at Monson, April 23, 1814, married Lois Odle, October, 1837. At her death he contracted a second marriage, with Theresa Ganson, whom he survives. He inherited the mechanical skill of his father, with something of his personal appearance.

Albert Gallatin, sixth son, born at Monson, May 28, 1816,-of whom is given a sketch elsewhere.

Minerva, only daughter, born at Newbury, Ohio, April 16, 1818; married to Varnum Clark, January, 1839, and now residing in Indiana. She is a woman with much of the intellectual force of her mother, with something of her father's fine imagination and temperament. She was a very precocious girl, and read Gibbon and other extended works before she was ten.

Roswell, seventh son, born at Newbury, December 4, 1820; married to Romelia Smith, with whom he lived many years. At her death he married Mrs. Alvira Way, and they continued to occupy the Riddle homestead, on the site of the original block-house in the woods. He has the family mental structure, is a man of quiet retiring disposition, a farmer by occupation, and enjoys the confidence of the community.

George W., eighth son, born at Newbury, April 26, 1823; died in Indiana, March, 1843. Handsome, gifted, and gay-spirited. He, too, was ambitious, and, like his brother Harrison, he early fell a victim to his too great ardor in study.

Of the third generation only one resides in Geauga,-Elmer Riddle, of Char- don, eldest son of J. M. Riddle, whom he resembles in person and manner. He is a man of fine ability, with the characteristics of his father's race, and a touch of his mother's, who were people of strength and force of character. All of the other young men of proper age served in the war. One lost his life, another was severely wounded. M. R. K.

THE MUNNS.

Marsena Munn, the head of the Newbury Munns, was born in Monson, Hamp- den county, Massachusetts, March 30, 1771, of a well-to-do farmer's family. He was married to Delinda Anderson, of the same place, January 28, 1795. Of these were born two sons and five daughters. One son died in infancy. Of these the eldest, Thomas Anderson, was born June 25, 1796. The family continued to live in Massachusetts until 1818. In the autumn of the year preceding Thomas A., usually called Anderson, when a nickname was omitted, in company with Asa Robinson, a middle-aged man, went to Ohio on foot, with packs on their backs, to make improvements and prepare for the removal of the family to lands already purchased of John Wilds, in the west part of Newbury.

On their arrival they proceeded to build a house, near the present Munn home- stead, where resides the grandson of Marsena and son of Thomas A., Gaius Munn, Esq., and clear land.

The ensuing June the family removed. The goods mainly on a stout four ox- wagon, and the family and residue of the goods in two lighter wagons, one drawn by two and the other by one horse. Mr. Gaius Munn says they were attended by Loren Parsons, Artemus Robinson, and Reuben K. Munn, a near relative. Mrs. Evans, the eldest of the daughters, who came with the family, says that Cutler Tyler, then a young man, also accompanied them. The first purchase made was eleven hundred acres, in the exchange for eastern lands. Mr. Munn had also become the owner of lands in Brimfield, Portage county. These he traded for additional lands in Newbury, and became one of the largest land-owners in the township. In the trade he obligated himself to build a saw- and grist-mill on the Silver Creek, then a large and beautiful woodland stream. The saw-mill was built early, but there was no power for the flouring-mill. This so wrought upon the mind of Mr. Munn, strong, robust, enterprising man that he was, that he became insane, was fearful of starving, and devoured various kinds of insects. Finally, in 1820, he blew his brains out, the first of a ghastly list of suicides of Newbury.

THOMAS ANDERSON MUNN

received a thorough academical education at the old Monson Academy. Was twenty-four at the sad ending of his father; was a young man of superior under- standing, of great simplicity and directness of manners and address, and at once took the affairs of the family and its large property in charge, and managed them with skill and success. In 1823 he married Hannah Fisher, built a house on the home farm, and continued to look after the affairs of the mother and sisters. He was early elected to the more important of the township offices, and

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W. W. Munn

LITH. BY L. H. EVENTS, PHILA PA

RESIDENCE or MRS. F.M. MUNN, NEWBURY TE, GEAUGA CO, OHIO.

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filled those of justice of the peace, clerk, and trustee, some one or more con- stantly. Later in life he was elected once or twice to the important post of county commissioner, the duties of which he performed usefully to the county. He died at Newbury, August 25, 1853, at the age of fifty-seven.

He was a man of unusual judgment and sagacity, of sterling worth and integ- rity, widely known, and of large influence. His wife died November 2, 1876.

The widow of Marsena lived to an advanced age. Of the daughters, Laura became the wife of Jeremiah Evans (see sketch of Mr. Evans). Harriet became the wife of Dr. Justin Scott, then a leading physician, became the mother of two daughters, and died many years ago. Belinda became the wife of Detroit Burnett, had several children, and died several years since. Mary Ann remained unmar- ried. After the death of her younger sister she took charge of her children, and when Laura was married became a member of her family, and died in Char- don in 1877. Emeline, the youngest, became the wife of Clark Robinson. (See sketch of the Robinsons.)

Of the six children of Thomas A. Munn but two survive, the son Gaius and daughter Maria. Gaius is a man of intelligence and cultivation, and enjoys much of the esteem and confidence bestowed on his father.

The homestead of the elder Mrs. Munn, during the girlhood of the daughters, who were intelligent and cultivated young ladies, was a place of unusual attrac- tion. That was at the time when the Utleys, Haydens, Uphams, and some of the Robinsons, and the elder of the Riddle young men, all lived in Newbury. The Munns were greatly esteemed and much sought, and the west part had a society of people, old and young, such as few townships could then or now produce.

CAPTAIN WILLIAM WALLACE MUNN.

This gentleman was the especial idol of the younger Newbury, and his early and heroic death on the stricken field of Mission Ridge has invested his memory with a touching tenderness that, after the lapse of these many years, has lost little of its freshness and strength. He was the eldest son of Reuben King and Eliza Ann Munn, born at Litchfield, New York, April 10, 1829.

The family moved to Ohio, and settled in Newbury in 1833. Here the father died in 1868. The brother is still living.

William Wallace (usually called by his second name, Wallace) was educated in the Newbury common schools, and at the Chagrin Falls Academy.

November 6, 1855, he was joined in marriage with Fanny M., daughter of Solomon and Lucy M. Parks, of Newbury, an attractive young lady. They became the parents of one child, L. Eugene, born July 26, 1857, residing with the mother.

The parents of Mr. Munn were very intelligent people and most exemplary members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and reared him with great care. He united with the church at fourteen, and remained strictly in his connection with it. He was also connected with the Odd-Fellows and Sons of Temperance.

He grew up on the farm, in the free, healthful life and air of the country ; was a young man of pleasing person, fine manners, intelligent and cultivated.

Though so early connected with the church, he was a man of great spirit and force of character. In politics a warm Republican. By nature an ardent patriot, he early enlisted in the war; was a member of Company G,-of which he became the captain,-in the Forty-first Infantry, commanded by General Hazen. Apt in learning his duties, conscientious, fearless, and brave, he had the love and entire confidence of his soldiers, whom, in return, he respected and loved, and who yielded him ready obedience. He stood well with his commander and brother officers, and fell at the head of his command, at Mission Ridge, that 22d of De- cember, 1863, from a gun-shot wound in the head. Of this he died in a few hours, mourned by his command, deplored by his regiment and all who knew him. The blow to his parents was also a blow to Newbury, of which to some extent he was the pride and hope. His remains were returned to his friends, and interred under the auspices of the orders of which he was a member. True heart, pure life, noble soul, he left his memory to all to whom he was dear, and his example to his young countrymen alike in his true life and heroic death.

WILLIAM MUNN.

A word should be said of this gentleman. He was a brother of R. K. Munn, and they were relations of the Marsena Munn family. He was born in Massa- chusetts, December 12, 1807, came to Newbury in 1831, and purchased the land originally taken up by Welcome Bullock, to which he added largely on the east, and resides now a mile south of the centre, and west of the old Riddle home- stead. Is also the owner of the Joe Wilbor farm, on the old State road. Is a man of high character, and widely esteemed. From 1832 to 1864 he was kept constantly in some of the important township offices, including constable, town- ship clerk, assessor, and justice of the peace, until, at the approach of age, he claimed exemption.

William and Ruth Munn were the parents of three children. Ellen, the eldest, resides with her father, a woman of much intelligence. Walter Day and William Ray, born November 28, 1851. Walter died at seventeen. William Ray, well reared, and bred on the farm, was married to Georgia Downing, in May, 1874, and lives on the old farm. They have one son, Clyde, born August, 1876.

THE UPHAMS.

This family, or, more properly speaking, these families, were from Canton, Massachusetts, and reached Newbury in the fall of 1818.

Amos Upham, Sr., known as Captain Upham, had been a merchant, a well-to- do man, who met with reverses, and the family pushed to Ohio. Amos, Jr., went on a year or two in advance, and made preparations. The moving party were the old couple, Captain Upham and his wife Lucy,-" Old Grandmam Up- ham," the wife and four children of Amos, Jr.,-Phineas, Elizabeth, Lucy Ann, and Amos (3d),-Peletiah Adams, and his wife Lucy, daughter of Captain Upham, and Mr. Adams' mother.

Captain Upham, a tall, grave, stately man of the old school, of infirm health, did not live many years. "Grandmam" lived well on to a century, was a woman of superior understanding, force of character, and vitality.

Amos (2d) was born at Canton, November 6, 1787, and died at Chagrin Falls, November, 1862. His wife, Margaret Tucker, born April, 1786, died at Cha- grin Falls, March, 1872. After their arrival at Newbury, William T. was born, November 20, 1820, and Edmund B., March 28, 1823. The family settled a mile and a half west of the centre of Newbury, and a few years later moved to the west part, near the west line of the township, where they cleared a good farm and built good farm-buildings, and were an important family. Later they removed to Chagrin Falls, where the two younger sons reside, well-to-do business men.

Phineas married in succession two of the daughters of John Cutler, of Newbury, and lives west with the second, Sally.

Amos (3d) married another daughter, Martha, and both are dead. Elizabeth became the wife of Hiram Webster, and lives west. Lucy A. became first Mrs. Crane, and later, Mrs. Knowles, and is also dead. The daughters were esteemed very attractive in the old time. I am not told of the wives of the two younger sons.

Amos (2d) was a famous bass-singer, having a remarkable voice, especially on the lower notes, and is mentioned elsewhere. He was a most worthy and excellent man.

The following lively sketches of the early experience of Amos and Peggy come from the younger son, and are given as pictures of the lives and incidents of that old time :

HOW AMOS FOUND HIS POCKET-BOOK.

He built his cabin, and sent to Massachusetts for his family, which, after setting out amid the tears and good-byes of the neighbors, with their doubts as to ever seeing Peggy and the children again, reached the father and his new home in the fall of 1818. Peggy's first impressions were not of a very hopeful character for herself and Amos. The home was of rude logs, and everything rude and wild, situated in the woods, remote from friends and neighbors. But being of a cheerful disposition, she soon became reconciled, and things got to running smoothly.

When the goods that had been shipped by Peggy put in an appearance at Fairport, twenty-five miles away, was raised the difficult question as to how they were to be transported to the new home in Newbury. After an animated and extensive search, a one-horse team was brought to light, and made ready for the tour to Fairport.

Amos, in possession of the little money that Peggy had left after the journey, to pay freight, set out one morning in carly winter, accompanied by the owner of the horse, to get the goods. As the country was new, there were scarcely any roads, and these so bad that Amos had to call into requisition the aid of an ox- team to help his unit of horse-flesh out. The ice over the mud-holes had fre- quently to be broken to enable the team to pass. As Amos generally performed this duty, and not being quite as agile on his feet as some, he managed to meet the ground more than half-way much and often, to the small injury of the ground. Once when he came to his perpendicular, his money failed to accompany him. When he reached Fairport he found himself minus his pocket-book, which caused him a good deal of trouble. The agent, not being of a trusting nature, didn't see it in the light Amos did, and would only let him have a few of the goods.

When Amos reached home, Peggy didn't view it in either of the lights of the agent or of her luckless husband. In fact, she saw it in a light peculiarly her own, and she gave Amos the benefit of it. And so they got through the winter

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without the goods left at Fairport. When the spring came again, the Upham family made another attempt to get their goods. With another team, and the required sum of money, Amos again set forth, with an assistant. When they reached the place where he thought he had lost the money, Amos thought of nothing else. As the snow had partly melted, he imagined that every lump of dirt was his pocket-book. Traveling two or three miles in this fashion, suddenly something in advance, with a reddish hue, dazzled the vision of Amos. He kept his eye upon it. Nearer came the wagon, and greater grew his excitement. When they got to the spot, Amos jumped out and run ahead, and lo ! there in the snow luy the pocket-book, as cool as early spring, quite ready to be picked up. It is needless to say that its readiness was quite appreciated. Fairport was reached, and the goods delivered to the happy Amos, who set out for home, feeling that now Peggy would have to reserve her fire until another time. And she did. In fact, she looked upon Amos as a very wonderful being, as no doubt he was.

PEGGY'S PUMPKIN-PIES.

The next fall was marked on the Upham plantation by a wonderful crop of pumpkins, raised by the Upham family, and the idea occurred to Peggy that pumpkin-pies would not come amiss. So one fine morning Mrs. Upham set out for a neighbor's, about a mile away, who happened to have a large oven built out- of-doors. After spending the day and very pleasantly gossiping, visiting, and making pies, she started with her wares in a basket, at dark, for home.

Her path led through the woods, of course. Not minding this, the unsuspect- ing and happy Peggy went off home, her basket full of pies and her head full of the thoughts of the delight that Amos and the children would experience when they smelt the fragrance of that basket of pies. Alas! the vanity of human ex- pectations. Peggy hadn't gone far before it grew very dark, and thinking this would cause uneasiness at home, she hurried on ; had scarcely gone a rod when she heard a wolf howl very near her. This didn't tend to quiet her. Nearer and more numerous grew the howls, and the feet of the poor, bewildered Peggy tried to keep step with her heart, but couldn't. On, on she went, when suddenly either Peggy and the pie-basket refused to travel together farther, or Peggy's pedals couldn't keep up with the rest of her body. Somehow Peggy and the ground met simultaneously, and the basket kept right on towards home, and landed some three yards farther on.

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History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, Part 71

Author: Williams Brothers Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Number of Pages: 443

Author: Williams Brothers
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 443