History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, Part 88

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

USA > Ohio > Lake County > History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio > Part 88
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio > Part 88

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

He is, moreover, a man of unyielding integrity and honor. To a high standard of conduct he holds himself and every one accountable. Exemplifying the cardi- nal virtues of veracity, honesty, and industry in his own life, he cannot with patience regard the lack of it in the conduct of others. His large fortune is the direct and natural result of unceasing diligence and truthfulness combined with a sound judgment.

Mr. Rice removed to Painesville in the spring of 1871, and purchased his present elegant residence.

R. M. MURRAY,

banker, was born in Concord, Lake County, November 28, 1841. His parents, Robert Murray, second, and Sophronia, lived there until he was five years of age, and then moved to Mentor. R. M. Murray attended the common country

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William Rice

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HISTORY OF GEAUGA AND LAKE COUNTIES, OHIO.

schools until he was fifteen years of age, and then went to the Western Reserve Teachers' Seminary, at Kirtland, and the Willoughby Academy. He afterwards attended Oberlin College for some time, but having a strong desire for legal studies entered the Cleveland Law College, then under the management of Judge Hayden. He graduated from this institution, and was admitted to practice in the United States and Ohio courts, and entered the law-office of Ranney, Backus & Noble, where he remained until the call was issued for the one hundred days' men to enter the service of the Union. He went out as a member of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiment, and was with that regiment in the vicinity of Washington until the close of the war. Mr. Murray became connected with the First National Bank, of Painesville, as collector and book-keeper in 1867, and in 1871 was made cashier, the position which he now holds. He is a man of ex- tensive reading, well informed on public affairs, and has always, since taking up his residence in Painesville, been one of the foremost men in furthering the in- terests of the community, and has most of the time had more or less to do with the management of municipal and township affairs, besides being interested in various projects, public and private. He was chosen a member of the school board in 1874, and served in that capacity for three years. He is the present mayor of the city, having been elected April 1, 1878.

JEROME PALMER.

Judge Palmer was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, January 14, 1816. He is the seventh in a family of nine children of John and Sarah (Kilbourne) Palmer, deceased. In his young boyhood he manifested an indifference for study, prefer- ring the sports of hunting, fishing, and swimming, in which he indulged to the neglect of attendance at school. In all athletic games he excelled. His father was a foreman of a slitting and rolling-mill, and, although industrious and frugal, was kept in limited circumstances through life by reason of the assumption of cer- tain debts of his father, which he discharged to the utmost farthing. In consequence of this he was unable to give his children tangible aid. Jerome remained at home until about the age of fifteen, when he came to Painesville with his oldest brother, Edwin Palmer, who had previously established himself here as a carpenter and joiner. On his arrival here-in the fall of 1831-he commenced work with his brother Edwin, of whom he learned his trade, and with whom he made his home. He now began to feel a strong desire for the acquirement of an education, and evinced a determination to gratify it. During the summer he would work at his trade, and in the winter go to school, his first attendance being at a select school, there being no common schools here at that time. The second winter he attended the academy at Burton, and on the establishment of the Painesville Academy the following winter, became a pupil of that institution, where he completed his edu- cation four years subsequently. He then determined to adopt the law as his pro- fession, and accordingly entered upon a course of reading in the office of Hitch- cock & Wilder. By teaching winters and doing other work in the line of his trade, he earned the means necessary for the prosecution of his legal studies. In due time he was admitted to the bar, after an examination the most rigid by a committee of the following able attorneys : Joshua R. Giddings, Edward Wade, Seabury Ford, David Tod, Wm. L. Perkins, Benjamin Bissell, Thomas D. Webb, of Warren, and others. Notwithstanding his careful and thorough preparation, he never entered upon the regular practice of his chosen profession. He has always taken great interest in the political movements of the day, with some of which he has been prominently identified, and few men are more conversant with past and current political events than he. He early imbibed the political senti- ments of Henry Clay, of whom he was a great admirer, especially indorsing the " great commoner's" views as to a single presidential term. He was formerly a Whig, with a strong anti-slavery bias, and was one of the originators of the Free- Soil party, being an active attendant upon the convention at Buffalo, which gave birth to that organization. Upon the formation of the Republican party the judge became an enthusiastic member of it, and so remains to-day. True, he, as did many other firmest of Republicans, voted for Greeley, but in doing so he con- sidered he was voting for the very Nestor of Republicanism ; besides, as a matter of conscience, he could not support Grant, holding, as he does, to the one-term principle.

In 1840 he made the canvass for General Harrison.

In 1851, Mr. Palmer became the Free-Soil candidate for the office of probate judge of this county and was elected. He was the first incumbent of the office under the new State constitution. He served one term, discharging its duties acceptably, but owing to " ways (political) that are dark," he failed of a re-elec- tion. While judge of probate he was appointed by the city council mayor of the city, and at the subsequent election became his own successor.

He was one of the first directors of the union school of Painesville, to which

the interests of the academy had been transferred. He was also a member of the board of education at the time of the erection of the present commodious high school building, of which he made the plan (with the assistance of Professor T. W. Harvey, as to the interior), together with the estimated cost of construction. The building, furniture, heating, etc., cost some twelve thousand five hundred dollars, and the board was for a time severely criticised for alleged extravagance in erecting a building beyond the requirements of the city. But we believe there are none to-day who question the wisdom of their action. It is a matter, at least, which the members of the board take pride in referring to, as they have reason. At the time of its erection, for convenience of arrangement and plan of ventilation, the building was not surpassed by any other of the kind in the State.

The names of the members of the school board under whose auspices the house was erected, are as follows: David D. Aiken, Dr. H. C. Beardsley, Seth Marshall, William Clayton, C. L. Hoyt, and the subject of this sketch. Aiken, Beardsley, and Palmer were the building committee.

In 1864 the judge entered the service of the government in connection with the quartermaster's department in the Army of the Cumberland, under General Thomas, and was placed in charge of the army repair-shops at Chattanooga. He became incapacitated for service by reason of sickness, and was subsequently honorably discharged on the recommendation of the army surgeon, Curtis Bel- lows.

In June of 1840 he was united in marriage with Eunice H., daughter of Milo and Nancy A. Harris, originally from the East, now of Painesville. The fruits of this marriage are the following-named children : Sarah A., Cassius C., and Thomas F. The daughter is unmarried and resides with her father,-the mother having died April 20, 1865; Thomas is also a resident of Painesville, and Cassius C. of California.

Mr. Palmer's present business is that of undertaking and embalming in the city of Painesville, where he and his father-in-law before him have carried on that busi- ness for more than half a century.

Mr. Palmer can say with truth what very few men, who have seen threescore years, can say,-that he was never intoxicated, never played a game of cards, never was sued at law, and never, for his own default, was non-suited, never but once took a chew of tobacco, and then when about eight years old, which satisfied his desire in that direction forever afterwards, and never since he came to Ohio has he smoked a cigar or pipe of tobacco.

E. W. CLARKE,

editor of the Painesville Advertiser, was born in Buffalo, New York, November 25, 1845. When about fourteen years of age he began a course of study at Oberlin, which was subsequently completed at Yale, graduating in the class of 1867, " with honors" at the age of twenty-one. In the intervening years he was in the service a short time as a volunteer in the the Eighth Battery, Ohio Na- tional Guard. In 1867 he purchased the Lorain County News, at Oberlin, and after publishing it two years was editor of the Bellevue Gazette eight months, and in 1870 purchased the Painesville Advertiser, which he has since published with the exception of one year. Energy and perseverance are among his leading

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HISTORY OF GEAUGA AND LAKE COUNTIES, OHIO.

characteristics, and under his management the Advertiser is destined to hold a high position. His attention has been principally directed to completing the equip- ment of his office during his residence in Painesville, and it has been well said of him, " he was born to the business if a man ever was." Mr. Clarke was married, September 7, 1870, to Miss Nellie Greene, of West Lebanon, Indiana, a grad- uate of the literary course, Oberlin College, and is blessed with one son, Elbert J. Clarke, born November 6, 1871.

ARTHUR E. FENTON

is the oldest in a family of four children of Aaron and Lydia Fenton, and was born in Bristol, Trumbull county, Ohio, August 21, 1843. At the age of eighteen ' he enlisted in the war of the Rebellion, in which he served as a private in the Sixth Ohio Cavalry, which was attached to the Army of the Potomac for a period of three years and five months. August 18, 1868, he was united in marriage to Justina C. Chaffee, daughter of Henry F. and Sallie E. Chaffee, of Bristol, Trum- bull county. They are now deceased. Mrs. Fenton was born August 21, 1844. The result of this marriage is a daughter, E. Lavergne, a beautiful child of four

CORYDON HARRINGTON.

The subject of our sketch is the son of Deacon William Harrington, and the grandson of Dr. John Harrington. He was born in Greene, Trumbull county, Ohio, April 24, 1826. His education was obtained at the common school of his native township, with a short course of some six weeks at a high school at Gus- tavus, in an adjoining township. At the age of niucteen he taught a winter school, and continued to teach for four subsequent winters, working on his father's farm through the summer season. During the period of his school-teaching he purchased a farm in the southern part of Colebrook township, Ashtabula county, now owned by J. D. Anderson, and April 19, 1852, was united in marriage with Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Captain Thomas and Lois Swain. She was born in Barnston, Canada East, October 15, 1827, and with her parents removed to Conneaut, Ashtabula county, when some six or eight years of age. After his marriage, Mr. Harrington resided with his father until after the haying season, when he moved to his own farm in Colebrook. He lived there until the spring of 1864, and then sold and purchased a farm a short distance south of the centre of that township, on which he erected, in 1870, a fine frame house.

Mr. Harrington has always been prominently identified with every enterprise whose object was the advancement of the interests of the community in which he resided. He has held various township offices, among which was that of member of the board of education in Colebrook, for a period of twelve years, inclusive of one year as clerk of the board. During his long term of office in this capacity

years, the date of whose birth is October 24, 1874. A sister of Mrs. Fenton- Mrs. C. Harrington-resides in Painesville; and another-Mrs. Everett Finney -is a resident of Nebraska: A brother, Almanza H., was a member of the Second Ohio Cuvalry, whose field of service was on the western plains. He con- tracted a severe cold in the summer of 1862, which compelled him to return to his home in Bristol, where his illness terminated in quick consumption shortly afterwards. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, Sr., reside in Bristol, Trumbull county, on the farm on which the father was born, June 26, 1812. The mother was born in Liberty, in the same county, March 12, 1823. The following are the names of the other members of their family : Collins W., Adelaine M. (now Mrs. James Hicks), and Miss Delia K. The subject of our sketch derived his education at the common schools in Bristol. Since his marriage his occupation has been that of a farmer. He owns the farm near Painesville known as the David Gray farm, on which his sister, Mrs. James Hicks, resides.

He removed to Painesville in October of 1877, and recently commenced the erection of a residence on Mentor avenue, which, for artistic design and conve- nience of arrangement, is not surpassed by any other in the city. The design and construction are the work of F. Abrams, and it certainly reflects great credit upon him as an architect and builder. A view of this fine residence may be seen on another page.

MRS. CORYDON HARRINGTON.

he was most efficient in promoting educational interests in his township. He was at one time a stockholder in the cheese-factory at the centre of Colebrook, and in 1872 or 1873 was its president, which position he held until the termina- tion of its existence as a corporation, something over a year afterwards.

His first wife died of pneumonia January 17, 1873, after an illness of four days. To Mr. and Mrs. Harrington the following-named children were born : Helen E., May 24, 1854, married Ellis E. Anderson, September 30, 1876, and resides in Colebrook, Ashtabula county ; William Thomas, August 10, 1856, now a resident of Rock Creek, in the same county, where he is engaged in the dry goods trade ; John Corydon, an unusually precocious child, born June 20, 1850, and died October 2, 1865; and also a son still-born, September 5, 1858.

June 16, 1874, Mr. Harrington was again married to Alcinda E., daughter of Henry F. and Sallie E. Chaffee, of Bristol, Trumbull county. She was born June 12, 1839. Mrs. Harrington possesses a fine musical education, having graduated at Dana's Musical Institute at Warren, Ohio, in 1872. She has two sisters living, viz., Mrs. Everett Finney, in Nebraska, and Mrs. Arthur E. Fen- ton, in Painesville. A brother, Almanza H., entered the service of the govern- ment in August of 1861, enlisting in Company D, Second Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. His health becoming impaired, he returned home (in Bristol, Trumbull county), June 17, 1862, and died the 27th of the same month of quick consumption.

Mr. Harrington removed to Painesville in February, 1878, his wife having, the fall previous, purchased the fine residence they now occupy. He still retains his farm in Colebrook, his son-in-law, Ellis E. Anderson, occupying it.

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RESIDENCE or C. HARRINGTON, MENTOR AVE. & NEWELL ST PAINESVILLE, O.

LITH. BY L. H. EVENTS, PHILA, PA

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LE ROY TOWNSHIP.

THE township of Le Roy is geographically known as town ten, range seven, located in the second tier of townships in Lake County. It was drawn in the sixteenth draft of land made by the Connecticut Land Company, in 1798, by Benjamin Bates, Moses Kingsley, Amasa Clapp, Samuel and James Hamilton, Benjamin Parsons, Nathaniel Edwards, Elias Williams, and Ebenezer Parsons. It was surveyed into lots under their direction soon after, making eighty lots in all, to which was added tract one, township eleven, range seven, lots one to twenty inclusive, save lots eighteen and nineteen, which, by a bend in Grand river, now the northern boundary line, were located in Perry township. These lots are of irregular size.

SURFACE, WATER-COURSES, ETC.

The surface is rough and bluffy along the streams, and slightly rolling in the southeast and northern portions, while the central and southern parts are quite level. It is well watered by the Grand river and its tributaries. Paine's creek crosses the township from the extreme southeast to the northwest corner. There are two branches, one entering the township on lot four and flowing north to lot thirty-one, the other flowing northeasterly to lot thirty-one, where they unite. From thence the stream takes a northerly direction to lot seventy ; then west and northwest into Grand river, on lot nineteen. In this manner it traverses the town- ship, enriching and beautifying it. The east branch of West or Big creek enters Le Roy on lot seven, and flows north to lot eight, running thence west into Concord. The soil of the higher lands is almost entirely of clay, while the lower portions, as in the central part of the township, is a black muck, while in the immediate neighborhood of the streams there is sand intermixed. The varieties of timber native to the soil are red- and white-oak, whitewood, beech, maple, hickory, ash, and chestnut. The timber of Le Roy has largely given way before the " woodman's axe," and fine farms and fertile plains are now to be seen where "once the prime- val forest reigned." The productions are similar to those of other parts of the county. The dairy receives by far the largest share of the farmers' attention.

THE CLIMATE

is salubrious and healthful, though subject to sudden and marked changes of temperature, the thermometer ranging from 90° above to 10° below zero, Fahr- enheit. Snow falls to a good depth in winter, but is generally gone early in the spring. The township is not subject to malarial diseases, and ranks well with other townships in the county in point of health.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

In 1802 Colonel Amasa Clapp, of Massachusetts, sent his sons, Paul and Elah, and a man named Jonathan B. Russell, to " open up" their new purchase. They built their cabin on lot six, cleared six acres, and sowed it to wheat, after which Elah returned to Massachusetts, Russell settled in Mentor township, on the farm where O. S. Hodge now resides. He was for many years the clerk of that town- ship, which office he held with ability and integrity. At a later date he moved into Lorain county and there died. Elah Clapp returned in 1803, and settled on lot seven. Spencer Phelps also came from Massachusetts the same year, and pur- chased lot eight, and erected a cabin and cleared what is now the fine farm of Enos Tew, Jr. The same season the first crop of wheat was harvested on the farm of Paul Clapp, yielding from fifteen to twenty bushels per acre. In 1805 Paul Clapp moved his family from Massachusetts to their new home in the wilds of Ohio. His children were five in number, viz., Patty, Bulia, Leafa, Lyman, and Orphia. In 1805, John and David French and Charles Keneep came from Massachusetts and located land. In 1806, Christopher Keneep settled in the town- ship. Benjamin and Caleb Bates, from Chesterfield, Massachusetts, took up and settled in 1809, on lots eight and nine respectively. The former died March 29, 1849, at the home of his son, Ezra Bates, and is buried in Le Roy cemetery. He married Olive Warner, and to them were born twelve children, of whom only two survive, Ezra and Rumina (now Mrs. Egbert C. Valentine), who resides in Le Roy. They are aged respectively seventy-six and sixty-five. In 1810, Asa Gurney selected part of lot nine as his local habitation. In 1811, Spencer Phelps sold his land to Esquire Brakeman and moved to "Johnny-Cake Ridge," in Painesville township, on the farm now occupied by William Murril, and soon after joined the army. In 1815, he settled in Kirtland, near Little Mountain, and

there died. The same year (1811) Elah Clapp died, leaving two sons, Amasa and Ogden, who is now dead. Amasa is now living on the old homestead.

Colonel Hendrick E. Paine settled in Le Roy in 1818, coming from Painesville, where he had settled in 1803. He located on lot five, in the " added tract." He selected this point on account of its water-power, and put up a mill, which is now standing, and owned by D. D. Williams. Colonel Paine's family consisted of Henry Paine, born in 1810, was killed by accident in 1868; Elizabeth E. Paine, born in 1812, now living in Illinois; Eleazar Paine, born 1814, was commis- sioned a brigadier-general during the war of the Rebellion, practiced law a num- ber of years, and now lives in Omaha, Nebraska ; Barton F. Paine, born 1818, a farmer, now living in Illinois ; Ellsworth E. Paine, the youngest child, is now located, as special police, at Union Pacific depot, Omaha, Nebraska.

John Boyd returned to Le Roy from Concord in 1828, where he had settled a few years previous, coming from the Isle of Man. He located on lot sixty-six. He had eight children,-six boys and two girls. J. F. Boyd, born 1830, now resides at the old homestead, and is a thrifty, practical farmer. Luther M. Par- sons came from Massachusetts in 1817, and settled on lots fifty-nine and sixty. He owned two or three hundred acres of land. In 1817 he built a log house, and in 1828 a large frame house, now standing on lot fifty-nine. Mr. Parsons had the honor of being the first justice of the peace elected in the township. He re- moved in 1838 to Cleveland; thence in a few years to Wisconsin, where he now resides. Francis Baker, of Massachusetts, settled in the township in the year 1818. He came overland with an ox-team, and was six weeks in completing the journey. His eldest son, George, was born in 1819, and now resides in Concord, on the old Huntoon place. S. B. Baker, born 1821, now resides in Le Roy, on lot twenty-three. T. F. Baker, born 1827, now lives in Minnesota.

Dexter Baker, born in 1832, died soon after in Le Roy. Leverett Baker, born in 1835, is now living in California. Sarah Bertha and S. F. Baker were younger children, but are not now residents of the township. The only living relative in the township of the original settler is S. B. Baker, who has been honored with the office of justice of the peace, and is the present incumbent.

William Wright came into Concord from Columbiana county in 1810, making, however, but a temporary stay. He removed to Le Roy in 1819, where he settled, and died there at the ripe age of seventy-four. His son, James, now resides with his daughter, on what is now called the South Centre road. An incident is told by the latter regarding the last two days of his father's journey in coming into Con- cord. The roads had become so bad that they were compelled to abandon the wagon, and Mr. Wright, Sr., adopted the expedient of placing a child in one end of a bed-tick and another in the other end, with an opening made sufficient for the purpose of respiration, and then placed the tick, with the children in it, across the horse's back, with another child astride the horse, the father leading the horse; and one of his daughters rode the other horse, with a child in her arms, while his wife and son James followed on foot.

Deacon Josiah Hungerford was a native of East Haddam, Connecticut, and settled in this township in 1825, on the farm now occupied by his son, John B. Hungerford. He died September 19, 1841, and his wife March 5, 1832. Of his twelve children five are living, as follows: Sarah, widow of Roland Mosely, in Hambden ; Aaron, in Painesville; Levi and Abner, in Illinois, and John B., in Le Roy, on the old homestead.

Jonathan Weed, from Lanesboro', Berkshire county, Massachusetts, settled on the farm now occupied by his son, D. D. Weed. He died in June, 1875. Of his three children, Charles S. and D. D. Weed ame residents of this township, and Betsey, now Mrs. M. W. Carter, resides in Tennessee.

The first death was that of Patty Clapp, daughter of Paul Clapp, who died in 1806, aged eleven years. She was buried on lot six.

The first birth was a daughter of Spencer Phelps, born in 1806, and the second a son of Elah Clapp, born in 1808.

The first marriage was that of Elah Clapp to Rebecca French, daughter of Abithea and Maria French, which occurred in the spring of 1807 at the residence of the bride's parents. It was a merry time for all, and although there may have been lacking the delicacies and highly-seasoned viands that grace the brides' table of to-day, yet the festal board groaned under its load of substantials. Spencer Phelps and Mary Keneep were married the December following.

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History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, Part 88

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

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