USA > Ohio > Huron County > History of Huron County, Ohio, Its Progress and Development, Volume II > Part 3
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AMOS K. EASTMAN.
Amos K. Eastman, who is well known in agricultural circles, owning and culti- vating eighty-eight acres of good land in Peru township, is numbered among the native sons of the county, his birth having occurred March 9, 1884, in the house in which he now resides. He is a son of Elbridge G. E. Eastman, who was born in Bronson township, Huron county, April 17, 1838. He has always remained a resident of Ohio and is now living in Richland county. He is a son of Seba A. Eastman, who came from Vermont and settled in Crawford county, Ohio. About 1835 he removed to Greenfield township, Huron county, and was identified with farming interests in this locality until his death, which occurred in Peru township in 1850. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Mary Jane Ken- dall and came from New York to Ohio with her parents, Amos and Mary J. ( Richy ) Kendall, the family settling in Peru township about 1848. Mrs. Eastman is still living at the age of sixty-three years, her birth having occurred June 9, 1846. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Elbridge Eastman were born four children, namely : Effie G., who married J. W. Billiard, of Seneca county, Ohio; Grace, who mar- ried Henry Sulser, of Marion county, Ohio, and had four children, Cleo, Kasia, Garry, and Bernice, who has passed away. Garry E., residing with his parents, who married Ida Bocse, by whom he has the following children : Wayne. Gladys, Alice and Bernice and Amos K., of this review.
Amos K. Eastman has always resided upon the farm which is now his home, his father having purchased the property from Laurence Ott. Since the son came into possession of the place he has made a number of substantial improvements thereon and his farm is regarded as one of the desirable properties of the county. He is diligent. persistent and practical in all that he undertakes and has been quite successful in cultivating the cereals best adapted to soil and climate. Throughout his entire life he has engaged in farming and his broad practical experience and undaunted energy make him a leading agriculturist of the community.
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HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
Amos K. Eastman was united in marriage to Elnora M. Smith, a daughter of Ambrose and Libby (Shild) Smith, of Peru township, the wedding being cele- brated on the 4th of June, 1908. They now have a little daughter, Elizabeth Jane Lola, born on the 6th of July, 1909. Mr. Eastman is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees, belonging to the tent at Norwalk. Both he and his wife have a wide circle of warm friends in the community and are popular among those who know them.
THOMAS J. BROWN.
Thomas J. Brown, a prosperous farmer and stock man of Clarksfield town- ship, was born March 16, 1848, in Sherman township, Huron county, and is the son of William and Elizabeth (Greer) Brown, the former of whom was born in Geneva, Seneca county, New York, but came as a small child with his parents to Ohio. Thomas H. Brown, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was of Irish birth and came to this country at the age of seventeen. He was the eld- est of a family of twenty-three children, his father having been twice married, and having by his first wife six, and by his second seventeen children, all of whom lived to young manhood and young womanhood. On coming to this country, the family settled first in Baltimore, Maryland, which they forsook after a few years for Seneca, New York. Later John and Thomas H. Brown came to Ohio, locating in Ashland county, near Jeromesville, where the latter lived until he was nearly eighty years of age. He engaged in farming and stock raising and feed- ing, and became a large landowner, many of his tracts being situated in other townships. During the war of 1812, he served as a soldier, and at one time made the journey from Cleveland to Old Portland, now Sandusky, in a row boat. He died at McComb, from the results of an accidental injury, at the advanced age of ninety-nine years. He had been a man of means, interested and prominent in all public affairs.
His son, William, the father of Thomas J. Brown, was born in Seneca county, New York. and came to Huron county, Ohio, prior to his marriage. Here he engaged in general farming and stock raising and became an influential man in his community. For a number of years, he was treasurer of Norwich township, his home at the time, and he also served as township trustee and as a member of the school board for a long period. He and his family belonged to the United Brethren church, the Union chapel congregation or class of which denomination Mr. and Mrs. Brown has helped to establish. In fact when Mrs. Brown died, April 10, 1908, the last of the original charter members had passed away. Mr. - Brown had died eight years previously, at about the age of seventy-seven, six years younger than his wife when she responded to the call of death. Both hus- band and wife are buried in Norwich cemetery. In the affairs of Union chapel, Mr. Brown ever took an active part and was one of its trustees from its organi- zation until his death. He was an upright man, whose influence was strongly felt in the community in which he lived. He was a soldier of the Civil war, en- listing in Company H, One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He had a family of five sons : Thomas J., James E., Franklin H., William L., and
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HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
one who died in infancy. Those living are all farmers and prominent in their re- spective localities.
Thomas J. Brown spent his boyhood and young manhood on his father's farm, receiving his education in the district schools of the county and in Milan Acad- emy and the schools at Clyde and Geneva, Ohio. His own schooling completed, he engaged in teaching during the winter months in the schools of Seneca and Huron counties. During the summer, he worked on the farm. At the age of twenty-three, he engaged in mercantile business at Havana, Norwich township, to which he devoted his time for about two and a half years, after which he re- turned to farming in Norwich township, which was his home until March 10, 1904, when he removed to Clarksfield township. During these years, he has pur- sued a general line of agriculture and has also engaged in the breeding of short horn cattle. In the latter work, he has attained quite a reputation beyond the township borders, for his animals are shipped to distant markets, where they are recognized as being of fine, pure breed, and many stockmen have bred cattle from his stock. He also raises silver Wyandotte poultry, of a high order. His farm, one hundred acres in extent, is under a fine state of cultivation and gives rich returns for the labor expended upon it.
On the 23d of October, 1873, Mr. Brown was married to Mrs. Jennie Knoles, the widow of Smith Knoles and the daughter of Dennis Downing, of Penn Yan, New York, but who at the time of her marriage was living in Seneca county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have had no children of their own but have taken three children of other families into their home, and have given them all the edu- cational opportunities and advantages that they would give to their own offspring.
In politics, Mr. Brown has been rather independent. For twenty years he voted the prohibition ticket, but of late years has voted for whatever men and measures appealed to his idea of right. He has always shown a great interest in public matters, and never fails to exercise his right of franchise, but he has never sought an office at the disposition of the people. He keeps well posted on all matters of general concern and is well able to defend his position, taken after he has convinced himself of its justness, against all opposition. In religious mat- ters, he gives his allegiance to the Congregational church, in which he holds the position of deacon. In the Sunday school, he is a teacher and assistant superin- tendent, for he has ever shown a deep concern for the progress of the work of the church and the school.
LOUIE SCHICK.
Louie Schick, successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits in Ridgefield town- ship, Huron county, was born in Germany on the 19th of May, 1870, and is a son of Peter and Wilhelmina Schick. The parents, who were also natives of the fatherland, came to the United States in 1883 and settled in Milan, Ohio, where they resided for about six months. On the Ist of March of the following year, they removed to Ridgefield township, Huron county, where the father purchased thirty-eight acres of land, which is still in his possession. He and his wife be-
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HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
came the parents of four children, namely: William; Jacob; Wilhelmina, the wife of Henry Klein ; and Louie, of this review. Both parents still survive while the father who devoted his life to farming pursuits now lives retired, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil.
Louie Schick spent the years of his boyhood and youth under the parental roof, acquiring his education in the district schools, while the periods of vaca- tion were devoted to the work of the fields. After laying aside his text-books, however, he became identified with railroading, being employed upon the work train for four years, and he also spent some time in the boiler shop. Later he severed his connection with the railroad business and resumed agricultural pur- suits, renting a farm of fifty-two acres, which he continues to operate and upon which he makes his home. He owns thirteen acres of land which, in connection with his father's farm, he also cultivates. He is up-to-date and progressive in his methods, carrying on his business along strictly modern lines, while his various interests, carefully managed and directed, are bringing to him gratifying returns.
Mr. Schick has been twice married. In 1899, he wedded Miss Bertha Bower, a daughter of William Bower, of this county, who was a native of Germany. Unto this union was born one daughter, Louisa. The wife and mother was called away to her final rest in 1905, while two years later, in 1907, Mr. Schick married Miss Louisa Bower, a sister of his former wife. He is a member of the German Luth- eran church and is public-spirited in his citizenship, lending his aid to all measures and movements which have for their object the substantial and permanent develop- ment and upbuilding of the community. Honorable and upright in all of his deal- ings, he has won the respect and confidence of those with whom he is associated, and he is held in high regard by a large circle of warm friends.
O. C. LITZKEY.
O. C. Litzkey, as superintendent of the Bellevue water works, is well known here and the record which he has made in all official business relations, has won him the unqualified respect and confidence of his fellow townsmen. He is numbered among Ohio's native sons for his birth occurred in Fremont on the 16th of July, 1864, his parents being John and Minnie (Nash) Litzkey, both of whom were natives of Germany, who, coming to America, spent their last days in this country, the father dying at the age of sixty-five years, while the mother passed away at the age of sixty-seven. They were the parents of ten children : Tillie, deceased ; Lizzie, the wife of Dan McGrady; Lena, John and Mary, all of whom have passed away ; and four who died in infancy.
The other member of the family is O. C. Litzkey, whose name introduces this record. He was reared in the place of his nativity and, spending his boyhood days under the parental roof, was afforded the opportunities for the acquirement of an education in the public schools. In the periods of vacation, he worked upon the farm and after putting aside his text-books, he gave his time and ener- gies to farm work and also was employed at the Ohio Cultivator Plant at Fre- mont, where he filled the responsible position of foreman of the shipping depart-
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HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
ment. After the removal of the plant to Bellevue, he came to this city and re- tained his position in connection with that corporation a quarter of a century. No higher testimonial of his faithfulness, capability and of the confidence reposed in him could be given than the fact that he was associated with the business in the responsible position of foreman for twenty-five years. He resigned on his appointment as superintendent of the water works, January 6, 1909, and he is now serving in that capacity.
At Fremont on the 29th of June, 1886, Mr. Litzkey was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hilt, a daughter of Peter Hilt, of that place. They became the parents of two children, but lost the first born, Anna, at the age of two years. The surviving daughter, Lula, is at home. The parents are members of the Luth- eran church and Mr. Litzkey is widely and prominently known in fraternal cir- cles. He is now acting as treasurer of the Forester lodge, is treasurer and one of the trustees of the Eagle lodge and is a member of the German Beneficial Union and the German Aid Society. These latter indicate the broad humanitar- ian spirit which actuates him in all his relations with his fellowmen. His politi- cal allegiance is given to the democracy and for ten years, he served as a member of the city council, exercising his official prerogatives in support of many meas- ures for the public good. He has ever advocated retrenchment in public expen- diture yet never to the extent of blocking progress or excluding needed public improvements. In his present office, he is giving an administration that is char- arcterized by system so that there is no loss of time, labor or material. His course is receiving uniform commendation and he well deserves classification with the public officials of whom Bellevue has had reason to be proud.
CALEB F. JACKSON.
Without invidious distinction, Caleb F. Jackson may be termed the foremost business man of Norwalk from the fact that his interests are most varied as well as extensive. Starting out in life on a humble financial plane, he has steadily worked his way upward and his careful management, coupled with unfaltering in- dustry and keen discernment, have brought him to the position which he now occupies. Honored and respected by all there is no resident of Norwalk who fills a more enviable place in the commercial and financial circles of the city. He was born June 25, 1854, upon the old Jackson farm a mile and a half south of Norwalk, upon the old state road. His parents were Charles and Alberta (Fitch) Jackson and he is a great-grandson of Colonel Giles Jackson of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, who won fame as a colonel of infantry in the Revolutionary war and as chief of staff to Major General Gates he penned the article of surrender at Yorktown and Saratoga. The original articles of convention for the sur- render of Burgoyne at Saratoga, October 16, 1877, signed by J. Burgoyne and Horatio Gates, are now in possession of C. F. Jackson at Norwalk, having been inherited by the "second son" for three generations. Numerous other histori- cal Revolutionary papers of great value are preserved to be handed down to the second son, Thayer Elden Jackson. Charles Jackson, the father of our sub-
5.
6.7. Jackson
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HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
ject, was a prominent farmer of Norwalk township, who spent six years of his carly manhood in the employ of Shepherd Patrick as a salesman in his general store at Norwalk. Subsequently, he bought the Jackson farm homestead, which remained in the family for sixty years and his capable management of his busi- less interests, placed him with the substantial agriculturists of Huron county.
Caleb F. Jackson attended the country school in Norwalk, district No. 3, until he prepared to enter high school in 1868. He was graduated therefrom in 1871 on the completion of a complete scientific and classical course of study. He had expected to study medicine, but the death of both parents left him the care of two sisters and a younger brother, a financial burden which made further study in school or college impossible. At the age of seventeen years, he began work in the dry-goods, grocery and drug store of Wooster & Patrick as "boy of all work," entering their employ on the 13th of November, 1871. Within three imonths, he was made a salesman and promotions followed rapidly. In 1873, he was head salesman in the drygoods department on a salary of a thousand dollars per year, which at that date was the largest salary paid any salesman in Nor- walk-and he was not yet twenty years of age. In January, 1874, at the age of nineteen and a half years, he formed a copartnership with L. C. Prescott and pur- chased a drug and grocery store at Flint, Michigan. The firm of Prescott & Jackson possessed but twelve hundred dollars, but they had energy, determination and perseverance. They assumed a debt of five thousand dollars and after two years, with all the indebtedness discharged, C. F. Jackson sold his interests to his partner and returned to Norwalk to enter the employ of C. E. Marsh & Company, as salesman and manager of the interests of Mrs. S. P. Pease in the firm. His next advanced step was made in 1881, when he joined C. E. Marsh in organizing the firm of Marsh & Jackson for the purpose of opening a dry-goods and carpet store at No. II West Main street. Great financial success followed this venture for five years and in 1886 Mr. Jackson sold his interests to his partner and went to Minneapolis, Minnesota. In that growing city, he established the "Jackson Black Goods Store" which became known throughout the northwest as special- izing in every known article of dry goods, black or white. Mr. Jackson was sole owner of the Minneapolis business and in seven years, had sufficient capital to warrant the stocking of a department store, which he could foresee at that early date, was the coming mercantile establishment of this country.
In the winter of 1892-3 Mr. Jackson, in partnership with H. H. Hoyt of Nor- walk, purchased from the First Methodist Episcopal church of this city, their church property at the corner of Main street and Benedict avenue. In May, 1893, the old church was demolished to make room for the beautiful five-story brick and brown stone building known as The Glass Block. The building when complete, was leased to the Hoyt & Jackson Company, a corporation of which C. F. Jackson was the president, for a department store and was opened to the public November 29, 1893. This marked the beginning of a new era in mercantile affairs in Norwalk. In that day the department store was untried, except in the large cities and in Norwalk it was looked upon as a venturesome undertaking, which would probably result in failure. Mr. Jackson's perceptions of the busi- ness future, were much keener than the old-school merchants and instead of failure, the business was a great success and for sixteen years has paid its stock-
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HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
holders splendid dividends every year. In October, 1895, Mr. Jackson purchased his partner's interest in the Glass Block real estate and became sole owner of this valuable property. He also secured Mr. Hoyt's interest in the mercantile company and immediately changed the corporate name to The C. F. Jackson Company, which is so well known in the business world today.
Even after acquiring this valuable property, Mr. Jackson's ambition was not satisfied, for. in 1902, he secured the first Glass Block Annex by a lease of a three-story brick block adjoining on the west, thereby increasing the floor space and obtaining better facilities to handle the vast growing trade. The business has been conducted on a cash basis with a fixed price and to these rules and the straightforward principles which have governed his commercial affairs, the suc- cess of Mr. Jackson is due. In 1904, in order to utilize surplus earnings, Mr. Jack- son bought for the company a business block at Findlay, Ohio, for one hundred and thirty thousand dollars and established at that point a second Glass Block department store larger and more beautiful than the original store at Norwalk. His eldest son, Edward E. Jackson, was made vice-president of the company and general manager at Findlay. The success of the store at that place has been be- yond the expectations of even its projector. In December, 1908, a second annex was added at Norwalk, comprising three floors with a frontage of sixty feet on Benedict avenue, giving the Norwalk store a total of ninety thousand square feet of sales room or nearly two and a half acres-a monument to the business foresight and executive ability of its founder. In addition to the general man- agement of these great mercantile establishments, Mr. Jackson is interested in numerous manufacturing and business enterprises to which he devotes a por- tion of his time. He is president of the Norwalk Vault Company, vice-president of the Auto Buggy Company, treasurer of the Miller Anchor Company, a direc- tor of the Local Telephone Company, of the Interstate Ice Company and the Tinker Concrete Company, while in numerous other concerns, he is a stockholder, giving him diversified interests probably not exceeded by those of any other busi- ness man in Norwalk. For two years he has been the president of the Norwalk Chamber of Commerce, a strong organization of business men, looking after the welfare and prosperity of Norwalk's business interests.
On the IIth of November, 1874, Mr. Jackson was married to Miss Mary L. Stevens, of Norwalk and unto them have been born four children: Edward Everett, who was born January 2, 1876, and was married at Findlay, Ohio, Sep- tember 1. 1905, to Miss Glenna Weil; Thayer Elden, born June 19. 1884; Ken- neth Seymour, born July 9, 1886; and Hortense Ione, born March 16, 1891.
Mr. Jackson is not only well known because of the extent and importance of his business affairs, but also by reason of his co-operation in many interests and measures which relate to the individual or public welfare. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the Knight Templar degree, to the Knights of Pythias lodge, the Royal Arcanum, the Knights of the Maccabees and the National Union. He is a member of the Ohio Sons of the American Revo- lution and was for many years a member of the Shakespeare Club, Norwalk's leading literary and social club. He is likewise a liberal supporter of the Pres- byterian church and for many years has served on its board of trustees. He has never become actively connected with politics or aspired to public office. He is
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HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
rather retiring in disposition, but most public-spirited and in a quiet and un- ostentatious way, has devoted much time and money to the public good. He finds his pleasure in his elegant home and his close, enduring friends and he de- serves in the largest degree the respect and confidence as well as the success, which have been accorded him.
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MILO F. JOHNSON.
Milo F. Johnson, a progressive and prosperous farmer of Norwalk town- ship, was born in Peru township, July 21, 1859. His birth occurred on the old homestead farm taken up by his grandfather, Marcus Johnson, in the early part of the eighteenth century, which property is yet owned by one of his daughters, Mrs. Della M. Linder. He is a son of Luther B. Johnson, who was born on the Ist of November, 1822, in Elba, Genesee county, New York. He came west to Ohio with his parents, when eighteen months of age, settling on the old home- stead farm in 1824. This continued to be his place of residence until 1888, when he retired from active life and came to Norwalk, where he passed away in April, 1905, at a ripe old age. The wife preceded him to the great beyond in May, 1895. He belonged to the Universalist church and was a stanch republican in politics. A successful and substantial farmer, he devoted his entire efforts to that line of activity, and, though quiet and unassuming in manner, was well known and honored for his strict integrity and his loyalty to the general good, doing all in his power to further the growth and upbuilding of the community in which he lived. His family consisted of three children, namely: Milo F., of this re- view ; Della M., who passed away in August, 1909; and Mrs. Alma E. Call, of Williams county, Ohio.
Reared on the old homestead farm, Milo F. Johnson pursued his education in the district schools of Peru township and spent the years of liis boyhood and youth under the parental roof. Upon attaining his majority, he decided to adopt as his life work the occupation to which he had been reared and has since been engaged in agricultural pursuits, with the exception of three years, when con- nected with the Ohio Metal Company. He has a finely improved place, equipped with good barns and outbuildings and all latest devices and equipments for fa- cilitating the work of the farm. He is progressive and up-to-date in his methods and has attained a creditable degree of prosperity in his agricultural pursuits.
On the 24th of October, 1888, Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Sadie E. Nicholson, and they have become the parents of one daughter, Helen B., born February 24, 1897. Mrs. Johnson is the daughter of William Nicholson, of Mansfield, Ohio, and is one of a family of six children. The father was born in England and came to Mansfield when twenty-three years of age. He had been a grocer in his native land and continued to engage in that line in this country. He passed away in 1887. His wife, who was also born in England, was brought by her parents to America when six weeks old. Her father, Charles Hutchinson, on his arrival in the United States, came direct to Huron county
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