History of Lorain County, Ohio, Part 78

Author:
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia, Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 626

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A. Odell has a manufactory from which are turned ont washing machines and clothes wringers.

There are three saw -mills, Sheklon & Coleman's, W. C. Butler's, and Behner & Butler's, the latter also a cheese box factory. Ewing & Benschoter have a planing mill. Carriage making is carried on by Beh- ner Bros., and by A. Ryan; the first named firm also has a foundry.

The following is a list of business houses, etc:

Robbins & Gott, general dealers; F. V. Sheldon, and D. P. Crowner, groceries; M. W. Ingalls, and George N. Snyder, drugs; Oragin & Knowles, hardware: (. (. Manville, clothing, boots, shows, and men's furnishing goods, etc .; L. L. Crane, harness; F. Sweeney, meat mar- ket; Mrs. A E. Stewart, and Mrs. Grace Bartholomew, millinery; Smith & Sheldon, and A. Ryan, blacksmithing.

STATISTICS.

The following are the statistics for 1877, showing the amount of the most important productions of the

township. also the population for 1870, and the vote for president in 1876:

Wheat, 500 acres

10,115 bushels.

Potatoes, 90

7,198 =

Oats, 591

23,143

Orchards, 213

1,186

Corn, 799

20,809

Meadow, 2,313

2,611 tons.

Butter

88,130 pounds.

Cheese.

466,065

Maple Sugar.

310

Population in 1550

1309

VOTE FOR PRESIDENT IN 1876.

Hayes.

9! | Tilden. 163

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

E. D. MERRIAM, M. D.

The pioneer practitioner of medicine had many obstacles to surmount and difficulties to overcome. In the early days of a new settlement much sickness, particularly of a malarial form, was prevalent; and such also may be said to have been the case twenty- five or thirty years ago. Among those who have been prominent in battling with disease and in the pro- fessional care of the sick, none enjoy a better reputa- tion than Dr. Merriam. For nearly thirty years he has steadily practiced the healing art, and during that protracted period has met with good general success.

E. D. Merriam was born in the town of Champion, Jefferson county, New York, July 18, 1824. He is the son of Sylvester Merriam, who moved to Ohio, accompanied by his family, including the subject of this sketch, in the year 1826. Ile settled in the eastern part of LaGrange township, on what is now known as the Dean farm. There were then but five families residing within the present limits of the township. The first few years of Dr. Merriam's life was spent in agricultural prusuits, and the acquisi- tion of an elementary education at the common schools of La Grange. In 1842, he entered the Ober- lin collegiate institute, where he received a liberal literary education, completing which, he commenced the study of medicine under Professor Dascomb, M. D. The next few years were spent in alternate teach- ing and professional study, and in 1849 and '50 he finished his medical edneation with Professor II. A. Ackley, M. D., at the okl medical school of Cleve- land. Returning to La Grange. in the spring of 1851, Le commenced the practice of medicine under very favorable auspices, receiving from the first a liberal share of patronage. At the age of fifty-four years, we still find Dr. Merriam in the active practice of his profession.

In June, 1862, Dr. Merriam was married to Laura A., daughter of Daniel Bartholomew, of Watertown,

Nathan Of. hus en

A man actuated in private and public life by motives founded on the right and good never fails to leave his impress on the community in which he resides. Few men had more to do in the healthy moulding of Lorain County than the Hon. N. P. Johnson, of Lagrange. He was of New England stoek, his parents having been born at Old Iladdam, Conn. They removed to Hartford, Washington Co., N. Y., in 1785. April, 1801, gave them a new home at Champion, Jefferson Co., N. Y. Of their early history the writer knows little.

At Hartford, as above, their son, Nathan P. Johnson, was born Jan. 30, 1801; in Champion his early years were spent. Of this early life meagre are the details. However, such op- portunities as he had for education and for self-improvement must have been eagerly embraced and worthily used. Ere he had reached the age of thirty he served his fellow-citizens at Champion for three years as trustee, and for five years was elected as justice of the peace; commissioned a lieutenant in the 76th Regiment of the New York Militia in 1823, 1824 gave him commission as captain.

In the year 1833, exchanging real estate, he moved into La- grange, Lorain Co., Ohio, where his remaining days were spent ; days full of work,-work for self and family ; work for his town, his county ; work for the good and the true every- where.

On the 20th of October, 1822, Mr. Johnson married Miss Laura Waite, daughter of Dorastus Waite, Esq., of Cham- pion, N. Y., who was to her husband a companion in his every endeavor in the early Lagrange life. She died very suddenly, on the 19th of January, 1846, while her husband was at Colum- bus, Ohio.

Mrs. Laura Johnson was a woman of singular merit. With gratefulness do her children-now men and women grown- look back to her kindly care, self-denial, and example that had so much to do in forming the characters that have made them valuable citizens.

On the 13th day of August, 1846, Mr. Johnson was again a husband, May R. Hart, daughter of J. Hart, formerly of Norwich, Conn., becoming the wife. She is yet living at the old home, hallowed by the memories of the past, and mourns the loss of the fond husband who has gone before her.

N. P. Johnson was father of the following children : Sarah L., born Sept. 14, 1823; living. William H, born Sept. 19, 1825; died Oet. 11, 1829. Cynthia, born Sept. 25, 1827; living. Mary L., born June 29, 1830; living. Phoebe ML., born April 24, 1832 ; died April 4, 1866. William H., born

May 30, 1834; living. Elizur G., born Nov. 24, 1836; living. Ellen M., born Jan. 25, 1840; living. Ann Eliza, born Feb. 11, 1842; died Dee. 4, 1869.

Mr. Johnson's early life in Lagrange was that of all pio- neers-daily toil. His occupation, farmer. His integrity and large common sense soon attracted attention. Township offices were showered upon him ; fidelity in the duties of sueli offices drew attention to his merits, local respect soon became general, and in the fall of 1844 he was elected to the Legisla- ture of Ohio from Lorain County, and re-elected in 1845. So well were the duties of this position performed that the years 1847 and 1848 saw him a member of the Ohio Senate, from the distriet composed of Lorain and Medina Counties. Returning to Lagrange, there the remainder of his days were passed, each and every day made joyous to him by the numerous trusts confided to him by his fellow-citizens.

N. P. Johnson was noted for deep religious convictions and for true manhood. Strong and earnest in his feelings, prejudice was but a flitting cloud over his grand, kind heart. An ardent Whig of the old school, he was never the mere partisan, looking ever for the good. Party was no factor in any moral or politieal problem to him presented for solution. In 1846, while running for the State Senate, many prominent politicians took open and decided grounds for the repudiation of the State debt. Mr. Johnson took just as decided ground in favor of sustaining the faith and eredit of the State. On this issue the people heartily sustained him.

Duty and right being to him the all, he found no difficulty in laboring with voice or pen, as a man and a legislator, for the repealof theinfamous Black Laws of Ohio, although temporary odium followed his efforts. Retiring from publie life, so far as office was concerned, his voice and trenchant pen were ever found ready to defend and aid that which he considered the right. This was wonderfully true during the dark years of the Rebellion.

Quick in his decisions, of remarkable mental equipoise, Mr. Johnson was noted as a presiding officer. No one during his life was more frequently called upon in Lorain County to preside over conventions, whether religious, moral, or political.

Honored by all, giving always with no grudging hand of his means, and of the rich experiences of a well-spent life, he died Dec. 29, 1874 True of him is that said of another :

" This man, that thought himself nobody, is dead, is buried ; his life has been searched ; and his memory is hallowed for- ever. 1

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HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO.

New York. She was born in that city August 23, 1835, and with her parents moved to Ohio in May, 1856.

It is not only as a professional man that Dr. Mer- riam enjoys the respect and esteem of the community, in which he has passed nearly all his life, but also in the many other walks of life in which his general intelligence and rectitude carry him. As a man and citizen, the doctor is held in high regard, and de- servedly occupies an exalted social position.

R. B. MONRO

was born in Herkimer county, New York, January 21, 1817. When he was three years of age his father removed with his family to Jefferson county, New York, where they remained until 1833, when they

emigrated to Canada, residing there until about 1838, when they returned to York State, and continued to live there until 1844, when the subject of this sketch moved to Ohio, and settled in La Grange, Lorain county, whither he was followed by his father in 1846. Ile was born in Connectiont, and during his last sick- nes she resided with and was carefully attended by his son. He died in 1870.

R. B. Monro started in Ohio by working on a farm by the month, which he did four years, during which time he purchased tifty acres of land, paying for it with his carnings. In 1848 he was married to Mar- garet, daughter of John MeGregor. They have one son, James, who resides at home, and also, an adopted daughter. Mr. Monro has held various township offices, among others those of road commissioner and school director. In polities he is a democrat. He is a self made man, and generally considered a worthy citizen, and an upright and honest man.

BRIGHTON.

BRIGHTON consists of tract seven, and portions of tracts six and eight, in range nineteen of the original Western Reserve. It is upon the extreme west of the county, and is bounded upon the north by Camden, east by Wellington, south by Rochester and west by the township of Clarksfield, Huron county. The soil in the northern part is clay, principally, but in the southern portion a gravelly soil is found. The sur- face is more uneven than that presented to the eye in most of the southern townships of Lorain county, the west branch of the Black river having cut its way through the territory from a point near the south- west corner of the township to the eastern boundary, where it emerges about one mile south of the Camden line. Its course is very irregular, and its stream has left broad and very fertile bottom lands, which are as good for the general purposes of farming as any in the county.

THE ORIGINAL PROPRIETORS

of the lands now included in Brighton were Lemuel Storrs, Ephraim Root, James Ross, Peter Brooks, John Call, William Shaw, George Black and Pennewel Cheney. Tract seven, extending through the center of the township from cast to west, and containing four hundred acres, was the property of Root & Ross. It was by them sold to Harmon Kingsbury and others, and was the portion first put into the market for sale to the settlers. Storrs, the owner of tract eight and the several owners of tract six sold to, or exchanged

lands with, Tuckerman Brothers, of Boston, Norton and Stocking of Hartford, Connectient, Frederick Hamlin of Berkshire, Massachusetts. Deming and Al- ford. Levi Bliss, of Massachusetts, bonght out Tucker- man Brothers. The surplus lands upon the west side of the township were originally owned by Goodrich of Hartford, and several others. Brighton is what is known as an equalizing township. Its name was be- stowed by Abner Loveland at the time of organization.

INDIANS

were quite numerous when the first settlers came in and all accounts agree as to their friendliness to, and fair treatment, with few exceptions, of the whites. They were of the Seneca and Wyandot tribes. Before the time of settlement, these Indians were in the ens- tom of camping upon what they ealled the "big bot- tom," upon the farm which is now the property of Leonard If. Loveland, but after the first settlers arrived they seldom had an encampment within the territory now included in the township. They traded very frequently with their pale faced brothers, bring- ing fine venison hams, which they were always de- lighted to exchange for bread or pork. Leonard Loveland remembers seeing with them, upon one occasion, a very old, though remarkably well preserved man, who was said by the Indians to have seen the sun of one hundred and forty-five summers. it is probable that this was not far from being correet, for events that the Indian spoke of as occurring in the

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HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO.

years of his young manhood were known to have a place more than a hundred years old in the history of the country.

SETTLEMENT.

The pioneer of Brighton was Abner Loveland, Ir. He entered the forest atone in the fall of 1820, with the intention of becoming a permanent resident, and built upon lot one, in traet seven, the first human habitation, save the huts and wigwams of the Indians, in the territory included a few years later in the limits of Brighton. He carried upon his back the poles of which he built his cabin. In the spring of 1821, he started for the east, but a great snow storm made it impossible for him to pursue his journey, and he stopped in Grafton, where he remained until fall, working for various settlers. In the fall he again prepared to go to his home, but, receiving a letter from his father, saying that he had bought land in Brighton and wanted him to begin clearing it, he went back to the place which he had originally selected and prepared for the coming of his father and the family by erecting a log house. In July of 1821, came the father, Abner Loveland, Sr., his wife Lois, four danghters, Sophia, Lovina, Pamcha, Minerva and a son Leonard II. with his wife Margaret Whitlock. They made this journey, with an ox team, in six weeks. The Lovelands were natives of Otis, Berk- shire county, Massachusetts. Abner, Jr., the first arrival, made the journey from Brunswick, New Jersey, upon foot. His wife was Paima DeWolf, and he had by her five children, three of whom are now living, Celestia A. in Wellington, Corelia J. (Mrs. D. Reamer) in Oberlin, and Franklin in New York. Abner Loveland, Jr., removed from Brighton to Wellington in 1834, and, his wife dying, he married some time afterwards, Mrs. Anna Kimmel. fle is still living, at the age of eighty-two years, being born in 1296. Leonard [[. Loveland still lives upor lot one, tract seven, a few rods from the site of the tirst. log house built in the township, and is eighty-four years of age. His children, beside Whitlock, who died when a babe, were Cordelia, born November 12, 1823, and died March 3, 1852. and Emehne Margaret, born March 4. 1853. Mr. Loveland, like his brother, is living with his second wife, and he is her second husband. Her maiden name was Fanny Allen. She was from Vermont, and her husband facetiously claims that she was a connection of Ethan Allen, "the Green mountain boy." Abner Loveland, Sr., and his wife have been dead for many years. Both were born in 1764.

The Kingsburys' arrived after Abner Loveland, .Ir., and before all the others of this family. Joseph Kingsbury was the second settler. He was the father of Harmon Kingsbury, before mentioned as one of the original owners of the land. He came carly in 1821, from Otis, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, bringing his wife, four daughters, one of whom died young, and two sons, Solomon and Austin. One of

the daughters married Loren Wadsworth, another Eber W. Hubbard, and Louisa A. married Calvin Roice. JJoseph Kingsbury settled on lot thirteen, Solomon on lot ten, and Anstin on lot nine-all in traet seven; which, as has been heretofore stated, was the only portion of the lands offered for sale. Har- mon Kingbury was never a resident of the township, but was a frequent visitor. Austin Kingsbury reared a family of six children, of whom Mrs. Orrin Hall (Lonisa 1.) is one. A sister resides in Wellington. William Harvey is in Oberlin.

The next settlers, after the Kingsburys, were the Halls. Avery Hall and wife, and their grown-up sons, Alfred and Orrin, with Selden, who was of age soon after coming into the country, emigrated from Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in 1822. Other children in this family were: Erastus, Sarah, Edwin (now in Elyria), Theophilus (in Litchfield), Julia (in Perrysburg), John and William. Avery Hall, upon arriving, settled upon lot two, and his son Alfred on lot six. Sellen afterward settled on the same lot; he married a daughter of Luke Whitlock, and removed some years after to Wellington, where he died in 1878. Orrin Hall settled on lot nine, where he still tives. Alfred Ilall removed to Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Soon after the Halls arrived, a man named Bailey came into the settlement, but made no pur- chase of land, and remained but a short time. An- other squatter came at the same time, but like Bailey left no mark upon the people among whom he had a brief residence, or upon the map of Brighton town- ship.

Horace, John and Joseph Crosby, the latter not of age, and another brother who died quite young, came with their mother soon after the arrival of the Halls, from Tyringham, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and settled upon lot three. John was married in 1825 to Locitte Sage.

Luke Whitlock came in the spring of 1832, and his brother John, at a later date. They settled upon lot seven. The Whitlocks were from South Brunswick, New Jersey. The family of Luke Whitlock consisted of his wife Elizabeth, a son John, who died early, Ellen, now Mrs. Augustus Fox, residing near the cen- ter, and Jane, who married Roswell Smith, and after- wards Selden Hall, now living in Wellington. Luke Whitlock died suddenly and among strangers. He was in Pittsburgh upon his way home and was stricken dead upon the street and buried before his relatives, who left for that city as soon as the sad news reached them, had arrived.

Clark Loomis settled about the year 1825 upon lot twelve, and removed soon after to Chagrin Falls.

Justice Battle, Sr., and wife, and Justice Battle, Ir., and wife were among the first settlers, but the date of their arrival cannot be definitely ascertained. They came from Tyringham. Berkshire county, Mas- sachusetts and located upon lot sixteen.

Calvin Roice came into the settlement early enough to be properly classed among the pioneers, though he

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HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO.

first settled in Wellington. On coming into Brigh- fon he located npon lot ten. He married a daughter of Joseph Kingsbury, by whom he had three children, -Boughton, now in Clarksville, Ennice, in Avon, and Sarah.

There were several who arrived in the township soon after the first settlement was made but who could not be called settlers. Among these was Elijah Fox, a worthy man from Berkshire county, Massa- chusetts, who came in 1822 and boarded for some time with Leonard II. Loveland. He took up land a num- ber of years afterwards. His son E. S. Fox now re- sides upon lot eight, in traet seven. David Fox, the aged father of Elijah, was a Methodist exhorter of considerable ability. Daniel Smith came to Brighton in the latter part of 1821 or early in the following year and worked for Joseph Kingsbury.

Of the later settlers we can only speak briefly. After the organization of the township and after the land in tracts six and eight were put into the market, the number of inhabitants rapidly inreased. There being no land but that in tract seven, -the center tract,- offered for sale until 1833, many were deterred front coming into Brighton from apprehension that it would not for many years become a well settled township. It was this fear that led Abner Loveland, the pioneer, to sell out his land and remove into Wellington. It was bought by Damel Clark, of Litchfield, Connecti- cnt. Albert Niles came into the township between the time of organization and the year 1830. Ile owned altogether and at different times fifteen farms. - Fisk settled about the same time as Niles. Loren Loveland a brother of Leonard H. and Abner, eame in a little later. Dr. Eber W. Hubbard and his father who were among the first settlers in La Grange. were residents of this township for a few years, and resided on the Kingsbury farm. James Whipple, of Whitestown. New York, came and located on lot twelve in 1833. Erasmus Judd and wife settled as early as 1832 on lot six, and brought up a family of five children. They were from Litchfield, Connecticut. Isaac Everson settled in the summer of 1833, upon lot twenty-one. Henry Converse, his wife and five chil dren became residents in 1833, settling upon lot ten. His children were Nelson, Lucinda, Harrison, Maria and Emma ( Mrs. Jacob Wheeler, of Rochester). Nel- son was drowned in the Black river. having been swept over his saw mill dam in a dug out. Hle is said to have been a phenomenal swimmer, and his drowning could only be accounted for upon the supposition that he was hurt in some way by bis fall. Oetavus Gillitt settled upon lot sixteen in the gore, m 1836, and his brother, George, near him soon after. John Dunbar, his son, Simeon, and Harriet, the wife of the latter, came from Wayne county, New York in August, 1835, and located upon lot eight in traet seven, James Ilumphrey, his wife and three children settled about the same time upon the same lot. They were from Great. Barrington, Massachusetts.

Philip L. Goss, a native of Winchester, New Hamp-

shire, settled on lot seventeen, in 1836, coming from Brecksville, Cuyahoga county, where he had resided for a short time. Hle was one of the substantial, influential men of the town, and always prominent. in its institutions until his removal in 1878, to Wel- lington, where he and his wife, Serena, at present reside with their married danghter, Mrs. Dr. Rust. ITe has a son, Charles P., in Oberlin, and another daughter, Sarah, who married a son of Dr. Beach, of Pittsfield. David Goss, brother of Philip L., arrived in 1842. His sons, Maurice and Otis, reside in Brighton, and his daughters in Hlinois, and Huron county, Ohio.

Smith Stocking and Harry Haws came into the township in 1837. the former settling upon lot fifteen, in the gore, and the latter upon the same lot, a little to the north, where D. Johnson located two years later. Wm. Bunce and Samuel Lamb took up farms about the same time, upon lot oue in tract seven, building houses upon the east and west road.

Cornelius Seeley came into Avon in 1821, and orig- inally emigrated from Westmoreland, Oneida county, New York. His wife's maiden name was Rachel Smith. They had fourteen children, twelve of whom lived to maturity. HI. S., the eldest, settled in Brighton, on lots thirty-one and thirty-two, where he now resides. Morrell E., Anna, and Dwight, his children, now live in Brighton, the first named upon the Loveland farm.

The earliest settlers of Brighton endured many hardships. Food was for a time exceedingly scarce. and could only be had in small variety. When the wheat was harvested it was often found full of smut, and as there were no machines in those days for clean- ing it, the smut went into the bread, making it so black that the Indians often refused to eat it. The nearest place where the pioneers could get a grist. ground was at Clarksfield. Leonard Loveland was once pursued by wolves while returning from the mill in that place. These pests of every new country were very plentiful. They were not usually regarded as a source of danger, but of annoyance. They would often surround a settler's cabin and make night hid- cons with their horrible howling. Deer were found in the woods in large numbers, and venison was so common upon the tables at which hard working, hun- gry men sat down, that it was looked upon with no more favor than pork. As many as fifty deer have been seen in a single herd in Brighton. Enormous flocks of wild turkeys were often met with, during the first few years after the woods were invaded by white men, and all kinds of small game was found in abundance, but most of the pioneers had too much work to do with the ax and plow to spend their time in hunting. There were few who carried the rifle except when the larder was low.

FIRST EVENTS.

The first child born was John, son of Avery and Lucy Hall. He came into the world and into Brigh-

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HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO.

ton Angust 26, 1823, and is now living in Wisconsin.

The first death was that of Whitlock Loveland, a nine months old child of Leonard HI. and Margaret Loveland. He was born January 2, 1820. and died on the 13th of October. The burial was upon the clearing made by the Lovelands, a few rods south of their log house, and of Leonard Loveland's present home. Other members of the family now lie by the side of the little one for whom the first grave was made. The funeral was attended by only two or three persons beside the family, among them being the Rev. Mr. Parmele, a Baptist minister of Sullivan, who spoke the few words of comfort, and offered the prayer at the grave.

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History of Lorain County, Ohio, Part 78

Author: Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia, Williams brothers Number of Pages: 626

Author:
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia, Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 626