USA > Ohio > Portage County > History of Portage County, Ohio > Part 84
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112
Avillus de Larkcom
733
GARRETTSVILLE TOWNSHIP.
the Garrettsville schools in the midst of a school year, he engaged as Super. intendent and occupied that position four terms. Subsequently he has twice been elected Justice of the Peace, twice as Mayor of the incorporated village of Garrettsville, four times as member of the Board of Education, and has also been Clerk of the Board many years. He has often acted as Executor, Administrator, Assignee and Guardian in the settlement and management of estates. In politics Mr. Norton is Republican. In 1848 he united with the Disciple Church at Hiram, and had his membership with that denomination at Hiram and at Ravenna. There has been no Disciple Church in active working condition in Garrettsville for several years, and he has therefore worshiped with the Baptists, the church wherein his wife was reared. For five years he was Superintendent of the Baptist Sunday-school, and for many more years was teacher of the Bible class. December 17, 1859, he was married to Miss Ann Eliza Taber, at the home of her parents in Garrettsville, which was also the home of her birth. Her father, John Taber, was born in Providence, R. I., April 29, 1798, and died suddenly when on his way to worship, March 12, 1871. Her mother, whose maiden name was Mary Henrietta Greene, a rel- ative of Gen. Greene, of Revolutionary note, was born in Barre, Mass., June 21, 1799, and died June 2, 1884, in Garrettsville, in the house where she had lived a little more than half a century. John Taber and Mary H. Greene were married in Providence, R. I., October 19, 1819. Mr. Taber was carpen- ter on board of ship, and made some very long sea voyages. His ship was at Callao when Bolivar entered Peru with his Columbian Army. They took a ship load of royalists to Cadiz, Spain, with immense quantities of gold and silver. This was a six years' voyage, mostly in South American waters. The next was a three years' voyage, chiefly doing a coasting business in European
seas. In early life Mr. and Mrs. Taber were members of the First Baptist Church of Providence, which was founded by Roger Williams. They moved to Ohio in 1829, and after a residence of four years in Mogadore, Summit County, they moved to Garrettsville. Mr. Taber spent about three and a half years among the gold mines of California, starting for that then far-away country in the spring of 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Taber were the parents of four children: Mary Henrietta, born November 15, 1829; John Herman, born August 10, 1832; James Hunter, born June 21, 1835, and Ann Eliza, born September 23, 1837. The first three, after living to mature years, deceased before their parents. Mary Henrietta (Mrs. Dr. A. M. Sherman) died in Gar- rettsville, October 26, 1853; John Herman died in Council Bluffs, Iowa, November 8, 1856, and James Hunter died in Adrian, Mich., December 5, 1866. Three sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. James Norton. The first born died in infancy and is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery, Ravenna; James Edgar was born in Ravenna March 18, 1866; John Herman was born in Garretts- ville February 12, 1869. James Edgar graduated from the Garrettsville High School in 1883; the subject of his graduation oration was " The Heirs of the Ages." He is now upon a classical course at Hiram College. John Herman is still (1885) in the Garrettsville High School. There is-a chart and record of the Norton families reaching back nineteen generations. Originally the name was Norville, a corruption of the French "Nord- Ville" (North- Villa or North-Town), and Nor-ton or Norton was subsequently adopted. The family have published a pamphlet showing the Norton families back seven generations. This is as far back as most people care to trace the ancestral line. To those, however, whose curiosity may lead them, the chart and record is accessible, although but few copies are known to the families here to be in existence. Thuel Norton was born at New Hartford, Oneida Co., N. Y., March 10, 1801. He was third son
38
734
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
of Peter and Elthina (Thompson) Norton. He died in Hiram, April 2, 1880, in a few hours after, and from injuries received by, being thrown from a buggy by a runaway horse. When he was six years old his parents moved to Ohio, stopping two years in Vernon, Trumbull County, a short time in Tallmadge, and then located permanently in Springfield, then in Portage County, but now Summit County, a short distance east of Middlebury, the old home farm being still occupied by his brother Thomas. Here Thuel grew from childhood to manhood. Where the city of Akron is now was dense forest then. He shot his first deer upon the hillside in the vicinity of where Howard Street is now. At hunting large game, however, he was never as successful as his older brother, Almeron, although for a close shot he had no superior in those days. He learned the carpenter's trade, and put up many buildings in and about Middlebury and Tallmadge. He was an expert at scoring and hewing timber, and in " bossing raisings." He was a man of powerful muscle, and often would astonish the people at "raisings," by picking up and carrying to its place a stick of tim- ber that ordinarily would require two men to carry. As a framer of timber he was notably a close workman. At Hiram, August 4, 1822, Thuel Norton was married to Harriet Rebecca Harrington, who was born July 15, 1803, at Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn., but the most of whose childhood and youth was passed in Utica and Rochester, N. Y. Her father's name was John Har- rington, and her mother's maiden name was Asenath Marvin. Her father was a boot and shoe-maker, and lived in Hiram a short time, nearly sixty years ago. Her mother is buried in the family lot at Hiram. John and Asenath Har- rington were the parents of a large family of children. One year Mr. and Mrs. Norton resided in Rootstown, this county, nine years in Springfield, Summit County, and in 1832 they moved to Hiram, first locating on a farm on the West center road, but subsequently moved to the south part of the town- ship, and there lived upon a farm many years. Although Mr. Norton preferred the carpenter's trade to farming. he gradually quit the former and took up the latter. But his fondness for timber work was somewhat gratified by operating a saw-mill which he had upon one of his farms. It was more of a diversion, however, than a money-making business. When old age had come upon Mr. and Mrs. Norton, they left their home farm and lived the remainder of their years at the center of Hiram. In August, 1880, Mrs. Norton went to visit a son and a daughter in Garrettsville, and while at the home of the latter she became worse and died in the evening of August 30. Their remains rest in the family lot in Hiram Cemetery. Thuel and Harriet R. Norton were the parents of ten children, as follows: Anna, born October 21, 1823; Seth D., born August 19, 1825; Edwin, born July 16, 1827, and died September 8, 1827; Amelia C., born January 4, 1829; Julia M., born April 24, 1831; James, born September 9, 1833; Lois E., born November 28, 1835, and died in Trenton, Mo., April 27, 1866; Emily E., born May 6, 1838; Richard C., born June 16, 1840, and Harriet R., born January 28, 1846. Seth D. is an attorney-at-Jaw, living in Ravenna. Richard C. is President of South East State Normal, at Cape Gir- ardeau, Mo.
R. H. OBER, Mayor and furniture dealer, Garrettsville, was born Octo- ber 30, 1849, in Newbury, Geauga Co., Ohio, son of Hermon and Hannah (Hall) Ober, former born August 15, 1806, in Hollis, N. H .. died August 20, 1862, coming to Ohio when a young man; the latter born Angust 10, 1808, in Salem, N. H., and is still living. They were parents of eight children: John, born in 1832; Almira, in 1833; Sarah, in 1836; George, in 1838; Melissa, in 1840; Charles, in 1845; Mary, in 1847, and R. H. The parents were Congre- gationalists. Zachariah Ober, the father of Hermon, was born in 1775 in
·
735
GARRETTSVILLE TOWNSHIP.
Tewksbury, Mass., and married Abigail Hardy, born in 1775 in the same State. Our subject remained on the farm, attending the country schools, and worked in a machine shop with his brothers, John and George, until eighteen years of age when he entered school at Hillsdale, Mich. He soon after bought one-half interest in a saw-mill with his brother-in-law, C. W. Wright, and assisted in operating the same at Newbury for three years. He then engaged in shipping lumber with his brother, C. H., until 1874, when, August 20. that year, he was married to Martha Patterson, born August 20, 1855, in Troy, Ohio. daughter of Nelson Patterson, born May 12. 1812, in Hanover, N. Y., and Eliza (Wales) Patterson, born April 8. 1812, in Gettysburg, Penn., parents of six children: Avery. born July 9, 1834, and died October 10, 1863, at Chattanooga, Tenn., of a wound received at the battle of Chickamauga Septem- ber 19, 1863; Francis, born August 16, 1836: William, born September 30, 1841; Zylphia, born November 20, 1847; Mary, born November 15, 1849, and Martha. The mother was a member of the Disciples Church, and both parents are de- ceased. To our subject and wife were born four children: Edna, born August 6, 1876; Ethel, born January 5, 1879: Harmon, born December 29, 1881; Elgy,
born December 16, 1883. Soon after marriage Mr. Ober came to Garretts- ville and opened a furniture store on a small scale. By economy and strict attention to business he has been enabled to add to his enterprise until he now owns one of the best establishments of the kind in Portage County. In 1884 he was nominated by the Prohibitionists for Mayor of Garrettsville. endorsed by the Citizens' Convention, and was elected. He has served the city well in that honorable position. He united with the Congregational Church when twelve years old, and has held various offices in the organization; is at pres- ent Superintendent of the Sunday-school. He is a member of the Y. M. T.
C., and has held the highest office in the same. His estimable wife is also a
worthy member of the Congregational Church. Mr. Ober is in the prime of life, and the various positions his talents may merit his being called to by his neighbors and friends will be chronicled in the coming years.
THOMAS REED, policeman, Garrettsville, was born in Ireland, August 13, 1S23, son of William and Margaret (Nelson) Reed. natives of that coun- try, who were the parents of seven children, of whom Thomas is the youngest. He came to America in 1842, and located in Philadelphia, where he remained two years engaged in wharf building. He then came to Geauga County, Ohio, and hired to a man for five years as a farm hand. He purchased a small farm near Cleveland in 1854, but sold it six years later and bought a still larger farm in Trumbull County, where he remained until 1873, when he came to Gar- rettsville with the intention of retiring from active labor, but for a year or two dealt in stock. In 1855 he married Miss Caroline A. Pierce, of Geauga County, Ohio, and by her has three children: Marc A., a graduate of Scio College, who has taught school nine years, and is at present Superintendent of Schools in Girard, Ohio; Della, also a school teacher for six years, and who is a graduate of the Garrettsville schools, and Guy W. Mr. Reed received an appointment by the Council as Night Policeman, and has held that position nine years, and has also served as Constable five years. In April, 1880, while trying to quiet a drunken row he received a blow on the head, fracturing his skull, from which six pieces of bone were taken. It was a narrow escape, but be still continues to keep the peace in the streets of Garrettsville to the full satisfaction of the people. He is a member of Garrettsville Lodge, No. 246, F. & A M.
E. C. SMITH, hardware merchant, Garrettsville, was born October 19, 1829, in Hart's Grove, Ashtabula County, Ohio. His father, Norman Smith, was born in 1801 in Sherburne, Vt., and came to Parkman, Ohio, in 1818, and
736
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
later to Nelson Township, this county, where he died in 1850. His wife, the mother of our subject, was Sallie M. Hickok, born in New York State, and who came to Ohio in 1820. She is now living in Manchester, Ill., with a daughter. She is the mother of the following children: E. C .; M. H., a phy- sician in Manchester, Ill .; Maria L., wife of H. C. Crawford, and living at Troy, Ohio; Ellen, wife of S. C. Bates, in Clinton, Iowa; Mary A., widow of James Guthrie; George D., residing in Garrettsville; Sarah, wife of Jefferson McConnell, residing in Manchester, Ill. Our subject, who was educated in the country schools and township academy, began teaching when twenty years old at $16 per month. He farmed for a while, and later clerked in a drug store at Garrettsville. January 27, 1852, he, in company with Ebenezer Earl and others, went to the gold mines in California, remaining there five years. He was married, August 27, 1857, to Marion B. McClintock, born July 4, 1829, in Trumbull County, Ohio, daughter of William McClintock, born in White- hall, N. Y., in 1793, and Chloe (Ferry) Mcclintock, born in 1798 in Brookfield, Orange Co., Vt., and came with her parents to Trumbull County, Ohio, in 1814. They came to this county in 1832, settling in Garrettsville, where they died, the father August 7, 1873, and the mother June 17, 1878. They were members of the Baptist Church. The father had been a teamster in the war of 1812. They were parents of nine children, of whom six are now living: Polly, Sallie, Marion B., Helen, John C. and William W. In 1858 Mr. Smith engaged in the hardware business in Garrettsville under the firm name of Barber & Smith, and has been very successful. He began his career in life with a willing heart and strong hands, and of the large amount of property which he possesses in hardware, mines, bank stock, etc., he is certainly the artificer. He has served as Mayor and Councilman of Garrettsville, and has been put forward at times by his friends for the Legislature, a position he may yet covet, and one he would surely fill with honor to himself and credit to his
constituents He has been Vice President of the First National Bank of Garrettsville since 1870, and is also a Director in the same. In politics he is a Republican. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and is a K. T. Portage County has but few, if any, more substantial, upright and honest citizens than him whose name heads this biography, and whose portrait appears else- where.
ELIAS C. SWEET, drayman, Garrettsville, was born in Summit County, Ohio, February 14, 1835; seventh in a family of eight children born to Alfred and Clarissa (Capron) Sweet, the former of whom, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Ohio 'in 1824 and died October 14, 1872, his wife having preceded him in 1838. Our subject early in life learned the cooper's trade and opened a shop in Bath, Summit Co., Ohio, where he remained four years, thence went to Copley, same county, and two years later to Wellington, Lorain County, and from thence to New London, Huron County, where he built the first cooper shop in the place. During the late war of the Rebellion he enlisted in the 100 days' service in Company B, Nineteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and after his return home he married, September 22, 1861, Delia J. Niles, born in Lorain County, Ohio, May 22, 1842, daughter of Albert and Sophia (Love- land) Niles, natives of Massachusetts and early settlers of Lorain County. Mr. Sweet subsequently returned to Bath, Ohio, and farmed in connection with his trade. In 1869 he removed to Garrettsville, this county, and worked as a carpenter and cooper. He then spent a year on a dairy farm in Nelson Town- ship, this county, and finally returned to Garrettsville, to his present place of. residence. Here he has a small farm, and is engaged in the express and dray business, and since 1882 has carried the mail from trains to the postoffice. He has been a member of the I. O. O. F. about nine years.
737
GARRETTSVILLE TOWNSHIP.
CHARLES A. THAYER, Justice of the Peace, Garrettsville, was born in Williamsburg, Mass., February 10, 1825; son of Jacob and Sarah (Porter) Thayer, the former a native of Braintree, Mass., born January 25, 1793, the latter born in Hampshire County, Mass., in 1795. They removed to this county in 1832, settling in Freedom Township, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Their family consisted of four children: Henry N., a farmer and stock-dealer of Freedom, Ohio; Mary, wife of E. E. Torrey, a farmer and mechanic; Edward P., a farmer, and Charles A. Jacob Thayer was of English descent, dating his ancestry back to the seventeenth century, among whom were the early pioneers of Braintree, Mass. He was a hard-working, energetic farmer, very prominent in the history of his township, and devoting the best part of his life to church interests. He died April 17, 1884, his wife having preceded him in 1867. Our subject was married, December 1, 1847, to Mary Nistetter, born in Stark County, Ohio, January 8, 1827. By this union there are five children: Wilbur D., in the meat market with his father; Albert A. ,a lawyer at Warren, Ohio; Byron E. and Andrew A. (both farmers) and Lenora. Mr. Thayer, a self-made man, has dealt more or less extensively in stock, in which he is still interested, and, along with his son, also carries on a meat market. He has held several of the township offices and is now serving his first term as Justice of the Peace. He is a member of Garrettsville Lodge, No. 246, 1'. & A. M., and Chapter of Royal Arch. Politically he is a Repub- lican.
A. H. TIDBALL, physician and surgeon, Garrettsville, Ohio, whose por- trait appears in this volume, was born October 2, 1831, in Millersburg, Holmes Co., Ohio. His father, Joseph Tidball, who was born June 24, 1787, in Alle- gheny County, Penn., a hatter by trade, died in Shelby, Ohio, January 16, 1884, and his mother, Eliza K. (Linn) Tidball, born in Easton. N. J., August 13, 1801, died February 26, 1885, in Shelby, Ohio. They were parents of ten children. Our subject was educated in the common schools, studied med- icine with Dr. J. Y. Cantwell, of Mansfield. Ohio, and graduated with high honors at the Cleveland Medical College. He began practicing his profession for which he had so well prepared himself, at Freedom, Portage County, in 1853. He practiced successfully for two years in northern Indiana and for the same length of time in Santa Cruz, Cal., and from 1859 to 1871 in Mesopotamia, Ohio. In 1871 he located in Garrettsville, this county, where he has merited a lucrative patronage. He is an A. F. & A. M., a member of the lodge and chapter at Garrettsville, St. John's Commandery, K. T., of Youngstown, and Ohio Consistory of Cincinnati, A. A. S. R., 32°. During the summer of 1880 he traveled extensively through Europe. Dr. Tidball was mar- ried, May 17, 1854, in Freedom, Ohio, to Lizzie J. Webb, born in Holley, Orleans Co., N. Y., March 23, 1833, daughter of James Webb, whose biog- raphy and portrait appear elsewhere in this work. To this union were born the following children: Frank Warren, Fred Luther, Linn Alonzo, and Stella Gertrude (latter deceased when three years old). Our subject, in politics, is a Democrat. He and his wife are earnest Christians, she being a member of the Congregational Church. Dr. Tidball is an eminent physican, a skillful sur- geon, and although his home is in a small and comparatively quiet town, yet his opinions have been asked for, and in consultations his influence has been felt, in places of the highest rank. No trouble is too irksome, and no under- taking too severe for him, where human suffering is to be alleviated in any way. The Doctor always has time for such duties. In his intercourse with his fellow-men he is dignified and courteous, and his sociability gains him many friends. To all enterprises tending to the prosperity of Garrettsville,
.
738
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
Dr. Tidball has given of his means freely, and the financial interests of any organization to which he may belong, either at home or abroad, are generously benefitted by his unstinting hand.
JOSIAH S. TILDEN, Cashier First National Bank, Garrettsville, was born in Geauga County, Ohio, January 29, 1852. His parents, A. P. and Har- riet B. (Davis) Tilden, were natives of this county, and had a family of four children, of whom two attained maturity: Ella H., wife of James Thresher, of Geauga County, and Josiah S. A. P. Tilden was born in 1816, a son of one of the first settlers in this county. He removed to Geauga County when about twenty-five years of age, and engaged in merchandising. In 1864 he removed to Chardon, Ohio, held the position of County Auditor for nine years, and is still a resident of that place, but has retired from business. His wife died in 1865. Our subject received a common school and academic education. He was married, April 17, 1879, to Miss Clara Crane, a native of this county, and daughter of E. M. Crane. In 1874 Mr. Tilden came to Garrettsville and engaged as Assistant Cashier in the First National Bank, a position he held six years, when he was elected Cashier, which office he still fills. He is also Treasurer of the corporation of Garrettsville. In connection with banking, he carries on a general insurance agency. He is a member of the Garrettsville Lodge, F. & A. M., and K. T. at Youngstown, Ohio.
SMITH E. WADSWORTH, hotel proprietor, Garrettsville, was born in Windham Township, Portage Co., Ohio, October 15, 1848; son of Elmer and Emiline (Smith) Wadsworth. He was raised on a farm and educated at the common schools. His first enterprise for himself was clerking for a year in a meat market at Ravenna, this county. He then came to Garrettsville, and along with his father and brother engaged in the meat inarket business, deal- ing in connection with the same quite extensively in hides, pelts and tallow, buying and shipping for about seven years, which required our subject to be on the road more or less. He was married January 5, 1876, to Miss Hannah Styles, born in Paris Township, this county, July 26, 1847, daughter of James and Eleanor Styles, early settlers of that township, and by this union there is one child-Arthur James. In March, 1880, Mr. Wadsworth purchased the Cannon House, which he combined with the Wadsworth House, adopting the name "Cannon House," of which he has since been "mine host." He is an active member of Portage Lodge, I. O. O. F., and is a F. & A. M.
STEPHEN G. WARREN, physician, Garrettsville, was born in Geauga County, Ohio, April 7, 1841; son of Gamaliel and Patience (Burden) Warren, natives of New Jersey and Rhode Island respectively, and who had a fam- ily of ten children: Eliza, Maria, Harriet, Jane, Ann, Matilda, Catherine, Polly, Burden and Stephen G. They removed to Geauga County, this State, in about 1835, and here the father died in 1876, the mother two years later. Our subject was raised on a farm, and at the age of sixteen years entered the Western Reserve Seminary at Farmington, and from there went to the medical schools of Cleveland, Ohio, where he graduated in 1864. He entered upon his profession at Erie, but owing to ill health had to retire for a time, and the following two years were spent in West Virginia. He was married June 27, 1864, to Miss Julia M. Gladding, born in Attica, N. Y., November 9, 1841, daughter of Horace and Juliette (Taylor) Gladding, natives of New York, the former of whom is now deceased. By this union there is one child-Clyde T. In 1863 Dr. Warren located at Garrettsville, Ohio, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession. He is an active member of Gar- rettsville Lodge, No. 246, F. & A. M., also of Silver Creek Chapter, No. 144, and Oriental Commandery No. 12, K. T., of Cleveland.
739
GARRETTSVILLE TOWNSHIP.
GUY WARREN, physician, Garrettsville, was born at Newton Falls, Trumbull Co., Ohio, January 22, 1844; son of John J. and Louisa M. (Bishop) Warren. The former, born in Eden, Erie Co., N. Y., came to Nelson Town- ship, Portage Co., Ohio, at an early date, and is now a retired M. D. of that place; the latter, a native of Nelson Township, this county, was born February 29, 1823, and died May 29, 1852. They were parents of five children, of whom our subject is third, and he was seven years old when his parents moved to Nelson Township, this county. Here he spent his early days assisting ou the farm, and attending the common schools. He finished his classical educa- tion and medical course at the Eclectic Institute in Philadelphia, graduating in 1870, immediately entering on the practice of his chosen profession at Gar- rettsville, Ohio, where he has since resided. He was married August 2, 1871, to Ellen M., daughter of Henry C. and Lucinda (Hopkins) Tilden, and born in Nelson Township, this county, January 12, 1851. By this union there are two children: Louie B. and Carrie. Thus far the Doctor's practice has proven a success, and from a small beginning he now has a ride extending over six or seven townships, the result of a thorough knowledge of his profession and a strict attention to business. He is an active member of Portage Lodge, No. 456, I. O. O. F.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.