History of Portage County, Ohio, Part 95

Author: Warner, Beer & co., pub. [from old catalog]; Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Norris, J. E. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, Warner, Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 958

USA > Ohio > Portage County > History of Portage County, Ohio > Part 95

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).

JOHN TRAVES, farmer, P. O. Randolph, was born in Germany, March 17, 1825; son of Matthias and Elizabeth Traves, who settled in this county in 1839, where they lived and died, the former in April, 1883, the latter in 1857. Our subject was married May 23, 1850, to Mary Knapp, born in Germany May 13, 1830, daughter of John and Elizabeth Knapp, the former still living, the lat. ter deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Traves are the parents of five boys and two girls: John, Mary, Henry, Elizabeth and Peter, now living; Frank and Lewis died August 17, 1874. Our subject has been engaged in farming all his life and has met with good success, owning now 150 acres of improved land. He has filled the office of Trustee of Suffield Township two years. He and his family are members of the Catholic Church.

S. B. TRESCOTT, traveling salesman, P. O. Randolph, was born near Alliance, Stark Co., Ohio, January 26, 1842; son of Clark and Ann Trescott, who resided in Stark County, Ohio, until Mrs. Trescott's death, when our sub- ject was quite young. Mr. Trescott then married Rachel McConnell, who also is deceased, and he afterward married Eliza Williamson, who is still liv- ing. Mr. and Mrs. Trescott reside near Alliance, Ohio. Our subject was married September 15, 1864, to Elizabeth Crawford, born in Pennsylvania August 10. 1842, daughter of John and Catherine Crawford, both deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Trescott have been born six children: Blanche, born Septem- ber 6, 1865; Josephine, born November 29, 1867; Edward O., born April 12, 1870; Walter S. and Grace, born May 14, 1873, and Bessie, born September 22, 1880. Our subject has been engaged in commercial business all his life, and has been a traveling salesman for twenty-three years; he is now in the line of boots and shoes. Mr. and Mrs. Trescott are members of the Disciples Church. Mr. Trescott acquired a good common school education. He owns sixty-two acres of land and a fine dwelling where he and his family reside.

JOHN UNGER, farmer, P. O. Atwater, was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, January 21, 1810; son of Jacob and Mary Unger, who departed this life a great many years ago in Columbiana County, Ohio. Our subject was united in marriage November 1, 1832, with Elizabeth Palmer, the daughter of Ste- phen and Mary Palmer, who died in Columbiana County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Unger are the parents of eight children, of whom four survive: Alpheus, Simeon, Sylvanus and John J. The deceased are Cyrus, Eli, Mary A. and Caroline. Mr. Unger is a cooper by trade, but has engaged in farming for a great many years. Himself and wife are members of the Reformed Church. He owns about ninety-seven and one-third acres of mostly improved land in Ran-

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dolph Township, where he and his family reside. Mr. and Mrs. Unger, who are among the early settlers of Randolph Township, are very highly respected by the community in which they live. Mr. Unger has met with fair success through life.

ALONZO V. WHITE, farmer, P. O. Randolph, was born on the farm where he now resides in Randolph Township, this county, October 3, 1838, a son of Horace and Caroline M. White, natives of Connecticut, and who immi- grated to Ohio in 1834, locating in this county, where they remained until their death. The father died in December, 1881, the mother in December, 1883. Our subject was married January 9, 1862, to Susan Holibaugh, born in Pennsylvania October 19, 1838, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Holi- baugh, both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. White are the parents of three children : Hattie E., born September 30, 1864; Albert R., born September 1, 1870; and Stella M., born September 25, 1874. Mrs. White is a member of the Disci- ples Church. Our subject is a carpenter by trade, but has been engaged in farming for the last five years. He owns seventy acres of improved land on which there is a beautiful residence where he and his family reside. He served in the late war of the Rebellion in Company G, Seventh Ohio Volun- teer Infantry. Mr. White has been very successful through life.

DOMINICK WISE, farmer, P. O. Randolph, was born in Europe, Septem- ber 24, 1832, son of Jacob and Magdalene Wise, who came to America and settled in Ohio, where they remained until their death. Our subject was mar- ried (the first time) in 1856 to Maria Earhart, who died October 12, 1870, after which, in 1872, he was married to Clara Winisheimer, born in Germany, Octo- ber 10, 1839, daughter of Balser and Jacob Winisheimer. Our subject is the father of eight children: John C., Louise M., David L. and Joseph W. by his first wife, and Mary E., Dominick A., Stephen H. and Magdalene by his second wife. Mr. Wise is a cooper by trade, but has engaged in farming for several years, and owns sixty-five acres of improved land on which he and his family reside. He is a man that takes great interest in his family, and his word is as good as his note. Himself and family are members of the Catholic Church. Mr. Wise's second wife died October 9, 1884.

JOHN J. WISE, farmer, P. O. Randolph, was born in Germany Septem- ber 12, 1837, son of Jacob and Magdalene Wise, who immigrated to Ohio in 1840, settling in Lawrence Township, Stark County, thence moving to Lake Township, where they remained until the father's death in 1865. Three years later the family came to Suffield Township, this county, where the mother died in 1873. Our subject was married January 25, 1862, to Mary Knapp, born in Randolph Township, this county, September 8, 1842, daughter of John and Elizabeth Knapp, latter deceased in 1871. Mr. Knapp is still living, aged about eighty three years. Mr. and Mrs. Wise are the parents of nine children, six of whom survive: Clara, Emma, William, John, Bertha and Clamenc. The deceased are Charlie, Rosie and Charlie. Our subject, who has been engaged in farming all his life. owns 154 acres of improved land. He is a member of the Agricultural Board of Randolph. He and his family are mem- bers of the Catholic Church.

JACOB YARIAN, SR., farmer, P. O. Randolph, was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, December 24, 1812, son of Conrad and Eva Yarian, natives of Pennsylvania, of Westmoreland and Lancaster Counties, respectively, and who settled in Columbiana County, Ohio, in 1803, remaining there until their death. Our subject was married April 2, 1835, to Elizabeth Switzer, born in Columbiana County, Ohio, September 24, 1815, daughter of Jacob and Mary C. Switzer, natives of Pennsylvania, who located in Columbiana County,

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where they died. Mr. and Mrs. Yarian are parents of eleven children, nine of whom are now living, all married and doing for themselves: Susanna (wife of William Walker), Jonathan, Eli, Benjamin, David, Jacob, Mary C., Eva and Rebecca. The deceased are Rebecca (twin sister of Rebecca living) and Daniel (an infant). Mr. Yarian, who has engaged in farming all his life, now owns ninety-seven acres whereon he and his family reside, besides forty-five acres elsewhere. He and his wife are members of the Disciples Church. He has been a member of the Board of Education.

WILLIAM YOUNGMAN, farmer and cooper, P. O. Randolph, was born in Hollis, Hillsboro Co., N. H., February 23, 1821, son of Ebenezer and Thankful Youngman, natives of New Hampshire, who came to this county in 1835, where they settled and remained until their death. On April 2, 1844, our subject was married to Sarah J. Dumars, born April 2, 1822, a daughter of Timothy and Sarah Dumars. Mr. Dumars was of French descent, although born in Ireland, while Sarah, his wife, was born in Scotland. They located in Pennsylvania, where they remained until their death. To Mr. and Mrs. Youngman have been born three children: Francis A., born September 8, 1846; Helen E., born November 19, 1852; and Forest D., born December 24, 1863. Our subject is a cooper by trade, but is also engaged in agriculture, and owns a nice little farm where he and his family reside. Himself and wife are mem- bers of the Congregational Church. They are a pleasant and agreeable couple.

RAVENNA TOWNSHIP.

DR. A. W. ALCORN, Ravenna, was born on the 23d day of May, A. D. 1835. He was the seventh of eight children, six of whom were boys. His father was of Scotch-Irish, and his mother of English and German descent. His parents were farmers, and the first and only farm they owned they cleared up from wild woods in Armstrong County, Penn. The trees, saplings and brush had to be cut down and grubbed out to make room for the first log-cabin. His parents were Old School Presbyterians, and were one of three families who met together for social prayer, from which grew the Concord Presbyterian Church, about one mile from his father's farm. Before the church building was secured his father and mother would attend church at Glade Run, a dis- tance of seven miles, and most of this distance was made along a path through the woods; but any difficulty in the way was alleviated by their going on foot. Sometimes a babe was carried in their arms so that the distance need not be made in haste. On this farm the Doctor began his education. The school year in his boyhood consisted of three months in the winter. This was improved. At this school his second, third and fourth reader was the New Testament, and the fifth and sixth reader was the Bible or Old Testament. When he was eighteen years old, at the urgent solicitation of an older brother, Dr. J. P. Alcorn (now deceased), who had left the farm and by his own energy and self-support had graduated at one of the best medical colleges in the United States, he left home for the first time to enter the Glade Run (Penn.) Academy in 1853; the next year he entered the Eldersridge (Indiana County, Penn.) Academy. This institution was the creation of Rev. Alexander Don- aldson, D. D., a noted educator of young men in western Pennsylvania, who, at an old age, is still Principal of the academy. In this academy the Doctor

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was fitted for the junior class in college. At this time his health broke down and he was obliged to leave school. After a few months' rest he entered the office of his brother, who had built up a large practice in Ravenna, Ohio, for the purpose of studying medicine. His medical education was secured at Jef- ferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Penn., and the Michigan University, Ann Arbor, Mich. He had the benefit of the private and practical instruc- tions of his brother for five years. In 1864 he served four months in the Union Army, was a "squirrel hunter," and volunteered his services at the battle of Gettysburg for the care of the sick and wounded. He married Miss Christina, eldest daughter of John and Elizabeth Fletcher, of Ravenna, Ohio, February 20, 1884. He is a member of the Congregational Church. He first united with the Presbyterian Church in 1852. He is a member of the Board of Education, and has served as such for nine years. He is in hearty sympa- thy with all reform measures that tend to lift men up to a sober and religious life. His chief desire is to be worthy the name of physician and Christian. He never used tobacco in any form, nor alcoholic drinks as a beverage. He considers the habitual use of tobacco and ardent spirits as the chief obstacles in the way to temporal and spiritual prosperity.

ANDRUS T. BALDWIN, hardware merchant, Ravenna, was born Sep- tember 10, 1820, in Palmyra, this county, where his father, Alva Baldwin, now resides. He commenced traveling at eleven years of age, and spent about thirty-five years visiting nearly all the Southern and Western States. Novem- ber 5, 1839, he married Miss Samantha Daniels, a native of Massachusetts. She died February 2, 1861. Their son, Alva V., was a graduate of the Med- ical College at Cleveland, Ohio, and practiced his chosen profession, medicine, in that city six years, after which he returned to Palmyra, where he died Feb- ruary 17, 1881. He married Miss Eliza Merwin, and left three children: Ida S., Gustave W. and Clayton R. Our subject, June 17, 1873, next married Mrs. Ella Baldwin, widow of Marquis Baldwin and daughter of Bazaleel Olm- stead, of Palmyra, this county, and to this union were born two children: John D. and Minnie S. Mr. Baldwin was engaged in the hardware business in Medina, Ohio, in 1873-74, and then established in Ravenna. In addition to his business he owns a finely improved farm of 138 acres in Palmyra Town- ship, this county.

DARIUS L. BALDWIN, manufacturer, Ravenna, was born February 6, 1828, in Atwater Township, this county, where his parents, Ransom and Worthy Baldwin, now reside. Our subject was brought up on his father's farm and began working at the carpenter's trade while a young man, and this he followed continuously until 1878. He was married. October 26, 1853, to Miss Letitia Ferrell, a native of Monongahela County, Va., born October 15, 1829, and who came to this county in 1850. Our subject and wife settled in Ravenna, Ohio, immediately after their marriage. Their children are Charles R .; Aurelia O., wife of H. Eatinger; Hattie W .; and Minnie T. In March, 1879, Mr. Baldwin and his son purchased the planing-mill which they now operate under the firm name of D. L. Baldwin & Son. They do a large busi- ness as a custom mill, supplying the home market for planing and general ornamental work. They also do an extensive business in contracting and building houses and public structures. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin are adherents of the Disciples Church. He cast his first Presidential vote for Gen. Winfield Scott as a Whig, and has ever since been a stanch Republican.

HARMON BATTERSON, farmer, P. O. Ravenna, was born March 29, 1819, in Ravenna Township, this county. His father, William Batterson, of Litch- field County, Conn., married Miss Matilda Iles, and moved to this county

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about 1816. Soon after the grandfather, William Batterson, Sr., came, and he and his wife resided here until their death. Harmon's mother died when he was about seven years of age, and his father married a second time and moved to Williams County, Ohio, where he lived the remainder of his days. William Batterson, our subject's father, was the pioneer cooper of Ravenna, and people came far and near to him for barrels, tubs, pails, well buckets, and gallon bottles for carrying water and whisky in. Whisky stills were numerous at that time, and a good deal of cooper work was needed. Our subject lived for a time with a Rev. Ebenezer Williams, then with Perry and Ethan A. Babcock, near Ravenna, and after he was fourteen years of age he worked by the month summers, and did chores nights and mornings for his board win- ters, going also to school; in fact, Mr. Batterson avers, he always found plenty of good folks to take him into their families to live in return for what they could get out of him. At twenty-two years of age he learned the cooper's trade, which he followed for many years. He married, October 6, 1847, Miss Mary Hull, born in Edinburg Township, this county, March 27, 1820. Her parents, Gilbert and Abigail (Harris) Hull, of Ontario County, N. Y., came to this county in 1819, and settled in Edinburg Township same year, where they resided until his death, which occurred December 16, 1880, at the age of eighty-six. Mr. Gilbert was a skillful mechanic. He erected many of the buildings in that township. His widow, who is eighty-four years of age, resides with her daughter, Mrs. Batterson. To Mr. and Mrs. Batterson have been born three children: Ellen A., Mrs. Emily M. Robinson and Clinton R. Our subject and wife paid about a ten months' visit to Williams County, Ohio, but with the exception of that trip have always resided in Ravenna Township. About 1853 they purchased the place where they now live, and where they own a fine farm of seventy-four and a half acres, besides another farm of forty acres in the same township. Mr. Batterson is a life-long Democrat.

HORACE Y. BEEBE, retired, Ravenna, was born in Middletown, Conn., September 14, 1816; son of Oliver D. and Phebe H. (Holt) Beebe. Our sub- ject came to Ohio in 1834, locating at Cuyahoga Falls; two years later he removed to this county, and for some two years he was Deputy Clerk under George Kirkum, and for seven years was with William Coolman, in the Clerk's office, as Deputy. In 1845 he was appointed Clerk of the Courts of Common Pleas and Supreme Court, serving until 1852. The following year he accepted the position of Cashier in the banking house of Robinson, King & Co., and so remained until succeeded by his son, William H., present Cashier of the Second National Bank. In 1860 he was elected a Delegate to the Republican Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln, and in 1862 was by the latter appointed Assessor of the Nineteenth Congressional District. Later he was appointed Provost-Marshal of this county, in which capacity he served during the war. Our subject was on intimate terms with President Garfield and other distinguished Republicans. Upon his resignation as Cashier and Bookkeeper of the Diamond Glass Company (which position he held some sixteen years), Mr. Beebe retired permanently from active business. He was twice married, first in April, 1838, to Augusta, daughter of William Cool- man, who died June 15, 1879, leaving two children: Mary B. and William H., both now living. Our subject then married, in 1881, Mrs. Hannah D. Wells, widow of Benjamin J. Wells, of Ravenna. Mr. Beebe is a Republican in politics. Since the organization of the Universalist Church, he bas been connected financially with its growth. In June, 1883 he was appointed by the Commissioners of the county a Director of the County Infirmary, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Capt. F. W. Coffin, and in the fall of the same year he was elected a Director, which office he now holds.

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HENRY BEECHER (deceased) was born in Shalersville Township, this county, September 18, 1817; son of the well-known pioneers, Sylvester and Betsey Beecher, and the eldest of their twelve children. Our subject remained on his father's farm until 1842, when he engaged in mercantile business. He was in partnership with A. V. Horr until 1846, in which year he established himself in Garrettsville, this county, where he remained nineteen years, hav- ing as a partner, during the last ten years of that period, his brother Samuel S. At the death of his father in December, 1855, our subject succeeded him as Director of the Portage County branch of the State Bank of Ohio, holding the position until the bank was closed. He was prominent in the management of the First National Bank of Ravenna from the time of its organization, and was mainly influential in the erection of the Etna Block in Ravenna. He was actively identified with many other public and private enterprises which have contributed to the building up of the interests of Ravenna City and Portage County generally. Mr. Beecher was married, September 21, 1857, to Miss Laura, daughter of N. D. Clark, Esq., of Ravenna. She died March 12, 1858, and our subject was afterward united in marriage, July 23, 1861, with Miss Rachel, daughter of Maj. John and Jane (Wilson) Shannon, of Youngstown, Ohio, where she was born October 10, 1835. She completed her education with a three years' course under the instruction of the late President James A. Garfield at Hiram College. Mrs. Beecher was successfully engaged in teach- ing in the Union School of Ravenna two years previous to her marriage. Mr. Beecher departed this life April 16, 1870. His loss was deeply mourned by a large circle of friends won by his generosity and uniform kindness.

C. L. BELDEN, M. D., Ravenna, was born August 23. 1818, in West Farmington, Trumbull Co., Ohio, where his parents, Harvey and Martha Belden, were among the earliest pioneers. Our subject received his education in the academy at Farmington, Ohio, and attended medical lectures at the Eclectic Medical College, Philadelphia, Penn., where he graduated in 1859. He prac- ticed his chosen profession at West Farmington until 1862, at Chardon, Geauga Co., Ohio, until 1871, and at Braceville, Trumbull Co., Ohio, until 1876, and then located in Ravenna. Here he is recognized as a scientific physician and famed for his uniform success in combating diseases. September 2, 1839, Dr. Belden married Sarah L. Brown, of Farmington, Ohio, born in Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, who bore him four children, three of whom survive her: Mrs. Elizabeth Pierce, Mrs. Emily Skeels, and Mrs. Abbie W. Thomas. Little Corwin met his death by accident when less than two years old. Personally the Doctor is rather robust, socially a genial companion. By his courteous bearing and skill in his profession he has succeeded in building up a fine prac- tice. In matters of religion our subject entertains liberal views; in politics he is a Democrat. Mrs. Belden died March 13, 1885, after an illness of fifty- one days, during which she suffered more than pen can write. She was a whole-sonled worker at home and in the neighborhood, and was a great bene- factress to the poor and needy. She had a singular presentiment of her demise, even months in advance, and when the time came she faced death with cour- age and left those nearest and dearest to her, expressing to them the sentiment of her life, "Kind words can never die."

PHILO BIERCE, County Recorder, Ravenna, son of Zenas S. and Lucinda (Pinney) Bierce, was born in Stark County, Ohio, in 1844. His father, a native of Connecticut, was a pioneer merchant of Stark County, subsequently was engaged in the manufacture of cheese boxes, and at the close of his life was book-keeper at Windham Center; he also served as Township Clerk for many years. He died in the sixty-second year of his age, the father of follow-

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ing children, all of whom are living: Ellen, wife of M. T. Hill, in Nevada, Mo. ; Alice, widow of W. Waters; and Myra, wife of W. S. Brush, in Batavia, Ill. Our subject learned the carpenter's trade, and in 1861 enlisted in Company A, First Obio Light Artillery. He was struck by a shell at the siege of Knox- ville, Tenn., which carried off his left arm near the elbow and his left leg below the knee. He was taken to the Field Hospital, and in November trans- ferred to Chattanooga Hospital, where he remained until able to journey to the Cleveland, Ohio, Hospital, where he fully recovered and received an honorable discharge in August, 1864. He afterward learned and followed telegraphy until his hearing failed, when he turned his attention to obtaining further edu- cation. In 1872 he joined a colony of ex-soldiers and went to Nebraska, tak- ing up a soldier's homestead claim in Hall County, which he still owns. After remaining there some years he removed to Milwaukee, Wis., and conducted a restaurant until 1876, when he returned to Ravenna, this county, and in the fall of the same year was elected County Recorder. He is now serving his third term. He was married in October, 1879, to Miss Ellen, daughter of Miles Whitney, of this county, and has one child-Amber. Mr. Bierce is a member of Encampment Lodge, I. O. O. F., of the G. A. R., and of the Ravenna Rifle and Shot-gun Team.

ENOS P. BRAINERD is a resident of Ravenna, the county seat of Port- age County, Ohio, and the eldest of four sons of Joseph and Nancy (Post) Brainerd, born in Leyden, Lewis Co., N. Y., November 25, 1814. His educa- tion was acquired in the common schools of Lewis County and the Martins- burg Academy. At the age of sixteen his father died, and it was the wish of his widowed mother that her eldest son be educated in some profession, but preferring a trade he served an apprenticeship at harness-making and carriage trimming. In the spring of 1834 he came to Ohio and settled at Cuyahoga Falls, then in Portage County, where he followed his trade for about five years. August 4, 1836, he married Miss Margaret Wells, eldest daughter of John F. Wells, of Ravenna, this county. In 1839 he removed to Randolph, and in 1843 he was elected Justice of the Peace, and at the October election in 1845 he was elected County Treasurer. In the spring of 1846 he removed to Ravenna, where he has since resided. In 1849 he entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, Samuel Mason, under the firm name of Mason & Brainerd, engaged in hardware, stove and tinning business, which partnership continued until Mr. Mason's death in August, 1852. In 1853 Mr. Brainerd was appointed Cashier of the Franklin Bank of Portage County, was acting Treasurer in 1854, and in 1855 he was elected Treasurer of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company, and re-elected from year to year until 1864, when he resigned, but subsequently served in the same position one year more. On the 12th of July, 1859, he was appointed acting Secretary of this railway company, in which position he served three years. In December, 1864, he was appointed Director of the company in place of William Reynolds, Esq., resigned, and at the next annual meeting in July he was elected member of the Railway Board of Directors, which position, and that of Inspector of Accounts, he held several years. His official connection with the railway company in the positions named covered a period of nearly fourteen years. Mr. Brainerd was also Director, Treasurer and Financial Officer of the Silver Creek Mining & Railway Company in Wayne and Medina Counties seven years, from 1856 to 1863. For many years he was Director of the Portage County Branch of the State Bank of Ohio, and after the death of Mr. Seymour in November, 1863, he was elected its President. After the organization of the First National Bank of Ravenna, he was for several years one of its Directors. He

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History of Portage County, Ohio, Part 95

Author: Warner, Beer & co., pub. [from old catalog]; Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Norris, J. E. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Chicago, Warner, Beers & co. Number of Pages: 958

Author: Warner, Beer & co., pub. [from old catalog]; Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Norris, J. E. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, Warner, Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 958