USA > Ohio > Portage County > History of Portage County, Ohio > Part 99
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WILLIAM KING (deceased). Among the early settlers, and the first of this family who located in this county, was William King, a native of the town of Blandford, Mass., of Irish descent. He moved with his wife and two children, Robert and John B., and arrived in Charlestown, Portage Co., Ohio, in 1811, where he located, bought a farm and resided for several years. Sub- sequently he removed to Ravenna, and commenced keeping the Exchange Hotel on the south side of the Square, east of Court House (now used for busi- ness purposes). Afterward he kept hotel in another building, and remained in that line of business until he retired from active life. He died June 20, 1842, leaving a family of four children: Robert, John B., Eli P., Mary A., now the wife of Dr. A. B. Woodworth, of St. Louis, Mo. His widow, Betsey (Black) King, died in 1853. Mr. King was exceedingly energetic and pushing in business affairs, and left a comfortable property.
GEN. JOHN B. KING (deceased), son of William King, whose sketch appears above, was born in Blandford, Mass., March 30, 1807, and was about four years of age when his father settled in this county. During his youth he attended the public schools of Ravenna and there laid the foundation of a good education. Subsequently he took a classical course in the Western Reserve College. He entertained a desire to become a lawyer, and for some time be was engaged in the study of that profession at Ravenna, though never admitted to the bar. When twenty-three years of age. February 7, 1830, Mr. King was married to Miss Caroline M. Selby, a native of Palmyra, N. Y., and
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a daughter of Judge Ira Selby, from that State. Judge Selby at this time kept the Globe Hotel at Ravenna, and as Gen. King and his young wife's par- ents were both hotel-keepers, it was that business our subject adopted, and he soon after became proprietor of the Exchange Hotel, which he carried on for six or seven years. He then purchased a farm adjoining the village of Ravenna and followed agricultural pursuits, buying and selling stock in con- nection the remainder of his life. Gen. King was a Democrat in politics, and he took an active part in all public affairs. He served the township in some local offices, and was always an earnest advocate and supporter of the educa- tional interests of the county. In religious convictions he was a Universalist, and he assisted largely in the organization of the society in Ravenna, contrib- uting liberally toward it, and furnishing most of the timber used in erecting the present church building at Ravenna. On the construction of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad he was one of the incorporators, a large stockholder and a Director. In his younger days he was an enthusiastic member of the State militia, serving in the ranks, and rose subsequently through every official grade to that of Major-General. During the civil war, at the time of Mor- gan's raid, he organized a company of volunteers called the "Squirrel Hunters," which went to Cincinnati, Ohio, but the emergency having passed over they were disbanded and returned home. This company was made up of men of over forty-five years of age, and each of them received a lithographed "Squirrel Hunter's" discharge, embellished with the portrait and charac- teristic autograph of His Excellency, Gov. Tod, one of which is now in pos- session of J. D. King. His first wife dying in 1852, Mr. King was married the second time, September 18, 1855, to Phebe Warner, daughter of Judge Jonathan Warner, of Jefferson, Ashtabula County, who bore him one child- Flora L. Gen. John B. King died April 2, 1864, leaving seven children in all: William L., Ira S., Joseph D., Henrietta L. (now Mrs. Clinton C. Can- field, of Cleveland, Ohio), Frances B., John B. and Flora L. The widow now resides in Cleveland.
, CAPT. JOSEPH D. KING, a son of Gen. John B. King, was born March 21, 1836, at Ravenna, this county, and passed his youth on his father's farm adjoining Ravenna, during which period he attended the village schools, grad- uating at the Union Schools of that place. Subsequently he attended Tappan Seminary. He read law in the office of John L. Ranney, intending to teach school at intervals in order to obtain the money wherewithal to continue his studies, but his health having failed he was obliged to discontinue his legal studies, and shortly afterward made a visit South for his health, extending
over a period of eighteen months. Returning from Texas in June, the follow- ing September he went to Vassalboro Township, Kennebec Co., Me., where, September 19, 1860, he was married to a former schoolmate at Tappan Sem- inary, Miss Lucy L., daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Homans, of that place, and returned with his bride to Portage County. Two children were the result of this union: Stephen G. O., born December 26, 1867, and Frederick B., born March 5, 1872. He engaged in farming near Campbellsport. The war breaking out in 1861, our subject was among the first to offer his services in defense of the Union, and organized a company of artillery, which was afterward consolidated with Company I, First Regiment Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery, of which he was elected First Lieutenant. They reported soon afterward for service at Charleston, W. Va., on the Kanawha River. In June, 1862, while convalescent at hospital, and some eighty miles inside the Union lines, he and his cousin, William King, were taken prisoner by a detachment of Ashby's Rebel cavalry. They were kept prisoners at Lynchburg. Staunton,
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Va., Salisbury, and from Salisbury were moved to Libby Prison, at which place they were confined ten days, when they were fortunate in being paroled and thus escaped the horrors of that prison. Mr. King was then ordered to Columbus, Ohio, and was put in command of the paroled prisoners' camp, where he remained until his resignation in November, 1862. He then returned home and embarked in the milling business at Campbellsport, this county; also in company with his brother built the Atlantic Mills at Ravenna, and was engaged in this industry two years, since when he has given his entire attention to farming. He owns 100 acres partly in and partly adjoining the village corporation, where he resides. In politics Capt. King is Democratic. He is a member of the Universalist Church.
PETER KING, grocer and provision dealer, Ravenna, was born June 29, 1813, in County Clare, Ireland, where his parents, Michael and Ellen King, resided until their death. Our subject there married, February 15, 1835, Ellen Reidy. In 1848 he came to America to make preparations for his family, then sent for them to join him fifteen months thereafter. After spending some time in Chittenden County, Vt., they came to Earlville, Ohio, in 1851, and finally located in Ravenna, November 9, 1854. Here Mr. King worked about seven years on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, and was about three years engaged in draying. He then established his present business, which he has ever since carried on. Of the eleven children born to Mr. and Mrs. King, two died in the mother country, and four in America. Those now living are Mrs. Mary Carny, Mrs. Bridget Donahue, Mrs. Ellen Gallagher, Mrs. Maggie Hopper, and Elizabeth, a graduate of St. Mary's Academy, Notre Dame, Ind., and who has been for several years successfully engaged in teach- ing. Their son, Michael, was killed in an explosion on the Cleveland & Pitts- burgh Railroad, at Hanover, Ohio, March 11, 1862. He was an upright and promising young man, and left many friends. Mr. King and his entire family are members of the Catholic Church, of which he is one of the pillars, and was largely influential in establishing and building it up at Ravenna.
BERNARD KINNEY, capitalist, Ravenna, was born in Corracloona, County Leitrim, Ireland, June 24, 1830, and there married Miss Mary Gil- bride. They immigrated to America in 1855, came at once to Ohio and settled in Ravenna in about two years thereafter. Here our subject acted as Section Boss on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad for about fifteen years. He opened a grocery and provision store in Ravenna, which was carried on by his family for about four years previous to his retirement from the railroad. He has also been engaged in several successful real estate dealings, purchasing tracts of timber land and developing and improving them. He purchased in 1866 what was known as the old State Bank Building, which he still occupies; besides this he has built and established a grocery store for his son, and he owns several other valuable pieces of property in various parts of the city. He is agent for three Atlantic Ocean steamship companies, viz .: the Cunard, the Williams & Guion and the Anchor lines. To Mr. and Mrs. Kinney have been born ten children: James, Mary Ann (now Sister Cammillus in the Ursu- line Convent, Toledo, Ohio), John, Catherine (deceased), Rose (a teacher in the Catholic school, and organist in the church at this place), Sarah (died Sep- tember 10, 1883), Bernard, Thomas, Agnes and Charley. Mr. and Mrs. Kin- ney and their entire family are consistent members of the Catholic Church. Our subject was the leading spirit in establishing and building up the church at Ravenna.
EDWARD KNAPP, manufacturer, Ravenna, was born January 23, 1820, in Charlestown, this county. His father, Junia Knapp, a native of Connec-
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ticut, went to Northampton, Mass., in early boyhood with his parents. There he married Miss Martha Edwards, and the entire family then came to this county and settled in Charlestown Township, in 1815. The family of Junia and Martha (Edwards) Knapp consisted of six girls, of whom three now live, and six boys, of whom five are now living. Edward, Robert, Dwight, and Mrs. Sallie M. Palmer all reside in Ravenna. The parents moved to Ravenna in 1865, Mr. Knapp, dying October 2 of the same year, and his widow April 30, 1867. Our subject remained with his parents and assisted them in con- ducting the farm. He married, September 15, 1857, Mrs. Charlotte C. Parker, of Chester, Conn., where her father, Ely Dickenson, resided until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Knapp moved to Ravenna in 1860. Here our subject carried on a foundry on Main Street, in partnership with his brothers, Robert, Dwight and Henry, until their establishment was destroyed by fire in August, 1876. Our subject then built the foundry near Pittsburgh depot, which he carried on until October, 1875. He now rents it to the Haley Bros. He established a pump factory in partnership with his brother Robert in 1875, and they have since carried on the only pump factory in Ravenna. They manufacture a com- plete line of suction, force and rubber bucket pumps. Their goods have an excellent reputation, and are sold throughout Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and other Eastern and Southern States. Mrs. Knapp is an adherent of the
Baptist faith. Mr. Knapp is a F. & A. M. Robert Knapp was born April 8, 1828. He married Elizabeth Carson, October 4, 1854. Their children are Mrs. Clara A. Linton and Arthur D.
W. S. KRAKE, Postmaster, Ravenna, was born in Jefferson County, N. Y., in 1840, son of James and Sally (Wadsworth) Krake, natives of New York State (both deceased.) James Krake, who was a manufacturer of fanning- mills in Jefferson County, was prominently identified with and was an officer in the State militia. Our subject was but twelve years of age when his father died. He enlisted in 1862 in the Fifth New York Volunteer Infantry, receiv- ing promotion to Second Lieutenant, in which rank he was discharged at the close of three years' service. He participated in the battles of Shenandoah Valley, at Winchester, and in the general skirmishes, serving most of the time, however, on detailed duty. He came to this county soon after the war and engaged as salesman in a dry goods and clothing business. In May, 1869, he was appointed Assistant Postmaster at Ravenna, and in April, 1873, was promoted to be Postmaster by President Grant, occupying the position to the present time. Mr. Krake was married in Lewis County, N. Y., in 1861, to Amelia U. Mitchel, who bore him one child-Florence M., an active assist- ant to her father. Mr. Krake is a F. & A. M., a member of the I. O. O. F. and R. A.
JAMES LIKENS, farmer, P. O. Ravenna, was born October 17, 1816, in Brighton, Beaver Co., Penn. His parents, Thomas and Juda Likens, came to this county in April, 1838, and after living three years in Rootstown Town- ship finally settled across the line in Ravenna Township. Thomas Likens was a soldier of the war of 1812, and followed the occupation of iron molder before locating here. He was one of the old-time Democrats, and took an active part in public affairs. He served the township as Trustee one term. He died February 12, 1872, aged eighty-four years. His widow followed him May 20, 1880, in her ninety-fifth year. They were pious members of the Lutheran Church. Of their nine children, six are now living: James, Lewis, Thomas and Mrs. Alvira Hartle, in Ravenna Township, this county; Mrs. Emma J. Hartle, in Rootstown Township, this county, and Josiah, in Iowa. Our subject married, March 6, 1851, Miss Mary M. Caris, born July 15, 1828, and daugh-
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ter of John and Elizabeth Caris, of Rootstown Township (now deceased). To this union have been born three children now living: Ellery O., James Calvin and Hattie Minerva. John W. died in infancy, and Mettie M. died at four- teen years of age. Since their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Likens have resided on the farm which they now own. Here they have a fine property of eighty acres of well-improved land. Mr. Likens is a consistent member of the Lutheran Church. In politics he is a life-long Democrat.
ISAIAH LINTON, civil engineer, Ravenna, was born September 29, 1817, in Washington County, Penn., where his parents, Mahlon and Ann (Hillis) Linton, resided until their death. At eighteen years of age our subject entered the engineer service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, on which he was engaged for four years. He was then employed on the Pittsburgh & Con- nellsville Railroad until 1847, when he came to Ohio and entered the service of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Road as Assistant Engineer, on which he has since remained. In 1840 Mr. Linton married Miss Victoria Dutton, of Wash- ington County, Penn. She died in 1844, leaving one daughter-Mrs. Ellen Galway, of West Virginia. Mr. Linton afterward married, in 1849, Miss Mary Riley, of Brownsville, Penn., and in 1852 they settled in Ravenna, where they have since resided. Their children are William H., Luther (deceased) and Edith. William H. married Miss Clara Knapp, of this place. He has also adopted the profession of civil engineer, and is engaged on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad with his father. Mr. Linton has held the position of Trustee of Ravenna about four years; has been on the Board of Education two years; has held the office of County Surveyor from 1862 to 1864, and was mainly influential in the establishment of the Ravenna Gas Light & Coke Company, of which he has been President since it organization in 1873. In politics our subject is a Republican.
SQUIRE ELEAZER LORD, dealer in real estate, Ravenna, was born December 17, 1823, in Norwich, Conn. His parents, Lynds and Priscilla (Potter) Lord, natives of the same place, lived in Fairview, Erie Co., Penn., from 1829 to 1836, and in Ellsworth, Trumbull (now Mahoning) Co., Ohio, from 1836 to 1858. Lynds Lord died in April, 1856, and in 1858 his widow and the family came to Ravenna. Here the mother died in March, 1876. They raised a family of nine children: Mary A., died in 1871; Rev. Nathan L., was a graduate of Hudson College and a missionary to the East Indies (he died in New York City in January, 1868); Mrs. Carrie P. Bingham, in Santa Barbara, Cal .; Rufus, in Durand, Ill .; Charles F., in Chicago, Ill .; David H., was born December 5, 1827, married Henrietta F. Bingham September 29, 1853 (their children are Mrs. Laura A. Sanford, in Le Sueur, Minn .; Helen H., Ginevra J. ; Frank L .; Mary B., and Hattie G. Mr. Lord settled in Ravenna in 1873, where he has been chiefly engaged in dealing in real estate); Eleazer; Laura; A., died in Ellsworth in 1851; William Thomas, died in St. Louis in 1859. Our subject received his education in the academies at Ellsworth, Ohio, and Fredonia, N. Y. He married, April 8, 1865, Miss Mary, daughter of Thomas and Mary Lewis, of Palmyra, Ohio. They have one daughter, Lydia C., and one son, Louis E. Squire Lord has been for sixteen years a very successful dealer in real estate. He was elected Justice of the Peace in July, 1872, and again in April, 1876. In politics he is a Republican. Mrs. Lord is a mem- ber of the Congregational Church.
BYRON B. LOUGHEAD, A. B., M. D., Ravenna, was born January 29, 1847, in Charlestown Township, this county. His father, Richard W. Lough- ead, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Hiram Township, this county, and here married Miss Maria Foster, daughter of the pioneers, Eliakim and Wealthy
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Foster, of Mantua Township, this county, and who came from Williamstown, Mass., to this county, in about 1835, residing in Mantua the remainder of their lives. Our subject's parents resided in Charlestown Township, this county, about thirteen years, finally settling in Windham Township in February, 1858. The mother died January 28, 1884; the father still resides in Windham Cen- ter. Our subject, after receiving instruction in the schools of the home dis- triet and the academy in Windham and attending two years at Hiram College, entered upon a course of study at Oberlin, Ohio, and graduated from that institution with the degree of A. B. in 1875. He supported himself entirely by teaching between the sessions. He held the position of Principal of the high school at Tallmadge, Ohio, two winters. After his graduation he at once entered upon the study of medicine under Dr. T. C. Miller, of Cleveland, Ohio, Professor of Obstetrics in the medical department of the University of Wooster, Ohio, at which institution he took the degree of M. D. February 28, 1877. He then located in the practice of his chosen profession in Windham, this county. In January and February of 1883 he took a post-graduate course in the New York Polyclinic. In September, 1884, the Doctor established in Ravenna, where he has rapidly built up an influential practice. He is genial and courteous in manner, and is recognized as a skillful and scientific physi- cian. Dr. Loughead married, October 31, 1878, Miss Mary Alvord, of Bolton, Conn., and they have two children: Charles Foster and Mary Alvord. Mrs. Loughead graduated in the ladies' course at Oberlin College in 1874. Our sub- ject and wife are members of the Congregational Church, the Doctor having joined at Windham when but eighteen years of age.
DARIUS LYMAN (deceased), born at Goshen, Litchfield Co., Conn., July 19, 1789, died at Cleveland, Ohio, December 13, 1867, aged seventy-six years, five months. He graduated at Williams College in the class of 1810. Soon after he entered the law school at Litchfield, then under the charge of Judge Gould, where by diligent application to his studies he soon won the respect of his distinguished teacher and all those who were associated with him. After leaving the Litchfield Law School he went to Pittsburgh, Penn., and in order to more fully perfect his legal studies he spent several months in the law office of Hon. Henry Baldwin, subsequently one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States. In the spring of 1814 he came to this county, was admitted to the bar, and established himself permanently in his profession in Ravenna. He was soon appointed Prosecuting Attorney of the county, and in 1816 was elected to the lower branch of the Legislature for two years. In 1828 he was elected to the State Senate, where he served two terms ending in 1832. In the fall of the latter year he was the anti-Masonic candidate for Gov- ernor, and was defeated by Robert Lucas by a small majority. Judge Lyman has ever been regarded one of the pioneer lawyers of Portage County. Although not a brilliant advocate, his thorough knowledge of legal principles, his unswerving integrity and love of justice gave him great influence with both court and jury, which made him a formidable competitor. For some years he was in partnership with the late Hon. Luther Day. Judge Lyman acquired an extensive practice in Portage and adjoining counties. His well- balanced, clear and discriminating mind, inflexible uprightness and unsullied purity of heart won the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. He was an ardent friend of education, and for many years an efficient member of the Board of Trustees of the Western Reserve College. He early identified him- self with the Free Soil party, and in 1850 was elected to the State Senate on that ticket. This was his last service as legislator. In 1855 he was elected Probate Judge of Portage County, was re-elected and occupied the position
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until 1864. After retiring from the Judgeship he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he lived to the time of his death. Our subject was twice married. He was the father of six children, some of them dying young. His eldest son, Prof. Darius Lyman, for nearly twenty years has held an important position in the Treasury Department at Washington, D. C. Henry D. Lyman, his grandson, is now Second Assistant Postmaster-General. His daughter, Laura, is the widow of the late Hon. William S. C. Otis, of Cleveland, Ohio. The other surviving children are Mrs. Mary L. Hood, of Minneapolis, Minn., and Mrs. Anna L. Woodworth, of St. Louis, Mo. In all his relations as a citizen Judge Lyman was a worthy exemplar; opposed to all forms of oppression, he was ever guided by the highest principles of honor and rectitude; his heart and hands were ever ready to do all in his power to preserve peace and order in the community and to improve and elevate society.
JOHN S. MARVIN, dealer in lumber, Ravenna, was born in Lancaster, Niagara (now Erie) Co., N. Y., May 30, 1831. The family are descended from the well-known Marvins, first settlers at Saybrook, Conn. His immediate ancestors for four generations were residents of Litchfield County, Conn. His great-grandparents died of small-pox contracted from Burgoyne's Army, then passing through the country. His mother died in Lancaster, N. Y., when he was four years of age, and his father returned to Connecticut, where he resided until his death. Our subject learned the shoe-maker's trade under the old apprentice system, in Litchfield County, Conn., and came to Ravenna, Ohio, June 25, 1855. After spending two years in traveling in Kentucky and Ten- nessee, he finally settled here in 1857, and was in the boot, shoe and leather business until 1867. Here he married, November 20, 1859, Miss Sarah M. Woodruff, daughter of Chancy and Perlina Woodruff, who came in 1830 from Hartford, Conn., to Atwater Township, this county, where Mrs. Marvin was born April 30, 1837. To our subject and wife have been born eight children: Anna L., Fannie C. (deceased), Charles L., Lydia Perlina, John C., Edward W., Rollie Hutchuson, William Bray. Our subject and wife have resided in Ravenna since their marriage, with the exception of fifteen years (1867 to 1882) spent on a farm in the western part of the township. Mr. Marvin pur- chased an interest in the lumber yard with Robert Smith in 1874. Our sub- ject, wife and eldest daughter are members of the Universalist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Marvin were kindly remembered by their numerous friends on the twenty-fifth anniversary of their wedding, November 20, 1884, on which occa- sion they received many beautiful and valuable presents.
JOHN MEHARG, attorney, Ravenna, is a native of County Down, Ire- land, where he was born in 1839; son of James and Margaret (Bingham) Meharg (both now deceased) who immigrated to this country in 1852, and located on a farm at Canfield, Ohio. Here our subject was brought up and his early education was obtained in the Mahoning Academy at Canfield, where he began the study of law, but in 1862 he entered the army as Sergeant in Company H, One Hundred and Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving to the close of the war. He shared the fortunes of the Army of the Cumberland, joining the forces of Sherman in his memorable march to the sea, and after passing through the grand review at Washington, D. C., was mustered out. He resumed the study of law with S. W. Gilson, of Canfield; was admitted to the bar in 1865, and formed a partnership with Taylor and Horton that was continued until 1872, when he was elected Clerk of the Courts, in which capacity he served nine years. His relations with the same firm were renewed and continued until the death of Mr. Horton in September, 1882, since when he has been associated with Judge Taylor, of Warren, Ohio. Mr. Meharg was
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