USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio, from 1808 to 1908, Vol. II > Part 50
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SOLOMON CULVER, SR.
Solomon Culver, Sr., was one of the pioneer settlers of Richland county whose name is inseparably interwoven with its history. Different branches of the family had various traditions concerning the original American Culver ancestor. The name Culver, according to a reputable etymologist, is from the Middle English "culver," Anglo-Saxon culfre or culufre, which is supposed to come originally from the Latin columba or "dove." Hence it was originally a nickname when used as a surname, and was applied to an individual as a term of tender personal affection. Colver was an early variant of the name, and was used by Chaucer in his Legende of Goode Women. Families of Culvers and Colvers are found both in England and America, but the fact that the name found its root in the Anglo-Saxon culfre is suffi- cient to establish Culver as the more ancient orthography. In the early colonial muster rolls and archives of the Revolutionary war the name was also spelled Culvor, Cullver, Cullever, Colver, and even Calver.
It is easily proven that the greatest number of Culvers in the United States are descendants of Lieutenant Edward Culver (or Colver), the Puritan who was born in England about 1610, and with a party of Puritans under John Winthrop went to Massachusetts in 1635. He settled in Dedham, was a noted soldier of the Pequot war, and was afterward a leading man of the Connecticut colony and the progenitor of various branches of the family in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, New Jersey and Penn- sylvania. There are certain branches of the family that claim a French ancestry, and there is a tradition, not sufficiently established, however, that Solomon Culver, of Richland county, was descended from a Prussian ancestor who spelled the name Kaulvers, and that succeeding generations Anglicized it to Culver.
Solomon Culver, Sr., was born August 18, 1760, on Chestnut Hill, in Litchfield county, Connecticut. About that time there was quite an exodus of Connecticut families to the neighboring colonies of Vermont, Massa- chusetts and New York, and the Culvers became residents of what in colonial times was called Spencer township, Albany county, but which since 1786 has been in Columbia county.
It was in the village of Spencertown that Solomon Culver resided while in the state of New York. In the spring of 1777 he was enrolled as a private in the state militia and served under Captain Ebenezer Benjamin in the Seventeenth (Kings District) Regiment, commanded by Colonel William Bradford Whiting. At one time he was transferred for a short service to the company of Captain John Salisbury of the same regiment. During the years 1777 and 1778 Solomon Culver was called out for tours of duty under Cap-
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tain Benjamin on several occasions at the period of the anticipated invasion of New York by Burgoyne and on account of frequent alarms produced by the fear and danger of hostilities on the part of the Indians, but he was not engaged in any important battles. He served, however, as a guard during the transportation of stores by wagons from Fort George to Fort Edward and was in the retreat from Burgoyne toward Saratoga. He was "invalided" in the service, and in 1832 was allowed a pension by the United States govern- ment.
About 1785 Solomon Culver married Lodamia Burr, daughter of Samuel Burr, Sr., and Christiana (Cadwell) Burr, of the township of Farmington, in Connecticut. Lodamia Burr was born in 1764, and was descended from eminent ancestors in both the paternal and maternal lines, tracing the line back to Benjamin Burr, of Hartford, Connecticut, the founder of the family in America. Her mother was Christiana, daughter of James and Sarah (Merry) Cadwell, and was married to Samuel Burr, Sr., December 28, 1752.
In 1789 Solomon Culver and his young wife removed to Pennsylvania, settling in the beautiful Wyoming valley, a few miles from Wilkes-Barre. There they resided for almost twenty years, and the majority of their thirteen children were born there. In 1807, however, Solomon Culver resolved to seek a home in the Ohio country, which was then being rapidly settled by emigrants from the Middle and New England states. He located near the present village of Fredericktown, in Knox county, but at the outbreak of the second war with England, because of the fear of Indians, he and many of his neighbors went to the adjoining county of Richland, where he and William Ayres, a relative by marriage, entered the southeast quarter of sec- tion 4, township 20, range 18, comprising one hundred and sixty acres, on the 11th of June, 1813. The land records of Richland county show that Solomon Culver owned many broad acres in Washington township, and also had land on the southwest quarter of section 3 and the northwest quarter of section 10. A large part of this property he disposed of by deed to his chil- dren and neighbors between 1818 and 1834. He resided on the southwest quarter of section 3, Washington township, on the state road, a few miles south of Mansfield, and it is claimed that on this place the first sawmill in Richland county was erected about the year 1816.
In 1814 Troy township, including what is now Washington township, was organized, and at the first meeting of the citizens after the organization, on October 4, 1814, Solomon Culver was chosen one of three trustees, and was again chosen at the second election April 3, 1815. Washington township, named in honor of George Washington, was organized March 4, 1816, and at the first election Solomon Culver, Sr., was chosen chairman of the board of trustees. His life in Washington township was quiet and uneventful. He lived like an old-time patriarch, the center of a large family group, until his death, which occurred April 2, 1835, in his seventy-fifth year, just six months after the demise of his wife, Lodamia, who passed away October 3, 1834, in her seventieth year.
Solomon and Lodamia Culver were parents of thirteen children, twelve born ere their departure for Ohio, while the youngest child, Frederick Burr
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Culver, was born in Fredericktown, Knox county, Ohio, about 1808 or 1809. John Culver, the eldest son, was connected with his brother William in the conduct of a large dry goods business in Louisville, Kentucky, until the firm dissolved in 1837, when he returned to Ohio and followed farming and land surveying. He afterward lived in Galesburg, Illinois. He married Martha Post, and their children were Alexander, Lemuel, Austin, Emeline, Charles Post, Albert and Martha. Of these Dr. Charles Post Culver was for some time private secretary to the late Hon. A. H. Stephens, of Georgia. In 1861-2 he was a surgeon in the Confederate army, but ill health forced his resignation. For a time he practiced medicine in Baltimore and Washington, D. C., but later became a practitioner of law, which he found more congenial to his tastes. He removed from Washington, D. C., to Tacoma, Washington, where he died a few years ago, and his wife, Katharine, died April 7, 1889.
Calvin Culver, second son of Solomon Culver, Sr., married Lodamia Case, and their children were Sterling, Caleb, Sarah, Julia Ann, John, Chauncey, Solomon and Alvira. Calvin Culver came from Luzerne county, Penn- sylvania, to Troy township, Richland county, in the summer of 1812, and at the first citizens' meeting after the organization of the township, held October 4, 1814, he was chosen as the first constable. Prior to 1816 he re- moved to Washington township.
Russell Culver, third son of Solomon Culver, Sr., wedded Mary Post, sister of his brother John's wife. Their children were William, Phoebe Ann, Elizabeth, Rachel, Burr, Jefferson, Lena and Emeline.
Jacob Culver, fourth son of Solomon Culver, Sr., married Susanna Buss, and their children were Jesse, Catharine, Lydia, Lucy, Eleanor, Nelson, Aaron, Susanna, Emily and Laura. It is said that the parents were married in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1809, and in 1815 they came to Ohio and en- tered the northeast quarter of section 10, Jefferson township.
Solomon Culver, Jr., son of Solomon Culver, Sr., married Nancy Arnet, and their children were Eleanor, David, Selena and Cyrus. Of these children David came into possession of his father's farm, besides having many acres of his own, all of which he bequeathed at his death to his two daughters. The house which he occupied is still standing and appears just as it did nearly one hundred years ago when he first located on the old state road in 1815.
William Edward Culver, sixth son of Solomon Culver, Sr., was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, July 3, 1803, and was about five years of age when his parents removed to Knox county, Ohio, whence the family came to Richland county about 1812 or 1813, settling a few miles south of Mans- field, on the old state road. As the boy grew up he determined to carve his own fortune, and before attaining his majority left home and went to Paris, Kentucky, where he entered into a business partnership whereby he obtained a certain per cent of the profits. Later he formed a partnership with Heze- kiah S. Elgin, of Fayette county, Kentucky, in the dry goods, hardware and grocery business, and after four years thus passed he became a partner of Isaac R. Barrows, continuing in the same general line until his marriage-a clause of the partnership agreement stipulating that the marriage of either
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party should dissolve the business relation. He then opened a store in Cen- terville, Kentucky, and at the time formed a partnership with John Kirk- patrick at Lexington, Kentucky, in the wholesale and retail grocery business, but Mr. Kirkpatrick died soon afterward.
While in Centerville, Kentucky, William E. Culver was commissioned postmaster of the town May 10, 1825. In 1829 he removed to Cynthiana, Kentucky, where he opened and conducted a dry goods store until July, 1831, when he removed his business to Louisville, Kentucky, establishing a whole- sale dry goods house in partnership with James W. Craig, employing at times as many as eighteen salesmen. In 1836-7 he delivered forty thousand dollars worth of goods by flat boat, which went from Louisville down the Mississippi to New Orleans. He also built the old Jefferson House of Louis- ville, which was later destroyed by fire at a total loss. In 1839 he became an exchange banker and broker, conducting a private banking business until October 3, 1857, the year of the great financial panic. He was very successful, being rated as one of the three wealthiest citizens of Louisville at one period. During his later years he lived retired and died in Washington, D. C., March 12, 1876. In politics he was always a Democrat. He was a councilman in Louisville for a number of years, a director in several banks and railroads and a large landowner in Louisville, Cincinnati and Jeffersonville, Indiana, besides having many acres of unimproved land in Missouri, Tennessee and other states. Although living many years in a southern state he was a stanch advocate of the Union cause, and did not hesitate to express his sentiments upon occasion, even in the midst of an overwhelming southern majority. He was married twice. His first wife was Martha Hawkins Craig, born November 24, 1805, a daughter of Samuel H. Craig, of Kentucky. Their marriage took place June 15, 1826, and they had the following children: Lemuel H., James Edward Allen, Pauline Ann and Mary. Of these children Lemuel H. and James E. A. died young, while Pauline was married March 24, 1853, to Dr. Robert Vaughan, and Mary became the wife of Major A. L. Symmes January 20, 1857. William E. Culver's second wife was Jane Mcclintock, born in Philadelphia December 23, 1833, a daughter of Matthew and Susan (Appleby) McClintock. Of this marriage, which occurred in Baltimore, Maryland, January 9, 1868, there was one child, Frank Barnum, born in Baltimore November 12, 1868. He entered the public schools of that city, was graduated from the City College on the 28th of June, 1886, being second honor man in his class and receiving at the same time the annual prize awarded by the New Shakespeare Society of England for the best critical essay upon a Shakespearean play. He entered the Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore in the fall of 1886 and was graduated June 13, 1889, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, being sixth in a class of thirty-six. He is cashier of the American Bonding Company, of Baltimore, Maryland, and prominent in the business circles there. He wedded Mary Catharine Spicer, daughter of the late Dr. Hiram L. Spicer, of Baltimore, and they have one child, Francis Edward Culver, born June 13, 1899.
Frederick Burr Culver, seventh son of Solomon Culver, Sr., married Adela Kendall, daughter of Hon. Amos Kendall, of "Kendall Green," Wash-
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ington, D. C., who was postmaster general from 1835 until 1837. This marriage took place in 1839, and the wife died in May, 1851. Frederick Burr Culver received his first name, according to family tradition, from an odd and amusing circumstance. He was the youngest child of Solomon and Lodamia Culver, and was born during their residence in Fredericktown, Ohio, about 1808 or 1809. According to this tradition there had never been a male child born in the town up to that time, and so when it became known that a child was expected the principal men of the place waited upon the parents, requesting "if it should be a son they would name it Frederick, after the town," and promising in this event to present the boy with a silver cup. The request was complied with, but it became a joke in the family that "Fred got the name but he never got the cup." The children of Frederick B. and Adela Culver were William and Edwin Kendall Culver. At the outbreak of the Civil War these youths entered the Confederate service in the Chesapeake Battery of the Fourth Maryland Artillery. William was killed April 2, 1865, at Fort Gregg, near Petersburg, and Edwin K. married Mary Osborne, of an old East Shore Maryland family, and had two daughters.
There were six daughters in the family of Solomon Culver, Sr. Clarissa became the wife of Ephraim Bull, and her children were Ephraim, Jefferson and Van Buren Bull. Rhoda Culver was married September 3, 1819, to William Chapman, son of Deacon Nathaniel Chapman. They had six chil- dren and lived at Sharon, Ohio. Lodamia Culver became the wife of Thomas Edginton, a lawyer, who resided in Mansfield, and their children were Martha, Thomas, Henry, Mary and Harriet. Elizabeth Culver became the wife of William Ayres, and their children were Burton, Elizabeth and William N. The last named resided at Elizabethtown, Illinois, and was a member of the Illinois legislature in 1871-2. Orpha Culver was married to Arunah Pierson, had two children, Lodamia and Philemon, and lived in Morrow county, Ohio. Fannie Culver, the youngest daughter, was married to Andrew Coffinberry, the first county recorder (1813), the first law student in Mansfield, the first schoolteacher in Madison township and the first justice of the peace.
JACOB MOTTAYAW, SR.
Jacob Mottayaw, Sr., a successful agriculturist residing on section 35, Weller township, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, September 7, 1830, his parents being Jacob and Rosena Mottayaw, both natives of Germany. The father came to Richland county, Ohio, in 1835 and here rented land for two years, while subsequently he purchased a tract of fifteen acres, on which he made his home until called to his final rest. His demise occurred November 19, 1878, and his wife passed away on the 19th of November, 1871. Their family numbered four children, namely: Jacob, of this review; Caroline, whose birth occurred in 1834 and who is now deceased; Katherine, the wife of C. Bradley, of Indiana; and Philip.
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Jacob Mottayaw acquired his education in the common schools and re- mained under the parental roof until he had attained mature years. He then learned the blacksmith's trade and followed the same for thirteen years. On the expiration of that period he purchased the farm on which he resides, comprising two hundred and twenty-four acres on section 35, Weller town- ship, while subsequently he bought thirty-five acres more. He has a com- fortable home.
In 1863 Mr. Mottayaw was united in marriage to Miss Jane L. Osbun, whose birth occurred in Weller township, May 14, 1827, her parents being Jacob and Rachel Osbun, both of whom are now deceased. The father came to this part of the state when it was but a wilderness, locating in Weller town- ship, Richland county, as early as 1814. Mrs. Mottayaw, who was one of a' family of eight children, passed away on the 9th of April, 1899. She left five children to mourn her loss, namely: Jacob, Jr., of this county; Luella R., the wife of Perry Kohler, of Richland county; Mary C., at home; Rhoda C., who is the wife of E. L. Horn and makes her home in Mansfield; and Artie J., the wife of H. O. Doolittle.
Mr. Mottayaw gives stalwart allegiance to the republican party and the cause of education finds in him a stanch friend. He has served as elder in the Lutheran church, of which both he and his wife have been faithful mem- bers for twenty-five years. He is well known and highly esteemed throughout this county, where he has now made his home for more than the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten, and receives the veneration and respect which should ever be accorded one who has traveled thus far on life's journey and whose career has been beyond reproach.
E. S. NAIL.
Among the many institutions worthy of special mention, there are some always more deserving than others. Some are born of purely selfish motives, only to meet a fate which all such institutions deserve. Others are the product of circumstances and are born to meet the necessities and the demands by the public. These are opportunities that practical business men make use of and are the foundation of institutions of great merit and respectability.
Early in the year 1895, through the influence of the Union Association of Lumber Dealers of the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Pennslvania. a committee was appointed, of which E. S. Nail, of Mansfield, Ohio, was chairman, to ascertain the amount of fire insurance carried by the members of this association, the premiums paid during the previous year, and the losses sustained. It was found that the members of this association who reported to the committee were paying what they thought was a higher rate for the insurance on their property than they should in proportion to the amount of losses sustained to the premiums received. It was also found that the expense ratio of other companies insuring the members of this association was out of proportion when compared with the expenses necessary for the
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proper conduct of their business, and this, together with the loss ratio, in- creased the cost of their insurance beyond what they thought they should be called upon to bear.
In view of this, the committee recommended the organization of a company on the mutual plan, dealing direct with the owner of the property, eliminating all expense except that necessary to properly conduct the business. As a result, in October, 1895, a company was organized, known as The Lumbermen's Mutual Insurance Company of Mansfield, Ohio, to insure the property of lumber dealers in the United States and Canada, charging the same rate as that of other companies, and, after paying losses and expenses and putting aside a reasonable proportion of the earnings for a contingency, to return to the members of the company the balance as dividends.
Upon the completion of the organization of the company, which re- quired no little time and considerable expense, E. S. Nail, of Mansfield, Ohio, was elected president and manager, he having had a long experience in the lumber business, eminently qualifying him for the position to which he had been called. Calling to his assistance other lumbermen to become members of his board of directors, he demonstrated a degree of perception and knowledge of men that has greatly aided him in the prominence to which this company has now attained.
Deserving mention in this board of directors are B. F. Weybrecht, of Alliance, Ohio; G. W. Campbell, of Toledo, Ohio; W. S. Parker, of Findlay, Ohio; F. D. Torrence, of Xenia, Ohio; J. W. Frankeberger, of Mansfield, Ohio; H. D. Henry, of Athens, Ohio; D. W. Dobbins, of Lima, Ohio; S. F. Wolfe, of Athens, Ohio, and B. F. Packard, of Warren, Ohio, all men prom- inently identified with the lumber interests of the state, the latter two being deceased.
This company has grown rapidly almost from its first inception, occupy- ing at first an office in what is known as the Odd Fellows building on the east side of the park. Outgrowing its quarters, it moved to what is known as the Dickson building, corner Third and Walnut streets, there to remain for a period of about five years, when the growth of the company necessitated a further change. After a very careful consideration by the executive board, and an examination of desirable locations in and about the city of Mansfield, they were induced to purchase the old residence property consisting of some thirty acres of ground, formerly owned by the Hon. George W. Geddes. Here the company after extensively remodeling the dwelling, which was a substan- tial structure, to meet the growing demands of the company moved into what is now their present quarters, the early part of the year 1906. It was thought after the improvements had been made they would be ample for the needs of the company for many years to come, but so rapid has been its growth, doing business in every state and territory in the Union, that the present quarters have become entirely inadequate. After moving three times and rebuilding once, they are now engaged in further enlarging their present office, which they have greatly outgrown.
There is no more conspicuous place about the city of Mansfield, than that occupied by their office. We doubt if there is a location anywhere in
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the state that equals it. The wealth of nature is in keeping with the finan- cial standing of this company. It cannot be said that the company has been selfish in retaining a large amount of its earnings, for they have returned in the years in which they have been operating to the members of their com- pany, as dividends, nearly a half million dollars. It is a distinction that this company is permanently located in the city of Mansfield, in which the citizens should take pride, for it is one of those organizations that was not the outgrowth of any selfish or personal motive, but purely to bring relief to one of the greatest industries of this country-the lumber trade.
The company does not do a general insurance business, and it cannot be said that they are selfish by so doing, for to demonstrate the purpose of the company it was necessary that the business in which they were engaged, bear its own burden, which has resulted in great benefit to the members by decreased cost in fire insurance.
Deep and broad has the foundation of this company been laid, for it is not for the present, nor those who are now actively engaged in the lumber business, that this company seeks to benefit only, but the generations to follow.
This is but a brief history of one of the permanent institutions of Mansfield, and one deserving of special mention.
CYRUS GATTON.
Cyrus Gatton, residing on his farm on section 12, Jefferson township, was formerly an extensive landowner of this county and was also engaged in the stock business to a considerable extent. He was born in a log house in Jefferson township, August 28, 1838, his parents being Isaac and Hettie M. Gatton, who came to Richland county in 1812. He obtained a common- school education, pursuing his studies in a log schoolhouse, and he remained with his father until he attained his majority.
Mr. Gatton began farming upon a part of his father's home place. At the age of sixteen years he commenced breeding Merino sheep, starting with only three, and has since devoted considerable attention to that industry. During his boyhood wool was worth sixty cents per pound and during the Civil War sold for one dollar per pound. He entered his sheep at the first fair held in Mansfield and carried off the first prize. His fine Merino sheep have been shipped all over the country, and he has also bought and shipped cattle and hogs as well as sheep, starting in that business in 1865 and continuing it for nearly twenty years. He handled about fifty carloads annually, Bell- ville and Butler being his shipping points.
Since then Mr. Gatton has engaged in farming and at one time was the owner of seven hundred acres of valuable land, all in Richland county, but is now farming only one hundred and sixty acres on section 12, Jefferson township, having distributed the remainder among his children. He has placed many improvements upon his farm and is well known as one of the
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