History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 139

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1104

USA > Ohio > Summit County > History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio > Part 139

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).

Penn., and there engaged at his trade fonr years. In April, 1875, he moved to Akron, Ohio, and entered the employ of Charles E. Kidney, as painter, continuing six months, when he again established a paint-shop and successfully carried on business until 1878, when he was elected on the Republican ticket to fill the unexpired term of Jacob Koplin, (Marshal), and was re-elected in the spring of 1879 for two years, and in April, 1881, was again re-elected Marshal, on the Republican ticket by a large majority. Sept. 10, 1861, he married Miss Mary Pauline, daughter of Prof. Pierre A. Gollier, of Cleveland, Ohio. They have three sons living and one daughter de- ceased.

REV. JOHN F. ROWE, minister and jour- nalist, Akron, son of Martin and Mary M. (Als- house) Rowe, was born at Greensburg, West- moreland Co., Penn., March 23, 1827. In his youth, he worked for several years at brick- laying, being master of the trade. In 1839. his father moved to Wooster, Ohio, where our subject prepared for college at Parrott's Acad- emy, Wooster ; and he entered Bethany College in 1850, graduating four years later, receiving B. A. degree. He was editor of the college paper. At 24, he entered the ministry, being ordained by Wooster Church in 1851. In 1855, he went to Springfield, Ill., where he became associate editor of the Christian Sen- tinel, continuing two years, preaching at the same time. In 1857, he went to Oskaloosa, Iowa, where he became associate editor of the Christian Evangelist, being at the same time solicitor for Oskaloosa College for two years, when he came to Wadsworth, Ohio, and was Pastor of the Church of Christ for several years. In 1865, he went to Corry, Penn., and organized a church ; under his administration a church and parsonage were built ; he labored there two years, and then came to Akron, where he has since remained. When his labors closed in Corry, he became associate editor of the American Christian Review, at Cincinnati, Ohio, for seven years. In April, 1874, the Akron Argus, a non-partisan and independent newspaper, was started in Akron, and he was editor-in-chief for a period of about two years ; severing that relation, he was elected editor-in- chief of the American Christian Review, a posi- tion he still retains. It is one of the oldest papers extant devoted to the interest of the

766

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

Church of Christ. In the last twenty years, he has visited the churches of about twenty States and of Canada, being engaged in an evangelical work ; he has been throughout the West as far as Salt Lake City, and South and East. He has brought many hundred persons into the Church. He has written several works on evangelical subjects, and is a public debater of ability. Sept. 28, 1852, he was married to Miss Editha M. Pardee, daughter of Judge Allen Pardee, of Wadsworth, Ohio. He has five children, all at home, viz., Eugene P., local editor of the Beacon; Kittie F. L., Ada .E., Frank E. and Louis F.

THOMAS RHODES, retired, Akron ; is a son of Thomas and Miriam (Garside) Rhodes, and was bom April 18, 1826, in Lancashire, England, seven miles from Manchester. When 7 years of age, his parents came to America, landing at New York on the 10th of April, 1833. Soon after, they came to Massillon, Ohio, where they stopped for a short time, and then settled in Sharon Township, in Medina Co., where his youth was spent. His education was limited to the district schools, and to instruction received from an older brother. About the year 1854, he and his brothers bought a tract of land on "Chuckery Plains," which they farmed until 1859, when they sold out and re- moved to Portage Township, and bought 546 acres of land, which they cleared, improved and drained ; he still owns 280 acres. In 1867, he purchased his present place, consisting of 11 acres, where he has since lived. He has been a careful student, and has gathered a valuable collection of books. In 1865, subject and his brother Samuel went to Panama, to exam- ine there specimens of natural history. Sam- uel was taken sick, and, three days after leaving, died on board the steamship, Jan. 4, 1866, on the way to New York. In 1862, his brother Samuel was drafted, when he took his place, serving about ten months in Co. A, 72d O. V. I., during which time he took part in the siege of Vicksburg. Subject was married Dec. 21, 1876, to Miss Sarah B. Garside, of Wisconsin. He was a Republican from 1860 to 1872, when he joined the Prohibition party, and is now Financial Secretary of the Ohio Anti-Liquor Alliance, and a thorough temperance worker.

N. B. STONE, Secretary and Treasurer of the Weary Snyder Wilcox Manufacturing Com- pany, Akron ; is not only a pioncer of Akron,

but he has for many years been prominently identified with the lumbering interests of Sum- mit Co., and, as a representative and promoter of this branch of the county's industries, his portrait appears in this work. Having for many years acted in concert with those citizens who are first looked to in the forwarding of any local enterprise resulting in the general welfare of the citizens of Akron, his name is worthy of more than a passing mention. A tracement of the genealogy of the family proves the name of that branch of the ancestry of which Mr. Stone is a descendant to be of English origin. He was born Sept. 18, 1816, in Mahoning Co .. Ohio, and was the third child of a family of four children born to Milo and Sarah (Beards- ley) Stone, both of whom were natives of Con- necticut, and who, in the year 1815, quitted their native State, and, with an ox team, made their way westward to the much-talked-of Western or Connecticut Reserve; they settled in that part of Trumbull now known as Mahoning Co., and subsequently removed to Tallmadge Township, Summit Co. ; this, also, at that date, was a part of Portage Co. Their settlement in Tallmadge was in 1817, which at that date was a tract of almost unbroken for- est. By trade, Mr. Stone was a carpenter and joiner, but in that early day there was but little demand for mechanics of any kind ; he there- fore purchased and began the clearing up of a farm, though he devoted a portion of his time to working at his trade. The early settlers of Tallmadge Township being almost exclusively Connecticut people, it was not long before they established educational facilities far surpassing those of the surrounding new settlements ; the result of their efforts in this direction, was the establishing at the Center of Tallmadge an academy of more than the ordinary standard. E. T. Sturtevant, a graduate of Yale College, was for many years their principal instructor, and to him many of the now prosperous and influential men of the Western Reserve owe the foundation of their success, N. B. Stone among the number. To Milo Stone is due a fair share of the credit of thus early paving a way for the education of his children ; the church, however, received his greatest encour- agement and most liberal support ; by his early and persistent efforts, he succeeded in organiz- ing the first M. E. Church of Tallmadge. Such offices as he would accept were given him, and,

767

CITY OF AKRON.

upon the organization of Summit Co., he was appointed one of the Real Estate Appraisers. His death occurred in April, 1856, and that of his wife on Feb. 8, 1861. Nelson B. Stone, after having received a fair education at the Tallmadge Academy, began in earnest the bat- tle of life on his own account ; he spent sev- eral years in West Bloomfield, N. Y., Ravenna, Ohio, and Wheeling, W. Va .; in the latter place he spent two and a half years at book- keeping ; in December of 1840, he came to Ak- ron, and, a short time after his arrival, he ac- cepted the Deputy Clerkship of Summit Co .; he continued to discharge the duties of Deputy until 1851, when he was elected to the office of County Clerk for a term of three years ; he discharged the duties and increased responsi- bilities devolving upon him to the satisfaction of all interested, and, at the close of his term of office, he accepted the position of Deputy County Clerk of Cuyahoga Co., though he con- tinued his residence in Akron ; returning from Cleveland, or rather severing his connection with the official management of Cuyahoga's af- fairs, he became for a time connected with the firm of Aultman, Miller & Co. In 1865, he be- came a partner in the firm with which he is now connected, and in which he has since held the offices of Secretary and Treasurer. Mr. Stone has given liberally toward supplying Akron with the different railroads that are and have been so largely conducive to her success, and, in the building-up of churches and schools, he has been an earnest worker. Both he and Mrs. Stone are members of the First M. E. Church ; in 1843, when the present Sabbath school of the First M. E. Church was organized, with an attendance of thirty-three pupils, Mr. Stone was elected Librarian, and has been of- ficially connected with the school almost con- tinuously to the present date, quite a period of time as Superintendent. He is an earnest, zealous worker in the Sabbath school, and at present is Secretary of the organization. In May of 1852, he was married to Miss Mary H. Clark, a native of North Springfield, Summit Co .; her death occurred in April of 1853 ; the issue of this marriage was one son-Nelson C. -who is now book-keeper for the Weary Sny- der Wilcox Manufacturing Co. In August of 1854, Mr. Stone married Miss Elizabeth H. Beardsley, who was born within the incorporate limits of Akron, and whose people were among

Summit County's early and prominent pioneers. Two children have been born to them-Philo C., who died in 1872, and Dwight M., living at home.

INCREASE SUMNER (deceased) ; was born in Townsend, Vt., Feb. 25, 1800, and was a son of Thomas and Elizabeth Sumner. He lived in Vermont about sixteen years, and then came to Ohio and settled in Middlebury, where his brother Charles was living, and where he lived until his death, Nov. 18, 1868. He was quite a prominent man, was connected with the milling business, was also one of the early merchants of Middlebury, and also a stone con- tractor, and built many of the bridges of the county, and dams in Akron, besides doing mueli stone work on the canal. . In 1849, he fitted up an ox-team, and with a party of six- teen or eighteen men, of whom he was Captain and Treasurer, went to California, arriving in safety. Throughout the trip, he disdained to carry firearms, feeling confident in his own natural powers. Arriving in California, he opened a store in a mining district and con- tinued it for nearly three. years, when he re- turned to Middlebury. When he left, he said he would return in three years to prevent his wife getting a bill of divorce. On his return, the first question he asked his wife was, if the bill had been obtained, and was answered in the negative. This was one of the jokes peculiar to himself. On his return, he devoted his attention to farming, but finally sold his farm and bought a piece of land upon which he opened a stone-quarry, and contracted stone work. He continued in this until his death. He was married March 29, 1837, to Mrs. Miller, formerly Miss Elizabeth Hammel, they have no children. The first marriage of Mrs. S. to Arthur Miller occurred Jan. 29, 1827; she was a native of Ithaca, N. Y., and was born Sept. 21, 1812. Mr. Miller died July 16, 1830, leaving two children, both of whom have since died. In September, 1836, Mrs. Miller came to Ohio and lived in Norton Township with friends of Mr. Miller until the February follow- ing, when she came to Middlebury, and in March was married to Mr. Sumner.

COL. JULIUS A. SUMNER, retired, Akron, whose portrait appears in this history as a representative of that class of the pioneers of Summit County who have been identified with the progress of almost every improvement that

768

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

has placed Akron and Summit Co. among the leading cities and counties of Ohio, is a de- scendant of one of the old and prominent families of the United States. The name of Sumner is familiar to the people from the faet of different members of the family having from time to time held prominent positions in civil and military life. Theirs has been a remark- ably robust, large of stature, and long-lived race of people. An examination of the records traces the genealogy of the family back to 1634, when one George Sumner, who was of the third generation by the name, emigrated from Bices- ter, England, to the United States, and settled at Freeman, Mass. He removed from there to Milton, of the same State, where he was Deputy to the General Court in 1693, 1703, 1708-09. He was ordained Deacon, July 30, 1699, and died at Milton, in 1715. Edward Sumner, of the fourth generation, and son of George, was born at Milton, Mass., Aug. 29, 1676. He lived and died a resident of Massachusetts. John Sumner, of the fifth generation, son of Edward and the grandfather of our subject, was born August 1. 1705. He graduated at Harvard College, in 1723. Nov. 20, 1729, he married Susanna, daughter of Samuel Stevens, of Rox- bury. She died Feb. 2, 1733. In 1737-38 he was Representative from Roxbury. He settled on Martha's Vineyard, where, on Sept. 22, 1738, he married Jedidah Smith. He was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Duke's Co., from 1761 to 1774, when he removed to Spen- cer, where he died in 1787. Thomas Sumner, of the sixth generation, and father of Julius A., was a son by the second marriage of John Sumner. He was born June 2, 1757, and was married at Brookfield, March 9, 1780, to Miss Elizabeth Holland, of the same place. They lived for a time at Spencer, and then went to Townshend, Vt., and in 1817 they removed from there to Middlebury, Ohio, where he died April 19, 1825, and his wife Oct. 10, 1842. Col. Julius A. Sumner, the subject of this brief memoir, was born Jan. 2, 1802, at Townshend, Vt., and from the time of his 14th year he has been almost wholly dependent upon his own resources. At the age of 14 years he went to Boston, and from there across the country on foot to Tyrone, Huntingdon Co., Penn. He remained there for a time, and then started again on foot a distance of 130 miles, across the Alleghany Mountains to Pittsburgh. There

he began work in a nail factory, in the manu- facture of hand-made nails. He remained there until 16 years of age, and then went to the country and engaged in teaching school, which he followed for one year. It may seem im- probable that a boy of this age, and with the meager opportunities for attaining an education that were afforded him, should be able to teach a common school, but it may be as well to state here, that Col. Sumner was a boy of more than ordinary ability, energy and determination, all of which traits of character have in later life placed him in a position far beyond the average pioneer of Summit Co. In the spring of 1818, he began his journey on foot and alone to Middlebury. He arrived there in February, and began in company with his father and brothers the erection of the first rolling-mill in what was then Portage Co. This was for the purpose of rolling strap and bar iron from which to manufacture nails, and to them must be given the credit of making the first market nails ever made in Ohio. In 1824, he married Miss Margaret, daughter of Rev. Obadiah New- comb, of Wadsworth, Ohio. She was a native of Nova Scotia, and was the mother of his children.

About the time of his marriage, the Colonel engaged in the mercantile trade, in which he has since been interested, and stands to-day as the oldest or pioneer merchant of Akron, as he is still interested in business as a member of the firm of Clark & Sumner, grocery- men. When he began business, freights from New York to Middlebury were $12 per 100 pounds. He sometimes ran as many as three stores at a time, but when freights came down to $5 per 100, he found so much competition springing up, that he gave up a part of his mercantile business and opened a woolen-mill. In 1832, his health being somewhat impaired by confinement, he sold his mill and store and moved to the country. He purchased a tract of land, of which he cleared 175 acres the first year. He began farming as he did everything else, on a scale that surprised some of his neighbors. In a short time he owned 1,200 acres, most of which he soon put in a state of cultivation. At this same time, he built a dis- tillery at Lock 17, on the canal, which (the latter) was finished Aug. 25, 1828. He also ran a pottery on his farm, and was engaged ex- tensively at merchandising. As an evidence

769

CITY OF AKRON.

of his executive ability, he was at one time running a farm of 1,200 acres, a pottery, two distilleries and three stores, and at the same time he was Colonel of one of the finest militia regiments in Ohio. He has built many costly buildings in Akron, among which is the Sum- ner House, erected in 1868 and burned in 1876, and immediately rebuilt and enlarged. This fire was a loss to him of $50,000; this, with his previous losses of $75,000, was a fort- une of itself, especially as it was accumulated from a start of $1, and yet to-day he is counted one of the wealthy men of Summit Co. During his early career, the Colonel made eight differ- ent trips East with cattle, and crossed the Alle- ghany Mountains on horseback as many times. He and a brother also were the first shippers of cattle from the Western Reserve to Phila- delphia. Col. Sumner's first wife died in 1849. In 1853, he married the widow of H. Bradley, who was one of the early settlers of the County. They lived together for twenty-seven years, when her death occurred, Oct. 18, 1880. His children are, Charles A., now a prominent merchant of Baraboo, Wis .; Mary, wife of C. Ferguson ; Nellie, wife of J. B. Haughton ; Eliza, wife of E. Stilwell, and Vick, wife of Geo. S. Clark, the Colonel's associate in business. He is still a hale, vigorous man, of commanding appearance, extensive knowledge, and in his matured age enjoying the rich possessions of the fruits of his varied efforts.

EDWARD SUMNER, Akron, a brother of Charles Sumner, was born at Townshend, Vt., June 27, 1796; came to Middlebury about 1817, and in 1818, in connection with his broth- ers Julius and Joseph, built the first rolling mill and rail factory in the State, with which establishment he continued a number of years. He was married at 2 o'clock A. M., Jan. 1, 1822, to Miss Lucinda Hart, a sister to the wife of his brother Charles. He subsequently engaged in merchantile business until his departure, in 1848, for Baraboo, Wis., where he built a large hotel; also the court honse for that county ; he served one term in the Wisconsin Legislature, and, about the close of the war, went to a place near San Francisco, Cal., where he engaged in the hotel business and mining. At an early date he was Colonel of the 5th Ohio Militia, at that time the finest in the State ; he has always taken an active part in Masonry, joining, as soon as age would permit, in the

State of New York, and soon after his settle- ment in Middlebury he organized the lodge by that name, fitting up a hall in his own house, which was used for several years, subsequently, with Judge Spaulding, organized the Akron Lodge.

MISS LOUISE SUMNER, stock-raiser and farmer, P. O. Akron ; the only child of Charles Sumner and Clarrissa Hart, daughter of Rufus and Esther (Cutter) Hart, who were natives of Cornwall, Conn., and migrated to Middlebury about 1815, after a residence of eleven years in the State of New York. She was born May 6, 1796, and died March 30, 1877, after a long and useful life. The Sumners moved to Vermont about 1800 from Roxbury, Mass., where the father of our subject was born, June 6. 1794 ; he resided in Vermont until the fall of 1816, when he came to Middlebury, arriving in the spring of 1817, and was married the June following ; his parents, Thomas and Elizabeth (Holland) Sum- ner, arrived in the fall of 1817. During the early part of his life in Ohio he worked at the clothiers' trade and served the people as a minis- ter of the Gospel; he built the first frame dwelling house in the village of Middlebury, hauling the lumber for the same from Wooster and Cleveland, and raising the frame on the day of his marriage ; he also, in connection with Peleg Mason, kept the first store in the village, and about the same time he built the first card- ing mill, making subsequent extensive additions to the business ; his congregation, until the time of the building of the canal, had grown quite extensive, but was almost totally broken up on account of the ravages of disease at that time, there being only four of his flock left to tell the story which had been so fluently im- parted from the lips of their earnest and ener- getic leader, who rendered great assistance during that dark time to the widows and or- phans, in providing for them-raising and finding homes for the orphan children, and building houses upon his own farm for the shelter of the poor and sick. He was a very enterprising, energetic, successful and liberal man, having, a few years after his removal to this State, purchased a large tract of land in Springfield Township, upon which he kept a large amount of stock of all kinds, and engaged in the business of drover, in which he was very successful, although at many times meeting with several narrow escapes in crossing the mount-

770

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

ains ; his stock consisted of horses, cattle and mules. He moved to the farm, upon which his daughter now lives, in 1834. He was for nine years Associate Judge of Portage County, and was instrumental in the organization of Summit Co., in which he served as Associate Judge from its organization until his death. His death occurred June 22, 1845, his daughter acting as administratrix of the large estate, in connection with John Hart, and, being the only child, became heir to the large amount of prop- erty, which she has managed with great tact and skill since her 20th year. She is a lady of rare ability and business tact, which was un- doubtedly inherited from the father, and by her great love and superior knowledge of all kinds of stock, in which business she has been very successful ; having no little playmates she, in her attention to the pets of the farm and the care of the herds with her father, acquired that great love for the brute creation which she has. She has owned the finest flocks of Spanish Merino sheep in Northern Ohio, having imported some of the finest thoroughbred sheep in the country ; the stock of her horses can be de- termined from the prices sold at, ranging from $500 to $2,000 singly ; she is now dealing in cattle principally. Her coal interests have been very extensive for several years, she realizing from $3,000 to $5,000 annually in royalty from the Middlebury Shaft and the Sumner Bank.

JAMES H. STANFORD (deceased), Akron, Ohio, is a son of William and Jane (Stevenson) Stanford, and was born at Rochester, N. Y., Aug. 29, 1843. When a boy he came with his parents to Akron, where he attended the pub- lie schools and learned the trade of machinist, beginning in a Cleveland shop and finishing in the shops of Taplin, Rice & Co., where he worked until 1868, when he became engineer of steamer in the Fire Department ; he had been a fireman for some time. He filled the position with ability until his death, which occurred Jan. 3, 1881, an event that was deeply felt by the city. He had by close attention brought the appointments of the engine house to great perfection. He was a competent electrician, and was one of the oldest firemen of the serv- ice, having been a member since the organiza- tion of the department in 1866. He served in the late war in Shields' Battery for three years. He was a member of the Buckeye Post, G. A.

R. The following is an eulogy by his old friend and teacher, J. Park Alexander:

To the Past and Present Members of the Akron Fire Department, this eulogy of our dead friend and comrade is respectfully dedicated by his for- mer teacher and constant friend throughout a period of twenty-five years:

On the 1st of April, A. D. 1856, upon promotion, there appeared in the Grammer Department of the Akron High School, a boy small of stature, rugged in appearance, fair in complexion with round visage and rounder head, covered with intensely curled auburn hair, which boy entered into all the labors and tasks of the schoolroom with the same vigor, courage and determination that marked him in after years, in our estimation, as a man. The writer se- lected for him as a declamation in our school exer- cises at that time, "Cutter's Ode," to the sentiment uttered by Henry Clay at the dedication of a monu- ment at Lexington, Ky., erected over the remains of those who had fallen in the battle of Buena Vista, among whom were those of his son:

" And I would cover all its height And breadth before that hour of shame, Till space should fail whereon to write, Even the initial of a name.

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.

History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 139

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848- Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey Number of Pages: 1104

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1104