USA > Ohio > Mahoning County > History of Trumbull and Mahoning counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Vol. II > Part 52
USA > Ohio > Trumbull County > History of Trumbull and Mahoning counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Vol. II > Part 52
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His first trip to the Connecticut Western Re- serve was in 1799. He came out to explore the country, and to see and survey some of the lands that had fallen to him in the drafts of the year previous. That year he aided in the survey of the township of Kinsman, and from this time his life and business were very intimately connected with the early history and settlement of the township. His was the ruling spirit of the settlement. His age, experience, enterprise, wealth, and more than all, perhaps, his practical sound judgment, gave him an influence in the affairs of the town which no other individual could pretend to exert.
While naturally firm and decided in his pur- pose, he was conciliatory in his treatment of others, eminently kind in his feelings and lenient as a creditor.
*From the Mahoning Valley Itistorical Collections.
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His first office in Ohio was that of justice of the peace under the Territorial government. Lo- cal justices were associated to form the courts called quarter sessions. He was one of those who assisted in constituting the government of the first and subsequent county organizations, providing for county jail, and fixing its limits, etc. Under the State government, in 1806, he was appointed one of the associate judges of the county. Also held the office of postmaster from the time of the first establishment of an office in the town to the time of his decease.
His own increasing business, as well as that of many others, now called for increased facilities of trade and commerce, and was the occasion of the establishment of the Western Reserve bank, the first corporation of the kind in Northern Ohio. Mr. Kinsman was one of its principal projectors, and much the largest subscriber to the stock of the company, taking one-fifth of the $100,000 capital. He did not live, however, to see the organization completed.
His business life was one of great activity and toil, riding often on horseback to Connecticut, New York, and Philadelphia, to purchase goods, also over many parts of the Reserve, looking af- ter settlements and sales of land, occasionally camping out nights. Besides, the building of mills, attention to his store, and the clearing and improving of a large farm, brought upon him exposures and cares greater than his somewhat impaired constitution was able to bear. He died August 17, 1813, aged sixty years. He died in- testate, leaving a large estate, for that time, which was administered upon by his brother-in-law, General Simon Perkins.
Mr. Kinsman lived and died in the house which he built on the south side of the square, near where the store and warehouse of Kay & Burrill now stands. A few years after his de- cease the house took fire in the middle of the night and burned to the ground. The family afterwards occupied the old Sutliff house, a little east of the one burned, until John Kinsman, the eldest son of the deceased, built the house now known as the "Kinsman homestead," which was occupied by the family until by death, marriage, or otherwise, their homes were changed.
The widow, Mrs. Rebecca Kinsman, remained there until her decease, May 27, 1854, aged eighty years. Mrs. Kinsman was a woman of 38+
decided and devoted Christian character, of strong mind, and of large heart. She was active in promoting the religious culture of the place, both in word and deed. She gave freely and largely to benevolent objects ; was a liberal benefactor of Western Reserve college in its earlier years, assisted largely towards the build- ing of the Presbyterian and Congregational house of worship, gave the parsonage and grounds to be occupied by the minister of the society, and contributed generously toward an endowment for his support. Her liberal hand, kind advice, and ready relief to those who were in need have often been gratefully remembered and acknowledged.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Kinsman, when they left Lisbon, Connecticut, consisted of the following children : John, aged ten years; Joseph, aged nine years; Sarah, aged five years, died January 13, 1807; Olive Douglas, aged three years.
John, the eldest of the children, soon took the place of " pater familias" in the household, living in the old homestead, which he built. He was married April 28, 1846, to Jane W. Cass, widow of John Jay Cass, and died February 4, 1864.
He was identified with the early settlement of the Western Reserve from his youth; and having uncommon energy and business capacity, he soon became connected with many of the pub- lic and business interests of the day, and devoted much of his time and means to the development of the resources of the country, and adminis- tered largely of his advice and means to the wants of those around him.
In his extended business large credits, for pro- visions and supplies, were freely given to relieve the wants of the early settlers, at a time when such credits were deemed absolutely necessary to their success.
Joseph, after remaining with his father in Ohio assisting in the store a few years, returned to Connecticut, fitted himself for college at the academy at Colchester, and entered the fresh- man class at Yale college in 1816. After three years of close application to study his health gave way, and he was advised by his physician to go South. He spent the winter in the West Indies at St. Thomas and St. Croix, returning with the return of spring. He died of consumption,
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June 17, 1819, and was buried in the old ceme- tery at Norwich, Connecticut. His age was twenty-four years.
Olive Douglas, in 1812, was sent to Norwich, Connecticut, to attend the school of Miss Lydia Huntley, afterward Mrs. Sigourney. From there she went to Hartford, afterwards to Litchfield, where she finished her school education under the instruction of Mrs. Pierce. While in at- tendance upon Miss Huntley's school for young ladies the intelligence of her father's death was received. An only daughter, she was a favorite of her father's, and his death was to her a great affliction.
Returning from school in 1819, she rode on horseback from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, to her home. Unaccustomed to this mode of travel the journey was so severe that it produced a spinal affection, from which she never re- covered. She married George Swift, Esq., son of Hon. Zephaniah Swift, chief-justice of Con- necticut. He was a graduate of Yale college, commenced the practice of law in Warren ; occu- pied, for his first residence, a house on the cor- ner of Main and Franklin streets, where the Anderson block now stands. In 1823 he re- moved to Kinsman, purchased a farm and built a house upon it, which is now occupied by David Bracken. He continued the practice of law for some time, but in the latter part of his life devoted himself mainly to the farm. He was a great reader and an accomplished scholar, very agree- able and instructive in conversation ; was elected a Representative to the State Legislature ; was a devoted Christian, and aided much in the relig- ious exercises, and the building up of the church to which he belonged. He died March 14, 1845, of cancer. Mrs. Swift died June 24, 1835, of spinal affection.
Thomas was the first of the family born in Ohio, August 20, 1804. He was one of the most extensive farmers in northern Ohio. His lands, comprising about two thousand acres, were located in the townships of Kinsman and Gustavus. The fine quality of its soil, well watered by springs and spring-brooks, its good timber, and well arranged farm buildings, made his farm one of the most attractive in the State. It was mostly under fine cultivation; a part being devoted to dairy purposes, the number of cows ranging from sixty to eighty each year ; the
balance to promiscuous farming. His large and well-bred Durham herd constituted at all times a prominent and attractive feature of his business.
His life as a citizen of the town numbers more years than any one that has preceded him, and at his death he was the oldest native inhabitant. His life, from childhood to old age, has been peculiarly marked by kindly relations with all with whom he had to do. Buoyant in spirits, with a strong mind abounding in wit and humor, he drew around him a circle of friends; while his marked integrity, consistent Christian character, and a modesty that withheld him from any as- pirations for fame or official position, rendered him prominent as a counselor and adviser with his neighbors and friends.
Frederick Kinsman, the only surviving mem- ber of the family, now resides at Warren, Ohio.
THE REEVE FAMILY OF KINSMAN .*
Jeremiah Reeve, Sr., was born at Norwich, Connecticut, in April, 1779. His father, Eben- ezer Reeve, was born at Southold, Long Island, August 23, 1751, and his wife, Bethia Hudson, at the same place, about five years after. They were married at Southold, Long Island, in the year 1776, and moved to Morris, New Jersey. This place was occupied at about this time by British troops, and the inhabitants were considerably annoyed by them. For this reason my grand- father thought best to sell the farm which his father had helped him purchase, and remove to Norwich, Connecticut. He after this served as a soldier in the war which had then commenced. My grandmother was removed by death, at their home in Norwich, on January 19, 1786, at the age of twenty-nine, leaving three small children, my father, the eldest, being not quite seven years of age.
Of my father's early years I can speak but very little, being at the time of his death only nine years of age. Being the only son consider- able pains was taken with his education. He pursued the study of medicine, although never practicing. That he had gifts as a public speaker was shown by his being chosen to deliver an ora- tion at Norwich, his native place, on the 4th of
*By Mary D. Reeve.
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July which followed the death of Washington. His allusion to the then recent death of the country's renowned chief and lamented ex-Presi- dent, was considered by his friends quite a happy effort.
That he was possessed of a sense of the hu- morous and ludicrous, and perhaps a little of the waggery which prompts to practical joking, seems apparent from an incident related by deacon Charles Wood, late of Kinsman. He was a fre- quent passenger on boats plying between Nor- wich and New London. On one of these occa- sions, when about meeting another boat, the captain of his boat knowing something of his mirthful propensities, said to him, " Now, Jerry, keep quiet and be civil." My father demurely replied, "I will," immediately picking up a section of stove-pipe near him, turned towards the ap- proaching boat through his improvised telescope a long and steady gaze, which had the desired effect of producing the uproarious applause and merriment of both boat-loads. In 1802, my grandfather having traded his farm in Norwich with Judge Kinsman, for land on the Western Reserve, moved with his two younger children, Deborah, afterwards Mrs. Plumb Sutliff, and Hannah, afterwards Mrs. John Andrews, to their new home in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, my father remaining East a year longer at school. After coming West he engaged in teaching at Hubbard, in this county, where he continued his school for one year. He afterwards engaged in teaching at Wooster, near Marietta, where he became acquainted with and was afterwards mar- ried to Miss Mary Quigley, on November 27, 1808. Their eldest and only child, Ebenezer Reeve the second, was born at Kinsman, Ohio, August 9, 1812. His mother died August 9, 1825. His last visit in Kinsman was about the year 1842. He had previous to this been en- gaged for three years in farming on a farm which he had rented in Kentucky. He promised an- other visit the next year, but did not come. Several years after this news came to us of his death by drowning in the Mississippi river.
The Reeve family for seven generations occu- pied the same estate at Southold, Long Island, which descended through the eldest son, who usually, if not in every instance, bore the Chris- tian name of James.
My grandfather was a younger member of a
large family of brothers, whose posterity scattered and divided over the Union, and possibly with earlier branches of the family in all parts of the world, without doubt share distinguishing marks which denote a common ancestry.
Chief Justice Tappan Reeve, of Connecticut, was a relative of my grandfather, and a sense of equity manifest in his writings display character- istics of mind and heart which my father and grandfather exemplified in daily life.
The psalmist's description of the man " who sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not," from the knowledge which I have been able to gain of father and son would eminently apply to each.
My father died of typhus fever at Kinsman, Ohio, September 21, 1836.
Sarah McMichael was born at Frederick, Mary- land, November 27, 1800. Her children re- garded the date as felicitous, the year commenc- ing the century, and the day of the month and the wcek sometimes being the same as that set apart for our National Thanksgiving day.
My grandfather, Joseph McMichael, was born in Ireland, not far from the year 1750, and was of what is called Scotch-Irish descent. His mother's family had a good estate about three miles from Londonderry, and after his father's death, which occurred when he was quite small, himself and mother returned to their former home.
Annie Masters was born near Dublin, Ireland, some years later. Her father was of English birth, and her mother, Catherine Carroll, of Irish birth, and cousin of Charles Carroll, one of the signers of the American Declaration of Inde- pendence. While visiting my grandfather's rela- tives in London my grandmother became ac- quainted with a wealthy Scotch family, and en- gaged with them as a governess for their children, and soon after sailed with them to America, Charleston, South Carolina, being their destina- tion. She remained with them several years, and then engaged as governess in the family of Judge Bey, of Baltimore, Maryland, where she remained until about the year 1795, near or at the close of the Revolutionary war, when she was married to my grandfather. My mother was not quite five years old, and her only brother, Joseph McMichael, Jr., an infant, when her parents removed to Kinsman, Ohio, in 1805.
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My grandfather, Joseph McMichael, was a trader, and crossed the Atlantic six times in the course of his business, which was shipping linen to this country and flax-seed back to Ireland. On his third homeward voyage his ship was wrecked, and with the survivors he was carried to London by a rescuing vessel, where his mother's family sent him needed assistance, and after visiting home he crossed the sea the seventh and last time. His death occurred in Kinsman, Ohio, July 28, 1831. That of his wife at the same place, February 27, 1845.
My mother lived to a good old age, and filled out the life of usefulness which had been allotted to her with a cheerful patience, meeting the ills of life and infirmities of age with brave com- posure and unyielding fortitude. Her death took place April 25th, 1880. My parents were members of the Congregational and Presbyterian church of Kinsman.
Their home was at some distance from the church, and it was no uncommon sight to sec them on horseback on their way to church on Sabbath morning, my mother with the youngest in her arms and the eldest seated behind her, and my father with two others disposed in a similar manner. In personal appearance my father was rather tall, well formed, with brown hair, a brown beard, blue eyes, and a very fair complexion. He was a fine singer with an excel- lent voice for bass. My mother was a trifle be- low the ordinary height; in childhood her hair was red, but when she grew up it turned black. Her head was handsomely shaped, eyes blue. Her complexion was not as fair as my father's, but very clear and fresh. She was very lady-like and agreeable in her manners, with refined tastes and thoughtful mind. In singing she could not distinguish one note from another, and never attempted singing, although when her children were small, and while she was busy about her work, I have heard her humming in monotones.
My parents were desirous of giving their chil- dren the best advantages for acquiring knowl- edge which the place would afford. Their two eldest, when but "tiny tots," could be seen trudging morning and evening, when the season and weather would permit, on their way to and from school. An infant school, such as is de- scribed in Miss Gilbert's Career, written by the
late Dr. J. G. Holland, was established in the Kinsman village, a mile and a half from home. My parents' two eldest infants managed to be there to take their part in lessons in astronomy, geometry, and other deep sciences, besides doing their share of the marching, singing, clapping of hands, etc., through the greater share of two summer terms. Were all parents as earnest in procuring educational facilities for their children, laws for compulsory education would be useless.
My parents' family consisted of six children : Mary Deborah, born September 5, 1827; Bethiah Hudson, January 29, 1829; Annie Maria, April 3, 1831; Jane Eliza, October 11, 1833; Jeremiah Reeve, Jr., March 15, 1835; James Albert, May 7, 1837. Bethiah H. Reeve was married to Robert Clark at Paris, Edgar county, Illinois, August 10, 1853, and died at the same place April 9, 1854. Their infant daughter died at Kinsman, Ohio, October 6, 1854. Jane E. Reeve and George C. Harding were married November 10, 1854. Their daughter, Flora Krum Harding, was born at Charleston, Coles county, Illinois, in the summer of 1855, and died at Indianapolis, Indiana, August 20, 1874. Their son, Ben Shillaber Harding, was born at the same place, and was the victim of a railroad accident on the Burlington & Quincy railroad, near Ottumwa, Iowa, December 29, 1879, which caused his instant death. Annie Maria Reeve was married to John T. Edwards, of Chicago, Illinois, at Cleveland, Ohio, June 6, 1859. His widow and a son and four daughters survive the father, who died at Benton Harbor, Michigan, February 7, 1873, where his family still reside.
James A. Reeve and Eliza Woolmer were married at Chicago, Illinois, where they now re- side, in December, 1863. Their family consists of two sons and a daughter. Two sons who died in infancy were buried at Benton Harbor, Michigan.
Jane E. R. Harding and John Morris were married at Charleston, Coles county, Illinois, where they still reside, April 16, 1865. Their son, Charles Thomas Morris, was born at Charleston, Illinois, September 13, 1866, and died May 7, 1869. Helen Emily Morris was born September 16, 1870, at Charleston, Illinois. The eldest son and eldest daughter of my parents still reside at Kinsman, their native place. M. D. R.
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SETH PERKINS,
of Kinsman, was born in Hartland, Hartford county, Connecticut, February 29, 1780 ; re- moved to Barkhamsted, Litchfield county, Con- uecticut, at the age of twelve, and at twenty to Canandaigua, Ontario county, New York, where he resided till April, 1804, when he emigrated to Ohio, with his earthly possessions on his back in a knapsack. He worked by the month through the season, and in October was married to Lucy Thompson, daughter of Thomas Thompson, who came to Hartford, Trumbull county, Ohio, the same year from Farmington, Hartford county, Connecticut. It the winter he made a clearing, and built a cabin on the center line of Fowler, near the Vienna line, where he removed with his wife, then eighteen years old, in the spring of 1805, there being at that time only four families in the township, the nearest one mile distant through an unbroken forest. They endured all the hardships incident to so new a country, and made for themselves a home of comfort, humble though it was. At the time of Hull's surrender in 1812 he went with almost the entire male population of the county, to defend the northwestern frontier at Sandusky and Hu- ron, from whence he returned about the Ist of January, 1813, with impaired health. He still resided on his farm in Fowler, which he had im- proved to a fine homestead, planted an orchard, which now by its perfectly straight rows shows his taste and care, and the fences being neat and substantial were an evidence of industry and thrift. In the autumn of 1818 he sold his farm to Abijah Silliman, and in April, 1819, removed to Kinsman, where he resided until February, 1846, when, by a fall, which resulted in concus- sion of the spine, he died three days thereafter. His family at the time of his settlement in Kins- man consisted of himself and wife, six daugh- ters, and one son, and afterward another son and daughter.
DR. PETER ALLEN.
Kinsman has had no citizen more honored and useful in his calling than Dr. Peter Allen. He was born at Norwich, Connecticut, July 1, 1787, the son of John and Tirzah Allen. His father was a respectable and well-to-do farmer of Norwich, and gave his son the best advantages
of education which the city at that time afforded. He pursued and completed his professional stud- ies with the eminent Dr. Tracy, of Norwich, emigrating to Kinsman in 1808, and immediately entering on the practice of his profession. He was the first, and for nearly a quarter of a century the only physician in the township and a some- what extensive surrounding country. Possessed of an uncommonly robust constitution and great energy of character, he endured hardships and performed an amount of labor in his profession which in these days of bridges, good roads, and short rides might seem almost incredible. It was nothing uncommon for him in the early set- tlement of the country to ride over bad roads and along mere bridle-paths ten, fifteen, twenty or more miles to visit a patient, often fording streams or crossing them on logs or by canoes, exposed to wet and cold, fatigues and discom- forts that we are now little able to appreciate. In his day the advantages of medical schools, hos- pitals, clinics, dissections were enjoyed only by a very few physicians. Notwithstanding the dis- advantages with which he had to contend, Dr. Allen attained a high standing in his profession. He performed many difficult surgical operations, such as the operation for strangulated hernia, ligating the femoral artery for aneurism, laryn- gotomy, lithotomy, removal of cancers, amputa- tion of limbs, and at the shoulder-joint, etc. He stood high in the esteem of medical men, and his counsel was much sought by them in difficult cases of both medicine and surgery. He was an active member of the Ohio State Medical association from its first formation, and was at one time its presiding officer. In the War of 1812 he had the first appointment of surgeon in the army on the northern frontier of the State. He was also a member of the Ohio State Legislature in 1840.
He married Charity Dudley, of Bethlehem, Connecticut, May 15, 1813. Mrs. Allen, a superior and most estimable woman, was for many years a great sufferer. Her death was sudden, she having been thrown from the car- riage in which she was riding, by the fright of her horse, June 1, 1840, and lived only a few hours after. In 1841 Dr. Allen married Miss Fanny Brewster Starr, a niece of Mrs. R. Kinsman and General Simon Perkins. She died of consump- tion in August, 1846. Dr. Allen had but one
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child, Dr. Dudley Allen, born in June, 1814.
The first office of Dr. Allen was in his father's yard, on the farm now occupied by Isaac Allen, by the maple grove on the banks of Stratton creek. This he occupied until the fall of 1813, when he moved into a double log-house which stood in the yard in which he built his frame house in 1821. This latter was in the time of its erection and is still a beautiful house of elaborate and superior workmanship. It was much admired and cost $3,000, which was then considered an extravagant sum.
His brother, Dr. Francis Allen, was in company with him from 1825 to 1829, and his son from 1837 to 1852, at which time he mostly relin- quished practice. The farm on which he lived was purchased in 1812 for $2 per acre.
Dr. Allen is remembered by those who knew him, not merely as a skillful physician, but also as an active and steadfast member of the church of Christ. When his business permitted he was always present in the house of God on the Sab- bath. A regular attendant at the weekly prayer- meeting, and in the latter part of his life was an active member of the Sabbath-school.
After having relinquished the business of his profession he was almost the standing representa- tive of the church in meetings of synod, and at the meeting next succeeding his death was spoken of by that body in terms of high regard. Only a few months before his last sickness he repre- sented Trumbull presbytery as their lay delegate in the general assembly, at Dayton. He retained full possession of his faculties though advanced in life, and his Christian example shone bright unto the end.
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