USA > Ohio > Erie County > History of the Fire lands, comprising Huron and Erie Counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers > Part 55
USA > Ohio > Huron County > History of the Fire lands, comprising Huron and Erie Counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers > Part 55
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Af. Thomas
MRS. A. J. THOMAS.
A. J. THOMAS.
Andrew J. Thomas was born in the town of Exeter, Otsego Co., N. Y., Feb. 3, 1832, and was the sixth son of George and Adaline Thomas, both of whom were of New England ancestry, and who settled with their parents in New York State, while quite young, and engaged in farm- ing,-an occupation which most of their descendants have followed.
Mr. Mason was united in marriage to Miss Orcelia S., daughter of Asael and Susan Allen, of the town of Edmes- ton, Otsego Co. They had three children,-Don J., the only surviving child; Mary B., who died at the age of eight years ; and a son, who died in infancy.
Mr. Thomas' early teachings all ineuleated the lessons of industry and economy, which were more commonly aeted upon by the youth of his generation than those of a later, and he believes that whatever of success he has made in life is attributable largely to the early training that he had upon these subjects. Like too many farmer boys of his time, he had only the most limited advantages and oppor- tunities of securing an education, never attending any other than the common district schools during the winter terms, after lie was eight years of age. Arriving at manhood, he realized the importance of a wider information than he possessed, and resolved to secure it by those varied and val- uable means fortunately afforded those whose school-days have been few. Ile became a practical and persistent reader of books and newspapers, and, being naturally of a reflective, discriminating turn of mind, gleaned from many sourees an education perhaps more thorough and beneficial than he would have secured from dry text-books.
The same laudable ambition that made him desire im- provement mentally, led the young man to seek the better- ing of his condition in other respects, and he followed an actively industrious course of life that led naturally to a state of prosperity, plenty, and comfort. Ile accumulated, through well-directed effort and untiring labor, the property upon which his pleasant home is at present, -- a fine farm,
consisting of about three hundred aeres of fertile land, lying five and a half miles south of the county seat, and upon which he has made all of the improvements, except building the old portion of the house, a cut of which appears upon another page of this work. This farm is under a high state of cultivation, and one hundred aeres are free from obstruction of any kind, and presents a beauti- ful appearance.
He has, from the commencement, turned his attention particularly to the breeding and handling of sheep and cattle, making the former his specialty, and has met with a marked degree of success in this line of farming. Mr. Thomas is justly deserving of credit for his course as an agriculturist and stock-raiser, and may well be proud of what he has attained. He is one of those farmers who take pleasure in the performance of their labor, and in leading a wholesome, independent life. While he works hard, he has a feeling of pleasure in seeing the results of his labor, and the consciousness, which all men of his elass should have, that farming is something more than a merely menial calling. He is a strong believer in the dignity of labor, and, holding to the theory that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well, he has put it into practical effeet. In a broad sense he has carried out the principle involved in the wise old adage,
" Ho who by the plow would thrive, Himself must either hold or drive."
All that he has, he has acquired by hard labor. Ile began with nothing but his hands, and his career of success, through honest hearty effort, affords an example worthy of the emulation of every young man who must begin for him- self the battle of life. He is really a self-made man.
In polities, Mr. Thomas is a Republican, having cast his first Presidential vote for John C. Fremont. He has ever been an earnest advocate of the principles of that party, and is regarded as one of its leading supporters in Bronson.
SHEEP BARN.
RESIDENCE OF A.J. THOMAS, BRONSON TP., HURON CO.,O.
22 9
HISTORY OF HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES, OHIO.
Bellevue and Clyde, and the family moved to York township in Sandusky county. Reuben Pixley, Sr., died in 1834, in the township of Milan. While at work at Hnron, he was attacked with cholera, and in company with an acquaintance, by the name of Brown, started for his home in York township. While passing throngh the township of Milan he became unable to proceed further, and with some difficulty found shelter in a farm-house, which the family abandoned for the sick man to die in. He lived only a few hours and was buried on the place, by his companion, who carried the sad news to his family.
The son, Rueben C., married a daughter of Joseph Read, of Norwich township, in 1828, and settled in that township. They both died in 1830.
Nathan Sutliff, originally from Hartford, Connec- tient, moved into Bronson from Cayuga county, New York, in March, 1817, and settled on lot No. nine, section three. His son, George Sutliff, now lives on the place. He died on this farm in the fall of 1864, aged seventy-five. Loretta Sutliff, his wife, died in May, 1859, aged sixty-six. There were eight children, six of whom are now living, viz. : Samuel, Mary, Loretta, and George, in Bronson; John, in Fairfield, and David, in Greenwich.
William W. Beckwith and family moved in about the same time and settled on the east part of lot six in the third section. He died here August 5th, 1861, aged sixty-eight.
In 1818 Thomas Hagaman and family, from Cayuga county, New York, took np their abode on lot No. eight, section three. He died in this township, at the age of seventy-nine, August 5th, 1851. His wife survived him some ten years. There were three children, John, James, and George. The first is dead; James is blind, and George is a paralytic.
The first settlement in the fourth section was made by Robert S. Southgate, of Barnard, Vermont. He first came to Ohio in the winter of 1815 in company with Caleb Keith, Carlos Keith, Joshua Freeman, and Jonathan Fish. They journeyed from Vermont to New Lisbon, Ohio, in a sleigh; thence in a wagon to Springfield (the snow having disappeared), where a sister of Southgate was living. They brought with them their provisions, which consisted of half a bushel of baked pork, chickens, bread, a box of cigars, and eight gallons of potato whisky. South- gate engaged at brick-making near Marietta until the next October, when, in company with Caleb Keith, he returned to Vermont. The next fall he moved out with his family, which consisted of his wife, his father, Stewart Southgate, and Samuel and Lucy Taft, his adopted children. Nathan Keith and family came at the same time. They stopped with the Fays in Norwalk township until Judge Southgate could put up a house in Bronson. He built on lot No. forty-one in the fourth section. In January, 1817, he went on foot to the State of New York and purchased of Tilly Lynde something over two thon- sand acres. The tract cost him, including the ex-
pense of the survey and partition, about two dollars and sixty cents per acre. Judge Southgate was a man of superior ability and high character, and his influence was always on the side of good order, edu- cation, and morality. He was the first magistrate in the township, and was seven years Associate Judge of Common Pleas for Huron County. He died in Bron- son May 9, 1838, aged sixty-four, and his wife, Anna Keith, died May 2, 1846, aged sixty-six. Stewart Southgate, the father of Judge Southgate, died in this township in the year 1820.
Nathan Keith, about a year after his arrival, was injured while at work in Carkhuff's saw-mill in Green- field, which resulted in his death shortly afterwards.
Caleb Keith, who came out with Judge Southgate in 1815, as elsewhere mentioned, moved his family out the next year from New Hampshire, and settled in New Haven, and resided there a few years and then moved to Bronson and built a house on the hill, a short distance east of the present residence of R. S. Danforth. He did not purchase, but soon after re- moved to Florence township, Erie county, and there purchased a farm and settled. Carlos Keith married, April 22, 1824, Elvira Pond, daughter of Munson Pond, who moved into Peru from Knox county the year previous. Keith settled on lot number thirty- four, in the fourth section, but afterward traded his farm for one-fourth interest in the mills of Southgate and Pond, a short distance south of Macksville, in Pern. He then took up his residence where Henry Williams now lives.
Major Eben Guthrie, from Genoa, Cayuga county, New York, came into the township in the summer of 1817. He purchased fifteen hundred acres of Judge Southgate, eleven hundred on the south part and four hundred on the north part of section four. He built his house where that of Abijah Nichols now stands (lot forty-two), and the next year his family came on. Major Guthrie died on this place October 20, 1835, aged eighty-five. His daughter, widow of Henry Terry, who, with her husband, were long residents of Bronson, now lives in Norwalk with her son.
Prince Haskell came into the county in 1817. His family came in 1819. They lived for a few years in New Haven township, and then moved to Bronson, locating where Mr. Nye now lives, near the west township line in the fourth section. They afterwards moved on to the farm now occupied by Mr. Thomas, in the first section, and subsequently built a mill on High Bridge creek. Mr. Haskell was a valuable accession to the infant settlement, being skillful in making the various implements and tools so necessary to the set- tlers and so hard to get in the early days-such as plows, harrows, sleds, scythes, etc. His death oc- curred in January, 1849. His father, Prince Haskell, Sr., died in Peru in the spring of 1841, at the age of cighty-two. Ile was in the military service of the United States during a part of the Revolutionary war, and was afterwards taken a prisoner by the Indians while at work on his farm in Massachusetts. He was
230
HISTORY OF HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES, OHIO.
taken to Canada and given up to the British, by whom he was thrown into prison and confined about a year, when he was released. He suffered many cruelties during his captivity.
Jabez Deming, originally of Sandersfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, moved to Bronson, with his family, from the State of New York, in the spring of 1817, and settled on lot number twelve, in the third section. He had previously been in the town- ship, and with Martin Kellogg and Jasper Under- hill, assisted Almon Ruggles in surveying the third section. Jasper Underhill, and his brother David, subsequently began on lot thirteen. Jabez Deming moved to Norwalk in 1872, where he died the follow- ing fall. Several children are living, but none in Bronson.
Amos Deming, brother of Jabez, came to Bronson from Livingston county, New York, in March, 1818, performing the journey on foot. He was then eigh- teen years of age. He purchased fifty acres of his brother, for whom he worked for a few years. June 10, 1821, he married Fanny Wetherell, of Livingston county, New York, and moved on to his farm in Bronson. In 1850 he moved to the center of town, where he now resides. His wife died in 1850, and he subsequently married the widow of James Ford.
Among the early pioneers of Bronson was Ezra Herrick. He was a native of Vermont, born April 25, 1770, and married, August 22, 1790, Catharine Lott, who was born February 19, 1763. He removed to Bronson in January, 1819, and settled on lot ten, of the third section, erecting his cabin a short distance south of the present residence of A. E. Lawrence. Here he spent the remainder of his life. He died December 24, 1853. Mrs. Herrick died July 12, 1842. The family consisted of nine children, seven boys and two girls, as follows : Joel, Orpha, Ezra, Lott, Ann, Ephraim, Abel, Gideon and Isaac. Lott came to Bronson in 1818, and married, in the fall of the same year, Lola Sutliff, which was the first wedding in the township. Mrs. Beckwith, living in Cincinnati, aged eighty-three, and Ephraim Herrick, in his eighty- third year, are the only surviving members of the family. Mr. Herrick resides in Bronson, on the same lot on which he settled with his parents so many years ago, making his home with his son-in-law, A. E. Lawrence. His wife (formerly Electa Webb) died April 28, 1876, aged seventy-five years. Mr. Herrick says the wolves, in the early settlement of the town- ship, were numerous, and extremely troublesome, often killing the sheep of the settlers under the very walls of their cabins. They killed for his father one night, in a pen within four rods of the house, two of his little flock, and left another with its hinder parts deunded of flesh. He (Ephraim) determined on having some sort of satisfaction for the outrage, built a rail pen the next evening, about twenty rods from the house, in which he tied a live sheep as a decoy, and in the door set a large bear-trap. The follow- ing morning he found in the trap, not a wolf, but
the sheep, with a leg broken. This was not the kind of satisfaction the young man was after. He car- ried home his sheep, cut off the broken limb, and substituted a wooden one. The next night he took another sheep for a stool-pigeon, and set the trap outside of the pen, in the path the wolves had made in their tramp around the inclosure the previous night. The next morning he found the trap gone, and with his rifle he followed its track about a mile eastward, when he came upon a large gray wolf among some bushes, with the trap_attached to his leg. He shot him, took off his hide, which he carried to the county clerk, and received his bounty of three dollars. Mr. H. afterwards, with a trap, captured a young wolf, which he carried home alive.
Jonas Leonard came in with Major Guthrie and subsequently married his daughter and settled in the southwest corner of the township, where his widow (second wife) now lives. His first wife, Abigail, died in 1837, aged twenty-nine. Mr. Leonard was a man of intelligence and a most worthy citizen. He taught the first school in the township of Peru. He died in March, 18:3.
Henry Terry settled on lot thirty-seven, in the fourth section, in 1819. He married a daughter of Major Guthrie. He died October 2, 1843, aged forty- seven, and his widow quite recently in Norwalk, at an advanced age.
Edward L. Cole moved into Bronson from Scipio, Cayuga county, New York, in 1821. He had visited the township previously and worked for awhile for Major Guthrie. He settled in the fourth section, where his son Joseph now lives. He died June 15, 1859, aged sixty. Mrs. Cole still occupies the place, making her home with her son. She is now seventy- six, and is a woman of more than ordinary intelligence and strength of character.
Lemon Cole came out with his brother Edward when the latter first came. He returned to New York, and subsequently married and moved to Bron- son about the year 1824, settling on lot number thir- ty-three. He died on this place in 1861, and there are none of the family now in the township.
Daniel Brightman, formerly from Massachusetts, came to Ohio in February, 1823, and located on lot number five, section three, where the widow of the son Alvan now lives. Ile died on this place in 1851, aged seventy-seven. Mrs. Brightman died many years previous. There were eight children, of whom there were two pairs of twins. Mrs. Jonas Parks (widow) now living in Norwalk, is the only surviving member of the family.
Aro Danforth came from Vermont to Bronson on foot, in his twenty-first year, arriving in December, 1824. He had learned the carpenter and joiner trade i. Barnard, Vermont, and followed it here until 1861 or '62. Hle has built, and aided in building, about one hundred framed houses in this region, mostly in Bronson and Peru. He married, in 1828, Miss Lucy Taft, who came to Bronson with the family of Judge
THOMAS LAWRENCE.
Thomas Lawrence, eldest son of Samuel Lawrence, was born in South Salem (now Lewisboro'), Westchester Co., N. Y., May 8, 1794. His father was born in Fairfield Co., Conn., Jan. 25, 1760. At sixteen years of age he commenced service as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was in many engagements at the closing of that strug- gle. His father, Capt. Samuel Lawrence, settled at South Salem, Westchester Co., N. Y., some time previous to the struggle for liberty, and served through many engagements as a commissioned officer. The Lawrence family are of English descent, and, so far as known, were members of the Presbyterian Church, Capt. Lawrence being an official member of that body.
Our subject removed from South Salem, N. Y., to Huron Co., Ohio, in 1833 ; commenced keeping house in a rude log cabin, without any floor in it, three-quarters of a mile west of the village of Olena. He soon after purchased the farm now owned by his son, George B., located onc- half mile west of Olena, on which he ever after lived. He was thrice married : first, to Clemence Reynolds, Nov. 27, 1823, who died Nov. 14, 1830; second, to Ada Bishop, May 24, 1831, who died March 25, 1843, leaving no family ; third, to Drusilla Stone, May 9, 1844. By the first union was born three children, viz. : John, born Oct. 17, 1824, died Dec. 25, 1860 ; Lucinda, born June 16, 1826, died March 16, 1843; Alonzo, born Sept. 9, 1830, and married, Jan. 1, 1856, to Lois Morse. The result of this union was four children, viz., Thomas, Daniel, Edwin, and Mary. George B., son of Thomas Lawrence and Dru- silla Stone, was born June 7, 1846, and married, Feb. 8, 1869, to Emma J. Green ; to them were born three chil- dren, two of whom are living, viz., Clara and Martin.
Thomas Lawrence was a millwright and carpenter pre- vious to his removal to Ohio, but, having taught school in his early manhood, was noted as an extensive reader and cogent thinker. For forty-six years he was a helpful
member of the Presbyterian Church, and was greatly es- teemed for his benevolence to the needy, and his integrity in the business relations of life.
It is related of him that his conscientious regard for the sanctity of the Sabbath once lost him the purchase of a farm at a good bargain, because he declined to converse on the subject on the holy day. He died at his home in Bronson, Iluron Co., Feb. 22, 1877, at the ripe age of eighty-three years. His wife survives him, and resides on the old homestead with her son, George B.
Ono night, as I lay sleeping and slumbering on my bed, A vision then appeared,-a dream came in my head : The awful day of judgment I thought had surely come, The Judge himsolf was there, to summon old and young.
I heard mysolf called forth by tho trumpet loud and shrill : " Arise, yo sons of men, let your deeds bo good or ill !" I trembled as I listened, with sorrow, grief, and woe ; But could not be exempted ; to judgment I must go.
I had not long been thero until Satan camo ; I thought He came as my acenser, and all my sios he brought ; He laid theto beforo the Judge, and claimed me for his own, I felt my crimes wero great, and exclaimed, " I am undone !"
The Judgo then sweetly said, " I'll quickly end the strife ; I'll see if the sinner's namo stands in the Book of Life." Then the Book of Life was brought, the Judge did it unfold, And the siunor's name was there in letters wrote in gold.
The Judge thon gravoly said, "O Satan ! Satan ! stay ! The singer's name is here, his sins are washed away." Then Satan, trembling, roaring, and in a dreadful fright, Ile said unto tho Judge, " Thoso inditings aro not right."
The Judge then sternly said, "O Satan, do not lie; Thou knowest very well that for sinners I did die. I died for my chosen ; their sins were laid on me ; In vain dost thon accuse them, they are secure from thec."
Composed by Thomas Lawrence, about 1832.
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HISTORY OF HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES, OHIO.
Southgate in 1816. Mr. and Mrs. Danforth first set- tled on the farm now owned by Albert Crane, in the south west part of the township, but six or seven years afterward sold and moved to Peru township, taking up their residence half a mile south of Macksville, where he resided until the spring of 1876. Since then they have lived with their son, Robert S. Danforth, in Bronson. They are aged respectively seventy-five and seventy-two.
Frederick Sears and William Gregory, and their families, came from Cayuga county, New York, in 1827. Sears settled on lot thirty-one, in the fourth section. He was subsequently elected Judge of Com- mon Pleas and removed to Norwalk. Gregory settled on the lot adjoining Sears, on the south, and lived there the remainder of his life. His son, Munson Gregory, resides in Bronson. His widow lives with a daughter, in Norwalk.
Martin Hester, with his parents, settled in Colum- biana county, Ohio, in the year 1807. He married, November 30, 1809, Mary M. Stongh, and at the close of the war of 1812 settled in Orange township, now Ashland county. He removed to Bronson in the year 1827, and settled near the west line of the township, where his son, Martin M. Hester, now resides. He died in that place Jannary 31, 1870, at the ripe age of nearly eighty-three. surviving his wife about seven years, They reared a family of five children, all of whom are living, as follows: John S., in the township of Norwich; Eliza W. (Mrs. Savage) in Berea; Sam- uel, in Anderson, Indiana; Matthias and Martin M. in Bronson. The latter is the best authority on the early history of Methodism in this region, and has written some interesting sketches on that subject for The Norwalk Reflector.
ยท George Lawrence and family moved in from Genoa, Cavnga county, New York, in September, 1831, and settled on lot number nineteen, section four, where he and his aged wife now reside. Mr. Lawrence has been deacon of the Congregational church of Peru for about forty-five years. His brother Timothy Law- rence came from the same place and settled on the lot adjoining in the sonth in 1833. He subsequently moved to the township of Norwalk and resided there for a time, but finally came back to Bronson and now occupies his original purchase.
William G. Mead, his wife and one child, his wid- owed mother and two sisters from the same place, ar- rived in the same year. Mr. Mead settled where he now resides on lot seventeen in the fourth section. His mother (Mrs. Worthington) is yet living, and has reached the advanced age of ninety years.
The first settlers on the old State road in this town- ship were David Cole, Abijah Rundell and Nathan Tanner. They came to Ohio from Cayuga county, New York, with their families, in the spring of 1815, and remained in the township of Avery (now Milan) until 1817, when they moved into Bronson. Cole made his location on lot sixteen in section three. He resided here some eight or nine years, and then, his
wife having previously died, he returned to New York and joined the Shakers, and his children be- came scattered. His oldest son Hylas was killed in 1825, by the fall of a tree. He was in the woods cut- ing down a tree, from which, in falling, a large limb was broken off, striking him on the head, and causing instant death.
Mr. Rundell settled on the north half of the lot seventeen, next south of Cole. He was a native of Dutchess county, New York, and was born June 19, 1776. He married Betsey Parker, of Cayuga county, New York, from whence he removed to Ohio as previously stated. He died June 19, 1842.
Of their family of seven children but two remain, viz. : Mrs. J. D. Knapp and Rial Rundell, both in Bronson; the latter living on the old homestead.
Mr. Tanner located on the south half of lot seven- teen. He removed from the township a number of years after.
The next settler, south on this road, was Daniel W. Warren. He was a native of. New Jersey, but re- moved to the Fire-lands from New York in 1814. He lived for a while on the farm of Ebenezer Merry, Esq., in Milan township, and in 1818, moved into this township, settling on lot number eighteen, section number three. There are three children, as follows: Elisha in Hartland; Adaline (Mrs. C. C. Cadwell), and Charles L. in Bronson. The latter occupies the place on which the family first settled.
David Conger, from Cayuga county, New York, came to Bronson in June, 1819. He came on foot to Buffalo, thence to Sandusky on the first or second trip of the first steamboat on Lake Erie the Walk-in- the-Water. His family followed in the fall, coming with a brother to Buffalo, and from there to Ohio with a Mr. De Witt and family. Mr. Conger settled on the south part of lot number eighteen, where he has since resided. He is now in his eighty-ninth year, and is somewhat feeble both in body and mind. Mr. Conger is a good and worthy man, respected by all who know him. His wife, who was formerly Sally Parker, died March 2, 1875, aged nearly eighty. Mr. Conger served in the war of 1812, and was taken prisoner by the British at the battle of Queenstown.
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