History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 10

Author: Upton, Harriet Taylor; Cutler, Harry Gardner, 1856-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago ; New York : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 886

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Rev. Elijah Ward, father of Elijah A. Ward, was one of the pioneer clergymen of the Methodist Episcopal church in the West- ern Reserve and was widely known as "Old Father Ward." From a history of the Lake Erie Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church it is learned that Father Ward was ad- mitted to the New England Conference in 1801, and that he became a deacon in 1803. He was finally ordained an elder by Bishop Asbury, one of the honored figures in the history of Methodism in America. This ordi- nation took place in 1827. This sterling pioneer preacher came to the Western Reserve in 1822, and his home was established in Lake county, as has been indicated in preceding

paragraphs. He gained wide repute as a preacher of the old-school type and was a valued worker in the early camp-meetings held for revival purposes. It is related of him that at a meeting of this character held in 1824 he preached with such fervor and force, using as his subject the "Holy City," that at the close of his appeal it seemed that practically the whole assembly ground was covered with prostrate mourners or penitents. He continued to live near Willoughby until the time of his death, which occurred in 1858. He was born in Massachusetts, as was also his wife, who likewise died on the old homestead in Lake county.

Rev. Elijah Ward preached with all of zeal and courage among the Mormons, or Latter Day Saints, at the time when they had estab- lished themselves in the Western Reserve, and it was in large measure due to his denunciation and repeated attacks that they were finally compelled to leave this section, a number of years prior to the hegira to Utah. Mr. Ward was not a man of academic education or lit- erary talent, but he had an alert and logical mind, was well informed and was a close and appreciative student of the scriptures. His style of preaching was severe and somewhat wrought and austere, as he was trained in a stern religious atmosphere, but none could doubt his sincerity nor his desire to win to his fellows the boon of eternal salvation. He was original in expression and thought, powerful in invective and well versed in the use of sarcasm. He continued to be a strong speaker even in his old age, and he continued to preach until the infirmities of age rendered this impossible. Though stern and perhaps intolerant, he was at heart sympathetic and kindly, and when this side of his nature was revealed he drew others to him by closer ties than he did when exercising his ecclesiastical functions.

Concerning the children of Rev. Elijah Ward the following data are entered as ap- propriate to the record here perpetuated con- cerning this honored pioneer family. Due in- formation concerning the eldest son, Elijah Allen Ward, has already been given. Elliott Ward came to Lake county after the other members of the family had here located, and he continued to reside on his farm near Wil- loughby until his death, when an octogenarian. His sons Jonathan and Elijah became repre- sentative farmers of Lake county and the former still resides in Willoughby township.

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Elijah died in 1908, when over eighty years. Hiram, youngest son of Elliott Ward, enlisted in the Union service at the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion and died in Libby prison. Gridley Ward, the next son of Rev. Elijah Ward, finally removed to the west, where he passed the remainder of his life. Wealthy, the eldest daughter, became the wife of Hiram Brown, and both died in Lake county. Their son, Watson Hiram Brown, now resides in Willoughby. Hannah became the wife of Cyrus Ingersoll and lived in Willoughby until her death, when past the age of eighty years. She was well known in this section of the county, where she was long engaged in the millinery business. She was a woman whose weight of body as well as of mind made her especially impressive in personality. Sally Ward became the wife of Arial Hanson and both were residents of Willoughby at the time of their death. Arial Hanson, son of William and Persis Hanson, was born in Deerfield. Massachusetts, in 1800, and when twenty-one years of age he came to Ohio and located in Kirtland, Lake county, where he was for many years a prominent and influential citi- zen. He was justice of the peace and also postmaster in that place at the time when the Mormons there organized their church and built their first temple, which is still standing and which is one of the historic landmarks of this part of the Western Reserve. Arial Han- son finally removed to Willoughby, to whose upbuilding he contributed in liberal measure, and there he was held in high honor as a man of ability and spotless integrity of character. In the village of Willoughby he purchased land upon which to establish the Willoughby Collegiate Institute, and this land he donated to the Erie conference of the Methodist Epis- copal church, under whose auspices the institu- tion was founded and maintained. Mr. Han- son was president of the board of trustees of this institute from its inception until the time of his death, in 1862.

JOSEPH A. WARD,-A native son of Lake county and a representative of the third gen- eration of the family in this favored section of the Western Reserve, Mr. Ward is num- bered among the successful agriculturists and dairy farmers of the county and has well maintained the prestige of the name which he bears and which has been identified with the annals of Lake county from the early pioneer epoch to the present time. On other pages of

this work appears a memoir to his father, the late Elijah Allen Ward, with incidental record concerning his grandfather, Rev. Elijah Ward, and to the article in question reference should be made for details concerning the family his- tory.

Joseph Allen Ward was born in the home- stead, one-half mile east of the village of Willoughby, and the date. of his nativity was January 20, 1849. The house was built by his father in the early fifties, and in late years he has extensively remodeled the building, which has its facade facing a new road con -. structed after the Nickel Plate road was built. The electric interurban line passes the house and affords to the family the best of transpor- tation privileges. Thus the house now faces the south, while its original front elevation was to the north. The residence has been thoroughly modernized, is commodious and conveniently arranged, attractive in its ap- pointments and constitutes one of the fine rural homes of the county. Mr. Ward was reared to manhood on the home farm, which has been his place of abode from the time of his birth. After duly availing himself of the advantages of the common schools of the locality and period he entered Willoughby College, in which institution he continued his studies un- til he had entered the junior year. He was twenty years of age at the time of the death of his honored father, and he then left college to assume charge of the home farm. Of his father's original landed estate of about 400 acres, extending from the Chagrin river to the line of Mentor township, he retains in his possession a well improved farm of 118 acres, and he now devotes the place principally to dairy farming, keeping an average herd of twenty registered Holstein cows, and' having been a successful breeder of this splendid type of cattle. He has shown much energy and thrift in the various details of his farm man- agement and has long been recognized as one of the representative farmers and stock grow- ers of his native county. As a citizen he has taken a loyal interest in all that has tended to conserve the welfare of the community, and to him is accorded the unqualified confi- dence and regard of the people among whom he has lived from the time of his nativity and who have been familiar with every phase of his career. Though never ambitious for public office, Mr. Ward is found aligned as a stanch supporter of the cause of the Repub- lican party, and he and his family hold mem-

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bership in the Methodist Episcopal church, in whose faith he was reared and in which liis paternal grandfather was one of the sterling pioneer ministers of the Western Reserve.

On the 8th of January, 1873, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ward to Miss Mary Cor- nelia Ferguson, who was born and reared in Willoughby township, Lake county, where her parents, Gabriel Leggett Ferguson (commonly known as Leggett Ferguson) and Orinda C. (Sharp) Ferguson, were early settlers. Her father was born at Little Britain, Orange county, New York, on the 18th of June, 1804, and died at Willoughby, Ohio, February 19, 1881. On the 16th of December, 1847, he was united in marriage to Orinda C. Sharp, of Willoughby, who was born at Newport, Herkimer county, New York, August 21, 1815, and whose death occurred on the 3d of Janu- ary, 1878. Gabriel Leggett Ferguson was a son of Jolin Ferguson, who was born at West Farms, Westchester county, New York, a grandson of Hezekiah Ferguson, a native of Scotland and an officer in the English army, in connection with which he came to America

to take part in the French and Indian war in the early part of the eighteenth century. This founder of the family in America finally sold his military commission and settled at Hackensack, New Jersey, where was born his son Hezekiah, father of John. John Fergu- son was born on the 4th of April, 1758, and was a valiant soldier in the war of the Re- bellion, for which service he later received a government pension, as did also his wife after his death, which occured in 1841, on the same day as that of President William Henry Har- rison, the hero of Tippecanoe. The wife, whose maiden name was Mary Campbell, was born in Scotland, in September, 1769, a repre- sentative of the historic clan of that name, and she died in 1854. Leggett Ferguson continued to reside on the old homestead farm at Willoughby Center until his death, and he was one of the honored citizens of that sec- tion. He was one of the founders of the first Methodist Episcopal church established in Willoughby township, and the first church edifice, a most modest little structure, was lo- cated in one corner of the yard surrounding his house. Of the nineteen members of the first class in this church organization nine were members of his immediate family. Of his six children four are now living.

In conclusion is entered brief record con- cerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Ward.

Philip E. was graduated in the University of Ohio as a member of the class of 1899, receiv- ing the degree of Bachelor of Arts. For six years he was principal of the high school at Kirtland, Lake county, and at the same time was superintendent of the public schools of Kirtland township. Later he was for three years superintendent of the public schools of Mentor, in the same county, and he and his wife now reside in Wenatchee, Washington. He married Miss Grace Coles, of Chardon, Geauga county, and they have one child, Martha C. Anna C. Ward, who was educated in Oberlin College and was a young woman of gracious personality, died on the 8th.of May, 1905, at the age of twenty-nine years. Ethel G. was graduated in the Women's College of Western Reserve University, in the' city of Cleveland, as a member of the class of 1905, and she is now a successful and popular teacher in the high school at Nottingham, Cuyahoga county, Ohio. Lucy F., the youngest of the children, was afforded the advantages of the Ohio Wesleyan University, in the city of Dela- ware, and is now taking a course in the New York School of Applied Design for Women.

IRA L. HERRIFF .- A prominent and pro- gressive citizen of Kent, Portage county, Ira L. Herriff is a substantial representative of its mercantile interests, and in addition to carry- ing on a prosperous business as a general mer- chant, and as an undertaker. A son of Samuel Herriff, he was born, November 19, 1846, in Rootstown, of pioneer descent. His grand- parents, John and Susan (Coosard) Herriff, were born in Pennsylvania, of German an- cestry, and were there brought up and mar- ried. Migrating to Ohio in 1818, they took up land in Rootstown, and in the midst of the . dense forest built the small log cabin which was their first dwelling house. The country round about was then but thinly populated, and he and his neighbors labored hard to clear and improve the homestead, on which he and his wife spent their remaining days.

Samuel Herriff was born on the parental homestead in Rootstown, and was brought up among pioneer scenes, as a boy and youth be- coming familiar with pioneer work. When ready to establish himself as the head of a household he bought land in his native town, and was there employed as a tiller of the soil during his active career, his death occurring March 6, 1888. His wife, whose maiden name was Lydia Hartlerode, was born in Lancaster

Imo S. L. Botsford

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county, Pennsylvania, and died on the home farm, in Rootstown, Ohio, January 19, 1906. Six children were born to them, namely: Ira L., of this brief sketch; Ezra, who was acci- dentally killed, December 8, 1906; Celia, who married A. D. Atchison, was killed by light- ning June 23, 1882; Everett, killed by an acci- dent December 8, 1906; John, died December 12, 1872; and Emma, who died May 1, 1863, age four years.

Ira L. Herriff, the sole survivor of the pa- rental household, was educated in the public schools of Rootstown, attending the winter terms only after fourteen years old, his sum- mers after that time being spent either on the farm or in the neighboring brick yards, where he learned the making of bricks. Enlisting in February, 1865, in the One Hundred and Eighty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Mr. Herriff spent the next few months in Tennes- see, being sent first to Chattanooga and Look- out Mountain, and afterwards to Nashville. In September, 1865, he was honorably dis- charged from the service, being mustered out at Nashville, Tennessee, and from there sent to Columbus, where he received his discharge.

Returning home, he subsequently worked for a while as a brakeman on a railway train, after which he spent six years in Kent as a manufacturer of brick. Retiring from that in- dustry, Mr. Herriff, in company with L. C. Reed, embarked in the furniture and under- taking business, continuing until 1886. Buy- ing his partner's interest in the firm that year (1886), Mr. Herriff has since conducted the business alone, in its management meeting with characteristic success. His establishment, one of the finest in Kent, is well supplied with furniture of the most approved modern styles, and in addition to this he has put in a good line of crockery. A man of tried and trusted integrity, he has won the confidence of his fellow men, and by applied industry and fair dealings has built a flourishing trade, being the leading general merchant and undertaker of this part of the county.

A stanch advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, Mr. Herriff has served two terms on the Kent school board; one term in the city council ; and served one term as street commissioner, after which he was re-elected to the same office, but resigned before the ex- piration of his second term. Fraternally Mr. Herriff is a member of the Summit Lodge, I. O. O. F .; of the Encampment and Canton of Akron, Ohio; of the Ancient Free and Ac-

cepted Order of Masons; and of the Knights of Pythias.

Mr. Herriff married, December 1, 1869, Belle E. Caris, a daughter of Samuel and Rachel (Ward) Caris. She is of pioneer de- scent, her paternal grandparents, John Caris and Betsey (Hartle) Caris, having settled in Rootstown in 1802, and the maternal grand- parents, William Ward and Betsey ( Eatinger) Ward, settled in Ravenna, Ohio, in 1802. Mr. and Mrs. Herriff have two children, namely : Amy I., superintendent of schools in Streets- boro, Ohio; and Dene, who is teaching in Streetsboro township.

Mr. Herriff is of Revolutionary ancestory, his great-grandfather, Valentine Coosard, serving in the war for independence. Mr. Coosard was of Huguenot ancestry and was born in Chambersburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1745.

GENERAL JAMES LAWRENCE BOTSFORD, who died at his home in the city of Youngstown, Mahoning county, on the 6th of October, 1898, illustrated in a very marked degree the power of concentrating the resources of the entire man and lifting them into the plane of high achievement; of supplementing brilliant nat- ural endowments with close application, dis- tinct tenacity of purpose and impregnable in- tegrity. Along the lines in which he directed his splendid energies and abilities-as a busi- ness man, as a citizen and as a gallant and distinguished soldier of the republic-he made of success not an accident but a logical result. Not yet have sufficient years elapsed since he was called from the scene of his fruitful labors to enable us to gain a clear definition of the perspective of his life and thereby to determine the full benefits of his services to the world. He was much to his native state of Ohio and this commonwealth was much to him. No work touching the history of the Western Re- serve can be consistent with itself without ren- dering a large measure of recognition to the distinguished and honored citizen whose name initiates this memoir.

James Lawrence Botsford was born in the village of Poland, Mahoning county, Ohio, on the 16th of April, 1834, and was the third in order of nativity of the six children born to Archibald G. and Eliza (Lynn) Botsford, both of whom continued to reside in this county until their death. Of the six children the only one now living is Mary Julia, who is the widow of Henry O. Bonnell, and who resides in

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Youngstown. Archibald Grant Botsford was one of the prominent pioneer business men of this county and for a term of many years was engaged in the manufacture of combs at Poland. He was a citizen of exalted charac- ter and wielded much influence in local affairs of a public nature. The subject of this memoir passed his boyhood and youth in his native village, to whose common schools he was in- debted for the early educational training which was later to be splendidly broadened and em- bellished through his active association with men and affairs and through his appreciative and well directed reading and study in ma- turer years. His initial business experience was gained in connection with the manufac- turing enterprise conducted by his honored father, and at the age of twenty-four years, in 1858, he made his way across the plains to the state of California, thus becoming a mem- ber of the historic band of gold-seekers com- monly referred to as "Forty-niners." He con- tinued to be identified with gold mining in California until 1861, and met with a fair measure of success in his operations. Upon his return to his native county he arrived in. his home village of Poland just as a company was being organized for service in the Civil war. His intrinsic loyalty and patriotism forthwith came into definite evidence, for he became a member of this gallant company, and in May, 1861, he was mustered into the United States service as second lieutenant of Company E, Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which regiment is distinguished in history not only for its marked gallantry and hard service but also as having been the first to enter the serv- ice from Ohio under the three years' term of enlistment.

Concerning the military career of General Botsford the following appreciative estimate has been given and is well worthy of perpetu- ation in this history of the Western Reserve: "Inured to hardships, as a consequence of his western mining experience, General Botsford was able to endure the vicissitudes of army life somewhat better than many of his com- rades. Throughout the entire period of the war he was ever found at his post, and as a reward for able and valiant service he was advanced rapidly through the various grades of promotion. His first service was in West Virginia, where he was made aide-de-camp to General Scammon, who was in command of the First Brigade of the Kanawha Division, and in all the battles, victories and defeats of

the Army of the Potomac during its subse- quent years in West Virginia, General Bots- ford participated. He was next assigned to service under Major General Crook, and took part in the battles of Cloyd Mountain, New River Bridge, Blakesburg, Panther's Gap, Buf- falo Gap and Lynchburg, as well as in the series of engagements in the Shenandoah val- ley, among which were the battles of Sinker's Ferry, Cabletown, Stevenson's Depot, Win- chester and Martinsburg. He reached Cum- berland in November, 1864, and here he was detailed as assistant inspector general of the department of West Virginia. This long and faithful service did not pass unrecognized. His commission, 'for meritorious and distinguished conduct,' as brevet major general dated from March 13, 1865." It may further be said that during the remaining years of his long and useful life General Botsford maintained a deep interest in his old comrades in the great con- flict throughout whose entire course he served with utmost fidelity and valor, and this inter- est was signalized by his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic in his home city of Youngstown.

After the close of the war General Botsford set himself valiantly to the winning of the vic- tories which peace ever has in store, "no less renowned than war." He established his home in the city of Louisville, Kentucky, where he was engaged in a general produce commission business until 1872, when he returned to his native county and located in Youngstown, where he became a prominent and influential factor in connection with the great iron indus- try, which has long been one of the most im- portant in this section of Ohio. In 1879 he became treasurer of the Mahoning Valley Iron Company, with which important corporation he continued to serve in this responsible execu- tive capacity until the close of his life. He also had other large and important capitalistic interests, principally of local order, and he held prestige as one of the able and thoroughly rep- resentative business men of the Western Re- serve, and he was known and honored as a citizen of great civic loyalty and public spirit and as a man who towered "four square to every wind that blows." He well exemplified in his social relations and in the associations of his ideal home the truth and pertinence of the statement that "The bravest are the ten- derest ; the loving are the daring." He was kindly and courteous in his relations with his fellow men and was a type of the sterling gen-

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tleman of the old school-courtly, dignified and affable. No citizen of Mahoning county held to a great and more significant degree the confidence and esteem of its people.

In politics General Botsford was unswerving in his allegiance to the Republican party, and it was a matter of special pleasure and gratifi- cation to him that he was permitted to support for the presidency of the United States Ruther- ford B. Hayes and Major William McKinley, who had been members of his regiment in the Civil war and who ever continued his warm personal friends. On the 14th of January, 1892, Major Mckinley, who was then gov- ernor of the state, appointed General Botsford quartermaster general of the Ohio National Guard, of which office he continued the valued and popular incumbent throughout the guber- natorial term of his old-time friend and com- rade. Though he took a lively interest in the promotion of the party cause in a generic way, General Botsford was not specially active in local politics, and the only office in which he consented to serve was that of member of the city council, of which position he was incum- bent for only a brief interval.

Long and devoted was the identification of General Botsford with the Protestant Episco- pal church, of which he was an earnest com- municant, being most zealous in the affairs of the parish of St. John church, in Youngstown, of whose vestry he was long a member and of which he was treasurer for twenty-one years prior to his death. He may well be referred to as a consistent and noble churchman-one ever ready to lend his influence and tangible aid in the promotion of all departments of church work, and in its benevolences as well as in charitable objects aside from the church he was ever mindful of "all those who are any ways afflicted or distressed in mind, body or estate." He was generous and kindly in his attitude to all men, tolerant in his judgment and full of generous sympathy for those in affliction.

On the 27th of January, 1864, while at home on furlough, General Botsford was united in marriage to Miss Ellen E. Blaine, who was born and reared in Kentucky, being a daughter of Samuel L. and Anna (Coons) Blaine, of Maysville, that state, and being a first cousin of the Hon. James G. Blaine. Mrs. Botsford's father was an influential citizen and business man, and both he and his wife con- tinued their residence in Kentucky until their death. Mrs. Botsford has long been promi- nent in the social life of her home city and is

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History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 10

Author: Upton, Harriet Taylor; Cutler, Harry Gardner, 1856- Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago ; New York : The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 886

Author: Upton, Harriet Taylor; Cutler, Harry Gardner, 1856-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago ; New York : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 886