History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 101

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

USA > Ohio > History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II > Part 101

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Soon after the close of the War of 1812, in which he served as a soldier, Joseph Norton, with either six or seven brothers, migrated from Massachusetts to Portage county, Ohio, where all made permanent settlements, Joseph, however, being the only one to remain in Perry. He subsequently bought land near the part through which the Nickle Plate Railway now passes, and improved a farm. He after- wards lived on the Stuber farm until after the death of his wife, when he removed to Jeffer- son, Ashtabula county, where he resided until his death, June 1, 1875, at the venerable age of eighty-two years. He married Paulina Crooks, a native of Massachusetts.

Nelson Norton was born in Aurora, Port- age county, Ohio, December 24, 1819, and came with his parents to Perry in 1828. He assisted his father, as soon as old enough, in clearing a homestead from the wilderness, and after his marriage settled at Lane Station. where he resided until 1856. Coming then to Perry, he bought land on the Narrows road,

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and at once began its improvement, each year adding much to its value. In 1870 he built the brick residence now standing upon it, and was there engaged in his free and independent occupation until his death, November 19, 1888. He married Maria E. Baldwin, who was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, April 25, 1819, and died on the home farm, in Perry, Ohio, February, 1887. Her father, Jehiel Baldwin, came with his family from western Massachusetts to Perry, Ohio, in 1836, and lived for a short time on the South Ridge road, but later settling near Lane Station. Early in 1861 he sold his farm and removed to the Narrows road, where, in April of that year, his death occurred at the age of seventy- three years. He also served in the War of 1812. His wife, whose maiden name was Mar- garet Sackett, went West after his death, but returned to Perry after a few months' ab- sence, and died in 1876, in Ohio. Six chil- dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Nor- ton, namely: Octavia P. died at the age of nine years ; Marion died when seven years old ; Eugene J., the subject of this sketch ; Remus died at the age of three years, he and his two older sisters dying within a period of eight days; Olivia, for many years a successful teacher in the Lake county schools, died in 1891 ; and Camilla, who was book-keeper, and for a while an assistant in the Lake Shore accountants' office, in Cleveland, married George E. Bates, of Goldfield, Nevada.

After leaving the district school, Eugene J. Norton entered Oberlin College, where he completed his early education. Choosing for his life work the occupation to which he was reared, he has met with signal success. In 1900 he assumed possession of his present estate, known as the Haskell farm, and is here carrying on mixed husbandry with satisfactory results. He is a man of undoubted enterprise and energy, and when younger was busily em- ployed for twelve or thirteen years in running a threshing machine, and for two seasons op- erated a saw mill. From 1902 until 1906, four years, Mr. Norton rendered good service as road supervisor, and in 1908, and again in 1909, was appointed to the same office, and given full control of all of the public highways of the township.

Mr. Norton married, February 26. 1874. Emma L. Graves, who was born in England and came to Ohio with her parents, David and Elizabeth (Rollings) Graves, when about a year old. Mr. and Mrs. Norton have two

children, namely: Nelson D., born December 31, 1875, living at home; and Maud L., born June 25, 1880, also at home. Politically Mr. Norton is an uncompromising Republican ; re- ligiously he is a member of the Baptist church, and fraternally he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed all of the chairs.

WILLIAM E. MILLER .- The late William E. Miller, who died at his home in the city of Elyria, Lorain county, Ohio, on the 27th of April, 1909, was a man who left a definite impress upon the industrial and civic history of the Western Reserve. His career illustrates in a marked degree the power of concentrating the resources of the entire man and lifting them into the sphere of high achievement; of supplementing splendid natural endowments with close application, impregnable integrity and untiring tenacity of purpose. Along the manifold lines in which he directed his fine energies and abilities, both as a business man and as a loyal and public-spirited citizen, he made of success not an accident but a logical result. Not yet has sufficient time elapsed since he was called from the scene of his prolific labors to enable us to gain a clear perspective of his life and thereby determine the ultimate value of his services ; but even a cursory re- view must reveal much of the man as he stood forth a noble type of the world's workers, making his life count for good in all its rela- tions. For nearly forty years he was closely identified with the industrial and business in- terests of Lorain county, and it might well be said that none has done more to promote the progress of the city and the county than this honored citizen.

William E. Miller was born at Constable- ville, New York, on the IIth of August. 1839. a son of Edwin Miller, a farmer of that state, of stanch English extraction. The paternal grandfather was a soldier in the Revolution- ary war, and the grandfather on the mother's side was named David Eells. Mr. Miller, of this sketchi, spent the first fifteen years of his life on the home farm in Lewis county, New York, and, although his education within the walls of the school house was very limited, at that age he commenced to take deep draughts of the more valuable knowledge which comes from contact and struggles with the world. From the age of fifteen to eighteen he had his earliest experiences with the mercantile world in his native state, but in 1857 located in Cleve-

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land, Ohio, where, for sixteen years, his busi- ness progress was pronounced and continuous. In the spring of 1873 he assumed the manage- ment of the Grafton ( Ohio) Stone Company, and thus became first identified with the prog- ress of Lorain county. In the meantime, Mr. Miller had married, but his family remained in the old New York home until 1874, when they rejoined him at Elyria.

Mr. Miller's administration of the affairs of the Grafton Stone Company were energetic, sagacious and progressive, and through his ef- forts the enterprise was developed into one of the important industrial concerns of the West- ern Reserve. Upon the absorption of this company by the Cleveland Stone Company, in 1899, Mr. Miller bought an interest in the Shelby Tube Company and thus became con- nected with the important manufacture of seamless steel tubing. In 1900 several manu- factories in that line formed a combination, without abandoning their distinctive organi- zations. Among these was the Shelby Tube Company, of which Mr. Miller became presi- dent in 1901, retaining the efficient manage- ment of its affairs until the entire combination was absorbed by the United States Steel Cor- poration. At a later date Mr. Miller organ- ized the Elyria Iron and Steel Company, was consulted in the erection of its fine plant just south of the city, and at the time of his death had a silent, though influential interest in the company. The concern now represents one of the well managed and important industries of the Western Reserve, and in connection with its upbuilding Mr. Miller largely defined its early policies which brought it to substan- tial success.

Broad-minded, loyal and public-spirited as a citizen, Mr. Miller did not hedge himself in with matters of individual business, but found much satisfaction in giving his co-operation to measures of public moment. This spirit prompted him to accept the presidency of the Lorain County Agricultural Society at a time when its affairs were in a deplorable condi- tion. He carefully made a canvass of the situ- ation, consulted ways and means, and finally outlined the thorough business policy under which the society was rehabilitated, its prop- erty holdings made secure and its operations rendered effective and profitable. The society is now free from indebtedness and its annual fairs are a source of much profit and satis- faction to the people of the county. Mr. Mil- ler had various capitalistic interests aside from

those already mentioned, and it may be noted that he was a director of the National Bank of Elyria. His energy was unflagging, his enthusiasm unquenchable, his foresight re- markable, and such movements as enjoyed his influence and co-operation were uniformly suc- cessful. His personality was one free from ostentation, for he placed a true value on men and affairs, and was tolerant and really gen- erous in his association with "all sorts and conditions of men." Thus he drew to himself inviolable friendships, and in Lorain county his death was attended with a sense of per- sonal bereavement. In short, his nature was strong and true, and his character, as well as his acts, earned him the full measure of all the esteem and honor which were ever ac- corded him.

In 1862 Mr. Miller wedded Miss Mary F. Stacy, who was born in Utica, New York, daughter of William Stacy, an old and hon- ored merchant of that city, and his wife, nee Catherine Foster. Both were natives of New York state, the father of Ogdensburg and the mother of New Hartford. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller, as follows : Will- iam Stacy; Jennie H., who is Mrs. Frank E. Stewart, of Pittsburg; Frederic Stuart ; Mayme E., now Mrs. James N. Cooke, of Pittsburg .; and Katrine, at home. Mrs. Miller still maintains her home at Elyria, in whose social circles she is a welcome participant. Her two sons, William S. and Fred S., have assumed their father's prominence both in con- nection with the Grafton Stone Company and the Elyria Iron and Steel Company.

William Stacy Miller, the elder son, is presi- dent of the Elyria Iron and Steel Company. and was born at Constableville, New York. on the 9th of April, 1863. He completed the public school and the high school courses at Elvria, and in 1894 initiated his business ca- reer by becoming secretary of the Grafton Stone Company. Later, he was elected vice president and treasurer of the Shelby Tube Company, retaining this connection until the business was absorbed by the United States Steel Corporation in 1900. In 1903 he be- came president of the Elyria Iron and Steel Company, in the organization and incorpora- tion of which he was associated with his father and other substantial capitalists. He has since continued the executive head of this corpora- tion, with whose development he has thus been identified from the start and to whose suc- cess he has made large contributions. Mr

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Miller's wife was formerly Miss Kate Wacker- hagen, of Albany, New York, and they have one child, Winifred Miller.

Frederic Stuart Miller, the younger son, who is manager of the Grafton Stone Com- pany, was born in Constableville, New York, on the 21st of April, 1868. He was educated both in public schools and under private tutors, and has been identified with his present line of business since his twentieth year. When he was twenty-three years of age he became a .commercial traveler for the Grafton Stone Company, and in 1893, manager and secre- tary. Mr. Miller held this dual office until 1899, when the company was absorbed by the Cleveland Stone Company, and he has since acted as manager of the Grafton branch of the combination, which retains the old name of Grafton Stone Company. The local head of the concern is one of the most active and enterprising business men of the county, and his integrity of purpose is as stanch as his ability. He is a director of the Elyria Iron and Steel Company, the Eastern Heights Land Company and the National Bank of Elyria. and a valued member of the Chamber of Com- merce, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Country Club and other organizations. In 1893 Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Anna Stevens, of Elyria, daughter of George W. Stevens, who was for many years in the service of the Lake Shore and Michi- gan Southern Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have no children.

CHIARLES H. WALKER .- On both sides of the family Charles H. Walker, the well-known farmer of Amherst township, Lorain county, represents fine 'pioneer stock of the Western Reserve, drawn from the Empire and the Green Mountain states. The paternal grand- parents, Henry and Charlotte Walker, were natives of New York, the former securing a tract of land on a 100-year lease which is in- cluded in the present site of Philadelphia, and in which the heirs of to-day still hold an inter- est. Later, but yet at a very early day, Ira and Lucy Smith, the maternal grandparents of Charles H., commenced to play a part in the history of the Western Reserve. The former obtained a large tract through the Connecticut Land Company in Amherst township, married after coming to the Western Reserve and for years before his death was engaged in cutting away the forest and cultivating his land. It was while clearing away the timber for Mid-

dle Ridge road that he was crushed to death by the falling of a tree. His wife passed away in Huntington township, Lorain county. In the founding of their homestead she had done her full share, as was customary with the splendid women of her day. She was buried in the Cleveland Street cemetery at Amherst.

Charles H. Walker was born in Amherst township January 18, 1853, and is a son of William and Leapha (Smith) Walker, born respectively in New York and Vermont. Their marriage occurred at Amherst, about 1847, after which they resided with Grand- father Walker for some time, and then came into possession of the Smith homestead, where Charles H. now resides. There the father died in March, 1867, his widow residing on the homestead for ten years thereafter, when she moved to the village of Amherst, where she passed away December 24, 1904. At the time of her death she was living with her daughter. Zulima, who is now Mrs. Amos V. Kent, of Toledo, Ohio, She was also the mother of William, who is himself deceased. Mrs. William Walker married for her second husband, Henry Osborne, to whom she bore a daughter Maud, now Mrs. Jewett Wright, of Port Huron, Michigan.

Mr. Walker, of this sketch, resided at home until his first marriage, in 1877, afterward re- siding on a part of the home place until he · purchased his mother's interest and became sole proprietor of the property. He continued to farm until he was thirty-five years of age. when he entered the employ of the Cleveland Stone Quarry No. 6, as a blacksmith, and was thus engaged for thirteen years. With this exception he has been continuously engaged as a farmer and gardener of Amherst town- ship. On May 5. 1877, Mr. Walker married Miss Elizabeth Hofner, a native of Amherst township, and she died January 9. 1892, the mother of Bertha, deceased at the age of thir- teen years. The second marriage was to Mrs. Margaret (Hofner) Cliff, widow of William Cliff. daughter of Samuel and Margaret ( Cook) Hofner and a sister of his first wife. The son of this union, Russell W., was born October 25. 1895.

MOSES WORTHING BEEDE is justly both a prominent and a popular man in Ashtabula county, where he is and has been for many years president of the Soldiers' Relief Com- mission, and has served as a member of the Republican central committee and of the

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county's first jury commission. For years he has been a leading man in reform politics, as he has put forth every effort to conquer the saloon element and to elect good men to office. Before the Civil war he belonged to the Black String Society, which was organized to pro- tect and assist fugitive slaves. He was also among those who actively resisted the United States marshal and prevented his taking. John Brown Jr. to testify against John Brown. He became a Mason at twenty-four and has taken the chapter degree; is also a member of the Giddings Post G. A. R. at Jefferson. In his own township of Lenox, his executive ability, his public spirit and his useful services to the town have long made him a leader ; he has been president of the school board and is at present a township trustee, having served twenty years in that capacity. He was first elected in 1869, and since that time he has been instrumental in making the following improvements : Build- ing the town hall ; establishing public watering- places ; causing to be surveyed two acres of unclaimed land, which had been reserved for township purposes by the original owner of Lenox, Mr. Rockwell; erecting the township vault; and buying additional land for ceme- teries, which have been improved in the past few years until they are now among the most beautiful country cemeteries to be found.

In early colonial times there landed on the New England coast the first of his ancestors to seek the New World. This one came from France, probably from Alsace-Lorraine. He pronounced his name Beedé, but it has since been Anglicized. Except that some were Quakers, little is known of the family until the latter part of the eighteenth century, when Thomas Beede was born. He graduated from Harvard College in the Class of 1798 and numbered among his classmates the distin- guished Channing, Tuckerman, Judge Story and Stephen Longfellow. Thomas Beede, who was the third minister of the first church of Wilton, New Hampshire, and who, from 1818- 1825. served his state legislature as chaplain, was throughout his ministry one of New Hampshire's most noted clergymen. His or- dination sermon was preached by Rev. Will- iam Emerson, of Boston, the father of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Thomas Beede's nephew, Caleb Sleeper Beede, the father of Moses W., was born in 1805 in Vermont. When very young he was left an orphan, and, although obliged to support himself, he determined to secure a thorough education. One means which he took to reach this goal was to asso-

ciate himself with several other young. men, and hire a teacher of Greek, a language in which he became proficient. Endowed with a keen intellect and an insatiable desire for learning, he habitually spent one-half of the night in study. Until his voice failed, he was a minister of the gospel in a New England Methodist Episcopal conference, but after that misfortune he became a contractor and builder until his removal in 1849 to Ohio. There he engaged in the lumber business and in farm- ing. His death was caused in 1877 by a wound which he had received while serving in the Union army. Mary Worthing, his wife, a woman loved by every one, was of English descent. In the twelfth century her ancestors were enlisted in the English army, while those living in the colonies at the time of the Revo- lution volunteered and fought for the Ameri- can cause. Among them were her grand- fathers, Major Theophilus Sanborn and Lieu- tenant Samuel Worthen ; also her great-grand- father, Captain David Sleeper, who, as soon as he learned of the battle of Lexington, mar- shaled his command and marched to Boston to volunteer for the defense of that town.

Caleb Sleeper and Mary Worthing Beede had nine children, of whom Moses Worthing Beede was the fifth. He was born at Bristol, New Hampshire, August 28, 1839, and when he was ten years old left his home in the beau- tiful "Switzerland of America" to come to the Western Reserve. Three years later his father's family moved to Lenox, Ohio, where he has ever since made his home. Although he did not receive a collegiate education, by ceaseless study, observation and thought he subjected his mind to practically much the same training that it would have received from a university course. His mental ability is ex- traordinary and varied, as he is a deep thinker along the lines of science, archeology, history, philosophy and religion-subjects in which he is particularly interested, and in which he would have made his force felt in the intellec- tual world had his opportunities been greater.

At Lincoln's first call for troops, in April, 1861, Moses Beede enlisted for three months in Company D, Nineteenth Ohio Infantry. He served under Generals McClelland and Rose- crans in the campaign of 1861, in West Vir- ginia, and fought in the battle of Rich Moun- tain. After his discharge he volunteered again, but was rejected on account of physical disa- bility. He was, however, appointed by Gov- ernor Tod to serve as first lieutenant of the state militia, subject to the call of the presi-

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dent. At this time he began manufacturing lumber and boat oars, furnishing many of the oars that were used on the Mississippi river by the government during the war. About fifteen years later he opened up a factory for the manufacture of sucker rods and connect- ing rods, used in oil-wells, and still owns a half interest in such a factory at Jefferson, although he has now retired to private life.

In 1863 Mr. Beede married Miss Eliza Hen- derson, a member of the Henderson family of Austinburg, a woman of more than ordinary mind and culture ; but he lost his wife in Sep- tember, 1874. She left a son and daughter. George Owen Beede, who received his educa- tion at New Lyme Institute under the noted educator, Jacob Tuckerman, is his father's partner in the sucker rod factory in Jefferson, where he resides, and where his wife, who was Miss May Loomis, has always lived. His sister, Bernice Gertrude, who is a gifted mu- sician and a graduate of New Lyme Institute, is the wife of Leonard Worcester Jr., for- merly of Leadville, Colorado, but at present of Chihuahua, Mexico. In July, 1876, was sol- emnized Mr. Beede's marriage to Mrs. Har- low Watson, a widow of refinement and of charming personal appearance. Of New Eng- land stock and of English descent, she was the daughter of Amos Curtis, of Augusta, Illinois. A few years later her daughter, Net- tie Louise Watson, married Birney A. French, of Lenox. Mr. and Mrs. Beede have two daughters: Martha Frances, a high school teacher, is a graduate of the Jefferson high school, of Grand River Institute and of Ober- lin College. Lulu Edith, the younger, attended the same preparatory schools as her sister and spent three years studying art and music at Oberlin College. A leader in church work and in society, she possesses a good voice and is a skillful artist.

Mr. Beede and his entire family are mem- bers of the Congregational church. For twelve years he acted as church trustee, and for twenty superintended the Sunday school. No other man of his income has done more for the support of the church and every other worthy object. Whenever circumstances have permitted, he has traveled, visiting, places of historic or scenic interest in the East, West, North and South. He was the first white man to climb Mount Massive, the highest moun- tain in Colorado, which he ascended in July, 1875 ; and at that time he began the monument of stones upon its summit to which each suc-

ceeding traveler has added a stone. In his travels, he has always made interesting addi- tions of minerals and curios to his collection, which is considered one of the best private collections of its kind to be found in north- eastern Ohio. Travel appeals to him particu- larly because his refined tastes render him keenly appreciative of what is beautiful in art, in literature and in nature, and responsive to nobility and genius in his fellowmen. Mr. Beede is a man of strong convictions, fearless in the denunciation of wrong, who, when the need of action has arisen, has incurred per- sonal danger for the enforcement of right principles.

THE WEBSTER FAMILY, of Wellington, de- scends in direct line from Governor John Web- ster, of Connecticut and Massachusetts. Gov- ernor Webster and his wife Agnes emigrated from Warwickshire, England, to the colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1633, and in the follow- ing year of 1634 he was made a freeman. In 1636, with Rev. Hooker's party, he moved across to Hartford, Connecticut, being one of the first settlers there, and from the forma- tion of the constitution of the niew colony he was elected to office, first as magistrate or judge, next as lieutenant governor, and in 1656 as governor of the colony, serving fifth in that office, and remaining its incumbent one year. Governor Webster afterward became involved in quite an extensive church controversy which sprang up in the First church society at Hart- ford, and in consequence he and fifty-eight other members of that society withdrew from the church and moved from the colony to Massachusetts, purchasing a large tract of land on the Connecticut river at Hadley, where they -or the most of them-settled in 1659. There John Webster was in 1660 appointed one of the judges or commissioners of the court, and there he died on the 5th of April, 1661. A monument was erected to his memory there by his descendant, Noah Webster, LL. D., of world-wide fame. Two of the sons of John Webster-Thomas and William-accompanied him to Massachusetts, but his other two sons- Robert and Matthew-remained in Connecti- cut.

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History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 101

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