USA > Ohio > History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II > Part 107
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Concerning Mr. Stuart Hon. Simon P. Wol- cott, one of his honored confreres at the bar, wrote the following estimate at the time of his death: "M. Stuart possessed a strong personality, and it was peculiarly his own.
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There were many characteristics of Mr. Stuart that will long be remembered by his associates at the bar in this and adjoining counties, and there is nothing unpleasant or disagreeable in such memories. His peculiarities were ever present, generally amusing and rarely offen- sive. In a man of less ability it would have been different. Mr. Stuart was a hypocrite in this sense only,-that his external character- istics tended to conceal a really very kindly heart. He loved his profession. His life was exclusively devoted to its pursuits and he was deservedly successful. He never courted pop- ular applause, except that it came through the channels of his chosen profession. He was ex- tremely sensitive to any discredit of his legal attainments and rejoiced in a like degree when properly recognized and appreciated. He was the oracle upon questions of law in this county before which every member of the bar wor- shiped. None ever left his presence from con- sultation without greater respect for his ricn and varied storehouse of knowledge, and he found no greater pleasure than in the discus- sion of legal propositions with his brethren of the bar. He possessed a marvelous memory and retained it even unto death. I would be glad to pay a more worthy and less hastily prepared tribute to my friend of many years.'
In memory of Mr. Stuart special services were held by the Portage County Bar Asso- ciation, in the court house, and resolutions of respect and admiration were passed by the body, besides which a special memorial address was read by James H. Nichols, chairman of the meeting. From this address the following extracts are made :
"On January 20, 1899, after seventy-one years of arduous, ceaseless struggle in the great battle of life, Michael Stuart surrendered to the great conqueror and yielded his spirit to the God who gave it. Coming upon the stage of action before free schools and colleges had spread their elevating influence over his pathway, he began life in poverty and ob- scurity, and by that great industry which char- acterized his every effort he obtained such an education as has honorably sustained him in the trying responsibilities of every station in life. One factor of his nature which did much to mould his character was his great exclusive- ness and self-reliance. With no friends but his strength, courage and energy he began his studies and pursued them with such perti- nacity that at the early age of nineteen years and nine months he was, by the district court
of Portage county, admitted to the bar and licensed to practice in all the courts of the state. Two years later Stuart came to Ra- venna and commenced his life labor at the bar, and, without a dollar to call his own or friend to encourage him, he worked on in poverty and obscurity, never relaxing. in his purpose of becoming learned in the law and preserving a spotless reputation.
"During these years of labor and privation he formed the habit of sobriety and economy which followed him through his laborious and very successful life. After working with but little accomplished, except storing his mind with legal knowledge, for about ten vears, there was a change in young Stuart's pros- pects which started him on the high road to the nonorable and great financial success which he was able to and did attain.
"On April 13, 1858, he was joined in mar- riage to Mrs. Almira Seeley. A lady of rare personal worth and accomplishments and of great natural ability, her influence at once as- serted itselt over him, thus softening and ele- vating his somewhat rugged nature, and en- couraged him more fully to enter into the great labor of his profession and to reach the point of excellence which he after attained. About three years after his marriage Providence be- stowed another proof of his favor, by the pres- ence of his little daughter, Emma. Stuart's happiness was now complete, and from that time forth his whole soul was brightened and his laborious pathway strewn with flowers by the joyous presence of his wife and daughter, and he plunged into the most abstruse prin- ciples of the law and subjected them to the ac- complishment of the labors of his profession with a phenomenal success enjoyed by but few practitioners at the bar. Such were his legal researches that he became a veritable encyclo- pedia of the law, and I am of the firm belief that for knowledge of the general law he never had a peer in northern Ohio.
"Providence has decreed that the sun shall not always shed its life-giving rays upon us. but that the clouds of darkness and humilia- tion are constantly crossing our pathway. So it was with our friend. On July 16, 1891, the luminous body which for thirty-three years had lighted his pathway was by the ruthless hand of death taken away, and the spirit of Almira Stuart ascended to the bosom of her Savior. The husband and father was para- lyzed by the blow, and to the day of his death never fully recovered from the shock. After
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the death of his wife Stuart's heart turned entirely to his loving daughter, and every high and holy factor of his nature knelt at her shrine. He placed her picture on his desk be- fore him, so whenever his eyes were raised from his constant study they rested on the only object of his earthly affection, and her praise was his great theme in the presence of his friends. Michael Stuart believed in the great Author of the Universe and in Him who said, 'I am the resurrection and the life.' Let us remember his many virtues and emulate his many noble qualities, and, with the mantle of charity covering his faults, profit by the great lesson of his life."
Michael Stuart was a distinct character, a strong man, a great lawyer. Though he lacked the winning personality which makes for gen- eral popularity, none who knew him and could appreciate the true worth of the man failed to accord to him unqualified confidence and high esteem. His life was guided by integrity and he never deviated from the course of recti- tude and honor. He was a member of the Prot- estant Episcopal church and served for a num- ber of years as a member of the vestry of the parish of Grace church, Ravenna, of which his wife was a devout communicant, as is also his daughter, Miss Emma, who still maintains her home in Ravenna, a place endeared to her by the gracious and hallowed memories of the past and one in which she is surrounded by a wide circle of valued and loyal friends.
GEORGE SMITH .- A man of marked ability, making the most of every offered opportunity, George Smith, of Bellevue, holds high rank among the substantial business men of Huron county, as vice-president of the Martin Gross Lumber Company being associated with one of the leading industries of the city. A son of David Smith, he was born March 9, 1848, in York township, Sandusky county, Ohio. He is of German descent, his grandfather, George Frederick Smith, having been born and brought up in Wittenberg, Germany.
Refusing to join Napoleon's army when he invaded Germany, George Frederick Smith, true to the fatherland, went to Switzerland and there lived for a time. From there he emigrated to America, locating in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, where, during the con- struction of the canal through that section, he was employed to sharpen the tools and to do general blacksmithing. About 1834, accom- panied by his family, he came to Sandusky
county, Ohio, making the journey with teamns, and bringing with him all of his earthly goods. Buying. a tract of land about four miles north- west of Bellevue, he began the improvement of a homestead, at once taking possession of the log cabin that had previously been erected on the place. He built a shop, and in addi- tion to clearing the land and tilling the soil worked at his trade, continuing his residence there until his death, February 1, 1858. To him and his wife, whose death occurred in 1842, seven children were born, as follows: Maria, Anne, Fred, David, Katie, Sally and Ferdinand.
Born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1819, David Smith was in his "teens" when he came with the family to Ohio, locating near Bellevue. Being soon after apprenticed to David Moore, he learned carpentry, and sub- sequently worked for Mr. Moore as a jour- neyman for a while, then began carpentering on his own account. Finally turning his at- tention especially to mill work, he followed that line of industry continuously until 1873. Buying in that year fifty-four acres of land in York township, he devoted his time to the improvement of a farm, and as his means in- creased bought other land until he had title to 264 acres, ninety acres of it lying in Groton township, Erie county, while the remainder was in York township, Sandusky county. On this valuable farming estate, he spent his re- maining days, dying. in 1899.
The maiden name of the wife of David Smith was Julia Ann Knauss. She was born April 3, 1825, in Union county, Pennsylvania, which was the birthplace of her father, Solo- mon Knauss, who served in the war of 1812. Leaving Pennsylvania in 1848, Mr. Knauss journeyed with his family, by team, to the Western Reserve. Locating in Groton town- ship, Erie county, he bought 400 acres of land, on which stood a large barn, eighty feet by sixty feet, and a rambling log house with a frame addition. Successful in his farming, he improved much of the land, erected a large brick house, set out fruit and shade trees, and there resided until his death, in 1864. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Moore, was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, and died in Ohio, in 1874. They were the parents of eight children, namely : William ; Julia Ann, who married David Smith; Elizabeth ; Charlie ; Mary Ann; Solomon; Henry; Samuel; and James. Mrs. Smith is still living, a bright and active woman of four score and four years.
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To her and her husband five children were born, namely: George, the subject of this sketch; Charles; Samuel; Sarah M .; and Mary E.
Completing his education in the public schools, George Smith began at the age of seventeen years to learn the carpenter's trade, and subsequently became a millwright. Going then to Buffalo, New York, he entered the employ of J. T. Noye & Co., for whom he drew plans, and was also foreman of construc- tion in building mills in different parts of New York, including among other places, Attica, Gowanda and Lockport, and in remodeling the Haxall Mill, in Richmond, Virginia. Going to Kansas in 1886, Mr. Smith bought a farm in Rice county, where he remained four years. He afterwards worked at his trade in Colo- rado Springs, Colorado, a year and a half. Returning then to Bellevue, Mr. Smith fol- lowed his trade in this vicinity from 1892 until 1899, when, on the organization of the Martin Gross Lumber Company, he became a stock- holder, and was elected vice-president. This office he has filled ably and well, devoting his entire time toward advancing the interests of the firm.
Mr. Smith married, January 24, 1877, Anna Derr, who was born in Allentown, Pennsyl- vania. Her father, Rev. Joshua H. Derr, was born December 9, 1822, in Washingtonville, Pennsylvania, where his father, David Derr, spent his entire life. He attended the district school, afterwards working. as a carpenter to earn money enough to fit him for the dental profession, and while working as a dentist accumulated a sufficient sum to pay his way through Marshall College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1847. Three years later he was graduated from the Mercersburg Theological Seminary, and the same year was ordained in the Reformed church. He was active in the ministry about thirty-five years, and for a time was a professor in the Lan- caster Theological Seminary. He served as a pastor in several places in Pennsylvania, in- cluding East Berlin, Catawissa and Reading, and after coming to Ohio preached at Wooster, Louisville and Bellevue, his death occurring in the latter place in 1891, at the age of sixty- nine years. Rev. Mr. Derr married Jane Mary Bobst, who was born in Gettysburg, Pennsyl- vania, August 28. 1822, and died December 26, 1886. Five children blessed their union, namely: James N: Mary Magdalene ; Anna, now Mrs. Smith ; Eliza Jane ; and David.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith reared two children, namely : Julia Maude and Frank Ellison. Julia Maude was graduated from the Bellevue high school with the class of 1897, and from the Sandusky Business College in February, 1908. While in that school she contracted typhoid fever, from which she died three weeks after hier graduation. She was confirmed as a mem- ber of the Reformed church at the age of fifteen years, and was a charter member of the Christian Endeavor Society. Frank Elli- son Smith was graduated from the Scranton Correspondence School, after which he took a two years' course in mechanical arts at the State University, from which he was gradu- ated with the class of 1905. He is now a stockholder and director in the Martin Gross Lumber Company, and is second lieutenant in Company B, Sixth Regiment, Ohio National Guards. Politically Mr. Smith is a Repub- lican, and religiously both he and his wife are members of the Reformed church.
CHRISTIAN B. SCHIBLEY, of Amherst town- ship, Lorain county, is a native of the town- ship, born December 20, 1859, a son of Michael and Catherine ( Brandau) Schibley. He is the second of a family of four sons and one daugh- ter, and lived at home with his parents until he reached his majority, and received a com- inon school education.
Mr. Schibley's first work away from home was in the employ of John Burge, in contract bridge work for the county, where he spent two years. He then moved to Cleveland, and there became coachman for Judge Wilson. Two years later he began farming on part of the homestead in Amherst township, which he purchased fifteen years later. He sold this land and rented a farm of 270 acres in Cam- den township; eight years later he purchased the Margaret Hoffner farm in Amherst town- ship, consisting of forty-five acres. He car- ries on this farm, also conducts the farm of 100 acres belonging to Mrs. Kress, adjoining. He raises Durham and Jersey cattle, and makes butter, for which he finds a ready market.
In political views Mr. Schibley is an inde- pendent Democrat : he has served as school director. He is a member of the Evangelical Association, and has been a Sunday school teacher since 1906. He is an industrious and thrifty farmer, and has won the respect and esteem of all who know him. He is actively interested in public affairs, and uses his influ- ence for all good causes.
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On November 22, 1883, Mr. Schibley mar- ried Anna E. Hess, daughter of Andrew and Catherine (Stang) Hess, the father born in Vermilion, Ohio, and the mother in Germany. Mrs. Schibley was born in Vermilion, Ohio, on May 5, 1862. Their children are: Lillian L., wife of August C. Kolbe, of Huntington town- ship, and have two children, Wesley R. and Paulina E .; Mamie C. and Rose E., twins, the former the wife of Henry Kane, of Brownhelm township, and they have one son, Raymond W., the latter a teacher in South Amherst ; and Frank G., Myron W., Dewey A., Dora M., Christina C. and Delia M., all living at home.
LESTER A. FAUVER, a well known citizen of Lorain and a former county surveyor of Lo- rain county, was born in Eaton township, Lo- rain county, on a farm. His father, the late Alfred Fauver, was one of Lorain county's well known and respected citizens. He was a native of the county, born in Eaton township in 1835, and a carpenter by trade. At the breaking out of the Civil war he was the first man in Eaton township to volunteer in fe- sponse to President Lincoln's call for troops, and he enlisted in the Eighth Ohio Regiment. At the battle of Winchester he was severely wounded in the leg, and on August 19, 1862, was honorably discharged on account of disa- bility. At the close of the war he lived on a farm in Eaton township until 1891, and then removed to Oberlin to secure better educa- tional advantages for his children. In 1884 he was elected a county commissioner, and served nine years in that office. In 1898 he was elected mayor of Oberlin. Alfred Fauver was one of the organizers of the Lorain Savings Bank, of which he was a director, and he was also identified with the Savings Bank of Elyria. On October 24, 1863, he married Elizabeth King, of Eaton township, and to them were born children as follows : Lester A .; Louis B., an attorney living in Elyria ; Clayton K., an attorney in Cleveland; Edwin and Edgar, twins, are physicians living in New York City ; and Mabel married T. L. Gibson, of Oberlin. Alfred Fauver died in Oberlin, February 29, 1904, and his widow still resides in that citv.
Lester A. Fauver attended the public schools and Baldwin University, at Berea, and gradu- ated from a civil engineering course at Ohio State Normal School. at Ada, in 1889. He began work at his profession in Cleveland soon after his graduation, and two years later lo-
cated at Lorain, holding the position of city engineer from 1891 until 1900. During the time he held this office many important im- provements in river, pavements and sewerage were constructed. Mr. Fanver was appointed county surveyor in 1901, to fill a vacancy, and his work was so well appreciated that he was re-elected at each succeeding election, finally declining a renomination in 1909.
Mr. Fauver is president of the Ohio Engi- neering Company of Elyria, director of the Lorain Banking Company of Lorain, secretary of the Black River Telephone Company of Lorain, and secretary of the Lane-Bowen Com- pany of Lorain, interested in plumbing and hardware. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Maccabees. He also belongs to the Cleveland Engineering So- ciety and to the Ohio State Engineering. Soci- ety. He is also on the executive committee of the Lorain public library, and a member of the Board of Commerce.
Mr. Fauver married Rusha R., daughter of the late R. R. Reid, of Lorain, and grand- daughter of Conrad Reid, an old resident of Lorain. Their children are: Richard Reid, Catherine Elizabeth, Margaret King and Geor- giana.
EDWARD L. HOUSE was born in Painesville, Ohio, April 10, 1861 ; he is a son of Samuel R. House, who, until his removal from the city a few years ago, was one of Painesville's prominent men.
Mr. House was educated in the public school, graduating in 1880. In 1884 he was married to Miss Urania Holcomb, a daugh- ter of Henry Holcomb. There is an adopted daughter in the family, a bright little girl of five years, named Helen.
Since 1887 Mr. House has been the proprie- tor of the Painesville steam laundry, carpet- cleaning and feather-renovating works. He has done much for the city in the way of reno- vating, and beautifying one of its most dis- graceful districts. Those who are acquainted with the past and present condition of the property on both sides of lower Main street appreciate what the efforts of Mr. House in this direction have been to the town. He is respected in the community both as a business and public man. In the organization of the Painesville Telephone Company he was one of the prime movers, and has been a member of its board of directors since its beginning.
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RALPH WOLFROM .- A young man of vim and energy, possessing undoubted business tact and ability, Ralph Wolfrom is officially connected with one of the foremost beneficial enterprises of Bellevue, being secretary and treasurer of the Local Telephone Company, the Bellevue Home and Crestline Telephone Companies. A son of the late Frederick Wolf- rom, he was born March 4, 1883, in Bellevue, and has here spent his life thus far.
His paternal grandfather, Lorenz Wolfrom, was born in Asch, Austria, and there lived for a number of years after his marriage. He owned and operated a knitting mill, manufac- turing hosiery for a number of seasons. In 1854, accompanied by his family, he emigrated to this country, locating at Weavers Corners, Huron county, Ohio, where he purchased two acres of land, intending. if he liked the country to buy more, and if not pleased to return to Austria. His career here, however, was brief, his death occurring in 1856. His widow was left with two small children, namely, Chris- tina, who subsequently married Christian Zehner, a prominent business man of Bellevue ; and Frederick.
Frederick Wolfrom, born in Asch, Austria, January 7, 1849, was a small child when he came with his parents to Huron county. He attended the district school at Weavers Cor- ners, and the Milan Academy, and as a boy and youth assisted his mother in the care of the home farm. He subsequently began his mercantile career as clerk in a store at the Corners, afterwards serving as deputy revenue collector for a while. Coming then to Belle- vue, he was employed as clerk in the dry goods establishment of A. Ruffing for a few years.
Embarking then in the dry goods business on his own account, he became junior member of the firm of Harsh, Leinbaugh & Wolfrom, which later became Leinbaugh & Wolfrom, Mr. Leinbaugh buying out the senior member of the firm. This firm conducted a good busi- ness until selling out to F. W. Geunther. A month after that time Mr. Wolfrom and Mr. Frank Knapp bought out Mr. Geunther, and for five years carried on a substantial busi- ness under the firm name of .Wolfrom & Knapp. Mr. Wolfrom then bought out his partner, and continned the business success- fully until 1904, when he sold out to E. A. Stranahan. Accepting. the position then of secretary of the Local Telephone, the Bellevue Home and Crestline Telephone Companies, he retained it until his death, October 1, 1907. He married Mary Louisa Sutter, who was born at Sugar Grove, Ohio, and they became the parents of nine children, namely : Elmer, Carl, Ralph, Eva, Yolande, Miriam, Mildred, Frederick and Melville.
After his graduation from the Bellevue high school in 1900, Ralph Wolfrom attended the Capitol University for a year, after which he was employed as clerk in his father's store for a while. He subsequently accepted a posi- tion with the Local Telephone, the Bellevue Home and Crestline Telephone Companies, and at the death of his father succeeded him as secretary, and at the present time is both sec- retary and also treasurer of the former com- pany. Politically Mr. Wolfrom is a Repub- lican. Religiously he is true to the faith in which he was reared, belonging to the Lu- theran church. Fraternally Mr. Wolfrom is a member of Bellevue Lodge, No. 1,013, B. P. O. E.
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