History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 11

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 11

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well known through her prominent associa- tion with the Daughters of the American Revo- lution, of whose Ohio chapter she served as state regent from 1906 to 1908. She is a woman of gracious personality and the beau- tiful family home, 664 Wick avenue, in the city of Youngstown, is recognized as a center of refined and generous hospitality. Like her husband she has long been a devoted com- municant of the Protestant Episcopal church, and she is still active in the work of the local parish. General and Mrs. Botsford became the parents of two children-Ella Kirtland, who is the wife of Frederick H. Wick, a member of one of the old and honored families of Youngstown and incumbent of the offices of treasurer of the Ohio Iron & Steel Company and secretary and treasurer of the Paul Wick Real Estate Company, of Youngstown; and James L., who bears the full patronymic of his honored father and who is now a resident of Youngstown, Ohio.

FRANK E. MANTLE .- A man of undoubted literary talent and ability, Rev. Frank E. Man- tle was for many years a successful preacher of the gospel, serving as pastor of various churches, and in each settlement, by his earnest enthusiasm and quiet persuasion, improving the material as well as the spiritual condition of those who looked to him for help, comfort and advice. Being forced by reason of ill health to give up his religious work, Mr. Mantle turned his attention to mercantile pur- suits, and for the past four years has con- ducted a general store in Hiram, Portage county. A son of John Mantle, he was born, September 2, 1868, in Suffield township, Port- age county. His grandfather, William Mantle, was a pioneer settler of the Western Reserve, coming from Pennsylvania to Ohio, locating first in Stark county, but later removing to Portage county, where he spent his remaining days.

But five years old when he came with his parents to Ohio, John Mantle was reared and educated in the Western Reserve. Soon after beginning the battle of life on his own account, he bought land in Mogadore, Summit county, where in addition to tilling the soil he owned and operated a kiln for many years, living in that vicinity until his death, in the sixty-second year of his age. He married Adaline Falor, a native of Akron, Ohio, where her birth oc- curred sixty-seven years ago. Four sons and two daughters were born of their union, Frank

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E., of this brief biographical sketch, being the fourth child.

Receiving his elementary education in the public schools of Summit county, Frank E. Mantle was graduated from the Mogadore high school with the class of 1886, after which he attended Hiram College for two years. From the age of thirteen years he was, to all intents and purposes, self-supporting, paying his way through college by teaching in the dis- trict schools of his native county. Entering the ministry, Mr. Mantle's first charge was at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, from there going to Glouster, Athens county, where he remained some time. He subsequently had charge of the Christian church in Richmond, Indiana, for a year, but, his health failing, he sought rest and recreation in the country. Recovering to some extent his former physical vigor, Mr. Mantle accepted the pastorate of the Christian church in Hartford, Trumbull county, Ohio, where he filled the pulpit most satisfactorily for four years. Again feeling the need of a life in the open, he took up farming, and con- tinued his agricultural labors for six years. Locating in Hiram in 1905, he has since built up a fine trade as a general merchant, and has identified himself with the leading interests of the place.

Mr. Mantle married, in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Edith A. Sill, who was born at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and they have one son, Harold Sill, born in 1898.

FRANCIS M. COOKE .- One of the important enterprises of its kind in the Western Reserve is that conducted by the Bruner-Goodhue- Cooke Company, of Akron, of which the sub- ject of this sketch is secretary, as is he also of the Akron Savings & Loan Company, an- other concern whose operations are of wide scope and importance. The company first mentioned is engaged in the real estate, loan and insurance business, and its operations are based on a capital of $50,000. Mr. Cooke is essentially one of the representative business men of the younger generation in Akron and is an effective exponent of that progressive spirit and well directed energy which have caused Akron to forge so rapidly to the front as an industrial and commercial center.

Mr. Cooke finds satisfaction in reverting to the old Buckeye state as the place of his na- tivity and the scene of his endeavors in the field of productive business activity. He was born at Middlepoint, Van Wert county, Ohio,

on the 29th of August, 1869, and is a son of D. F. and Catherine (Cochran) Cooke, both natives of Ohio. The father devoted the major portion of his active career to mercan- tile business and died in April, 1883, and the mother died in 1884. The subject of this re- view secured his rudimentary education in the public schools of his native village and when he was fourteen years of age he removed to Bluffton, Allen county, Ohio, where he con- tinned his studies in the public schools until he had completed the curriculum of the high school, in which he was graduated as a mem- ber of the class of 1886. In the fall of 1886 he was matriculated in Buchtel College, in Akron, in which well ordered institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1891, duly receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts.

Immediately after leaving college Mr. Cooke accepted a position with the Crescent Fire Insurance Company, of Cleveland, where he remained one year. In June, 1892, he became identified with the operations of the real es- tate and insurance firm of Wilcox & Noah, of Akron, and when the enterprise was amplified by the organization of a stock company, in 1897, he became one of the interested princi- pals in the corporation, of which he was made secretary. In 1899 a reorganization took place, under the title of the Bruner-Goodhue- Cooke Company, and he has since continued in the responsible office of secretary. To his discrimination and able administrative policy has been in large degree due the wonderful expansion of the business of the company, and he is known as an aggressive young business man of distinctive initiative power and of sterling integrity of purpose. Since January, 1904, he has also held the office of secretary of the Akron Savings & Loan Company, of which he had previously been assistant secre- tary. He is a stockholder in several other substantial business concerns of Akron and as a citizen is essentially loyal and public-spirited. He is president of the Sectigraph Abstract & Title Company, the Akron Board of Under- writers and a former president of the Ohio Association of Fire Insurance Agents. He is a member of the board of trustees of his Alma Mater, Buchtel College, and also a member of the executive committee of that body.

In politics Mr. Cooke is aligned as a stal- wart supporter of the cause of the Republican party. He has attained to the thirty-second degree in Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite

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Masonry, in which he is identified with the consistory in Cleveland ; also with Akron Com- mandery, No. 25, K. T., Washington Chapter, No. 25, and Adoniram Lodge, No. 517, F. & A. M., of which he served as worshipful mas- ter in 1903. He is a past president of the Akron Masonic Club and a member of the Portage Country Club.

In 1897 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Cooke to Miss Mabel K. Page, daughter of Flora K. Page, and they are prominent in the social life of their home city.

WALTER M. KELLOGG .- Occupying a posi- tion of prominence among the alert, progres- sive and respected men who are so ably con- ducting the mercantile interests of Ashtabula county is Walter M. Kellogg, an extensive and prosperous hardware dealer of Jefferson. He comes from a family well known throughout New England, where his ancestors lived for many generations, being active in town, county and state affairs. His father, Abner Kellogg, was born in Alford, Berkshire county, Massa- chusetts, January 8, 1812, being the fourth child in a family consisting of five sons and four daughters.

Coming as a child with his parents to Ashtabula county, Ohio, Abner Kellogg re- ceived his elementary education in the district schools, where he had for a teacher B. F. Wade, and completing his studies in the Jef- ferson Academy. A man of industry and ac- tivity, ever ready to take advantage of every offered opportunity for increasing his finan- cial condition, Abner Kellogg was for a while variously employed, among other things keep- ing a village tavern, and dealing in cattle, buying large numbers, and driving them to the eastern markets. An influential member of his community, possessing marked ability and intelligence, he became active in public af- fairs, and in 1834 was elected justice of the peace in Monroe township, and served six years, when he resigned. In 1839 he was nominated for representative to the state legis- lature on the same ticket which had the name of B. F. Wade for state senator, and Platt R. Spencer for county treasurer, all three of these stalwart men being strongly anti-slavery. All were defeated by a union ticket, the pro-slavery feeling then running high in this county. In 1843 Abner Kellogg was elected to the legis- lature, in which he rendered good service to his constituents.

Removing to a farm in Sheffield township

in 1845, he operated a saw mill for some time, and for four years was county land appraiser. In 1847 he was made justice of the peace, and in 1849 was elected. clerk of the court of common pleas. Removing to Jefferson in 1849, he was elected, in 1852, under the new constitution, clerk, and re-elected to the same position in 1857. Being admitted to the bar in 1857, he was in partnership with Colonel A. S. Hall and Judge D. S. Wade until 1860, when Mr. Hall retired and Mr. Wade was made judge of the probate court. From that ·time until 1875 Mr. Kellogg was in partner- ship with E. Lee, who was in that year made common pleas judge, and E. Jay Pinney be- came Mr. Kellogg's partner:

In 1863 Abner Kellogg was elected to rep- resent his district in the state legislature, and afterwards being elected to the state senate, was a leader in so amending the state consti- tution as to allow the colored men franchise. Retiring from public office in 1867 with a clean and honorable record, he was made president of the Second National Bank, of Jefferson, of which he was also a director, and was officially connected with this institution until his death, April 27, 1878: In his early days he was a Whig in his political affiliations, subsequently being prominent in the Free Soil party, and after the formation of the Repub- lican party being one of its most loyal ad- herents. He contributed liberally towards the support of the Congregational church, although he was never a communicant.

Abner Kellogg married, October 2, 1834, Matilda Spencer, who was born in 1815, a daughter of Allen and Maria Spencer, and granddaughter of General Martin Smith, who emigrated from Hartford, Connecticut, to Ohio in 1799, and was a resident of Ashtabula county until his death, at the venerable age of ninety-five years. Her father died in 1830. and she subsequently lived with an aunt until her marriage. She died March 23, 1884, leav- ing three sons and three daughters.

Walter M. Kellogg, born in Sheffield town- ship, Ashtabula county, December 26, 1848, was but an infant when brought by his par- ents to Jefferson, where he was brought up and educated. Beginning his active career as clerk in a hardware store, he was in the em- ploy of Henry Talcott for a number of years, becoming familiar with every department of the business. In 1873 Mr. Kellogg embarked in business for himself, in 1877 moving to his present location. Here he has made improve-

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ments of value, enlarging and remodeling the building, and has built up a thriving trade. He began business on a very modest scale, having a limited stock of goods, and in con- nection with his store operated a tin shop. He now confines himself entirely to the mercantile part of his business, carrying a complete line of all goods to be found in a first-class hard- ware establishment, his business amounting to nearly $20,000 a year, in its management em- ploying three men, and keeping busy himself in attending to its details.

Mr. Kellogg married, in 1873, Ella Watkins, of Rock Creek, Ashtabula county. She died in 1901, at the age of forty-nine years, leaving two children, namely: Robert, who is taking lessons in voice culture in Boston; and Au- gusta, wife of Carl C. Cook, a lumber dealer in Ashtabula.

GEORGE S. EDDY .- A native son of the his- toric old Western Reserve, which he repre- sented as a valiant soldier of the republic in the Civil war, George S. Eddy is one of the well known and highly esteemed citizens of Lake county, maintaining his home in the vil- lage of Willoughby and being incumbent of the office of trustee of his township. as well as that of notary public. He formerly held the position of postmaster at this place, where his circle of friends is coincident with that of his acquaintanceship.

George Smith Eddy was born in Euclid township, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, on the 29th of November, 1842, and is a son of Halsey and Elizabeth (Eddy) Eddy, the former of whom was born in the state of Rhode Island and the latter in New York state. Halsey Eddy came to Ohio about 1832 and settled in Euclid township, Cuyahoga county, where he secured land and instituted the reclamation of a farm, in connection with which work he also fol- lowed his trade, that of shoemaker. In 1858 he sold his property in Ohio and removed to Pike county, Illinois, where he died in 1878, at the age of seventy-four years. His widow soon afterward returned to Ohio and she passed the closing years of her life in Colling- wood, in the home of her son Otis, where she died in 1889, at the venerable age of eighty- three years. She was born on the 27th of January, 1806. Halsey and Elizabeth Eddy became the parents of five sons and two daugh- ters. Luke D., the eldest son, served during the Civil war as a member of Battery G, First Ohio Artillery, and in 1869 he removed to

Illinois, where he passed the residue of his life. He died in 1906, at the age of seventy- two years. Otis, who served as a member of the One Hundred and Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war, returned to Ohio after the close of the great internecine conflict and here he was identified with agri- cultural pursuits until his death. Ira, who was a sailor on the Great Lakes for a number of years, later became identified with railroad work, and he died in the city of Cleveland, at the age of fifty-nine years. George S., of this review, was the fourth son, and James M., the youngest son, died in the city of New Orleans while serving as a soldier in the Ninety-ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

George S. Eddy passed his boyhood days on the home farm and is indebted to the common schools of his native county for his early edu- cational training. As a youth he became a sailor on the lakes, and in this sphere of activ- ity he finally served as second mate of the schooner "Challenge." This position he re- signed to respond to the call of higher duty, when the integrity of the Union was thrown into jeopardy through armed rebellion. On the 22d of May, 1861, he enlisted in Company I, Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which command he was in active service until the battle of Antietam. At this time he re- ceived a compound fracture of the left thigh, as the result of a gunshot wound, and the in- jury totally disabled him, as he was unable to make any use of his left leg. He lay in the hospital at Frederick, Maryland, from Septem- ber 17, 1862, until May 13, 1864, and was able to leave the hospital only nine days prior to the expiration of his term of enlistment. In all that period he was unable to walk save by the use of crutches, and fourteen years elapsed ere his wound was fully healed. He received his honorable discharge at the expiration of his term. After leaving the hospital Mr. Eddy returned to his home, and he took up his resi- dence in Willoughby, Lake county, where he was engaged in business until 1877, when he received the appointment of postmaster of the village, of which office he continued incumbent for ten years, during the administrations of Presidents Hayes and Arthur. During the last four years of his service, which terminated in 1887, the Willoughby office was in the third class, implying that the postmaster received his appointment from the president of the United States. Mr. Eddy served several years as constable and for three years as justice of

AK Smith

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the peace, and was township assessor about fifteen years. He has been incumbent of the office of trustee of Willoughby township since 1904, and has done most effective service as a member of the county board, in which connec- tion he was specially zealous in working to se- cure to Willoughby the Carnegie public li- brary building. He has given an uncompromis- ing allegiance to the Republican party, and has been an active worker in its cause. He was a member of the Republican central committee of Lake county and has been a delegate to various conventions of the party in his county and district. He was a charter member of the post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Willoughby, and is now affiliated with Dyer Post, in the city of Painesville, of which he is past commander. He maintains a deep inter- est in his old comrades in arms and is active in the affairs of the Grand Army of the Re- public. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum, but has no active affiliation in the order at the present time. He is a spiritualist in his re- ligious belief and his wife holds membership in the Christian, or Disciples, church.

On the 7th of July, 1864, Mr. Eddy was united in marriage to Miss Sophia Lamoreaux, of Willoughby, and she died at her home in Willoughby on the 30th of August, 1907, at the age of sixty-eight years. They became the parents of six children, concerning whom the following brief record is given: Mary Eliza- beth is the wife of Thomas F. Melody, of Humboldt county, Nevada; Pierre L., who married Miss Ella Rich, was killed on the 15th of July, 1908, having been electrocuted by a live wire while making repairs for the Cleve- land Electric Illuminating Company, in the city of Cleveland, being forty years of age at the time of his death; Norman S., who mar- ried Miss Rose Sutch, is a patternmaker in the employ of the American Clay Machinery Company, of Willoughby : Sarah A. is the wife of A. B. Palmetier, of Ironton, Ohio; Laura A. is the wife of George W. Johnson, of Not- tingham, Ohio; and George S., Jr., is em- ployed as patternmaker in the city of Cleve- land. On the 21st of May, 1908, Mr. Eddy contracted a second marriage, being then united to Mrs. Martha A. Grover, nee Hub- bard, of Willoughby, Ohio.

JUDGE HENRY KENTON SMITH, of Chardon, Geauga county, who on February 9, 1909, re- tired from the probate bench after a service of more than forty-two years, had participated

in official life for nearly half a century, had been an honorable and able representative of the legal profession for fifty-three years, and had spent an active and interested life within the limits of the county. Probably no other man in the United States was ever probate judge for such a long term of years. His use- fulness, friendliness, charity and benevolence has embraced, inspired and warmed so many people and so many movements and institu- tions that he occupies a high place in the hearts and esteem of the community. Judge Smith is one of those rare characters in Amer- ican life whose many years have been devoted to showering benefits upon those around him without regard to individual harvests.

He was born in Parkman township, Geauga county, on the 10th of August, 1832, and is the eldest son and third born of Marsh and Eliza (Colton) Smith. The Colton family settled in Portage county in the pioneer period, and George Colton, a cousin of Judge Smith, has been a professor at Hiram College ever since the period of the Garfield administration in its affairs. The Smith grandparents, Seth and Polly (Marsh), migrated from New York and settled in Parkman township about 1818, where they both died at an advanced age. Marsh Smith, the father, was born in Burlington, Vermont, in 1799; came as a youth to this county and spent his early years as an ener- getic farmer of the township. He was a great admirer of Horace Greeley, the New York Tribune being his political gospel as long as he lived. Mr. Smith was implacable in his anti-slavery views, a prominent agent of the Underground Railroad, and his great Whig and Republican friend of the Tribune paid him not a few visits at his home in Parkman. In 1850 he was elected county auditor and moved to Chardon when he assumed office, continu- ing. to serve with credit for three terms. For many years he also was justice of the peace and held other positions which forcibly be- spoke the high estimation in which he was held. He died when he was eighty-eight. in 1887: his wife lived to be nearly eighty. Mr. and Mrs. Marsh Smith were the parents of a large family, the following seven reaching maturity : Hannah, who married Dr. Peter R. Bates and died in Iowa ; Elizabeth, who mar- ried Gordon Durfee and both herself and hus- band are now deceased; Henry K., of this sketch ; Theron C. Smith, who was a farmer, cheese manufacturer and banker of Chardon, and died at that place in 1908, leaving a

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widow ; Newell R. Smith, a farmer and cheese manufacturer of Troy township, this county ; Marsh H. Smith, who served in the Civil war and afterward resumed farming in Iowa; and Eliza, who is Mrs. John Brooks and is a resi- dent of Chardon.

The future judge was educated mainly in the common schools and at Farmington and Parkman Academy before he came to Char- don with his father in 1850. At that time he was nineteen. He was first employed as deputy auditor and in connection with the county treasurer's office. He also read law in the of- fice of A. G. Riddle and A. H. Thrasher, and in 1856 was admitted to the bar. Soon after- ward he was appointed deputy sheriff, and these responsibilities were followed by the greater ones attaching to the county treasurer- ship. At the death of A. H. Gotham, in the spring of 1857, he became county clerk, and in the following autumn was elected prose- cuting attorney, in which office he served two terms. In 1857 he had formed a law partner- ship with W. O. Forrist, and in 1861 asso- ciated himself with D. W. Canfield, the latter connection continuing until his election to the probate bench in the fall of 1866. While in company with Mr. Canfield Judge Smith was also elected justice of the peace for two terms. At the expiration of his first term as probate judge he was re-nominated by acclamation, and that honor was accorded him during the many remaining years of his service on the bench. It will be seen that most of his life he was a public servant. A short time before his retirement from the bench a company of friends, attorneys, county officials and attaches of his court, led by Circuit Judge Metcalfe, surprised him alone in his office and presented him with a gold watch as a testimonial of the general esteem in which its recipient was held.

It is impossible to more than briefly note the work which Judge Smith accomplished off the bench and outside his official life in the county's service. He was president of the school board for more than fifteen years. He was park commissioner of Chardon for a long time, and in the early period of his term it was very difficult to secure the necessary appropri- ations to keep the public grounds in good order and make the extensions desired by enterpris- ing citizens. When no funds were available for these purposes Judge Smith went down into his own pockets for them; and the same is true when he was president of the board of cemetery trustees. He loves beautiful

things, he cherishes the memory of his de- parted friends and kindred, and no one has done more to beautify Chardon than he. The judge has also ever been in the foreground when anything was to be done to encourage the city either in securing public utilities or under stress of calamity. After the fire of 1868 he was among the most active in rebuild- ing the place, and put heart into many of his despondent associates by personally investing in real estate and improvements. The Opera House block is mainly due to his efforts at this period. When the old Chardon House was? burned in 1878 he headed and circulated the subscription paper which resulted in the erec- tion of a brick structure on the site of the former landmark, and the $10,000 bonus re- quired for the building of the Cleveland and Eastern electric line to Chardon was raised largely by his efforts. As long as the present generation can remember, when public enter- prises have been suggested Judge Smith's counsel was always first sought, and if the proposition seemed to him feasible and de- sirable he not only gave good advice but some- thing more to the practical purpose. In addi- tion to his manifold judicial, official and civic responsibilities, Judge Smith has also engaged to some extent in the breeding of horses, the raising of sheep and the operation of a dairy, the last two specialties having been conducted in association with his brother.

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History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 11

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