USA > Ohio > History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107
Mr. Reynolds has always been an unwaver- ing friend of both popular and higher educa- tion, and since 1898 has served as trustee of the Lake Erie College. The patriotic record of his colonial forefathers has also inspired him with a deep interest in the American struggle for independence, and has brought him into prominent connection with the Sons of the American Revolution. He was vice president of the Ohio division of that frater- nity and is now vice president of its Western Reserve Society. In October. 1882, he was united in marriage with Miss Helen E. Whit- ney, daughter of Samuel F. Whitney, of Men- tor, and they have become the parents of one child, Luella W.
THE FAXON FAMILY, which has had distin- guished representation in the annals of the Western Reserve since the opening years of the nineteenth century, is one of sterling, line- age, both direct and collateral, and the name has been identified with American history from the early colonial epoch. In the Western Re- serve this family is one of the oldest and most honored, and in the several generations have been strong men and true and gracious and noble women. Its representatives have played well their parts in connection with the multi- farious relations and activities of life, and espe- cially has this been true of the Faxons of Lo- rain county, with whom this article has more specifically to do.
Of stanch and patrician English lineage, the Faxon family was founded in America in 1640, when the original progenitor in the new world took up his residence in Massachusetts colony. From New England representatives of the name have gone forth into the most diverse sections of the Union and have exerted in their day beneficent influence in the varied vocations to which they have directed their attention and energies.
Isaac Davis Faxon, to whom must be ac- credited the distinction of having been the founder of the family line in the Western Re- serve, came hither in the early years of the last century, probably prior to the admission of Ohio to the Union, and here the name has stood representative of prominence and influ- ence for at least a full century. Isaac Davis Faxon settled in Portage county, where he se- cured a tract of land in the midst of the prime- val forest and instituted the reclamation of a farm. He was a native of Massachusetts, hav- ing. been born at Conway, that state, and was a son of Thomas Faxon, whose father, Thomas Faxon, Sr., was a patriot soldier in the Con- tinental line in the war of the Revolution. Isaac D. Faxon and his wife continued to re- side in Portage county until they were sum- moned to the life eternal, and their names merit an enduring place on the roll of the pio- neers who laid broad and deep the foundations upon which has been reared the magnificent superstructure of one of the greatest of the American commonwealths .:
John Hall Faxon, son of Isaac Davis Faxon, was born in Aurora, Portage county, Ohio, on the 6th of June. 1815, and at the death of his father, in 1821, he was taken into the home of his uncle, Oliver H. Lewis, with whom he re- moved to Lorain county, when a boy. He was
785
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
afforded the advantages of the common schools and pursued higher branches of study, as is evident when we revert to the fact that he be- came a skilled civil engineer. In the work of this profession he was identified with many im- portant public and semi-public enterprises in the early days. He thus assisted in the con- struction of the historic old Erie canal, and also the Auburn & Syracuse Railroad, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, and the Atlantic & Great Western Railway. In 1840 he was appointed deputy sheriff of Lorain county, and in 1844 was elected sheriff, in which office he served two terms, through his re-election in 1846. In 1857 he received from Governor Salmon P. Chase appointment to the office of canal collector in the city of Cleve- land, where he continued in this service for a number of years, after which he returned to Lorain county. In 1873 he was elected to rep- resent Lorain county in the state legislature, and in 1875 he was chosen his own successor in this position, in which he made an admirable record of loyal and effective service. In the meanwhile he had given careful attention to the study of law, and in 1875 he was admitted to the bar of the state, upon examination before the supreme court in Columbus. He was a man of great energy and ambition, and he made his life count for good in all its relations. He was called upon to serve as surveyor of Lorain county, was for a number of years in- cumbent of the office of justice of the peace, and was twice elected mayor of Elyria, where he long maintained his home. All of these preferments indicate beyond peradventure the unequivocal confidence and esteem in which he was held by the people of his county. During the last few years of his earnest and prolific life he was president of the Flushing Coal Company, which was organized by him and his sons and which controls excellent coal mines in Belmont county, Ohio. In politics he gave his allegiance to the Republican party, and as a citizen he was ever loyal and public- spirited.
On the 2d of June, 1838, was solemnized the marriage of John Hall Faxon to Miss Esther Terrell, who was born in Ridgeville, Lorain county, Ohio, on the 5th of September, 1816, a daughter of Tillotson and Electa (Wilmot ) Terrell. The Terrell family was early founded in Lorain county, whither its representatives came from the state of Connecticut. John H. Faxon died on the 4th of July, 1891, and his cherished and devoted wife was summoned to
the life eternal on the 22d of March, 1900. They became the parents of six children, of whom four are living at the time of the prep- aration of this article, in 1910, as follows : Isaac D., Theodore S., Harriet A., and John H., all of Elyria.
Isaac Davis Faxon, of Elyria, Lorain county, son of John H. and Esther (Terrell) Faxon, was born at Ridgeville, Lorain county, Ohio, on the 16th of September, 1840. His educa- tional advantages were those afforded in the common schools of his native county. For thirteen years he maintained his residence in the city of Cleveland, and during this period he held the position of bookkeeper in the count- ing-room of the Cleveland Herald, then one of the leading daily newspapers of the Ohio metropolis. In 1878 he returned to Lorain county and took up his residence in Elyria, where for a number of years thereafter he was engaged in the mercantile business. He was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Lorain Banking. Company, in 1895, and has been from the beginning a member of its board of directors and its finance committee, besides which he is now incumbent of the of- fice of vice-president of this important finan- cial institution. For many years he has been identified with the Flushing Coal Company, in the organization of which he was associated with his father and his younger brother, Theo- dore S. Upon the death of his honored father he was appointed executor of the family estate, and to facilitate the handling of the same he organized the Faxon Realty Company, which is duly incorporated under the laws of the state, and of which he is president. The com- pany controls large and important capitalistic and real estate interests in Lorain county and elsewhere and its affairs have been admirably guided and governed under the administration of its president.
Isaac D. Faxon has ever manifested the same commendable public spirit that animated his father, and his influence and co-operation have been freely given in the promotion of measures and enterprises tending to advance the civic and material welfare of the commu- nity. He has served seven years as a member of the city council of Elyria, and also has been a valued member of the municipal board of tax revision. He is identified with the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, being in perfect sym- pathy with its high civic ideals and giving sup- port to its various undertakings. He is also a member of the Memorial Hospital Association,
786
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
and he is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church, in which he holds member- ship in the parish of St. Andrew's church in Elyria. In the Masonic fraternity he has at- tained to the thirty-second degree of the An- cient Accepted Scottish Rite, and his political proclivities are indicated in the loyal support which he accords to the cause of the Repub- lican party.
On the 2d of September, 1869, Isaac D. Faxon was united in marriage to Miss Laura M. Briggs, who was born in Painesville, Lake county, Ohio, on the 3Ist of December, 1845, and who died on the 31st of January, 1898, leaving no children. She was a daughter of Joseph W. and Harmony (Gilmore) Briggs. Her father was a nephew of Hon. George N. Briggs, who served as governor of Massachu- setts and also as member of Congress from that state. Joseph W. Briggs was reared in the home of this distinguished uncle and he eventually received appointment as special agent of the United States postoffice depart- ment, in which connection he organized the letter-carriers' system, and he continued in the government service until his death. On the 17th of April, 1900, Mr. Faxon contracted a second marriage, being then united to Mrs. Ellen E. (Stearns) Brownell, of Elyria.
Theodore S. Faxon, second son of John H. and Esther (Terrell) Faxon, was born in Ely- ria, Lorain county, Ohio, on the 13th of Janu- ary, 1846, and in the schools of this place he secured his early educational discipline. As a youth he learned the drug business, but he did not long devote his attention to the same. He was for four years bookkeeper for a lead- ing wholesale dry-goods house in the city of Cleveland, being incumbent of this position at the outbreak of the Civil war. In 1864 he enlisted as a member of Company K, One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, and served four months, when his regi- ment was honorably mustered out of service.
In 1870 Mr. Faxon engaged in the manu- facturing of furniture in Elyria, and with this line of enterprise he continued to be identified for a period of three years, after which he operated a planing mill and did a general busi- ness as a building, contractor until 1881, in which year he became interested in the mining of coal in Ohio fields. In this connection he assumed the dual office of secretary and treas- urer of each of the following corporations : Tuscarawas Valley Coal Company, Brock Hill Coal Company, Camp Creek Coal Company,
Pigeon Run Coal Company, the O. Young Coal Company, and the Flushing Coal Com- pany. In 1884 he disposed of his interests in the companies mentioned, with the exception of the Flushing Coal Company, in which he secured the controlling stock and of which he has since been president and treasurer. He is also treasurer of the Faxon Realty Com- pany, of which mention has already been made in preceding paragraphs. Mr. Faxon is a stanch Republican in his political proclivities, is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Com- merce, and is affiliated with the Masonic fra- ternity, in which he has attained to the chival- ric degrees, being identified with Elyria Com- mandery, No. 60, Knights Templars. He is recognized as one of the representative citi- zens of his native county and, like his brother, has a secure place in the confidence and regard of its people.
On the 20th of June, 1871, Theodore S. Faxon was united in marriage to Miss Martha E. Bullock, who was born at Bristol, New York, and who was three years of age at the time of the family removal to Elyria, Ohio, where she was reared and educated. Her father, Aaron H. Bullock, has maintained his home in Elyria for nearly half a century and is now one of the venerable and highly hon- ored citizens of Lorain county. To Mr. and Mrs. Faxon have been born five children, namely : Theodore E., Mary Belle, Katherine Louise, Isaac Davis (2d), and Robert B. All of the children are living except Mary Belle, who became the wife of Arthur J. Boynton, of Elyria, and who died March 10, 1907. Kath- erine Louise is the wife of J. B. Gilbert, of Beverly, Massachusetts, and the two younger sons remain at the parental home.
Theodore Edmund Faxon, eldest son of Theodore S. and Martha E. ( Bullock) Faxon, is one of the popular young men of his native county and is now the able incumbent of the office of county clerk. He was born in Elyria, Lorain county, Ohio, on the 8th of February, 1880. He completed the curriculum of the public schools of Elyria, and was graduated in the high school as a member of the Class of 1897. Thereafter he was for one year a student in Oberlin College, after leaving which institution he was matriculated in Cornell Uni- versity at Ithaca, New York, in which he was graduated in 1903, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the law department of the same university he was graduated as a member of the Class of 1905, duly receiving the degree of
T
J. H. Faxon
787
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
Bachelor of Laws. Upon his return to Elyria he was admitted to the bar of his native state, and here he was engaged in the practice of his profession until October 10, 1906, when he was appointed county clerk, to fill a vacancy. He was duly elected to this office by the voters of the county in 1908, for a term of two years, and he has given a most effective and accepta- ble administration of the affairs of the impor- tant office. He is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, is identified with the Masonic fraternity, and holds membership in the Country Club and other representative so- cial organizations. His political faith is that of the Republican party and he takes a lively interest in the promotion of its cause. On the 25th of October, 1907, Mr. Faxon was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Brooks, daugh- ter of Walter E. Brooks, of Elyria. She grad- uated in Vassar College as a member of the Class of 1906, and she occupies a prominent place in connection with the social activities of her home city. Mr. and Mrs. Faxon have a fine little son, Theodore Brooks Faxon, who was born on the 20th of September, 1908.
JOHN HALL FAXON, secretary of the Flush- ing Coal Company and of the Faxon Realty Company, of Elyria, has always been one of the leading and most versatile business men of the Western Reserve, and is a sterling repre- sentative of the family which was so early established in Lorain county and has never failed in the best promotion of its interests. He was born in Elyria, January 30, 1851, and is a son of the late John Hall Faxon, men- tioned at length in the sketch of the Faxon family. His education was obtained in the public schools of his native city, and he began his business career as deputy under E. G. Johnson, then auditor of Lorain county.
In 1871 Mr. Faxon became a bookkeeper in the National Bank of Elyria, and after holding that position until 1880 resigned to become identified with mining interests in Boston, Massachusetts. Working along this line for two years, he then became identified with the Akron (Ohio) Water Works for about the same length of time, after which he engaged in railroad construction in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Operations in the iron and steel pipe industry at Warren, Ohio, occupied him for the succeeding few years, and he then as- sumed his present duties as secretary of the Flushing Coal Company and the Faxon Realty Company, both of which are family enterprises.
Mr. Faxon is also an active member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, is a Royal Arch Mason and stands high in social and fraternal as well as business circles.
Mr. Faxon's wife was formerly Miss Lizzie Browning Starr, a native of Elyria, where she was born December 22, 1852, daughter of the late Horace Clapp Starr, so widely known in that place as a leading pioneer merchant, and in Akron as treasurer of the water works. Her mother (nee Sarah P. Wheeler) is also deceased. Mr. Starr was born in Harpers- field, New York, February 15, 1820, son of Raymond and Betsey (Penfield) Starr, pater- nal and maternal ancestors, having settled there during the early portion of the century as emigrants from Danbury, Connecticut. In 1828 representatives of both families settled at Pen- field, Lorain county, and in 1831 Raymond Starr moved to Elyria, where he resided until his death in 1870. When Mr. Starr and his family arrived the little village was only fif- teen years old, and there the fourth son, Hor- ace, received his early education and his first business experience. In 1841 he became asso- ciated with S. W. Baldwin and George Starr in the formation of the firm of Baldwin and Company ; in 1852, Starr Brothers and Com- pany was established, and in 1863 Horace Starr went to California, where, for three years, he was engaged in various mining en- terprises with his brother-in-law, C. T. Whee- ler. In 1866 he resumed his mercantile busi- ness at Elyria, his store in the Ely block was wiped out in the 1873 fire, but the business was resumed and continued until the dissolu- tion of the firm in 1878. From 1881 until his resignation, February 1, 1909, Mr. Starr served as treasurer of the Akron Water Works, his death occurring on the 26th of the following month. The deceased married Miss Sarah Phelps Wheeler on the 5th of July, 1848, who died in August, 1870, mother of the fol- lowing: Mrs. John H. Faxon; Mrs. Marian Harrington, a resident of Boston, and Horace T. Starr, who lives in Cleveland. Mr. and Mrs. Faxon have become the parents of five children: Truman Starr, who was born Sep- tember 28, 1875, and is now connected with the Grafton Stone Company; Cyrus Wheeler, born December 13, 1879, who is a Harvard graduate ('02) and identified with the Hayden- Miller Company, bond brokers of Cleveland; Richard, who was born July 10, 1883, and is now a student at the Ohio State University ; John Hall, Jr., born December 6, 1885, who is
788
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
associated with the Stearns Automobile Com- pany of Cleveland; Dorothy Browning Faxon, born July 22, 1892, who is a student at the MacDuffie School for Girls at Springfield, Massachusetts ; and Forest Starr, born October 1, 1894.
HARVEY M. HOLLINGER .- It was given to the late Harvey M. Hollinger, of Akron, to attain to a liberal measure of success in con- nection with the practical activities of business, and he was distinctively the architect of his own fortunes, having built the ladder by which he rose to independence and prosperity in tent- poral affairs. While he was thus numbered among the representative business men of Akron, he had the higher patent of nobility which is gained only through the possession of personal integrity and honor, and he left the heritage of a good name and of a life lived worthily in all its relations. He died at his home in Akron, on the Ist of April, 1908, and Akron gave full manifestation of its sense of loss and bereavement when one of its honored citizens was thus summoned to the life eternal. At the time of his demise he was junior mem- ber of the firm of Brouse & Hollinger. He was vice-president and treasurer of the Perma- nent Savings & Loan Company, and secretary and treasurer of the Abstract Title and Guar- antee Company, besides which he had other local interest of important order.
Harvey M. Hollinger passed practically his entire life in Summit county. He was born on the 28th of August, 1860, and was a son of Rev. Joseph Hollinger, who was an early set- tler of Ohio, whither he came from Pennsyl- vania, and who was a minister of the Evan- gelical church, in whose work he served with much ability and self-abnegation for many years. The subject of this memoir was af- forded the advantages of the common schools of Summit county, and he became dependent upon his own resources when still a mere youth. From an appreciative article published in a local paper at the time of his death the following pertinent extracts are made :
"Mr. Hollinger's business career has been marked by the most painstaking industry and integrity. His judgment and skill in handling affairs commanded the admiration of his asso- ciates, and, though he began his career a poor man, he accumulated a comfortable home. He had lived in Akron since a young man. Four- teen years ago, on the organization of the Per- manent Savings & Loan Company, he was
connected with the concern, and shortly after- ward became a director. During the last eight years he had been its vice-president and treas- urer, as well as the secretary and treasurer of the Abstract Title & Guarantee Company. He was interested also in the Akron Roofing Tile Company, a director in the Central Savings & Trust Company, and owned considerable real estate on West Hill and in other locali- ties."
Though never an aspirant for public office, Mr. Hollinger was never neglectful of his civic duties and his co-operation could be counted upon in connection with measures and enterprises tending to advance the material and social welfare of his home city, in whose prog- ress he ever manifested a deep interest. His political support was given to the Prohibition partv. He was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was a zealous member of the Woodland Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, with whose work Mrs. Hol- linger also has been closely identified. He died in the very prime of his useful manhood, but his career was one symmetrical in its accom- plishment and its worthiness, even though he was not permitted to attain to advanced age and to see the perspective of his labors or know their ultimate fruition. The family home is located on South Portage path and Grand avenue.
On the 6th of August, 1885, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hollinger to Miss Jennie M. Wall, who was born and reared in Medina county, where her father, the late Christian Wall, was an early settler and an honored citizen. Mrs. Hollinger continues to maintain her home in Akron, and gives her personal supervision to the affairs of her husband's es- tate. He is also survived by four children- Ralph W., Howard, Clara and Ruth. The elder son, a young man of fine attributes of character, was graduated in Adelbert College, at Cleveland, Ohio, in June, 1909, and received from this institution his well earned degree of Bachelor of Arts. Concerning this ambitious and earnest young man one of his fellow stu- dents spoke as follows in an article published a few months prior to his graduation :
"Aspiring to a Young Men's Christian As- sociation secretaryship when he shall have graduated from Adelbert College this year, R. W. Hollinger is one of the busiest men at Re- serve. When he is not engaged in pulling. off perfect grades, organizing a university club, playing basket ball, or working to support him-
789
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
self, he is meditating upon the vast opportuni- ties of Young Men's Christian Association work. 'Holly,' as the fellows call him, does not know what a grade less than 'E' (standing for excellent) looks like. Only once or twice has a lower grade been sprung upon him, and so how should he know? Little prizes, ranging from twenty-five to $100, simply come his way. Recently he received the Harriet-Pelton-Per- kins prize-a trifle of $100. The conditions were somewhat stiff, the boys thought, inas- much as an interminable string. of E's (not ease) was required, but it was like rolling off a log for Holly. Yet he is closely connected with the school athletics, being president of the tennis association and the first secretary of the basket-ball team. Among other little things he is also athletic editor of the Reserve Weekly, and is president of the Civic Club and the Young Men's Christian Association at Eldred Hall."
JOHN F. SMITH .- Now one of the most ex- tensive dealers in lumber at Painesville, Ohio, and in the Western Reserve, John F. Smith is of an old North Carolina family and was born in that state October 12, 1849. His father, John Wesley Smith, and his mother, Purdon Smith, were both natives of North Carolina. The early ancestors came from England and France, but although all the traditions of the family are southern, yet they have always been stanch supporters of Union and Republican principles. J. F. Smith's political views have been largely democratic in the last few years, yet he always supports the man that he thinks most competent, regardless of party.
In its ancestral state the Smith family was always noteworthy for its energy and enter- prise, in ante-war times not especially charac- teristic of southern families in comfortable cir- cumstance. Mr. Smith has inherited these family traits, reproduced in an intensified de- gree. His brother, the late S. Morgan Smith, was also recognized in Pennsylvania as a pro- moter of its great industrial interests, being the founder of the York firm of S. Morgan Smith Company, and the inventor and manu- facturer of a turbine water wheel which is largely introduced in America and Europe.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.