USA > Ohio > History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II > Part 20
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LOUIS S. SWEITZER, M. D .- Among those who are ably upholding the prestige of the medical profession in the Western Reserve is Dr. Sweitzer, who is one of the representative physicians and surgeons of the city of Akron, where he has been successfully established in practice for more than a quarter of a century and where he has ever maintained a tenacious hold upon popular confidence and regard, both as a physician and as a citizen of utmost loyalty and public spirit.
Dr. Sweitzer was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in 1851, and is a son of Samuel
and Elizabeth (Myers) Sweitzer, the former of whom was born in the canton of Berne, Switzerland, in 1817, and the latter of whom was a native of Prussia. Samuel Sweitzer was reared to the age of fourteen years in the beautiful little republic in which he was born, and in its excellent schools he secured his early educational training. At the age noted he came to the United States, and thereafter he was employed in farm work in Ohio until he had attained to his legal majority, when he settled in Tuscarawas county, where he event- ually became the owner of a well improved landed estate and where he continued to be actively identified with the great basic industry of agriculture until his death. He passed away secure in the esteem of all who knew him. He won success and independence through his own well directed efforts, and his life was characterized by indomitable industry and inflexible integrity of purpose.
Dr. Sweitzer passed his boyhood days on the home farm, and his initial experiences in con- nection with the practical duties of life were those gained in connection with the work of the farm. In the meanwhile he duly availed himself of the advantages of the district schools of his native county, and he was ma- triculated in Heidelberg College, at Tiffin, Sen- eca county, Ohio, in which he was a student for a period of years. Thereafter he devoted his attention to teaching in the public schools for some time, and in the meanwhile began the study of medicine under effective preceptor- ship. For the purpose of properly fortifying himself for the exacting and responsible work of his chosen profession he then entered the Cleveland Medical College, in which well ordered institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1875 and from which he received his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. His initial work in the practice of his profession was in Tuscarawas county, where he remained until 1880. In the year mentioned he completed an effective post- graduate course in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, and in the same year he located in the city of Akron, where he soon gained recognition as an able physician and surgeon and where he soon built up a successful practice. His professional clientage has continued to be of the most representative order and he has been unwavering in his devo- tion to the profession through whose beneficent functions he has done so effective work for suffering humanity. The Doctor is a valued
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and appreciative member of each the Ohio State Medical Society, the Northeastern Ohio Medical Society, and the Summit County Medical Society. He is a member of the con- sulting. staff of the Akron City Hospital and his high standing in his profession is rein- forced by study and investigation which keep him in close touch with the advances made in the sciences of both medicine and surgery.
Dr. Sweitzer is essentially public-spirited as a citizen and has shown a loyal interest in all that has made for the advancement and well- being of his home city, and while he has had neither time nor inclination for public office, he consented to serve as a member of the board of education, where his influence was productive of much good. In association with N. R. Ster- ner he has been prominently identified with the development of South Akron, now an impor- tant and finely improved section of the city, to which it has been annexed. Dr. Sweitzer is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Royal Arcanum and other organi- zations.
In 1875, Dr. Sweitzer was united in mar- riage to Miss Frances E. Mackey, who was born and reared in Mercer county, Pennsyl- vania. Dr. and Mrs. Sweitzer have one daugh- ter, Bessie, who remains at the parental home.
GENERAL JAMES FRANKLIN WADE, of Jef- ferson, was retired by operation of the law, April 14, 1907, after having given more than forty years of his life to the volunteer and regular service of the United States army. This includes a record for remarkable gal- lantry in the Civil war ; a leading identifica- tion with the government of the American insular possessions and dependencies, and con- nection with the war department as com- mander of the Atlantic division for the three years preceding his retirement.
General Wade is a native of Jefferson, Ohio, born April 14, 1843, and is a son of Hon. Benjamin F. Wade, United States senator from the state from 1851 to 1869, acting vice president under Andrew Johnson in 1865, and a lawyer and statesman of national fame. He died at Jefferson, March 2, 1878. James F. received a common school education, and began his army career May 14, 1861, by re- ceiving the appointment of first lieutenant of the Sixth United States Cavalry. On June 9. 1863, he was brevetted captain for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Beverly Ford, Virginia, and was successively brevetted
major, lieutenant colonel, colonel and briga- dier general of volunteers for merit and gal- lantry on various battle fields of the Civil war, the last named, February 13, 1865, being for gallant services in the campaign of southwest Virginia. On May 1, 1864, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Sixth United States Cavalry; was promoted colonel September 19th of that year ; brevetted brigadier general February 13, 1865, and honorably mustered out of the volunteer service of the colored cav- alry, April 15, 1866. He was appointed a captain in the United States army May I, 1866; major of the Ninth Cavalry, July 28th of that year; lieutenant colonel of the Tenth Cavalry, March 20, 1879; colonel of the Fifth Cavalry, April 21, 1887 ; brigadier general, May 26, 1897 ; major general of volunteers, May 4, 1898; honorably discharged from the volunteer service, June 12, 1899; major gen- eral United States army, April 13, 1903, and retired, as stated, April 14, 1907. In 1898 General Wade served as head of the Cuban Evacuation Commission ; was connected with the military department of the Philippines in 1901-4, commanded the division of the Philip- pines in 1903-4 and the Atlantic division in 1904-7.
ANSEL T. SIMMONS .- A man of marked ability and worth, A. T. Simmons, now serving his third term as postmaster at Geneva, is de- voting his time and energies to the duties of his position, being a most popular and efficient public official. A son of the late William P. Simmons, he was born, December 16, 1859, in Rome, Ashtabula county, of English ancestry.
Born and bred in Lincolnshire, England, William P. Simmons was reared to horticul- tural pursuits, and as a youth worked in the famous gardens at Kew, and at Eton Hall, be- coming skilled as a florist. Emigrating to this country when young, he lived for a number of years in Rome, Ohio, from there coming, in 1864, to Geneva, where, as a landscape gard- ener, he laid out Mount Pleasant Cemetery, of which he was afterwards superintendent for thirty years. About 1874 he opened a whole- sale florist's establishment, and shipped the products of his greenhouses all over the county, building up an excellent business, in which he continued until his death, February 9. 1898, at the age of eighty-one years. He was a stanch Republican in politics, although never an office seeker, and was an enthusiastic anti-slavery man, his home in Rome having
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been one of the stations on the underground railway. He was an Episcopalian in his relig- ious beliefs, and both he and his wife were charter members of Christ's church, in Geneva. The maiden name of his wife was Vincy L. Ackley. She was born in East Haddam, Con- necticut, and moved with her parents to Me- dina county, Ohio, where they were married. Three children were born of their union, namely : William H., a merchant in Bath, New York : Lydia, wife of Edwin Booth, of Cleve- land, Ohio; and A. T.
Learning the florist's art and trade while working with his father, A. T. Simmons was subsequently foreman for two years of a large plant on Long Island, after which he assisted in the management of his father's greenhouses in Geneva for many years. On May 31, 1898, Mr. Simmons was appointed postmaster of Geneva, a position of much importance, the office. under his administration of affairs, hav- ing developed from a third class office to a second class office, with both city and rural free . deliveries. In 1898, when he assumed charge of the office, but $90 was allowed for a clerk, but this sum has been increased by the addition of $7.383 to the former amount. In the man- agement of the work now devolving upon him, Mr. Simmons has eight assistants, including mail carriers and clerks, four being employed in rural free delivery service. An earnest sup- porter of the principles of the Republican party, while his brother is an equally strong supporter of the Democratic platform, Mr. Simmons was for eight years a member of the city council, resigning to accept his present official position under the Government. For the past twenty years he has been a member of the Geneva school board, which is not a politi- cal position, being now president of the board.
On July 12, 1882, Mr. Simmons married Lillian Down, who was born in Maidstone, County Kent, England, but was brought up and educated in Queens county, Long Island, New York, and they have one child, James W., a substitute clerk in the Geneva post office. Fraternally Mr. Simmons is a member, and an officer, of the Knights of Pythias, and of the Royal Arcanum. Mrs. Simmons is a valued member of the Congregational church.
CHARLES P. ROSE. of Painesville, Lake county, is an energetic and leading member of the Lake Erie Concrete Company, and is do- ing his full part in the practical demonstration of the manifold uses to which concrete may be
put as a substitute for wood and stone. In paving, building blocks, bridge and house building, and the manufacture of artistic de- signs for architectural repairs, Mr. Rose is perfectly at home, and is a strong force in torwarding the business of his company.
Mr. Rose is a native of Wayne county, New York, born in 1858. His father is George Rose, born in Oneida county, that state, in 1834; retired some years ago from his farm work and is now living with his son of this sketch. It is known that the grandfather, Phineas T. Rose, was a native of Dutchess county, New York, and fought in the war of 1812, and that the great-grandfather was in the Revolutionary ranks. So that there is no dearth of patriotic blood in the several genera- tions of the Rose family. Charles P. has never had an opportunity to strengthen the stream, his life having been passed in business and me- chanical occupations. He has always been a builder-up in his home communities, and Lake county contains many evidences of his skillful and honest handiwork.
JOHN F. WELLS .- The venerable and hon- ored postmaster in the village of Kirtland is a member of one of the well known pioneer fami- lies of Lake county, of which he is a native son and within whose borders the major portion of his long and useful life has been passed. He was for many years engaged in the mercantile business in Kirtland and retired from the same in 1907.
Mr. Wells was born on the homestead farm of his parents, four miles east of the village of Kirtland and in the township of the same name, and the date of his nativity was March 16, 1835. He is a son of John and Emily ( Bill- ings) Wells, both of whom were born near Greenfield, state of Massachusetts. In coming to Ohio, John Wells walked the major portion of the distance from Massachusetts to Buffalo, where he took passage on a stage for Cleve- land, from which place, then a mere village in the midst of the forest surrounding he made his way also by stage to Painesville, the county- seat of Lake county. Here Dwight Martin- dale, who came from the same place in Massa- chusetts, had already established his home, and Mr. Wells was in his employ about three years, at the expiration of which he returned to his native place and was there married. Upon coming again to Lake county, in company with his young bride, he settled on a tract of wild land, in Kirtland township, and the only im-
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provements on the place were those repre- sented in a log house and a clearing of about five acres. He secured the property from the man who had originally purchased the same from the Connecticut Land Company, and there lie established his permanent home. He added to his land until he had one hundred and sixty-five acres, and he reclaimed this entire tract to cultivation, living up to the full tension of the pioneer epoch and sparing himself naught in the application of energy and pro- ductive toil. About the year 1837 he erected a comfortable frame dwelling on his farm, and this building still stands, in a good state of preservation, after the lapse of nearly three- fourths of a century. When well advanced in years John Wells sold his old homestead, which had been transformed into a valuable farm through his arduous labors, and pur- chased a small tract of land in the village of Kirtland, where he continued to reside until his death, at the venerable age of eighty-four years. He was a man whose entire life was guided and governed upon a lofty plane of in- tegrity and honor and he was not denied the fullest measure of popular confidence and es- teem in the county to whose civic and material development he contributed in a most generous degree. He was for many years a deacon in the Congregational church in the village of Kirtland and was recognized as one of its pil- lars, strong in his religious faith and ever de- sirous of fostering the spiritual welfare of his
. fellow men. He first married Miss Salome Billings, who was born and reared in his native place, and who died when a young woman, leaving three daughters-Martha, a loved maiden woman of Kirtland, remained with her father until his death and she is now, in 1909, eighty-one years of age ; Mary became the wife of Benjamin F. Ladd and they removed to the state of Iowa, where she died when about seventy years of age ; Emily became the wife of Charles F. Button and they removed to Bowl- ing Green, Wood county, Ohio, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Miss Emily Billings, a sister of the first wife of John Wells, had come to Ohio and after the death of his first wife he wedded this sister, who reared the children with all of the maternal solicitude, and who survived her husband by a few years, passing away at the age of eighty-four years. Of the four children of the second marriage the subject of this review is the eldest ; Charles F., the next, a retired farmer, resides at Tabor, Fremont county, Iowa ; Margaret became the
wife of William P. Whelpley and died when a young woman ; and Henry O. is a representa- tive farmer of Kirtland township.
John F. Wells, whose name initiates this article, was reared to maturity on the pioneer farm, contributing his quota to its work and in the meanwhile availing himself of the advan- tages of the somewhat primitive schools of the locality and period. As a young man he went to Illinois and later to Iowa, but after an absence of about five years he returned to Lake county, Ohio, in 1857. In this county he con- tinued to be actively identified with agricul- tural pursuits, in Kirtland township, for some years, after which he followed the same voca- tion in Chardon township, Geauga county, whence he finally returned to Lake county and purchased a farm in Mentor township. He continued his identification with the great basic industry of agriculture until 1877, when he took up his residence in the village of Kirtland and opened a general merchandise store, which he conducted successfully for a period of about thirty years, at the expiration of which, in 1907, he retired. He built up a large and sub- stantial enterprise and gained and maintained a strong hold upon popular confidence and esteem. The store which he so long occupied was erected at the time when the Mormons had their headquarters in this section, and the original owner, a member of that faith, accom- panied his fellow "saints" on their memorable exodus to Salt Lake, Utah. His name was N. K. Whitney, and the building has changed hands but three times since erected by him, having been utilized as a store the major por- tion of the time during all the long intervening years. It is now one of the landmarks of the village and county, and is still owned by Mr. Wells, of this review. Mr. Wells was ap- pointed postmaster at Kirtland under the ad- ministration of President Garfield, an honored native son of the Western Reserve, and with the exception of a period of eight years has been either postmaster or assistant postmaster for thirty years. This office having been abolished October 15, 1909. For nearly a quar- ter of a century Mr. Wells has served in either the office of township clerk or township treasurer, of the latter of which he is the pres- ent incumbent, besides which he is township assessor. He was at one time elected justice of the peace but found it inexpedient to qualify for this position. He gives an unqualified al- legiance to the Republican party and has been an active worker in its cause. He has been an
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appreciative member of the Masonic fraternity for a quarter of a century and is actively affili- ated with Willoughby Lodge, No. 302, Free and Accepted Masons, in the neighboring vil- lage of Willoughby.
On the 15th of January, 1857, Mr. Wells was united in marriage to Miss Nancy J. Ben- ton, who was born in Chardon township, Geauga county, Ohio, in 1836, and who is a daughter of Elihu and Jane Benton, who passed the closing years of their lives in Char- don township, where the father was a pioneer farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Wells became the par- ents of three children,-Charles Clinton; who is a successful fruit-grower in Boulder county, Colorado; Emma J., who is the widow of Riley Harris, a farmer in Kirtland township, where he died, and she now resides in the vil- lage of Mentor, Lake county ; Eunice B., who remained at the parental home and assisted her father in the store and postoffice, died in 1902, unmarried.
CHRISTOPHER C. GARDNER, who is promi- nently identified with the business interests of Ravenna as a florist, was born in Freedom township of Portage county June 5, 1846, a son of William and Merritt ( Madison) Gard- ner, the father born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and the mother in Bennington county, Vermont. William Gardner was a son of Henry and Abigail (Stedman) Gardner, and Henry was a son of James Gardner, from Rhode Island. On the maternal side Christo- pher C. Gardner is a grandson of Robert and Lois (Vaughn) Madison, from Vermont, and a grandson of Robert Madison, from Rhode Island. Both James Gardner and Robert Madi- son served their country in the Revolutionary. war. Robert and Lois Madison with their family settled on timber land in Hiram town- ship of Portage county, Ohio, in the fall of 1833, but in time this pioneer couple succeeded in clearing their land and placing it under cultivation.
William Gardner, the father of Christopher, came to Freedom township, Portage county, Ohio, in 1829, making the journey by stage and on foot. On his arrival he purchased a tract of land, and being a brick-maker he fol- lowed his trade during the summer months and worked at clearing his land in the winters. His farm at the time of purchase was an un- broken wilderness of timber, and after he had it cleared he followed farming exclusively dur-
ing the remainder of his life. During the early years of his residence here he helped make the brick for the old court house. Born in the year of 1805, his life's labors were ended in death in 1887. His wife died in 1891, aged seventy-four years. In his early life William Gardner served as a captain of militia. His son Henry was a Civil war soldier for four years, for three years serving as a member of the Eighth New Jersey volunteers, and then enlisting, with the First New York volunteers, an engineering corps, he served with that command until the close of the conflict. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Gardner numbered five children : Henry, deceased; Robert, whose home is in Kansas ; Maria, who resides with her brother Christo- pher, the next born; and Frank, who is also deceased.
After the death of his parents Christopher C. Gardner continued to reside on the old home farm with his sister, who has never married, until in August of 1903, when he built his residence in Ravenna, on Freedom street. Em- barking in the hot house business, he has about three thousand feet under glass, and being a natural mechanic he was able to erect all his own buildings. He disposes of his plants in this immediate vicinity. As did his father, Mr. Gardner affiliates with the Democratic party, and the former at one time served as the trus- tee of Freedom township.
NEWTON CHALKER .- The history of the Chalker family in America, according to the best information now obtainable, dates back to about the year 1650, when, according to an unauthenticated tradition, three brothers of that name emigrated from England and lo- cated in the then colony of Connecticut, where, ever since that time, people bearing that name have continued to reside. There are people of that name also residing in Plymouth, England, at this time.
The following genealogy is furnished by Samuel Alfred Chalker, of Saybrook, Con- necticut, aged over eighty years.
Alexander Chalker married Patience Post, September 29, 1649, in Saybrook, Comrecticut, Their children were: Stephen, Samuel, Mary, Abraham, Patience, Sarah, Jane and Alex- ander.
The above named Samuel Chalker, who was born April 27, 1651, married Phoebe Bull, Oc- tober 31, 1676. Their children were : Stephen, Samuel, Phoebe (deceased) and Phoebe.
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The last named Samuel, who was born Octo- ber 6, 1679, married Rebecca Ingram, June 24, ander and Gideon.
The last named Samuel, or Samuel III, was born probably about the year 1712. He mar- ried and had the following children : Daniel, Selden and Sarah.
Newton Chalker, of this sketch, furnishes the following supplement to the above: The above named Daniel was born probably about the year 1740, and was married probably about the year 1765. His children were: Samuel, Sarah, Daniel, Anna, Patty, Phoebe and James (twins), Joseph, Charles and Nathaniel. All of the above, except the immigrant, Alexan- der Chalker, are supposed to have been born in or near to Saybrook, Connecticut.
The above named Daniel Chalker, Sr., his wife and several of their children, about the year 1800, removed from Connecticut and set- tled in Choconut township, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, where the parents passed the remainder of their lives and their children married and reared families.
The history of the Chalker family in Ohio begins with the settlement in Southington township, Trumbull county, of the above named James Chalker, the grandfather of Newton. In his youth he emigrated from Say- brook. Connecticut, in the year 1805, bring- ing with him by means of an ox team and wagon, his young wife Mercy (Norton), an infant son Orrin, and all of his earthly be- longings, which then consisted only of his faithful ax, his trusted gun and a few house- hold utensils. In the summer of that year he moved upon a tract of woodland one-half mile west of the center of Southington, where, out of the dense forest which confronted him in every direction, inhabited only by bears, wolves, deer and other wild game, he carved for himself and family a home which he con- tinuously occupied until his death in the year 1867, at the age of about ninety years, his faithful wife preceding him in the year 1860. They and Luke Veits and wife, Hannah Nor- ton, were the first families who settled in Southington.
In that home, which consisted at first of a rude log cabin, but later of a convenient frame dwelling, taken down in the year 1906 to make room for the present commodious home of his grandson, Lewis Chalker, that pioneer couple reared to manhood and womanhood a family of nine sons and four daughters, viz: Orrin, Joseph, Edmond, James, Phoebe, Anna, Polly,
Daniel, Calvin, Philander, Harrison, Allen and Mercy ; all of whom, except Polly and Mercy, who removed to the state of Indiana, and Anna, who removed to Nelson, located in Southington and reared families. There, in that early wilderness home with neighbors few and far between, that couple and their large group of rugged children braved and endured the privations and hardships known only to pioneer life. In the graveyard at the center of Southington their ashes and those of all of their sons but one (Philander), who is still living, and of all of their sons' wives are now reposing.
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