USA > Ohio > History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II > Part 24
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Christopher Gore Crary was three times married. For his first wife he chose Miss Aurelia Morse, who is survived by three daughters, all of whom still reside in Kirt- land, township, namely: Miss Marian A .; Virginia, widow of Porter Whelpley; and Octavia, wife of E. D. Billings. For his sec- ond wife, Mr. Crary wedded Miss Nancy Davis, who is survived by two sons: Charles C., now a resident of California, and George E., of Mott, North Dakota. On the 16th of July, 1854, Mr. Crary contracted a third mar- riage, being then united to Miss Charlotte Sophia Ranney, who preceded him to the life eternal by about five months, as her death oc- curred on the 14th of October, 1894. She was a woman of gentle and kindly nature and held the affectionate regard of all who came within the sphere of her gracious influence. She was a devout member of the Congrega- tional church. The only child of the third union is William R., whose name initiates this article, and concerning whom more specific mention is made in the following paragraphs.
William Ranney Crary was reared to ma- turity on the old homestead farm adjoining his present place, and to the public schools of Lake county he is indebted for his early educational training. At the age of seventeen years he assumed charge of his present farm, which was owned by and was the home of his aunt, Mrs. Alice P. (Ranney) Axtell, widow of Silas Axtell. His loved and de- voted aunt remained with him on the old homestead until her death, on the 9th of May, 1900, at the venerable age of eighty-seven years, and as she had no children of her own she deeded the farm to her nephew, who had cared for her with true filial solicitude during her declining days. The original property com- prised ninety acres and he has since added to it by the purchase of a contiguous tract, making the farm now one of one hundred and twenty-five acres. Mr. Crary has remod- eled and thoroughly modernized the residence, which is now one of the attractive homes of this section of the county, and he has made
various other improvements on the farm, which is devoted to diversified agriculture, horticulture and fruit-growing. About twenty acres are devoted to the apple orchard, and the raising of fruit is made an important fea- ture of the farm enterprise.
In politics Mr. Crary is a stanch Demo- crat, but he has never cared to enter the arena of "practical politics." He has served as a member of the school board of his district for many years, is a member of the Kirtland Grange, and also is identified with the Ohio State Horticultural Society.
On the 24th of September, 1884, was sol- emnized the marriage of William R. Crary to Miss Caroline M. Davis, who was born in Chickasaw county, Iowa, and who is a daugh- ter of Edmond W. and Caroline (Randall) Davis, now residents of New Hampton, that state. Mr. and Mrs. Davis were formerly residents of Kirtland township, Lake county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Crary have two chil- dren: Charlotte Beecher, who was graduated in Oberlin College, as a member of the class of 1909, and Marion Davis, who is a member of the class of 1910 in the high school in the village of Kirtland. The family enjoy dis- tinctive popularity in their community and the pleasant home is one in which is dispensed a most gracious hospitality.
NEWTON E. FRENCH .- Any piece of bio- graphical writing should be both an interpreta- tion and an impression, quite as much as a summary of facts. Facts are of use as whole- some correctives of prejudice, but in a con- densed narrative of a life there is danger that they may tyrannize. In studying a clean-cut, sane, distinct character like that of the vener- able and honored subject of this sketch, inter- pretation follows fact in a straight line of derivation. His character is the positive ex- pression of a strong nature, and his name looms large in connection with the business and civic annals of Ashtabula county, which has been his home from the time of his birth and which has been honored and dignified by his services in offices of high public trust and his labors in connection with the productive activities of life. He has been president of the First National Bank of Jefferson for more than thirty years and has been identified with the institution in an executive capacity for more than half a century. He has held public office of some order almost continuously since he attained to his legal majority, and now,
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venerable in years, he rests secure in the con- fidence and high regard of the people of the county to whose civic and industrial advance- ment he has contributed so large a measure. He is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of the Western Reserve, and from even the brief outline of his career given in this initial paragraph it may well be under- stood that no citizen of Ashtabula county is more clearly entitled to representation in this compilation than is he.
Newton Ethan French was born in Lenox township, Ashtabula county, Ohio, on January 4. 1824, and he is today undoubtedly the oldest citizen to continue actively identified with business interests in his native county. His father, Ira French, was born in Sandisfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and amidst the hills of that picturesque section of the old Bay state he was reared to maturity, in the meanwhile receiving the advantages of the common schools of the period. He was a son of Joseph French, who was of English lineage and a scion of a family founded in Massachu- setts in the colonial epoch of our national his- tory. Joseph French was a farmer in Berk- shire county and there continued to reside until the close of his life. In the year 1817 Ira French severed the ties which bound him to the old home in Massachusetts and set forth for Ohio, which was then considered on the frontier of civilization. He became one of the pioneers of the Western Reserve, as he settled in Lenox township, Ashtabula county, where he secured a tract of wild land, a considerable portion of which he reclaimed from the virgin forest, thus developing one of the productive farms of this now opulent section of the Buck- eye commonwealth. In his native state he had learned the carpenter's trade, but after his re- moval to Ohio he gave the major portion of his time and attention to the improvement and cultivation of his farm. He was a man of strong mentality and inflexible integrity of character, and he became one of the influential citizens of his township, of which he served as one of the early trustees, besides which he held other minor offices of public trust. In politics he was originally an old-line Whig, but upon the organization of the Republican party he transferred his allegiance to the same, whose cause thereafter received his uncompro- mising support. He was a consistent supporter of the Congregational church, as was also his cherished and devoted wife. He lived to at- tain the venerable age of eighty-two years. The
family is one that has been notable for longev- ity in the various generations, and Newton E. French stands as a type of that sturdy vigor which is the heritage from those whose lives were correctly lived in preceding generations,
As a young man Ira French was united in marriage to Miss Minerva Bailey, who was born in New Hartford, Connecticut, and who was a daughter of Benjamin Bailey, a repre- sentative of a family which was founded in New England in the early colonial days and which was of stanch English origin. Mrs. French was forty-eight years of age at the time of her death and was survived by two children, of whom the subject of this review is the elder ; the daughter, Mary Louise, died when about thirty-five years of age.
Newton E. French was reared under the conditions and influences of the pioneer epoch in Ashtabula county, and his reminiscences of the early days are graphic and interesting. He has witnessed the development of this section from the formative period to that of advanced civilization and opulent prosperity marking the twentieth century, and it has been a matter of satisfaction to him that he has been able to contribute his quota to the civic and industrial upbuilding of his native county, of whose native sons he is now one of the oldest. He assisted in the reclamation and cultivation of the home farm, and eventually he became the owner of a well improved farm property in Lenox township, where he continued to be ac- tively identified with agricultural pursuits until 1858, when he removed to Jefferson to assume the duties of the office of county treasurer, to which he had been elected in the preceding au- tumn. He remained incumbent of this fiscal office for four years, and here his administra- tion gained the most unequivocal popular com- mendation, as is true in all the official positions to which he has been called. At the age of twenty-one years Mr. French was elected treas- urer of Lenox township, and he also served in the office of township clerk and that of justice of the peace, to which latter he was elected in 1853; this position he resigned when he be- came county treasurer. The advantages which he received in the common schools of the pio- neer days were not neglected by him, and the discipline there received has been most effec- tively supplemented by well directed reading and investigation and by long association with the practical affairs of life, so that he is recog- nized as a man of superior intellectual endow- ment and as one well fortified in his opinions.
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As before stated, Mr. French has been almost continuously in service as a public official since the time of attaining to his majority, and in every position he has given an earnest and able devotion to the work in hand, being apprecia- tive of the responsibilities imposed and of the confidence so uniformly accorded him by those who have known him best and have placed a definite estimate upon his character and ability. In the village of Jefferson he has served as mayor, as a valued member of the common council and as a member of the board of edu- cation. He is now a member of the board of trustees of the Jefferson Cemetery Associa- tion, of which position he has been incumbent during the major portion of the long period of his residence in Jefferson. In 1879 came a still higher mark of public esteem, for in that year Mr. French was elected to represent his native county in the state legislature, where he made an admirable record during his term of two years. He was reared in the faith of the old Whig party and early began to form his own ideas in regard to matters of public policy. He has shown in politics, as in other relations of life, a reason for the faith that he has held, and he has been identified with the Republican party from the time of its organi- zation. He cast his first presidential vote in support of General John C. Fremont, the first presidential candidate of this party, and he has since voted for every presidential candidate brought forward by the "Grand Old Party" to which his allegiance is of the most uncom- promising order.
In 1863, about two years after his retire- ment from the office of county treasurer, Mr. French became cashier of the First National Bank of Jefferson, and he retained this execu- tive office until 1875, when he was elected to the presidency of the institution. He has since continued the executive head of this old and substantial banking house, with the manage- ment of whose affairs he has thus been identi- fied for the long, period of forty-six years, and he has the distinction of having been thus an officer longer than has any other man at the present time identified with any national bank in the state of Ohio with perhaps one excep- tion. His record has been one marked by the utmost integrity of purpose and on no portion of his career as a citizen, business man, or pub- lic officer rests the slightest shadow. He has made his life count for good in all its relations, and thus finds, as the shadows lengthen from the golden west, that his lines are cast in pleas-
ant places, for he is known and honored by the people of the community which has ever rep- resented his home and been the center of his interests.
On October 18, 1848, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. French to Miss Sarah Bailey, who was born in the state of Massachusetts, in 1825, and who was a daughter of Caleb and Betsy (Hill) Bailey, who settled in Ashtabula county in 1832 and here passed the residue of their lives. Mrs. French is survived by two daughters,-Kate, who is the wife of of B. W. Baldwin, of Jefferson, and Fannie, who re- mains with her father in the attractive family homestead and who is prominent in connection with the social activities of the community. Mrs. French, who was a member of the Con- gregational church, was summoned to the life eternal on July 5, 1890, and her memory is revered by all who came within the lines of her gentle and gracious influence.
JOHN HUGHES CHRISTY .- A retired manu- facturer and honored citizen of Akron is John Hughes Christy, who is a representative of one of the well-known pioneer families of Summit county, which has been his home from the time of his birth, and which he honored by his services as a valiant soldier in the Civil war. John Hughes Christy was born in Springfield township, Summit county, Ohio, on the 7th of August, 1830, and is a son of Patrick and Elizabeth (McMoran) Christy. His father was born in Trenton, New Jersey, in the year 1791, and came to Ohio in 1811, first locating near the present city of Canton, Stark county, where he secured a tract of heavily timbered land, on which he initiated the work of developing a farm. After remain- ing there about three years, however, he re- moved to Summit county, and settled in Springfield township, not far from the present city of Akron, which was then a mere hamlet in the midst of the forest. He reclaimed a farm in the township mentioned and was known as a man of much energy and ambition and as one possessed of marked business abil- ity. For a number of years he was associated with James Douglass in business, and in the early days he did much business in hauling goods over the mountains from the eastern markets to the various settlements in the West- ern Reserve, utilizing teams of from four to six horses and building up a successful enter- prise. He was identified with this business until 1853, when he sold his farm and his
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teams and wagons that had been used in thic transportation enterprise, and he then took up his abode in Akron, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred in thic year 1864. His wife survived him by about a decade, as she was summoned to the life eternal in 1874. They were members of the Presbyterian church and were folk of sterling character, respected by all who knew. them. They became the parents of five sons and three daughters, and of the number the sub- ject of this review is now the only one living.
John H. Christy passed his boyhood days on the home farm which was the place of his birth, and his early educational advantages were those afforded in the somewhat primi- tive schools of the middle pioneer period in this section of the state. Later he was enabled to attend a select school conducted by Pro- fessor M. D. Leggett, an able instructor, under whose direction he continued his higher studies during 1847-48. In 1851, soon after attaining to his legal majority, Mr. Christy became associated with his brother James and engaged in the tanning and leather business in Akron, where he continued to be identified with this line of enterprise until 1882. He was a stockholder in the Akron Iron Com- pany for four years, and he gave much of his time and attention to the supervision of this. His activities have been directed along normal lines and he gained prestige as an able business man, the while his name has ever stood exponent of the highest integrity and honor.
In May, 1864, Mr. Christy tendered his services in defense of the Union, by enlisting as a private in Company F, One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, com- manded by Colonel John C. Lee, and he was with this command on duty in defense of the city of Washington until the expiration of his term of enlistment, when he received his hon- orable discharge. In politics he maintains an independent attitude.
In the year 1862 Mr. Christy was united in marriage to Miss Jane Louisa Burton, daughter of Merrick and Adeline Burton, who settled in Summit county in 1835, and who here passed the remainder of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Christy became the parents of two children, one of whom died in infancy. Edwin Burton Christy, the other child, died in his twenty-first year, a young man of sterling characteristics and distinctive promise.
JAMES MANLEY COATS .- One of the oldest citizens of Geneva, and a prominent member of its agricultural community, James Manley Coats is known throughout this section of Ashtabula county as an upright, honest man, and a worthy representative of those cour- ageous pioneers who settled in the county in the days of its infancy. Since his boyhood days he has witnessed wonderful changes in this vicinity, the log cabins of the early set- tlers having given way to costly residences, while railways, telegraph and telephone lines now span these broad acres. He was born, October 30, 1827, in Allegany county, New York, a son of Warren Coats.
A native of Pompey, Onondaga county, New York, Warren Coats lived in the Empire state until 1844, when he joined the tide of emigration going westward, coming to Ash- tabula county. He worked for a few years at his trade of blacksmith, in 1847 buying the farm on which his son, J. M. Coats, now lives. In 1848 he erected the present dwell- ing house, which is still in a fine state of preservation, and here lived until his death, June 7, 1891, aged eighty-four. His health was not very good for many years, and being unable to manage the farm, which was small, containing but thirty-six acres, its care was left to his son. Warren Coats married Rhoda Pratt, a native of Connecticut, and she sur- vived him a short time, passing away Febru- ary 6, 1892, aged eighty-two years. He was active in public affairs, serving as justice of the peace, and for many years was a deacon in the Baptist church at Geneva. To him and his good wife four children were born, as fol- lows: James Manley ; Charlotte D., who died in Geneva, June 15, 1909, married Jerome Todd, and for fifty years lived in Wisconsin, returning to Ashtabula county after the death of her husband; Amelia B. married Jerome Kibbe, and both died in Geneva, her death occurring in May, 1908, aged sixty-seven years; and Amanda C., wife of Norton Hol- comb, of Geneva village.
James M. Coats comes of patriotic stock. His grandfather, Benjamin Coats, died at Friendship, New York, aged fifty-four years, having served as a soldier in the Revolution. About seventeen years old when he came with the family to Ashtabula county, James Man- ley Coats remembers much about this part of the country at that day. He can remember seven mill dams on Cowles creek, between the
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Lake Shore Railway and Lake Erie, a dis- tance of four miles, the upper one having a grist mill owned by Eliphalet Mills; next a saw mill, owned by Mr. Casson; then Thomas Jennings' cabinet shop; the fourth was the site of a saw mill at North Center, owned and operated by H. P. Castle, who had a three- story shop, and a furnace, and was engaged in the manufacture of plows and engines, an important industry, which had previously been established by Jason Norton. Joel G. Cowles' mill was the first one on the creek, in whose honor the creek was named; a little farther along was John Cook's saw mill; and nearer the lake stood the remains of an old woolen and carding mill and the Castle Foundry and Manufactory, located in sight of Mr. Coats' present home.
Mr. Coats assisted his father in the improve- ment of the home place, and with the excep- tion of ten years spent in Wisconsin, with his wife and family, has always resided on this farm. He has labored with good success, added to the acreage of the estate by purchase of additional land, and has made improve- ments of value, rendering his place attractive and desirable as a place of residence. In his political affiliations he was a Whig in his ear- lier years, afterwards becoming a Republican, and for thirty years was an active worker in the Prohibition party. For more than fifty years he has been a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he held all the offices, and in 1908, when he resigned his position as class leader, he was made class leader emeritus for life, at the suggestion of District Superintendent J. K. Morris.
On May 5, 1853, Mr. Coats married his cousin, Lucretia Todd, a daughter of Amos and Harriet (Pratt) Todd, her mother being a sister of Rhoda Pratt, who married Warren Coats. Mrs. Coats' only brother, Jerome Todd, married Mr. Coats' sister, Charlotte, as above mentioned. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Coats went with Mr. and Mrs. Amos Todd to Merrimac, Wisconsin, and stayed there ten years. There Mr. and Mrs. Todd died, her death occurring when she was sixty years of age, and his at the age of seventy-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Coats have one child, Ada Elenora, who married John Finley, and is living with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Finley have one child, Miles Todd Finley, aged eight- een years, now a student at Mount Union Col- lege, Alliance, Ohio.
WARREN L. HOOSE, a prominent and suc- cessful farmer living on Waite Hill, three miles southeast of Willoughby Village, was born in Mayfield township, Cuyahoga county, November II, 1847. He is a son of Corne- lius and Jane (Usher) Hoose, the latter of whom made three trips with her parents, with an ox team, from New York state to Ohio.
Reared on a farm with his parents, Warren L. Hoose, after receiving a common-school ed- ucation, attended Mayfield Academy. Though he married at the age of twenty-three years, he remained with his father until twenty-six years old. At that time his father deeded him twenty-four acres, and he has since lived on this place; subsequently he purchased his brother's interest, making forty-eight acres al- together. He has owned other land, but sold it again. He has made a special feature of fruit for many years, his best crop now being peaches and berries. For ten years he had twenty-four acres of grapes, but from various causes the crop became unprofitable, and he has now discontinued it. Mr. Hoose is a man of unusual enterprise and industry, and pays close attention to the interests of his farm, thereby gaining a fair degree of success. He is a splendid manager, and as he has spent his life in agricultural pursuits, his judgment in these matters is of the best. He takes an active interest in local matters, and has served as trustee and school director. His good prin- ciples and sterling qualities are appreciated by his fellow townsmen, and he stands well in the community.
Mr. Hoose married, when twenty-three years of age, Sarah, daughter of Oliver and Maria Hanson, born in Kirtland, and at the time of her marriage twenty-one years old, and liv- ing in Mentor. They have three sons, namely : Leon B., a grocer in Nottingham, Cuyahoga county; A. C. (Bert), an optician and jew- eler, in Billings, Montana; and Arthur, now with his brother Leon in Nottingham. Mrs. Sarah Hoose died on Waite Hill in Septem- ber, 1896. Mr. Hoose married, in 1897, Clara M. Phelps, of Little Mountain, Ohio.
CHARLES JEDEDIAH HUBBELL, prominently identified with the business interests of Ra- venna as the proprietor of a grain elevator, was born in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, September 17, 1867, a son of Charles Harold and Mariam Eliza (Russell) Hubbell, and a grandson on the paternal side of Jedediah and Sarah (Par-
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shall) Hubbell, also from Chagrin Falls. The Hubbell family came originally from the Isle of Man, and its progenitor located first in the state of New York, but afterward the family were numbered among the earliest settlers of Warrensville, Ohio, while the Russells are of English descent, and were early residents of Chagrin Falls. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Hubbell were Hezekiah and Rosena (Wickizer) Russell, the former from New York and the latter from Pennsylvania.
During his early life Charles H. Hubbell, who was born in Warrensville, Ohio, in 1832, learned the carpenter's trade, and he continued as a contractor and builder until he had at- tained the age of forty years. He then went with the J. A. Garfield colony to Pawnee, Kan- sas, and secured a soldier's claim, for he had served in the Civil war with Company D, One Hundred and Third Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, as chief clerk in the quartermaster's department, at Louisville, Kentucky. He re- mained in the Sunflower state for three years, although his family were there but one year, and his son, Walter H., was born there, he having been the first white child born in the town of Garfield. Returning then to Ohio, Mr. Hubbell worked at his former occupation of carpentering until 1892. With two others he then founded and built the first telephone line in Chagrin Falls, and he served as presi- dent of the company until 1903, when the company's interests were sold to the Cuya- hoga Telephone Company. He died on the 17th of November, 1908, but he is still sur- vived by his wife, a resident of Chagrin Falls. Of their five sons, Charles J. was the first born : Melvin James and Walter Harold are in the grocery business in Ravenna; Leon J. is the manager of the telephone company at Chagrin Falls; and Frank N., the youngest of the sons, was drowned in February of 1896, when fourteen years of age.
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