History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 36

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 36

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Mr. Metcalf married, November 16, 1881,

Abbie Cornelia Foote, a daughter of Loren and Cornelia (Ballard) Foote, of Austinburg. Her father was an extensive property owner, having interests in estates in other places, Footeville, in Ashtabula county, having been named for his father. Mr. and Mrs. Metcalf have two children, namely: Elmer, with his father managing the home farm, married Lil- lian Large, and they have one child, William Chauncey; and Florence Marian, who, was graduated with honors from Oberlin College with the class of 1909.

EDGAR A. SELLERS, of Orwell, was born in Bloomfield township, in Trumbull county, Oc- tober 1, 1856, a son of Robert and Hannah (Isgrig) Sellers. Hannah Isgrig was reared at Newcastle, Pennsylvania, and came to Bloomfield when sixteen years of age ; she was married there. Robert Sellers was a native of Devonshire, England, brought to the United States when six years of age, by his father, who was a tailor at Bloomfield, where he reared his family. Robert Sellers in early life was a carpenter, but later followed farming ; about 1872 hie settled on a farm one mile north of Orwell village. He died there November 22, 1883, at the age of fifty-five years. His wife survived him twenty-three years, passing, away April 15, 1906. Besides Edgar A. they had a son George, born in 1858, who died at the age of thirty-six years. He was living on the old farm with his mother. This farm contained 167 acres of improved land, the old R. C. Newell farm.

Edgar A. Sellers was reared on a farm, and in 1880 he went west, locating at Butte, Mon- tana, where he spent three years as a carpen- ter. After his marriage he purchased another 160-acre farm close to the old homestead and carried on farming until 1898, when he re- moved to the village of Orwell. He had op- erated a sawmill on the farm in company with William Northway, and since removing to the village has operated a sawmill there, still re- taining possession of his farm. The mill has realized six to seven thousand dollars per year. and employed five to seven men. He buys the timber standing and cuts it, and runs a planing mill in connection with the sawmill. He has directed his attention wholly to the work of the mill, which is well adapted for sawing to special dimensions. He has won success through his energy, industry and good business methods.

Mr. Sellers is a Democrat, but in a Repub-

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lican township is often a delegate to conven- tion, and has served seven years as township trustee. He is a stockholder in the Orwell Banking Company, of which he has served as director, and in 1909 he was elected president. His wife is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church.

February 5. 1883, Mr. Sellers married Ann Chrispell, who was born May 6, 1853, and they have two children, Robert Raymond, a stu- dent of Jefferson Medical College, of Phila- delphia, and Fred Wick, at home. The latter served nearly two years in the United States Marine Service, and spent about a year in the Philippines ; he married Flossie Brown.

MRS. NANCY CLARK ATKINS, daughter of Robert and Jane ( Wagoner) Clark, was born November 18, 1826, in Uniontown, Stark county, Ohio. Her parents were both natives of Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio about 1815-6; when Nancy was two or three years of age they removed to Springfield, and two years later to Streetsboro, Portage county. He had a blacksmith shop, and died in old age in Streetsboro. After his death his widow lived in Dayton with a son, and died when eighty-five years of age. She is the only sur- vivor of the seven children. Four besides Nancy remained in Portage county, Robert, James, Jane and Sarah-all lived in Streets- boro.

Nancy Clark married, September 20, 1846. at the age of twenty years, Frederick Chris- pell, a farmer of Orwell, and at once came to live in Orwell on a farm on Grand River, at New Hudson. He was born January 1, 1817, and lived with his father, Abram Chrispell. Abram Chrispell, born September 4, 1794, died March 24, 1868, was a soldier in the War of 1812, from New York; his wife, Cynthia Northway, was born May 19, 1797, and died in 1883. She was a cousin of ex-Member of Congress Stephen Northway. Abram Chris- pell came to Ohio about 1820 and settled first in Windsor township and later in Orwell. His parents remained on the farm, and his father died at the age of seventy years. Frederick Chrispell died January 10, 1862, having spent his entire life on that farm. They had four children, namely: Sarah Medora, died at the age of twenty; Ann, married E. A. Sellers, mentioned elsewhere: Alta Viola, unmarried ; and Charles Edward, living on a farm in Streetsboro.

After living, fifteen years a widow, Mrs.

Chrispell married, January 16, 1878, Marshall P. Atkins. She had been left with four small children; the oldest but eleven years of age. She had no children by her second marriage. Her husband operated the farm two or three years and then they removed to Orwell vil- lage, where he carried on farming. He served two terms as recorder of deeds. Mr. Atkins died August 18, 1885, aged about sixty years. Mrs. Atkins is now residing with Edgar A. Sellers, of Orwell. Marshall P. Atkins had been married before to Clarissa Chrispell, sis- ter of Frederick Chrispell, before mentioned. and she had been dead about one year before his second marriage. He never had any chil- dren by either marriage.

Mrs. Atkins is well-known in the village, and has many friends. She is greatly interested in the early history of the state, and has had many interesting experiences, since her parents were among the earliest pioneers. They had to endure the rigors of frontier life, and wrest their living from unfavorable conditions. She thus had the training, necessary to form strong character and earnest endeavor in any under- taking. She has seen the region change from a wilderness to well-improved farms, and vil- lages and towns grow up where had been forests.

JOHN B. WRIGHT .- The glory of our repub- lic is in the perpetuation of individuality and in according the utmost scope for individual accomplishment. Fostered under the most auspicious surroundings that can compass one who has the will to dare and to do, our nation has produced men of the finest mental caliber. of virile strength and of vigorous purpose. The self-made man is distinctively a product of America, and the record of accomplishment in this individual sense is the record which every true and loyal citizen holds in highest honor. These statements are significantly apro- pos of the life history of John Baker Wright, who as a citizen and man of affairs left a deep impress upon the civic and business an- nals of the city of Akron, where the major portion of his life was passed, and where his death occurred on the 8th of March, 1902. Not by chance was his name associated with the word progress. for he rose from the low- est position in the First National Bank of Akron to that of president of this old and solid financial institution, to the furtherance of whose interests he contributed in large measure, through his able services in various

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executive capacities. Further than this, he had other important business interests, and he also gave much of his aid and influence in support of every measure for civic betterment. In his death Akron, lost one of its most hon- ored and valued citizens, one who accom- plished much and yet one whose life was signally modest and unassuming, marked by the most invincible integrity and by broad human tolerance and sympathy. A local paper said of him: "In the death of Mr. Wright this city lost one of its best and most influential business men. He was always courteous, and no man could be better liked. He was a kind, Christian gentleman and always ready to as- sist in a worthy cause." A publication of this nature exercises its highest function when it enters due tribute to such worthy and honored citizens, for such records bear both lesson and incentive. Though he died in the very prime of his strong and useful manhood, his labors and their results were such as would have been of high distinction to one whose years had been doubly prolonged.

John Baker Wright was born in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, on the 20th of April. 1858. a son of Horton and Susan (Baker) Wright, both of whom died in Akron, to which city they had subsequently removed. In the pub- lic schools of Akron he received his early edu- cation ; he did not complete the high school course, but the deficiency was made good in the maturer years of practical experience, well ordered reading, and practical association with men and affairs. At the age of sixteen years Mr. Wright became messenger in the First National Bank, which thereafter continued to be his business home until his death. By close application, zeal, courtesy, fidelity, and rad- pidly developing business powers, he rose through one grade of promotion to another and won for himself the confidence and high esteem of all with whom he came in contact. He entered the bank during the presidency of the late Thomas W. Cornell; that honored citizen and influential capitalist had implicit confidence in Mr. Wright, of whom he often said that he would trust him with all the money he had. For nearly thirty years, from 1874, the entire period of his business activi- ties, Mr. Wright was identified with the affairs of the First National Bank. At the time of the death of Mr. Cornell, in 1892, William McFarlin was elected to succeed him in the presidency of the bank and Mr. Wright was advanced to the office of cashier. This office

he filled until the death of Mr. McFarlin, in 1895, when he was chosen president of the stanch old institution. The growth of the bank, which had at the time of his death assets aggregating $1,500,000, was in large measure forwarded by his well ordered policies and the hold which he ever maintained upon the confidence and esteem of the community. A week prior to his death, Mr. Wright becane president of the Baker-McMillen Company, in which position he succeeded his uncle, John W. Baker, after whom he was named. He had previously been secretary and treasurer of this company. At the time of his death he was also president and secretary of the Akron Glass & Machinery Company, president of the Enterprise Manufacturing Company, president of the First National Bank of Wadsworth, sec- retary of the Barberton Belt Line Railway Company, treasurer of the National Sewer Pipe Company, and vice-president of the Dia- mond Brick Company, of Barberton. He was one of the heavy stockholders in the Dollar Savings Bank, of Akron, organized in 1901, and also had important business interests in the city of Cleveland, as well as in Toledo and Pittsburg. His ability as a financier made his advice valuable, and it was frequently sought by other representative business men. From an estimate of his life and services, published in an Akron newspaper, the following perti- nent statements are taken. with but minor changes in phraseology: "He was one of the executors of the Cornell estate, with its intri- cate problems and vast sums of money to be handled in settling it. He was chosen by the late T. W. Cornell, who had watched the progress of the young man from the time of his first business employment. In the hands of Mr. Wright and the other executors the large estate was handled with such consum- mate skill as to bring the largest returns to the heirs.

"Mr. Wright lived a pure Christian life, and he will be greatly missed in the West Congre- gational church, where he was one of the lead- ing members. Generous to a fault, he was always ready to render to the unfortunate any assistance possible, and while few of his phil- anthropic acts were generally known, they were many. He was especially interested in the Akron city hospital from the time of its establishment, and had been its treasurer for years. In this capacity he worked hard for the institution, although he could ill spare the time from his business interests."

ALBERT J. WHITE AND FAMILY

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In politics, Mr. Wright was a Republican ; in a fraternal way he was identified with the Western Reserve Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, of which he had served as first vice-president, and he also held mem- bership in Diamond Council of the National Union, and Cooper Lodge of the Pathfinders.

On the 2d of January, 1889, Mr. Wright was married to Miss Harriet E. Sperry, of Tallmadge, Ohio, daughter of Lewis and Clarinda (Wright) Sperry, both deceased. Mrs. Wright survives her husband, as do also their four children: Margaret, Harriet, Charles, and Helen.

MISS CAROLINE A. MARKHAM has been identified with the educational progress of the Lake county schools for upwards of four dec- ades, for thirty-five years having been a suc- cessful and prosperous instructor in the Painesville schools, her ability and popularity as a teacher being highly spoken of by the patrons and friends of education. A native of Ashtabula county, she was born in Austin- burg, on the farm which she now owns, being a daughter of the late Abijah Markham. Her grandfather, Elijah Markham, and his father, natives of Massachusetts, emigrated from that state to New York, locating in Onondaga county. Taking up land in Preble township, not far from Syracuse, the place on which he settled was long known as Markham Hill, being named in his honor.

Abijah Markhkam was born, in 1818, on Markham Hill, and grew to manhood on the home farm. Migrating to Ohio about 1837, he assumed possession of the tract of timbered land that his father had purchased, in 1835, in Austinburg, and there resumed the free and independent occupation to which he was reared. Moving into the log cabin that stood upon the place, he, with his father and brother, began the arduous task of reclaiming a farm from its pristine wildness, in his venture being eminently successful. He placed a large part of the land under culture, built a commodious frame house, and there resided until his death, in 1894. The neighborhood in which he lived was especially fortunate in the character of its people, embracing the Austin, Whiting and Cowles families, all prominent in the carly history of the Western Reserve.

Abijah Markham married, in 1846, Mary Anne King, and their only child. Caroline A., is the subject of this brief biographical sketch.

ALBERT J. WHITE .- The deep significance of the words of the Nazarene, "The poor ye have with ye always," is fully realized in every pop- ulous community today, and even to a greater extent than in the years of the remote past. Altruism can not blind its eyes to the fact nor exultant optimism ignore the problem pre- sented through this source. There are those "afflicted in mind, body or estate," those upon whose souls the burden of an unintelligible ex- istence rests heavily and sadly. To what ex- tent this is the result of personal fault or negligence has no definite bearing upon the subject in its specific sense. The world, for- tunately, is not callous to suffering, but is often neglectful of the same, either through ignor- ance of the conditions or failure to appreciate the misfortunes of "those who sit in darkness." Broad and deep, however, is the foundation upon which rests an enlightened humanitarian- ism, and in this great twentieth century, in- stinct with vitality and magnificent accomplish- ment, there is a constantly growing sentiment in favor of making the best possible provision for those who are wards of the body politic, upon which justly rests their care and suste- nance. Each community must needs assume. its share of responsibility, and in this connec- tion Lake county, Ohio, has, in the provisions of its model infirmary, at least measurably solved the problem of caring for the indigent and unfortunate within its gates.

It was formerly deemed sufficient if an un- fortunate person of this type were taken, even against his will, to the infirmary of a county and there fed at as little expense as possible. the while there was demanded of him every iota of productive labor of which he was capa- ble. The financial idea was ever uppermost in the minds of the management, and those were considered the most creditable results that entailed the least expense to the county, with the maximum production from the resources of the infirmary farm. Perhaps no more se- vere term than carelessness may be ascribed to the treatment of the unfortunate wards, too often held at a status scarcely that of human beings. The people in general, in the cares and perplexities and interests of their own lives, failed to take cognizance of official rapac- ity, and the results were deplorable in the ex- treme. In Ohio the question of proper humani- tarian treatment of the poor, as well as the criminal classes, has been a matter of much political significance in the various elections in

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later years, and the people in general finally came to a fuller realization of the responsibili- ties involved. One of the tangible results of the broader and more enlightened view was that of enacting laws providing for the state and county boards of visitors, whose inspec- tion of jails, penitentiaries, workhouses and infirmaries has worked a beneficent revolution in many details of management. The present infirmary in Lake county is one in which not only the county but also the entire state may well take pride.

This infirmary dates its foundation back to the year 1852, when the farm was purchased by the county, at a cost of $4,000. In July of that year the original building, one of most modest order, was opened for inmates. In 1876 the present main building, of brick and stone construction, was erected, at a cost of $30,000. Since that time many improvements have been made, so that the building is mod- ern in equipments, sanitary provisions, etc. The hospital building, was erected at a later date, at a cost of about $5,000. The other buildings on the county farm are of substantial order and the entire institution is adequate to meet all demands placed upon it. Viewed sim- ply as a farm, the place is one of the best im- proved and most effectively handled in the county. The infirmary is located one mile southeast of Painesville, on a beautiful site, overlooking the valley of the Grand river. The farm comprises 175 acres, and a specialty is made of the dairy department in which is main- tained an average herd of thirty cows. For several years past the products have been sold to dealers, and are used by the public in the city of Painesville mainly. The average num- ber of inmates in the infirmary is thirty, and there is a manifest tendency to decrease rather than increase the number. But little work is required of the inmates, the most of whom are practically helpless in a physical way. On the farm four employes are retained, besides such help as is demanded in the routine work of the institution itself. The infirmary is now prac- tically self-sustaining. To bringing the insti- tution up to its present high standard a large measure of credit is to be assigned to the pres- ent able and popular superintendent, Albert J. White, who has been incumbent of this office since the Ist of March, 1894. His long tenure of the position is the best voucher for the offi- cial and popular estimate placed on his services.

Albert J. White was born in Middlefield township, Geauga county, Ohio, on the 5th of

February, 1858, and is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of the Western Re- serve. He is a son of Andrew and Lucinda (Robb) White, both of whom were born in Trumbull county, this state. Andrew White was born in the year 1824 and he died in July, 1906, in Middlefield township, Geauga county, at the venerable age of eighty-two years. His parents came to the Western Reserve in the early years of the nineteenth century and set- tled in Trumbull county, where he was reared to manhood. He finally removed to Middle- field township, Geauga county, where he pur- chased a tract of heavily timbered land, which lie reclaimed into one of the valuable farms of that section. He continued to reside on the old homestead until his death, a man of ster- ling character and a citizen who ever com- manded unqualified confidence and esteem. He was a Republican in politics. His wife pre- ceded him to eternal rest by more than thirty years, as her death occurred in the year 1872. They became the parents of six children, of whom five are living. Juliette is the wife of William Emick, a farmer of Seneca county, Ohio; Hattie is the wife of Niles N. Goff, of Amenia, North Dakota; Frank died at the age of twenty-two years ; Albert J. is the immedi- ate subject of this sketch; Willis, a physician and surgeon, is engaged in the practice of his profession at Mayville, North Dakota; and Ida is the wife of George Sailor, of Corning, Perry county, Ohio.

Albert J. White was reared to the sturdy dis- cipline of the old homestead farm which was the place of his birth, and his early educa- tional discipline was secured in the public schools of the locality. He continued to be associated in the work and management of the farm until he had attained to the age of seven- teen years, when he secured employment in a cheese factory in his native county, where he became an expert workman and continued to be identified with this line of enterprise for a period of ten years, at the expiration of which he removed to a farm near Chardon, that county, where he remained until 1892, when he purchased a farm in Perry township, Lake county, where he continued to be actively en- gaged in agricultural pursuits until he was selected by the board of directors as incum- bent of the office of superintendent of the county infirmary, in which position he has served since 1894, as has already been noted in this context. On the board of directors at the present time there is only one who was a

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member at the time when he received his orig- inal appointment. This is Lewis L. Morris, a representative farmer and influential citizen of Perry township. He receives a stipulated salary for his official services, and his wife holds the position of matron of the institution. Both are known for their kindliness and sym- pathy, and they find satisfaction in making the best possible provision for the comfort of the unfortunates committed to their care.

Mr. White is a stalwart in the local camp of the Republican party, to the promotion of whose interests he lends his aid and influence in every possible way. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in both of which he is identified with the lodges in Painesville.

On the 13th of February, 1879, Mr. White was united in marriage to Miss Laura Can- field, who was born and reared in Lake county, and who is a daughter of Miron and Jane (Duncan) Canfield. Further data concerning her family may be found in the memoir of her maternal grandfather, Samuel Duncan, on other pages of this work. Mr. and Mrs. White have two daughters-Katherine, who remains at the parental home, and Hazel, who was graduated in the Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, as a member of the Class of 1905, and who is now a successful teacher in Athens county, Ohio.

SAMUEL DUNCAN, of this memoir, was one of the early pioneer settlers of the Western Reserve, and was a man who made his life count for good in all its relations. For many years he was numbered among the representa- tive farmers and citizens of Mentor township, Lake county, where he reclaimed his farm from the wild state, and both he and his wife passed the closing years of their lives in Ashtabula county, where he died at the age of sixty-eight years. His wife, whose maiden name was Betsy Lapham, was eighty-four years of age at the time of her death. Both were natives of the state of New York and members of fami- lies founded in New England in the colonial era of our national history. They came from Chemung county, New York, to Ohio, about 1820, making the trip from Buffalo on a sail -. ing, vessel and disembarking at what is now Fairport Harbor, Lake county. There Mr. Duncan remained four years, at the expira- tion of which he removed to Mentor township, where he purchased a tract of heavily timbered

land, from which, in due course of time, he developed a productive farm, in the meanwhile living up to the full tension of the pioneer days. His wife's father, Thomas Lapham, had lo- cated in Lake county at an even earlier date, removing here from Canada, though his fan- ily was originally established in Dutchess county, New York. Late in life Samuel Dun- can removed to Ashtabula county, where, as already stated, he passed the residue of his life. He was a man of superior mentality and of impregnable integrity, and his name merits an enduring place on the roster of the hon- ored pioneers of the historic old Western Re- serve. His son Frank now owns and resides upon their old homestead in Ashtabula county.

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History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 36

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