USA > Ohio > History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II > Part 4
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schools, he accepted the superintendency for another year, in the meantime pursuing the study of law. He was admitted to the bar at Elyria in August, 1872. From the time he entered Randolph Academy until he was ad- mitted to the bar he paid all his expenses by his own labor, receiving no financial aid from any other source. In October following his admission to the bar he went West, locating at Emporia, Kansas, where he engaged in the practice of his profession. Finding that a residence there would not be congenial to his taste, five months later, in March, 1873, he returned to Ohio, and entered the office of John C. Hale at Elyria (later judge of the eighth circuit). Here he pursued the study of law under the direction of Judge Hale for one year. In 1874, being qualified and self- reliant, he opened an office at Elyria and pro- ceeded to build up a practice. He continued in active practice for seventeen years, and during this period established himself in the confidence not only of the profession but of the public in general. He served as prose- cuting attorney of Lorain county from 1882 to 1885, and was also county school examiner for a time, and a member of the board of education and member of the city council at Elyria. In 1891, when it became necessary to elect a judge of the court of common pleas, several aspirants for the honor presented them- selves. The attorneys of Lorain county agreed among themselves that the Republican mem- bers of the bar should choose the candidate of the party to be supported by the attorneys of Lorain county, and that their choice should receive their unanimous support. In pursu- ance of this agreement Mr. Nye was chosen. He received the nomination of his party at Medina in July, 1891, and was elected in No- vember following, and entered upon the dis- charge of his official duties on the 9th day of February, 1892. His record as a judge has tend- ed to confirm the public estimate of his char- acter and to advance his reputation in the pro- fession. It could be truly said of him that he is an excellent lawyer and an able jurist. Always successful as a practitioner, his work upon the bench was equally successful, and it can be said that as a judge he has done what but few jurists have ever accomplished-made himself not only satisfactory to lawyers, but to liti- gants. Being a man of good business attain- ments, possessed of an accurate knowledge of the law, his advice to clients and services in
their behalf have won for him an excellent position at the bar. As a lawyer and a judge he has achieved success and occupies an honor- able position. As a judge he took great pains to examine the authorities submitted by coun- sel and to obtain a correct and clear under- standing of the law as well as the evidence in the case, being careful and conscientious be- cause he was actuated less by pride of opinion than by a desire to reach a correct conclusion. His judicial opinions were not only plain and easily followed, but they were usually strong enough to bear review by a higher court. In one important case involving the right to have debts deducted from national bank stock for taxation, Judge Nye held that such deductions could not be made under the laws of Ohio. This decision was afterwards affirmed by the supreme court of the state of Ohio and of the United States. During his service on the bench but one criminal case was reversed that he tried. After serving upon the bench for two terms, Judge Nye retired in 1902 and opened an office for the general practice of law in his home town. He is a stockholder in the Perry-Fay Company, of Elyria, which manufactures screw machine products, and a stockholder and president of the Century Building Company and the Washington Ter- race Company, both of Elyria. In politics Judge Nye is a Republican and thoroughly grounded in the principles of his party. Socially he is a member of the Masonic order, being a Knight Templar and Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Mason. In 1880 Judge Nye married Luna, daughter of. Alfred Fisher, of Cuyahoga county, Ohio, a highly respected citizen, being one of the early pio- neers who settled at Independence. Mrs. Nye is a true and faithful wife, an affectionate and devoted mother. By this union there are two sons, David Fisher Nye, born October 27, 1882, and Horace Hastings Nye, born Au- gust 4, 1884. The older son graduated from Oberlin College with the class of 1906 and later took up the study of law at the law school of Western Reserve University, where in 1909 he received the degree of LL. B. and was ad- mitted to the bar. The same year Judge Nye and his son formed a partnership under the firm name of D. J. & D. F. Nye, and are now actively engaged in the general practice of law at Elyria. The younger son graduated from Oberlin College with the class of 1908 and has since been engaged in the newspaper business.
Vol. II-2
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HON. AMOS RICHARD WEBBER .- Among the leading members of the Lorain county bar is Hon. Amos Richard Webber, an ex-judge and ex-congressman, who is exceptionally equipped for his profession, as well by natural gifts and temperament as by mental attainments, un- tiring industry and incorruptible integrity. The field of his labors is varied and extensive, and his many successes have won for him a well merited reputation. A native of Ohio, he was born January 1, 1852, in Hinckley, Medina county, of English stock, his great- grandfather, Joseph Webber, the emigrant an- cestor, having come from England to the United States, locating in New England.
Rev. Richard Webber, the judge's grand- father, settled in Medina county, Ohio, in early pioneer days. He was a preacher of much eloquence and force, and accomplished much good throughout that part of the state. He possessed a charity, benevolence and sym- pathy that won the love of all who knew him, and his wisdom in counsel was often sought, and usually followed.
The judge's father, George E. Webber, was born in Massachusetts, and as a boy of four- teen years came with the family to Ohio. Subsequently returning to his native state, he learned the moulder's trade, and when ready to begin life for himself, established, in Hinck- ley, Medina county, Ohio, a foundry, which he operated twenty years. His health becom- ing impaired, he afterwards spent a number of seasons on a farm, recuperating. Recov- ering his former physical vigor, he estab- lished a foundry for the manufacture of hol- low iron ware in Medina, Ohio, and in its management became quite successful, his busi- ness developing into one of the more impor- tant industries of the place. He married Jane Woodruff, who prior to her marriage taught school in Hinckley a number of terms. Her father. Amos Woodruff, a shoemaker in Hinckley, was the first abolitionist in Hinck- ley township, Medina county, and his house was a station in the "Underground Railway." He was strongly opposed to slavery, which he lived to see abolished.
Having laid a substantial foundation for his future education in the public schools, Amos R. Webber was graduated from Bald- win University, in Berea. Subsequently study- ing law, he was admitted to the bar in 1876, and the same vear began the practice of his profession in Elyria. In 1887 he was elected prosecuting attorney for Lorain county, and
was re-elected, holding the office until 1894. Afterwards elected to the court of common pleas, Judge Webber served upon the bench practically three years, resigning the position to accept the nomination for Congress to fill an unexpired term caused by the death of the member from the Fourteenth district, and was subsequently elected for a full term as congressman. At the expiration of that term, the judge was defeated for renomination on the ground of his activity against the rum power-a power which he has consistently fought all of his life. His renomination was also denied by reason of his repudiation of the then governor, Myron T. Herrick.
Beginning his active opposition to saloons a full quarter of a century ago, the judge has made a brave fight all over the state of Ohio, and is just as aggressive now as ever. While in Congress, he introduced a bill to abolish saloons in the District of Columbia, and in the capital city addressed many large gatherings, hoping to arouse the people to concerted action in favor of the bill. They rallied to the number of several thousand, and marched to the capitol on the day the bill was brought before the committee. The final ac- tion of the committee was held under lock and key, and the committee which passed the bill tried to gag the members to secrecy, but failed. The bill was not reported, but was turned down by a majority of the committee. Since leaving Congress, Judge Webber has continued the practice of his profession in Elyria, where he has a large and remuner- ative clientage.
On May 17, 1875, Judge Webber married Ida E. Finch, and of their union two sons have been born: Gilbert W. and Lawrence N. Mrs. Webber died in Washington, while he was a member of Congress. He married again, Miss Nettie Finch, of Anna, Illinois.
GEORGE J. DAMON, M. D .- One of the most exacting of all vocations to which man may turn his attention is that of the physician and surgeon, and in the same success comes alone to those who are willing to subordinate to its demands all other interests and to realize how great are the issues in it involved. Dr. George J. Damon is recognized as one of the representative members of his profession in the Western Reserve, is an able exponent of the beneficent homeopathic school of prac- tice, as exemplified in its most modern and liberal system, and is engaged in successful
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practice in the city of Medina, the flourish- ing judicial center of the county of the same name. He is a member of one of the honored pioneer families of this county, which has represented his home from the time of his birth, and has also been the scene of his effect- ive labors in his humane profession, in which his success has been of the most unequivocal order.
Dr. Damon was born in Hinckley township, Medina county, Ohio, on the 31st of March, 1858, and is a son of Julius and Kate M. (Babcock) Damon, the former of whom was born in Northampton, Berkshire county, Mas- sachusetts, on the 3d of November, 1824, and the latter was born in Michigan, a daughter of Joshua Babcock. She removed to Medina county when a young lady. Julius Damon was a son of Nathan and Hannah (Shaw) Damon, and was about three years of age at the time of the family removal from the old Bay state to Ohio, in 1827. His father settled in Hinck- ley township, Medina county, where he re- claimed a farm from the virgin forest, and where he and his wife passed the residue of their lives, honored pioneers of this favored section of the Western Reserve, where they lived and labored to goodly ends and contrib- uted their quota to the development of the county. In Hinckley township Julius Damon was reared to maturity on the home farm, in whose work he early began to lend his aid, and his educational advantages were such as were afforded in the somewhat primitive schools of the pioneer epoch. He was reared in Hinckley township, where he became the owner of a valuable landed estate, and where he devoted his active career to diversified agri- culture and to the raising of high grades of live stock. He was one of the popular and influential citizens of that township, was a man of impregnable integrity and honor, and ever commanded the esteem of all who knew him. He was a stanch advocate of the princi- ples of the Republican party, and was called upon to serve in various township offices. His death occurred on the old homestead, Septem- bre 15, 1894, and his cherished and devoted wife was summoned to the life eternal on the 30th of March, 1900. They became the par- ents of four children: Ella, who is the wife of Frank Tennant, of Bay City, Michigan ; George J., of this sketch: Herbert L., who is a representative farmer of Hinckley township ; and Lula J., who is the wife of James East-
wood, a prosperous farmer on the old home- stead.
Dr. George J. Damon completed the cur- riculum of the public schools of West Rich- field, Medina county, after which he entered the high school in the city of Cleveland, which he attended three years. Thereafter he taught for two terms in the district schools of his native county, after which he began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. J. L. Bean, of Medina. After effective pre- liminary work under these favorable condi- tions, he was matriculated in the Cleveland Homeopathic Hospital College, in which insti- tution he was graduated' as a member of the class of 1886, and from which he received his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. After his graduation he returned to his home in Hinckley township, where he was engaged in practice for eighteen months, at the expira- tion of which he located in the city of Medina, which has continued the headquarters of his labors in his profession during the long inter- vening period of more than twenty years. He has ever continued a close student of both branches of his profession. He is a valued member of the Eastern Ohio Homeopathic Medical Society, of which he was formerly president, and is identified also with the Ohio Homeopathic Medical Society, the American Institute of Homeopathy, and the Cleveland Central Homeopathic Medical Society. He is also a censor of the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College, his alma mater.
Dr. Damon is a stockholder in the Medina County National Bank, of whose directorate he is a member, and is also a stockholder in both the Wood Lumber Company and the Medina Telephone Company, and also a di- rector of both those companies. He was presi- dent of the United States Building and Loan Association of Akron for some time, and also a director. He is the owner of three well improved farms, located in Hinckley, York and Montville townships, Medina county, and in addition to general agricultural utilization each of these farms is well stocked with excel- lent grades of horses, sheep and cattle. Loyal and public-spirited as a citizen, the doctor man- ifests a lively interest in all that tends to promote the welfare of his home city and county, and in politics he gives his allegiance to the Republican party. He served several years as a member of the board of education in Medina, and also as a member of the board
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of trustees of the Disciples church. In a fra- ternal way he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. He is a man of gracious personality -one of "cheerful yesterdays and confident to-morrows"-and his circle of friends is cir- cumscribed only by that of his acquaintance- ship. He and his wife are members of the Disciples church, and their attractive home is known for its generous and refined hospitality.
In 1884 Dr. Damon was united in marriage to Miss Perlea E. Green, who was born and reared in Royalton, her father being the late C. J. Green, an early settler of Hinckley. Dr. and Mrs. Damon have one daughter, Eulalia, and one son. Virgil G., both of whom are (1909) students in the Medina high school.
CAPTAIN EDWIN G. HUNTINGTON is the only living descendant in Lake county, Ohio, of the family name that has helped to make history in two different states. Among his ancestors was the governor of Ohio from 1808 to 1810, and who was also one of the founders of the town of Fairport, and one of the true pioneers of the beautiful and inviting country about the mouth of Grand river. He was a son of Governor Julian C. Hunting- ton, of Connecticut, who during the later years of the eighteenth century was sent to the Western Reserve by his father to pro- tect the interests of the Connecticut Land Company, which embraced most all of the land on which the city of Cleveland is now built. The records show that in 1801 Mr. Huntington acquired possession of this land, but, becoming infatuated with the terri- tory at the mouth of Grand river, he sold it and deserted the Cuyahoga region, which has since become the location of the greatest city of Ohio. Coming to what is now Fairport, he purchased what is yet known as the Hunt- ington farm. During the war of 1812 he served as a major-general and later as pay- master in the regular army. History relates of Mr. Huntington that prior to his removal to Fairport he made many trips between that city and Cleveland, and that on one occasion he was attacked by a pack of wolves within two miles of Cleveland, the attack being so ferocious that he broke his umbrella in try- ing to keep the animals off, to which and to the fleetness of his horse he owned the pres- ervation of his life. The late Edwin Hunting- ton, whose death occurred in March of 1902, was a grandson of Governor Huntington, and he left to his son, Captain Edwin G. Hunt-
ington, a wealth of historical relics which have been loaned to the Lake County Historical Society.
Captain Edwin G. Huntington is a son of Edwin and Rhoda (Green) Huntington, and was born May 4, 1875. From the Painesville high school he entered Buchtel College, and later studied law in his father's office. . He was also for a time the editor of the Northern Ohio Journal, and for thirteen years was a member of Company M, Fifth Regiment of Ohio National Guards. He was with his regi- ment in Florida, ready for active service, dur- ing the Spanish-American war, and was re- tired with the rank of captain in 1907. Re- turning home, he embarked in the fire insur- ance business, and about five years ago he was elected a justice of the peace, to which office lie has been twice returned, and therein has shown a thorough knowledge of the law and the working of an analytical mind. By far the greater number of his decisions, when questioned, have been upheld by the rulings of a higher court, and when the question of the rights of Finnish children in the public schools came up in his court for settlement he proved himself to be something of a diplomat as well as an interpreter of the law. The children were represented by a Finnish coun- sel, and for a time it looked as if the question might bring about international complications. Mr. Huntington has at times taken an active part in politics, a stanch and true Republican, and fraternally is both a Mason and an Elk.
REV. CHARLES FRANKLIN THWING. D. D., LL. D., of Cleveland, president of Western Reserve University and Adelbert College, was recognized for years as one of the able Con- gregational ministers of the country, and since he relinquished his active pastoral duties has earned even a broader and higher name in the province of education. Born at New Sharon, Maine, on the 9th of November, 1853, he is a son of Hon. Joseph Perkins and Hannah Morse (Hopkins) Thwing, and comes of an old family of England and New England, which for many generations has been identi- fied with the founding and development of the province and state of Maine, in its busi- ness, industrial, professional and public affairs. The first of the name to emigrate to America was Benjamin Thwing, who was born in Eng- land about 1619: in 1635 crossed the ocean on the ship "Susan and Ellen," and in April of that year settled in Boston, where he fol-
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lowed his trade as a joiner for many years. He became a member of the First church De- cember 17, 1643, and died in Boston about 1672. His wife, Deborah, also probably of English birth, had joined the First church of Boston August 9, 1642. Succeeding Benja- min Thwing, the seven direct ancestors of Dr. Thwing were John, Nathaniel, Nathaniel II, John, Nathaniel III and Joseph. John Thwing, a seaman, was born in Boston, November 21, 1644, and died in that city September 6, 1690. He married Mary Messinger, January 6, 1669, his wife being born in Boston, about 1650, and dying there in 1705 or 1706. John Thwing, who was a shipwright and sailmaker, born in Boston, October 16, 1670, married Martha Drew, August 14, 1692. Nathaniel Thwing, a baker by trade, was a native of Boston, born August 17, 1703; became prominent in its military and civic affairs, and eventually trans- ferred the home and fortunes of the family to Maine. In 1736 he became a member of Bos- ton's Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com- pany and in 1743 was elected lieutenant in a regiment. In the campaign against Louisburg he served as major and captain of the third company of the Eighth Massachusetts Regi- ment and afterward was lieutenant colonel of a provincial regiment. In 1752 Nathaniel Thwing I was sent to Frankfort, on the Ken- nebec river, as a representative of the Plym- outh Company, to open the country to settle- ment. The record shows that on July 10th of the following year he was elected a member of the standing committee of the First church, and, in 1764, a selectman of Boston. His first wife (nee Joanna Davis), whom he married in 1727, was born at Boston, May 27, 1707, and died in that city, September 6, 1749. In the following year he wedded Mrs. Martha Clan, and died in his native city, April 18, 1768. His son, Nathaniel Thwing II was even more prominent as a public character, but his Fest service was rendered the section of the province of Massachusetts Bay now known as the state of Maine. Born in Bos- ton. Tune 26, 1731, in 1757 he removed to the banks of the Kennebec and settled in the sec- tion of the country which his father was so active in colonizing. He became one of the founders of the town of Woolwich, being an official in March, 1764: was admitted to the local church June 30. 1765, and afterward was one of its deacons. The second Nathaniel was also one of the first overseers of Bowdoin College ; was appointed town justice in 1777,
and a councillor in 1780, and in the follow- ing year became one of the justices of the inferior court of common pleas for Lincoln county. About the same time he commenced a seven years' service as justice of the peace ; was representative to the general court in 1782; was appointed register of probate of Lincoln county in January, 1787, and county treasurer in 1792. He died at Woolwich, April 6, 1817. His wife, whom he had mar- ried in Boston, November 2, 1756, was for- merly Abigail Greenough. She was a native of Newburyport, Massachusetts, born in April, 1730, and died at Woolwich, July 16, 1806. John Greenough Thwing, the son of Nathaniel II, was born at Woolwich, September 29, 1772, and died in that town, March 1, 1835, having spent his life as a farmer. His wife (Priscilla Trott), to whom he was married August 26, 1798, was also born in the place, July 15, 1774, and died there, March 27, 1849. Nathaniel Thwing III, son of John G. and Priscilla Trott, was a native of Woolwich, born July 20, 1805, and died at Industry, Maine, April 6, 1840. He was a farmer by avocation and a Baptist in religion. He mar- ried Joanna Perkins, March 5, 1828, she hav- ing been born at Woolwich, September 22, 1801, and died at Industry, February 13, 1872. This couple became the grandparents of Charles Franklin Thwing. His father, Joseph Perkins, born in Woolwich on the 3rd of No- vember, 1831, spent his active business life as a tanner, and lives in Farmington, Maine. In 1869 he served as a member of the Maine house of representatives; has been a deacon in the Congregational church for many years, and is one of the most substantial and influen- tial men in his section of the state. He mar- ried Miss Hannah M. Hopkins, of New Sharon, Maine, on the 16th of January, 1853, his wife being a native of that place, born January 4, 1828, died at Farmington, Maine, January 16, 1910. She was a daughter of Joshua Morse and Sophronia (Mason) Hop- kins, and on the paternal side was descended from Stephen Hopkins and Elder William Brewster ( Pilgrims of the "Mayflower") and from Governor Thomas Prence.
Dr. Thwing's education has been broad and thorough in both the literary and theological courses. In 1871 he graduated from Phil- lips Andover Academy, in 1876 from Harvard University and in 1879 from Andover Theo- logical Seminary, his honorary degrees being as follows: LL. D., from Marietta and Illi-
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nois Colleges in 1894, from Waynesburg Col- lege in 1901 and Washington and Jefferson College in 1902; and D. D., from Chicago Theological Seminary in 1888. In 1879 Dr. Thwing was ordained to the Congregational ministry, serving as pastor of the North Avenue Congregational church of Cambridge. Massachusetts, for the succeeding seven years, and as pastor of the Plymouth church of Min- neapolis, Minnesota, from 1886 to 1890. Since the latter year he has held the presidency of Western Reserve University and Adelbert Col- lege. In 1878, the ycar preceding his gradu- ation from Andover Theological Seminary, he had published his first book, "American Col- leges," and "The Reading of Books" (1883) and "The Family" (with Mrs. Thwing, 1886) were issued while he was engaged at Cam- bridge in the work of the ministry. Then fol- lowed "The Working Church," "Within Col- lege Walls," "The College Woman" (1894), "The American College in American Life," "The Best Life," "College Administration" (1900), "The Youth's Dream of Life," "God in His World," "If I Were a College Stu- dent" (1902), "The Choice of a College" ( 1901), "A Liberal Education and a Liberal Faith" (1903), "College Training and the Business Man," "A History of Higher Educa- tion in America" (1907), and "Education in the Far East" ( 1909). He is also a valued contributor to current literature on kindred topics, and a popular and instructive lecturer on educational and social subjects. It may be added that he is associate editor of "Bibli- otheca Sacra"; senator in Phi Beta Kappa : secretary of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and a member of the University Club of Cleveland.
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