History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 41

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 41

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common schools, Hiram A. Hallock learned the stone cutter's trade, beginning as a boy of fifteen years. For a number of years he was superintendent for Paige & Carry Company and also for Hallock Brothers, but in 1900 took up contract work for himself. In 1905. form- ing a partnership with his brother, A. H., with whom he has lived since the death of his par- ents, Mr. Hallock embarked in the milling business, and has built up a thriving trade in flour and feed, being established in both New Milford and Atwater, as stated above.

WORTHY A. MYERS .- Among the enterpris- ing and self-reliant men who are so ably con- ducting the agricultural interests of Portage county, Worthy A. Myers, of Atwater town- ship, occupies no unimportant place. Here he was born, December 14, 1874, and here he has spent his life, being classed with its more pro- gressive citizens. His father, John Myers, was born in Berlin township, Mahoning county, and after his marriage with Sophia Betts purchased land in Atwater township, Portage county, where he has since been busily employed in tilling the soil.

Choosing the occupation to which he was born and bred, Worthy A. Myers, when ready to establish himself as a householder, bought 109 acres of land in Atwater township, and has since been extensively and satisfactorily employed in general farming, each season reap- ing rich harvests. He is interested in stock of all kinds, making a specialty of breeding and raising cattle, horses and hogs, and in addition to this has a maple orchard of 500 trees, from which he makes about 200 gallons of syrup every year, it being a good paying industry.

On October 2, 1901, Mr. Myers married Elsie Luke, who was born November 15. 1885, in Atwater, a daughter of Henry and Laura ( Elliott) Luke, being one of a family of two children. Henry Luke was born in Edin- burg township, and thereafter for a period of fifty-seven years resided in that township. Mr. and Mrs. Myers are the parents of two chil- dren, namely : Claude, born July 7, 1902, and Blanche, born May 5, 1905. Politically Mr. Myers is a stanch Democrat, and religiously he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

CAPT. JOSEPH C. BABCOCK .- In connection with the marine service on the Great Lakes Captain Joseph C. Babcock is well known and held in high esteem. He is superintendent of the government lighthouse station at Fairport

Harbor, Lake county, and is a representative of one of the old and honored families of this county. He was born in a house that stood within sixty feet of his present residence, and the date of his nativity was February 19, 1843. In 1812, less than a decade after the admission of Ohio to the Union, the captain's paternal grandfather, Henry Babcock, settled at Paines- ville, Lake county, which city was then an ob- scure and straggling little village. Henry Bab- cock was a native of Connecticut and a scion of a family founded in New England in the early colonial days. Upon coming to Ohio he nrst settled at Sandusky, but, anticipating trouble with the Indians, he removed from that place just prior to the historic Indian massacre in that locality. Upon coming to Painesville he secured large tracts of land bordering along Lake Erie, and while clearing land he was killed by a falling tree. He left five sons and two daughters, and the sons were Daniel, Henry, Joseph, George and Edward. Henry died before attaining to the age of sixty, and of the children of these brothers very few are now left, though two of the sons of Edward are now residents of Painesville. All of the five sons of the honored pioneer founder of the family in Ohio died in Lake county, with whose development and progress the name has been prominently identified.

Captain Babcock is a son of Joseph and Mary Ann (Allen) Babcock, both of whom were natives of the east, as the father was born in Connecticut and the mother was a daughter of Mr. Allen, who was a farmer in Pennsylvania and who had formerly been en- gaged in the lumber business on the St. Law- rence river. Joseph Babcock maintained his home in Fairport Harbor after his marriage. and was for some time employed in the ware- house of Johnson Card, after which he was engaged in the mercantile business in this place. Finally he turned his attention to agri- cultural pursuits, becoming the owner of a well improved farm in Painesville township, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred when he was fifty-seven years of age. His wife survived him by many years and was seventy-nine years of age at the time of her demise. Both were folk of sterling character. The father as influential in local affairs of a public nature and ever commanded the confi- dence and esteem of the community in which he long made his home. Concerning the six children the following brief record is entered : Harriet ; Maria is the wife of Frank Hunger- ford, of Fairport Harbor: Sarah, who became

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the wife of Henry Carter, died in March, 1907, at the age of sixty-seven years ; Joseph C., sub- ject of this review, was the next in order of birth ; Carrie is the widow of Frank Simmons and resides in Fairport Harbor; Frank was associated with his brother, Capt. Joseph C .. in the care of the Fairport lighthouse for eight years, and for twenty-three years thereafter was the captain in charge of the government life-saving station at the mouth of the Grand river, Fairport Harbor, retaining this incum- bency until his death. His wife preceded him to the life eternal by four years and they are survived by two sons, David and Frank, who are still residents of Fairport Harbor.

Captain Joseph C. Babcock passed his boy- hood days in his native town, in whose common schools he secured his early educational train- ing. At the age of seventeen years he became a sailor on the lakes, and the major portion of his life has been one of close identification with marine affairs on the great inland seas. For some time he followed the fishing industry and he finally turned from the lakes only to respond to the call of higher duty, when the integrity of the nation was jeopardized by armed re- bellion. On August 11, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company D, Seventh Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, and at the expiration of his term of eighteen months he was transferred to the Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war. Hi's original command was a part of the corps commanded by General Slocum, and later he went with his regiment to western Tennessee, after the defeat of General Rosecrans. He was a participant in the entire Atlanta campaign and was with Sherman's army on the ever memorable march from Atlanta to the sea, proceeding into North Carolina and the Confederate capital, Rich- mond, and finally taking part in the grand review of the victorious troops in the city of Washington. He was thence sent with his command to Louisville, Kentucky, where he re- ceived his honorable discharge. He was made corporal of his company in the Fifth Ohio, and during his protracted military career he saw his full quota of hard service, ever showing true soldierly qualities and making an admir- able record. In the engagement at Ringgold. Georgia, thirteen of the fourteen officers in his regiment were killed or wounded, and he took part in many other engagements in which the loss to his command was large.

After the close of the war Captain Babcock again identified himself with lake marine navi- gation, and he became mate of a vessel which

he assisted in building. He also became in- terested in the rebuilding of a second boat. which was lost off the shore at Ashtabula, and this crippled him seriously in a financial way. In the spring of 1869 he was married, and he then engaged in the fishing business, in which he was successful. On April 8, 1871, he as- sumed charge of the lighthouse at Fairport Harbor, and in the meanwhile he continued in the fishing trade for some twenty years. The fishing was mainly done through the use of pound nets, and while prices were low the fish were so plentiful that good profits were real- ized. The captain recalls selling for one cent apiece sturgeon weighing from forty to one hundred pounds.

The Fairport light station was erected in 1825 and Captain Babcock took charge in 1871 and ignited the present light therein in August of that year. Prior to that time there had been two brick light houses with lights of inferior order to the present one, which is a fixed white light. He has been in active service at this im- portant government light station for nearly forty years, and has received the highest of commendations from official sources as well as from those "who go down to the sea in ships" and have availed themselves of this friendly beacon. His care and fidelity have been unre- mitting, and he now has as his assistant his son, who was born in this same station, thirty- seven years ago, and who gives his attention to the two beacon lights at the entrance of the harbor.

In a generic sense Captain Babcock is a Re- publican, but he is not strongly partisan, since he believes in giving his support to the men and measures which meet the approval of his judgment, without regard to party dictation. He is a great admirer of our former President Roosevelt, in whose independent and able ad- ministration as chief executive he took much interest. He has an equal dislike for the free silver heresy and other doctrines for which the Democratic party has stood sponsor in later years. In a fraternal way he is a valued and appreciative member of Dyer Post No. 17. Grand Army of the Republic, at Painesville.

On April 8, 1869, Captain Babcock was united in marriage to Miss Mary Chapman. who was born in Fairport Harbor, and whose mother, whose only child she was, died when she was three weeks of age. She was reared to the age of fourteen years in the home of her maternal grandfather, and then returned to the home of her father, James Chapman, in Fair- port Harbor, where she has continued to reside

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since that time. Captain and Mrs. Babcock became the parents of three children, of whom two are living: Hattie is the wife of E. D. Warren, of Fairport Harbor; Daniel, who is his father's assistant, married Miss Elizabeth Stange and is likewise popular in marine cir- cles ; and Robert died at the age of fourteen years.

EDWIN A. COBURN, an Atwater township ag- riculturist, was born in Suffield township, Por- tage county, July 1, 1875, a son of Wilbur and Lunetta (Sabin) Coburn, both of whom were also natives of this county, the father born in its township of Brimfield in April, 1841, and the mother in Suffield township in May, 1842. She was a daughter of Alonzo Sabin, one of the early pioneers of this community. The pa- ternal grandfather was Joel Coburn, who was born in Brimfield township. Wilbur received a splendid education in his early life, attending hrst the district schools, then the Randolph graded school and finally the Oberlin College, of which he is a graduate. After his marriage he farmed his father's land for about twenty years, and then moved to Mogadore, Ohio, and retired from an active business life. Mrs. Co- burn was a prominent and successful teacher for a number of years before her marriage, having taught in Portage county and in the New Baltimore schools, and then moving to Iowa was engaged in the same work there for three years.

Edwin A. Coburn began life for himself as a farmer on rented land in Rootstown town- ship, and after the death of his first wife he moved to Randolph township. Later he pur- chased his present homestead farm of ninety- six acres in Atwater township, where he car- ries on general farming and is also quite ex- tensively engaged in the making of maple sugar, generally manufacturing about 250 gal- lons from his 850 trees. During his residence in Pandolph township he held the office of trustee for four years, and after coming to At- water township was elected to the same office during the first year of his residence here.

Mr. Coburn married on January 22, 1896, Rosa Bissler, who died on June 15, 1898, leav- ing two children, Sylvan and Urana. He mar- ried for his second wife January 20, 1900, Miss Ida Austin. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity and also of the Knights of the Maccabees, and he is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal church at Atwater.

TIMOTHY GREENLY LOOMIS, who died No- vember 8, 1899, in Lodi, was long a leading.

merchant of that place and one of the most influential citizens of Harrisville township. Most of his life was mainly devoted to com- mercial pursuits, although his inclinations were decidedly toward agriculture. He was the first to introduce short-horn cattle into the town- ship, and at his death his farm of 375 acres was considered one of the finest and most skilfully managed in Medina county. Mr. Loomis was a man not only of great practical force in the forwarding of his private inter- ests, but conscientiously strove to benefit the community by promoting its educational and religious institutions. His special religious faith was that of Congregationalism, but he was generous in his support of moral and char- itable movements outside of his own church.

Mr. Loomis was a native of LaFayette town- ship, Medina county, born January 28, 1834, and was the son of Milo and Lucy Ann (Greenly) Loomis. The father, born in Litch- field county, Connecticut, in November, 1802, came to LaFayette township with his family in 1833, soon afterward locating at Harrisville, now Lodi. At the age of thirteen years Tim- othy G. Loomis was indentured to the village store-keeper, and after serving three years hired out to others, quite early showing, busi- ness tact, and by the time he was twenty-one having gained a thorough mercantile experi- ence. Having attained his majority, he formed a partnership at Homer with H. Ainsworth, the association being of a special nature. After one and a half years he returned to Lodi and became one of the regular partners in the house controlled by Mr. Ainsworth, but in the fall of 1856 commenced an independent mercantile career at that place which continued for a num- ber of years. This busy and successful period of his life was broken, in the fall of 1861, by his enlistment in Company G, Forty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel James A. Garfield. He was soon elected first lieutenant and served as such until July, 1862, when, on account of failing health, he returned to his home in Lodi. Two of his brothers, Aaron M. and Finney R., served in the Union armies throughout the war ; another brother, Mason B. Loomis, was judge of the court of common pleas of Cook county, Illinois.

As stated, Mr. Loomis seemed to be held by circumstances to a mercantile career as the main business of his life, although his real enthusiasm was expended on agriculture and the raising of live stock. His activity in moral and religious movements was both natural and

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the result of ancestral influence and tradition, as his forefathers were among the Mayflower Pilgrims and among the early Congregation- alists of New England. He was also a mem- ber of the Masonic order, Harrisville Lodge, No. 137, F. & A. M. He was for many years one of the directors of the Ohio Farmers' In- surance Company, and was elected from this district to the state senate in the eighties, and served one term with distinction.

On March 27, 1855, Mr. Loomis married Miss Susan Richards, who was born in Con- necticut, March 25, 1836, and is a daughter of Chauncey and Susan (Root) Richards, among the settlers of Whiteside county, Illinois. Of this union were the following: May C., now Mrs. J. W. Harris, wife of a leading Lodi dentist ; and Milo R., who died at the age of thirteen. They also raised an adopted son, Finney B. Loomis, of Akron, a nephew of Mr. Loomis. The venerable and honored widow is an old-time supporter of the Congregational church, and through the affectionate fore- thought and business ability of her late hus- band enjoys a comfortable income, as well as the constant love of her kindred and associates. She makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Harris, of Lodi.

ROLLIN C. NORTON has for many years been prominently identified with the agricultural life of Portage county, and he now owns a splendid and well improved estate of 125 acres in Atwater township. He was born October 9, 1852, in Freedom township, the only child of Channcie and Elizabeth (Hawley) Norton, the father being a native of Massachusetts. After the death of his father Rollin C. Norton lived with his grandparents until he bought the farm which he now owns. He married Decem- ber 31, 1873, Miss Ellen Hughes. They have three children living,-Plimon E., Grace H. and Gertrude R. Mr. Norton is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and one of its trustees, and he has served as trustee of his school district.

A. A. WYBEL, who has since 1901 been pro- prietor of the Akron Polishing & Plating Com- pany, on Broadway, was born in Lowellville, Ohio, in December, 1870. He is a son of An- drew and Mary Wybel, who emigrated from Germany. A. A. Wybel attended St. Vincent's school for a time, and left school at the early age of twelve years to begin work. He spent two years in the employ of Root & Dean, and then accepted a position as plater for George

W. Smith which he held four years and then became manager of the concern. He left them and started with the old Akron Hardware & Stamping Company, and spent eighteen months in charge of the plating and polishing depart- ment, after which he spent the next eighteen months for Schumacher Gymnasium Company, where he had charge of plating and enameling. Mr. Wybel next entered the employ of Taplin. Rice & Co., as manager, and in 1901 purchased the plant, since then owning the enterprise. Besides this, he is proprietor of the Wybel Stove & Range Company, of Akron, and is president of W. and W. Supply Company. Mr. Wybel has been in business since boyhood, and is well qualified by ability and experience to take care of the different enterprises in which he is interested, and in all of which he has met with flattering success.

Mr. Wybel married in Akron in September, 1896, Margaret M. Guerin, and they live in their own comfortable residence on South Maple street. Besides this property, he owns considerable real estate in the vicinity. Mr. Wybel is an enterprising, public-spirited citi- zen, and fraternally is a member of the Order of Eagles and Knights of Columbus. Po- litically he is a supporter of the Republican party.

CLARK MARTIN .- Occupying a foremost po- sition among the worthy and respected citizens of Ashtabula county is Clark Martin, who has spent the larger part of his active life within the boundaries of this county, and has been conspicuously identified with the development of its agricultural interests, being owner of one of the most valuable farms in Harpersfield township. A son of Cyrus Martin, he was born June 20, 1827, in the village of Unionville. Ohio, coming from excellent New England ancestry.

Thomas Martin, grandfather of Clark Mar- tin, came to the Western Reserve at an early period of its settlement, driving across the country from Fowlerville, Massachusetts (100 miles from New York City and 100 miles from Boston ), with ox teams, finding his way mainly by means of blazed trees. He located in what is now Unionville, taking up a tract of tim- bered land, from which he improved the home- stead now owned and occupied by his grand- son, Franklin C. Martin, brother of Clark. He married Hepsibah Willard, a native of Massa- chusetts, and they became the parents of four sons and four daughters, some of whom came to Ohio with them, the older ones, however,

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remaining in the East. Thomas Martin served in the Revolution, and" subsequently drew a government pension of four dollars a month. He lived to the venerable age of ninety-five years and six months, his wife dying at the age of sixty-five years.

Cyrus Martin was a lad of ten years when he came with his parents from Massachusetts to Lake county, Ohio. He grew to manhood on the home farm, which he assisted in clear- ing, and in the later years of their lives cared for his parents. In addition to looking after the homestead, he worked at the carpenter's trade, and for thirty years had a general store on his farm, selling goods to the Unionville people. He made frequent trades, his last one being the buying, in company with his son Clark, of a farm, paying five dollars down to bind the bargain. He lived but a short time after that, dying at the age of sixty-five years.

Cyrus Martin married Cynthia Moseley, who was born in Massachusetts, in the same town that he was, and came here with her parents. Noah and Cynthia Moseley. Her father cleared and improved a large farm in Thompson town- ship, and there lived until his death, at the age of ninety-five years. Six children were born to Cyrus and Cynthia Martin, namely : Corne- lia, who married Elijah Hanks, died in Min- nesota; Mary Louisa married George Rob- erts, and remained on a portion of the old homestead ; Helen, wife of Edwin Pixley, of Geneva township; Willard, who became a large property owner in Cleveland, died at Newburg. leaving a son, Willard, of Cleve- land, served thirty-five years with United States Steel Company office : Clark, the special subject of this sketch ; and Franklin C., living on the old Martin homestead. Cyrus Martin was a Whig in politics in his early life, but in his later years was a Free Soil Abolitionist.

While living at home Clark Martin assisted on the farm, and was employed as a clerk in his father's store. Prudent and thrifty, he saved his earnings, and when he married had a few hundred dollars of the $3,000 required to pay for the 100 acres of land that he bought at that time. This farm, located on the South Ridge road, in Harpersfield township, one mile east of Unionville, he has lived on since 1853. the year in which the Lake Shore Railroad was completed. He has made most excellent improvements, and has added to it by pur- chase, having now 200 acres of fine land in his estate. For a number of years he made a specialty of grape culture, raising, about fifty acres each year, but when the rot made its

appearance he abandoned that branch of indus- try, and has devoted his attention to general farming, and has met with noteworthy success in his undertakings.

Mr. Martin married, at the age of twenty- five years, Martha Wells, who was born in Norwich, New York, and came here to visit an uncle. He formed her acquaintance at that time, wooed her, and went to Norwich to marry her. Mr. and Mrs. Martin have two children, namely : George W., of Geneva, hav- ing the leading livery stable of Geneva; and Cyrus, a telegraph operator, who served six years with the Lake Shore & Michigan South- ern Railroad Company, and the last twenty- five years with McCormick Machine Company. and is now residing in Geneva township.

BYRON W. ROBINSON .- It was within the province of the late Byron W. Robinson to have wielded a large and beneficent influence in the industrial, commercial and civic affairs of his native city of Akron. Summit county. and he stood exponent of that high type of manhood which is ever indicatory of useful- ness and subjective honor. He was essen- tially one of the representative business men of Akron and as a citizen was animated by the utmost loyalty and public spirit. He held a secure place in the confidence and esteem of the people of Akron, and his death, which occurred December 30, 1908, signified a defi- nite loss to the community with whose interests he had been so prominently identified. At the time of his demise he was president of the Robinson Clay Product Company and also of the Second National Bank of Akron.

Mr. Robinson was born in Akron, on the 28th of April. 1860, and was a son of Will- iam Robinson, who was a native of Stafford- shire, England, whence he came to America when a young man. William Robinson set- tled in East Liverpool. Ohio, soon after his arrival in the United States, and in 1856 he removed to Akron, where he became a pioneer in the manufacturing of pottery and sewer pipe. He became one of the leading business men of the community and aided materially in laying the foundations for the industrial super- structure which places Akron among the prin- cipal manufacturing cities of the same rela- tive population in the entire Union. The maiden name of his wife was Eloise, and both continued to reside in Akron until their death.

Byron W. Robinson duly availed himself of the advantages of the excellent public schools of his native city, and after his graduation in

7 8. Pamo

MRS. H. E. PAINE

Henry Paine

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the high school he continued his studies for a time in Oberlin College. He initiated his practical business career by assuming the posi- tion of bookkeeper for the firm of Whittmore, Robinson & Company, of which his father was a member, and thereafter, with the exception of two years, 1884-6, during which he was in the employ of the Akron Milling Company, he was continuously identified with the manufac- turing of pottery, sewer pipe and other clay products, until he was summoned from the scene of life's activities in the very prime of his noble and useful manhood. Through his force of character and acknowledged ability as a business man he rose from a subordinate position to the presidency of the Robinson Clay Product Company, whose extensive busi- ness is virtually the outgrowth of that estab- lished by his honored father more than half a century ago. More emphasis and significance is given to this statement when we revert to the fact that this company is the largest of its kind in the United States, if not in the world. The corporation now controls and is sole owner of nine factories, six of which are located in Akron, one at Canal Dover, one at Midvale, and one at Malvern, Ohio. The cor- poration also controls a number of incorpo- rated companies engaged in the same line of enterprises in other states, and among the more important of these may be noted the Eastern Clav Goods Company, with offices in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Robinson was interested in other industrial enterprises of an important order and was one of the principal stockholders of the Second National Bank of Akron, of which he was president at the time of his demise.

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History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 41

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