History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 59

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 59

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Soon after his marriage, Mr. Haymaker joined his brother-in-law Stephen Green, in the purchase of the Rodney Adams farm, just south of West Twin Lake, but four years

afterward sold the property to Thomas Gray. He then bought one hundred and eighty acres on the cast shore of East Twin Lake, en- gaged in general farming for many years and rented the property when he retired to Kent a short time before his death, May 4, 1907. The deceased was a man of sturdy moral character and practical ability and served for many years as trustee of the Universalist church and of Buchtel College, a denomina- tional institution. He was also an active Re- publican, being county commissioner for one term and county examiner for fourteen years. Among other indications of his interests and standing, it may be stated that he served as president of the Portage County Horticultural Society for two years and at the time of his death was a Mason in affiliation with Rockton Lodge, No. 316. Mr. and Mrs. Oscar F. Haymaker were the parents of three daugh- ters : Ida A., now Mrs. Frank Merrill, a resi- dent of Franklin township; Cora M., wife of Elmer E. France, and Lillie E., wife of Her- bert A. Swan, who are both connected with the France Dry Goods Company of Kent, Ohio.

ROBERT BRUCE CARNAHAN .- A native son of Portage county, who has attained to pres- tige as one of its representative business men is Robert Bruce Carnahan, who is incumbent of the responsible executive office of cashier of the Ravenna National Bank, of Ravenna, one of the stanch and popular financial insti- tutions of the Western Reserve.

Mr. Carnahan was born in the city which is now his home, and the date of his nativity was March 10, 1860. He is a son of William and Harriet (Beeman) Carnahan, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Ravenna township, Portage county, Ohio. William Carnahan was reared and educated in the old Keystone state of the Union, and when about twenty-one years of age he came to the Western Reserve and lo- cated in Ravenna, where he engaged in the work of the carpenter's trade, to which he had served a thorough apprenticeship in his na- tive state. He became one of the leading contractors and builders of the county, and among the old homesteads which are now landmarks in Ravenna are a number of sub- stantial houses and other buildings which were erected by him. He lived to attain the venerable age of eighty-eight years, and was a man who ever commanded the most un- equivocal confidence and respect in the com-

Mrs. L Marte

Hiram Mouse

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munity in which he so long maintained his home and to whose development and progress he contributed in no small measure. He was well known throughout this section of the state and was a citizen loyal and public-spirited and one who lived a life of signal integrity and honor. He traced his lineage to stanch Scotch-Irish origin and took just pride in his ancestry. He was a man of strong indivi- duality and marked intellectual powers, so that he was ever well fortified in his opinions, and in public affairs used his influence with discrimination and intelligence. His political support was given to the Republican party, and he was a zealous member of the Congre- gational church, as was also his wife, who was about eighty-two years of age at the time when she was summoned to the life eternal and who was at the time one of the most venerable and revered pioneer women of Por- tage county, where her entire life was passed. As before stated, she was born in Ravenna township, and she was a daughter of Anson Beeman, who was a native of Massachusetts, and who came to Portage county in an early day, becoming one of the pioneers of Ravenna township, where he developed a valuable farm and where he continued to be identified with agricultural pursuits until his death. William and Harriet (Beeman) Carnahan became the parents of five children, all of whom attained to years of maturity and two of whom are now living, Harriet E., who is the wife of George Poe, of Ravenna, and Robert B., who is the subject of this review.

Robert Bruce Carnahan, the youngest of the five children, was reared to manhood in Ravenna, to whose public schools he is in- debted for his early educational training. At the age of eigliteen years he initiated his, connection with the line of business in which he has won so much precedence. He became office messenger and teller in the First Na- tional Bank of Ravenna, and with this insti- tution he continued to be connected until the lapse of its charter, in 1902. Through faith- ful and effective service he won advancement through various grades of promotion, and in 1885 was chosen cashier of the bank, an office of which he continued incumbent until the institution was reorganized as the Ra- venna National Bank. The appreciation of his ability and excellent service gained its best voucher when he was elected to the po- sition of cashier of the new bank, which suc- ceeded to the business of the First National, and he has since continued to give his atten-

tion to the practical administration of the affairs of the Ravenna National Bank. He has done much to further the success of the in- stitution, both under the original and present regime, and is known as one of the able financiers and representative business men of Portage county. He is a stockholder in the bank of which he is cashier, and is one of the executive officers that was formerly connected with the old First National, and is the only man now connected with the bank who re- mains of those who were associated with it at the time he first became connected with it. Though in the very prime of life he now has the distinction of being in point of active ser- vice, one of the oldest bankers in his native county, and his popularity is based upon the objective recognition of the sterling attri- butes of his character, for he has lived in Ravenna from the time of his nativity and has so ordered his course as to command the esteem and confidence of those familiar with every step in his career. It is scarcely neces- sary to state that Mr. Carnahan maintains an abiding interest in his native city and does all in his power to further its material and civic prosperity. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party. He is affiliated with Ravenna Lodge, No. 1076, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

In the year 1889 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Carnahan to Miss Mary F. Smith, daughter of Frank J. and Catherine Smith, honored residents of Ravenna. Mr. and Mrs. Carnahan have two children,- Frank W., who is engaged in the music busi- ness in Ravenna, and Sidney, who is attend- ing the public schools. In the social activities of the community Mr. and Mrs. Carnahan play a generous part, and their home is one in which a hospitable welcome is ever assured to their wide circle of friends.

HIRAM MORSE .- The son of a pioneer fam- ily of prominence, Hiram Morse spent his entire life in the Western Reserve, being throughout his active career an able promoter of the industrial interests of Ashtabula county. A son of Phineas Morse, he was born, Sep- tember 27, 1820, in Kingsville, Ashtabula county, Ohio, of thrifty New England ances- try.

Phineas Morse was born March 2, 1795, in Litchfield, Connecticut. Migrating from there to the Western Reserve, he lived for a num- ber of years in Kingsville, Ashtabula county,

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being industriously employed during the time. Going back to his native state, he was not contented to stay among the scenes which brightened his childhood days, but returned å few years later to Kingsville, and there spent his remaining days, passing away July 2, 1878. He married Abigail Luce, who was born Au- gust 12, 1798, in Massachusetts, and to them nine children were born, as follows: Huldah, born September 17, 1819, died about 1905 ; Hiram, the subject of this brief biographical review; Mary, born September 7, 1822, also deceased; Almira, born September 10, 1826, resides in Kingsville: Angeline, born Febru- ary 4, 1828, is also a resident of Kingsville ; Almon, born August 28, 1829, deceased ; Laura, born August 10, 1832, died in January, 1903; Alden, born September 28, 1835, lives in Kingsville ; and George, born April 8, 1837, deceased.

Born September 27, 1820, Hiram Morse was educated in the district schools, and when young began the development of his natural mechanical ability in a machine shop connected with the casted iron works. He subsequently learned the trade of a wagon-maker, after which he was employed for a time in a saw mill. He afterwards worked at the trades of a carpenter and joiner, in that capacity erect- ing many of the residences and buildings of his day. He is a man of much influence, serv- ing as township trustee, and being a valued member of the Baptist church.

Mr. Morse married, September 29, 1849. Louisa Colegrove, and into their household two children were born, namely: Charles H., born July 5, 1850; and Albert, born March 17, 1853. married Jennie Gee and now resides in North Girard, Pennsylvania. Charles H. Morse engaged in general farming in Monroe township, married, April 14, 1874, Marcia Bushnell, who was born August 7, 1851, in Monroe township, a daughter of Harley and Sarah Bushnell. A Republican in politics, Mr. C. H. Morse served as supervisor, and is now a member of the State Police.

JUDGE EDGAR H. HINMAN .- As judge of the probate court of Lorain county, Judge Edgar H. Hinman holds high rank among the distinguished members of the legal pro- fession, and is without doubt one of the best known men in the county. Coming from honored English ancestry, he was born, De- cember 16, 1846, in Randolph township, Por-

tage county, Ohio, a son of Edward Hinman, Jr.

The Hinman family originated in England, and was first represented on American soil by Sergeant Edward Hinman, who was an officer under King Charles Second, and es- caped to this country to save his head. He settled in Connecticut, becoming the founder of a family, whose descendants are to be found in nearly every state of the Union, many of them occupying places of prominence in pro- fessional and financial circles.

Edward Hinman, Sr., the Judge's grand- father, was born and reared in Connecticut. Coming to the Western Reserve in 1815, he settled as a pioneer in Atwater township, Portage county, and there spent the remainder of his life, an honored and respected citizen.

Edward Hinman, Jr., was born in 1810, in the village of Catskill, New York, where his parents resided a few years. But five years of age when he came to Ohio, he grew up and was educated in Portage county. He sub- sequently removed with his family to Michi- gan, where he lived and labored a few years. Forced on account of ill health to return to Ohio, he located in Oberlin in order to give his children good educational advantages, and died in that city in 1875. He married, in Portage county, Ohio, Mary Brush, who was born in Lee, Massachusetts, a daughter of Richard and Charity (Campbell) Brush, both of whom were of Scotch descent. Mary Brush and her twin brother, John Brush, were brought by wagon to Ravenna, Ohio, in in- fancy, in a basket which is now in the pos- session of Judge Hinman. She survived her husband, passing away in 1889. Three chil- dren were born of their union, as follows: John B., Edgar H., and Charles C. John B. Hinman, who died in 1900, was graduated from Oberlin College, and became editor of the Chicago Times, when that newspaper was owned and controlled by Wilbur F. Story, the noted Chicago journalist. Charles C. Hinman was graduated from Oberlin College, and for twenty-five years was Eastern agent for the Cleveland Stone Company, having head- quarters in Philadelphia. He died in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1897.

Obtaining his rudimentary education in the rural schools of Portage county and Michi- gan, Edgar N. Hinman was a student at Oberlin College when the Civil war broke out. When the entire country was aroused by the terrible battle at Gettysburg, he offered

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his services to his country, but was rejected on account of his youthfulness. In 1864, how- ever, when but seventeen years old, he enlisted for a hundred days in Company K, One Hun- dred and Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and took part in the engagement at Fort Ste- vens, when the Confederates attempted to cap- ture Washington. On August 27, 1864, he was mustered out at Cleveland.

For two years after leaving the army, Mr. Hinman was in poor health, and during his enforced leisure began reading law. He after- wards entered the law department of the Uni- versity of Michigan, but on account of ill health was unable to complete the course. In April, 1869, he was admitted to the Ohio bar at Norwalk, and sometime afterwards re- moved to Missouri, intending to practice his profession there, and soon after his arrival was admitted to the courts of that state. While living in Missouri, Judge Hinman served as deputy clerk of the Supreme Court of Mis- souri under Chief Justice Bliss, at St. Joseph.

Returning to Ohio, he opened an office at Amherst, Lorain county, and during the eight years that he continued in practice there, was twice elected mayor of the village, being an incumbent of that office, when, in 1881, he was elected probate judge of the county. Tak- ing the office in 1882, the Judge has since held it continuously, his last re-election having been in November, 1909, for a term that will not expire until February, 1913. Judge Hin- man is the oldest judge of probate in point of service in the state.

Judge Hinman married, in November, 1877, Ada M. Faxon, who passed to the higher life August 25, 1909. Her parents, Hiram and Mary A. (Roberts) Faxon, were natives, re- spectively, of Portage county, Ohio, and of the state of New York, and resided in Lorain county, until about three years before their deaths, when they removed to Olmstead, Cuyahoga county, where in 1909, they cele- brated the sixty-eighth anniversary of their marriage, Mr. Faxon being then in his ninety- second year, and his wife in her eighty-eighth year. Both died within one week in October, 1909. Mr. Faxon passing away the day fol- lowing the funeral of his wife.

Four children were born to Judge and Mrs. Hinman, namely: Harold F., who was a chemist and went to the mining region to work in the laboratory, died in 1904 in Minne- sota, aged twenty-four years; Scott, a clerk in the Elyria Water Works department ; Mary Lucile, living with her father; and Edgar,

who lived but ten months. Judge Hinman is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and belongs to the Masonic and other fraternal organizations.

HARRY HINKSON, president of the contract- ing, real estate and insurance firm of Hinkson & Buttenbender, Elyria, Ohio, has been a resi- dent of this city for twenty years and is promi- nently identified with its best interests. Mr. Hinkson is a native of Dubuque, Iowa, born September 15, 1867, but was reared in Buffalo, New York. His father, Ransom Hinkson, when a boy, came with his parents from Canada, his native land, and settled in Iowa. The grandfather owned and kept a tavern on the old overland route to California. That was in the memorable days of '49, and many were the travelers en route to the gold fields who were entertained at the Hinkson tavern. This house was the last of its type on that route to give place to the more modern hostelry. Ran- som Hinkson hauled the first poles for the first telegraph line that was built through that part of Iowa. He was a general contractor. In 1872 he moved east to Buffalo, New York, where he has since resided, and where, since the first administration of President Cleveland, he has been a meat inspector. His wife, Hattie ( Barnett) Hinkson, who was a native of Eng- land, died in Buffalo, in 1906, at the age of fifty-eight years.

At the time his parents left Iowa and estab- lished their home in Buffalo, Harry Hinkson was only five years old. He attended the city schools until he was thirteen, when he left school to go to work in a planing mill. He con- tinued in the employ of this mill, in Buffalo, until 1889, when he came to Elyria to take charge, as foreman, of the door and sash department of the John Hart planing mill. A few years later, on account of ill health, he went to the country and spent a year in farm work. Returning to Elyria in 1895, he engaged in contracting. Soon he found a larger busi- ness on his hands than he could take care of. and in 1903 he organized the Hinkson-Halpin Company, contractors and builders ; but he sold his interest in this concern, and subse- quently organized the Hinkson-Buttenbender Company, general contractors and dealers in real estate and insurance, of which he has since been president. Also he has other industrial interests here. He is a stockholder in the Liquid Force Company, of Elyria ; is a stock- holder in the Elyria Foundry Company, of which he is also a director, and is a member of

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the Hinkson, Buttenbender & Murbach Co., dredgers.

Mr. Hinkson belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and to the Builders' Exchange, and, fraternally, he is identified with the Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen. He is mar- ried and has one son, Roland E., aged seven- teen years. Mrs. Hinkson, formerly Miss Bertha M. Eckler, of Carlisle, Lorain county, Ohio, is a daughter of John and Cornelia M. (Hart) Eckler.

QUINCY A. GILLMORE, attorney at law, Elyria, Ohio, has been identified with this city since entering upon the practice of his pro- fession twenty-five years ago, and belongs to a family whose identity with this part of Ohio dates back a hundred years.

Mr. Gillmore's paternal grandfather, Quar- tus Gillmore, a native of Massachusetts, came to Lorain county, Ohio, in 1810 and settled on land about one mile west of Black river. There he followed farming for a number of years. On leaving the farm he went to the town of Charleston (now Lorain), where, with others, he helped to plat the town, and where he passed the rest of his life. Mr. Gillmore's maternal grandfather was named Alanson, and he, too, was a native of Massachusetts; he came to Ohio about the time Grandfather Gillmore landed here, and settled on a farm about four miles west of Lorain. Later, in 1880, he removed to Lorain, where he died at about the age of ninety years.

Edmund and Adelaide E. (Gillmore) Gill- more, the parents of Quincy A., were born in Lorain, the former February 10, 1833, the lat- ter September 24, 1833. They were married in 1858 and lived together nearly half a cen- tury, until his death on Thanksgiving Day, 1902 ; she is still living. Edmund Gillmore was in early life a sailor on the Great Lakes. He met with an accident in a ship yard, thereby sustaining an injury which caused him to be an invalid the rest of his life; for forty-four years he never walked a step. He was able, however, to attend to business, and he filled various local offices, such as justice of the peace, treasurer of the school board, etc. The office of justice of the peace he filled for forty years. He was well known and highly respected.

Quincy A. Gillmore was born in Lorain (then called Black River), May 12, 1859, and as he grew up took advantage of the excellent educational opportunities which were offered

him. He attended the common schools until 1872, when he entered the Elyria high school, where he took a four years' course. Then he spent one year at Oberlin College and one year in the Western Reserve College, after which he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Dela- ware, Ohio, where he graduated with the class of 1881. All this time he had the law in view, and after his graduation at the university he went to Cincinnati, and spent two years in the Cincinnati Law School. His diploma from this institution bears the date of 1883.

In the fall of 1884 Mr. Gillmore took up his residence at Elyria and entered upon the prac- tice of his profession, and here he has since lived and prospered, giving his influence and support to the movements which have ad- vanced the welfare of the town. Politically he has always been a Republican and has taken an active part in party affairs. He is a mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Country Club, and, fraternally, is identified with the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias, in the former having taken the thirty- second degree.

Mr. Gillmore is married and has one son, Scott E., a student at the University School, Cleveland, preparing himself to enter Yale College. Mrs. Gillmore, formerly Miss Frankie G. Brown, is a native of Delaware, Ohio, and a daughter of Jacob A. and Nancy A. (Gra- ham) Brown.

CHARLES J. CREHORE .- A business man of distinctive ability and one of the popular citi- zens of his native county, Charles J. Crehore is incumbent of the position of manager of the Elyria Lumber & Coal Company, one of the important industrial concerns of the city of Elyria, the judicial center of Lorain county.

Mr. Crehore was born on a farm in Shef- field township, Lorain county, Ohio, Sep- tember 22, 1872, and he is a son of George and Kasiah (Walker) Crehore, both of whom are now deceased. The father was born in Surrey, New Hampshire, June 16, 1832, and was a son of George Crehore, Sr., a native of Connecticut and a member of a family that was founded in America in the early colonial epoch. The father of Charles J. Crehore of this review was reared and edu- cated in his native commonwealth and as a young man he came to the Western Reserve and secured a tract of land on the shores of Lake Erie, in Sheffield township, Lorain county, where he became a successful agri-

gno. S. Jamam.

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culturist and stock-grower and where he con- tinued to reside until his death, which occurred in July, 1876. His wife was born and reared in Sheffield township, Lorain county, where her father, Wing Walker, was a pioneer settler, and she survived her husband by about seven years, her death occurring in December, 1883. Concerning their seven children the following brief record is entered : Clara, Hattie and Fred- erick are deceased; George resides upon the old home farm in Sheffield township; Grace is deceased; Charles J., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth, and Robbins B. is now a resident of Bay City, Michigan.

Charles J. Crehore was about four years of age at the time of his father's death, and when he was eleven years old his mother also was summoned to the life eternal. He was then taken into the home of his guardian, Edward P. Burrell, who died about four years later, and he was then placed in the care of Lewis D. Boynton, who had been appointed his guard- ian, and with whom he remained until he had attained the age of twenty years. Mr. Cre- hore secured his earlier educational discipline in the district schools of his native township and thereafter availed himself of the advan- tages of the Elyria high school, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1893. He then devoted one year to reading law under effective preceptorship.

The first independent business venture of Mr. Crehore was in connection with the buy- ing and shipping of live stock, and in 1895, when twenty-three years of age, he effected the organization of the firm of Crehore, Fauver & Robinson, which was thereafter engaged in the clothing business in Elyria for a period of five years. In 1899 Mr. Crehore organized the Weller Engineering Company of Elyria, and two years later he was the chief promoter of the organization and incorporation of the Elyria Lumber & Coal Company, which assumed the control of the property and busi- ness of the Weller Engineering Company, though the latter still continues operations un- der its original title. Mr. Crehore is the man- ager of both concerns and is recognized as one of the alert, progressive and substantial young business men of his native county, where he has won marked success and precedence through his own well directed efforts in con- nection with normal lines of business enter- prise. He is a charter member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, in which he is a director, as well as chairman of its educational committee. His political allegiance is given

to the Republican party and, while he takes a lively interest in public affairs of a local order, he has found no allurement in the honors or emoluments of political office. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. Both himself and wife are members of the First Congregational church.

In 1894 Mr. Crehore was united in marriage with Miss Harriett Hancock, who was born and reared in Avon township, Lorain county, Ohio, a daughter of Henry and Betsey Han- cock, well known residents of that part of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Crehore have had three 'children-Robert Henry, Lester Charles, who died August 16, 1909, at the age of three years, four months, and Marian Louise. The attract- ive family home in Elyria is known as a center of gracious hospitality and Mr. and Mrs. Cre- hore are prominent in the social life of the community.

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History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 59

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