History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 61

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 61

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Perceptemas J. Mighton passed his boyhood and youth on the old homestead farm in Bed- ford township, Cuyahoga county, and was af- forded the advantages of the excellent public schools of the locality, including the high school at Bedford. He continued to be asso- ciated in the work and management of the farm until he had attained to his legal major- ity, and he then purchased what was known as the Mitchell mill, at Little Mountain. Geauga county, Ohio. This was a flour and feed mill, operated by water power and doing a custom trade. Mr. Mighton gave careful attention to every detail of work and manage- ment, and through the returns from its opera- tion was enabled to pay the entire purchase price within a period of six years, besides which he installed new machinery and devel- oped the mill into a valuable property. While on the home farm he had worked in his father's saw and cider mill and had familiarized him- self with machinery, so that he did not come to his independent business venture as a novice. He assumed an indebtedness of three thousand dollars in buying the mill, and he made it pay for itself and also for the im- provements made in its equipment. In 1889

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he traded the property for real estate in the village of Chardon, Geauga county, but when seeking an eligible location for continuing in business he came to Painesville, which place he selected on account of its excellent railroad facilities. Here he entered into partnership with Harley Barnes, under the firm name of Mighton & Barnes, and they forthwith insti- tuted the erection of the grain elevator of which mention is made in the opening para- graphs of this company. From the time of the organization of the Painesville Elevator Com- pany, nearly twenty years ago, Mr. Mighton has been its president and has had charge of its property in a practical as well as an execu- tive sense. Under his able direction the busi- ness, in the several departments noted, has proved eminently successful, and from his large holding of stock in the company Mr. Mighton has received returns which place him among the substantial capitalists of Painesville, while he is still in a comparative sense a young man. He has large real estate interests, including city and village property, and one investment in this department is represented in what is known as Mighton's subdivision of Painesville -an eligible tract of four and one-half acres which he has platted into lots and placed on the market. This is being developed into one of the attractive residence sections of the city. As a citizen he is liberal, progressive and es- sentially public-spirited, and he has at all times given his aid and influence in support of measures and enterprises tending to ad- vance the material and civic welfare of his home city. Though never active in the do- main of practical politics, he is aligned as a stanch supporter of the principles of the Re- publican party. He is affiliated with the Mod- ern Woodmen of America, and he and his wife hold membership in the Church of Christ.

On the 27th of August, 1884, Mr. Mighton was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Car- ver, daughter of L. D. Carver, of Little Moun- tain, Geauga county, and they have four chil- dren,-Ellis D., Marion A., Elgin R., and Austin R. Ellis D., the eldest son, is a gradu- ate of the Bliss Electrical School, at Washing- ton, D. C., in which he was a member of the class of 1906, and he is at present identified with the operation of the mill of the Paines- ville Milling Company, of which his father is president. The mill has its own electric plant. for lighting as well as power purposes, and this system was installed by Ellis Mighton, who is thoroughly reinforced in both the theo-

retical and practical knowledge of his profes- sion.

MERRILL H. BLAKE, who has long been an active figure in the varied progress of Portage county-who has been an able school teacher, merchant and agriculturist-is now the pro- prietor of the old Swan farm in Franklin township, on which he not only conducts a large dairy but raises the finest celery and onions in the county. While a resident of Shalersville township, he was an active Re- publican and served as trustee for two terms ; but as he has been located in Franklin town- ship only since the spring of 1907 his time in that section of the county has been fully absorbed in organizing and developing the agricultural enterprise which is already such a pronounced success. Although a newcomer into that part of the county, Mr. Blake is one of its natives, and on both sides of the family is descended from pioneers of 1822.

Born in Mantua township July 13, 1859, Mr. Blake is a son of Orvil and Emily (White) Blake, respectively natives of Con- necticut and Massachusetts. The paternal grandparents were James and Elizabeth (Avery) Blake, and those on the maternal side Jonas and Sarah (Gregory) White. It is a matter of record that one of the White chil- dren of the "Mayflower" Pilgrims was born aboard that ship before it reached Massa- chusetts shores. In 1822 the maternal grand- parents journeyed from their Massachusetts home by slow transit (ox team) and located on a farm in Mantua township, and the Blake grandparents arrived from Connecticut the same year, but settled in Brimfield township. Most of the members of the two families were agriculturists ; some of them were edu- cators also, at different periods of their lives, . while several have devoted themselves entirely to pedagogy. In the latter class is Dr. Emer- son E. White, who at one time was president of the Purdue University.

Merrill H. lived on the home farm in Mantua township until 1878, after which he attended Purdue University, Lafayette, In- diana, for a year, and also spent two years at Hiram College and a term at Oberlin. He then taught school in his home locality until his marriage in 1885. after which he moved to Shalersville township, where he continued his educational work and spent the seasonable months at farming. In the fall of 1891 he associated himself with a cousin, C. C. White, in the establishment of a grocery business at

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Mantua, but after conducting the enterprise for two years his health failed and he devoted himself to farm work entirely. For this pur- pose he returned to Shalersville township, where he remained from 1893 until he settled in Franklin township, in the fall of 1907. As stated, he purchased the H. Swan farm in the spring of 1909, and this tract of one hundred acres has been skilfully and profitably adapted to dairying and truck farming. In both specialties it "sets the pace."

On September 1, 1885, Mr. Blake married Miss Jennie C. Coit, a native of Shalersville township and a daughter of Noble and Jane (Sterling) Coit, both also natives of that part of the county. His first wife died January 26, 1899, leaving three daughters-Grace and Net- tie, both at home, and Bell, residing at Ash- land, Ohio. On January 1, 1901, Mr. Blake wedded, as his second wife, Miss Susan M. Hinds, born at Kent. a daughter of Ambrose and Malissa (Beckwith) Hinds. Her father is a native of Michigan and her mother of Franklin township. The children of this union are Marion, Helen and Frances. Both parents are members of the Methodist church.

E. W. TALCOTT, proprietor of a well con- ducted and thoroughly cultivated farm of one hundred and five acres, which was formerly a portion of the old Stewart homestead in Frank- lin township, Portage county, is himself the son of an old settler of the Western Reserve. He is a son of Hezekiah E. and Betsie D. (Burdick) Talcott. His father was born at Lydon, Lewis county, New York, May 9, 1809, to Joel and Zilphia (Kelsey) Talcott, and his mother was a native of Stow town- ship. Summit county, where he himself was born on the 14th of August, 1852. The ma- ternal ancestors were Massachusetts people. The father of E. W. Talcott became a settler of Stow township in 1830, being then a young man. He married, bought a farm, and both he and his wife died on the family homestead. his decease occurring May 29, 1882. Ten children were born to this union, as follows : Henry L., who was born October 29, 1834, and died in the fall of 1908; Asher, born No- vember 1. 1836, who is now a resident of Ottawa county, Kansas: Charles G., born Oc- tober 31, 1838, who lives at Akron, Ohio; Myra V., who was born December 3. 1840. and is Mrs. Edward R. Peck, of Stow town- ship; Zilphia A., born November 15, 1842, widow of Orissa Moore, who is also a resident of Summit county ; Lorenzo A., born February

16, 1844, who resides at San Jose, California ; Ellen J., born August 27, 1847, who married Dascom Barnard, of Stow township: Emma E., born October 11, 1848, and the wife of Martin Holdredge, of Ravenna, Ohio; E. W., of this sketch : Electa M., born July 18, 1856, who is the wife of Clarence Wright, a Cali- fornia mining engineer.

Mr. Talcott obtained his education in the common and high schools of Kent, and resided on the home farm until a year after his mar- riage in 1881. He then located at Ravenna, where he conducted a photograph gallery for seventeen years, and with the proceeds of its sale purchased the portion of the Stewart place which is now his homestead. Since that time he has devoted himself to general farm- ing. He is also an active fraternalist, belong- ing to the Knights of Pythias and the F. O. W. In politics he is a Republican.

On June 1, 1881, Mr. Talcott was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Stewart, a native of Franklin township, born November 17, 1860, to Thomas C. and Adeline (Hart) Stew- art. Her father was born in Shalersville town- ship, Portage county, on the Ist of March, 1826, and her mother at Brandon, Vermont, September 27, 1834. Mrs. Talcott's grand- father, Jonathan Stewart, was a native of Scotland, and his wife (nee Betsie Clements) was of Washington county, Pennsylvania. Both Grandfather Stewart and Homer Hart, the maternal grandfather, were very early set- tlers of Shalersville and Aurora townships, the Hart ancestry of an earlier day having been established in Vermont. In later years the Harts fixed their homestead in Franklin town- ship. Mrs. Talcott's father died July 28, 1898, and her mother March 7, 1904, parents of the following: William A., born September 3, 1855, who is now a resident of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma : Adeline, born August 19, 1857, who became the wife of Charles Case, of Jef- ferson, Ohio: Homer, who was born Septem- ber 14, 1858, and lives at Ferry, Oklahoma; Mrs. E. W. Talcott ; Clara, born March 28, 1863. and is the wife of J. C. Yeend, of Ra- venna, at the time of her death, March II, 1902; and Julia, born January 19, 1865, who became Mrs. William Getz, of Kent. Mr. and Mrs. Talcott's daughter, Mable, was born February 24, 1882, and on July 26, 1905, be- came the wife of Dr. Leslie A. Wolf, who is identified with the private hospital of Dr. W. W. White, at Ravenna. Dr. and Mrs. Wolf have one child, Greta Louisa, born May 30, 1908.

Mro Harriet Ht Brewster

& 41. Brewster

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ROBERT L. BREWSTER .- One of the repre- sentative farmers and honored citizens of Mad- ison township, Lake county, is Robert L. Brewster, who resides in the old homestead in which he was born and is the owner of a por- tion of the fine landed estate which was se- cured by his paternal grandfather in the early pioneer epoch of the history of Lake county. The family has been one of prominence and influence in this section of the fine old West- ern Reserve, and the name has ever stood exponent of the most sterling attributes of character and of definite usefulness in connec- tion with the productive activities of life.

Jasper Brewster, the founder of the family in the Western Reserve, was a native of Wash- ington, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, as was also his wife, whose maiden name was Theodosia Lyman. There also all of their chil- dren were born prior to the immigration of the family to the wilds of northern Ohio. The genealogy in the agnatic line is traced back to Elder Brewster, who was one of the Pilgrims who came to the Massachusetts colony on the first voyage of the historic old "Mayflower," and records extant indicate in authentic way the direct line of descent to the Brewsters of Lake county, Ohio. Jasper Brewster and his family left the old home in Washington, Mas- sachusetts, in the year 1817, and started on the long and weary journey to Ohio. The trip was made with wagons and ox teams, and one horse also was brought to the new home. The trip consumed six weeks and was made in the winter. In effecting the crossing of the Windsor river extra teams were secured, and the family, including the father and mother and their five children, finally arrived at their destination in Lake county. Jasper Brewster purchased a large tract of heavily timbered land in Madison township, Lake county, and bought first in Tallmage township, Geauga county, the land being all in one body. On his land he made a clearing and erected a log house of the type common to the pioneer epoch. Here the family home was established and here maintained until about ten years later, when a brick house was built on the farm. This was one of the first brick dwellings erected in this part of Lake county, and the brick utilized were manufactured on the farm. Jasper Brewster devoted his attention to the reclamation of his land, but was not permitted to see the fruition of his earnest labors, as he died about five years after coming to Ohio, being fifty-five years of age at the time of his

demise. His wife survived him by many years and was seventy-five years old at the time of her death. Both were devout members of the Congregational church. Their five children were Jasper, Sidney, Marshall, Wadsworth, and Amanda.

Jasper Brewster, Jr., the eldest son, con- tinued to reside on the old homestead in Madi- son township until his death. He became the head of the family after the death of his father, and carefully provided for his widowed mother and the other children. He married Miss Lu- cetta Freeman, of Strongville, Ohio. She died about 1861, and he married for his second wife Mrs. Reeves Safford, of Madison. He died in 1885, at the age of eighty-seven years. He was one of the honored citizens of his towit ship, where he wielded no little influence in public affairs, and he continued in the owner- ship of a portion of the old home farm until he was summoned from the scene of life's mortal endeavors. Both he and his wife were lifelong and zealous members of the Congre- gational church. Of their children only one, Mary, attained to years of maturity. Mary Brewster, who inherited the old homestead, be- came the wife of Philo Safford, and they now reside in Lorain, Ohio, whither they removed from the farm about twenty years ago. Of their children the following brief data are given : Grace is the wife of Harry D. Sheldon, of Lorain, Ohio; Kate is the wife of Dr. T. T. Church, of Salem, this state; Miss Bertha is matron of the Woman's Christian Association building in the city of Cleveland ; Mary Daisy is the wife of Dr. C. Campbell, of Hopedale, Massachusetts; Brewster died, a bachelor, at the age of thirty years ; and John is a resident of New York City.

Sidney, the second son, removed to Wood county, Ohio, and he died on the old home- stead, while making a visit to the same, in 1864. Marshall Brewster was graduated in Yale Uni- versity and was ordained a clergyman of the Congregational church. He did not long con- tinue in the active work of the ministry as a vocation, but took up his residence in Indiana, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits on account of his health. Later he removed to the state of Kansas, where he remained until his death at a venerable age. His two sons, Jasper and Samuel, are now representative citizens of Kansas. Wadsworth Brewster, the father of Robert L. Brewster, is more spe- cifically mentioned in the following paragraphs. Amanda, the only daughter, married Philander

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Raymond, and they were for some years resi- dents of Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania, where Mr. Raymond operated an iron furnace. Later they returned to Ohio and located in Wood county, where she died in 1880, when about sixty-five years of age.

Wadsworth Brewster was born at Washing- ton, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, on the 2d of April, 1804, and there received his rudi- mentary education. He was a lad of thirteen years at the time of the family removal to Ohio, and he was reared to manhood on the old homestead farm in Madison township, Lake county, and he was associated in the work and management of the same until the time of his marriage, when the property was divided and he received 100 acres of the same as his share. On the 31st of January, 1838, when about thirty-five years of age, he was united in mar- riage to Miss Harriet Keep, who was born in Munson, Massachusetts, on the 21st of June, 1813. She received fine scholastic training and had come to Ohio with her sister, the wife of Mr. C. Blodgett, her intention having been to devote her life to pedagogic work. She was a successful and popular teacher in the schools of Mentor and Painesville, and while boarding in the home of Silas Ladd, a relative of the Brewster family, she formed the acquaintance of Wadsworth Brewster, who finally persuaded her to abandon her profession and become his wife. She ever retained a deep interest in lit- erature and educational matters, and was a woman of fine attainments and most gracious personality. Wadsworth Brewster made his farm one of the model places of Madison town- ship, and the present substantial house on the place was erected by him in 1840. He con- tinued to reside on this homestead until his death, and no man in the county had a more secure hold upon popular confidence and es- teem. He was ordained a deacon in the Con- gregational church, and as such rendered faith- ful service up to the time of his demise. His faith was one of earnest devotion and good works, and in his devotion his church was sec- ond only to his family. He and his wife were numbered among the original members of the Congregational church at North Madison and he assisted liberally in the erection of the church building, as did he later in the building of the first edifice of his church in the village of Madison, to which latter he and his family transferred their membership. In politics he was a stanch supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and while he

was essentially loyal and public-spirited as a citizen, he never sought or desired the emolu- ments or honors of public office. He died on the 22d of March, 1876, and his cherished and devoted wife survived him by nearly a score of years, as her death occurred December 15, 1894. Concerning their children the follow- ing brief data are consistently entered: Julia Keep Brewster, the widow of R. S. Wilcox, still resides on a portion of her grandfather's old homestead, and she has no children ; Oliver Raymond sacrificed his life on the altar of his country, having enlisted as a member of Com- pany F, One Hundred and Fifth Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, and having died on October 18, 1862, as the result of a wound received Octo- ber 8, in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky ; he was twenty-one years of age at the time of his death; Robert Ladd, whose name intro- duces this article, was the next in order of birth; Joseph Wadsworth died in 1850, at the age of three years ; Mary Jeanette is the wife of E. C. Silsby and they now reside in Talla- dega, Alabama.

Robert Ladd Brewster was born in the house which he now occupies, on the old Brewster homestead farm, and the date of his nativity was October 4, 1843. He was reared to man- hood under the sturdy and invigorating disci- pline of the farm and is indebted to the com- mon schools for his early educational train- ing, besides which he had the generous ad- vantages of a home of distinctive culture and refinement. He was associated with his father in the work and management of the farm until the death of the latter, and since that time he has here continued to devote his attention to diversified agriculture and stock-growing, in which he has been duly successful. His farm now comprises 100 acres of most productive land, and the permanent improvements are all of the best order. As a citizen he has ably upheld the prestige of the honored name which he bears, and he enjoys unqualified popularity in his native county. His political support is given to the Republican party, and both he and his wife are valued and zealous members of the Congregational church in the village of Madison, of which he is a deacon.

On the 24th of August, 1881, was solemnized the marriage of Robert L. Brewster to Miss Sarah C. Williams, who was born in York township, Medina county, Ohio, on the 28th of September, 1848, and who is a daughter of John and Hannah ( Branch) Williams, who passed the closing years of their lives in Ober-

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lin, Ohio. Her father had previously been one of the representative farmers of Medina county. Mrs. Brewster was graduated in Ober- lin College as a member of the Class of 1873, upon the completion of the literary course. She had been a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of Medina county for a period of eight years, and after her graduation in Oberlin she passed eight years in American Missionary Association work at Selma, Ala- bama, where she taught in the school of which Professor E. C. Silsby, husband of Mr. Brew- ster's younger sister, was then principal. She continued in active work as a teacher until her marriage, which was celebrated at the home of her parents in Oberlin. Mr. and Mrs. Brew- ster have two children : John Wadsworth, who was born October 14, 1882, now has the prac- tical management of the home farm ; and Ethel May, who was born November 28, 1883, was graduated in the Madison high school, in which she also completed a post-graduate course ; she remains at the parental home and is rendering efficient service as a teacher in the public schools of her native county.

WILLIAM L. HOLDEN .- Few residents of Monroe township are more highly honored for what they have done and what they are, than William Holden, a substantial agriculturist of Monroe township, Ashtabula county, who has rendered his country valiant service in the Civil war, as well as given such a creditable account of himself in the peaceful fields of industry. Mr. Holden is a son of Richard and Lucretia (Rockwell) Holden, and was born in Erie county, New York, on the 25th of September, 1842. His father, who was born April 21, 1808, died June 4, 1871, while his good mother, born December 1, 1820, is still living with her son William (December, 1909), at the vener- able age of more than ninety years.

Aroused to a high pitch of patriotism by the breaking out of the Civil war, in 1861, although not then of age, William L. Holden enlisted in the Twenty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was at the front in many notable engagements. By re-enlistment, when his orig- inal term expired, he served as a veteran until he received his honorable discharge, July 20, 1865. Returning to Ashtabula county, he has since successfully devoted his energies and abilities to the cultivation of the soil, being a general farmer of independent income and a citizen of the highest standing.

, On the ist of January, 1866, less than six

months after his return from the front, Mr. Holden married Miss Lucy Sweet, who was born July 11, 1850, a daughter of the late Gil- bert Sweet and his wife (nee Harriet Shaw). Her father was born in Hanover, Dutchess county, New York, on the 17th of March, 1823, and died in Monroe township, Ashtabula county, June 17, 1898. He came to the county in 1834, and married Miss Shaw, January 19, 1848. The wife and mother, who was born December 7, 1827, is living with her daughter in Conneaut, Ashtabula county, her offspring being as follows: Lucy, Mrs. William L. Hol- den ; Elizabeth, who was born July 15, 1852, and resides in Conneaut township; Loretta, born July 9, 1854, and a resident of Ashta- bula; and Bert, who was born February 4. 1856, and lives in Monroe township. Mr. and Mrs. Holden have one child, Frank E., who was born July 28, 1868; on December 24, 1900, he married Miss Millie Petsehka, and resides in Monroe township. The parents are active and influential members of the Christian church and are also identified with the local Grange. Mr. Holden's stirring experiences of the Civil war are kept ever green through his comradeship in the Grand Army of the Re- public, his wife being a loyal member of the Woman's Relief Corps.

ROLLIN E. WISWELL .- Edward Wiswell, father of Rollin E. Wiswell, was born in 1813 in Essex county, New York, and died Septem- ber 18, 1898. He came to Ohio by way of the Erie canal, and spent one year in Portage county, after which he removed to Windsor and there spent the remainder of his life. He was a tanner and shoemaker by trade and came to Ohio on account of being able to pro- cure fresh hemlock bark for use in his busi- ness. He set up a shop on his own account, which he carried on for several years. Mr. Wiswell became a prominent citizen and served several years as trustee of the town- ship. He was three times married, first to Hilpa Cook, by whom he had two children, Marian, born September 12, 1846, married I. C. Humphrey and lives in Windsor, and Or- resta, born May 25, 1848, married O. S. Kin- , ney, and also lives in Windsor. Mr. Wiswell married (second) Verann Nye, born in 1826, died June 12, 1856, and they had two children, Lilian, born 1852, died at the age of twelve years, and Rollin E., born May 23, 1854. Ed- ward Wiswell married (third) Emily Hale, born March 15, 1833, who now lives with her

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History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 61

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