History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 62

Author: Upton, Harriet Taylor; Cutler, Harry Gardner, 1856-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago ; New York : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 886

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son Bert. By his third wife Mr. Wiswell had three children, namely; Bert, born April 16, 1858; Laura A., born November 27, 1860, lives in Chardon, married twice, (first) Luther Preston, deceased, and (second) Oscar Pit- kin, deceased; and Anna, born January 21, 1867, married John Gooding, November 10, 1887, and died June 2, 1889.

Rollin E. Wiswell attended the Normal at Orwell, Ohio, and taught school one term., He is an intelligent farmer, and owns two hun- dred and fifty acres of land. His flock of sheep numbers some one hundred, and he also raises Percheron horses. He takes an active interest in public affairs, and is a public- spirited citizen.

Mr. Wiswell married Jessie Warner, born March 31, 1861, and they have three children, namely: Roy A., born October 10, 1880, mar- ried, September 23, 1907, Winnie Hollis, of Orwell, Ohio, is a brakeman on the Lake Shore railroad and lives in Cleveland ; Vergne E., born July 16, 1882, is unmarried and lives in Windsor, where he runs a grist mill and is a bridge contractor ; and Glen W., born De- cember 1, 1886, enlisted in the United States navy, was on board the battleship "Maine," went around the world with the Evans fleet, and re-enlisted in September, 1909. They also have an adopted daughter, Lorena, born June 8, 1895, living at home ; her twin, Lorhea, was adopted by Mr. Wiswell's brother Bert.

BERT WISWELL was born April 16, 1858, in Windsor township, Ashtabula county, and is a son of Edward and Emily ( Hale) Wiswell, mentioned at length in connection with the sketch of Rollin E. Wiswell, to be found else- where in this work.

Bert Wiswell attended school at Orwell and Austinburg, and taught school one term. He is now a farmer, and owns 250 acres of choice land. He raises Percheron horses and keeps a good flock of sheep. Besides carrying on general farming, he also has a good dairy. He is an industrious, up-to-date farmer, and car- ries on his farm in a business-like manner, which assures success. He is actively inter- ested in local affairs, and is an enterprising, highly-respected citizen.

Mr. Wiswell married, in 1882, Nettie Hos- kin, daughter of Albert and Emeline Hoskin. Mrs. Wiswell was born November 18, 1862, died January 7, 1907. They had no children of their own, but adopted one child, Lorhea, born June 8, 1895, twin sister of Lorena, who was adopted by his brother, Rollin E. Wiswell.

Lorhea was adopted February 7, 1897, and lives at home.

In political views Mr. Wiswell is a supporter of the Republican party, but always supports the best men for any office, regardless of their party affiliations.

WILSON PECK was born at New Lyme, Ohio, March 10, 1852, and is a son of Hiram and Harriet (Simmons) Peck. His grand- father, Edward C. Peck, was born October 20, 1790, in Old Lyme, Connecticut, and died December 20, 1866, at New Lyme, Ohio. He came with his parents to New Lyme, in 1811, in a colony from Connecticut, with horses and wagons. His father, Daniel Peck, born April 17, 1762, died January 16, 1839. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and April 19, 1786, married Lovina Huntly. Edward C. Peck married Lovisa Chapin, January 11, 1818, and their children, all born at New Lyme, Ohio, were: Sally, born November 5, 1819, died in April, 1909: Hiram, born March II, 1821 ; Edward C., born October 18, 1823. died April 18, 1870; Matthew, born May 30, 1826, died when about eight years old ; Ansel, born March 26, 1828, died December 29, 1846; Marriette, born March 30, 1834, died May 3, 1866; and Louisa, born February 21, 1836, widow of Mr. Woodruff, living at New Lyme.

Hiram Peck was born March II, 1821, and died November 18, 1882. He was a farmer, and a prominent member of the Presbyterian church, active in church work and for many years an elder. He was respected and popular throughout the region. He married Harriet Simmons, May 20, 1851, and their children were: Wilson ; Florence, born November 7, 1853, married Clinton Sperry, and lives in New Lyme : Lois, born October 14, 1864, in Rome township, at present a resident of Cleveland, has been one of the matrons at Oberlin Col- lege ; and Hiram L., born March 14, 1869, married Leighla Rose, of New Lyme, and lives at Oberlin.

Wilson Peck attended school in Rome town- ship, and later entered Grand River Institute at Austinburg. After leaving school he turned his attention to farming, and now owns two hundred and twenty acres, which he has im- proved. He moved the barns and put them on a good foundation, remodeling them. He keeps sheep and runs a fine dairy. He and his wife are members of the Grange. He is a prominent and respected member of the com- munity, and actively interested in public af- fairs. In political views he is a Democrat.

PHILETUS S. LIVINGSTON ELMER C. LIVINGSTON BYRON E. LIVINGSTON PERRY LIVINGSTON

EMILY CLARK ELIZABETH A. LIVINGSTON JENNIE D. HORTON ETHEL RICH

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November 12, 1890, Mr. Peck married May H. Cook, born January 7, 1867, daughter of Amherst and Helen (O'Connor) Cook, the lat- ter deceased. Her father still resides in Wind- sor township. Mr. Peck and his wife have no children.

ELMER COOK LIVINGSTON is one of the well known residents of Trumbull township, Ash- tabula county, his farm and homestead being near Rock Creek. He was born in Trumbull township, Ashtabula county, August 15, 1840. His people on his father's side were English and his mother's came from Germany. The father, Philetus Swift Livingston, was born in Steuben county, New York, in 1812, and after a common-school education engaged in farm- ing, which was his regular occupation through his career. He came to Ashtabula county in 1836 and bought seventy-five acres from the Connecticut Land Company. His wife, Susan Baker, was born in Rutland, Vermont, in 1816, and died in 1889. Philetus Livingston died in April, 1901. He was not connected with any church organization, and in politics was a Republican.

Mr. Livingston, like his father, was edu- cated in the common schools, and is a prosper- ous farmer of Trumbull township, owning a dairy farm of 120 acres. He is an active Re- publican, whose career shows a large amount of public service in his communty. He served as township clerk three years, and township trustee for twelve years. For seven years he was assessor of personal property in this town- ship, and assessor of real estate one year. He has always retained the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens, and the many years of his residence have continually increased his value as a citizen. He is not a member of any church society.

Mr. Livingston married, in Trumbull town- ship, Ashtabula county, on September 10, 1862, Miss Elizabeth Adell Clark, who was born Oc- tober 24, 1844. Her parents were John and Emily (Johnson) Clark, who were once active members of this agricultural community, the father dying in 1889 and the mother in 1902. The four children of Mr. and Mrs. Livingston were born as follows : Byron Eugene, in Trum- bull township, April 22, 1864; Frances Joseph- ine, December 28, 1865 ; Jennie Delphene, Jan- uary 4, 1868; and Susie Emily, April 9, 1878, all being born in Trumbull township. Byron is a farmer and the husband of Amelia Parker ; Frances married Charles Hollenbeck and lives

at home, and Jennie is the wife of Eugene Horton, a farmer of Trumbull township.

NATHAN T. BREED, a leading hardware merchant of Lake county and the Western Reserve, a business man of Painesville of broad experience and marked successes, and a citizen of strong and elevated public influ- ence, is of a family which acquired prominence in the business and industrial development of Venango county, Pennsylvania, in the early portion of the nineteenth century, and at an earlier date was identified with the material and patriotic history of Connecticut. The original American ancestor came from Eng- land in 1630, and Joseph Breed, great-grand- father of Nathan T., was a native of that col- ony and a skilful ship carpenter. During the Revolutionary war he was an ardent patriot and an active soldier, migrating to Venango county, Pennsylvania, in 1818, where he culti- vated a farm and developed a homestead on which he resided until his death at the age of eighty-four years. His son, also a native of Connecticut, married Miss Fanny Hancox, of that state, and when a young man located in Venango county with his wife and child. He commenced life in this part of Pennsyl- vania by working for five years at the rate of ten dollars per month. He was then drafted for the war of 1812, but his employer thought so well of him that he hired a substitute. Not long afterward he bought a farm of his own and continued agricultural pursuits the re- mainder of his life, his death finding him in comfortable circumstances and in honorable standing as a citizen. The deceased was a man of vigorous constitution, and spent the first five years of his residence in Venango county as a hard-working farm hand on ten dollars a month. He was drafted for the war of 1812, but his employer thought too well of him to let him go to the front and so hired a substitute for him. Nathan Breed, Sr., be- came the father of eight children by his first marriage, Nathan, Jr., Eliza, Reuben, Frank- lin, William F., Nathan II and Amos. The mother died in 1836 and the father married as his second wife Ruth Gleason, who bore him three children-Gleason, Lucy and Sallie A.

Franklin Breed, the father of Nathan T., was reared on the old farm in Venango county, Pennsylvania, on which he had been born Feb- ruary 15, 1822. When he was seventeen years of age his father died, and as a clerk in a general store he commenced to not only sup- port himself but to assist in the maintenance

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of his mother and her household, and in the education of his sisters and younger brother. At the age of twenty-three he married and settled on a farm near Titusville, where he fol- lowed agricultural pursuits until 1852. In that year he established a general store in that city, being thus engaged for twelve years, when he sold his business and operated a grist mill for another dozen years. In 1870 Frank- lin Breed withdrew from the mercantile field and purchased a farm of two hundred and ten acres near Painesville, subsequently becoming one of the prosperous agriculturists and hon- ored citizens of Lake county. In 1845 Mr. Breed was first married to Miss Angelet Dag- gett, a native of New York state, and their daughter, Frances, who died in 1868, married a Mr. Taber. His second marriage, in 1869, was to Miss H. Pamelia Tracy, who was born in Chautauqua county, New York, and bore him three children-Nathan T., Vernie (de- ceased) and Flora E.

Nathan T. Breed was born at Titusville, Pennsylvania, July 27, 1861, and received his education in the public schools of Painesville and at the Western Reserve College. After completing his education he engaged in the dairy business at Painesville, and conducted it on an extensive scale for fourteen years. He then sold his establishment and entered the field of general fire insurance, from which he withdrew to become a partner in The Doolittle Bros. Company, of Painesville. The large business represented by that concern was in- corporated. in 1904, the present officers being as follows: C. E. Doolittle, president ; R. E. Doolittle, vice-president ; Nathan T. Breed, secretary, and H. M. Doolittle, treasurer. The business of the company is in the general hardware line and its store is one of the larg- est and most completely stocked in Lake county.

Personally, Mr. Breed has a most substan- tial standing both in business and civic af- fairs. He has served as township trustee for about twelve years; was a member of the Painesville city council for one term of two years, and is now on the Painesville Township Park Commission. In national, as well as in local matters, he freely exercises his individual judgment, and is a Liberal or Independent al- ways. His high standing as a Mason is indi- cated by his membership in the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Eagle Commandery of Paines- ville : Lake Erie Consistory of Cleveland, and the Al Koran Temple of the same city. On October 31, 1900, Mr. Breed married Miss

Henrietta M. Hine, daughter of H. H. Hine, of Painesville. Flora E. Breed, the last sur- viving sister, died June 2, 1904, so that Mr. Breed is now the only living member of the paternal household.

ABRAHAM SKINNER .- One of the oldest and most prominent settlers in the neighborhood of Fairport Harbor was Abraham Skinner, who was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut, October 18, 1755, and died January 14, 1826. He was the foremost citizen of the neighborhood for years, and his influence was widely felt, as his home and purse were always at the service of any movement for progress or improvement.

In 1795 Mr. Skinner went to England, and when he returned he imported four thorough- bred horses, from which have descended some of the most noted horses in the United States. In 1800 he first visited Ohio, then a wilder- ness, and in 1803 he settled there for life, pur- chasing land in Painesville township, also in Springfield and Twinsburg, Summit county, and Brecksville, Cuyahoga county. In Feb- ruary, 1805, Mr. Skinner brought his family west, in three two-horse sleighs, and from Buffalo they traveled over the ice on Lake Erie. In this year he erected his house, which he lived in the remainder of his life, and this house is still in use, having been embodied in the present residence of his great-granddaugh- ter and her husband, N. T. Breed.

Mr. Skinner was one of the original pro- prietors of Fairport, and also of Newmarket, three miles up the river at the head of navi- gation. He owned three warehouses, stores, taverns, a distillery and many other buildings. His house was the headquarters for gatherings of a public nature, in any good cause, and the first jail in the county stood in his yard; the first court in the county was held in his frame barn, and he put forth every effort to increase immigration. He built a court house at New Market of hewed walnut logs. He was uni- versally respected and admired by his friends and neighbors, and was helpful to all. He helped many of the early settlers in a financial way, and notes of his neighbors to the amount of many thousands of dollars are still in exist- ence.

Abraham Skinner married, in 1788, Mary Ayers, who died in 1812, and their children were : Mary, married Homer Hine, an attorney of Youngstown, Ohio; Abram Ayers, died in 1831 ; Paulina, married Nathan Perry, of Cleveland; Roderick Washington, died in 1871 ; and Augustus, died February 25, 1880.

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CHARLES MERTZ .- In the enlisting of men of notable enterprise, ability and integrity in the furtherance of her commercial, financial and industrial prestige, the city of Ravenna has gained its solidity, its substantial growth in population and material wealth, and its prestige as one of the thriving. and beautiful munici- palities of the historic old Western Reserve. America has ever paid honor to the man who has achieved a worthy success through his own efforts, and such accomplishment has been sig- nificantly marked in the career of . Charles Mertz, who started out in life as an orphan boy, with no influential friends or financial re- sources, and who is now president of the Ra- venna National Bank and a representative financier and business man of Portage county, where he has maintained his home for more than half a century, and where his course has been such as to gain and retain to him the con- fidence and high regard of all who know him. It has become trite in later years to speak of the young man as the dominating force in business, but in the light of sober investigation it will be found that the substantial business interests of the country have been conserved and broadened under the control of men of ample experience and past the stage of com- parative youth. Thus Mr. Mertz, still in the harness, has attained to more than the psalm- ist's span of three score years and ten, but none can doubt that his powers to-day show no dimi- nution, but rather have been strengthened and matured by his long years of able and faithful service in the field of business activity. He has never been inferior to any emergency con- fronting him, is positive in his individuality, and has clearly shown the qualities which make for successful leadership. In his youth he felt the lash of necessity, and the stern schooling of earlier days has made him appreciative of the true values in the scheme of human existence, so that he has a due sense of his stewardship and a tolerance for failings and mistakes of others. As a man who has achieved much and won success through worthy means, he is well entitled to consideration in this work.

Charles Mertz was born in the city of Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania, on the 9th of September, 1833. and was but three years of age at the time of the death of his parents.

The father, Carlos Mertz, was a professor of ability, who was born in Frankfort-on-the- Main, coming from a family of culture and re- finement. He had one brother who was one of Germany's most noted surgeons. Carlos Mertz

was the only member of his family that ever came to America. He came here in 1830, with his wife and children, in search of health and bought an estate on the outskirts of Pittsburg, where his son Charles was born. The father and mother died within six months of each other, leaving five children alone in a strange country, among a strange people, with neither kin nor friends. After the parents' death neigh- boring farmers offered homes to the children, and thus it was that Charles Mertz passed his boyhood days on a farm, assisting with the work during the summer and being permitted to attend the district school during the short winter terms. His courage and ambition were not to be held long in abeyance after he became cognizant of the possibilities for personal ac- complishment, and when he was sixteen years of age he returned to Pittsburg, the city in which he had been born, and there entered upon an apprenticeship to the trade of car- riage-making. He was thus engaged for a period of three years, within which he became a skilled workman, and in 1855 he came to Ohio, where he was employed as a journey- man at his trade for about seven years.

· In 1861 Mr. Mertz associated himself with Henry W. Riddle, and they engaged in the manufacturing of carriages and other vehicles in Ravenna. These two honored pioneer busi- ness men continued to be thus associated for the long period of thirty years, within which they built up a large and prosperous industry and one that has continued to add materially to the commercial precedence of the city of Ravenna. At the expiration of the period noted Mr. Mertz sold his interest in the busi- ness to his long-time friend and partner, Mr. Riddle, and he has since given the major por- tion of his time and attention to his banking interests and the executive duties pertaining to the same. At the time of his retirement from the manufacturing business noted Mr. Mertz was a member of the directorate of the First National Bank of Ravenna, whose charter s0011 afterward expired. A reorganization took place and the business was continued un- der the corporate title of the Ravenna National Bank. Upon the incorporation under this title Mr. Mertz was elected president of the insti- tution, which office he had previously held with the First National Bank. He continued in the presidency of the Ravenna National Bank, whose administrative policy he directed with much conservatism and discrimination, and when this institution was reorganized in 1902

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he was chosen as his own successor in the office of president, of which he has since remained incumbent. The bank is one of the solid and popular financial institutions of the Western Reserve, a section known for its opulent pros- perity, and the same bases its operations upon a capital stock of one hundred thousand dol- lars. Reared in the school of adversity, Mr. Mertz has ever maintained a deep appreciation of the dignity of honest toil and endeavor, and in the gaining of his success as one of the world's workers he has not hedged himself in with selfish bounds, but has continued mindful of his own struggles, so that his human sym- pathy has not been lessened through the pros- perity which has attended him and through the advancement that he has gained by well di- rected effort. As a citizen he is liberal, pro- gressive and public-spirited, but he places a true valuation upon man and affairs, and is dis- criminating in the according of his aid and in- fluence, as well as in the dispensing of his charities and benevolences, which are ever un- ostentatious. He gives his support to the cause of the Republican party, and the only public office in which he has ever consented to serve is that of member of the city council. He has contributed in large measure to the upbuilding of Ravenna and to the advancement of its various material and civic interests. He takes pride in the city which has represented his home for more than half a century, and here he is held in high regard as a man of integrity and honor and as a citizen ever ready to lend his co-operation in the support of worthy en- terprises and measures tending to promote the general good of the community. He is af- filiated with the time-honored Masonic fra- ternity and he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian church.

In the year 1855 Mr. Mertz was united in marriage to Miss Mary Riddle, a sister of his former partner, Henry W. Riddle, in the sketch of whose career, on other pages of this publication, is given an outline of the family history. Mr. and Mrs. Mertz have two daugh- ters-Lida is the wife of Charles W. Franz- heim, of Wheeling, West Virginia, and Kath- arine is the wife of James W. Holcomb, a rep- resentative attorney in the city of Cleveland, Ohio.

GEORGE S. BECK is accorded a prominent place among the farmers and stock raisers of Guilford township, as well as of Medina county. He was born on the old Beck home-

stead in the vicinity of River Styx, October I, 1857, a son of Joseph L. and Elizabeth (Long) Beck, both of whom were born in Northamp- ton county, Pennsylvania. In 1851 the Beck family moved westward to Ohio and settled on a farm near River Styx, in Guilford town- ship, Medina county, where during many years they were engaged in general farming and where they spent the remainder of their lives and died, Joseph L. Beck on the 5th of April, 1903, in his eighty-sixth year, and his wife Elizabeth many years previously, on the 24th of December, 1874. This farmstead contained 124 acres of first and second bottom land, and Mr. Beck was among the first to introduce into this community a high grade of Durham cattle, and later on he stocked his farm with pedigreed cattle, and, although this venture proved unprofitable financially to Mr. Beck, it was the means of introducing and interesting the farmers here in fine graded cattle and in improving the stock generally among the ag- riculturists of the county. He also introduced here the Cotswold sheep, which he raised for their wool and mutton qualities, and he was for many years extensively engaged in buying sheep and feeding them for the market. He added to his farm until it contained 250 acres, which served as pasture for his sheep and cat- tle. Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Beck, five were born in Pennsylvania, and the remaining two on the farm in Guil- ford township, namely: Sarah, who married William Reese, of River Styx ; Jane, deceased ; Maria, who married Newton N. Reese ; Mary, the wife of Albert Kulp; Jacob J., a butcher in Seville ; Josephine, wife of Daniel H. Mark- ley, of Lafayette township, Medina county ; and George S.

George S. Beck received a good common school training during his boyhood, attending school during the winter months until his six- teenth year and working on the home farm during the summers. After attaining his twen- tieth year he left his father's home and worked for a time for other farmers, but after his marriage he returned to the Beck homestead and took up the work of general farming and stock raising, and in the breeding of fine cattle and sheep he is taking a leading interest in producing some of the finest specimens in the county, which he has exhibited at the county and state fairs, where they have received first premiums and also the sweepstakes. He has served Guilford township for a number of years as a trustee, and is a member of the

Joseph L. Beck

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Republican party and a member and also a past president of the Agricultural Society of Medina county.

Mrs. Beck bore the maiden name of Cath- arine S. Reagle, and was born in Summit · county, Ohio, a daughter of Daniel and Eliza- beth (Seford) Reagle. Ten children blessed this marriage union, five sons and five dangh- ters, namely : Clarence, Edward, Elva M. (who married Ray Ream, of Guilford township), Joseph D., Alfred N., Laura and Lavina, twins (Laura married Dayton Rohrer and Lavina is deceased), Cora E., Julia (who was drowned), and John M. No man living within the bor- ders of Medina county has taken a greater in- terest in improving its grade of stock than has Mr. George S. Beck, a representative citizen and a prominent business man.

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History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 62

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