USA > Ohio > History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II > Part 7
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Appreciative of the goodly gifts fortune has bestowed upon her and realizing fully the stewardship and responsibility imposed by such prosperity in temporal affairs, it has been the pleasure and generous impulse of Mrs. Simp- son to make many gracious and worthy bene- factions to church, educational and benevolent objects, to which her contributions have been munificent in proportion to the wealth at her command. She purchased and donated to Grace church, of which she has been a devoted communicant since 1841, for the especial bene- fit and uses of the Ladies' Guild of the church, the fine parish building at the corner of Adams and Hancock streets, offering this as a fitting memorial to her honored husband, in whose honor the building was given. This is but one of many devoted contributions made by this noble and venerable woman, whose gracious personality and abiding human sympathy have endeared her to all who have come within the sphere of her gentle influence. Her benefac- tions to Grace church total nearly $12,000; to Calvary church she has given $945; to the Ladies' Guild of Grace church, about $8,000; to certain bishops and other clergy of the
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Protestant Episcopal church and other churches, about $1,000; to Kenyon College, an historic church institution at Gambier, Ohio, $6,000 ; to Providence Hospital, in Sandusky, about $800; and other gifts of charity to the amount of more than $7,000. The total of such contributions on the part of Mrs. Simp- son is nearly $35,000, and she has dispensed her benevolences with marked discrimination. She is now ninety-four years of age (1910), and the many years rest lightly upon her head, as she is admirably preserved in both mental and physical faculties, considering her re- markable age. In the golden twilight of a long, serene and devoted life, as the gracious shadows lengthen from the west, she is sur- rounded by loving and devoted friends as she waits with gentle grace and equanimity until the lifting of the veil that shall unfold to her the glories of the after life.
HON. PETER BRADY .- Noteworthy among the well known and influential citizens of Bellevue, Ohio, is Hon. Peter Brady, who has been prominent in city, county and state af- fairs, filling many important public offices with credit to himself, and to the honor of his con- stituents. He was for a long time connected with the mercantile interests of Bellevue, but is now retired from active business, the care of his private interests demanding his time and attention.
His father, Michael Brady, was born, reared and married in County Cavan, Ireland. Sub- sequently coming with his family to America, he located first in Norwalk, Ohio, where he became a contractor of public works. He bought land in that vicinity, and in addition to superintending the management of his farm did an excellent business as a contractor. He took an active part in the erection of church edifices in Norwalk. He spent the remainder of his life on his homestead, passing away at the ripe age of eighty-five years.
Although he attended school when young, Peter Brady acquired much of his education after attaining manhood, mixing study largely with his work during his early business career. Coming to Bellevue when nineteen years old, he embarked in the hardware business, which he carried on successfully for about thirty-five years, building up a lucrative trade, and gain- ing to an eminent degree the confidence and good will of the community. A man of keen foresight and energy, he was one of the or- ganizers of the Bellevue Industrial Savings
and Loan Association, and has been identified as stockholder with various companies and corporations, and for two years operated the Bourdette Hotel, proving himself a genial and popular host.
A zealous advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, Mr. Brady has been very active in public affairs, and for a number of terms was a member of the city council, and was four times elected mayor of the city. In 1882, being elected to represent Sandusky county in the state legislature, Mr. Brady re- signed his position as mayor, having then an- other year to serve before the expiration of his term, and in 1883 he was elected state treasurer, and filled the office ably and faith- fully from January, 1884, until January, 1886. He has been a delegate to numerous district, county and state conventions, serving in that capacity at the state convention that nominated Hon. Judson Harmon as governor of Ohio. Four times has Mr. Brady been a member of the federal grand jury, in which he has served as foreman. He was appointed by Governor Campbell a member of the board of manage- ment of the Ohio State Soldiers' Home at Sandusky. Fraternally Mr. Brady belongs to Toledo Lodge, B. P. O. E.
He married Mina Gladys Smith, who was born in Iowa. She died in Bellevue, Ohio, in 1899.
ABNER P. NICHOLS, D. D. S., has been es- tablished in the practice of his profession in Medina for more than a quarter of a century, and is recognized as one of the able exponents of the art of dentistry in the Western Reserve, which has represented his home from the time of his nativity, as he is a member of one of its honored pioneer families.
Dr. Nichols was born in Chester township, Geauga county, Ohio, on the 14th of August, 1848, and is a son of Orville and Lavira (Pratt) Nichols, the former of whom was a native of Vermont and a member of an old colonial family of New England, and the latter of whom was born in the state of New York. Both were children at the time of the removal of the respective families to the West- ern Reserve. Hezekiah Nichols, grandfather of the Doctor, came with his family from Ver- mont and settled in Geauga county, Ohio, in the early pioneer epoch. He purchased a tract of wild land and reclaimed a good farm of one hundred and forty acres, besides which he did a large business in dealing in lands and live
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stock and in the manufacture of cheese. He was one of the influential citizens of his con- munity, and did much to further the material and civic development and progress of Geauga county, where he continued to reside until his death.
Orville Nichols was reared to maturity in Geauga county and received such advantages as were afforded in the pioneer schools. His entire active career was devoted to farming and stock-raising, and he became the owner of one of the finely improved farms of Geauga county, where he ever commanded unqualified confidence and esteem and where both he and his wife passed the closing years of their lives. In politics he gave his allegiance to the Repub- lican party. They became the parents of four children, of whom the subject of this review is the eldest; Bina is the wife of A. Harper, of Munson; Emma is the wife of Rodney Freeman, of Chester, Geauga county; and Grant S. resides on the old homestead farm in Geauga county.
Dr. A. P. Nichols found his initial experi- ences in life those connected with the old homestead farm upon which he was born and reared, and the foundation of his education was laid in the little district school of the neighborhood. He later prosecuted the higher branches of study in Geauga Seminary, where he was a student at intervals for a period of twelve years. After leaving this institution he turned his attention to the pedagogic profes- sion, and as a teacher in the district schools of his native county he was both successful and popular, though he had in the meanwhile formulated definite plans for his future career. He decided to prepare himself for the profes- sion of dentistry. In 1880 he passed examina- tion before the state board of dentistry at Columbus.
He opened an office at Chardon, Geauga county, and in that county he continued in the active work of his profession until 1882, when he located in Medina, where he has since been established in the successful practice of his profession-a period of more than twenty-five years, within which he has gained much prece- dence and a large and representative clientage, drawn not only from the city itself but also from a wide radius of surrounding country. He is thoroughly skilled in the most modern methods and systems of both operative and lab- oratory dentistry, and the equipment of his offices enables him to turn out the highest grade of work in both departments mentioned.
The doctor is a member of the Northern Ohio Dental Society, and maintains an active in- terest in its affairs and work.
In politics, though never imbued with any ambition for the honors or emoluments of pub- lic office, Dr. Nichols is a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party. He is affiliated with Medina Lodge, No. 58, Free and Accepted Masons; Medina Chapter, No 26, Royal Arch Masons; and Lodge No. 60, Knights of Pythias. He and his wife are numbered on the membership roll of the Con gregational church. He is the owner of val- uable realty in Medina, including his fine resi- dence on East Washington street.
In the year 1871 Dr. Nichols was united in marriage to Miss Aurilla Van Valkenburg, who was born and reared in Geauga county, Ohio, where her father, William Van Valken- burg, was an honored pioneer and prosperous farmer. Dr. and Mrs. Nichols have five chil- dren, concerning whom the following brief record is entered: Nina is the wife of Elbert Waters, of Wellington, Ohio; Dr. William A., a graduate of the Western Reserve Dental Col- lege, in Cleveland, is associated with his father in practice ; Ora A. is a representative farmer of Medina county ; Floyd is a member of the class of 1908 in Oberlin College; and Gene- vieve remains at the parental home.
CHARLES E. HOWLAND,In the line of man- ufacturing industries it has been repeatedly observed that the city of Akron, judicial center of Summit county, bears a high standard, and on the long list of substantial industrial enter- prises which conserve the prestige of the city is that conducted by the Akron Roofing Tile Company, of which Mr. Howland is president and general manager. This noteworthy manu- facturing concern, whose finely equipped plant is located on Brook street, in the south part of the city, dates its inception back to the year 1875, and under the present executive control and administration it has gained a place of high relative importance as one of the leading organizations of its kind in the Union. It has facilities for the manufacturing of artistic roofing tiles of most varied forms and color- ings, to meet the demands of the trade, which extends into the most diverse sections of the United States. The products of the concern have been utilized in the construction of many of the fine public buildings in various cities, including the magnificent capitol of the state of New York, at Albany ; the Leland Stanford
ZENAS KENT
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HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
University at Palo Alto California ; Cincinnati and St. Louis city halls and Toronto court house. A constant study and experimentation is made in the evolving of new art forms, and the demands upon the institution are such as to require the employment of an average of one hundred artisans and assistants in the various departments. This statement alone indicates the great indirect value of the con- cern to the city of Akron.
Charles E. Howland was born at Fort Ann, Washington county, New York, on the 29th of November, 1860, and is the fifth in order of birth of the seven children of Enos and Susan C. (Murphy) Howland. The father followed the vocation of paper making during the major portion of his active career, and he passed the closing years of his life in Fort Edward, New York. In 1869, when Charles E. Howland was about nine years of age, the family removed from his native village to Fort Edward, New York, and he was afforded the advantages of both the Sandy Hill Acad- emy, New York, and the Fort Edward Colle- giate Institute, after which he completed a thorough commercial course in 1877, at Ober- lin, Ohio. In September, 1879, Mr. Howland took up his residence in Akron, where he as- sumed the position of bookkeeper in the office of Thomas Phillips & Company, manufac- turers of manila papers, paper flour sacks, paper bags, and kindred products, and he held this position for eight years, at the expiration of which, in December, 1887, he resigned the same and associated himself with Captain Jo- seph C. Ewart in the manufacturing of roofing tile, under the title of J. C. Ewart & Company. He had charge of the office details of the busi- ness for some time, and when, in 1902, the enterprise was incorporated as the Akron Tile Roofing Company, he became general man- ager of the same. Since 1902 he has been treasurer and general manager of the com- pany, to whose affairs he gives the major portion of his time and attention, though he has other capitalistic interests of important order.
Mr. Howland is progressive and far-sighted as a business man, and by force of individu- ality and talents has gained a secure place as one of the representative citizens who are so well upholding the industrial and civic pre- eminence of Akron, one of the most thriving and attractive cities of the historic old West- ern Reserve. He is a Republican in his polit- ica1 allegiance, is identified with various social,
fraternal and civic associations and he and his wife hold membership in the First Methodist Episcopal church.
On the 26th of April, 1882, Mr. Howland was united in marriage to Miss Clara E. Hol- linger, who was born in Franklin, Pennsyl- vania, and reared in Summit county, where she has continuously maintained her home. She is a sister of the late Harvey M. Hol- linger, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this work. There is one child in the family, Helena.
FRED R. HOGUE .- Noteworthy among the active and successful members of the legal profession of Ashtabula county is Fred R. Hogue, the prosecuting attorney of the county, who is filling the honorable position he occu- pies with credit and dignity, his prosecutions being uniformly just and satisfactory. A na- tive of Pennsylvania, he was born, July 13, 1875, in Mercer county, where he obtained his preliminary education.
Coming to Ashtabula, Ohio, when about seventeen years old, he was graduated from the Ashtabula high school in 1895, and subse- quently continued his studies at the Ohio State University, spending the three years of his law study in the law office of R. W. Cal- vin, of Ashtabula. In 1900 Mr. Hogue was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of his profession in Ashtabula. In 1905 he was elected city solicitor of Ashtabula, and in 1907 was re-elected to the same office, each time being victor after a hard contest. In November, 1908, he was elected to his present position, and is performing the duties devolv- ing upon him in this capacity with ability and fidelity. He is a stanch Republican in his political affiliations, and an active worker in party ranks. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Hogue married, October 25, 1902, Ina A. Farnham, of Ashtabula, and they have one son, Farnham Hogue.
ZENAS KENT .- Of this honored pioneer of the Western Reserve it may well be said that he coveted success but scorned to attain it ex- cept through industry and honest means. He acquired wealth without fraud or deceit, and the results of his life, marked by no dramatic phases, are full of inspiration and incentive. These are significant words, and they truly denote the man as he stood among his fellow
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men, making his life count for good in all its relations. He was a dominating factor in con- nection with the material development and progress of the Western Reserve, and particu- larly of Portage county, and no shadow rests upon any portion of his career. His success, and it was great, was gained through his own well directed efforts, and thus he was essen- tially the architect of his own fortunes. He was reserved and somewhat reticent, never courting or desiring public notice, and evading the same by every legitimate and courteous means. But now that a perspective view of his career in its entirety may be gained, it is but consistent that at least a brief review of his life history be entered in a work of the province prescribed for the one at hand. In the preparation of such record recourse is had to a previously published and appreciative esti- mate of his career.
Zenas Kent, one of the founders and build- ers of the village which bears his name, was born in Middletown, Connecticut, on the 12th day of July, 1786, and he died suddenly at his residence in Kent, Portage county, Ohio, on the 4th of October, 1865, in his eightieth year. He was descended from stanch Puritan stock, and the family, of sterling English line- age, was founded in New England in the early colonial epoch of our national history. His father rendered valiant service as a soldier in the Continental army, being in the war of the Revolution, and was a resident of Ohio at the time of his death. Zenas Kent was reared to manhood in Leyden, Massachusetts, to which place his parents moved when he was a child, and there he received such educational ad- vantages as were afforded in the primitive common schools of the period. That he made good use of such opportunities as were thus given him is evident when it is stated that after coming to Ohio he proved a successful teacher in the pioneer schools. The arithme- tic that he used as a student in Massachusetts is now in the possession of his grandson, Will- iam S. Kent, of Kent, Ohio. The same was published in 1802, and upon blank leaves in the volume is shown the correct solution by Mr. Kent of every problem in the book. As a young man Mr. Kent learned the car- penter's trade under the direction of his father, who long devoted his attention to the vocation. . In 1812, when Zenas Kent was twenty-five years of age, his father immigrated to the West- ern Reserve and located in Mantua township, Portage county, where he passed the residue of his life and where he died at a venerable
age. Zenas accompanied the family to the wilds of Ohio, and soon afterward he returned to the east, where, in the same year (1812) that had marked the removal to Ohio, he was united in marriage to Miss Pamelia Lewis, who was born in Farmington, Connecticut, and whose father had been a soldier in the war of the Revolution. He then came with his bride to the new home in Portage county, Ohio, and settled in Hudson township, located in that portion of the county now included in Summit county. There he formed the ac- quaintance and gained the earnest friendship of Captain Heman Oviatt, and while in Hud- son he also erected a tannery for Owen Brown and taught school in the winter season. In the summer of 1815 he removed to Ravenna, the county seat of Portage county, where he engaged in the general merchandise business in company with Captain Oviatt, who fur- nished the requisite capital for the enterprise. Concerning their relationship the following pertinent statement has been made : "The cap- tain always regarded Mr. Kent with peculiar interest and friendship, and years afterward, when he was a prosperous merchant, the cap- tain would refer with great pride to the fact that he 'sot him up in business.'"
At the initiation of his career as a merchant, Mr. Kent erected a wooden store building upon the site now occupied by the Second Na- tional Bank. This building, which he utilized both as a store and dwelling, was removed several years later to the south side of Main street, in what is known as Little's block. The partnership of Oviatt & Kent was terminated in a few years, when the junior partner was able to repay the money so kindly advanced by his early friend. The only diversion from the direct line of business that Mr. Kent per- mitted himself during the long years of his successful mercantile career was that made in 1826, when he took the contract for the erec- tion of the court house in Ravenna-a build- ing that continued in use until the building of the present county house. He made his mer- cantile business a splendid success and gained prestige as one of the leading merchants of this section of the Western Reserve. From 1831 to 1850 he also had a store in Hudson, conducting the same under the firm name of Kent & Brewster, and here building up also a very prosperous enterprise. In 1832 he be- came associated with David Ladd in the pur- chase of about 500 acres of land in the town- ship of Franklin, Portage county, and includ- ing, a water-power in the Cuyahoga river. In
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HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
the same year he erected a flouring mill, and the same bore his name for a third of a cen- tury. It had a wide reputation and extensive trade, and the first flour shipped from north- ern Ohio to the city of Cleveland was manu- factured in this mill, being shipped by way of the old Ohio canal. Mr. Kent became sole owner of the mill soon after its erection. and in 1836 he sold the same and the entire tract of land, for $75,000, to the Franklin Land Com- pany, which afterward became the Franklin Silk Company. He also established a tannery soon after he had purchased the interest of Mr. Ladd in the property mentioned, and it is a matter of historic interest to note that he secured in the operation of the tannery the services of John Brown, who later was to at- tain national prominence through his famous raid in the climacteric period leading up to the Civil war.
The enterprise of Mr. Kent found another signal manifestation in 1837, when he erected in the vicinity of his mill, in what is now the village of Kent, a large brick block, contain- ing a hotel, stores, etc. In the winding up of the disastrous affairs of the silk company, in 1843. most of the original property came again into the hands of Mr. Kent. In 1845 he sold his stock of goods in Ravenna to his sons- Marvin and Charles H .- and, after a success- ful career of thirty years, retired from active business. His sons sold the mercantile busi- ness about fifteen months after assuming con- trol of the same, and their successors also pur- chased the large brick block which had been erected there by Zenas Kent. The residence property adjoining the store was sold some- what later, and this terminated Mr. Kent's identification with business and capitalistic in- terests in Ravenna. He was one of the or- ganizers of the Franklin Bank, of Portage county, in 1849. and became president of the same at the time of its incorporation, holding this executive office until the bank closed its business. in 1861. to be succeeded by the Kent National l'ank. in which Mr. Kent became the largest stockholder and was elected president. an office of which he continued incumbent until his death. In 1850 he instituted the erection and equipment of a cotton factory, and at the same time erected for his own use a fine resi- dence. When the same was completed he re- moved from Ravenna to Franklin, where his financial interests had become centered. This removal was made in 1851. and in the spring of 1853 he was elected treasurer of the At-
lantic & Great Western Railroad, which posi- tion he resigned in May of the following year. In 1860 he removed to the city of Cleveland and took up his residence in a fine home which he had erected on Euclid avenue. There his cherished and devoted wife died on the 21st of October, 1864, soon after the anniversary of their golden wedding, and in the following month he returned to Franklin, the name of which place had been changed to Kent, where he continued to reside until his death, in the fulness of years and well earned honors.
Concerning the personality of the subject of this memoir the following statements have been written and are well worthy of perpetua- tion in this article : "Mr. Kent was not marked by any brilliant or dashing characteristics. He possessed good common sense, to which were added indomitable will, native shrewdness, and unflagging, energy, and, better than all, an in- flexible integrity which gave him the confi- dence of all with whom he had dealings. As a tradesman he was more methodical than speculative, and his devotion to his business was almost unparalleled, his management al- ways safe and prosperous. . As a specimen of the spirit of his integrity it may be stated that when the Franklin Silk Company tendered him the presidency of their banking department he required them to place in his hands the means to redeem their issues, saying that he would place his name upon no paper without the power to protect it from dishonor. The ar- rangement was made. The disastrous history of the silk company is well known, but their paper was redeemed, dollar for dollar. Mr. Kent's business life was a grand success, and he left an estate estimated to be worth fully $300,000. In personal appearance Mr. Kent was tall. remarkably erect, of graceful car- riage and dignified mien. He was not so much given to sociability as many, but was never- theless pleasant and agreeable in all his rela- tions. Though popular as a tradesman, by reason of his fairness and honestv, he formed few intimate friendships and would never 'bend the pregnant hinges of the knee that thrift might follow fawning.' Underneath a natural dignity, bordering at times upon austerity, he carries a warm and sympathetic heart. He never forgot a kindness done him, and the few friendships he formed were retained until the last. His personal habits were remarkable. He never used tobacco or other stimulant, and for thirty years never had an hour's illness."
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