USA > Ohio > History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II > Part 71
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107
Jas. C. Write
1077
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
matical Society, National Geographic Society, and American Society of Civil Engineers.
Omar A. Turney and Viola J. Welden were married September 10, 1895, and have become the parents of the following: Harold Merle Turney, November 21, 1896, and Hubert Welden Turney, January 28, 1901.
DR. JAMES E. WAITE, who has acquired his standing, as a leading physician and surgeon of Lodi, Medina county, by more than twenty- seven years of successful practice, is a native of North Hampton township, Summit county, and was born on September 28, 1854. The forerunner of the family in the country north- west of the Ohio was the grandfather, Walter Waite, a native of Massachusetts, who came to Ohio in 1812 and first stopped near Bricks- ville, Cuyahoga county. From the latter he moved to Richfield, Summit county, and later to North Hampton township, buying a tract of land which he cleared and upon which he farmed and raised stock. He was twice mar- ried, his second wife being formerly a Miss Hovey and becoming the grandmother of Dr. Waite. The father. Abel L. Waite, was born in Summit county in October, 1830; remained on his father's farm until he was twenty-one and married Miss Mary McCloney of his native county. He then moved to Wisconsin ; was five years on a farm in that state, and upon his return to Summit county purchased a farm of 127 acres in North Hampton township. Adapting his operations to his land, his circum- stances, the seasons and the state of the mar- kets, he skilfully guided his affairs to pros- perity, and lives now at Lebo, Kansas, as a leading citizen of that place.
The doctor obtained his early education in district and select schools and then pursued a course of three years at Buchtel College, Akron. He then read medicine with Dr. Hum- phrey at Peninsula, Summit county, and in 1882 graduated from the Western Reserve Medical College at Cleveland. Soon after be- coming entitled to his M. D. he located at Lodi and his constantly growing practice and the increasing, strength of his deserved popu- larity have never allowed him to get far away. Besides establishing a substantial practice, he has been active in other affairs, being a director of the Lodi Exchange National Bank and the owner of a good farm of ninety acres in West- field township. He is an active member of the Medina County Medical Society and the Amer-
ican Medical Association, and the high degree of his Masonry is indicated by his membership in Harrisville Lodge No. 137, F. & A. M .: West Salem Chapter, R. A. M .; Wooster Com- mandery No. 48, K. T .; Scottish Rite of the Thirty-second degree. Before her marriage, Dr. Waite's wife was Miss Rachel Harris, daughter of Nelson and Fannie Harris, one of the prominent old families of Lodi. Two chil- dren have been born to their union. Their son, Harris, who is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, is a resident of Mansfield, Ohio, while their daughter, Mary Faye Waite, is living at home.
OTTO GEORGE STEINBRUECK .- Many of our most enterprising and substantial business men have come to Ohio from the land beyond the sea, and of this number Otto George Stein- brueck is a worthy representative, holding, as he does, a firm position among the prosperous merchants of the Western Reserve, and being one of the leading druggists of Mantua, Port- age county. A native of Germany, he was born, October 7, 1859, in Esslinger, Wurtem- burg, and was there bred and educated. On both sides of the house he comes from distin- guished ancestry, his father, who followed the profession which several of his uncles and many of his ancestors had previously followed, was military physician during the Franco- German war, in 1870, while his maternal grandfather was with Napoleon on his inva- sion of Russia.
With aspirations and ambitions that could scarce be satisfied in the Fatherland, Otto George Steinbrueck came, in June, 1876, to the United States, where his sister, Wil- helmina, had been living for ten years. Going directly to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he sought a position in a drug store, having in his native country obtained some knowledge of drugs, and was there employed as a clerk for four years. The ensuing four years he was simi- larly engaged in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Com- ing then to Ohio, Mr. Steinbrueck was here engaged in the drug business on his own ac- count for six years, after which he spent two years in Chicago, Illinois, and subsequently was in business for himself in Toledo, Ohio, for six years. Locating in Mantua in 1899, he has since been actively identified with the mercantile interests of this part of Portage county, having by energetic toil and good busi- ness methods built up a large and lucrative
1078
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
drug trade, and obtained a leading place in financial, political and social circles.
Mr. Steinbrueck married, June 7, 1903, for his second wife, Ella Williamson, who was born in Richfield township, Lorain county, the wedding ceremony being performed in Ra- venna. By his first marriage, Mr. Steinbrueck had one child, Gretchen, born August 6, 1892. Taking an active interest in local affairs, Mr. Steinbrueck is now serving as a member of the city council of Mantua, having been elected in 1907 for a term of two years. He is influen- tial in fraternal circles, being a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, of the Knights of the Maccabees, of the Royal Arcanum, and is especially prominent among the Knights of Pythias, being past chancellor of his lodge, while, in 1893, in Atwater, where he was then managing the drug store of Frank H. Spiers, he organized a Knights of Pythias lodge of sixty-three members.
HON. DAVID S. TROXEL, president of the Troxel Manufacturing Company, and former mayor of the city of Elyria, Ohio, was born at the old Troxel homestead near Wooster, Wayne county, this state, March 2, 1864. Three generations of the Troxel family have been residents of Ohio. Peter Troxel, the first of that name who came to the state, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, in 1804. He was a young man of twenty-one when, in 1825, he came to Wayne county, Ohio, and settled on a farm near Wooster, a portion of which he bought from the government, the purchase price being $1.25 an acre. On this farm the father of Mayor Troxel was born in 1833. and here he lived all his life, carrying on farming, and from time to time filling vari- ous township offices. He died July 25, 1908. His widow, who before her marriage was Miss Sarah Schaum, was born near Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, in 1834, and is still living.
David S. Troxel's youth was spent not un- like that of other farmer boys of the Middle West, in work on the farm and in attendance at the district schools. In 1886 he accepted a position as clerk in a village store, where he remained one year, and after which he took a course in a business college. Then he went to Colorado. In Denver he was employed as bookkeeper in a hardware store, but only for a short time, for in 1889 we find him engaged in the hardware business on his own account in that city. This business he conducted nine
years, and he still owns it. While in Denver he invented a bicycle saddle, and in 1898, leav- ing his store in charge of his brothers, he came to Elyria to look after the manufacture of his invention. For a time, after settling here, he was connected with the Garford Manufacturing Company. Then he organized and incorporated the Troxel Manufacturing Company, for the manufacture of his saddles, and has since been its president and manager. Also he is financially interested in other Elyria industrial concerns, and is a member of the board of directors of the National Bank of Elyria.
Mr. Troxel has always been a stanch Re- publican, as were his father and grandfather before him, and in November, 1907, he was honored by his party with election to the office of mayor of Elyria. The same business ability and good judgment that have been used to ad- vantage in his private affairs, he brought to the mayor's office, with the result that his ad- ministration was a non-partisan and business- like one. During his term, many public im- provements were made in Elyria, among them being the erection of two new fire stations, the paving of streets and the building of sewers.
Mr. Troxel is identified with numerous fra- ternal organizations, being a member of King Solomon's Lodge, No. 56, F. & A. M .; Mar- shall Chapter, Elyria Council, Elyria Com- mandery, Knights Templar, and Al Koran Temple, Mystic Shrine. He is also a mem- ber of the Elks and Eagles and the Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce.
Mrs. Troxel, formerly Miss Ida Brandt, was born in Ashland county, Ohio, and is a daugh- ter of David Brandt.
GEORGE H. CLEVELAND bears a name that has been long and prominently associated with the mercantile life of Conneaut. In 1832 Cyrus Cleveland, his father, located in Con- neautville, Pennsylvania, twenty - two miles southeast of Conneaut, Ohio, whither he went to join a friend. But after one year there he decided to return to New York, his native state, or to Cleveland, but a friend at Con- neaut, who was the proprietor of the Mansion House, persuaded Mr. Cleveland to remain here and go in business with him, which he clid. He then began selling goods in this city, an occupation he had previously followed at Schuylerville, New York. Thus Mr. Cleve- land became the pioneer merchant of Con- neaut, and he was in business first with a
1079
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
nephew, under the firm name of C. & J. V. Cleveland, but later he operated alone, carry- ing a general stock of merchandise, almost anything from a darning needle to a steam engine. In the interest of this business he made trips to New York twice each year, jour- neying on a packet boat on the Erie canal from Buffalo, and his was the largest busi- ness of its kind in Conneaut. His house was located on Main street, and finally, in 1861, he erected the Cleveland Block, an imposing three-story structure. Mr. Cleveland continued at the head of this establishment until about 1877, when he became the secretary and treas- urer of a paper company, of which he was one of the leaders in organizing, but this ven- ture proved unprofitable, and the house finally burned, causing him a great loss. His resi- dence, now the home of his son, George H., was erected about the year 1835, and is one of the oldest residence buildings in the city, and there this pioneer business man passed away in death on the 5th of March, 1892, when eighty-four years of age.
Cyrus Cleveland was born in Saratoga, New York, and was of the seventh generation from Moses Cleveland, of Woburn, Massachusetts, and was a son of Josiah Cleveland. Of this same family was another Moses Cleveland, who was born in Connecticut, and came to the Western Reserve in 1796, as agent for the Connecticut Land Company. In that same year he established a city at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, which was named by the com- pany in his honor, and which they fittingly said might become "as large as his nature." Cyrus Cleveland married Eliza Lattimer, who was born at Saratoga, New York, August 24, 1808, and died at Conneaut, Ohio, April 5, 1891, a daughter of John and Jane (Mc- Cutchan) Lattimer, of Scotch descent. She was an active member of the Baptist church, and Cyrus Cleveland was also an active sup- porter of that organization. He was the first president of the Mutual Loan Company, now the Mutual Loan and Trust Company. Two sons were born to the marriage union of Cyrus and Eliza Cleveland. Giles, the elder, born February 9, 1830, was reared to a mer- cantile life, and he went to LaFayette, Indiana, and to Salt Lake, as a salesman. He died at the old home in Conneaut.
George Henry Cleveland was born Novem- ber 18, 1840, in the old home where he yet lives, and he, too, was reared to the life of a merchant in his father's store and in time became his father's partner, the firm name
then becoming C. & G. H. Cleveland. After the senior member's retirement, two of their clerks, C. W. Benton and Charles Cheney, bought his interest, the name then becoming Cleveland, Benton & Cheney. After some years, however, Mr. Cleveland bought his partners' interests and continued as the sole proprietor of the business until about 1888, a period of twenty-six years. In later years the business has been closed, but Mr. Cleve- land still retains the block which bears his name, and which is still used for store pur- poses. After retiring from the mercantile business, he conducted the Commercial Hotel for one year, but is now living retired, in the old Cleveland home.
He married, on the 16th of December, 1862, Lydia Ann Stafford, who was born at Mc- Kean, Pennsylvania, July 15, 1841, a daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Kelly) Stafford. Mrs. Cleveland died on the 26th of October, 1902, the mother of four children: Minnetta Eliza, wife of G. H. Thornton, of Conneaut ; Merritt Cyrus, a hotel proprietor in Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania; Laura Harriet, the widow of John R. Leggitt, and living with her father; Clarence Stafford, in the employ of the Conneaut Dock Company. The sons built and operated for a time the Cleveland Hotel, the location being given them by their father, and it was once the site of the old Cleveland home. The hotel is now rented. Mr. Cleveland, Sr., is a Democrat in his polit- ical affiliations, as was also his father, and he is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal church and one of its trustees and vestrymen. He is also prominently associated with the Ma- sonic order, holding membership relations with Evergreen Lodge, No. 222; Conneaut Chap- ter, R. A. M., No. 76; Conneaut Council, No. 40; Cache Commandery, No. 27; Lake Erie Consistory of the Valley of Cleveland; Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the order of Elks, Conneaut Lodge, No. 256.
HARLAN P. GILL is another of the native sons of Lake county who has here attained to success and gained a secure place in the confi- dence and esteem of his fellow men. He is now one of the representative business men of the village of Madison, Lake county, where he conducts an admirably equipped grocery and meat market, of which he has been the sole proprietor since January, 1909, prior to which he was associated in the enterprise for several years with C. A. Phelps, under the firm name
Vol. II-24
1080
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
of Gill & Phelps. This partnership was dis- solved in December. 1908, when the original store was destroyed by fire. Mr. Gill has been engaged in business in Madison for the past decade, save for an interim of six months, and his original business was confined to the meat market, to which he gradually added his stock of groceries until he now has one of the lead- ing establishments of its kind in Madison.
Mr. Gill was born in Perry township, Lake county, on the 22d of November, 1862, and is a son of Francis E. and Fanny ( Blakely ) Gill. His father was born in Madison township, this county, in the year 1836, and is a son of John and Harriet (Trumbell) Gill, who were numbered among the sterling pioneers of Lake county. John Gill purchased a tract of land about four miles south of the present village of Madison, and there reclaimed a farm from the forest. Both he and his wife remained on the old homestead until their death. Francis E. Gill was reared to manhood on the home farm and there he devoted his attention to ag- ricultural pursuits, in connection with which he gained prestige as one of the representa- tive farmers of his native county, where he ever commanded the unqualified respect of all who knew him. In 1857 was solemnized the marriage of Francis E. Gill to Miss Fanny Blakely, daughter of Nathaniel and Polly (Shaw) Blakely, who were pioneer settlers of Madison township. Lake county, where she was reared. Francis E. Gill became the owner of a part of the old homestead farm in Madi- son township, where he maintained his home until about 1886, when he removed to the vil- lage of Madison, where he became the owner of a grist and saw mill, to the operation of which he gave his attention during the remain- der of his active career. He continued to make his home in Madison until his death, which occurred in 1906, at which time he was sev- enty years of age. His wife preceded him to eternal rest by about eight years, and both were consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was a Republican in his political proclivities, and while never active in public affairs, he served for some time as trustee of Madison township. Francis E. and Fanny (Blakely) Gill became the parents of three sons and two daughters, concerning whom the following brief data are given : Lloyd B. is engaged in the manufacture of barrel hoops, in the city of Columbus, Ohio: Harlan P., the subject of this sketch, was the next in order of birth: Evelyn became the wife of Wallace Stocking, and died at the
age of twenty-two years; John is a successful farmer of Lake county; and Bertha is the wife of Bert Riker, a farmer near Painesville, this county.
Harlan P. Gill was reared to manhood on the old homestead farm which was the place of his birth, and he early began to aid in its work. His educational discipline was secured in the public schools of Madison township, and after his school days were ended he con- tinued to be associated in the work and man- agement of the home farm until he had at- tained to the age of twenty-four years, when he went to Ellsworth county, Kansas, where he took up a homestead claim of government land, upon which he remained six years, in the meanwhile duly proving up his title. The climatic conditions in the Sunflower state made serious inroads on his health and a change became necessary. Under these con- ditions he sold his farin, on which he had made substantial improvements, and returned to his native county, where for a time he was employed by others, after which he estab- lished his meat market business, from which he eventually developed into his present pros- perous enterprise, of which mention is made in the opening paragraph of this sketch.
Mr. Gill is known as a progressive business man and as a loyal and public-spirited citizen, and he enjoys unequivocal popularity in his native county. In politics he gives his alle- giance to the Republican party, and he served several years as a member of the village coun- cil of Madison, as well as a member of the board of education. Since 1900 he has been incumbent of the office of treasurer of Madi- son township, and he has ably administered the fiscal affairs of the township. He is affili- ated with the local organizations of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of the Maccabees, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Madison, of which he is a trustee.
In 1885, when twenty-three years of age, Mr. Gill was united in marriage to Miss Lil- lian E. Phelps, a daughter of Abel W. Phelps, a sketch of whose life appears on other pages of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Gill have two children : Mavrett, who is a member of the class of 1909-10 in Madison high school, and Harlan Phelps, who is likewise attending the public schools.
V. R. JOINER .- Recognized as one of the most intelligent and respected men of his com-
N.R. Joner
1081
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
munity, V. R. Joiner, living, just east of the village of Jefferson, has been associated with the agricultural and business interests of this part of Ashtabula county for many years, and through his own energetic and persevering efforts has accumulated a handsome compe- tency. A son of Erwin Joiner, he was born December 12, 1838, in Conneaut township, this county. His paternal grandfather, Captain William Joiner, commanded a company in the Revolutionary war, while his brother, Colonel Erastus Joiner, commanded a regiment of sol- diers during the struggle of the colonists for independence. Captain Joiner resided for many years in Erie, Pennsylvania, but spent his clos- ing days in Conneaut, Ohio, dying at the age of ninety-six years, at the home of his son Erwin.
A native of Rutland county, Vermont, Erwin Joiner learned the cooper's trade when young, and afterwards became a shoemaker. Moving with his parents to Erie, Pennsylvania, he worked for awhile at the trade of a stone- mason. Coming in 1840 to Ashtabula county, Ohio, he bought land in Sheffield township, and was there employed in tilling the soil eight years. Selling out in 1848, he resumed work at his trade, locating in Conneaut. He died June 27, 1891, in Sheffield township, at the venerable age of ninety-seven years. He mar- ried Euphemia Moore, who was born in Canada, and came with her parents to Ohio. She died in 1848, while yet a comparatively young woman.
Ten years of age when his mother died, V. R. Joiner received limited educational advan- tages. As a lad he worked with his father at the stonemason's trade, but when sixteen years old began working as a farm hand. Wages were then at the minimum, he having received but 25 cents for a day's work which began at sunrise and ended at sundown. This sum was afterwards increased to $12 a month. In 1862 Mr. Joiner entered the employ of Lewis A. Thayer, a lumber manufacturer at Conneaut, who was cutting off the timber from his own land, and for five years worked as a teamster. Subsequently Mr. Joiner, in company with Mr. Thayer, purchased 307 acres of timber land in Denmark township, the trees being principally whitewood, hemlock and ash. The company hired a mill, cut the logs into lumber, which Mr. Joiner hauled to Ashtabula, sixteen miles away, for 108 working days, not missing a single trip. The business proved very profit- able, the sales in the last year amounting to
about $10,000, the first year being not quite as large. Mr. Joiner had to borrow money to buy his share of the land, but at the end of the two years, when the land had been cleared, he found himself clear of debt, and with a bank account of $3,000.
Subsequently investing his savings in land, Mr. Joiner bought a farm of 114 acres in Jef- ferson township. He has since added improve- ments of great value, having placed the greater part of the land under cultivation, and erected substantial buildings. He has since bought forty acres of adjoining land, and for a number of years was engaged in general farming, mak- ing dairying a special feature of his line of in- dustry. He also dealt in stock to some extent, buying and shipping in large lots. In 1895 Mr. Joiner left his original farm, and settled on his present estate of thirty acres, near the village, where he has a neat and cozy home. While still engaged in active farming, Mr. Joiner be- came one of the original stockholders of the cheese factory, which was of great advantage to the community.
Mr. Joiner was also a shareholder in the Second National Bank and holds stock in the Jefferson Banking Company. He is a straight- forward Republican in politics, and has never shirked the responsibilities of public office, having served for many terms as school direc- tor, and as township trustee for ten years, an office which he has held the past seven years. For forty years, following the example of his early benefactor, Mr. Joiner has kept a diary, each day recording his business transactions, at the end of the week making a summary showing the exact condition of his financial af- fairs, keeping his accounts as, systematically as any one engaged in mercantile or other busi- ness pursuits.
November 12, 1867, Mr. Joiner married Dell C. Thompson, a daughter of Ashael Thomp- son, a Conneaut merchant. She died July 3. 1897, after almost thirty years of happy mar- ried life. She taught school several terms, and ably assisted her husband in advancing his education. which had been neglected in his youthful days. She also kept a diary, record- ing the more interesting, events of her daily life. Mr. and Mrs. Joiner reared two children. namely : Lina E., now having charge of the old home farm ; and Bernice C., who, although but a school girl at the time of her mother's death, has since devoted her time to her father, re- maining with him as housekeeper. She is a woman of worth, and a conscientious member
1082
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
of the Congregational church. Mrs. Joiner be- longed to the Baptist church.
ASA S. HARDY .- Now living retired in the attractive little village of Unionville, Madison township, Lake county, Mr. Hardy is one of the venerable and highly honored citizens of this section of the county. He was engaged in the general merchandise business in Union- ville for thirty years, ever active, energetic and industrious, and not the infirmities of years caused his retirement, but rather the fact that his store was destroyed by fire. He then came to a realization of the fact that he was entitled to a surcease of such active application to busi- ness, and he is now enjoying that repose and generous comfort which are the just reward for years of earnest toil and endeavor. He built up a business which in magnitude would have done credit to a city of very appreciable population, drawing his trade from a wide radius of country and holding the inviolable confidence and esteem of his many patrons. He is a member of a family long established on American soil, the same having been founded in New England, that cradle of our national history, in the early colonial epoch. A man of large mental resources, Mr. Hardy finds, now that he has retired from active busi- ness, that time does not hang heavily upon his hands, and he is enjoying the pleasures of his library and of current periodicals and news- papers to an extent that was not previously permitted him, owing to the exactions of his business.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.