History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 72

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 72

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Mr. Hardy was born in the township of Shelburne, Franklin county, Massachusetts, on September 16, 1833, and is a son of John and Sarah M. (Stratton) Hardy, both of whom likewise were natives of Shelburne township, where they passed their entire lives and where the father's vocation was that of a farmer. The Hardy family is of stanch Puri- tan stock and was early founded in Massa- chusetts. The subject of this sketch was af- forded the advantages of the common schools and a well ordered academy in his native state, after which he entered Amherst College, in which historic old institution he was gradu- ated as a member of the Class of 1861, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. At the age of seventeen years he began teaching in the common schools, and through his pedagogic labors he earned the funds to defray the ex- penses of his college course. In the autumn of 1861, a few months after his graduation,

Mr. Hardy came to the west, first locating in Michigan. At Richland, Kalamazoo county, that state, he was engaged in teaching in the Prairie Seminary until January, 1863, when he went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he became principal of the graded schools, in which po- sition he had the executive supervision of the work of twenty-five subordinate teachers. That his ability and his effective services met with popular appreciation in the Ohio metrop- olis is evident when we revert to the fact that he held the position noted for the long period of twelve years, at the expiration of which he voluntarily retired. He then, in the autumn of 1874, removed to Unionville, Lake county, which place has since represented his home. Here he succeeded N. Stratton in the owner- ship of a general store which was founded in the pioneer days, by Dan Cleveland, and which had been conducted consecutively dur- ing the long intervening years, and of which Mr. Hardy was the fourth owner and the last. Upon assuming control he added various de- partments to the store and greatly amplified its facilities, making it a first-class general store, in which were handled a great variety of lines of merchandise, including dry goods, clothing, boots and shoes, hats and caps, drugs, groceries, etc. He continued the enterprise with unvarying success for thirty years-up to the time that the store building and ware- house were destroyed by fire, in 1904, entail- ing a loss of about $6,000 above the insurance indemnity. The business had been permitted to run down by its former owner, but he soon gained a secure hold upon the confidence of the people of this section, and by his fair and honorable dealing built up a very large and representative trade. His last year's business represented transactions to an aggregate of fully $40,000, and he carried a stock of goods of an average valuation of about $12,000. The regular salesroom or store was not of large dimensions, but in the rear the reserve stock was kept in a commodious warehouse, to which recourse could be had on the shortest notice, and usually with the result that the customer found the article he wanted. Indeed, it was a common saying in the community that at "Hardy's" a man could find anything he wanted. Mr. Hardy gave his undivided at- tention to his business, working early and late and giving his personal supervision to every detail, so that he not only held his affairs well in hand, in so far as knowing exactly how his business stood, but was able also to anticipate

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and supply the needs and demands of his large trade. After the loss of his store he decided to continue his residence in Unionville, where his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances, and where his interests have centered for so long a period of years. His decision was a source of unalloyed gratifica- tion to all who knew him.

Though never animated by aught of ambi- tion for public office, Mr. Hardy has ever ac- corded a stanch allegiance to the Republican party and has taken a lively interest in the questions and issues of the hour. He and his. wife have long been zealous members of the Congregational church. Mr. Hardy is a man of high intellectuality, and during the long years of a business career of activity and countless exactions, he has never lost his taste for study and for the reading of good liter- ature-a fact that, as already intimated in this context, proves a matter of deep satisfaction to him now that he can devote more time to indulgence of this predilection.

On the 28th of June, 1870, Mr. Hardy was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Earle, a daughter of George W. Earle, a representative citizen of Richland, Michigan. She was a former pupil of her husband and later was graduated in Rockford Seminary, at Rockford, Illinois, in which school she became a success- ful and popular teacher, as was she later in Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Hardy be- came the parents of seven children, concerning whom the following brief data are given : Asa S., the first born, is now an attorney of Grangeville, Idaho, and is very successful as a lawyer; Charles W. and Sarah W., twins; Sarah died at the age of thirty-three; Charles W. is secretary of the Wood Live Stock Com- pany of Spencer, Idaho; Roy, who was graduated in the high school at Geneva, Ash- tabula county, and was a member of the junior class in Oberlin College at the time of his death, when twenty-two years of age; Sarah, as were all of the children who attained to maturity, was graduated in the Geneva high school and became an expert stenographer, being employed as such up to the time of her death, at the age of thirty-three years; Charles W., who assisted his father in the work and management of the store until the same was burned, is now secretary and book- keeper of the Wood Live Stock Company, of Spencer, Idaho; Mary T. is assistant librarian of the public library in the city of Grand Rap-

ids, Michigan; and Faith F. is a member of the Class of 1911 in Oberlin College.

CHARLES WELLS BRAINERD, the able and popular postmaster of Mantua, Portage county, is a member of one of the well known pioneer families of this section of the Western Reserve and one that was founded in America in the early colonial epoch. He is the only son and eldest child of Enos P. and Margaret (Wells) Brainerd, and was born in Randolph township, Portage county, Ohio, on the 2d of January, 1845, and in the agnatic line is a representative in the seventh generation in the line of direct descent from Daniel Brainerd, who was brought over from England in 1649, when eight years of age, and who lived with the Willis family in Hartford, Connecticut, until he had attained to his legal majority. It is probable that the original spelling of the name was Brainwood. Daniel Brainerd or Brainwood first married Miss Hannah Spen- cer, of Lynn, Massachusetts, and his second wife was a widow, Mrs. Hannah Sexton. The nine children were all the offspring of the first marriage. Daniel Brainerd was born in 164I and died on the Ist of April, 1715, at the age of seventy-four years. Elijalı Brainerd, son of Daniel and Hannah (Spencer ) Brainerd, was born at Haddam, Connecticut, June 10, 1677, and his marriage to Miss Mary Bushnell, of Norwich, Connecticut, was solemnized on the 28th of September, 1699. They became the parents of seven children, and after the death of his first wife he contracted a second marriage, on the 6th of September, 1738. Elijah Brainerd Jr., great-great-grandfather of him whose name initiates this review, was born September 22, 1706, and on the 4th of April, 1732, he married Miss Phebe Bailey, who bore him ten children. Of these children the next in line of direct descent was Zacha- riah Brainerd, who was born February 6, 1742, and who was married to Miss Mehitable Clark on the 29th of November, 1764. They had eleven children, of whom Joseph was born in Haddon, Connecticut, October 7, 1782. In January, 1811, he married Miss Desire Utley, who did not long survive. On the 5th of July, 1813, he married Miss Nancy Post, and their son, Enos Post Brainerd, father of the subject of this sketch, was born at Leyden, Lewis county, New York, November 25. 1814. On the 4th of August, 1836, Enos P. Brainerd married Miss Margaret Wells, who was born at Ravenna, Portage county, Ohio, June 4,

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1816, a daughter of John F. Wells, one of the honored pioneers of this county. Enos P. Brainerd died in Mantua, this county, on the 3Ist of July, 1897, and his devoted wife was summoned to the life eternal March 21, 1880. They became the parents of two children, of whom Charles W., of this review, is the eldest and the only one now living: Mary Adelaide, who was born in Ravenna, March 4, 1850, and who was married to Frazier Hurlburt, Novem- ber 2, 1868, died in Ravenna, October II, 1878, leaving one child, Florence A., then three years of age, now Mrs. Charleon Lester, of Chicago, Illinois. Enos P. Brainerd married second Miss Augusta L. Jones, of Winthrop, Con- necticut. She died in Ravenna, Ohio, August 16, 1893.

Charles W. Brainerd was reared to man- hood in Ravenna, Portage county, where he duly availed himself of the advantages of the union school, in which he was graduated in June, 1864. under the principalship of D. D. Pickett. He thereafter supplemented this dis- cipline by a thorough course in the Iron City Mercantile College, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1867 Mr. Brainerd engaged in the produce and feed business in Ravenna, becoming associated in this enterprise with Albert G. Mason, under the firm name of Brainerd & Mason. In 1871 this firm closed out its business and in the following year Mr. Brainerd engaged in the drug business with his father, under the title of E. P. Brainerd & Son. They purchased the drug stock and busi- ness of Charles and Alvin Poe, and they con- tinued the enterprise in the original location. in the Swift block, until 1874, when they pur- chased and removed to the H. L. Day store, in the Phoenix block, where the business was continued until the spring of 1884, when the firm was dissolved. Charles W. Brainerd then removed the stock to Mantua Station, the name of which village was changed to Mantua about 1906, and later he sold his stock and business to Dr. S. E. Dechon. In May, 1897, Mr. Brain- erd was appointed postmaster of Mantua Sta- tion, and this office he has retained during the intervening period of more than a decade. He has given a most careful and efficient adminis- tration of the affairs of the office, which has been advanced from the fourth to the third class and which is now the fourth in impor- tance in Portage county. He is held in un- qualified esteem in his native county and his course has been marked by inflexible integ- rity of purpose in all the relations of life, so

that he has an inviolable hold upon popular confidence. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, in whose cause he has rendered effective service. He is a charter member of the local lodge of Masons.

On the 2nd of January, 1867, Mr. Brainerd was united in marriage to Miss Celia J. Peck, daughter of Joshua and Julia E. (Gager) Peck, of Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, where she was born April 21, 1844. Mr. and Mrs. Brain- erd became the parents of five children, of whom four are living. Their names, with respective dates of birth, are: Charles Hurl- burt, April 5, 1870: Harry Wills, October 26, 1871; George Richard, February 17, 1873; Lilla, October 10. 1874: and James G., born September 11, 1876, died November 22, 1878.

BEMUS BUCKLEY .- Energetic and industri- ous, with progressive and liberal views, Bemus Buckley, of Mantua, is associated with the mercantile interests of this part of the West- ern Reserve as a jeweler, having a well estab- lished and lucrative business in that line. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born, April 15, 1841, in Mckean county, a son of Daniel Buckley. The eldest child of the parental . household, he maintained the Buckley record by first opening his eyes to the light in April, the month in which the first-born of the fam- ily for many generations had chosen as the one in which to make their advent in this beautiful world. He comes of patriotic New England stock, his great-grandfather on the paternal side having been born in Connecticut, about 1735, and having served as captain of a com- pany in the Revolutionary war.

Azel Buckley, grandfather of Bemus Buck- ley, was born, in April, 1794, in Eastern, New York, and his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Rowley, was born in the same state, her birth occurring in 1797. Daniel Buckley, born in Allegany county, New York, April 15, 1815, married Sally Evans, who was born in Syra- cuse in 1819, a daughter of Rev. John Pendle Evans. John P. Evans was born, about 1779, in either Wales or Scotland. At the age of eleven years, unaccompanied by any of his family, he came to America, landing on the banks of the James river, at or near James- town, Virginia, and a few years later settling in Syracuse, New York. He was self-educated, and while yet a comparatively young man be- came a Baptist preacher. Moving to Penn- sylvania in 1838, he bought a tract of wild land in McKean county, and by dint of strenu-

REUBEN TURNER

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ous labor cleared and improved a farm, on which he lived until his death, in 1856, carry- ing on general farming successfully, and as opportunity occurred preaching the gospel in surrounding towns. He married Hannah True, who was born in New York state in 1798.

Soon after starting in business for himself. Bemus Buckley located with his family in the Western Reserve, at Mentor, in Lake county, near Kirtland, at one time headquarters for the Mormons, who there erected a fine tem- ple. In September, 1895. Mr. Buckley settled in Chardon, Geauga county, where he was en- gaged in the jewelry business two years. The next five years he was similarly employed in Mentor, Ohio, from there coming. September 3. 1902, to Mantua, where he has gained the good-will and patronage of the community, and is now one of the leading jewelers of the citv.

. Mr. Buckley married, first, Electa J. Drake. Of the three children born of that union, but one is now living, namely: Fred L., who mar- ried, February 22, 1886, Susia B. Hodges, and is now living in Springville, New York. Mr. Buckley married, second. November 21, 1897, in Chardon, Ohio, Mrs. Ruby A. Smith, daugh- ter of Jonathan and Sylvia Ann (Curtis) Smith, the former of whom was born in Brad- ford county, Pennsylvania, in 1815, and the latter in Cattaraugus county, New York. Politically, Mr. Buckley is a Republican, and in May, 1908, was elected councilman for a term of two years. During the Civil war, Mr. Buckley served for three years as musician, being first a bugler in the Eighty-fifth New York Volunteer Infantry Band, and later be- longing to the Company K, One Hundred and Forty-sixth New York Volunteer Infantry, from which he was honorably discharged July 26, 1865. On account of his services he was made eligible for membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, and belongs to Bently Post, No. 294. Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, and religiously, he belongs to the Disciples' Church, of Mentor. -

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TURNER .- By inherit- ance, education, training and experience es- pecially fitted for a business career, Benjamin F. Turner is an active assistant in promoting the mercantile prosperity of the Western Re- serve, and as one of its leading grain mer- chants is carrying on an extensive and lucra- tive business, operating three large elevators, one in Avery, one at Kimball and one at Prout.

He likewise deals largely in seed and in coal, having a substantial trade in each, and also in livestock. A native of Erie county, Ohio, he was born December 29, 1867, in Milan, on the farm where his father, the late Reuben Turner, spent his entire life. He comes of New England stock, Benjamin D. Turner, the founder of the American family of Turners, having emigrated from England to the United States in colonial days, settling in Killing- worth, Connecticut.

Peter Turner, the great grandfather of Ben- jamin F. Turner, was born in Killingsworth, Connecticut, in 1746, and served gallantly as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His son, B. D. Turner, the next in line of descent, was a pioneer settler of Erie county, Ohio, coming here in the early part of the nineteenth cen- tury. A farmer by occupation, he took up a tract of wild land in Milan, and by means of persevering labor redeemed a homestead from the wilderness, and there brought up his family.

Reuben Turner was born on the parental homestead, in Milan, February 8, 1836, and there resided until his death, January 29. 1909. an honored and respected citizen. Although his early education was that to be obtained in the pioneer schools of his day, he was a keen observer of men and of events, and through his natural shrewdness and much good read- ing became one of the best informed and most intelligent citizens of his community, and a leader in public affairs. Succeeding to the possession of the old homestead, he carried on general farming with excellent results, and es- tablished an extensive business as a dealer in grain, becoming one of the foremost grain mer- chants in the county. Prominent in the Demo- cratic party, he took an intense and intelligent interest in political matters, and was much sought as a public official, but usually declined the flattering offers made him, although he did serve four years as treasurer of Erie county. He was an active member of the Presbyterian church, in which he was for many terms an elder. He married, in Perkins, Erie county, Ohio, Sarah Miller, who was born May 10, 1836, in Pennsylvania, and came as a child with her parents to Perkins, where she resided until her marriage.

After leaving the common schools, Benjamin F. Turner completed a course of study in a business college, and as soon as old enough en- gaged in the grain business with his father. Quick-witted and observant, he obtained a

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thorough knowledge of the details of trade, and on the death of his father succeeded to the entire business, and as a dealer in grain, seed, coal and livestock, is meeting with character- istic success, his operations being extensive and remunerative.

Mr. Turner married, in Milan, December 3, 1890, Githeria Anderson, and they have one child, Paul Reuben Turner, born in 1893. In- dependent in politics, Mr. Turner has never as- pired to public office, preferring to devote his time and energies to the management of his business affairs. Religiously he is a member of the Presbyterian church, which he has served as trustee. Fraternally he is a member of Erie Lodge No. 239, F. & A. M .; of Milan Chapter No. 135, R. A. M .; of Norwalk Com- mandery No. 19, K. T .; El Koran Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Cleveland ; and of Norwalk Lodge No. 730, B. P. O. E.

FRANCIS J. FULLER .- An able representative of the great basic industry of agriculture in Lake county is Francis J. Fuller, whose fine homestead farm is located in Madison town- ship. He was born in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, on the 18th of September, 1858, and thus is a native of the historic old Western Reserve, to whose history and that of its people this publication is devoted. He is a son of Horace and Joanna Armstrong (Downing.) Fuller.

Horace Fuller was born at Attleboro, Mas- sachusetts, in which commonwealth the family was founded in the colonial days, and there he was reared and educated. He continued to re- side in Massachusetts until 1849, when he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he entered the employ of McNarry & Claflin Car Works, pioneer manufacturers of railroad cars in that city. He was a skilled mechanic in various lines. He finally engaged in business for him- self as a railroad-bridge contractor, and in connection with his operations in this line he went to the south, where he was thus engaged at the outbreak of the Civil war. His freely expressed views on the slavery question and his pronounced northern sympathies in the cli- materic period culminating in the war natur- ally made him persona non grata in the south, whence he escaped at a time when feeling against him was so bitter that a rope had been made ready for his execution. He returned to Cleveland, where he became a leading con- tractor and builder, and he devoted his atten- tion to this vocation for forty years. He assumed contracts for the completion of build-

ings in their entirety, whether of stone, brick or wooden construction, and among the monu- ments to his skill in this line stands the old stone church on the public square in Cleve- land, as well as the court house of Cuyahoga county (the old one) in the same city. He is now living retired in the village of Willoughby, Lake county. His wife was a member of an old family of Long Island, New York, and her parents resided for some time in Albany, that state, whence they removed to Cleveland, Ohio, when she was a girl. There her father, Jacob Downing, engaged in the sale of spices, and being succeeded by the firm of S. C. Smith Carter Company, and then S. C. Smith & Co., the change in the firm's name being caused by death. Under the last title the business is still continued. Mrs. Fuller was summoned to the life eternal in 1902, leaving two children. Hor- ace Fuller is a stalwart advocate of the prin- ciples of the Republican party and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church, of which his wife also was a devout communicant.

Francis J. Fuller, the immediate subject of this review, was reared to maturity in the city of Cleveland, where he was afforded the advantages of the parish school of Trinity church, Protestant Episcopal, and also those of the public schools and Nottingham Semi- nary, after leaving which last named institu- tion he continued his studies in the Brooks School, in Cleveland. In his youth he learned the carpenter's trade under the able direction of his father, with whom he was associated in his various operations until 1884, when he went to the west, where he remained one year, after which he again joined his father in Cleveland, where he continued to be associated with him in his contracting business until 1886, when, largely on account of his health having be- come much impaired, he turned his attention to an entirely different line of enterprise. He came to Lake county and purchased the old Sher- wood homestead of 163 acres, the most of which lies in Madison township, though a small part is in Perry township. The land was secured by John Sherwood at the time of the organization of Lake county, in 1840. In 1851 it passed into the possession of his son, R. N .. and later it was owned by Mrs. Mariella E. F. Sherwood. It is one of the well improved and valuable farms of the county, and the fine old brick residence occupies a commanding site, overlooking a wide area of surrounding coun- try. This is one of the oldest brick houses in Madison township and is one of the landmarks

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of this part of the county. Mr. Fuller pur- chased the farm of the heirs of A. A. Amidon, a lawyer, who was killed a few years pre- viously. The farm is devoted to diversified agriculture and stock-growing and is one of the model country seats of the Western Re- serve. The present owner has remodeled the buildings, installed an effective system of tile drainage and made other improvements of the best order. In a vocation diametrically differ- ent to that which he had previously followed, Mr. Fuller has shown his versatility and he has made an unqualified success of his farm- ing enterprise, in which he finds both pleasure and profit.

Mr. Fuller is loyal and public-spirited as a citizen and takes an active interest in local affairs, the while he is found arrayed as a stal- wart supporter of the cause of the Democratic party. He is active in the party work in a local way and has served as a delegate to its county * and state conventions. In the Masonic frater- nity he is affiliated with Lake Shore Lodge, No. 307, Free and Accepted Masons, of Madi- son, in which he has passed the various official chairs; with the Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, at Geneva, and Eagle Commandery, No. 29, Knights Templar, in the city of Painesville, of which he is eminent commander at the time of this writing, in 1909. In the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of the fraternity he has attained the thirty-second degree, being a member of Lake Erie Consistory of the Valley of Cleve- land, and he is also identified with Al Koran Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Mystic Shrine, in the same city. His wife is a mem- ber of the Methodist church.

On the 18th of September, 1884, was solemn- ized the marriage of Mr. Fuller to Miss Minnie L. Mason, who was reared and educated in the city of Cleveland and who is a daughter of Charles and Eva T. (Clark) Mason, now resi- dents of Delta, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Fuller have four children-Mabel Dawing, Edna Maud, Francis Clark and Horace Charles, all of whom remain at the parental home and all save the youngest of whom are graduates of the Madison high school. The family is promi- nently identified with the social activities of the community, and the beautiful old homestead is a center of gracious hospitality.

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History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 72

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