History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 74

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 74

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James Porter Smead, Jr., the elder son, who is a bachelor and who now maintains his home in Madison, was for thirty years engaged in the manufacturing of men's furnishing goods at Atchison, Kansas, and Omaha, Nebraska. Catherine Mills, the only daughter and young- est child, is the wife of Milton J. Park, M. D., a representative physician and surgeon of Cleveland. Her first husband, William Hen- dry, M. D., was engaged in the practice of his profession in Cleveland until his death. He was a member of the Cleveland Grays, a lead- ing military organization of the Ohio metrop- olis, and was killed while en route with his command to take part in the inauguration of President Cleveland, the accident which caused his death having been a train wreck on the Pennsylvania railroad.

David Dudley Smead, whose name intro-

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duces this sketch, gained his preliminary edu- cational discipline in the public schools of Madison, in whose high school he was grad- uated, after which he was matriculated in the old Western Reserve College, at Hudson, in which he was a student at the time of the removal of the institution to the city of Cleve- land, where its title was changed to the West- ern Reserve University. He went with the other students to Cleveland and continued to attend the university until the latter part of his junior year, when he was compelled to withdraw, in 1885, on account of impaired health. For the following two years he was in Duluth, Minnesota, and he then went to West Superior, Wisconsin, which was at the time only a straggling village, in which the most decorative feature was the pine stumps found all about the town. He witnessed the upbuilding of the now populous and attractive city, and was identified in no insignificant way with its material and civil upbuilding. He was there engaged in the real estate, loan and fire insurance business until 1898, when he returned to the old homestead in Madison, to care for his parents in their declining years. He still resides on the old homestead, which lies contiguous to the city on the east, and die operation of the farm receives his personal supervision. In August, 1908, Mr. Smead leased the old woolen mill in Madison and there established a manufactory of fancy willow bas- kets for the use of florists. All work is done by hand, and at the present time about twenty persons are employed in the factory, whose equipment throughout is of the best. The products are of all shapes and sizes, of origi- nal and artistic designs, and the most of the baskets are finished in colors. The goods are sold, by direct representatives of the factory, to leading department stores throughout the Union and also to the larger florists. The goods have been introduced in many of the principal cities of the Union, and such has been their reception by the trade that the future of the enterprise is promising in the extreme.

Mayor Smead is most progressive and pub- lic-spirited as a citizen and takes a loyal interest in all that tends to conserve the civic and material welfare of his native place. In politics he is aligned as a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies of the Repub- lican party, and in 1900 he was elected a mem- ber of the city council, of which position he remained incumbent until 1904, when he was elected by the council to the office of mayor.

to fill out the unexpired term of Homer Kim- ball, who died. He has since been twice re-elected, by popular vote, and has given an admirable administration of the municipal affairs, seeking in every possible way to pro- mote legitimate public improvements and to conserve economy in all departments of the city government. His present term will expire January 1, 1910. He is affiliated with Lake Shore Lodge, No. 237, Free and Accepted Masons, in Madison, and with the Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons, at Geneva, Ashta- bula county. He also holds membership in the Delta Kappa Upsilon college fraternity.

In the year 1890 Mr. Smead came to his native place from West Superior, Wisconsin, where he was then residing, and on Septem- ber 17 of that year he was united in marriage to Miss Ella Catherine Teachout, who was born and reared in Madison, and who is a daughter of Albert P. and Emeline (Burr) Teachout, who still reside in this place, where her father is a millwright by vocation. Mr. and Mrs. Smead have three children-David Dudley Jr., Catherine Burr and Helen Bailey.

JOHN C. VAUGHN, a representative of the business interests of Mantua, is a member of a family that came to this country from Wales some time prior to the year of 1795. His paternal grandfather, Caleb Vaughn, was born in Rhode Island, September 5, of that year, and later in life moved to Vermont. He mar- ried Polly King, born in Massachusetts, De- cember 18, 1799, and she died October 28. 1881, while he survived until August 3, 1890, and died at Hiram, Ohio. The old home which he built in that city is yet standing and is now the property of Clarence Dutton.

Among the children of Caleb and Polly Vaughn, was John Russell Vaughn, who be- came the father of John C., of this review. He was born in Shaftsburg, Bennington county, Vermont, December 4, 1825, and in 1857, in Hiram, Ohio, wedded Sylvina E. Per- kins. She was born January 13, 1826, and died June 9, 1900, long surviving her husband, who had passed away November 25, 1875. These Ohio pioneers came hither from Vermont about the year 1831, and landing from the boat at Cleveland they were beset on every hand to purchase property from the residents there, as Cleveland was then but a swamp, and its few inhabitants were suffering from malarial fever. About thirty houses then con- stituted the city, and that section of the coun-

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try was then filled with hungry wolves, Mr. Vaughn having had to hurry the completion of his cabin at Hiram to protect his children from the animals.

John C. Vaughn was born in the city of Hiram, June 6, 1865, and moving with his parents to Mantua in 1874, he embarked in the barber business here in 1888. On Septem- ber 1, 1895, he was united in marriage to Minnie M. English, and they have one child, Cecil, born November 14, 1902, in Mantua. Mr. Vaughn is an independent political voter.

RUBEN OLIVER HALSTEAD, of Mantua, in Portage county, was born in Benton township, Yates county, New York, June 23, 1835, a son of Jacob and Betsy (Reynolds) Hal- stead, who came to this country from Holland and were married in the state of New York in about the year 1825. Edwin T. Hal- stead, another of their sons, is living in the Western Reserve, having located in Ravenna in 1860.

Moving with his parents from New York to Michigan in 1837, Ruben O. Halstead ob- tained his education there, although he was a lad of nine years before he entered the school room, and afterward he worked on the farm during the summer months, and attended school in the winters, he having had to furnish a one-quarter cord of wood for the school, and had to pay for his tuition besides. He also pursued his studies some after coming to Portage county, Ohio, in 1853. He located in Mantua and purchased lot 38, afterward becoming the owner of lot 37, and he now owns 160 acres of land besides his home in Mantua.

Mr. Halstead married on December 31, 1857, Maria Frost, a daughter of John and Elvira ( Kellogg) Frost. The father was born in Blanford, Massachusetts, in 1798, and the mother was the first white child born in Hud- son, in the Western Reserve. She was a daughter of John and Elvira (Thompson) Frost. Her grandfather John Frost served three years with the Second Massachusetts regiment, under Major General Knox, during the Revolutionary war, and received his discharge therefrom on December 13, 1783. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Halstead: Almira May, born November 30, 1860, married T. R. Trowbridge in No- vember, 1883: John Byron, born December 16, 1862, married first in Mantua, Edith Grid- ley, and secondly in Cleveland in 1903, Han- nah Zebert; Gertrude Pearly, born November

4, 1867, married in Ravenna on May 30, 1886, William A. Denton ; Charles Augustus, born December 6, 1871, died September 14, 1902.

Mr. Halstead was made a Mason in Jan- uary, 1865, in Garrettsville, Ohio, and is now, 1909, a charter member of Mantua Lodge, No. 533.

FRANK A. CUMINGS .- An exponent of the great basic industry of agriculture as repre- sented in modern scientific methods and acces- sories, Frank A. Cumings is the owner of a well improved farm of 123 acres in his native township and is also engaged in the retail coal business in the village of Madison, where he maintains his home, as his fine farm lies con- tiguous to the village.

Mr. Cumings was born in Madison town- ship, Lake county, Ohio, on June 10, 1855, and is a son of Charles and Rebecca A. (Sul- livan) Cumings. Charles Cumings was a na- tive of the state of New Hampshire, and was a son of Benjamin Cumings, who came to Ohio, when Charles was a boy, first settling at Unionville, Lake county, where Charles was reared to manhood on the old homestead farm. He himself eventually became one of the repre- sentative farmers of Madison township, this county, and here he is remembered as a man of ability and sterling attributes of character. He went in the late "thirties" to Monmouth, Illinois, where he lived about twelve years, then returned to Madison, where he died in the year 1900, at the venerable age of eighty-six. He had married a Miss Amsden, by whom two children were born: Henry and Lucy, the mother dying when very young. Charles Cum- ings' second wife survived him by three years. Both were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and exemplified their faith in their daily lives. They became the parents of ten children, namely: Henry H., of Tidi- oute, Pennsylvania; Charles E., of Brady, that state; Frank A., of this sketch; Jane R., who is the widow of Howard Atkinson and resides in East Cleveland, Ohio : Homer P., of Paines- ville, who is individually mentioned in this work; Emily E., of Cleveland, a deaconess of the Methodist Episcopal church; Mary M., a teacher in the Painesville high school ; Nellie, the wife of A. N. Benjamin, of Madison, Lake county ; Kate C., wife of Rev. Orlando Persh- ing, of Ada, Ohio, and E. Roscoe, professor of geology in the Indiana State University. Concerning the family history and especially the beautiful old homestead on the shores of Lake Erie, further data are given in the sketch

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of the career of Homer P. Cumings, elsewhere in this publication.

Frank A. Cumings was reared to maturity on the old homestead farm which was the place of his nativity, and after duly availing himself of the advantages of the district school of the neighborhood he entered the Ohio State Normal School, at Geneva, where he was a student for two years. At the age of twenty- one years he went to Armstrong county, Penn- sylvania, where he became identified with the opening and operating of oil wells. Finally he purchased an interest in this line of busi- ness, in which he continued for a period of fifteen years, meeting with excellent success. In 1892, at the expiration of the period noted, he returned to his native township, and in the village of Madison became associated with his brother-in-law, A. N. Benjamin, in the prod- nice business, under the firm name of A. N. Benjamin & Co. This alliance continued for nine years, at the expiration of which the partnership was dissolved by mutual consent. In 1901 Mr. Cumings established himself in the coal business, and his well equipped store- houses and office are located near the tracks of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Rail- road, in the village of Madison. He has built up a substantial trade, supplying not only resi- dents of the village and immediate vicinity, but also patrons throughout a wide section of ter- ritory topographically tributary to this place as a distributing center. His farm lies con- tignous to the village and comprises 123 acres of most arable and productive land, and is de- voted to diversified agriculture and stock- growing, under the direct supervision of Mr. Cumings. The residence is commodious and of attractive order, and all other buildings and improvements indicate thrift and prosperity.

In politics Mr. Cumings is a stanch advo- cate of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and he takes a deep interest in all that touches the welfare of his home village and native county. He has served for a number of years as a member of the village council, and is also a valued member of the Madison board of edu- cation. He is affiliated with the Masonic fra- ternity, and both he and his wife hold member- ship in the Methodist Episcopal church.

In the year 1880 Mr. Cumings was united in marriage to Miss Mary Rood, of Madison township, where she was born and reared. She was summoned to the life eternal in 1896, and is survived by two children,-Walter, who has practical charge of the home farm, and Bessie,

who was graduated in the Wilson Female Col- lege, at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, as a member of the class of 1909. On July 6, 1898, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Cumings to Miss Winifred Rand, who likewise was born in Madison township, and who is a daughter of Elmer and E. H. (Carr) Rand. Mr. Rand has passed away and Mrs. Rand lives in Madison. No children have been born of the second marriage of Mr. Cumings.

GEORGE BYRON WATSON, during many years one of the influential residents and business men of Conneaut and its vicinity, was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, August 10, 1850, a son of Horace and Elvira (Lovejoy) Watson. Horace Watson was also from New York, but came when a young man to Ohio and worked at farm labor. It was here that he met his future wife, but after their mar- riage they returned to New York, although in 1854 they came again to Ohio and settled in Plymouth township of Ashtabula county, five miles south of the city of that name, and it was there that their son George grew to man- hood's estate. Later the family moved to the city of Ashtabula, and there the parents both died at about the age of sixty-two years. They had two children, Helen and George B., but . the daughter died in young womanhood.

George B. Watson married in December, 1871, Sarah L. Cheney, a daughter of Andrew Jackson and Julia E. (Bushnell) Cheney, the father from Vermont and the mother from Hartland, Connecticut. Mrs. Bushnell came with a sister, Rosamond P., and an uncle, Porter Barnes, to Fowler, in Trumbull county, Ohio, and she taught school there until her marriage. Rosamond married Alpheus R. Waters, and died at Fowler at the age of forty-eight years, while the husband died in 1887, at the age of seventy-seven years. An- drew J. Cheney, from Stafford, Vermont, came to Ohio when a young man, journeying westward as a peddler of clocks and notions. and on reaching Ohio he was offered a school of eighty pupils at Amboy in Ashtabula county, which he taught for some time. At the time of his marriage, in 1837, he located at Monroe Center, and there their daughter Sarah was born, March 26, 1846. She was the second born of their five children, as follows: Ellen R., the widow of Austin Tinker and a resident of Conneaut; Alice J., widow of Cassius Woodworth and also living in Conneaut; F. J. Cheney, of Toledo; and

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Clarence E. Cheney, on the old homestead farm. When their daughter Sarah was five years old Mr. and Mrs. Cheney located at South Ridge in Conneaut township, and a few years later located on a farm on the Center road, one and a half miles south of Conneaut, where Mrs. Cheney died in December, 1908, when ninety-two years of age. Mr. Cheney had passed away in 1891, when seventy-six years of age. He had been often seen in the district and national juries, and was widely known among the lawyers and judges of his home community. He possessed a wonderful memory, and was often called upon by law- yers to report evidences. He was a stanch Democrat in political matters, always keeping himself well informed on public history, and he was perhaps one of the best known men of his time in Ashtabula county.

After spending about eight years on their farm in Plymouth township, Mr. and Mrs. Watson moved to Toledo, and later bought a farm adjoining that of her father. There they lived for twenty-five years, or until taking up their abode in Conneaut eight years ago. Just previously they had enjoyed an extensive western trip, visiting California and the Pa- cific coast, and returning purchased the pleas- ant home in Conneaut, where Mr. Watson died suddenly, November 27, 1902, leaving his widow and four children: Frank Cheney, Watson, manager of the Conneaut Creamery ; Gertrude Julia, the wife of Albert Traver, of Enid, Oklahoma; Mott Watson, also con- nected with the Conneaut Creamery; and Hazel E., a resident of Conneaut.

WILLIAM F. WOLCOTT .- A man of recog- nized ability and integrity, William F. Wol- cott, ex-mayor and ex-postmaster, of La Grange, Lorain county, has ever taken an in- telligent interest in local affairs, and has filled the several positions of trust and responsibility to which he has been called in a manner re- flecting the highest credit upon himself and his constituents. A son of Alfred Wolcott, he was born, January 15, 1835, in Tompkins county, New York, coming from honored New England ancestry.

Mr. Wolcott's paternal grandfather, Col. Permenio Wolcott, and his wife, whose maiden name was Anna Fulkison, were both born and reared in Connecticut. During the War of 1812, he enlisted in a Connecticut regiment, of which he was given command, receiving a colonel's commission, and served

until the close of the conflict. Subsequently removing to New York, he resided there until 1840, when he migrated to Michigan, making the journey overland, with a three-horse team. He bought land in both Washtenaw and Barry counties, and for many years was busily em- ployed in cutting off the timber and cultivating the land, his home in the meantime being in Washtenaw county. Subsequently returning to New York, he resided with his son Alfred during the remainder of his life.

Alfred Wolcott was born in Tompkins county, New York, and was there brought up and educated. Beginning life for himself, he there carried on general farming until 1840, when he removed with his family to Erie county, New York, where for a number of years he conducted a hotel, being very popular as a landlord. He afterwards bought land in that county, and for a few years was engaged in tilling the soil. Disposing then of his farm, he bought a hotel at Cattaraugus county, New York, and the ensuing ten years was employed in its management. He subsequently came, at the solicitation of his son William, to Ohio, and lived in La Grange, and in Michigan, until his death. He married Mary Henrietta Ledoyt, who was born in Connecticut, which was likewise the birthplace of her parents, , James and Mary Ledoyt. Mr. Ledoyt came with his family to Ohio at an early day, set- tling in Lorain county, very near the home of Mr. Heman Ely, in whose honor Elyria re- ceived its name, and having taken up a tract of wild land, cleared and improved a good homestead.

Reared on the farm, William F. Wolcott received such educational advantages as were afforded by the district school. Coming to Lorain county at the age of eighteen years, he located in La Grange, where he worked as a wage earner a number of years. After taking upon himself the responsibilities of a married man, he was here engaged in agricultural pur- suits about two years. Going then to Mich- igan, he remained there a few months, but not liking the country well enough to remain, re- turned, in 1860, to La Grange, and for a short time was employed in a saw mill. On August 25, 1864, Mr. Wolcott enlisted in Battery E, First Ohio Light Artillery, and under the command of Gen. Andrew Thomas was in active service in Tennessee until receiving his honorable discharge, July 10, 1865.

Returning to La Grange, Mr. Wolcott pur- chased a hotel, which he conducted ten years,

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when he sold out, and the following five years was employed as a traveling salesman, after which he embarked in the lightning rod busi- ness. A year later he resumed the mason's trade, which he had learned when young, and continued busily employed until 1898, when he was appointed postmaster of La Grange an office which he filled satisfactorily to all concerned until September 1, 1909, when he was forced to resign on account of ill health.

Mr. Wolcott has been very prominent in the management of public affairs, for twelve years having been mayor of the city, and having served as councilman many terms, and as con- stable. He is a Republican in his political affiliations, and ever loyal to the interests of his party. Since 1888 he has served as justice of the peace. Fraternally he belongs to La Grange Camp, Knights of the Maccabees, and religiously he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has been trustee since 1894.

On February 22, 1857, Mr. Wolcott married Malissa Hastings, who was born in La Grange, Ohio, December 19, 1857, a daughter of Cary and Mary Ann (Spoor) Hastings, natives of New York state. She passed to the life be- yond April 15, 1905, leaving one child, Lewis F., of La Grange. Mary Edith, the youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. Wolcott, was born Oc- tober 13. 1869, and died January 26, 1878.

EDWIN CLARK BRANSON, prominent among the business men of Wellington, was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, March 5, 1857, and was educated in the public and high schools of Toledo, Ohio. His parents, Joseph and Mary (Pierce) Branson, were born respect- ively in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and in1 Dover, Delaware, and they were married in the latter state, where Joseph Branson worked at his trade of carpentering. They spent about five years in Altoona, Pennsylvania, from there moved to Toledo, where Joseph Branson was a carpenter and builder for eleven years, and from Toledo he moved to the city of Defiance and worked at his trade there. In 1882 he and his wife went to Kansas and made their home with their children there until their deaths, the father dying in December, 1898, in his eighty-sixth year, and the mother in September, 1898, in her eighty-second year. They were born respectively in the years of 1812 and 1816. Five sons and five daughters were born to them, but only the following are living: Mary, who became the wife of Leo

Bullen and is living in Concordia, Kansas ; John and Thomas, who live in Belleville, that state; Edwin C .; and Ida, the widow of Ira Weaver, and also a resident of Belleville, Kansas.

Edwin C. Branson at the age of fifteen years began learning the trade of his father, and worked at carpentering for nine years in De- fiance, Ohio. At the close of that period he accepted the superintendency of the wood- bending works at that city, and then, going to Saginaw, Michigan, worked there for three years as superintendent of the same bending works, which had been moved to East Sag- inaw, Michigan. On the 5th of July, 1884, he arrived in Wellington, and engaging in the bending business with G. H. Palmer, the firm being G. H. Palmer & Co. (known as Welling- ton Bending Works), and this was continued to the spring of 1903, when it was formed into a stock company called the Pioneer Pole and Shaft Company, their headquarters being at Piqua, Ohio. Since the organization of this firm in the early 'Sos their business has in- creased until now they maintain thirteen fac- tories, one in Canada, one in Tennessee, one in Missouri, two in Indiana and the remainder in Ohio, and the corporation is now one of the largest doing business in this section of the commonwealth. In 1904 Mr. Branson organ- ized the Wellington Cold Storage Company, and has since been the vice-president and gen- eral manager of the corporation, Mr. O. P. Chapman being its president and E. A. Van Cleef its secretary and treasurer. The Wel- lington Cold Storage Company does a general cold storage business, and this is another of the important business corporations of south- ern Lorain county. Mr. Branson has served Wellington many terms as a member of its council, was one term its mayor, in 1906 and 1907, and in the fall of 1908 was elected the treasurer of Lorain county for a term of two years. He is a director of the First National Bank at Wellington, and was for years di- rector in the Home Savings Bank of Welling- ton. He is prominent in the public as well as the business circles of the city and county. Mr. Branson is a stanch Republican. He started in life empty-handed and with a common school education, and is now one of the self- made men of Lorain county. His motto and creed is the Golden Rule.

On September 19, 1883, lie was married to Caroline Roedel, from the city of Defiance, a daughter of John and Marie (Franks) Roedel,

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History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 74

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