History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 78

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 78

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pressed us with his earnestness in all that he had to do. What he thought was the right thing for him to do he did with all his might. The hundreds, and indeed we are safe in saying the thousands, of men and women who are indebted to him for their start in life in the line of education treasure his memory as a blessed heritage."

Mr. Tuckerman was a clear and impressive public speaker, a lucid and forcible writer, a most agreeable comrade. He treated with genial affability his fellow men of whatever rank or disposition. Though firmly adherent to his own convictions and line of conduct he was tolerant of dissenting opinions and of per- sons his opposite in habits. In politics he was a Republican, in creed a Presbyterian, in sym- pathy a cosmopolitan. He belonged to the Masonic order, and had taken the thirty-second degree, and was a charter member of the Scot- tish Rite lodge that lately received President Taft at Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Tuckerman was strongly anti-slavery and strictly a temperance advocate. The honorary degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by Oberlin College, and that of Ph. D. by some Southern college.

With this tribute to his memory by one who knew and honored him we close, quoting a passage from the eulogy of W. G. Richardson, editor of the Andover (Ohio) Citizen, of Feb- ruary 12, 1897: "Wherever words might be written to attest the sterling worth and the strong character of Jacob Tuckerman they would be but feeble expressions of his great worth. He was a teacher in the truest sense of the term, vigorous, strong, kind but firm. never failing to impress his personality upon those who came under his instruction. He came in close touch and feeling with his pupils. and so great was his influence that he almost became a part of their daily thought and ac- tions. Fathers who had given up all hope of inspiring their sons to greater efforts for higher endeavors have gone to Professor Tuckerman to enlist his aid and kindly guid- ance for their children, and seldom did they fail to find in him that source of strength and power which when brought to bear upon im- petuous youth was an inspiration for good that never deserted them. Many men today, middle aged, will say that the turning point in their lives for usefulness was the day that they first became students of this beloved teacher."

ARTHUR H. DEAN, a general and successful farmer, also operating a dairy, who resides on

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a comfortable homestead of 150 acres in Mon- roe township, Ashtabula county, is a pro- gressive member of the County Agricultural Society, interested in the public advancement of his community and a citizen of enterprise and moral worth. He is of a well known New England family, early settled in Connecticut, his grandfather, Harvey Dean, having been born in that state August 16, 1778. This ances- tor married Phebe Kellogg, transferred the interests of his branch of the family to Ashta- bula county and died as a citizen of the West- ern Reserve in 1829. His son, Chauncey, was born in Monroe township, that county. July 13, 1822, and, like all enterprising and indus- trious men who were ambitious to make the most of their opportunities in the pioneer times, worked faithfully at whatever honorable occu- pation offered. The cultivation of the land was the basis of his support, but he also worked at his trade of wagon making and engaged in lumbering. For over fifty years he was also an ardent and hard-working member of the Meth- odist church, assisted in the founding of sev- eral of the early churches in the township, was long a trustee of his own society, and in numer- ous ways was public spirited and strongly in- fluential. His death occurred July 8, 1907. The deceased was married, on August 23, 1849, to Miss Calista Miles, who was born in Lyndon, Caledonia county, Vermont, on the 6th of March, 1825, coming from her native state to Ashtabula county when only nine years of age and being one of the family conveyed hither in a slow but sure ox-cart. By her mar- riage to Chauncey Dean she became the mother of the following: Hamilton, who was born July 13, 1850, and died February 23, 1871 ; Cora, born December 5, 1851, who married Stephen M. Edwards and lives in West Spring- field, Erie county, Pennsylvania; Arthur, of this sketch, and Minnie, who is now the wife of Sidney Hill, whose biography appears else- where.

Mr. Dean, who is also a native of Monroe township, born March 9, 1858, like his honored father, has made agriculture the chief study and occupation of his life, but not to the exclu- sion or neglect of the affairs and movements which benefit his community. He is an active member of the Grange and County Agricul- tural Society, having been identified with the latter for the past eight years. He also be- longs to the State Police and Home Guards of Ohio and Pennsylvania, organizations which have come into such favorable notice of late

vears as stanch advocates and supporters of law and order. Mr. Dean takes a deep in- terest in the welfare of the Republican party, and both he and his wife are firm believers in Methodism, both as a religious faith and an organization of good works. On March 9, 1882, he married Miss Elvira Randall, of West Springfield, Pennsylvania, who is a daughter of Elias and Caroline (Ferguson ) Randall, and they are the parents of the fol- lowing : Mabel Rea, born in 1885, who lives in New York, the wife of G. W. Westcott, and Carolyn, born in 1893, who resides with her par- ents. Mrs. Dean is a lady of forceful and refined character, for several years before her mar- riage being a school teacher in Pennsylvania.

JACOB W. HUNTER .- In the work of prac- tical criminology Jacob W. Hunter, who re- tired from the office of sheriff of Lake county, January 4, 1909, gained a high reputation in the apprehension of malefactors of various orders, and he has also done much efficient service as a detective. He is one of the popu- lar citizens of Painesville, which has repre- sented his home since 1896, and the citizens in general throughout Lake county will read with interest this brief résumé of the career of their able ex-sheriff.

Born in Clay county, Missouri, April 4, 1869. Jacob W. Hunter is a son of George and Betsey (Smith) Hunter, both of whom were likewise natives of that county, where the respective families settled in an early day. When the subject of this review was about four years of age his parents removed to Miami county, Kansas, where he received his rudimentary education in the public schools and where both of his parents died, when he was about twelve years of age. He was then taken into the home of relatives in his native county in Missouri, where he was reared to manhood and where he finished his studies in the public schools. After leaving school he was identified principally with agricultural pur- suits in Missouri until he had attained to his legal majority. He then, in 1890, came to Lake county, Ohio, in company with Harry Avery, by whom he was employed for three seasons at the Pine Crest hotel, a summer re- sort on Little mountain, a few miles distant from Painesville. He was thereafter employed about three years as gripman on the street railways in the city of Cleveland, and in 1896 he became an employe of the Cleveland, Painesville & Eastern Railroad Company,

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operating an electric interurban system. He operated a car for this company, as motorman, on the route between Cleveland and Paines- ville, until 1904, in which year he was elected to the office of sheriff of Lake county, on the Republican ticket. He assumed the duties of the shrievalty January I, 1905, was elected as his own successor in 1906, and retired from office at the expiration of his second term, January 4, 1909. In 1906 he apprehended the greatest number of convicts ever sent to the state penitentiary from Lake county in a sin- gle year. He gave an admirable administra- tion and gained strong popular endorsement at the polls, having led his ticket on the occa- sion of his second election. He has rendered yeoman service in the party cause and is known as one of the uncompromising advo- cates of the cause of the Republican party in this section of the state. He has been a dele- gate to several Republican state conventions in Ohio, and has also been a delegate to con- gressional and county conventions. He is a member of various fraternal and civic organ- izations, and in the Masonic fraternity he has attained to the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, besides which he has crossed the burning sands of the desert and gained membership in the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.

In the city of Painesville, on July 27, 1902, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hunter to Miss Rose Campbell, who was born and reared in Lake county and who is a daughter of Charles C. and Rose (Curtis) Campbell. Her father was born at Kirtland, this county, May 17, 1832, and was a son of Henry and Electa ( Allen) Campbell, who were numbered among the sterling pioneers of the county, where they continued to reside until their death. Charles C. Campbell became one of the successful farmers and influential citizens of Kirtland township, where he continued to reside for many years. He then retired from active labors and removed to the city of Painesville, where he died in 1901, at the age of sixty-five years. His wife was born in Huron county, Ohio, and was a child of four years at the time of her parents' removal to Kirtland, Lake county, where she passed the greater portion of life. She died in Paines- ville, April 11, 1909, at the age of sixty-seven years. They became the parents of four chil- dren-Jennie, who is the wife of William Proctor, of Orion, Michigan ; Frederick, who owns the old homestead farm and maintains his residence in Painesville : Delbert, who like-

wise resides in Painesville; and Rose, who is the wife of the subject of this sketch. Mr. and Mrs. Hunter have two children, Doris and Carl.

CORODYNE O. RUST .- A native of the West- ern Reserve and numbered among its repre- sentative farmers at the time of his death, Corodyne O. Rust was a member of one of the pioneer families of Lake county, and was a man whose life was guided and governed by the highest principles of integrity and honor. His widow now maintains her home in the city of Painesville, whither she removed from Geauga county after his demise.

Corodyne O. Rust was born in Concord township, Lake county, Ohio, April 26, 1848, and died on his fine homestead farm in Char- don township, Geauga county, June 27, 1898. He was reared to maturity in his native county, where his educational advantages in his youth were those of the common schools of Concord township. After leaving the home farm he continued to devote his attention to farm work, in connection with which occupa- tion he went to Geauga township and found employment on the farm of the mother of his future wife. In Chardon township, that county, on June 7, 1873, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Ann L. Baker, daugh- ter of Luther and Eliza Ann (West) Baker, the latter of whom was born in Connecticut August 20, 1828, a daughter of Edgar and Margaret (Wilson) West, who came to Ohio and settled in Chardon township, Geauga county, in 1831. Edgar West was born Janu- ary 8, 1799, and his wife April 3 of the same year. Luther Baker and Eliza Ann West were married December 10, 1846. He was a son of Hosea and Betsey Wintchell Baker, and was born October 8, 1821. His parents came from Connecticut to Ohio and settled two miles south of Painesville, on what has long been known as the Cloverdale farm. They soon removed to another farm in that vicinity, and the time of his death, which occurred December 15, 1867, Mr. Baker was the owner of a well improved farm, the major portion of which lay across the line from Concord township in Chardon township, Geauga county. His wife long survived him, and her death occurred February 22, 1897. They be- came the parents of two children, of whom the elder is the widow of the subject of this memoir; the other child, Edgar, died at the age of eight years.

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Mrs. Rust was born on the old homestead farm in Chardon township, January 5, 1850, and was eighteen years of age at the time of her father's death. She received good educational training in her girlhood and remained on the home farm with her widowed mother until and after her marriage. Her mother had em- ployed Mr. Rust to supervise the practical work of the farm, and in the meanwhile the daughter had charge of the business affairs of the place. After continuing under these conditions for a period of about four years, the daughter married Mr. Rust, and thus the alli- ance previously maintained in a business way was now cemented by the closer ties of wed- lock. The devoted mother continued to re- side with them until her death, and Mrs. Rust remained on the farm for four years after the death of her husband. She then, in 1902, re- moved to Painesville, where she purchased an attractive residence property and where she has since continued to make her home. Before the death of her husband they had purchased adjoining tracts of land until their estate com- prised nearly three hundred acres. The object in securing additional land was to make pro- vision for each of their children. Mrs. Rust has, however, found it expedient to dispose of a considerable portion of the property, of which she retains about one hundred and sev- enty acres. Mr. Rust was a man of energy and mature judgment, was successful in his business operations as a thorough agriculturist and. stock-grower, and left to his children the heritage of a good name and of worthy deeds performed. He was a Republican in politics.

Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Rust, the following brief record is entered, in fitting conclusion of this sketch: Luther Baker Rust, who is employed in the Nickel Plate mill, at Painesville, married Miss Ruby J. Burr, and they have no children ; Bert H., who is associated in the ownership of the Nickel Plate mill, at Painesville, married Miss Alice June Emerson, and they have no children; Gertrude Emeline is the wife of Bert E. Stan- hope, employed by the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- road Company, and they have one child, Wilda Eliza ; Louis remains with his mother at their home in Painesville; and Platt W., who is a mason contractor, having his home in a resi- dence next to that of his mother, married Miss Laura E. Benedict, and they have no children.

GEORGE W. JENNINGS .- One of the first families to select Portage county as their home

was the Jennings. David Jennings, the grand- father of George W., drove through from the New England states in 1802, when this part of the country was inhabited almost solely by In- dians and wild animals, and purchasing a farm of 115 acres, the purchase price being a dollar and a quarter an acre, he cleared and improved his land, erected his log cabin and also built both saw and grist mills, the latter in connec- tion with a man named Robert Eaton. After many years of faithful and efficient labor David Jennings passed to his final reward on January 10, 1856, and was laid to rest among others of the honored pioneer residents of Portage county. His wife, Hanna Wellman, had died in 1840.

Among the children of David and Hanna Jennings was the son, Louis E., who was born in Ravenna township July 14, 1811, and in January, 1833, was married to Elizabeth Knowlton. She was born in Maine, January 14, 1812, being a daughter of Samuel Knowl- ton, also of that state, and she came to Ra- venna, Ohio, in October of 1832. After their marriage Louis E. Jennings and wife located on the farm with Mr. Jennings' parents, and spent the remainder of their lives there, he dying October 11, 1894, and his wife October, 5, 1895. Seven of their children lived to years of maturity, namely: Hanna, the wife of Hugh Wain and a resident of Cleveland ; Amelia, on the old home place; George W. and Martha W., twins, and the latter is the widow of J. W. Gledhill and a resident of Coshocton county, Ohio; Helen M., Arimenta L. and Albert B., all also on the old Jennings farm.

George W. Jennings was born in Ravenna township, February 22, 1840, and he remained at home with his parents until he had reached the age of 36 years. In 1872 he bought sixty acres of farming land just north of his father's place, and March 16, 1882, he added thereto ninety-three acres, all in one body and lying in Ravenna township. He married, June 7, 1876, Jessie F. Bartlett, from Berlin, in Ma- honing county, Ohio, a daughter of Chauncey L. and Martha (Musser) Bartlett, natives re- spectively of Delaware county, New York, and of Petersburg, Ohio. The father came to Ohio with his parents when a small boy. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Jennings are: Louis B., born January 4. 1878, and proprietor of the Star Bakery at Ravenna, and George Ralph, born October 8, 1879, an agriculturist in Ravenna township. Mr. Jennings is a Dem-

Charlotte Chamber. Bake

David Bater

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ocrat in his political affiliations, and he is a member of Ravenna Grange, No. 32. Mrs. Jennings is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church.

DAVID BAKER is so bright mentally and phys- ically so well preserved that, although now in his eighty-first year, he is thoroughly enjoying life as a retired farmer of Lodi and a not inactive member of the community. He re- sides in a comfortable homestead embracing a good residence and five acres of land, devoted to pasture and the raising of fruits and vege- tables, all within the corporate limits of the village ; so that, while still retaining his touch with mother earth he is in close contact with his old friends, especially with the local veter- ans of the Methodist church. Both he and his wife were among the oldest members of the local organization, Mr. Baker being one of the two surviving charter members and for many years one of its most active trustees. Thus honored for his many years of usefulness, morality and devoutness, David Baker has only one higher translation awaiting him, and his many friends sincerely trust that the day of its coming, may be distant.

Mr. Baker is a native of Milton township, Wayne county, Ohio, born November 5, 1829, son of John and Sarah (Trump) Baker, both natives of Pennsylvania. The father came to Wooster in 1824, married in Wayne county and lived on and cultivated his wife's farm of forty acres. He finally bought a homestead in Canaan township, acquired other property and became a prosperous agriculturist and citizen. He died in Wooster and his wife spent her last years on the farm mentioned. There was reared David Baker, the only survivor of the children of his father's first marriage. David attended district school and the Old Academy; taught two terms of winter school and then turned his serious attention to farm- ing. He first purchased one hundred and eight acres ; afterward sold fifteen acres to the rail- road. and he still retains the ninety-three acres just outside the corporate limits of Lodi, which lie has held, worked and improved continuously for a period of forty years; this. in addition to his comely homestead within the village itself.

In 1854 Mr. Baker married Miss Charlotte Chambers, daughter of William and Esther Chambers, of Guilford township, this county, and very old residents of that place. Three daughters were born of this union, as follows :

Ida May ; Rosella, who married Professor W. R. Grannis, and resides with the other mem- bers of the family on the old Baker homestead; and Dora M., who is the wife of Professor A. M. Madison. The mother of these children died in 1893, devoted to her husband and fam- ily and the Methodist church.

Professor William R. Grannis, mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, was for many years a prominent teacher. He is a native of Hol- land, Michigan, born in May, 1848, son of Horace R. and Electa (Pease) Grannis. After passing through the high school he entered Oberlin College, where he pursued special courses for some time. He then commenced teaching, his labors embracing both Lodi, Berea and Leroy, but, on account of uncertain health, has been obliged to periodically resort to farming. Professor Grannis is highly re- spected both for his talents and his moral char- acter. By his marriage to Miss Rosella Baker, in 1877, he has become the father of May, Charlotte, Howard, Ruth and Ralph Grannis. Both parents are honored members of the First Methodist church.

JAMES WELLER HARTLE .- Among the na- tive born sons of Portage county is numbered James W. Hartle, whose birth occurred in Rootstown township, September 16, 1848, a son of Alva Baldwin and Elvira (Likens) Hartle, the father born in Rootstown town- ship, November 22, 1822, and the mother in Berlin, Mahoning county, October 18, 1822. He is a grandson of Samuel and Polly (Poe) Hartle, from New York, and of Thomas and Judy (Ripple) Likens, from the New England states, but all were among the early residents of Portage county, Ohio. The paternal grand- father took up his abode here when the land was covered with timber, and cutting away trees and brush on his farm he erected on the clearing the splendid home which is yet stand- ing, though greatly remodeled, and the farm is yet in the family name. He was born about the year of 1795, and died at the age of fifty-five years, while his wife died some years later. The grandparents on the maternal side were among the early pioneers of Ravenna township, also settling in the dense timber, and there the grandfather died at the good old age of eighty-eight years, and his wife passed away in 1871 aged ninety-nine years. After their marriage Alva and Elvira Hartle settled on his father's old home place, in the log house, and some years afterward moved to

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another place in the same township, while finally and in connection with his brother he bought the home farm in Ravenna township on which he died in November, 1894, his widow vet surviving and residing in Kent, this state. There were seven children in their family, as follows: Mary, the wife of Harry Davis, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Augusta, who died at the age of fourteen years; Susan E., the wife of Elias Willyard, of Kent ; Emma, wife of Eugene Paulus, of Ravenna, Ohio; John, who died when six months old; and Cora, the wife of Adam Lindh, also of Pittsburg.

James W. Hartle remained with his parents and assisted with the work of the home farm until he was forty-five years of age, and then after farming as a renter in Shalerville town- ship two years, he bought his present home farm of one hundred and thirty acres, where he is extensively engaged in a general line of farming and stock raising. He married in July, 1894, Barbara K. Watson, born in Monroe county, Ohio, a daughter of William P. and Pleasant Ann (Burr) Watson, and on the paternal side a granddaughter of Yoho and Mary (Brown) Watson. Isaac C. Burr, her maternal grandfather, was born December 24, 1805, while his wife, nee Mary Gilham, was born May 19, 1831, and their children were as follows: William Rees, of Franklin county, Ohio; Thomas Gilham and John Cal- vin, both in Indiana; Maria Jane, the wife of William Berry, of East Oakland, California ; David Thomas, also of Indiana ; Lee Palmer, of Ft. Smith, Arkansas; Ruthana N., de- ceased ; Pleasant Ann, who became the mother of Mrs. Hartle ; and Leonora Frances, wife of George Albaugh, of Novelty, this state. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hartle are: Oneda M., at home with her parents; Anna Elvira and John, both of whom died in in- fancy ; Gladys May and Dorothy May. Mr. Hartle votes with the Democratic party.

ARBA E. VROOMAN, of the firm of W. F. Vrooman & Son, was born at Sandusky, Ohio, June 21, 1864, and is the son of Warren F. and Sarah (Carter) Vrooman. Warren F. Vrooman, born in Perry, Ohio, has now re- tired from active business life, and resides at Painesville.

Arba E. Vrooman is a partner with his son Howard in the Painesville Celery Company, growers of celery and onion seed, at Paines- ville, a stock company, having a capital of ten thousand dollars. They have about twenty acres of celery, and seven to twelve acres of

onions, and besides this grow about one ton of onion seed annually. They sell the seed mainly to growers of onions, and ship the celery to all the larger towns of Ohio and Pennsylvania ; they also handle celery grown by other parties in the vicinity of Painesville. Soon after his marriage Mr. Vrooman spent thirteen years in Cass county, North Dakota, where he grew one thousand to fifteen hun- dred acres of grain annually, in the famous Red River Valley country. Upon his return to Ohio, he began developing the machine now manufactured for topping and sorting onions.

Mr. Vrooman married Lida Fowler, of Ashtabula county, and they became the parents of two children, namely: Howard, who took a commercial course of study at Cleveland, and Gladys.

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History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 78

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